Papacontuckquash is cited as the name for the Miller's River, signed and witnessed by the Native leaders on the "Indian Land Deeds for Hampshire County, Later Including Franklin .

[7] The term Pachaug refers to "clear water" in Nipmuc for a creek and meadow in Squakheag, now Northfield, where the word displays the palatization of "k" that conforms to the northern and western dialect of Nipmuk, as indicated by Holly Gustafson in Nipmuk Grammar,[8] and confirmed in Dr. Ives Goddard's "The 'Loup' Languages of Western Massachusetts: The Dialectal Diversity of Southern New England Algonquian",[9] while Pacoag retains the unpalatized feature associated with Massachusett and Natick dialect[10] and is associated on land documents with Rutland in Worcester County.

Overall, the Millers River has a moderate gradient, averaging about 18 feet/mile from the headwaters area to the USGS streamflow-gaging station at Erving, a stream distance of about 43 miles (69 km).

However, a 5-mile (8.0 km) reach of the Millers River through a wooded area between South Royalston and Athol (the "Bear's Den") has an average gradient of about 43 feet/mile, which is about five times the average for rivers in Massachusetts, and some of the most rugged and steep terrain of the state's central upland.

Using radio and satellite communications, RRT constantly monitors river levels and weather conditions that influence flood control decisions.

In April 1987, two storms dropped over 6 inches (150 mm) of rain, raising the water level to over 33 feet (10 m) at the dam, utilizing 80% of the storage capacity.

It is estimated that Birch Hill Dam prevented over $9 million in damages to downstream property from this one storm.