The Wild River rises on the north end of Black Mountain[2] in the northern part of the town of Jackson, New Hampshire.

It flows northeast off the mountain, entering the township of Bean's Purchase, and picks up the stream outlet of No Ketchum Pond coming in from the northwest.

[4] The Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railroad from Portland to Montreal followed the south bank of the Androscoggin River and reached Gilead in 1851.

Peak runoff events were similarly destructive to attempts to construct water-powered mills adjacent to the river.

[7] In 1891, a railroad was built following the present Route 113 from Gilead to Hastings lumber mill on Evans Brook near its confluence with the Wild River.