*>4 
 
 
Glass 
 
 Book_^MiO>^ 
 
THE OPENING OF THE ADIRONDACKS. 
 
THE OPENING 
 
 ADIRONDACKS 
 
 WITH A MAP AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 PUBLISHED BY KURD AND HOUGHTON, 
 
 401 Broadway, cor. Walker St. 
 1865. 
 
\ ^> '^' 
 
 . A - 
 
 RIVERSIDE, CAMBRIDGE : 
 
 STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BT 
 
 H. 0. HOUGHTON AND COMPANY. 
 
 / >fUfj 
 
 1 
 
PKEFACE. 
 
 The tract of country to which this little volume 
 is devoted is not so well known as it should be, being 
 generally regarded as a mere camping-ground for 
 hunters and sportsmen, and an occasional artist in 
 search of the wild and the picturesque, when, in 
 fact, it possesses great capacities for mercantile and 
 manufacturing enterprise, as well as vast mineral and 
 forest wealth. To give some idea, however imper- 
 fect, of what it really is, and to indicate, however 
 briefly, what it is destined to become, is the object 
 of the present writer, who has spared neither time 
 nor labor to insure his volume the accuracy which he 
 believes it to possess. Among the works consulted 
 by him while it was in progress, may be mentioned 
 Mr. S. H. Hammond's " Hills, Lakes, and Forest 
 Streams " ; Mr. Alfred B. Street's " Woods and 
 Waters, or the Saranac and Racket " ; Mr. J. T. 
 Headley's " The Adirondack, or Life in the 
 Woods " ; a series of papers in " Harpers' Magazine " 
 for July, August, and September, 1859, by Messrs. 
 
vi PREFACE. 
 
 T. B. Thorpe and T. A. Richards ; a series of letters 
 written by Mr. H. J. Raymond, and pubhshed in 
 the " New York Times " in June and July 1855 ; a 
 series of letters to " The Presbyterian " of Philadel- 
 phia ; and a number of articles in various other jour- 
 nals and magazines. " The Natural History of New 
 York" has also been consulted, as well as Hough's 
 " History of St. Lawrence and Frankhn Counties," 
 Redfield's " Sources of the Hudson," besides various 
 papers in the Historical Society. Acknowledgments 
 are likewise due Messrs. Durant, Richards, King, 
 and others, for valuable information. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 History, Legends, Traditions . . . . ' . . .9 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Boundaries, and Geography in Detail 14 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 Landscape, and Poetry of the Region 30 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Flora and Fauna 54 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Geology, Mineralogy, Iron, Lumber, Agricultural Re- 
 sources, Commerce, Manufactures, etc. . . .60 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 Railroads; the Opening of the Adirondack . . .77 
 
THE OPENING OF THE ADIRONDACKS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 HISTORY, LEGENDS, TRADITIONS. 
 
 The region of country known as " The Wilderness 
 of Northern New York" is almost without a history, 
 no special work having been written on the subject, nor 
 much, indeed, in the shape of incidental allusion, until 
 within the last ten or fifteen years, and that chiefly in 
 volumes of no great interest to the general public. An 
 imaginative historian might write largely concerning it, 
 filling 
 
 " The dark backward and abysm of time " 
 
 with pictures of the red men by whom it was undoubt- 
 edly peopled, drawing upon his fancy and the ignorance 
 of his readers for a world of details concerning them, — 
 their free and natural lives, their feasts, fasts, and festi- 
 vals, their skill and intrepidity in the chase, their courage 
 and scorn of death in war, — concluding the whole with 
 
10 HISTORY, LEGENDS, TRADITIONS. 
 
 a rose-colored tableau of the " Happy Hunting- Ground/' 
 
 and the poet's couplet — 
 
 " He thinks, admitted to that equal sky, 
 His faithful dog shall bear him company." 
 
 As this little volume, however, deals with fact and not 
 fiction^ the reader will have the goodness to imagine all 
 this for himself, together with the settling of the region, 
 or rather those adjacent, by the white races, beginning 
 with the French, who were soon at war with the English, 
 — a conflict in which the red men participated, and 
 which is knowai in history as The French and Indian 
 War. It Avas succeeded by the war of the Colonies 
 against the Mother-country, and occasionally the din of 
 battle rolled hitherward, disturbing the otherwise silent 
 and peaceful wilderness. Then came the Second War 
 with England, and, in more recent times, the unfortunate 
 " Patriot War." But the memory of these conflicts has 
 almost passed away, and the region is now as peaceful 
 as it is destined to be prosperous. 
 
 It is not without its legends, — one of which we will 
 relate, since it concerns the Indians, whom we have treat- 
 ed rather cavalierly perhaps. It is connected with the 
 bell of a village-church which stands near the St. Law- 
 rence River, and is called " The Legend of the Bell of 
 Saut St. Louis." 
 
 A tribe of Indians having been, through the efforts 
 of Father Nicholas, a French priest, converted to the 
 Catholic faith, it was determined to erect a church. 
 The sacred edifice was accordingly built ; but now arose 
 
HISTORY, LEGENDS, TRADITIONS. 11 
 
 a new want : the church must have a bell. But bells 
 in those early days were costly, and had to be procured 
 in the Old World. A council of Indians was held, 
 Father Nicholas presiding, and it was agreed that a 
 certain amount of deer-skins should be contributed regu- 
 larly, the value thereof being appropriated to a fund for 
 the purchase of a bell. In due time the pious Indians, 
 ardent in their new faith, had contributed sufficiently, 
 and a bell M'as ordered from France, w^hence it was 
 forwarded by the good ship " Le Grand Monarque," 
 which was bound for the New World and Quebec. 
 
 Now it so happened that at this time a war arose 
 between the French and English, and in consequence 
 " Le Grand Monarque " never reached its destination, 
 but was captured by a New-England privateer, taken 
 into the port of Salem, there condemned as a lawful 
 prize, and sold for the benefit qf her captors. The bell 
 was purchased by the village of Deerfield, on the Con- 
 necticut River, for a church about to be erected by the 
 congregation of the Rev. John Williams. 
 
 This was sad news for the Indian parish of Father 
 Nicholas. There was weeping and lamentation among 
 the tribe. The bell, the holy bell, their bell, was in 
 the hands of enemies, and not only enemies, but here- 
 tics ! Heaven had afilicted them ; their Great Father 
 had visited them with sorrow; there was fasting and 
 prayer. And there were more than these : there was a 
 determination to recover the Sacred Bell at all hazards. 
 
 An expedition was planned against the town of Deer- 
 
12 HISTORY, LEGENDS, TRADITIONS. 
 
 field. The French under M. de Rouville, and the In- 
 dians under Father Nicholas, advanced to the town in 
 midwinter, surprised the garrison by an ingenious strat- 
 agem, and regained their bell. 
 
 Words cannot paint the rejoicings which filled the sim- 
 ple hearts of the pious Indians at the fortunate capture. 
 A general thanksgiving was proclaimed, and in a few 
 weeks, amid the prayers and blessings of the assembled 
 tribes, the Bell of Saut St. Louis was elevated into the 
 belfry which had waited for it so long. 
 
 And ever since, the legend concludes, at the accus- 
 tomed hour, it has sent its clear tones over the broad 
 bosom of the St. Lawrence, to announce the hour of 
 prayer and the lapse of time. And although its tones 
 are shrill and feeble beside its modern companion, they 
 possess a music, and call up an association, which will 
 long give an interest to the Church of the Saut St. 
 Louis, at the Indian village of Caughnawaga. 
 
 Besides this legend, and others of a more poetical cast, 
 chiefly referring to the Indians, and evidently the inven- 
 tion of certain imaginative sportsmen, with whom, of 
 late years, the Adirondacks has been a favorite hunting- 
 ground, the region abounds in traditions mostly of 
 '■ mighty hunters " and their adventures with the wild 
 beasts of the wilderness. Around one of these person- 
 ages, — a mysterious Englishman named Folingsby, who 
 gave his name to several ponds and lakes among the Adi- 
 rondacks, — a sort of poetic halo has gathered, probably 
 because so little was known of him in his lifetime. He 
 
HISTORY, LEGENDS, TRADITIONS. 13 
 
 dwelt in a rude log-cabin, in one of the most solitary spots 
 in the whole wilderness, supporting himself by fishing and 
 hunting. Comrades he had none, and desired none. If 
 a stranger, as was sometimes the case, chanced to come 
 across his hut, he was civil, even hospitable, but never 
 social. And he was as haughty as lonely, — a shy, 
 reserved, mysterious man, who piqued yet baffled curi- 
 osity. There were strange rumors regarding his early 
 history, but their truth or falsity was never known, for 
 one wild and stormy night his troubled spirit passed 
 away. 
 
 " One step to the death-bed. 
 
 And one to the bier. 
 And one to the charnel. 
 
 And one — oh where? " 
 
 He died, as he had lived, — alone. 
 
 From papers which were found in his hut after 
 his death, it was conjectured that he was of noble birth, 
 and had met with some terrible misfortune in his earlier 
 years ; — the lady of his love may have been false to 
 him, or the wife of his bosom may have fled with his 
 friend. He was buried in a rude grave, the location of 
 which is no longer known. His memory, however, still 
 survives in the wilderness, and is a subject for conversa- 
 tion around the camp-fires of a summer's night. " A 
 haunted place," says a recent wri'.er, " is Folingsby's 
 Pond ; and many the daring hunter or trapper, who, 
 laughing at every other peril, trembles as night environs 
 him in its dreaded precincts." 
 
14 BOUNDARIES AND GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 BOUNDARIES, AND GEOGRAPHY IN DETAIL. 
 
 The geography of the Wilderness of Northern New 
 York is not so definite as could be wished ; most writers 
 who have attempted to describe it differing from each 
 other, while the majority of maps in which it is laid down 
 are vague and unsatisfactory as regards details. Still, 
 a general idea of it may be obtained sufficiently clear for 
 all practical purposes. 
 
 The Wilderness of Northern New York comprises 
 nine counties. The county of Warren lies at its south- 
 eastern corner ; and on the southern line, stretching west- 
 ward, extends the counties of Hamilton, Herkimer, and 
 Lewis. On the west lies the county of Jefferson. The 
 northern boundary is formed by the counties of Law- 
 rence, Franklin, and Clinton, while the eastern line is the 
 county of Essex. The region runs, in short, from Lake 
 Champlain and Lake George on the east, to Lake Onta- 
 rio and the St. Lawrence River on the west and north- 
 west, while its northern boundary is formed by Lower 
 Canada, and its southern by the counties of Oswego, 
 Oneida, Fulton, and Saratoga. 
 
BOUNDARIES AND GEOGRAPHY. 15 
 
 A great part of the region is traversed by ranges of 
 hills and mountains, some of the latter being the loftiest 
 in the State. In the interior are found vast, and, in 
 many cases, unexplored forests, where deer and other 
 species of wild animals abound. The surface is dotted 
 with numerous lakes, which are among the most beautiful 
 in America. Its mineral wealth is rich, though almost 
 wholly undeveloped, while its agricultural resources 
 are much greater than the majority of those interested 
 in the subject have any idea of. The border lines *are 
 comparatively settled, but the interior is in every respect 
 a wilderness. 
 
 " The Wilderness of Northern New York," says a 
 recent tourist, " is a plateau ranging from fifteen to 
 eighteen hundred feet above tide ; it is one hundred 
 miles in diameter. On the north and east it approaches 
 within thirty or forty miles of the Canada line and Lake 
 Champlain ; on the south within fifteen or twenty miles 
 of the Mohawk River, on the west within the same dis- 
 tance of Black River. It embraces nearly the whole of 
 Essex, Warren, and Hamilton counties, and the south- 
 west portion of Clinton, the south half of Franklin, the 
 south-eastern third of St. Lawrence, the eastern third of 
 Lewis, and the northern half of Herkimer. 
 
 " The plateau is crossed by a large valley shaped like 
 the letter Y. This valley crosses the plateau in a north- 
 easterly direction. It commences at the junction of 
 Moose and Black rivers, runs seventy miles to a point 
 south of Upper Saranac Lake, branching northerly to 
 
16 BOUNDARIES AND GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 Potsdam and nortli-easterly to Lake Cliamplain, near 
 Plattsburgh. A peculiar line or chain of lakes and 
 streams extends along this valley and its north-eastern 
 branch. This chain of waters links Lake Champlain 
 (through the Saranac and Racket lakes and streams, 
 Long and Forked lakes, the Eight Lakes, and Moose 
 and Black rivers), with Lake Ontario. The river St. 
 Lawrence may also be considered as indirectly connected 
 with this remarkable chain. 
 
 The waters of the plateau may be divided into four 
 systems : — 
 
 The first system embraces the Saranac group of lakes 
 and rivers. These are situated in Franklin County, and 
 flow into Lake Champlain. 
 
 The second system lies south of the above, includes 
 Racket River and Lake, Long Lake, Forked Lake, Tup- 
 per's Lake, etc. These flow into the river St. Law- 
 rence. 
 
 The third group includes the Eight Lakes, the Reser- 
 voir Lakes, etc. The waters of this group flow into Lake 
 Ontario, while the fourth system produces the Hudson 
 River. 
 
 The eastern portion of the plateau is exceedingly 
 mountainous, and embraces the celebrated Adirondack 
 range of mountains, the most northerly and the most 
 lofty in the State, superior in sublimity to the far-famed 
 Catskills. This range extends north-easterly from Little 
 Falls, on the Mohawk River, to Cape Trembleau at 
 Lake Champlain, and presents conical summits cloven 
 
BOUNDARIES AND GEOGRAPHY. 17 
 
 into sharp gray peaks, peculiar to a hypersthene formation. 
 Some of these peaks attain the elevation of one mile, — 
 almost the limit of eternal snow. Mount Tahawus, or 
 Marcy, Mount Mclntyre, Mount St. Antony, Mount 
 Golden, Mount Seward, Mount Whiteface and Dix's 
 Peak, are some of the highest summits of this region." 
 
 And now, having given, as we hope, a tolerably clear 
 idea of the general geography of the Wilderness of 
 Northern New York, let us proceed to describe it more 
 in detail, taking up the nine counties of which it is com- 
 prised in their geographical order, as they extend on the 
 south, from east to west, and, on the north, from west to 
 east, viz. : Essex, Warren, Hamilton, Herkimer, Lewis, 
 Jefferson, St. Lawrence, Franklin, and Clinton. 
 
 Essex County, which stretches along the coast of Lake 
 Champlain, is wild and mountainous, possessing all the 
 characteristic features of a wilderness. It is traversed 
 by the Clinton or Adirondack range of mountains, and 
 by various other ranges, known as the Layerne Moun- 
 tains, the Kayaderosseras Mountains, Schroon Mountains, 
 etc. The most notable peaks in the county are Mount 
 Seward, Mount Marcy, Mount Whiteface, Mount Pha- 
 raoh, Bald Mountain, and Dix's Peak. Its chief rivers 
 are the Boquet, the Ausable, and the Schroon, the last 
 of which is one of the sources of the Hudson ; it also 
 contains more than one hundred small lakes. Its princi- 
 pal settlements, or towns, are Chesterfield, Port Kent on 
 Lake Champlain, (known in most Guide-books as "a 
 point of departure,") Crown Point, Elizabethtown, Essex, 
 2 
 
18 BOUNDARIES AND GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 Moriali, Newcomb, North Elba, Tay, Schroon, West Port, 
 etc. Near Newcomb, beside Lakes Sanford and Hender- 
 son, are the well-known Adirondack Iron-works. The 
 famous Adirondack, or Indian Pass, one of the sublimest 
 phenomena of nature, little inferior in grandeur to Niag- 
 ara Falls, lies in this county, between Mount Mclntyre 
 and Mount Wallface. 
 
 Warren County, which lies directly south of Essex, and 
 to the w^est of Lake George, is diversified by mountain- 
 ranges similar to those in Essex County. The Hudson 
 and Schroon rivers flow through it towards the south, 
 and it abounds in small lakes. 
 
 Hamilton County lies west of Warren and Essex 
 counties. It is a wild region, presenting a succession of 
 hills, lakes, and forests, and is crossed by the Schroon, 
 Boquet, Adirondack, and Ausable ranges of mountains. 
 Mount Emmons is one of its principal peaks. The best 
 known of its multitude of lakes are Long Lake, Lake 
 Pleasant, Beaver Lake, and Piseco and Indian lakes. 
 The Moose and Sacondago rivers flow through it. 
 Among its towns miay be mentioned Arietta, Oilman, 
 Morehouse, and Wells. Sageville, near Lake Pleasant, 
 is the county seat. The beautiful Racket Lake, — 
 one of the most charming sheets of water in the New 
 World, — lies in the northern part of this county. 
 
 Herkimer County lies west of Hamilton. Certain 
 parts of it are wild and mountainous. The Mohawk 
 River flows through its southern portion. 
 
 Lewis County lies between Herkimer on the east, and 
 
BOUNDARIES AND GEOGRAPHY. 19 
 
 Jeflferson on the north and west. Much of it is literally 
 a Avilderness. It is watered by a branch of the Oswegat- 
 chie River, by the Beaver, Moose, and Indian rivers, by 
 Independence, Otter and Fisk creeks, and the head 
 waters of the Mohawk. It contains a number of lakes. 
 The Black River Canal is one of its principal works 
 of internal improvement. The county seat is Martins- 
 burgh. 
 
 Jefferson County lies to the extreme west of Northern 
 New York, being bounded on the western border by Lake 
 Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. Comparatively 
 well settled and flourishing, it is traversed by the Water- 
 town and Rome Railroad, by the Sackett's Harbor and 
 EUisburgh Railroad, and the Potsdam and Watertown 
 Railroad, which connects with Ogdensburgh. The sur- 
 vey of the Sackett's Harbor and Saratoga Railroad 
 terminates here. The Black and Indian rivers and 
 various creeks are included within its limits. It has a 
 number of lakes, and a long line of coast and bays. 
 Sackett's Harbor, on Lake Ontario, is its principal town. 
 Watertown has extensive railway communication. 
 
 St. Lawrence County lies along the St. Lawrence River. 
 It is a large and flourishing region, though as yet almost 
 wholly undeveloped. It is watered by the Indian, Oswe- 
 gatchie. Iron, Racket, St. Regis and Deer rivers, and 
 traversed by various lines of railroads. The Ogdens- 
 burgh, or Northern Railroad, — the most northerly one in 
 the State, — runs from Ogdensburgh on the St. Lawrence 
 River to Rouse's Point on Lake Champlain. The Pots- 
 
20 BOUNDARIES AND GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 dam and "Watertown Railroad is another important line. 
 Steamboats connect Ogdensburgh with Montreal. It con- 
 tains a number of lakes, the chief of which are Black 
 Lake, Long Lake, and Cranberry Lake, the latter being 
 the reservoir of the Oswegatchie River. The principal 
 towns are Potsdam, on Racket River, Rossie, Pierre- 
 point, Oswegatchie, Brasher, Ogdensburgh and Russell. 
 Canton is the county seat. 
 
 Franklin County lies between St. Lawrence and Clin- 
 ton counties, its northern boundary being formed by the 
 Canada line. Parts of it are settled, while others are 
 wholly uncultivated. The Ausable Mountains are located 
 here. It is watered by the Chateaugay, Salmon, Deer, 
 St. Regis, and Racket rivers, and abounds in lakes, the 
 most noted of which, the beautiful Saranac Lakes, lie 
 along the southern border. The northern portion of 
 the county is traversed by the Ogdensburgh Railroad. 
 The principal towns are Westville, Moira, Harrietstown, 
 Franklin, Covington, Duane, Chateaugay, Brandon, and 
 Burke. Malone, on the Ogdensburgh Railroad, is the 
 county seat. 
 
 Clinton County lies in the extreme north-eastern cor- 
 ner of the State, between Canada and Essex County and 
 Franklin County and Lake Champlain. It contains the 
 Ausable and other mountain ranges ; the Sable, Chazy, 
 Salmon and Saranac rivers, (most of which flow into 
 Lake Champlain,) the Chateaugay and Chazy lakes ; 
 and is traversed by the Ogdensburgh, and Plattsburgh 
 and Montreal railroads. Its chief towns are Altona, 
 
BOUNDARIES AND GEOGRAPHY. 21 
 
 Keeseville, Birmingham Falls, Beekmantown, Cham- 
 plain, Chazj, Clinton, and Dannemora. Plattsburgh, 
 on Lake Champlain, is the county seat. Rouse's Point 
 is of importance in a military point of view. Ausable 
 Forks, twelve miles above Keeseville, a small but 
 flourishing town, is noted for the manufacture of nails. 
 Altogether the county is one of the richest in the 
 State. Its wealth in iron is immense, though its 
 resources are far from being developed to their fullest 
 extent. 
 
 The first settlement in St. Lawrence County was made 
 by Francois Riquet, a French Sulpitian, who established 
 an Indian mission at the mouth of the Oswegatchie, in 
 1749, and called it " La Presentation." In 1759 an island 
 below the present site of Ogdensburgh was taken by the 
 French, strongly fortified, and for a long while it success- 
 fully resisted the English. The fort erected by them also 
 figures in the Revolutionary War. The first settlement 
 by State authority was made by an agent of Samuel 
 Ogden, named Ford, in 1796. After the war of 1812 
 the country about was settled by Yankees, and a tide 
 of speculative emigration set towards it, but soon 
 ebbed again. In 1837-40 came the Patriot War, and 
 near Ogdensburgh, in November 1838, was fought 
 the battle of Windmill Point, in which the English 
 were victorious. 
 
 The first settlement in Franklin County was made at 
 St. Regis, by a colony of Christianized Indians, led by 
 Jesuit priests. This tribe still exists, half registered 
 
22 BOUNDARIES AND GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 as American and half as English. They stand by the 
 Catholic faith, and appear to be on the increase. 
 
 Lake Charaplain and Lake George, lying on the east- 
 ern border of the counties of Clinton, Essex, and War- 
 ren, have a history of their own, with which few Amer- 
 icans, — certainly none who are familiar with the history 
 of their native land, — are unacquainted. 
 
 A large portion of Franklin, St. Lawrence, Jefferson, 
 Herkimer, and other counties, is included in what is 
 called the " McComb Purchase," one of the largest land- 
 purchases ever made, patented to McCormick and Mc- 
 Comb in 1791 - 98, comprising 3,693,755 acres. This 
 region also embraces a nrunber of " State Lands." 
 
 Such, in brief, are the outlines of the general geogra- 
 phy of the Wilderness of Northern New York, which 
 embraces nearly the whole of Essex, Warren, and 
 Hamilton, and portions of the six remaining counties. 
 Some include the county of Fulton within its limits ; 
 others do not include the county of Jefferson. " Differ- 
 ent portions of the Wilderness," says one authority, " are 
 known under different names. The northern portion is 
 called the Chateaugay Woods ; the St. Regis Woods lie 
 next below ; then comes the Saranac region ; then that of 
 Racket Lake ; to the east extend the Adirondacks ; and 
 below, south and south-easterly, are the Lake Pleasant 
 region and John Brown's tract." These divisions glide 
 into each other to a certain extent ; still, this classifica- 
 tion may be taken as a basis for a more detailed descrip- 
 tion, which we proceed to give, arranging it under four 
 
BOUNDARIES AND GEOGRAPHY. 23 
 
 different heads or sections, corresponding to the chief di- 
 visions of the Wilderness ; namely, the Northern section, 
 or the Chateaugay and St. Regis Woods ; the Middle, or 
 the Saranac and Racket section ; the Eastern, or the Adi- 
 rondack section ; — and the Western section, embracing 
 St. Lawrence and Jefferson counties, and the tract con- 
 taining the counties of Herkimer and Lewis. Land- 
 scapes of every variety meet and mingle in the panorama 
 of the region, — woods, lakes, mountains, fertile plains 
 and valleys, and barren deserts. A great confusion exists 
 among its names : many lakes and mountains have two 
 or more, — in fact the lakes are so numerous in some 
 localities that they are only known by numbers. 
 
 The Northern Section of the Wilderness includes the 
 Chateaugay and St. Regis woods, the county of Clinton, 
 and the northern half of Franklin County. Through the 
 eastern portion flow the Great and Little Chazy rivers, 
 small streams, so called from Chazy Lake, a lake of 
 some size which lies to the westward. Beyond Chazy 
 Lake towards the west lies Bradley's Lake, and beyond 
 this are the Chateaugay Lakes, which give their name 
 to the neighborhood. The Upper Chateaugay Lake lies 
 south and east of the Lower Chateaugay, wdth which it 
 is connected by water ; and south and east of these lies 
 Ragged Lake, a long and narrow sheet of water with 
 ragged outlines of coast. Westward of Ragged Lake 
 are Ingraham's Pond, and Owl's Head Peak. The town 
 and island of St. Regis lie on the St. Lawrence River 
 far to the north and west, while St. Regis Lake lies to 
 
24 BOUNDARIES AND GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 the south. The Saranac River runs through ClintoD 
 County, from the Saranac Lakes to Lake Champhiin 
 The Salmon River also flows through a portion of this 
 section. Near Keeseville is a romantic gorge, and in the 
 neighborhood of Black Brook are Mount Lynn, and a 
 collection of small ponds, known as Sampson, Taylor, 
 Mud Ponds, etc. A number of lakes hereabout are 
 called Slush Ponds, others enjoy the more dignified title 
 of Military Pond. Westward of Ragged Lake lies Mea- 
 cham's Pond, and to the southward of Ragged Lake lie 
 Round Pond, Loon Lake, another Round Pond and the 
 Rainbow Ponds. 
 
 The Middle Section embraces the Saranac Lakes, 
 which lie in Franklin County, and are three in number. 
 The Lower Saranac lies to the east, and the Upper 
 Saranac to the west, while Round Lake, or more prop- 
 erly the Middle Saranac, lies between them and tow- 
 ards the south. The Upper Saranac is the larger lake, 
 being one of the largest in the Wilderness. The lakes 
 in this region are from one to ten miles in length, though 
 the measurements, it must be confessed, are for the most 
 part as confused and inaccurate as the names. North and 
 west of the Upper Saranac lies a tract embracing what 
 are called the Clear Lakes, or Ponds : westward are the 
 Wolf Ponds ; and south of the Saranac Lakes flows the 
 'Racket River, — a noted stream, the scenery along whose 
 banks is wildly beautiful. Racket River flows from 
 Racket Lake, through Forked Lake and Long Lake, 
 through Hamilton, Franklin, and St. Lawrence counties, 
 
BOUNDARIES AND GEOGRAPHY. 25 
 
 and empties itself, after a journey of one hundred and 
 fifty miles, into the majestic St. Lawrence. " From crys- 
 tal cradle to grass-green grave," says Mr. Alfred B. Street, 
 in his picturesque Woods and Waters, " its shadowy foot- 
 steps glide through an unbroken wilderness. I say un- 
 broken, for the dots of clearings only heighten by' contrast 
 the general wildness of the scene. Its name, as some 
 suppose, is derived from the French Canadian hunters, in 
 old times; hunting the moose in winter by means of the 
 raquette (the French for snow-shoe) around the waters 
 now known as Raquette or Racket Lake. Others affirm 
 the name to be taken from a small marsh which a 
 Frenchman, accompanying Indians who were exploring 
 upward from the river's mouth, thought to be shaped like 
 a snow-shoe. ' But I 've al'ys heerd,' said Harvey, ' the 
 name came from the tarnal racket the I'iver keeps up 
 with the falls, and the rafts and what not on 't.' To re- 
 turn, however. North of Racket Lake, which lies in the 
 northern part of Hamilton County, are Long and Forked 
 Lakes, so called from their peculiar shape, and east of it 
 are the Eckford chain of lakes. Not far from Forked 
 Lake is Brandreth Lake, which derives its name from the 
 well-known maker of pills, who owns a considerable tract 
 of land in the vicinity. South and west of the Saranac 
 Lakes, and north of Forked and Long Lakes, lies Tup- 
 per's Lake, a charming sheet of neater, whose beauties 
 -are the delight of the tourist. Into this lake flows Bog 
 River, and near it rises Mount Morris. Connected with 
 it on the north are Racket Pond and Racket River, which 
 
26 BOUNDARIES AND GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 connect with Stony Pond and Creek and the Saranac 
 Lakes, between which stretches the passage known as 
 the Indian Carry. It is one of the characteristics of the 
 waters of this region that they are all closely connected 
 with each other, affording admirable facilities for inter- 
 nal and canal communication. In this neighborhood are 
 Simon's and Folingsby's Ponds, the last of which is named 
 after the lonely hunter of whom we have already spoken. 
 West and north of the Saranac Lakes are Rawlin's, Flood- 
 wood, Slang, Turtle, Hoel's, and other lakes and ponds, 
 the Fish-creek waters, etc. On the Racket River are 
 Racket Falls, not far from Long Lake, and the Percie- 
 field Falls ; south of the Eckford Lakes are the Chain 
 Lakes ; north of the Lower Saranac Lake lies Colesby's 
 Pond ; and south of the Saranac Lakes is Mount 
 Seward, one of the highest peaks in the region. 
 
 The Eastern, or Adirondack Section comprises the 
 eastern part of Hamilton, and the whole of Essex County. 
 It is a mountainous region, diversified with numerous 
 lakes. South of Mount Seward lie the Preston Ponds 
 and Mount Henderson ; and to the east of the latter Lake 
 Henderson, on the south of which lies a larger sheet of 
 water known as Lake Sanford. The village of Adiron- 
 dack, and the Adirondack Iron-works, lie on these lakes. 
 West of Sanford and Henderson lakes lie Newcomb 
 Lake, Delia Lake, Catlin Lake, the Rich Pond, Moose 
 Lake, etc. ; and north of Lake Henderson lies Lake 
 Placid, near which are MacKenzie's Pond and Sugar- 
 Loaf Mountain. Between these on the north and Lake 
 
BOUNDARIES AND GEOGRAPHY. 27 
 
 Henderson on the south, dividing Mount Wallface and 
 Mount Mclntyie, stretches the sublime Indian or Adiron- 
 dack Pass ; north and east of which rises Mount White- 
 face, one of the noblest peaks in the New World. In 
 this mountain is a chasm or gorge, known as the White- 
 face Notch ; not far from which rises Mount Esther. In 
 the northern and eastern portion of Essex County are 
 Lake Golden, and Lake Walauche, the Jay Mountains, 
 Poke - a - Moonshine Mount, and other mountains and 
 lakes. South and east of Mount Whiteface rises Mount 
 Marcy, or Tahawus — the Mount Blanc of the Wilder- 
 ness ; to the southward lie the Ausable Ponds, Nipple 
 Top Mount, Dix's Peak, McComb's Mount, Boreas Lake 
 and Mount ; to the east are the Boquet Mountains and 
 river, Bald Mount, Bartlett Mount, etc. Directly to 
 the south of Essex County lies Paradox Lake, and Mount 
 Pharoah and lake, and south of Paradox Lake, Lake 
 Schroon, the source of the river of that name. In War- 
 ren County are Trumbull Mount, Black Tongue Mount, 
 Cathead Mount, Prospect Mount, French Mount, besides 
 a number, of other mountains and lakes, which lie 
 towards the east near Lake George. Lake Layerne lies 
 towards the south near the Hudson River, and to the 
 west are Crane, Whortleberry and Gore mountains ; in 
 the interior are Loon Lake, Fiend Lake, Brant Lake, 
 and others. The region is watered by the Schroon, 
 Boreas and Boquet rivers, and various other streams. 
 
 The Western Section comprises St. Lawrence County 
 principally, and the larger portion of Jefferson, Herkimer 
 
28 BOUNDARIES AND GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 and Lewis counties. It is watered towards the north by 
 the St. Regis, Racket, and Grass rivers, and towards the 
 west and south by the Oswegatchie River. Black Lake, 
 which is of considerable size, lies towards the west ; 
 along the southern boundary are Yellow, Silver, Pleas- 
 ant and Clear lakes ; and towards the east are Geanekee 
 Lake, Maravvepie Lake, Ambee Lake, and Jordan and 
 Trout lakes. Jefferson County, south and east of St. 
 Lawrence County, is watered by the Black River, the 
 Indian and Chaumont rivers, and other streams. To- 
 wards the north lie Mud, Millstone, Grass, Butterfield, 
 Hyde, Red, Moon, and Vroman's lakes, and in the in- 
 terior are Perch River and lake. Between Jefferson 
 County on the west, and the Racket Lake region on the 
 east, stretch the counties of Lewis and Herkimer, and 
 to th6 south of Racket Lake, in Hamilton County, lies the 
 Lake Pleasant region. John Brown's Tract extends in 
 this locality. Tiie Indian Lake and Indian and Jessup 
 rivers, are in the southern half of Herkimer County. 
 Further south are Lewey Lake, Mason Lake, Echo 
 Lake, Long Lake, Elm Lake, Gilman's Lake, Round 
 Lake, Oxbow Lake, and Lake Pleasant ; south of these 
 are Piseco Lake, Spy Lake, Morehouse Lake, and the 
 Sacondaga River; and to the west lie many small lakes 
 and ponds. West of these, and in Herkimer County, 
 are Transparent Lake, the Reservoir Lakes, the Eight 
 Lakes, and a long extent of wilderness. This region 
 is traversed by branches of the Beaver and Moose 
 rivers, the latter of which flows in Lewis County, as 
 
BOUNDARIES AND GEOGRAPHY. 29 
 
 does also Otter Creek, Independence Creek, and Black 
 River, Deer and Indian rivers, and the west branch of 
 the Oswegatcbie. Lake Bonaparte and Oswegatchie 
 Pond lie in the northern part of this district, and lower 
 down are Beaver, Crystal, and Brantingham lakes. 
 
so LANDSCAPE AND POETKY. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 LANDSCAPE, AND POETRY OF THE REGION. 
 
 The Wilderness of Northern New York is the most 
 unique tract of country now remaining within the limits 
 of the United States, if not of the New World itself. 
 It represents in its wilder localities the ancient condition 
 of the Continent as it existed for untold centuries under 
 the dominion of the red races by whom it was sparsely 
 peopled, — a wild, vast, primitive territory which it is 
 difficult for even the imagination to realize. Other por- 
 tions of the land are perhaps as wild, — clad in as dense 
 forests, watered by as lonely lakes, and crowned by as 
 lofty mountains, — but they are limited in comparison, 
 their ancient depths more readily yielding to the foot of 
 the hunter and the trapper, the true pioneers of civili- 
 zation, and their borders more rapidly disappearing 
 before the axe of the woodman. Certainly there is no 
 such wilderness ea?t of the Rocky Mountains. One 
 might expect to find it, or its fellow, somewhere in the 
 far-off West, that mythical land which is every day 
 drawing nearer to us, — but not on the Eastern side 
 of the Continent, — not in the Northern States, and 
 
LANDSCAPE AND POETRY. 31 
 
 assuredly not in the great State of New York, where its 
 existence to-day is little short of a miracle. 
 
 The geography of the region as we have indicated it 
 in the previous chapter, may give some idea of its extent ; 
 but its varied character, the manifold forms of its scenery, 
 are not to be described in the brief compass of a work 
 like this. Our minds are conventionally unfitted, our im- 
 aginations too limited, or not sufficiently active, to picture 
 its grandeur and magnificence. Conceive it if you can 
 as it is ; millions of acres, hundreds of miles of wilderness, 
 here stretching away in the distance, there sinking into 
 deep and broad valleys, and there swelling up the sides of 
 hills and mountains which it clothes to the very summits. 
 Miles of primeval woods, dense, dark, and silent, — a be- 
 wildering waste of trees, an interminable mass of trunks, 
 which you can scarcely distinguish, so thick the boughs 
 around, and so impervious the roof overhead ; dense, save 
 where some adventurous hunter has made a clearing ; 
 dark, save where the noonday sun contrives to pierce the 
 thinnest shield of greenery with his sharp, bright arrows ; 
 and silent, save for the twitter of birds, the whine or roar 
 of some wild beast, the whisper of streams and brooks, 
 and the low, soft, sea-like, everlasting murmur of the wind 
 in the trembling leaves. Here and there are small lakes 
 and small streams, threads of silver winding away through 
 the shadows ; and yonder, rising and falling, are moun- 
 tains which shut you in like a wall, wooded to the peaks, 
 which are bleak and bare, or white and cloud-like with 
 snow. 
 
32 LANDSCAPE AND POETRY. 
 
 Such, in outline at least, is the Wilderness of Northern 
 New York, and such it has been from immemorial years. 
 Across the background of its Past, however, flits a pro- 
 cession of dusky figures, — dim, distant, and unreal as the 
 shadows of a dream. How they, and the dead and gone 
 time in which they once lived can become 
 
 " Such sights as youthful poets dream 
 On summer eves by haunted stream," 
 
 let the most American of all our poets tell us. 
 
 " Then all this youthfid paradise around, 
 
 And all the broad and boundless mainland, lay 
 
 Cooled by the interminable wood, that frowned 
 O'er mount and vale, where never summer ray 
 Glanced, till the strong tornado tore his way 
 
 Through the gray giants of the sylvan wild ; 
 Yet many a sheltered glade, with blossoms gay 
 
 Beneath the showery sky and sunshine mild, 
 
 Within the shaggy arms of that dark foi-est smiled. 
 
 There stood the Indian hamlet, there the lake 
 Spread its blue sheet that flashed with many an oar, 
 
 "Where tlie brown otter plunged him from the brake, 
 And the deer drank: as the light gale flew o'er. 
 The twinkling maize-field rustled on the shore ; 
 
 And while that spot, so wild, and lone, and fair, 
 A look of glad and guiltless beauty wore, 
 
 And peace was on the earth and in the air. 
 
 The warrior lit the pile, and bound his captive there. 
 
 Not unavenged, the foeman, from the wood, 
 Beheld the deed ; and when the midnight shade 
 
 Was stillest, gorged his battle-axe with blood : 
 All died — the wailing babe — the shrieking maid — 
 
LANDSCAPE AND POETRY. 33 
 
 And in the flood of fire that scathed the glade 
 The roofs went down ; but deep the silence grew, 
 
 When on the dewy woods the daybeam played ; 
 No more the cabin-smokes rose wreathed and blue, 
 And ever, by then- lake, lay moored the bark canoe." 
 
 Better than this, however, is the following glimpse of 
 savage life, — a characteristic picture which only a fine 
 artist could have painted. It is from Bryant's noble 
 poem, " The Fountain." 
 
 "I behold 
 The Indian warrior, whom a hand unseen 
 Has smitten with his death-woimd in the woods, 
 Creep slowly to thy well-known rivulet 
 And slake his death-thirst. Hark, that quick, fierce cry 
 That rends the utter silence: 't is the whoop 
 Of battle, and a throng of savage men, 
 "With naked arms and faces stained with blood. 
 Fill the green wilderness : the long bare arms 
 Are heaved aloft, bows twang and arrows stream ; 
 Each makes a tree his shield, and every tree 
 Sends forth its arrow. Fierce the fight and short, 
 As is the whirlwind. Soon the conquerors 
 And conquered vanish, and the dead remain 
 Mangled by tomahawks. The mighty woods 
 Are still again, the frighted bird comes back 
 And pliunes her wings ; but thy sweet waters rim 
 Crimson with blood. Then, as the sxm goes down, 
 Amid the deepening twilight, I descry 
 Figures of men that crouch and creep urJieard, 
 And bear away the dead. The next day's shower 
 Shall wash the tokens of the fight away." 
 
 Enough, however, of that poetic myth — the Noble 
 3 
 
34 LANDSCAPE AND POETRY. 
 
 Savage. Let us return to the forest as it is to-day, 
 lone, shadowy, and peaceful. 
 
 " The thick roof 
 Of green and stirring branches is alive 
 And musical with birds, that sing and sport 
 In wantonness of spirit ; while below 
 The squirrel, with raised paws and form erect, 
 Chirps men-ily. Throngs of insects in the shade 
 Try their thin wings and dance in the warm beam 
 That waked them into life. Even the green trees 
 Partake the deep contentment ; as they bend 
 To the soft winds, the sun from the blue sky 
 Looks in and sheds a blessing on the scene. 
 Scarce less the cleft-born wild-flower seems to enjoy 
 Existence than the winged plunderer 
 That sucks its sweets. The mossy rocks themselves, 
 And the old and ponderous trunks of prostrate trees 
 That lead from knoll to knoll, a causey rude. 
 Or bridge the sunken brook, and their dark roots. 
 With all their earth upon them, twisting high. 
 Breathe fixed tranquUlity. The rivulet 
 Sends forth glad soimds, and tripping o'er its bed 
 Of pebbly sands, or leaping down the rocks, 
 Seems, with continuous laughter, to rejoice 
 In its own being. Softly tread the marge. 
 Lest from her midway perch thou scare tJie wren 
 That dips her bill in water. The cool wind, 
 That stirs the stream in play, shall come to thee. 
 Like one that loves thee, nor will let thee pass 
 XJngreeted, and shall give its light embrace." 
 
 Such are the woods in summer. 
 
 " But Winter has yet brighter scenes, — he boasts 
 Splendors beyond what gorgeous Summer knows; 
 
LANDSCAPE AND POETRY. 35 
 
 Or Autumn with his many fruits, and woods 
 
 All flushed with many hues. Come when the rains 
 
 Have glazed the snow, and clothed the trees with ice, 
 
 While the slant sun of February pours 
 
 Into the bowers a flood of light. Approach I 
 
 The incrusted surface shall upbear thy steps, 
 
 And the broad arching portals of the grove 
 
 Welcome thy entering. Look ! the massy trunks 
 
 Are cased in the pure crystal ; each light spray, 
 
 Nodding and tinkling in the breath of heaven, 
 
 Is studded with its trembling water-drops, 
 
 That glimmer with an amethystine light. 
 
 But round the parent stem the long low boughs 
 
 Bend, in a gUttering ring, and arbors hide 
 
 The glassy floor. Oh ! you might deem the spot 
 
 The spacious cavern of some virgin mine. 
 
 Deep in the womb of earth - where the gems grow, 
 
 And diamonds put forth radiant rods and bud 
 
 With amethyst and topaz, — and the place 
 
 Light up, most royally, with the pure beam 
 
 That dwells in them. Or haply the vast hall 
 
 Of fairy palace, that outlasts the night, 
 
 And fades not in the glory of the sun ; — 
 
 Where crystal columns send forth slender shafts 
 
 And crossing arches; and fantastic aisles 
 
 Wind from the sight in brightness, and are lost 
 
 Among the crowded pillars. Raise thine eye ; 
 
 Thou seest no cavern roof, no palace vault; 
 
 There the blue sky and the white drifting cloud 
 
 Look in. Again the wildered fancy dreams 
 
 Of spouting fountains, frozen as they rose, 
 
 And fixed, with all their branching jets, in air, 
 
 And all their sluices sealed. All, all is light; 
 
 Light without shade. But all shall pass away 
 
 With the next sun. From numberless vast trunks, 
 
 Loosened, the crashing ice shaU make a sound 
 
36 LANDSCAPE AND POETRY. 
 
 Like the far roar of rivers, and the eve 
 
 Shall close o'er the brown wood as it was wont." 
 
 The grandest feature of the region, however, is not the 
 forests in which it has slept so many centuries, green 
 with the mantle of summer, and white with winter's 
 snows, but the ranges of mountains by which it is trav- 
 ersed, shooting up here and there into lofty peaks, which 
 can be seen m clear weather at a great distance. The 
 most noted of these is Mount Tahawus, or Marcy, which 
 was ascended some years ago by Mr. Headley, who thus 
 describes his ascent : — 
 
 '' We strained forward, now treading over a springy 
 marsh, now stooping and crawling like lame iguanas, 
 through a swamp of spruce-trees, and anon following the 
 path made by deer and moose, as they came from the 
 mountains to the streams, or climbing around a cataract, 
 until, at length, we reached Lake Golden, perfectly em- 
 bosomed amid the gigantic mountains, and looking for all 
 the world like an innocent child sleeping in a robber's 
 embrace. Awfully savage and wild are the mountains 
 that enclose this placid sheet of water. Crossing a strip 
 of forest we next struck the Opalescent River, so called 
 from the opals found in its bed. The forest here is 
 almost impassable, and so for five miles we kept the bed 
 of the stream, chasing it backward to its source. The 
 channel is one mass of rocks ; and hence our march was 
 a constant leap from one to another, requiring a correct 
 eye, and a steady foot, to keep the balance. Thus, zig- 
 zagging over the bed of this turbulent stream, we flitted 
 
LANDSCAPE AND POETRY. 37 
 
 backward and forward, like flies over the surface of a 
 
 river, till, at length, I heard a shout. S th had 
 
 missed his footing, and slipping from a rock, gone plump 
 into a deep pool. Gathering himself up, he laughed 
 louder than the loudest, and pushed on." 
 
 The party soon came to a halt, and cooked their dinner 
 on the rocks. " Soon after," he continues, " our packs 
 were all slung again, and we on the march. We contin- 
 ued diving deeper and deeper into the hills, until we at 
 last reached the base of the mountain, and the foot of 
 a lofty cataract. I have climbed the Alps and the 
 Apennines, but never found foot and eye in such requisi- 
 tion before. It was literally ' right up/ while the spruce- 
 trees, with their dry limbs like thorns a yard long, stuck 
 out on every side, ready to transfix us, and compelling us 
 to duck and dodge at every step. Now sinking through 
 the treacherous moss that covered some gap in the rocks, 
 and now swinging from one dead tree to another, we con- 
 tinued for two miles panting and straining up the steep 
 acclivity, flogged and torn at every step. "We had 
 already gone fifteen miles, and such a winding up the 
 
 tramp was too much. H thought ' the Milierites 
 
 had better start from this elevation.' A said 
 
 't would ' tear their ascension- robes so that they would 
 
 look rather shabby on the wing.' T was sure the 
 
 notion would take with them, as they 
 
 " ' Could make such a dale of the journey onfooV 
 " One large, athletic hunter we had taken along as an 
 
38 LANDSCAPE AND POETRY. 
 
 assistant, gave out, so tliat we were compelled frequently 
 to halt, and let him rest. The fir-trees grew thicker and 
 more dwarfish as we ascended, till they became mere 
 shrubs, and literally matted together so that you could 
 not see two feet in advance of you. Through, and over 
 these we floundered, and urged our steps ; yet, tired as 
 
 I was, I could not but stop and laugh to see B n fight 
 
 his way through. Rolling himself over like a cart-wheel, 
 he would disappear in the thick evergreens ; in a short 
 time his face, red w^ith the fierce struggle, would rise like 
 that of a spent swimmer's over the waves ; and then with 
 a crash he went out of sight again ; and so kept up the 
 battle for at least half an hour. Here we passed over 
 the bed of a moose, which we doubtless roused from his 
 repose, for the rank grass was still matted where he had 
 lain. At length we emerged upon the brow of a cliff, 
 across a gulf at the base of which arose a bare, naked 
 pyramid, that pushed its rocky forehead high into the 
 heavens. This was the summit of Tahawus. A smooth, 
 gray rock, shaped like an inverted bowl, stood before us, 
 as if on purpose to mock all our efforts. Half-way up 
 
 this was S th, looking no larger than a dog, as with 
 
 his pack on his back he crawled on all fours over the 
 rocks. Hitherto nothing could knock the fun out of him ; 
 and as he from time to time stumbled on a log, or heard 
 the complaint of some one behind, he would sing, in a 
 comical sort of a chorus, ' go-in-upj followed by his hearty 
 ha-ha-ha, as if he were impervious to fatigue. To every 
 hallo we sent after him, he would return that everlasting 
 
LANDSCAPE AND POETRY. 39 
 
 * go-in-iip,^ sung out so funnily that we invariably echoed 
 back his laugh, till the mountains rang again. But now 
 he was silent, the ' go-in-up ' had become a serious mat- 
 ter, and it required all his breath to enable him to ' go 
 up.' 
 
 " As we ascended this bald cone, the chill wind swept by 
 like a December blast, and well it might, for the snow had 
 been gone but a few weeks. The fir-trees had gradually 
 dwindled away, till they were not taller than your finger, 
 and now disappeared altogether ; for nothing but naked 
 rock could resist the climate of this high region. The 
 dogs, which had hitherto scoured the forest on every side, 
 crouched close and shivering to our side, — evidently 
 frightened, as they looked off on empty space, — and all 
 was dreary, savage, and wild. 
 
 " At length we reached the top ; and oh, what a view 
 spread out before, or rather below us. Here we were, 
 more than a mile high in the heavens, on the highest 
 point of land in the Empire State ; and with one excep- 
 tion the highest in the Union ; and in the centre of a 
 chaos of mountains, the like of which I never saw before. 
 It was wholly different from the Alps. There were no 
 snow peaks and shining glaciers ; but all was gray, or 
 green, or black, as far as the vision could extend. It 
 looked as if the Almighty had once set this vast earth 
 rolling like the sea ; and then, in the midst of its mad- 
 dest flow, bid all the gigantic billows stop and congeal in 
 their places. And there they stood just as He froze 
 them — grand and gloomy. There was the long swell, 
 
40 LANDSCAPE AND POETRY. 
 
 and there the cresting, bursting billow, and there the 
 deep, black, cavernous gulf. Far away — more than 
 fifty miles to the south-east — a storm was raging, and 
 the massive clouds over the distant mountains of Ver- 
 mont, or rather between us and them, and below their 
 summits, stood balanced in space, with their white tops 
 towering over their black and dense bases, as if they were 
 the margin of Jehovah's mantle folded back to let the 
 earth beyond be seen. That far-away storm against a 
 background of mountains, and with nothing but the most 
 savage scenery between — how mysterious, how awful it 
 seemed ! 
 
 " Mount Golden, with its terrific precipices, — Mount 
 Mclntyre, with its bold, black, monster-like head, — 
 White Face, with its white spot on its forehead, and 
 countless other summits, pierced the heavens in every 
 direction. And then, such a stretch of forest, for more 
 than three hundred miles in circumference, — ridges and 
 slopes of green, broken only by lakes that dared just to 
 peep into view from their deep hiding-places, — one vast 
 wilderness seamed here and there by a river whose sur- 
 face you could not see, but whose course you could fol- 
 low by the black winding gap through the tops of the 
 trees. Still there was beauty as w^ell as grandeur in the 
 scene. Lake Champlain, with its islands, spread away as 
 far as the eye could follow towards the Canadas, while 
 the distant Green Mountains rolled their granite summits 
 along the eastern horizon, with Burlington curtained in 
 smoke at their feet. To the north-west ojleamed out here 
 
LANDSCAPE. AND POETRY. 41 
 
 and there the lakes of the Saranac River, and farther 
 to the west those of the Eaqiiette ; nearer by, Lake 
 Sanford, Placid Lake, Lake Golden, Lake Henderson, 
 shine in quiet beauty amid the solitude. Nearly thirty 
 lakes in all were visible, — some dark as polished jet, be- 
 neath the shadow of girdling mountains ; others flashing 
 out upon the limitless landscape, like smiles to relieve the 
 gloom of the great solitude. Throughout the wide extent 
 but three clearings were visible — all was as Nature 
 made it. My head swam in the wondrous vision, and I 
 seemed lifted up above the earth and shown all its moun- 
 tains and forests and lakes at once. But the impression 
 of the whole it is impossible to convey, — nay, I am 
 myself hardly conscious what it is. It seems as if I had 
 seen vagueness, terror, sublimity, strength, and beauty, 
 all embodied, so that I had a new and more definite 
 knowledge of them. God appears to have wrought in 
 these old mountains with His highest power, and de- 
 signed to leave a symbol of His omnipotence. Man is 
 nothing here ; his very shouts die on his lips. One of 
 our company tried to sing, but his voice fled from him 
 into the empty space. We fired a gun, but it gave only 
 half a report, and no echo came back, for there was 
 nothing to check the sound in its flight. ' God is great,' 
 is the lanoruao;e of the heart, as it swells over such a 
 scene." 
 
 " Clouds are rolling around him to-day," says Mr. 
 Headley, speaking of Mount Tahawns on a later occa- 
 sion, " and I think of what Professor Benedict, of Bur- 
 
42 LANDSCAPE AND POETRY. 
 
 lington, told me. He ascended it once for scientific pur- 
 poses, and made experiments on the top, which have been 
 of great service to the State. He said that the spectacle 
 from it, one morning in a north-east storm, was sublime 
 beyond description. He was in the clear sunlight, while 
 an ocean of clouds rolled on below him in vast white un- 
 dulations, blotting out the whole creation from his view. 
 At length, under the influence of the sun, this limitless 
 deep slowly rent asunder, and the black top of a moun- 
 tain slowly emerged like an island from the mighty mass, 
 and then another and another, till away, for more than 
 three hundred miles in circumference, these black conical 
 islands were sprinkled over the white bosom of the 
 vapory sea. The lower portions of the mountains then 
 appeared, while the mist collected in the deep gulfs, and 
 lay like a vast serpent over the bed of a river, that wound 
 through the forest below, or shot up into fantastic shapes 
 resembling towers and domes and cliffs, and clouds frown- 
 ing and shifting and changing in bewildering confusion. 
 It is impossible to conceive anything half so strange and 
 wild." 
 
 " Oh, it was an unimaginable sight: 
 Clouds, mists, streams, waters, rock, and emerald turf; 
 Clouds of all tincture, rocks, and sapphire sky, 
 Confused, commingled, mutually inflamed, 
 Molten together, and composing thus. 
 Each lost in each, a marvellous array 
 Of temple, palace, citadel, and huge 
 Fantastic pomp of structure without name, 
 In fleecy folds voluminous en^vrapped. 
 
LANDSCAPE AND POETRY. 43 
 
 Such by the Hebrew prophets were beheld 
 In vision — forms uncouth of mightiest power, 
 For admiration and mysterious awe." 
 
 Pages might be written concerning the mountains of 
 this region, but they would hardly differ from each other 
 enough to justify us in writing them, so much does one 
 peak resemble another in its skyey outlook and the land- 
 scapes around its base. The Indian Pass, however, a 
 noted mountain-scene here about, being an exception to 
 the general rule, must not be passed over without descrip- 
 tion. Its chief characteristics may be gathered from 
 the following lines of Bryant, who in writing them had 
 a different view before him, — that of Monument Moun- 
 tain, a remarkable precipice in the western part of 
 Massachusetts. 
 
 *' There is a precipice 
 That seems a fragment of some mighty wall, 
 Built by the hand that fashioned the old world, 
 To separate its nations, and throAvn down 
 When the flood drowned them. To the north, a path 
 Conducts you up the narrow battlement. 
 Steep is the western side, shaggy and wild 
 With mossy trees, and pinnacles of flint, 
 Ajid many a hanging crag. But, to the east. 
 Sheer to the vale go down the bare old cliffs, — 
 Huge pillars, that in middle heavens upbear 
 Their weatherrbeaten capitals, here dark 
 With moss, the growth of centuries, and there 
 Of chalky whiteness where the thunderbolt 
 Has splintered them. It is a fearful thing 
 To stand upon the beetling verge, and see 
 Where storm and lightning, from that huge gray wall, 
 
44 LANDSCAPE AND POETRY. 
 
 Have tumbkd down vast blocks, and at the base 
 
 Dashed them in fragments, and to lay thine ear 
 
 Over the dizzy depths, and hear the sotmd 
 
 Of winds, that struggle with the woods below, 
 
 Come lip like ocean murmurs. But the scene 
 
 Is lovely round ; a beautiful river there 
 
 Wanders amid the fresh and fertile meads, 
 
 The paradise He made unto Himself, 
 
 Mining the soil for ages. On each side 
 
 The fields swell upward to the hills ; beyond, 
 
 Above the hills, in the blue distance, rise 
 
 The mountain columns with which earth props heaven." 
 
 The Indian Pass was visited by Mr. Headley, by whom 
 it is thus described. " I had expected, from paintings I 
 had seen of this Pass, that I was to walk almost on a level 
 into a huge gap between two mountains, and look up on 
 the precipices that toppled heaven-bigh above me. But 
 here was a world of rocks overgrown with trees and 
 moss, over and under and between which we were com- 
 pelled to crawl and dive and work our way with so much 
 exertion and care that the strongest soon began to be 
 exhausted. Caverns opened on every side ; and a more 
 hideous, toilsome, breakneck tramp I never took. Leap- 
 ing a chasm at one time, we paused upon the brow of an 
 overhanging cliff, while Cheney, pointing below, said, 
 * There, I 've scared panthers from those caverns many 
 times ; we may meet one yet ; if so, I think he '11 remem- 
 ber us as long as he lives ! ' I thought the probabilities 
 were, that we should remember him much longer than 
 he would us. At least I had no desire to task his mem- 
 ory, being perfectly willing to leave the matter unde- 
 
1 
 
 v^ 
 
LANDSCAPE AND POETRY. 45 
 
 cided. There was a stream somewhere ; but no foot 
 could follow it, for it was a succession of cascades, with 
 perpendicular walls each side hemming it in. It was 
 more like climbing a broken and shattered mountain than 
 entering a gorge. At length, however, we came where 
 the fallen rocks had made an open space around and 
 spread a fearful ruin in their place. On many of these, 
 trees were growing fifty feet high, while a hundred men 
 could find shelter in their sides. As the eye sweeps over 
 these fragments of a former earthquake, the imagination 
 is busy with the past — the period when an interlocking 
 range of mountains was riven, and the encircling peaks 
 bowing in terror, reeled like ships upon a tossing ocean, 
 and the roar of a thousand storms rolled away from the 
 yawning gulf, into which precipices and forests went 
 down with the deafening crash of a falling world. A 
 huge mass that had then been loosened from its high bed 
 and hurled below, making a cliff of itself, from which to 
 fall would have been certain death, our guide called the 
 ' Church,' — and it did lift itself there like a huge altar, 
 right in front of the main precipice that rose in a naked 
 wall, more than a thousand feet perpendicular. It is two 
 thousand feet from the summit to the base; but part of 
 the chasm has been filled with its own ruins, so that 
 the spot on which you stand is a thousand feet above the 
 valley below, and nearly three thousand above tide-water. 
 Thus it stretches for three quarters of a mile; in no 
 place less than five hundred feet perpendicular. By dint 
 of scrambling and pulling each other up, we at last sue- 
 
46 LANDSCAPE AND POETRY. 
 
 ceeded in reaching the top of the ' Church,' while from our 
 very feet rose this very cliff that really oppressed us with 
 its near and fiightful presence. Majestic, solemn, and 
 silent, with the daylight from above pouring all over its 
 dread form, it stood the impersonation of strength and 
 grandeur." 
 
 It is not for its mountains and forests alone, however, 
 that the Wilderness of Northern New York is remark- 
 able, for these might be paralleled to some extent else- 
 where ; not so its multitude of waters, countless lakes 
 reflecting the sky in their crystal mirrors, and numberless 
 streams threading their way through the shadowy recesses 
 of the woods. One of the former, lying in the heart of 
 the Adirondacks, is thus described by Mr. Headley. " It 
 is the largest body of water in this wild region, and with 
 a shore as irregular as it could well be made. Though 
 only thirteen miles long and six broad, it has a coast of 
 fifty miles in extent. With its long wooded points and 
 promontories and deep bays, it would look, to a man 
 placed above it, like a huge scallop. This waving out- 
 line completely deceives one, in sailing over it, as to the 
 extent and direction of the main body of water. As you 
 round one point, the lake seems to take a turn, for it goes 
 miles away piercing the very heart of the distant forest. 
 But by the time a second point is weathered, a broad apd 
 beautiful surface is seen spreading in another direction. 
 Thus there is a constant succession of new views ; in 
 fact, as you slowly float along, you seem to behold a 
 dozen different lakes, each rivalling the other in pictu- 
 
LANDSCAPE AND POETRY. 47 
 
 resque beauty. It has three large inlets, one of which 
 comes from the Eckford, or, as the hunters call them. 
 Blue Mountain and Tallow Lakes, pouring a stream of 
 crystal into its bosom. The south inlet is a river of such 
 magnitude that it can be navigated for eight miles by a 
 boat of a ton's burden. The third is Brown's Inlet, of 
 almost half the size of the former. 
 
 " Imagine this broad expanse of water in the midst of 
 a vast wilderness, dotted with islands, with deep bays 
 fringed with green ; bold slopes reaching to the clouds, 
 clothed with green ; distant mountains, enfolding moun- 
 tains, all waving with the same rich verdure ; blue 
 peaks, dreaming far away and far up in the heavens, — 
 and not a sign of vegetation, not a boat to break the 
 solitude, — and you will have some idea of the sights 
 that meet you at every turn, charming the soul into 
 pleasure." 
 
 The portion of the wilderness which has been most 
 written about is the region watered by the Saranac and 
 Racket rivers and lakes, — a wild and picturesque coun- 
 try, which- Mr. Street has made the subject of a volume 
 descriptive of a summer jaunt therein. It abounds in 
 glowing descriptions of woods and waters, as witness this 
 picture of the Saranac River. 
 
 " Directly at the entrance, on our right, lay an expanse 
 of wild grass and thickets, with a deep fringing of water- 
 plants. 
 
 " The views now changed suddenly as the scenes of a 
 theatre. The banks became low, the woods frequently 
 
48 LANDSCAPE AND POETRY. 
 
 yielding to broad spaces of natural grass, called indiffer- 
 ently by the guides, parks and wild meadows. They 
 were skirted, next the water, either with thickets or 
 trees, the green levels beyond being seen through the 
 loops and vistas of the foliage. 
 
 " Sometimes these meadows wound like bays into the 
 recesses of the background forest, beckoning the fancy 
 to distant nooks of beauty. 
 
 " Here and there in the forked head of a dry tree was 
 the nest of the fish-hawk, a rounded mass of gray with- 
 ered sticks. From the abundance of the water in these 
 woods, this bird haunts almost every scene, and its huge 
 nest, frequently met, gives a wild picturesqueness to the 
 monotony of the verdure. 
 
 " Spread over the shallows was abroad floor of lily-pads, 
 glistening in green varnish, and brilliant with white and 
 yellow blossoms, the pearly scallops of the former resting 
 on the surface, and the globes of the latter erect upon 
 their short thick stems. 
 
 " The dark-red Mohawk-tassel and the scarlet-berried 
 Solomon's-seal gleamed upon the banks, and on their tall 
 stems, tufted in the water, shone the purple-blossomed 
 moose-head. 
 
 " Between these meadows, the forest thronged to the 
 river's edge so densely as to slant many of the skirting 
 trees nearly athwart the stream. We skimmed over the 
 shadows in the water, where some jagged branch was so 
 accurately depicted it seemed that the little bluebird 
 would be torn while gliding over. 
 
LANDSCAPE AND POETRY. 49 
 
 " Black, soaking logs, almost buried in the water-weeds, 
 lay along or pointed from the banks, whence the twitter- 
 ing stream-birds vanished at our approach, while from 
 among the plants, the duck whizzed and the frog and 
 occasional musk-rat plunged." 
 
 Still more picturesque, at least in details, is Mr. 
 Street's description of the scenery along the banks of 
 Racket River. 
 
 " Past the bald hemlock flowing with moss like an old 
 bearded prophet ; past the ruined elm, its top tilting to 
 our ripple and raising dimples in the water; past the 
 gray finger of the skeleton pine, — finger pointing to the 
 centuries that have rolled over the forest ; past the 
 water-maple's peristyle of pillars upholding the blended 
 dome ; past the ledge green with moss as an emerald ; 
 past the tongues of the banks thrust far out into the chan- 
 nel, and the coves of hollowed foliage where the duck 
 dimly seen had doubtless cast anchor for the day ; past 
 the red oak hardened into iron like the trees of Jarn- 
 vids, and wreathed into green softness by the moss ; past 
 the trunk wrestling on the border with some straggling 
 grape-vine, a Laocoon of the wood ; past the windy bub- 
 bles in the channel where the rain launched its fiercest 
 lash, we swept along. On either hand frowned the ab- 
 original wilderness, — wilderness like that which walled 
 Hudson as he tracked up his river ; which darkened on 
 Champlain as he coasted dow^n his lake ; where no axe 
 but the one clearing space for the shanty had ever rung, 
 no smoke had ever curled save that breathed by the 
 4 
 
50 LANDSCAPE AND POETRY. 
 
 camp-fire ; close-twined save at the beautiful green open- 
 ings, grassy nests of the forest, tempting one to make there 
 a home where existence should glide along in sylvan 
 peace. 
 
 " Down we went over the glossy greens, the glitter- 
 ing whites of the river ; down past elms and spruces, and 
 hemlocks and pines, and water-maples and alders ; down 
 past sandbanks and gravel beds, sunken logs and slanting 
 trees ; old withered upright trees, and trees thrust midway 
 into the channel where the water eddied and sparkled ; 
 down past lily-pads and water-grasses, leafy arcades and 
 cloisters, colonnades and peeping nooks ; down past glades 
 and swamps and lichened ledges and dry ridges brown 
 with the dropped needles of the pine : 
 
 " DoAvn the winding woodland river, 
 
 Oh how swift we glide ! 
 
 Every tree and bush and blossom 
 
 Mirrored in the tide ; 
 Bright and blue the heaven above us 
 
 As — whose azure eye! 
 Soft and sweet the wandering breezes 
 
 As — whose gentle sigh ! 
 While the cloudlet wreathing o'er us 
 
 As her spotless brow ! 
 Oh what king was e'er so joyous 
 As we roamers now ! 
 Ho, ho, we merrily go 
 Down the winding sparkling flow ! 
 Down so cheerily, 
 Never wearily. 
 Ho, ho, we merrily go 
 Down to the lovely lake below I 
 
LANDSCAPE AND POETRY. 51 
 
 " Mark the crane wide winnowing from us ; 
 OflF the otter skims ! 
 Round her fortress sails the fish-hawk ; 
 
 Down the wood-duck swims ! 
 Glitters rich the golden lily, 
 
 Glows the Indian Plume ; 
 On yon point a deer is drinking, 
 
 Back he shrinks in gloom ; 
 Now the little sparkling rapid ! 
 
 Now the fairy cove ! 
 Here, the sunlight-mantled meadow ! 
 There, the sprinkled grove ' 
 Ho, ho, we merrily go 
 Down the winding glittering flow ! 
 Down so cheerily, 
 Never wearily. 
 Ho, ho, we merrily go 
 Down to the lovely lake below ! " 
 
 As we have confined ourselves hitherto to the out- 
 ward life of the Wilderness, — the forms of its landscapes, 
 the aspect of its woods, waters, and mountains, — let us 
 now glance at some of its myriads of liring creatures, or 
 rather let Mr. Street do so for us. He is looking at a 
 pool. 
 
 " In its airlike depth was a trout, moving around rest- 
 lessly, scenting a lily-stem ; pondering over a mossy rock ; 
 darting toward the surface ; steadying himself by the 
 occasional flutter of his fins ; staring with huge eyes all 
 about ; waving his tail, like a deer grazing, and working 
 his mouth as if chewing a cud. By-and-by a miller 
 came close to the glass of the surface, quivering with 
 admiration at the image of his silver coat. His spasm of 
 
52 LANDSCAPE AND POETRY. 
 
 self-love was short, for the trout, lurking in the ambush 
 of a stone, like a bandit in his cave, darted forth, gave a 
 nip, and the luckless miller vanished. 
 
 " Then came a shiner that sent a flash through all the 
 pool. Now he poised himself, head downwards, as if to 
 lunge through the ooze ; then stood on his tail and gaped. 
 At last he turned himself into a wheel and gyrated away. 
 He was succeeded by a gleam of gold, cast by a sunfish 
 that flattened himself on his side and lay there until a 
 bull-head blundered along and turned one of his horns 
 on him, when the sunfish whisked himself away. 
 
 " At this juncture there was a plump, and then a sudden 
 darkening of the crystal enclosure, through which I saw 
 the dim shape of a musk-rat, who scampered across the 
 bottom, and then rose by a sedge on a dot of grass, with 
 its flag half-way up its staff. 
 
 " First, his ratship pulled the stem of a yellow lily, as 
 if to ring the bell ; then he nibbled the gold off the blos- 
 som ; then he skimmed to the edge of the bank, with two 
 furrows like a wedge pencilled from his shoulders, and 
 cut with his needle-teeth the barb of an arrow-head, and 
 towed it with his mouth to his burrow, where he van- 
 ished. In a moment, however, his blunt, whiskered face 
 and glittering specks of eyes were thrust forth again in 
 my direction, thinking, I suppose, what a queer thing 
 that log was, when an involuntary motion on my part 
 caused him to disappear in the winking of an eye." 
 
 It is not with " such small deer " as these, however, 
 that the Wilderness is mostly peopled, and for which it is 
 
LANDSCAPE AND POETRY. 53 
 
 SO attractive to sportsmen, but game of another sort, chief 
 among which is, of course, the deer, the most poetical, 
 as it certainly is the most graceful, of all the forest 
 animals. A description of the deer and its habits would 
 make a charming paper, but unfortunately it does not 
 come within the scope of this chapter, which is already, 
 we fear, too long ; we close it therefore with a hunting- 
 song, in which the theme lingers as the sound of a bugle 
 in the echoes of a mountain. It is from the pen of Mr. 
 Street. 
 
 " The woods are all sleeping, the midnight is dark ; 
 We lairnch on the still wave our bubble-like bark ; 
 The rifle all ready, the jack burning clear, 
 And we brush through the lily -pads, floating for deer; 
 
 Floating for deer ; 
 As we glide o'er the shallows, boys, floating for deer. 
 
 " We turn the low meadow ; now breathless we skim ; 
 That eye ! no, the phosphor ! yon head ! no, a limb ! , 
 
 This step in the stream ! no, a spring dripping near ! 
 Thus we brush through the lily-pads, floating for deer ; 
 
 Floating for deer ; 
 Thus we glide o'er the shallows, boys, floating for deer. 
 
 " Yon nook ! spring the locks ! the deer's eyeballs of fire ! 
 Still, still as a shadow ! hush ! nigher, yet nigher ! 
 Crack, splash ! draw him in ! now away in good cheer, 
 Through the lily-pads blithely from floating for deer; 
 
 Floating for deer ; 
 Back to camp, through the shallow, from floating for deer." 
 
54 FLORA AND FAUNA. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 FLORA AND FAUNA. 
 
 The Fauna and Flora of the settled portion of the 
 Wilderness being such as are common to the latitude and 
 the State generally, and consequently of a familiar char- 
 acter, stand in no need of description. As they present, 
 however, in the wilder regions some peculiar features, it 
 may not be amiss to devote a few pages to the latter. 
 As might be expected from the natural configuration of 
 the country, — its vast forests, its steep and wooded 
 mountains, and its lack of human inhabitants, — wild 
 animals, as bears and panthers, abound, and the fur- 
 bearing tribes — the Sable, the Fisher, and the Beaver. 
 
 The most remarkable, perhaps, of the larger animals is 
 the Moose, so called from the Indian word " Mussee," sig- 
 nifying wood-eater, and which is known to zoologists as 
 the Cervus Alces, and is variously styled the American 
 Elk, the Black Elk, the Moose Deer, etc. In stature the 
 moose is large, with a long head, narrowed before the 
 eyes, and enlarged into a thick, curved nose. The nos- 
 trils are long, the muzzle small. The eyes, which are 
 moderately large, are placed near the base of the horns ; 
 
FLORA AND FAUNA. 55 
 
 the ears are long, while the neck is very short, and is 
 furnished with a short mane. The horns occur only in 
 the male. The color of the moose is a dark gray, and 
 the size equals that of an average horse. It is remark- 
 ably awkward and ungainly in its movements ; its habits 
 are marked and distinctive. In summer it haunts the 
 streams and lakes, feeding upon aquatic plants, especially 
 the pond-lily. It devours grasses and twigs of trees, 
 and is particularly fond of the striped white maple, which 
 from this circumstance is sometimes called " moose-wood." 
 It is also addicted to peeling old trees, and lunching off 
 their bark. In the cold season the moose herd together 
 in the woods. They are very shy, and, in spite of their 
 awkwardness, very fleet ; the sense of hearing and smell- 
 ing are so acute in them that hunters consider it a great 
 achievement to kill a moose. Their hide furnishes the 
 material for good moccasins and snow-shoes, and their 
 flesh is very palatable ; when young, it is hardly distin- 
 guishable from veal; the nose and tongue are consid- 
 ered the choicest morsels. The moose, when young, is 
 said to be capable of domestication, and has even been 
 used for agricultural purposes. Racket Lake was for- 
 merly a great settlement of these animals, which are 
 becoming more and more scarce ; in a short time they 
 will probably disappear. 
 
 The Wolverine is found here. It has a short, compact 
 body, with an arched back, a little raised from the ground ; 
 a small, broad, rounded head, with small ears nearly hid- 
 den in fur. The eyes are small, the fur loose and shaggy, 
 
56 FLORA AND FAUNA. 
 
 the tail short and bushy, the legs thick and short, with 
 clawed feet. The color varies from a light cream to a 
 deep, dark brown. It is a troublesome and mischievous 
 animal, destroying traps, etc. It is seldom if ever found, 
 we believe, south of Racket Lake. 
 
 Deer are as numerous as dogs in more civilized local- 
 ities. The fox, the Avolf, the marten, the hare, the lynx, 
 the otter, the wild-cat, the racoon, and the minx are found 
 more or less frequently. The Indians have traditions of 
 a strange and ferocious animal, called the Yagesho, which 
 flourished here centuries ago, and which has long been 
 extinct : most naturalists deny that it ever existed. 
 
 The ornithology of the Wilderness embraces the birds 
 common to the State and latitude, besides various species 
 peculiar to the bleaker regions of the country. 
 
 The Canada Jay breeds around the sources of the 
 Saranac. This species has a leaden-gray back ; its hind 
 head is black, its forehead, collar, and tip of the tail, dusky 
 white. The plumage is loose, and the length varies from 
 ten to twelve inches. It seems to be omnivorous, devour- 
 ing berries, eggs of other birds, and even carrion. 
 
 In the spruce-forests is found a species of grouse 
 which is generally known as the Spruce Grouse. It is 
 sub-crested, darkish, spotted with white. The tail is 
 rounded, with brownish-red tips, and the throat and 
 breast are black. This bird is also known as the Canada 
 Grouse, and the Spruce Partridge. In spite of its sug- 
 gestive name, however, the flesh is not very edible, hav- 
 ing a bitter taste. 
 
FLORA AND FAUNA. 57 
 
 The raven is sometimes seen here. It is omnivorous, 
 and common alike to Europe and America. 
 
 The Arctic Woodpecker is found in various localities. 
 It has a yellow crown, with a white band stretching from 
 the mandible and passing under the eye ; the outer tail- 
 feathers are white and rufous. The female is without 
 the yellow crown. This bird abounds in the forests of 
 Herkimer and Hamilton counties in June, and has also 
 been found at Niagara. It breeds here, and feeds on the 
 tree-boring insects. 
 
 The American Swan is found in the lonelier districts ; 
 as the uninhabited portions of Hamilton and Herkimer 
 counties, and around the outlet of Tupper's Lake. This 
 species was shown by Dr. Sharpless to be distinct from 
 the swan of Europe. 
 
 The birds, however, which possess the most interest 
 for the general reader, are the Eagle and the Loon. 
 Naturalists divide the genus Eagle into two species. 
 The first of these, the Golden Eagle, {Aquila ChryscB- 
 tos,) is a rare bird. It is solitary in its habits, a pair 
 seeming to monopolize a district. It builds its nest in 
 inaccessible rocky peaks, devouring birds and quadru- 
 peds, but never touching aught that is dead. The second, 
 the Brown or Bald Eagle, is found all over the United 
 States. It feeds on fish, wild-fowl, and small quadrupeds ; 
 pursues and conquers the fish-hav/'k, and builds its nest 
 on lofty trees. 
 
 The Loon is a remarkable bird, and has been much 
 written of by visitors to the Adirondack region. It is 
 
58 FLORA AND FAUNA. 
 
 thus described by Mr. Street in his Woods and Waters. 
 " As the boat glided downward, I looked again and again 
 at the dark purple - green of the loon's neck ; the two 
 white collars below ; his back and wings of ebony, inlaid 
 with pearl ; the pure snow of his undershape ; the black 
 dagger of his beak ; his fierce, red eye ; and his short, 
 straight, jointless leg, so adapted to propel the buoyant 
 bark of his body. His structure was wild, almost gro-* 
 tesque, and like his Indian whoop, was in harmony with 
 the secluded and savage waters which he alone makes 
 his home." The cry of the loon is a most peculiar sound, 
 and once heard is not readily forgotten. It has been 
 described as the laugh of a maniac, or rather the jeering 
 laugh of a demon over a fallen victim, — a bitter, taunt- 
 ing laugh and yell mingled. The loon is emphatically 
 an aquatic bird. It often appears on the surface of a 
 lake as a mere black speck, and as it dives with wonder- 
 ful rapidity it is a very difficult bird to kill. The saying, 
 " crazy as a loon," originated from the maniacal whoop of 
 this singular creature. 
 
 A species of nightingale, known as the Saranac Night- 
 ingale, is found in the Wilderness region ; and the loud, 
 clear, triumphal music of its voice rises above the shriek 
 of the eagle, the croak of the raven, the boom of the bit- 
 tern, and the shouting of the loon. Flocks of wild pigeons 
 containing hundreds of thousands are frequently to be 
 seen. 
 
 On the reptiles of the region we need not dwell partic- 
 ularly. The rattlesnake is found in certain quarters, the 
 
FLORA AND FAUNA. 59 
 
 wood-terrapin, and other species of creeping things. The 
 fish for which the waters hereabout are most noted is 
 the trout. It is of three varieties : the Small Trout, the 
 Speckled Trout, and the Lake Trout. 
 
 The Flora of the Northern Botanical District of New 
 York embraces not only the ordinary plants of level 
 and cultivated regions of corresponding latitude, but, in 
 its more mountainous regions, an Alpine vegetation. 
 
 On the higher peaks are found, among others, the fol- 
 lowing plants. The Alpine Willow Herb, the common 
 European Golden Rod, and the Procumbent Alpine 
 Rosebay. The latter, which grows on the loftiest moun- 
 tain summits, is to be met with on the White Hills of 
 New Hampshire, and is common to the Western Conti- 
 nent. The Alpine Bilberry, loving the rocky clefts ; the 
 Lapland Daphensia, peculiar to high latitudes and locali- 
 ties ; the Meadow^ Grass, the Alpine Holy-Grass, a rare 
 species ; the purple Alpine Hair-Grass, a curious grass, 
 identical with the Lapland plant of the same name ; the 
 Crow-berry, the Slender Fringed Rush, the Sedge, and 
 other plants peculiar to high mountains of the northern 
 hemisphere, or natives of the Arctic Zone. 
 
 Another plant common to the region is the Water- 
 lily, of which there are two kinds, the white and the 
 yellow. They grow from an immense rough stem, 
 several feet in length, embedded in the bottom. This 
 throws out fibres, which, lengthening, lets up the bud to 
 blossom on the surface. The water-lily is a favorite 
 food with the deer. 
 
60 GEOLOGY, MINERALOGY, IRON, LUMBER, ETC. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 GEOLOGY, MINERALOGY, IRON, LUMBER, AGRICULTURAL 
 RESOURCES, COMMERCE, MANUFACTURES, ETC. 
 
 The nine counties of which the region is composed lie 
 in what is scientifically termed the Second and Third 
 Geological Districts of New York. The former em- 
 braces the counties of Warren, Essex, Clinton, Frank- 
 lin, St. Lawrence, Jefferson, and Hamilton; the latter, 
 those of Herkimer and Lewis. 
 
 The Second Geological District may be regarded as 
 an insulated portion of the State bordered by three val- 
 leys, — those of the Champlain, Mohawk, and St. Law- 
 rence rivers. It is traversed by ranges of mountains, 
 whose arrangement, though seemingly irregular, is in real- 
 ity sufficiently regular. Its valleys are few, and, being 
 long and narrow, partake of the character of gorges. 
 
 Their number and direction is determined by the 
 rivers laid down on the map. 
 
 The District in many parts is elevated, as may be seen 
 by the following table of some of its heights above the tide. 
 
 Tupper and Cranberry Lakes, .... 1500 feet. 
 Saranac Lakes, 1500 " 
 
GEOLOGY, MLNERALOGYj IRON, LUMBER, ETC 61 
 
 Lake Sanford, 1826 feet 
 
 Adirondack Iron Works 1889 " 
 
 Lake Golden 2851 " 
 
 Mount Whiteface 4900 " 
 
 Mount Seward 5100 " 
 
 Dix'sPeak 5200 " 
 
 Mount Marcy 5467 " 
 
 In Warren County the rocks are chiefly primary. The 
 main rock is gneiss. Limestone, serpentine, and peat 
 not unfrequently occur. The great feature of Essex 
 County is the abundance of the hypersthene rock, rising 
 as it were in the centre of mountains, and joining the 
 nucleus around which all other rocks are dispersed. The 
 veins of iron in this county are another important feature. 
 Primary limestone exists in large quantities, while the 
 sedimentary rocks and the tertiary formation exhibit 
 some interesting scientific phenomena. The igneous and 
 trap rocks are comparatively few. The Adirondack 
 Mountains are a prominent element in the landscape, and 
 the celebrated Adirondack Pass is as interesting geolog- 
 ically as it is poetically subUme. The trap-dyke at Ava- 
 lanche Lake is also a curious spectacle. Clinton County 
 is rich in iron ; the ores are in veins. The chief geolog- 
 ical feature is the development of the lower members of 
 what is called " The New York System of Rocks." The 
 primary rocks are granite and gneiss. The greatest 
 development takes place in the lower limestones. The 
 rocks abound in fossils. There is also much " drift." The 
 curious features presented by the phenomena of the loose 
 materials, etc. of this county, support the belief that it 
 
0)2 GEOLOGY, MINERALOGY, IRON, LUMBER, ETC. 
 
 was elevated from a submersion by several successive up- 
 lifts. In Franklin County the primary rocks predomi- 
 nate. St. Lawrence County embraces three geological 
 divisions : the region of primary rocks, that of sand- 
 stone, and that of limestone. This county contains much 
 specular iron ore. Jefferson County is strongly marked 
 by diluvial action. The rocks are not irregularly ar- 
 ranged, and much of the soil is suited for agricultural 
 purposes. Hamilton County is wild and rocky. Its 
 principal feature is the abundance of its lakes. The 
 same may be said of Herkimer County. Of Lewis 
 County, the last of the series, the geology presents noth- 
 ing that demands special notice. 
 
 The region contains a variety of mineral springs, as 
 Nitrogen, Sulphur, and what are denominated " Petrify- 
 ing Springs." Thus w^e have the Chateaugay Springs, in 
 Franklin County ; the Essex County Springs, and Sul- 
 phur Springs, at Beekman, Clinton County ; and at sev- 
 eral localities in St. Lawrence County calcareous tufa is 
 deposited from springs in St. Lawrence and Franklin 
 counties ; and a remarkable deposit of the same nature 
 is found near the head of Otsego Creek, in Herkimer 
 County. 
 
 Copper is found in considerable quantities throughout 
 St. Lawrence County and elsewhere, while large depos- 
 its of Galena, or Sulphuret of Lead, have been discov- 
 ered in various sections of the region. Mines of this last 
 metal have been w^orked at different times with various 
 degrees of success, as the Rossie Lead Mine, the Robin- 
 
GEOLOGY, MINERALOGY, IRON, LUMBER, ETC 63 
 
 son, Ross, and Jepson mines, and though they did not at 
 the time fulfil the perhaps too sanguine expectations of 
 their projectors, they are destined, we believe, to prove 
 a profitable investment to skilful capitalists. 
 
 Serpentine is also found in the region. This fine 
 green stone, so beautiful by nature, and so susceptible of 
 polish by art, is valuable as a marble, and should be used 
 more extensively than at present. Mixed with granular 
 limestone, it forms the celebrated Yerd Antique. Serpen- 
 tine is found in other portions of the State, but so impure 
 that it is of no practical utility. But the Serpentine of 
 Northern New York, especially that of St. Lawrence 
 County, is of excellent quality, and only needs the requi- 
 site facilities of transportation to become an important 
 product. 
 
 Associated with Serpentine in St. Lawrence County 
 is Soapstone. In consequence of being soft and tena- 
 cious, this stone can be moulded, and then rendered 
 hard by exposure to heat. It is a useful article, and can 
 be made yet more valuable commercially. Clays of 
 every variety are not wanting in the region, while its 
 resources of Marble are comparatively unknown and 
 untouched. St. Lawrence County contains an abundance 
 of White Limestone, and Water Limestones are found in 
 other localities. Marl exists in St. Lawrence County ; 
 and in Essex County there are large quantities of Graph- 
 ite, (Plumbago, or Black Lead). 
 
 The most important product of the region, however, is 
 Iron, which is found in nearly every county therein. In 
 
64 GEOLOGY, MINERALOGY, IRON, LUMBER, ETC. 
 
 Essex and Clinton counties it is especially abundant. In 
 the former may be mentioned the Penfield ore-bed, the 
 Cragharbor ore, the Cheever Mine, near Port Henry, the 
 Sanford Mine, in the town of Moriah, about six miles 
 west of Port Henry, the Barnum Mine, Hale's Mine, the 
 Everett Mine, and others. 
 
 The largest deposits of iron in Essex County are in 
 the town of Newcomb, and are known as the Sanford 
 Mine. This mine is placed on the western face of a hill 
 overlooking Lake Sanford, about ten miles from the vil- 
 lage of Mclntyre. 
 
 In Clinton County is found the Arnold Bed, which 
 contains a vast quantity of good iron. The whole county, 
 in fact, is very rich in mineral capabilities. Iron has also 
 been discovered in Herkimer County. 
 
 The iron principally exists in the form of Magnetic 
 Oxide, though the Specular Oxide also exists. St. Law- 
 rence County is rich in this latter product, as in what are 
 called the Kearney and Parish ore-bfids. This form of 
 iron is also found in other counties. What is known as 
 Bog Iron ore abounds in St. Lawrence County ; indeed, 
 there is scarcely a town within its limits in which this 
 variety of iron does not occur. 
 
 Magnetic deposits are found at Oakham, Harewood, 
 Sherwood, and elsewhere. The Iron Mountain at Oak- 
 ham was discovered in 1852. It furnishes an inexhaust- 
 ible supply of the best quality of iron. This remark ap- 
 plies also to the veins at Harewood, Sherwood, Grandshue, 
 and Clifton. The Clifton ore-bed is especially rich. 
 
GEOLOGY, MINERALOGY, IRON, LUMBER, ETC. 65 
 
 Professor Emmons wrote years ago of the Newcomb 
 or Adirondack ore-bed as follows : — ■ " In order to obtain 
 a correct conception of the amount of ore on the Sanford 
 Hill, we may estimate its solid contents ; or if we merely 
 estimate the amount of ore at the depth of two feet from 
 the surface, we shall find that it amounts to at least 
 6,832,737 tons, a large proportion of which may be re- 
 moved or raised without the use of power. This amount 
 of ore will produce at least 3,000,000 tons of iron of the 
 best quality." Again he remarks : " There probably 
 never was a vein so favorably situated, and where so lit- 
 tle capital will be required to obtain the ore and trans- 
 port it to the place where it is to be reduced. A very 
 remarkable fact observable in relation to the Sanford 
 vein, is its entire freedom from pyrites, and any other 
 substances known to exert an injurious effect on iron. 
 In fact the ore of the vein is one of the purest which 
 is at present known, if we except the Arnold ore." In 
 another place he says : " Such at any rate I conceive to 
 be the qualities of the iron, that it is a matter of national 
 importance that the operations in its manufacture should 
 be conducted in the best possible mode. There are some 
 particular uses to which this iron can be applied, and for 
 which there is nothing equal to it made in this country." 
 
 The following anecdote is related in reference to the 
 original Adirondack iron-bed. " An Indian approached 
 the late David Henderson, Esq., of Jersey City, in the 
 year 1826, whilst standing near the Elba Iron Works, 
 and taking from beneath his blanket a piece of iron ore, 
 
66 GEOLOGY, MINERALOGY, IRON, LUMBER, ETC. 
 
 he presented it to Mr. H. with the inquiry, expressed- in 
 his imperfect English, ' You want to see 'um ore ? me find 
 plenty, all same.' When asked where it came from, he 
 pointed to the southwest, and exclaimed, ' Me hunt beaver 
 all 'lone, and find 'um where water run over iron dam.' 
 
 " The Indian proved to be a brave of the St. Francis 
 tribe, honest, quiet, and intelligent, who spent the sum- 
 mers in hunting amid the wilds of the Adirondack. An 
 exploring party was promptly arranged, who, submitting 
 themselves to the guidance of the Indian, plunged into 
 the pathless forest. The first night they made their biv- 
 ouac beneath the giant walls of the Indian Pass. The 
 next day they reached the site of the present works, and 
 there saw the strange spectacle described by the brave : 
 the actual flow of the river over an iron dam, created by 
 a ledjre of ore, which formed a barrier across the stream. 
 
 " The reconnoissance revealed to their astonished view 
 various and immense deposits of ore, equal almost to the 
 demands of the world for ages. 
 
 " A glance disclosed the combination, in that secluded 
 spot, of all the ingredients, and every facility for the most 
 extensive manufacture of iron, in all its departments. In 
 close proximity existed an illimitable supply of ore, bound- 
 less forests of hard wood, and an abundant water-power. 
 The remote position of the locality formed the chief im- 
 pediment to the scheme which was at once adopted by 
 the intelligent explorers." 
 
 Not deterred by this consideration, they immediately 
 secured the purchase of an extensive tract of over a mill- 
 
GEOLOGY, MINERALOGY, IRON, LUMBER, ETC. 67 
 
 ion of acres, embracing not only the entire Adirondack 
 ore-beds, but also water-power, wood, and limestone lands 
 sufficient for the working of the ores for generations. A 
 road was constructed to the site, a settlement was com- 
 menced, iron was produced equal to the best Swedish 
 ores, and the proprietors, Messrs. Mclntyre, Robertson, 
 and Henderson, displayed the greatest energy. Pro- 
 fessor Emmons, as State Geologist, visited this region for 
 five years, and in 1842 made an elaborate Report to the 
 State, extracts from which have already been quoted. 
 The length of this Report prevents its insertion entire, but 
 it is well worth perusal. It enters fully into all points 
 regarding the quantity and other important characteristics 
 of the ores, treats of the Sanford ore, the coarse-grained 
 or black ore, the fine-grained ore, and other beds and va- 
 rieties. Professor Johnson also furnished a Report upon 
 the iron of the region, in which he speaks of the ores in 
 the highest terms known to practical science. 
 
 Stimulated by these Reports, the State of New York 
 caused a survey of the Valley of the Upper Hudson to 
 be made, with reference to the construction of a canal. 
 The project, however, was finally abandoned, much to the 
 disappointment of Mclntyre and his associates. At last, 
 (though their ore commanded a far higher price than any 
 other,) owing to the expenses of its long overland trans- 
 portation, these gentlemen were compelled to suspend 
 operations temporarily. But in the mean time their atten- 
 tion had been turned to the peculiar fitness of their iron 
 for conversion into steel ; and in 1848, they, with other 
 
68 GEOLOGY, MINERALOGY, IRON, LUMBER, ETC. 
 
 parties, organized the Adirondack Iron and Steel Com- 
 pany, at Jersey City, N. J. James E.. Thompson, Esq., 
 the superintendent of these works, proves conclusively 
 in his Report (1854), that the Adirondack iron furnishes 
 a first-class quality of steel, equal to the best Swedish 
 iron. Testimonies as to the quality of this iron have 
 been received from the highest sources. At the World's 
 Fair in London, the jury awarded the Company a gold 
 medal for a specimen of its iron and steeL 
 
 There can be no doubt that everything is favorable 
 to the development of the iron wealth of Northern New 
 York, when it shall have proper facilities for transpor- 
 tation. There is absolutely no lack of material — no 
 limit to it. The iron seems to be literally inexhaustible, 
 capable of supplying the demands of centuries yet to come, 
 while the quality is as fine as the quantity is vast, far 
 surpassing in kind the ores of more southern regions. 
 "Wood is abundant, and thus an important element in 
 iron-manufacture is supplied. The timber, like the iron, 
 cannot fail while the lakes and streams of the region 
 afford a plenteous supply of water-power for the working 
 of all necessary machinery. In short, all that is needed 
 for the prosecution of successful mining enterprise is in- 
 dividual exertion. Nature has done her work, let man 
 fulfil his part. Let him labor and prosper. 
 
 The timber of the region likewise demands a share of 
 attention as well as the iron. Millions of acres of wood- 
 land exist here, which in years to come will be forced to 
 yield their riches to Trade and Commerce, although at 
 
GEOLOGY, MINERALOGY, IRON, LUMBER, ETC. 69 
 
 present they stand dark, dense, primeval, poetical, — and 
 useless. In certain portions a considerable amount of 
 lumbering is done, but as a general rule the timber facil- 
 ities of the region are utterly neglected. But all this 
 will be changed in time ; railroads and canals will bring 
 the Wilderness within reach of civilization, and the 
 lumberman will take the place of the hunter. 
 
 Pine, hemlock, cedar, spruce, fir, maple, beech, birch, 
 moose-wood, bass-wood, ash, walnut, sugar-maple, tama- 
 rack, and other woods, are scattered throughout the forest. 
 The bird's-eye and curled-grain maple, with the elegant 
 mottled birch, are of such a quality that in the hands of a 
 skilful cabinet-maker they might be made to supersede 
 mahogany and rosewood. The spruce, larch, and tama- 
 rack grow to a great size, and are in demand for deck- 
 ing, and spars as well as boards. Among the " soft 
 woods," are pines varying from ninety to one hundred 
 and twenty feet in height, without a limb ; in diameter 
 sufficient, and in quality suitable, for the masts of our clip- 
 per ships, or for the main shafts of our largest factories. 
 Various approximate estimates have been made of the 
 average value per acre of the forest in different parts of 
 the region. The following is from the " Forest Arcadia." 
 " Mr. Thomas McCaw, who, several years ago, made a 
 critical examination of a large portion of its area, and 
 whose judgment is beyond question, makes this estimate 
 of the quantities of material to be found upon one acre, 
 as a mean of the forest, namely : thirty cords of mer- 
 chantable wood ; one spar of 128 cubic feet (as a mean) ; 
 
70 GEOLOGY, MINERALOGY, IRON, LUMBER, ETC. 
 
 five cords of hemlock bark ; 2280 feet, board measure, 
 of pine lumber; 13,680 feet, board measure, of spruce, 
 hemlock, etc. ; 6840 feet, maple, birch, beech ; and the 
 mean net value per acre to be $201." Of another section 
 of this region another writer says : " In fine, so great is 
 the growth of this whole forest, that were it felled and 
 cut up into cord-wood, it would average upon each and 
 every acre 75 cords. Below is the general average (on 
 one acre) of a series of estimates made at different parts 
 of this forest during the prosecution of the survey, namely : 
 
 2000 feet (board 
 
 measure) spruce. 
 
 3000 " " 
 
 " pine. 
 
 4000 " » 
 
 hemlock. 
 
 2000 " » 
 
 " maple. 
 
 1500 " " 
 
 " birch. 
 
 1500 " " 
 
 " beech. 
 
 1000 " » 
 
 " various woods 
 
 2^ cords of hemlock bark, and 50 cords of merchantable 
 wood, or 2500 bushels of charcoal." 
 
 Other estimates place the value of the forest per acre 
 even higher than those already given. But whatever may 
 be the exact figures, the fact is, that no richer lumber- 
 lands exist than those of Northern New York. All that 
 is needed for their commercial development is facility 
 of transportation. Concerning this requisite, a writer 
 remarks : " This access to market is, in fact, the prime 
 want of the region. If its interior, within which the 
 principal masses of the State lands are situated, had the 
 means of reaching a market, the produce of the forest. 
 
GEOLOGY, MINERALOGY, IRON, LUMBER, ETC. 71 
 
 in the various forms of round and square timber, sawed 
 stuff, firewood, charcoal, and potashes, would, it is be- 
 lieved, pay both for the land and the clearing, — a re- 
 sult as desirable in the markets below as it would be 
 beneficial to the interior." 
 
 With regard to the agricultural capabilities of this re- 
 gion an erroneous impression seems to prevail, the general 
 idea being that Northern New York can never become a 
 productive country, agriculturally speaking, that it has no 
 natural advantages of soil and climate. This is a great 
 mistake, for not only is the soil better adapted to graz- 
 ing than many settled parts of the country, but in addi- 
 tion there are as many tracts of what could readily be 
 rendered good farm-land as can be found in most regions 
 of equal extent throughout the length and breadth of 
 the land. Concerning certain portions of it, Professor 
 Emmons speaks as follows : — " Contrary to the public 
 accounts and to common opinions, I have the pleasure of 
 stating that it is far from being the wet, cold, swampy, 
 and barren district which it has been represented to be. 
 The soil is generally strong and productive ; the moun- 
 tains are not so elevated and steep but that the soil is 
 preserved of sufficient thickness to their tops to secure 
 their cultivation, and most of the marshy lands may be 
 reclaimed by ditching ; by this means they will become 
 more valuable than the uplands for producing hay. In 
 fine, it will be found an excellent country for grazing, 
 raising stock, and for producing butter and cheese." 
 Again he says : " It is probable that, when the country is 
 
72 GEOLOGY, MINERALOGY, IRON, LUMBER, ETC. 
 
 settled extensively, and the timber and wood removed, 
 there will be an amelioration of climate ; it will then be- 
 come dryer and less frosty, and the summer warmer, and 
 better suited to the raising of corn." Professor J. W. 
 Benedict remarks, in his Reports of this region : " In the 
 western section the soil in many places is deep, warm, 
 and rich; the elevation is no greater than that of many 
 of the most productive parts of New England, and the 
 climate is not more rigorous. I am entirely satisfied, from 
 repeated examination of the cattle and crops in the field 
 and dairy in the house of the Newcomb Farm, owned by 
 the Honorable A. Mclntyre, and situated in the so-called 
 * Siberian region ' of the Adirondacks, that it needs noth- 
 ing but facilities to market, to give it distinction among 
 those of our best agricultural districts. — Grass," he 
 continues, " oats, potatoes, rye, buckwheat, peas, beans, 
 carrots, turnips, onions, and cabbages, flourish in these 
 western settlements, for aught I can see, as well as in 
 any other part of the State. What more, then, is want- 
 ing, under good husbandry, to fill the dairies with butter 
 and cheese, and cover the fields with sheep, cattle, and 
 horses F " 
 
 The following agreeable picture of farm-life in St. 
 Lawrence County is from the " Forest Arcadia " : — 
 " There was an air of repose and comfort along the road 
 which pleased me exceedingly. Nobody seemed to be in 
 a hurry ; the farmer who answered our questions by the 
 roadside spoke in a tone self-possessed and calm. The 
 fields were well cleared for half a mile on either side, and 
 
Ill 
 
 ?iiF 
 
GEOLOGY, MINERALOGY, IRON, LUMBER, ETC 73 
 
 well fenced, and the houses were generally framed, set 
 back a little from the road, and well ordered. Beyond the 
 clearings, and flanking them for miles, were dense groves 
 of sugar-maples, called in this country sugar-bushes, 
 their luxuriant plumes nodding to each other in the even- 
 ing breeze as we rode by. Occasionally the tinkle of a 
 cow-bell broke the almost perfect silence. Everything 
 seemed wrapt in a dream of peace. — The farmer," the 
 writer says elsewhere, "devotes himself to the keeping 
 of cows — some farms having as many as two hundred 
 — and the making of butter and cheese, which he can 
 readily sell, without moving it, at the highest market-price. 
 Instead of the severe labor in the field of preparing the 
 ground, planting, hoeing, and reaping, his whole atten- 
 tion is turned to the fresh fields and pastures new that 
 surround his modest dwelling. He milks his cows, churns 
 his butter, smoking his pipe meanwhile with the greatest 
 possible enjoyment." 
 
 In fact, the soil of a great part of the country seems 
 to be considerably superior to that of New England. It 
 is strong and rich, and although the climate is undoubt- 
 edly severe, there is no reason why the crops should not 
 be an important element of wealth. Mr. Hammond, 
 who visited a large portion of the region as a tourist 
 and sportsman, states that in his wanderings he came 
 across many spots which he trusts and believes will in 
 the future be transformed by the hands of skilled labor 
 into fine and fertile farms. 
 
 A large portion of the region is included in what the 
 
74 GEOLOGY, MINERALOGY, IRON, LUJUBER, ETC. 
 
 agricultural writers call the Northern Highland district. 
 Much of the soil is derived directly from the Primitive 
 Rocks, which produce two soils, according to the variety 
 of granite which prevails ; one derived from potash felspar 
 or ordinary coarse granite, the other lime felspar w^hich 
 belongs to the hypersthene rock. 
 
 Of the commerce and manufactures of Nortliern New 
 York the following brief resume may not be unijiteiest- 
 ing. Potsdam, on the Racket River, has a large lumber- 
 trade and many factories ; it is also a market for the sale 
 of the produce of the surrounding country. The lumber- 
 trade of the Racket River, and of St. Lawrence County 
 generally, might be made much larger and more profita- 
 ble than it is at present, as might also the trade in agri- 
 cultural produce. Canton, on Grass River, is a market 
 for dairy-wealth, and as it possesses both railroad con- 
 nections and water facilities, it has of course the requi- 
 sites for extensive commerce and manufactures. The 
 situation of Ogdensburg, on the east shore of the St. 
 Lawrence, at the mouth of the Oswegatchie, — a middle 
 ground for navigation, that of the lower waters meeting 
 here the navigation of the lakes, and a terminus of the 
 Northern and Rome and Ogdensburg Railroad, connect- 
 ing from the east with the Prescott, and Ottawa, and 
 Grand Trunk roads, — gives it extensive commercial 
 advantages, and justifies the prediction that it is destined 
 to become a great city. The Seymour House at this 
 place is one of the best hotels in the State. Clinton 
 County does a large business in peltries, stock-raising, 
 
GEOLOGY, MINERALOGY, IRON, LUMBER, ETC. 75 
 
 dairy-produce, lumber, and the manufacture of starch, 
 in addition to its immense iron business, and the by 
 no means inconsiderable items of fishing and hunting. 
 Plattsburg has a fine harbor, and extensive water facili- 
 ties. Essex County contains a number of tanneries, 
 and manufactories of sashes, blinds, tubs, pails, starch, 
 paper, and black-lead. Ship-building is carried on to 
 some extent, and the raising of stock and lumbering 
 Franklin County raises agricultural and dairy produce ; 
 does a considerable business in lumber, and has over 
 forty factories for the manufacture of starch from potatoes 
 which, with spring grain, are largely grown here. Herki- 
 mer County does a fair business in dairy-produce, espe- 
 cially in the article of cheese, of which it makes three 
 times the amount of any other county in the State. It 
 also raises a large crop of hops, and is not deficient in 
 general manufactures. Jefferson County comprises many 
 limestone and slate districts which are very favorable for 
 dairy purposes, spring grain, barley, oats, corn, rye, peas, 
 etc. ; it also contains many manufacturing depots for iron, 
 castings, machinery, cotton and woollen fabrics, paper, 
 leather, flour, etc., the chief of which are situated along 
 Black River, and in Antwerp, Theresa, Philadelphia, 
 Adams, and Ellisburgh. The building of rafts and ships 
 is a considerable item along the St. Lawrence River. 
 Watertown has large manufactories, and Sackett's Harbor 
 an extensive naval station and depot. Lewis County 
 raises dairy-produce and spring grains, and contains ex- 
 tensive manufactories for lumber, leather, paper, etc., along 
 
76 GEOLOGY, MINERALOGY, IRON, LUMBER, ETC. 
 
 the Black, Moose, and Beaver rivers. Warren County- 
 raises dairy-produce, and manufactures leather and lum- 
 ber ; it also contains quarries of black marble. St. Law- 
 rence County is the first county in the State for the 
 raising of dairy-produce and stock, beside being rich in 
 spring wheat, potatoes, peas, maple-sugar, lead, iron, and 
 lumber. 
 
RAILROADS. 77 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 RAILROADS ; THE OPENING OF THE ADIRONDACK. 
 
 Having in the preceding chapters described in a neces- 
 sarily brief way the Wilderness of Northern New York, 
 and shown that the region abounds in valuable minerals, 
 is rich in lumber, not deficient in agricultural wealth, 
 and teems with manufacturing facilities, it now remains 
 for us to indicate its chief deficiency, which is, simply, that 
 of a railroad to develop its manifold resources. 
 
 As far as railroads are concerned, it is the veriest tru- 
 ism to say that the most barren and worthless district 
 becomes comparatively fertile and valuable when once 
 connected with the centres of trade by these great high- 
 ways of civilization. How much more precious, then, the 
 Wilderness-region will be when its wealth of mine and 
 forest is rendered available by a railroad to New York, 
 may easily be imagined. 
 
 Several lines of railroad are in active operation in dif- 
 ferent portions of Northern New York. The Ogdensburg, 
 or Northern Railroad, runs from Ogdensburg on the St. 
 Lawrence River to Rouse's Point on Lake Champlain, pass- 
 ing through Madrid, Potsdam, Brasher, Malone, Chateau- 
 
78 RAILROADS. 
 
 uay, Chazy, and Moer's Point. This road is one hundred 
 and eighteen miles in length, and is an important artery 
 of trade. The Plattsburg and Montreal Railroad crosses 
 the Northern Railroad at Moer's Point. The Sackett's 
 Harbor and Ellisburgh Railroad is another line, eighteen 
 miles in length, connecting at Pierpoint Manor with the 
 Watertown, Rome, and Cape Vincent Railroad, which 
 connects at Rome with the New York Central Railroad, 
 and is ninety -seven miles in length. The Potsdam and 
 Watertown Raih-oad, seventy-six and a quarter miles 
 long, connects with Ogdensburg, passing through Can- 
 ton. The railroads of Northern New York run along 
 the Northern, North-Western, and South- Western bor- 
 ders, and on the south. As yet, however, no line cuts 
 the middle of this vast region, either from east to west, 
 or from north to south. The Adirondack Railroad, as 
 at present completed and contemplated, fulfils to a 
 certain extent the latter of these requisites. 
 
 The general design of the Adirondack Company is to 
 connect the Wilderness-region, to the centre of which the 
 part now being constructed nearly extends, with the great 
 centres of trade. It is also to facilitate the business of 
 the immense mining district of Northern New York, so 
 that its large mineral resources, and more particularly its 
 vast wealth in iron, may be developed in a manner com- 
 mensurate with their unexampled magnitude. 
 
 The first important attempt to develop the wealth of 
 the Wilderness-region was made a few years since by the 
 organization of the " Sackett's Harbor and Saratoga Rail- 
 
RAILROADS. 79 
 
 road Company." This project was well received both by 
 the State and the public ; special privileges were offered 
 to the Corporation, and grants of forest-land were made 
 to it, making an aggregate of over half a million of 
 acres in the possession of the Company. Thorough sur- 
 veys were made, resulting in the selection of a remark- 
 ably favorable line, and the work of construction was 
 commenced with vigor. But the undertaking was unfor- 
 tunately forced to yield to a financial crisis, and active 
 operations were suspended. Various attempts were sub- 
 sequently made to revive the scheme, among which was 
 the inducing of several English capitalists to take a 
 controlling interest in the road, but the breaking out of 
 the Rebellion checked for the time all further enterprise. 
 At last the affairs of the Company were wound up, a 
 Receiver was appointed, through whom the Company's 
 estate passed into the hands of the Adirondack Com- 
 pany. This result was due, in great part, to the saga- 
 city and energy of T. C. Durant, Esq., who, perceiving 
 the importance of the enterprise, at once applied his 
 financial and administrative abilities to the prosecution 
 of the work of construction. 
 
 A considerable portion of the Adirondack Railroad is 
 already completed and in operation. Starting from Sar- 
 atoga, after a ride of fifteen miles or thereabouts, we 
 reach Jessup's Landing, or Palmer's Falls, in the town- 
 ship of Corinth. Here the road touches the Hudson, 
 along whose bank it winds. Five miles farther, at 
 Luzerne, we reach the Sacondaga River, a branch of 
 
80 RAILROADS. 
 
 the Hudson. Fourteen miles beyond the road strikes 
 Schroon River, opposite and about three miles from the 
 town of Warrensburgh. From twenty-five to twenty- 
 eight miles farther we enter the Wilderness-region, and 
 leave civilization behind us. Passing on our way the 
 romantic station known as " The Glen," and the station 
 of Johnsburg, we penetrate the heart of the forest, 
 rushing along by streams and gorges, and amidst the 
 most picturesque scenery for ten or twelve miles, grad- 
 ually approaching the Adirondack mines and the great 
 mineral district of Northern New York. A large portion 
 of the road follows the original survey of the Sackett's 
 Harbor and Saratoga Railroad. At Ord's Falls the 
 middle section of the proposed Black Water Navigation 
 connects with the line of road. 
 
 A great deal of local traffic must necessarily be trans- 
 acted along this line. A vast amount of freight will be 
 transported, large in bulk in proportion to intrinsic value, 
 and therefore profitable as freight ; while the passenger 
 travel will be a very considerable item in its receipts, — 
 an important one, indeed, in the summer or pleasure sea- 
 son. As the Wilderness-region becomes better known, 
 thousands will avail themselves of its railroad facilities to 
 visit its wild and beautiful scenery, its green and shady 
 forests, its still and limpid lakes, its deep gorges, and its 
 lofty mountains ; and, without doubt, hotels will ere long 
 be erected throughout this whole section of the State. 
 The lumber will affi^rd constant employment for the road ; 
 the agricultural produce will seek it as its avenue to mar- 
 
RAILROADS. 81 
 
 ket ; while the immense mineral wealth of the region will 
 tax, profitably alike to itself and the whole country, its 
 utmost resources. There can be no doubt of the 7ieed 
 of such a line as the Adirondack Railroad, nor any rea- 
 sonable doubt of its ultimate success. 
 
 It will benefit the Wilderness-region and the sea- 
 board cities through the interchange of their wealth, — 
 the ore, the lumber, and the grain of one passing the 
 merchandise of the other, — the forest greeting the 
 wilderness as they hurry on their iron way, northward 
 and southward. And it will benefit more than these ; 
 for the time is not far distant when it must benefit 
 Canada as well, and by so doing add still further to 
 our own riches. Middle Canada, at least, will soon seek 
 this road on its way to our markets, and will return 
 by it in preference to any other route. Indeed, there 
 is no other which it can take by rail, and to suppose 
 that it will rest content with its present deficient water 
 communications, is absurd. There was a time when 
 men were satisfied with stage-coaches and packets, with 
 teams and tow-boats, but we have changed all that. 
 The highway from Canada to New York, and from 
 New York to Canada, is through the Adirondacks. 
 
 The coal of Pennsylvania, for instance, upon which 
 Canada so largely depends, and which now reaches it 
 by tardy and circuitous routes, — floating from the ter- 
 minus of the Delaware and Hudson Canal up the Hud- 
 son, and through Lake Champlain, — will shortly reach its 
 destination by this road, speeding through the wilderness 
 
82 RAILROADS. 
 
 to the clatter of the engine, which tosses back its long 
 plume, and startles the solitude with its wild screams, 
 jubilant, it would seem, at the Opening of the Adiron- 
 dacks. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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