F 12 •85 T76 Copy I m. -.ii''- »jr THE TPAIL OF THE m A souvE:^4In. A OUIDE BOOK v THE TRAIL OF THE MOHAWK MILES or MAGNIFTCEMT MOUMTAIM SCENES, UNRIVALED ONTHE ArL.\NTIC COASr CHARLES R.CANEDY PIWreGRAPHER (^PHOTO PUBLISHER COPYRIGHT- NURTH ADAMS -MASSACHUSETTS ^^' The Mohawk Trail HAT section of new Massachusetts State Highway, which climbs and crosses Hoosac Mountain, con- necting the valley of the Hoosac with the valley of the Deerfield, plotted and constructed as the connecting link in a north trunk route from Boston to the West, has fairly leaped into fame as the superlative bit of scenic grandeur in all New England. "The Mohawk Trail," the poetic name of this new highway, hints at the rich historic associations which are blended with its beauties, and, added to these are pecuHar scientific and industrial interests which make it unique among the highways of the continent. Affording the tourist the fullest delight, thrilling the traveler with that which is earliest, sturdiest and sternest in the history of his country, taking the scientist back to that ice age which gave birth to the present world, and bringing all into touch with several of the best examples of the conquests of united science and industry, the trail is loaded with lore and bounded all its length with demands upon our imagination and our wonder. Strictly speaking, the new Mohawk Trail rests its western terminus in the city of North Adams in the county of Berkshire and its eastern terminus in the town of Charlemont in the county of Franklin, but, speaking in the light of history, this new highway retraces but a portion of the old Mohawk Trail, which was plodded by the Red Man, connecting the valley of the Hudson in New York with the valley of the Connecticut in Massa- .husetts. Its eastern end lies in the beautiful town of Greenfield on the banks of the solemn Connecticut and its western end is beyond Schaghticoke. past the home of the original Knickerbocker, made famous by the genius of Washington Irving, and beyond that rising ground out there from which the spectator may look upon the majestic Hudson. The old Trail traverses portions of three states: Western Massachusetts, Southern Vermont and Eastern New York.' priginally mapped and trodden by the Five Nations of the Iroquois Federation and named after the Mohawks, the stronger of this Federation, it is one of the oldest highways of the continent. Serving savage man, the trail equally served civilization, for it was over this trail, from the settlements in the Connecticut valley that the English pioneers came to the Berkshire valleys, where they estabhshed their outposts and defended their possessions against the French and Indian and the more remote Dutch, earlier settled along the western line of the Trail. And in these Berkshire valleys, in this region where the States of Massachusetts, New York and Ver- mont touch boundaries, long the theatre of intertribal warfare of savages, were enacted dramatic scenes, becom- ing some of the most important events and revealing some of the most important persons in American history. MAY 23 1 9 1 6 ■MAV-4€-f9l& e ci. a 4 a;>H(;;; t^ i--, l< c Hoosac Mountain, which the new section of State Highway crosses, has ever been the natural barrier between the Connecticut and Deerfield valleys on the east, and on the west the Berkshire valleys and all that country reaching from them away to the Hudson. In overcoming this barrier by leaving the course of the Hoosac river, striking boldly over the mountain range, connecting with the Deerfield river on the east and thence pushing along to the Connecticut, the Indian accomplished an engineering feat that modern skill has only improved upon in detail. This route of the Indian over Hoosac mountain became the route of his civilized successor and is today the last and most important link in the north trunk highway connecting Boston, and the eastern seaboard with the Berkshires, and out from them, with eastern New York and southern Vermont. In this hinterland of Colonial days it was natural that the thrilling scenes of pioneer times were enacted practically within the shadow of this mountain barrier, the point of greatest resistance to the free communica- tion of men. On the east, a little farther removed from the barrier than were the activities on the west, the greatest interest centers near Greenfield, particularly in the mother town of Old Deerfield. Old Deerfield, yet wonderfully rich in Colonial possessions, is far richer still in moving memories of the olden times. Its tra- ditions make its slumbering streets a hallowed retreat in which memories of a splendid past arise at every step. From the Deerfield country proper, we sweep along the trail westward, climb the Shelburne hills and reach the attractive town of Shelburne Falls. About the site of this town, on the Deerfield river, were the fishing grounds of the Poctumtuck Indians. And here, where the Indians speared the salmon, is now to be found the gigantic works of the greatest electrical development in New England. In the form of electrical energy, the power of the water falls of the Deerfield is sent to points as far distant as Rhode Island. Strange that Rhode Island, which sent Quakers to these regions to redeem them from the savage and primeval sleep would now receive from them the power of this historic river with which to give the impulse of life to her industry. Winding with the Deerfield river, just as the Indians mapped it, the trail runs on to the town of Charlemont, which occupies the widened valley just before the valley closes in to end itself against the Hoosac mountain barrier, or, rather, sweep north at Hoosac Tunnel, still along the river, to reach the boundary of Vermont. Moses Rice was the pioneer of the Deerfield Valley. He was the first settler on the Mohawk trail on the eastern side of the barrier, and, when he built his house in what is now Charlemont, in the early years of the eighteenth century, his homestead was the farthest west for the people of Massachusetts Bay Colony. The buttonwood tree under which his homestead stood still grows. Leaving Charlemont the trail crosses an attractive modern, graceful concrete bridge, the eastern marker of the new section of the state highway. Over this bridge the trail gradually runs into the confines which mark the meeting of the waters of the Deerfield and Cold river, and, quite unconsciously to the traveler, it gently begins the ascent of the Hoosac Mountain. The west bound traveler, long before he has reached the base of the mountain, will have become aware of the railroad line running east and west on the opposite bank of the Deerfield. This railroad line is the compe- titor of the trail in the conquest of the mountain. With reference to communication alone, the story of the mountain and the trail is one of absorbing interest. First, as we have seen, traveled as a footpath by the savage, the trail became the highway for the wheeled vehicles of civilization, only to fall into practical disuse through one of the great engineering works of the age and now to be revived as a highway for wheels, the miracle wheels of all ages, the wheels of the motor car. The trail over the mountain was, for years the route of the stage coach till this stately vehicle was laid aside by the coming of the railroad. It was jogging along in these coaches that great men sought out this country to look upon nature in her grandeur. It was by stage that Nathaniel Haw- thorne came and picked up that very interesting portion of his American Note Book which describes this coun- try and the old North Adams. Hawthorne felt the power of the trail. He writes: — "Often it would seem a wonder how our road was to continue, the mountains rose so abruptly on either side, while, looking behind, it would be an equal mystery how we had gotten hither, through the huge base of the mountain which seemed to have reared itself erect after our passage. Between the mountains there were gorges that led the imagination away into new scenes of wildness. 1 have never driven through such romantic scenery, where there was such a variety of mountain shapes as this, and though it was a bright sunny day the mountains diversified the view with sunshine and shadow and glory and gloom." It was the boring of the great Hoosac Tunnel through the huge base of the mountain, which laid the stage coach aside and dropped the trail into the class of half-forgotten things. And only now, with the devel- opment of the motor car does the trail come into its own again. Just as the new trail is a State enterprise so was the great Hoosac tunnel. The wealth of this region never has been opulant enough to permit of the solution of its own transportation problems. But, of course, in the larger sense, this Hoosac mountain barrier has lain across the common pathway between east and west, and the overcoming of it was rightly a task for the larger community vitally concerned. Commenced in 1853 as a private enterprise, the tunnel was completed in 1874 by the State of Massachusetts at a cost of $20,000,000 and 196 human lives. It is the largest railway tunnel on the American continent, being 4 3-4 miles in length. It is electrically equipped for hauling and light- ing and accommodates a modern double track railroad. Midway of its length a shaft pierces the mountain to the summit, and from this shaft, in the days when the steam locomotive was the only means of hauling, smoke and steam poured forth in immense volumes as if the mountain were afire. Where else is there such a double appeal to the imagination of the tourist! Here, through scenes of wonderful variety, he skims along on a trail of the savage while thousands of feet beneath him a large part of the eastward and westward commerce of a nation is being shot in shuttles, as it were, through a five mile bore in the solid rock of the mountain over which he is speeding. How different from the days when Moses Rice built his house under that buttonwood tree growing six miles or so back in the town of Charlemont, and could boast that in his home was the fireside farthest west of Mass- achusetts Bay Colony! The farthest flung line of this Colony along this trail was on the western side of the mountain in the valley leading from North Adams to Williamstown. That line was defended by Fort Massa- chusetts, the westernmost of a chain of four forts built by the colony for the defense and protection of its frontiers and pioneers. There are few spots dearer to the stern but romantic history of Colonial times. This fort had the three-fold purpose of protecting the Colony from the French and Indians, from the encroachments of the New York Dutch and from the encroachments of the people of the New Hampshire Grants. Over Hoosac mountain, along the very trail as it is traveled today. Lieutenant Catlin came in 1745 with his soldiers and workmen to erect this fort. It had a short but stormy existence. When Catlin's work was done the command of the fort was placed in Sergeant Hawks' hands by Captain Ephraim Williams, commander of the chain of forts, and founder of Williams College and whose name is given to the mountain overlooking the fort and to the town of Williamstown. The French, in Canada, then enemies of the English settlers, hearing of the construc- tion of the fort, prepared to attack it, and. in August, 1746, assisted by their allies, the Indians, General de Vandreiul commanding, overcame it and took the defenders captive. Sergeant Hawks, only after he had fired his last shot and had withstood a seige of 30 hours, surrendered with his 21 men and eight women and children. The Indians fired the fort and the return march to Canada was begun. Then Chaplain Norton of the captives begged permission to go back to the smoking ruins and pin a note to a tree and so leave the news of the seige and surrender for the friends who would surely come from the east. Guarded by two savages he was per- mitted to do this and the march to Canada was resumed, some of the captives to die there and some to be later returned. Westward along the trail, less than five miles from the site of Fort Massachusetts, is the town of Williams- town and the seat of Williams College. The foundation of the college was laid by the will of Captain Ephraim Williams, commanding the Massachusetts forts and who fell in the battle against the French at Lake George in 1755. The college was incorporated 1793. There is no more delightful college campus in America, with its splendid specimens of old Colonial architecture and its equally splendid reproductions of Gothic and Georgian. It was on this campus that the world-wide missionary movement controlled by the American Board originated, and here is the famous Haystack monument marking the spot where the movement was born. This is the college of Mark Hopkins and the college of two presidents of the United States, Presidents Garfield and Arthur. A son of the former is now president of the college. Dr. Harry Garfield. As a hymn to their noble hills, Williams s tudents sing "The Mountains," written by Dr. Washington Gladden of Columbus, Ohio, an alumnus of Wil- liams and coiner of the phrase "tainted money." Farther west is the town of Pownal, Vermont, named in honor of Thomas Pownal, Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1757-60, and in the school house in North Pownal, on the trail. Presidents Garfield and Arthur taught while they were students at Williams. Beyond the Pownals lies Bennington with its noble store of Revolutionary history. Here, at Old Bennington is the Bennington battle monument, 308 feet high, the highest battle monument in the world, built on the site of the Revolu- tionary store house, the objective of Burgoyne's expedition. Here also are the monuments marking the site of the Catamount Tavern and the site of the shop of William Lloyd Garrison, where he lived and labored before he took up the work of negro emancipation. It was along the trail to this ground, sacred in Revolutionary memory that the Berkshire farmers rushed to the aid of General Stark who, at the battle of Bennington, broke the force of Burgoyne's invasion, and it was back over this trail, back over the Hoosac mountain, that those farmers guarded a long line of dejected British Red Coats on their way to Eastern Massachusetts as prisoners of war. This'^Hoosac mountain has a wonderful story. From the beginning of that gentle rise where the waters of the Cold river and Deerfield unite, the ascent carries the traveler into a deep ravine, mountain sides on either hand and the river at his feet. Lower and lower the river drops, higher and higher the mountain sides seem to rise, and the way is through the virgin forest. Soon the road becomes a wide shelf chiselled out of the rock, and soon the traveler bounds out from the ascent upon a broad plateau, along the edges of which he runs and beholds mountain range upon mountain range till his view is lost in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. This is a chaos of peaks. Bowling along the plateau, bewildered with mountains as was Hawthorne, suddenly the crest of the Hoosac ridge is reached, and straight below and beyond is spread a panorama of mountain and valley that the memory will long retain. There, to the right, spreads out the Stamford valley and the Green Mountains. There, to the left, stands Greylock, the highest mountain in Massachusetts (3505 feet,) sentinel to an army of lesser hills. There in the center, in the "hollow of God's hand," lies the attractive and pro- gressive city of North Adams. It must enhance the appreciation of the marvelous beauty of this scene to reflect that the city down there is built on what was the bottom of a glacial lake milleniums ago, and that the mountain of Greylock is older than the Alps. Ten thousand years ago, the geologists tell us, the glacier scratched the summit of Greylock in baring its peak to greet the sun, and all around was ice. Holding communion^here with the sublime in nature must elevate and broaden the spirit of man, whether in the brightness of morning, the splendor of noon, the golden glory of evening or the steely sheen of night. SOME FACTS ABOUT THE TRAIL Length of trail from Five Corners, North Adams, to concrete bridge in Charlemont, 15.72 miles. Distance from Five Corners. North Adams, to Whitcomb summit on top of Hoosac mountain, 6.12 miles. Distance from Whitcomb summit to concrete bridge in Charlemont 9.6 miles. Height of Whitcomb summit above sea level, 2,172 feet. Highest per cent of grade on Trail. 7.5. Building of Trail began September, 1912 and completed November, 1914. Total cost of construction of Trail was approximately $345,000. City of North Adams contributed $19,000 towards cost of Trail in addition to assuming all land damages from Five Corners to top of mountain. Massachusetts Forestry association is planning to plant thousands of shade and other trees along the Trail, and in doing so will preserve all the look-out sections so that no view will be obscured. A movement is well underway and with bright prospects of success to secure legislation committing the State to the purchase of a wide strip of land along the side of the Trail to protect its wooded side and prevent disfigurement by unsightly signs and other structures. The Trail is given special protection by the automobile leagues of North Adams and Greenfield as well as by the Mohawk Trail Council, which has for a principal object the erection of a colossal statue of an Indian at a suitable point on the mountain top. DISTANCES FROM NORTH ADAMS. MASS. TO TO Albany (via Pittsfield) . . 59 Miles Bennington, Vt. 20 •• Brattleboro, Vt. . . 58 " Bretton Woods . 207 •• Great Barrington . 42 ■■ Greenfield .... 37 " Lake George (via Troy) 108 " Lenox ..... . 28 •' Manchester, Vt. . Pittsfield Rutland, Vt. . Saratoga (via Troy) Springfield Stockbridge Troy (via Hoosac Corners) Williamstown 42 Miles 22 •• 84 •• 75 " 74 " 34 " 46 " 6 " .:i--jS4 ■jji^^fl:^ .^J :?i:f^(. ■%£■ » , -WV ,^-^. ^'-r^:^' -■'^•<^'-:j^iiiimi ■"-^mc^. jm»»ik.:"it0'*si$-- ' '■ *^ :m^- MOHAWK THAU. Starting Down Hill Towards the Deerfield Valley A ^^^^^^^K^' ■ , li UP ^T^^ ^^i3''' ^i ?t > ci- MOII \ W K I'l; A 1 1 "11 iii:h(. Wiliiiine!.- \ F-MOTO COPR BV CA>*eDV |||M||ffj|ij||it«l i J^@fe' M r^iv^'tt^' . ., .\j ::¥i^^t -li^. "' 'i^.'"'**^^'^*^5:J -1' - *!• -^T 1 M<*: 1 ii„ 1 1 1 \ W ! ., , ,1 1 ,,., ,. %^'tj ^.(^JK^^tS*— ■ »ifj«5,-?»-="*;'*r ■^' .# ■^^ ^-v: «?-■.. ■•i .?^ nc!'' W v/ > '. / '^<. i-^^. ■^'^f. 7"^ ^3;^ ■■•''»^*i?,- ^»*;' -J*-' t. M ( ) J 1 On ti.e Two »-MOTO CO«p A A\- K Mountain Hundred TR Face. Feet Be AIL Ravine ow. ■^"•-■j^.; .■■■ M>: m^ f^ •J^. V /^ .J^. / K.^ ^^W^?' ^^r^^^ ■'*>^«»5S^f- r MO II A W K I'l; A 1 I. Bitwecn Kivers und life-- 1 liyh Above the River V'dliev ^^^gilacL^ ^^Wr M OH • V • IK' A I 1. i-HO-O cc..,. «. t..~,o \^ -r^^y iv •^f-: I If !i.,^i% igiUM ■■ -^»«'. f-^Ljy v.- f . . '•- 1*^ .... ■■% : ^^ ..«? ■• • . r pi Greyi.ock Hoti<:t. Williamstown, Mass. At the Western End of the Trail The Greylock Hotel. Williamstown. Mass. The leading Hotel in Northern Berkshire, Equipped to accommodate Motorists as they like to be accommodated. Fireproof Garage. 1 30 Rooms. 75 Baths. Henry N. Teague, Lessee. ^Wl, HKL|||n|j|||||||||^^^^|^ L^^S^^^SP aj^Bw^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ _ '^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H ^H ^H jgJj^^^^^^BDWQfe^PI^^M ZjB ^41^'- %"^>J^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H L^ 1 ^^^H 1 JHH S:i|0 Ctty of 5Cortl| Attams is situated in the most picturesque region of the Berkshires and designed, as it were, to be exclusively a tourist's mecca. it is one of the intensely progressive industrial cities of New England. It is located on the main line of the Boston & Maine Railroad between the cities of Boston and Albany, connecting the sea board with the West. Its transportation facilities are excellent, contributing largely to its varied industrial activity, which comprises the man- ufacture and printing of the finest silks and calicos, the manufacture of the highest grades of woolens, cottons, shoes, machinery, etc. It is the home of two of the most highly specialized and best known calico print works in America, employing thousands of operatives. The keen industrial spirit of the city is well exemplified in the success of the North Adams Indus- trial Company, which, raised by public subscription $75,000 to add another modern shoe factory to its industries. The city is offering free mill sites and many valuable inducements to industries, and through the Massachusetts Lighting Company and the Deerfield Power Company it is ideally located to offer cheap electrical power. Its labor conditions are unexcelled. In public utilities it has reached to a very high standard. Its water system, supplied from its hills, is the purest and most abundant. Its street car system is not surpassed. It is the home of the Mohawk Indian Trail, the most delightful scenic roadway in New England. Its sewers, streets, public lighting, etc., are exceptionally good. Its hotels and theatres are superior. Its public school system lacks nothing and with its new $300,000 High School is not easy to equal. It is the home of a State Normal School, and is called "a city of Churches. " In all ways industrial, civic, social, educational and religious, its standards are high. Inquiries may be addressed to the North Adams Merchants' Association, North Adams, Mass. w-*- IM. IHI. NORTH/f ADAMS THE MOHAWK TRAIL THE MOST POPULAR HIGHWA!^ IN THE EAST OF UNRIVALED SCENIC BEAUTY ^ BUILT BY STATE OF MASS. AND CITY OF NO. ADAMS AT A COST OF ^500,000. HIT THE TRAIL FOR NORTH ADAMS" (g©MIMo DISTAMCK TO BOSTON! 1^3 PROYIDENCC 186 SPRINGFIELD 78 HOLYOKE 63 GREENFIELD 3 6 ALBANY 5 2 ROCHESTER ^li :,:] BUFFALO ^85 MONTREAL 29=5 NEW YORK 166 PHILADELPHIA 2,66 NEW HAVEN i39 HARTFORD 103 ADDRESS NORTH ADAMS MERCMANTfe ASSOCIATION North Adams, Mass. the culmination of the scenic beauty of the Berkshire Hills, The Richmond -Wellington Hotels. E. P. and A. P. Cor. Main and State Sts. Restaurant and Lunch rooms at moderate prices in both hotels. E. P. rooms running water $1.50 per day, double $2.50, with bath $2.00 to $3.00, double $3.50 to $5.00. A. P. $3.00 to $4.00 single, double $5.00 to $7.00. Moil \ w K ( i A i;.\«; 1 \',,rll' Adi.,,8 VI;,-., - : , . ..•- -->•;■■■ ^:'"\, 1 1 Tel. 1108 ■ J MOHAWK GABAGE 1-13 Main St., North Adams, Mass., Capacity 300 cars. First Class Service Absolutely Fireproof. T.I 1105 r i4 *■», ^^;. MANSION IIOISK ( jicenficld. Mass American Plan $3.00 per day. with private bath $3.50, European Plan. Rooms $1 .00; with private bath $1 .50. The Mansion House Dutch Room is noted for its excellent food, good service and reasonable prices. Fire Proof Garage Connected. H. L. WOOD. Proprietor ^iis. fmi .^rz^. i9i% A -y^. m. T3 B B t« IS > -a ■a T3 u: -D S V "E ID 1 > Z o -Si c a c ffl o c ^ 0. H O IK) ri'.I. ASl'INW AM. I .n.iN, Misv One of the most beautiful resort hotels in America. Accommodates 400 guests. Situated in its own park of 600 acres. Elevation 1460 ft. Open June to October. Golf, tennis, saddle horses, dancing, etc. On the direct automobile route from and to New York. (Winter resort. Princess Hotel, Bermuda) Howe c " >■- ■11 " 3 13 O s u c a : ■S.S c « «Z aj c ■^ ffl 3 >. — CO C = U •" 3 3 O a; ^-r 'J^ 3: s 2 -w fli ro •-" C C Ji « "^ ■-a. ^ C C JS u rt a " T3 aj , « aUJ a: ■0^-2 V V 11 „^cn n ^r^ ii,!ij ■ f ' II . I ■•*,'■' '"''-!, '^ i\--- rr rn J:)t^a'^$Mmi1^. W'iWtE :--■■»'*.■■ «Sisl-.-^. \ \\^ • Y'.^ .«««8^._ •■\S\' c (S 0) « e 1) u K> cS OJ « E o 1) _:>! Di o m o r^ 1- Lu CT3 >> V V rr; ^^ 3 OJ ^ « j:! c < O WAI.LOOMSAC INN Old Bennington. Vt. mS^ 1764 Record 152 Years 1916 The Walloomsac Inn, Old Bennington Vt., situated in The Historic Part of the Town. Automobile Club of America Stop. Scenic and Ideal Tour Stop. Headquarters for Autoists. On the direct route to the White Mountains. Lake Champlain and Burlington, also Saratoga and Lake George. The Greatest Record of any Hotel in America. The doors have never been closed since the opening in 1764. Walter H. Eierry. Proprietor GUIDE MAP TO X, MOHAWK TRAIL AND BERKSHIRE HILLS r ORCANEiyir IMORTH-AO'^MS M*ss LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 1 1 1 1 ''' Id !; il'li 1! ,1 |[;i: iiii 014 076 344 5 ^ INOr lUBWiwmaffiB