i^mw^^mmm n,/•.|^:::: ^^r^, ^: f^ A U' A A ^ 'f\AA^Oftft/^AoA^A;vA AA.'l-^^A, A ■^.'rv.^r,, ,/■ '".".'' *L- i/^!lc!:;ff' S^^C^^dW, ':Ar\AA! lA^'^PAfrAAf LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. m'^A^AaI 'A/^'aAW^a: ^;«$?^^^^^^^^^^A^^ 'A*a'^''^'^^aa^ l4A^ M ^^m&m \^^^A M^^ . . ^ .... 'rylrr^^rW' J.rrmjiia^ I.Aa^a'^^^ aOA', :;aaa: UTTTJAkTXJATJATJ A>'<^, i883 ^A^ t^ m '^4' s UMMER IN THE Catskill Mountains BY KIRK MUNROE Issued by the Passenger Department. New York, West Shore and Buffalo Railway Company. 1883 )** Copyright, 1883, by N. Y., West Shore & Buffalo Railway Co. < C V AUX & COMPANY, PRINTERS 27 ROSE STREET, NEW YORK w HAT man would read and read the self-same faces, m / % / And, like the marbles which the wind-mill grinds, Rub smooth forever with the same smooth mind. This year retracing last year's, every year's, dull traces. When there are woods and un-man-stifled places. The wild, free woods make no man halt or blind ; Cities rob men of eyes and hands and feet. Patching one whole of many incomplete : The general preys upon the individual mind, And each alone is helpless as the wind. Here, life the undiminished man demands ; New faculties stretch out to meet new wants ; What Nature asks that Nature also grants ; Here, man is lord, not drudge, of eyes and feet and hands. And to his life is knit with hourly bonds. — Lowell. AN INTRODUCTION. OF all the " un-man-stifled places," of which Lowell wrote, none offers greater or more varied attractions to the weary toilers of the city than the Catskill Mountains ; those lofty aspirations of earth toward heaven, which rise in solemn majesty from the western valley of the Hudson a hundred miles from its mouth. To the tired traveler, oppressed with the heat and burden of the day, the very approach to this grand asylum, provided by mother Nature for her fainting children, is an inspiration of new life. From the first glimpse, when, in the dim distance, they are but vague outlines on the horizon, until he has left the plain and passed into their cool, deep valleys, the massive portals of which close behind him, shutting out the world and its cares, the mountains promise rest. He knows that on those lofty heights, rising thousands of feet above him, perpetual coolness reigns and breezes always blow. His fancy paints the innumerable treasures of dashing water-fall, placid lake, fragrant forests, cool nooks, and mossy springs, hidden in the mountain fastnesses, and he longs, with the ardor of an explorer, to pene- trate and unlock their secret hiding-places. Nor will he be dis- appointed ; for, to quote from a recent writer on these delectable mountains, " Everywhere, unguessed by the thousands who crowd the show places, to be found by patient climbing, were, and must 5 6 SUMMER IN THE CATS KILLS. be Still, sylvan nooks, deep, cool recesses far cleft in the green hills ; with exquisite spray-brightened ferns and mosses, hid from direct sunshine, yet glowing with rich reflected light Looking upward there were narrow gleams of azure sky, seen between tossing sprays of the translucent golden green foliage of birch and beech and maple, over-arching far above. " A tiny silver ribbon of falling water makes music and cool- ness as it leaps over mossy ledges, seeming a frail force indeed to have hollowed out of the everlasting hills these abysses walled with crags and guarded with knotted and ancient trees. Some- times one of these bower-like recesses will give you an outward vista, a glimpse of the soft blue plain below, which, framed in arching twisted trees, offering strong contrasted effects of light and shade, harmonized by perfect color and enchanting form, makes a picture never to be forgotten." The Catskills, Katskills, Katzkills, Kaaterskills, Kauterskills, Katzbergs, or Kaatersbergs, as they have been variously spelled, the Ontioras, as the Indians named them, have ^Talskms.^^*" always been invested with mystery. To the In- dians they were the dwelling-place of a great and powerful spirit who controlled the elements and created the sun, moon, and stars, making them anew each day. In the eyes of the early Dutch settlers they were the glorified " overlook " from which the great Hendrik watched the whole river which he, dis- covered, and which bears his name ; and this superstition, crys- talized and invested with form by the magic pen of Irving, has made them most famous. Of all American fairy tales, none is sweeter or prettier than those of '' The Catskill Fairies." About them also still linger some mysteries unconnected with super- stition or fairy lore, and one of them is, why, when the moun- tains are so beautiful, while their breezes are so invigorating, while AN INTRODUCTION. 7 living in them is so cheap, and while they are so easily reached, so few people visit them. To be sure 70,000 visitors found their way to them last summer ; but, compared with the millions who seek health, recreation, and rest at mountain and seaside resorts dur- ing the summer months, 70,000 is only a handful, easily lost to sight in the vast region, embracing the greater portion of three counties, and known as the Catskills. It must be that those who know of their glories, and how to reach and obtain them, keep the information to themselves, deeming it too precious to share with others. To combat such selfishness, and spread broadcast the news that the Catskills are ; that they are near by, and can be quickly and easily reached ; to tell as simply and concisely as possible how to reach them, where to go, and what to do when you get there, — these pages have been written. TO REACH THE CATSKILLS, GO by the New York, West Shore and Buffalo Railway, be- cause it is the shortest and most direct route, and by it you will reach your destination more quickly than by any other. It is a new road, and will introduce you to new and interesting scenery. Being new and constructed mstshoi^ami ^^^^ ^^^ cspccial vicw of making it the most popular Buffalo Rail- tourist routc to the great Northern resorts, it is pro- vided with all the improvements and appliances for ensuring speed, safety, and comfort known to modern railway science. It is a double-track steel. rail line, with an unusually wide space between tracks, running north from New York City along the west shore of the Hudson to Albany, and thence through the beautiful valley of the Mohawk, and across Central New York to Buffalo. Its grades are light, its curves easy, its rails are among the heaviest known to railway construction, and its road- bed is crowned with a deep ballasting of stone. Its coaches, built by the Pullman Car Company, are models of elegant comfort and strength, and its station-houses are harmonious in color and design with the beautiful and picturesque scenery through which it passes. For the present, and until its own terminal facilities at Wee- hawken, opposite Forty-second Street, New York, are completed. TO REACH THE CATSKILLS. 9 its trains will arrive and depart from the Jersey City depot of the Pennsylvania Railroad. New York passengers bound for the Cats- kills will therefore take the ferry for Jersey City from the foot of either Desbrosses Street or Cortlandt Street. Brooklyn passengers will take an Annex boat from the foot of Fulton Street. After leaving Jersey City and its suburbs, the train passes up the broad valley of the Hackensack, over ground made memorable by many a bloody skirmish between Skinners and Cow Boys, Americans and British, during the dark days of the Revolution. On the right a long, gentle slope, on whose wooded sides nestle the country homes of city men, rises to the crest of the Palisades. On the left are the blue Ramapo Hills; and now on this side, and now on that, flows the placid Hackensack. Near the head of the valley, twenty miles from New York, is the quaint old village of Tappan, where, amid the tears alike of friends and foes, the Jdc^^v^Tuy' gallant Andre was hung as a spy, October 2d, 1780. ^h^e'^sclnr^^of Here may still be seen the low stone house in which ^"jf ""^'^ execu- he was confined, and from which he was first led to the little old Dutch church for trial, and afterward to '' Gallows Hill" for execution. For ten miles beyond Tappan the view on the right-hand side is bounded by a range of high hills, beyond which lie Piermont, Nyack, and Rockland Lake. Suddenly the train plunges into a tun- nel bored for quarter of a mile through the very heart of the hills, and is buried in profoundest darkness. It is the falling of the curtain at the end of an act. A few minutes, and the intermission is over ; with a shriek of the whistle the curtain lifts, the train dashes from the tunnel, and before the dazed vision of the traveler is spread a fairer scene than ere was set on mortal stage. The track is clinging to the side of High Torn Mountain. A hundred feet below lies the broad Hudson : at this point known as Haver- lo SUMMER IN THE CATS KILLS. Straw Bay, covered with its innumerable craft, as various and picturesque as can be found on any waters of the fh? Hudson! world. Palace steamers, luxurious yachts, clumsy "tVn y ^Polnti sloops, schooncrs, lighters, barges, canal-boats, and an and Peekskiii. infinity of Smaller craft, move swiftly or lazily to and fro, and add a charming animation to the picture. The long, low peninsula across the river is Croton Point, and behind it the Croton River — from which New York derives its water supply — empties into the Hudson. Its Indian name was ^//M-dJ-7£'^«y but the early Dutch settlers changed it to Croton, in memory of a sachem of that name. Rattling along the mountain-side for a short distance, the train whirls through Haverstraw, famous for its miles of brick-yards, from which millions of brick are annually shipped down the river to help build up the great city. The first place of historical in- terest after leaving this city, whose very existence is dependent upon the building of others, is Stony Point, now crowned by a light-house, where once stood the fortification captured by the British on June ist, 1779, but surprised and recaptured by " Mad" Anthony Wayne, at midnight, on the 15th of the following month. On the opposite side of the river is Verplanck's Point, on which stood Fort Lafayette. Above Stony Point the railway skirts a line of white limestone cliffs, from which a million bushels of lime are annually produced. At their upper end is Tompkin's Cove, where, perched high above the track, is the House of the Good Shepherd, in which hundreds of little waifs from the city find shelter and kind care. Dunderberg, the first of the Highlands, rears "his mas- sive form just beyond ; and across the river the straggling town of Peekskiii climbs its steep hillside. The stream flowing into the Hudson beside it, and from which it takes its name, perpet- uates the memory of Jan Peek, the Dutch navigator, who first TO REACH THE CATSKILLS. li explored its waters. Here the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher has his summer home. For seventeen miles the road now threads the Highlands of the Hudson, of which the traveler, who has hereto- fore seen them from but one side of the river, gains many new and pleasing impressions. Dunderberg rounded, the train passes behind lona Island, over a stream that flows down from the hamlet of Doodletown, and the frowning mass of Beat Hill looms before it. Bear Hill and its neighbor over the way, An- thony's Nose — named thus on account of its fancied resemblance to the prominent beak, of Governor Stuyvesant's favorite trum- peter — form the gateway of the Highlands ; and between the two, in Revolutionary days, was stretched a massive chain buoyed by rafts of logs to bar the progress of British ships. On the farther side of Bear Hill, Popolopen Creek flows as quietly and innocently beneath the railway-trestle as though it had not just foamed and brawled down Highlands of the 1 f 1 1 1 1 Hudson and over a picturesque cascade a few hundred yards west Point, back ; and beyond it is the village of Fort Mont- gomery, once noted as an important military post, but now as being the dumping-point for the ore from the famous Forest of Dean Iron Mines, some miles back in the hills. Still, skirting the hills at the very water's edge, the traveler gazes across at Sugar Loaf, rising sharp and clean-cut as an obelisk, and domi- nating the rest of the Wequehachke^ or hill country, and at the Os- born Mansion crowning the adjoining summit on the north. He does not see Cranston's Hotel on the edge of the precipice high above him, and barely realizes that he is at West Point before his train plunges into the tunnel that penetrates the hill for three- quarters of a mile beneath the parade-ground of the famous military school. When again it emerges into daylight, the train is opposite Con- la SUMMER IN THE CATSKILLS. stitution Island, from whence a second chain, of which some links may still be seen amid other military trophies of the Academy, was stretched across the river to West Point. Behind the island is the village of Cold Spring with its furnaces, where Parrott guns were made ; and above it are Taurus and Breakneck Hills, the last of the Highlands on the east shore. Directly in front of the train, as it leaves the West Point tun- nel, Cro' Nest rears its lofty head, as though proudly conscious of having been immortalized by Joseph Rodman Drake, who here located the scene of his exquisite poem, " The Culprit Fay." Ad- joining Cro' Nest, on the north, is* the bold and massive front of Storm King, with scarred sides nearly void of vegetation, present- ing a wall of iron to the elements. He is the most advanced senti- nel of the West Shore Highlands, for beyond him are the gentle slopes of Cornwall and the hill country that stretches away to the Catskills. On a plateau close to Storm King stands Idlewild, once the home of N. P. Willis, the poet, a pretty, many-gabled fdiewAd ^hc cottage, designed by Calvert Vaux, then known to h^me of N. P. ^ fcw fricnds as a struggling young architect, but now known wherever Central Park is known, for with it his name is inseparably linked as one of its chief pro- moters and designers. This region owes much to the poetic taste of Willis. Grand old Storm King, but for him, would still be " Butter Hill," and the Moodna, which ripples at its base, would still be '' Murderer's Creek." Four miles above Cornwall is Newburgh, one of the largest and most prosperous of the Hudson River cities. Here, protected and revered by the citizens of the place, stands one of the most famous of Washington's many headquarters : an old stone house, with low walls almost hidden by the great overhanging roof, con- TO REACH THE CATSKILLS. 13 taining a museum of Revolutionary relics. By means of huge ferryboats, each capable of transporting an entire train of cars across the river, the West Shore Road makes connection here with the New York and New England Railroad. Fifteen miles above Newburgh, but on the opposite side of the river, is seen Poughkeepsie — pronounced " Pokepsie " — its name derived from the Indian word Apo-keep-sinck, meaning " safe and pleasant place." At night the flames from the tall chimneys of the Poughkeepsie blast-furnaces can be plainly seen from the Overlook, Kaaterskill, and the Catskill Mountain houses, thirty miles away, A ride of fifteen miles more through a pleasant farming coun- try, broken by hills and valleys, carries the traveler over the iron bridge over Rondout Creek, 195 feet Newburg h, high and 1,240 feet long, and his train stops at the and Kingston.' ^' handsome Union Depot of the West Shore and the Ulster and Delaware Railways at Kingston. Here he admires the depot, which is a beautiful Queen Anne structure, with many gables, dormers, and tall chimneys. In it is a well-appointed restaurant, and a portion of it is fitted up as a first-class hotel. The city of Kingston is quite interesting and well worth seeing. In spite of its having been destroyed with fire, thrice by the Indians and once by the British, during the two hundred and some years since it was settled, it contains many handsome buildings, some of which are fine specimens of old Dutch architecture, shaded by glorious trees. Here the New York State Constitution was framed and the first Legislature met. During the reading of Ihis last paragraph, the Catskill car from New York has been switched to the U. and D. track, at- tached to a U. and D. train, and is now rolling away directly to- ward the Catskills over the U. and D. R. R., which has just been 14 SUMMER IN THE CATSKILLS. new laid with steel rails, newly bridged, newly ballasted, and provided with new rolling-stock for the occasion. The Catskills do not rise directly from the bank of the Hud- son, but from a plain some ten miles to the west of it and to the northwest of Kingston, so that the line of the Ulster and Dela- ware Railroad, after holding a westerly course for seventeen miles, or until its second crossing of the Esopus, turns sharply to the north, and, following the valley of the Esopus, enters the moun- tains through their southern range between Mts. Ticetenyke on the east and High Point, Cornell, and the Wittenberg on the west. This approach to the mountains is replete with interest First glimpses of ^"^^ anticipation. At first they are hardly seen, the mountains. ^j^^^ ^^ occasioual glimpscs caught of them reveal but blue outlines hazy in the distance. As you draw nearer they stand out in bolder relief and assert their majesty by an ever-increasing height and a development of magnitude that excites admiration and awe. Then the several hotels of the eastern range are seen and recognized, though in the distance and at that elevation they look like children's card-houses and as though a breath might sweep them from the mountain-tops to which they cling. Immediate objects of interest are the vast blue stone quarries from which most of the flagging for New York city walks is taken, the deeply rutted stone roads leading down from them to the river, the pretty villages, smiling farms, the dome-like charcoal-kilns, and the many streams flashing over their rocky beds. At West Hurley, eight miles from West Hurley.— Klugston, passcugcrs for the Overlook Mountain look Mountain Housc Icavc the train, and enter comfortable stages House. _ _ for the nine-mile drive up the breezy mountain- side, which will only end at the hotel, of which they catch occa- TO REACH THE CATSKILLS. 15 sional glimpses far above them among the clouds. A stage con- nection is also made here for Woodstock, four miles away. Overlook Mountain is the corner-stone of the Catskills, for here the trend, which of the eastern range is nearly north and south, turns at almost a right angle to the westward. From West Hur- ley to Shokan, seventeen miles from Kingston, the mountains proper are hidden from the railroad by a range of foot-hills on the right ; but at Shokan, which is termed the " gateway of the Catskills," the road bends sharply to the north, and, still following the Esopus, plunges into the Shandaken Valley, the grandest " clove " or notch in the entire mountain system, which by it is cleft in twain from north to south. The entrance proper to this glorious valley is at Mount Pleasant, six miles beyond Shokan, where the great hills approach each other so closely as to leave barely room for the river and railroad side by side. Through this gorge the train rattles merrily along behind its powerful fifty- ton locomotive, startling the echoes from many a precipice and " sleepy hollow " as it passes. One of the most important stations on the road is Phoenicia, twenty-six miles from Kingston and three beyond Mount Pleas- ant. To this point the mountainous walls enclosing the val- ley have presented no opening on either side, but here they are rent by the deep grorgre known as Phoenicia — / ^ i" 6 & Change for the Stony Clove, which enters the Shandaken Valley on Stony ciove and 1-1 111 1 XT , X, Catskill Moun- the right and leads away toward Hunter and Tan- tain Railroad, nersville. Here is the terminus of the little three-foot gauge Stony Clove and Catskill Mountain Railroad, which, by its connection with the Kaaterskill Railroad at Tannersville Junction, offers the quickest and most comfortable route to Hunter, Tannersville, Haine's Corners, the Kaaterskill and Haine's Falls, the Hotel Kaat- i6 SUMMER IN THE CATSKILLS. erskill, the Catskill Mountain House, and the many smaller hotels and boarding-houses in the valley of the Upper Scho- harie. It is also the most direct route by means of stage con- nections at Hunter, its upper terminus to Henson- Jun?tronlndthe ^^^^ ^'^^ Windham : with a change of gauge there Kaaterskiu Rail- niust of coursc bc a changc of cars, the first that has been found necessary since leaving New York. At Phoenicia is located, on a plateau at the foot of Tremper Mountain, the Tremper House, one of the finest hotels in the Catskills. Amid the bustle and noise incident to a stop at a junction, the U. and D. train moves on, beari)ng still further into the moun- tains those passengers destined for the Western Catskills. On the right hand side are Mt. Sheridan, Broadstreet Hollow, North Dome, Peck Hollow, Mt. Sherrill, and Deep Notch, at the entrance to which is Shandaken Centre, six miles from Phoenicia, from whence stages find their way up through the Deep Notch to West Kill and Lexington, at both of which places are located pleasant hotels and boarding-houses. Three miles from Shandaken is the hamlet of Big Indian, which is becoming noted as the point of depar- shandaken Gen- turc for Slide Mountain, the highest of the Cats- and Big Indian.' kiUs. From this point the road leaves the valley and begins to climb the mountain-side with a grade of from 140 to 150 feet to the mile. Pine Hill, the next station to Big Indian, and but three miles from it, is one of the most interesting stations on the road, from the magnificent view it commands. The station is high on the hillside, while the village to which it belongs nestles in the valley below it. This village has been built since the opening of the j-ailroad, and contains naught but hotels, boarding-houses, and TO REACH THE CAT SKILLS. i-j summer cottages. Where the entertainment of summer guests becomes an art involving the interests of an entire community as here, it should certainly reach perfection. From this point the train travels two miles to accomplish one, rounds a magnificent curve so sharp as to receive the name of Horseshoe — of course no well-regulated mountain railroad would be without its horseshoe curve — lifts itself up the steepest grade of the line with much hoarse panting Pine Hiii, the from the locomotive, and comes to a resting-place Grand"Hote1." at Summit Station, i,886 feet above tide-water. From this divide, waters flow both into the Hudson and the Delaware, and on it, to the right of the track, but 400 feet above it, is the Grand Hotel, one of the largest in the Catskills, and commanding a mountain view unequaled in the State. From here the train, greatly lightened of its burden, rolls swiftly, unaided by steam, down the steep grades of the western water-shed, into the valley of the west branch of the Delaware. At Arkville, seven miles from the Summit, it connects with stages for Margaretville, one mile distant, Andes, twelve miles, Delhi, twenty-two miles, Downesville, twenty-six miles, Shavertown, twelve miles, and Arena, eight miles away. Roxbury, a thriving village, fifty-eight miles from Kingston, is interesting to a New Yorker, as having been the early home of Mr. Jay Gould ; and in it is still pointed out the country- store in which he found employment as a bov. The Roxbury, the ^ ■' •' early home or a railroad king has many warm friends living here, railroad king. who speak familiarly of him as "Jay," and relate anecdotes of his precocious shrewdness and business ability. At Grand Gorge, six miles beyond Roxbury, stage connections are made for Gilboa, three miles, and Prattsville, six miles distant. The Ulster and Delaware Road finds its terminus in Stamford, i8 SUMMER IN THE CAT SKILLS. a bright, charmingly located town, lying at the foot of Mt. Utsv- antha, seventy-three miles from Kingston, and 1,767 feet above the sea. The train that leaves Kingston in the morning reaches Stam- ford in time for dinner, remains there an hour, and returns the same afternoon ; so that if he desires, the tourist may take mfnus'^of 'thJu' ^ trip through the entire length of the Catskills and and D. R.R. retum the same day. At Stamford stage connec- tions are made for Hobart, four miles, Bloomville, twelve miles, Delhi, eighteen miles, Richmondville, eighteen miles, Jefferson, five miles, and Oneonta, twenty-seven miles distant. The U. and D. train has hardly left Phoenicia before the train on the Stony Clove and Catskill Mountain Railroad also pulls out on the opposite side of the station and bravely begins the steep ascent, in which 1,273 feet of elevation must be overcome in ten miles of distance. The rise is often 150, and in one place 180 feet per mile, and the ride, amid the wild and beautiful mountain scenery in the open observation cars attached to the trains of this road during the summer, is simply fascinating. For some miles the road-bed is a ledge along the mountain-side, from which the traveler gazes far down into the narrow valley, with its noisy torrent, or up to the forest-clad heights op- ks°narr?w^gauge positc, and nearly two thousand feet above him. railroad. g^ dark and deep are some portions of the clove traversed by this ambitious little railroad, that snow and ice re- main in them, unmelted, during the heats of the summer months. At Tannersville Junction, on the opposite side of the clove, from whence waters are flowing northward into the Mohawk, a portion of the train is switched to the track of the Kaaterskill Railroad, a narrow-gauge road eight miles long, just completed, 19 20 SUMMER IN THE CATSKILLS. opened for the first time this season, and traversing the glorious breezy valley of the upper Schoharie The terminus of this road, of which the course is almost due east, is South Lake, within a mile of both the Hotel Kaaterskill and the Catskill Mountain House. Nor are these the only routes to the Catskills that offer them- selves to the traveler. If he would approach them from the east instead of the south, and enjoy the ascent of their precipitous heights over some of the most wonderful wagon Catskill Moun- roads in the State, he may do so by continuing: in tain Railroad.— •> J J & Cairo and Paien- the Wcst Shorc train to Catskill, twenty miles above ville. , •' Kingston. Here he will be transferred to the cars of the Catskill Mountain Railroad, a narrow-gauge of about fifteen miles in length. This road makes a northward detour by way of Austin's Glen to South Cairo, where, turning southward, it finds its terminus in Palenville, at the very foot of the mountains and in the opening of the famous Kaaterskill Clove. He may, from Palenville, go by stage up through the clove to Tannersville and Hunter, or he may be driven over a road that zig-zags up the mountain-side, a marvel of engineering, for four miles, to the Hotel Kaaterskill. If he is bound for the Catskill Mountain House, or the ^' Old Mountain House," as it is generally called, from the fact that it has occupied its present position for over fifty years, he will leave the train at the Mountain House station, the last before reaching Palenville. From here he will be driven up over a road, every turn of which will cause him^ to exclaim in astonishment at the grandeur of the view and the wonders it unfolds. hS?f wSdham" If hc is fond of staging, he may take stage at and Ashland. ' g^^^j^ (.^-^.^ ^^^ Durham, Windham, Ashland, and Prattsville, a ride of thirty miles, every foot of which is beautiful and interesting. WHERE TO GO AND WHA T TO SEE. THE majority of tourists or summer boarders who have thus found their way into the enchanted region of the Cats- kills have doubtless well-formed plans as to the disposition of their holiday time ; but to those who are ignorant of what awaits them, a few hints of what is to be seen and done there may not come amiss. While the actuatina: im- why we visit ^ the mountains. pulse that every summer draws hundreds of thou- sands of people away from their homes into the country, to mountain or seaside resorts, is a desire for, or the absolute need of, an entire change of life, scene, and surroundings, a large pro- portion are in search of pleasurable excitement ; while others care- fully avoid it, and seek only rest, quiet, and healthful recreation. To all of these the Catskills promise the complete gratification of their several tastes or inclinations, and nobly redeem their pledges. In the four great hotels, the Prospect Park, situated just outside the village of Catskill, on an eminence directly overlooking the Hudson ; the Catskill Mountain House, nestled in a hollow between two mountain-peaks, on the edge of a precipice nearly 2,000 feet in height ; the magnificent Hotel Kaatcrskill, on its mountain-top, 2,600 feet above the sea, and over- looking many thousands of square miles of coun- ^°"hotfis. ^ ^ ' try ; or in the palatial Grand Hotel, on a summit of the Western Catskills, at an elevation of over 2,000 feet, with 22 SUMMER IN THE CATSKILLS. its unrivaled outlook over mountain and valley, — the votaries of fashion and possessors of wealth and luxurious tastes will find congenial spirits and surroundings in complete accord with them- selves. Esthetic furnishings, luxurious tables, seductive music, charming companions, well-graded drives, shaded walks, a bracing air, and glorious views, offer everything to be desired in the way of eating, drinking, dancing, flirting, making merry, and enjoying life to its utmost. To those of equally pronounced, but antipodal tastes, dozens of less pretentious hotels, and hundreds of boarding-houses, or farm- houses, temporarily elevated to that dignity, provide quiet, home comforts, tables bountifully supplied with country fare, and the same soul-elevating scenery and exhilarating moun- housesinwhi?h tain-air, with an entire freedom from the petty worries dt?pu5ses"'°" ^^^ formalities of the more fashionable resorts. In them all purses may find accommodation according to their linings. It is not least among the charms of the Cats- kills that they offer their prodigal wealth of nature's best gifts alike to the millionaire and to him of limited means, and that for each is provided the style of living and enjoyment that custom has rendered preferable. Of the entire system the Eastern Catskills have been most fre- quently described, they having, until the recent completion of the railroads described in preceding pages, presented the only points accessible with comparative ease ; and of the hotels occupying their wind-swept heights, the old Catskill Mountain House is perhaps the best known. Its age and popularity are well attested by the innumerable names and legends graven deep in the everlasting rocks of the plateau overhanging the tremendous precipice directly in front of its piazza. One of the earliest of these, dis- covered during a recent visit of the writer, is "J. Baily, Phila., WHERE TO GO AND WHAT TO SEE. 23 1845." Members of several college societies, among them z/^, JA A\ and A^^X, have also left their enduring record upon this most permanent of hotel registers. The road leading from the valley to the Mountain House rounds the head of a gorge high up on the mountain-side, which has been named " Sleepy Hollow," and is said to be the path cHmbed by Rip Van Winkle before he lay down for his prolonged nap. Se^-An"extrLc^ The very stone on which he slept is pointed out to bS'.^^^^'''^ the credulous ; and a small house of refreshment, in which are preserved Dame Van Winkle's chair and the flagon from which Rip drank (?), now occupies the site of the legen- dary locality. Read the following description, taken from the Sketch Book, and see if it does not tally with these surroundings : " On a fine autumnal day, Rip had unconsciously scrambled to one of the highest parts of the Kaatskill Mountains. He was after his favorite sport of squirrel-shooting, and the still solitudes had echoed and re-echoed with the reports of his gun. Panting and fatigued, he threw himself, late in the afternoon, on a green knoll covered with mountain herbage that crowned the brow of a precipice. From an opening between the trees he could overlook all the lower country for many a mile of rich woodland. He saw at a distance the lordly Hudson, far, far below him, moving on its silent but majestic course, with the reflection of a purple cloud or the sail of a lagging bark here and there sleeping on its glassy bosom, and at last losing itself in the blue Highlands. " On the other side he looked down into a deep mountain glen, wild, lonely, and shagged, the bottom filled with fragments from the impending cliffs, and scarcely lighted by the reflected rays of the setting sun. For some time Rip lay musing on this scene : evening was gradually advancing ; the mountains began to throw 24 SUMMER IN THE CATSKILLS. their long, blue shadows over the valleys ; he saw that it would be dark long before he could reach the village, and he heaved a heavy sigh when he thought of encountering the terrors of Dame Van Winkle." To those who are willing to place unquestioning belief in what they are told, this is sufficient to establish the identity of the spot; but there are skeptics who read further and confirm their doubts. They declare that the scene of Rip's adventure could have been none other than the Kaaterskill Clove, through which they say was the only road that Mr. Irving could have traveled, and, to further maintain their ground, cite from that portion of the nar- rative that tells of Rip's search for his late companions after waking from his nap, which is as follows : " He determined to revisit the scene of the last evening's gam- bol, and, if he met with any of the party, to demand his dog and gun. As he rose to walk, he found himself stiff in the joints and wanting in his usual activity. ' These mountain-beds do not agree with me,' thought Rip, ' and if this frolic should lay me up with a fit of the rheumatism, I shall have a blessed time with Dame Van Winkle.' With some difficulty he got down into the glen ; he found the gully up which he and his companion had ascended the preceding evening ; but, to his astonishment, a mountain stream was now foaming down it, leaping from rock to rock, and filling the glen with babbling murmurs. He, however, made shift to scramble up its sides, working his toilsome way through thickets of birch, sassafras, and witch-hazel, and sometimes tripped up or entangled by the wild grape-vines that twisted their coils and tendrils from tree to tree and spread a kind of network in his path. *' At length he reached to where the ravine had opened through the cliffs to the amphitheatre ; but no traces of such opening re- WHERE TO GO AND WHAT TO SEE. 25 mained. The rocks presented a high, impenetrable wall, over which the torrent came tumbling in a sheet of feathery foam, and fell into a broad, deep basin, black from the shadows of the sur- rounding forest. Here, then, poor Rip was brought to a stand." The question thus opened still remains unsolved, and to deter- mine the exact location of Rip Van Winkle's surpris- ing adventure may furnish occupation for investi- ti"n, to be settled gating minds among this summer's visitors to the bowis. ^^"^^ °^ Catskills. If they will listen when the black storm- clouds are blotting out one after another of the mountain-peaks and they can say — " Now, on the hills I hear the thunder mutter ; The wind is gathering in the West — The upturned leaves first whiten and flutter, Then drjp to a fitful rest — " they will hear the long roll of the ninepin balls and the crash of the strike where old Hendrik and his men still play their game of bowls, and in their researches may be guided by the sound. Three miles by the carriage-drive, or about one by a rugged path over the mountain from the old Mountain House, is the magnificent Hotel Kaaterskill, opened in 1881, and offering ac- commodation to 800 guests. In September, 1880, the site, now occupied by this largest and most per- The largest ^ . , . , , , , , mountain house feet mountam house ni the world, was an unbroken in the world. wilderness of underbrush, overgrowing a chaotic mass of rocks. In that month ground was broken, an army of 700 men were employed, and, in face of the most desperate odds, work was steadily prosecuted during the winter, amid bitter storms and intense cold. Ten months later the great hotel was open for the reception of guests ; a princely park, containing with- SUNSET ROCK. 26 WHERE TO GO AND WHAT TO SEE. 27 in its bounds nearly twenty-one square miles of mountain and valley, had been intersected in all directions by well-graded walks and drives, a carriage-road, four miles in length, winding directly up the face of the mountain from Palenville, had been constructed in spite of the declarations of practical engineers that the task was impossible ; and another sumptuous eyrie, overlooking one of the grandest and most extended views in the world, was open to the public. This great scheme was conceived by one man, George Harding, Esq., of Philadelphia, carried out at his own expense, and under his personal supervision, and finally success- fully realized through his indomitable energy and perseverance. So numerous and varied are the attractions and points of in- terest to be visited near and from the Hotel Kaaterskill, that an energetic guest could be kept constantly on the go, for twenty consecutive days, visiting a new scene of wonderful beauty each day, and being amply repaid for each separate effort. Of the many fascinating points within easy walking distance of the hotel, none is more worthy a visit Sunset Rock and ' ■'its outlook. than Sunset Rock, half a mile distant. It is a bare table-rock, overhanging Kaaterskill Clove, with an almost sheer descent of 1,500 feet. Directly opposite rises, grand and dark, 4,000 feet in air, the Kaaterskill High Peak, offering to view its entire face from base to summit. Its sides are clothed with a royal evergreen mantle, streaked here and there with the ermine of falling water, and woven of whispering pines, dark-hued firs, sturdy spruces, and the stately, sweet-scented balsams, with tops as straight and sharp as lance-tips. A magnificent tree standing near the summit might well have inspired the pen that wrote — " Thou alone know'st the glory of Summer Gazing down on thy broad seas of forest, 28 SUMMER IN THE CATSKILLS. On thy subjects that send a proud murmur Up to thee, their sachem, who towerest From thy bleak throne to heaven." Looking down the clove, its embracing mountains form a wondrous frame for the fair picture of the valley of the Hud- son, widespread beyond, with gleams of water in the distance. Turning toward the setting sun, the glisten of Maine's Falls is seen at the head of the clove, and, grand and sombre, Hunter Mountain rises far inland. While the western sun still bathes the rock in its light, the deep valley below is dark and tremulous with the shadows of evening. The true lover of nature has no need of artist tongues to tell him that he sees a perfect picture from Sunset Rock : he knows, as he gazes, that, were aught added, or one feature taken from it, its completeness would be marred ; and that, though other views may be more extended or more grand, none can be more truly beautiful. One of the most charming drives from the hotel is down the mountain road, with its "swan's neck" aad "horse- The Kaaterskiii shoc" curvcs, to Palenvillc, and then up the roman- Clove. ^ _ ' ^ ' ^ tic clove, in which are many tempting bits of tum- bling waters, dark pools, sequestered nooks, and grassy glades, to the Kaaterskiii and Haine's Falls, the two principal cascades in the Catskills. The last grade near the upper end of the clove is the steepest on the whole road, and on surmounting it the head of the Great Land Slide is crossed. Here, each winter, the road is torn from the hillside and hurled into the abyss, six hundred feet below. " And oft both path and hill were torn Where wintry torrents down had borne. And heaped upon the 'cumbered land Its wreck of gravel, rock, and sand." WHERE TO GO AND WHAT TO SEE. 29 From the summit of the clove the return to the hotel can be made by way of the back road over the mountain. The finest all-day drive from the Old Mountain House or the Hotel Kaaterskill is to the Overlook Mountain House, over the new Plaaterkill Mountain road. The distance is about fifteen miles, and the route back from the mountains to Tanners- ville, around Clum Hill and over the Plaaterkill turnpike to the very headwaters of the Schoharie and the upper end of Plaaterkill Clove. From here the new road, four miles in lens^th, opened in 1880, winds at a dizzy Oyer the Piaater- ^ ' ^ ' ^ kill Mountain road height along the side of Plaaterkill Mountain above ^^^^^ Overlook. the clove of the same name. Far below foams the Plaaterkill, with many a laughing plunge and tumble. On the opposite side of the clove rises the other face of the Kaaterskill High Peak, the northern view of which was had from Sunset Rock. One mile from the Overlook House a halt must be made at Grand View Rock, from which may be had one of the most extended outward views in the mountains. So boundless is it, and so infinite the number of changes that each hour unfolds, that nothing but an appetite made raven- ous by the long drive through the bracing mountain air, and the promise of the dinner awaiting him at the Overlook House, could cause the gazer to turn away. At the Overlook House itself the view is undoubtedly the finest in the Catskills, and is one of the most notable in the world, embracing as it does nearly a hundred miles of the Hud- son River Valley, portions of seven different States, and five dis- tinct mountain ranges, exclusive of the Catskills themselves. From this point the range of the eye is said to cover 30,000 square miles of territory. Certain it is that no visit to the Cats- kills is complete which does not include a trip to the Overlook. 30 SUMMER IN THE CATSKILLS. A wealthy New Yorker, who spends his summers at the Hotel Kaaterskill, has signified his intention of running laiiy-ho. ^ Tally-ho coach between it and the Overlook this season. For many years the eastern range of mountains were the Cats- kill ; but since the opening of the Ulster and Delaware Railroad, the western or Shandaken Catskills have divided the honors with them. The opening of the Grand Hotel, with its accommodations for five hundred guests, three years ago, gave an impetus to this section, and with each season it increases in popularity. From the piazzas of the Grand, the view to the north is over the valley of the Upper Delaware, and to the south it is down the north branch of the Esopus and directly into and up the entire length of the broad valley of the Big Indian to Slide, or " Lion " Moun- tain, the highest peak and king of the Catskills. The Shandaken Tq \]^^ g^st it is ovcr such a wildcmcss of peaks Catskills and ^ Slide Mountain, that to enumerate them would tax the reader's pa- tience beyond forbearance. It is only recently that Slide Mountain was discovered to be the highest peak of the Catskills. Until within three years, Hunter Mountain, sixteen miles north of Slide, and 4,052 feet high, was believed to occupy this position and to be entitled to the honor. It was only when the gentleman to whom it be- longs climbed it, with a level, to discover how much higher his mountain was than those of anybody else, that, to his chagrin, he found it overtopped by a hitherto almost unnoticed peak far to the southward. His impression that Slide Mountain was the higher was subsequently verified by measurement, and it was found to at- tain an elevation of 4,220 feet above sea level. Since that time the ascent of Slide Mountain has formed a favorite excursion for the i KAATERSKILL FALLS. 31 32 SUMMER IN THE CATS KILLS. guests from the Grand Hotel and the many hotels and boarding- houses of Pine Hill as well as from more remote points. It is but a three-mile drive from the Summit to Big Indian, the nearest accessible village to the mountain, or a five-mile ride by the early morning train, eastward bound. At Big Indian, if proper arrangements have been made, the tourists will be met by J. W. Dutcher, the mountain guide, who will furnish his own team, if desired to do so. The mountain-top is eleven miles from Big Indian, and of this distance nine miles can be traversed by carriages. The road leads up the Big Indian Valley to the western slope of the mountain, through some of the wildest and most romantic scenery in the Catskills. Beside it brawls the little torrent that afterward becomes the Esopus, How to reach ^nd, surroundiu^ it on all sides, are toweriner peaks. Slide Mountain. ' ^^ _ _ ' or Six miles from Big Indian is Butcher's house, where small parties can be kept over night, if they desire to spend any length of time on the mountain, or if they wish to visit it at sunrise. A mile beyond Butcher's are Gem Falls, and three miles from the house the road crosses the west branch of the Neversink River, which flows into the Delaware. A few rods from here the carriages are left, and the remaining two miles, up the western slope, must be made afoot. It is a tire- some, but not a difficult climb, and offers many charming resting- places and outlooks. At each of these new peaks disclose themselves, and new beauties of mountain and valley are unfolded. " And ever as he traveled he would climb The farthest mountain ; . . . . But wheresoe'er he rose, the heavens rose, And the far-gazing mountain could disclose Naught but a wider earth." WHERE TO GO AND WHAT TO SEE. 33 At last the summit is reached ; the rude observatory, erected by the guide, hfts the climber thirty feet above it, above the tops of the low storm-beaten trees, and on all sides is unrolled the glorious panorama. Is it worth the climb ? Indeed it is, and would be had it been ten times as hard. To the north the tumultuous mountains stretch away, range upon range, peak upon peak, " Purple-blue with the distance, and vast." In the east, across the valley of the Hudson, are the Berkshire Hills in Massachusetts, dominated by Mt. Everett. On the south, the silver ribbon of Hudson water disappears in its High- lands ; and to the west of them are mountains in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Days could be spent here, and each would bring new objects and places of interest within the range of vision. But the outspread picture is too grand, too vast, to be appreciated in one observation, even though it last for hours, and one wearies with its magnitude. If he would have it unfolded to him gradually, until it bursts into the full glory of a new-born day, let the lover of nature re- turn to the house of his guide, and pass the night there. Let him start in the small hours of the morning, so as to reach the beginning of the foot-path in the first Sunrise on slide ^ ^ '^ ^ Mountain. gray of the twilight, and the Summit in time to catch the first faint tinges of red and gold in the eastern sky. Let him listen, from the top of his lofty watch-tower, for the first murmur, with which " The wind shakes up the sleepy clouds To kiss the ruddied morn, And, from their awful misty shrouds, The mountains are new born." 34 SUMMER IN THE CATSKILLS. Let him look, from this height, upon the old but ever new, the same but ever-changing, wonder of the creation of a day, and he will descend to the world from which he came a better and a nobler man, full of thankfulness that the mountains were, are, and shall be, and that he has been permitted to witness, with them, the glories with which they are surrounded. From mountain-tops to valleys the descent is steep and sud- den, and the contrast between the two is as striking as the differ- ence between up and down ; but the valleys are as interesting in their way as the mountains, and, although all their scenery is above you, it is often as elevating to be down and look up, as to be up and look down. Some of the most charming drives in the Cats- kills are through their valleys, called in the eastern range "cloves," and in the western "hollows" or "notches." The mere proxim- ity to the rushing streams is invigorating, and the Valleys. A tramp echocs that SO promptly seize the shouts, laughter, up Birch Brook r r j 7 & } and through and sougs of the merry riding parties, and fling them back and forth from mountainside to mountainside, seem jolly little fellows, out for a frolic, and anxious to help you enjoy yours. For a charming valley tramp from Pine Hill, follow up Birch Brook, in which, if you are keen-eyed, you may discover speckled trout lying in its deep, quiet pools, to Bushnellville ; cross the divide into Deep Notch, with its summer ice-beds ; follow Angle Brook down it to Shandaken ; and, then turn up the Shandaken Valley, and follow the wagon-road back to Pine Hill. It will take the greater part of a -day ; but if you are a good pedestrian and fond of out-of-doors, it will prove one of the pleasantest days of the whole summer. If you do not care for the big hotels, you will find little ones near them ; or if you want to escape entirely from the sight of the WHERE TO GO AND WHAT TO SEE. 35 fashionable people and £heir surroundings forming the life of the larger hotels, take stages for Windham, Hensonville, or Ashland, in the open, breezy valley of the Batavia Kill ; go to Westkill or Lexington : you will find comfortable boarding-houses, pleasant people, and the mountains at any one of them. If you go to any of these places, do not forget to drive over to Pratts- ville and see Pratt s Rock with its wonderful carv- Pratt's Rock ings. Old Col. Pratt, long since dead, used to own fui carvings. ^^' much property in and about Prattsville, and part of it was a hillside crested with beetling rocks. With a view of im- proving upon nature, the good Colonel employed sculptors — of whose skill you can judge when you see their work — to carve from these rocks many quaint devices, for which he furnished the de- signs. Horses, dogs, and human figures are mingled in the' general plan, and,. as each was finished, it was painted white to resemble marble. There they still remain, much to the astonish- ment of the passing traveler who has not been informed concern- ing them. Every bowlder on the hillside is also carved into some shape different from that which it originally assumed. The whole forms a unique and enduring memorial of the eccentric Colonel. In the Catskills, while spring is beautiful and summer delight- ful, the early fall is the most perfect of seasons. The crisp- ness of the air, the gorgeous coloring of the foliage, the ability to do more, eat more, and sleep more soundly there than at any other time of the year, all present new and enlarged ideas of the possibilities and advantages of existence. Realizing all this, the proprietors of many of the Catskill hotels and boarding-houses have decided dosinrhymn.'^^ to keep them open much later t.han ever before, this season, and those visitors who take advantage of this to pro- 36 SUMMER IN THE CATSKILLS. long their stay in the mountains will be amply repaid for so doing. It must have been winter, and he must have been thinking of just such a happy harvest season, when a contributor to one of the magazines wrote — ' ' Oh, sweet and fair ! Oh, rich and rare ! That day, so long ago ; The autumn sunshine everywhere, The heather all aglow. " AUF WIEDERSEHEN. 37 PRINCIPAL HOTELS IN THE CATSKILLS, With Accommodations for loo or more Persons, accessible by the West Shore Route. Hotel Kaaterskill, Grand Hotel, Prospect Park Hotel, . Catskill Mountain House, Grant House, .... Tremper House, .... Ackerly House, .... Laurel House, Guigou House, .... Locust Grove House, Mrs. S. L. Curtis, .... Overlook Mountain House, Hunter Mountain Prospect House, Hunter House, . . . . Summit Hill House, Churchill Hall, .... Grand View Mountain House, . Mountain Home, . . . . Stony Brook House, Paul Raeder, O'Hara House, .... Windham Hotel, .... Mountain Summit House, . Devasego House, .... Lamoreau's Summit House, Central House, .... C. L. Ford, White Sulphur Spring House, Miles Haines, .... Glenwood Hotel, .... Maple Grove House, . Kaaterskill, . Summit, . Catskill, Catskill, . Catskill, Phoenicia, . Margaretville, Kaaterskill, Pine Hill, . Arkville, . Warnerville,. Woodstock, Hunter, . Hunter, * Catskill, Stamford, . East Windham Tannersville, PalenviUe, . Prattsville, Lexington, . Windham, Tannersville, Prattsville, East Windham Hunter, Tannersville, Cairo, Catskill, Kiskatom, PalenviUe, 800 450 400 400 300 275 250 250 230 200 200 200 200 300 200 125 I2S 125 100 100 100 100 ICO 100 100 100 For Location, Altitude, etc., see Alphabetical List. 38 < l-H < oi o < (I. u o a: m h m O 2 CO Ul CO 13 X 1 < o O 2: « hJ o l-H Q:: < < K o DQ CO (I) Q _1 < < CO & 1- < CO _J LiJ \- o < o LJ X \- Q Q IS _J <1 < Q- oi O to -z.. h — m LL hJ LL tD Ljl. 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O o C G Oo o « fcO o 3 o c 'S c o 6i lo o i :; ' O OOOioir>00>'iOO''iOOOOmiooomOioO"^ioTi'riuiir>u-)iomO''iOO 0»000>AO 00000000000000§|-; O '-' >. c» o 2 2 2 5::: 2^ oo S o EiSSa' ^ «©^ ^ 4©= ^ O S"-: O O ~ io>0"iiomi/iiou^ioiomio ^Sffi'~^;goaH 'J 'J CO • ; • c^^ - • ■" -^ ^ c — ,":; biJ-SIJ-S li 1> "^ I's i5^;>^§^" M.5 c C.3 . ^ c« rt ' ^ o p ? ■^ c ^' • a; J- - S S o o a' 00- O e (f> 62 a < 1-1 Vi IS ^ Oi o o >* O S ^ -a O ^ o o 3AOqH UOnBA3|3 aoj suop ■HpouiuioDoy aad SUU3J, OOOCOOOOOOOOO •UOpBJS UIOJJ saUIM Q -< '4, O U -1 < H Pi CA) u < CJ o oi w o, ^ l« 1) o 3;« O Ctf (U • ^ 2m EW £ S 5 O 03 C S « v^ « ffi < ;z; ffi c5? £ s c;5 rt O r- !2 T, ^ • -5 -tJ c I CI] o en THE GATEWAY OF THE CATSKILLS Ulster and Delaware, Stony Clove & Catskill Mountain AND Kaaterskill Railroads. Through the most Picturesque Region in America TO THE FAMOUS SUMMER RESORTS among the Catskill Mountains MAGNIFICENT MOUNTAIN SCENERY Unrivaled for Grandeur and Beauty Only All Rail Rotite. To Hotel Kaaterskill, Laurel House, Tannersrille, Hunter, Tremper House, Pine Hill, Grand Hotel, Arkville, Stamford, and other Resorts of Ulster, Greene, Schoharie, and Delaware Counties. By this Route elegantly equipped trains are run to The Top of the Catskills. Passengers are landed at the same elevation as the Hotels, and the long stage ride avoided. Through Tickets sold at all pri7icipal Eastern and Southern Cities. J. H. JONES, GEO. COYKENDALL, T. B. HIBBARD, Supt. U. & D. R. R. Supt. S. C. & C. M. R. R. Gen. Pass. Agt. U. & D. R. R. General Office : Rondout, N. Y. Van Loan's Catskill Mountain Guide Contains a full description of 8i of the best Hotels and Boarding Houses among the Catskills ; A Bird's. Eye View of the whole mountain region, showing the convenience of taking the "West Shore " all rail route to the heart of the Catskills ; A MAP OF GREENE, ULSTER, AND DELA- WARE COUNTIES; (The only accurate map of this Summer Resort.) Atout 100 Illustrations of Mountain Scenery in connection with many of the Hotels described. An article on the Geology and For^itation of the Catskills ; Names of all Stations on the four Railroads among the Catskills, with the elevation of each above tide water. In short, as a New York paper says, ** The Guide is invaluable to the mountain tourist." PRICE 40 CENTS. Mailed, postage paid, on receipt of 40 cents in coin, currency, or postrge stamps. WALTON VAN LOAN'S, Catskill, Greene Co., N. Y. FROM THE OCEAN TO THE LAKES. New York, Ontario & Western Railway TME NEW LINE THROUGH THE HIGHLANDS OF THE HUDSON To the healthful Summer Resorts high up among the Breezy Hills and Lofty Mountains of ORANGE, ULSTER, SULLIVAN, DELAWARE, OTSEGO, & CHENANGO COUNTIES, N. Y. No railroad leading out of New York penetrates a country more attractive for tlie grandeur and beauty of its scenery, or offers to the heads of families a wider field from which to choose a quiet, healthful, and attractive " Summer Home," within easy access of New York, and at an elevation of over 2,000 feet above the Sea. HIGH UP ABOVE THE LIMIT OF " HAY FEVERS" AND " ROSE COLDS." SEND FOR A COPY OF THE "SUMxMER HOMES," Issued eacli season by the New York, Ontario & Western Railway. The pam- phlet contains a description of the country through which the road runs, its attraction's for Merchants, Professional Men, Clerks and Sportsmen, gives a di- rectory of over 250 BOARDING HOUSES, HOTELS and FARM HOUSES, with the post-oftice address of the proprietors, rates of board, number that can be accommodated, distance from station, and all the information sought after by persons desiring country homes during the Summer months. The "Summer Homes "will be given away upon application at the oflfice of the Gkneral Passenger Agent, Room 32, 24 State Street ; or at Room 14, 35 Wall Street, New York. The cold mountain streams of Sullivan and Delaware Counties are justly celebrated for their excellent trout fishing. They are annually visited by thousands of sportsmen who take out the speckled beauties by the score. The entire region affords excellent shooting. In their season is found Quail, Part- ridge, Woodcock, Snipe, Red Head, Ruffle and Wood Duck. J. E. CHILDS, Gen. Supt. J. C. ANDERSON, Gen. Pass. Agent. No. 24 State Street, New York. American Exchange- Travelers' Bureau, C. A. Barattoni, Manager. In connection with the American Exchange in Europe (Limited). Authorized Capital, $5,000,000. President, , General Manager, Joseph R. Hawley. Henry F. Gillig. New York Office, 162 Broadway. Head Office, 449 Strand, London. Paris Agency, 35 Boulevard des Capucines. Established for the promotion of PLEASURE TRAVEL TO ALL LANDS, and for the convenience and protection of American Travelers in foreign countries. The only American institution of the kind in existence. EUROPEAN TRAVEE TICKETS issued to individual travelers for single or return journeys to all parts of Ireland, Scotland, England, Holland, Belgium, the Rhine District, Northern and Southern Germany, Switzerland, Italy, France, the Orient, etc. LETTERS OF CREDIT, Circular Notes and Circular Drafts issued to travelers by the banking department of the institution (for particulars see special circular). AMERICAN PLEASURE TRAVEE Tourist and excursion tickets issued to all places of interest to travelers in the United States and Canada, including the Hudson River, Saratoga, Adiron- dack Mountains, Lakes George and Champlain, the White Mbuntains, Quebec, Saguenay River, Montreal, St. Lawrence, Niagara Falls, Mount Desert, Rangeley Lakes, The Great Lakes, Denver, Pueblo, Colorado Springs, etc., etc. " TRAVEL," a magazine devoted to the interests of travelers in all lands, containing every information, and illustrated with maps, is published monthly. Address American Exchange Travelers' Bureau, 162 Broadway, New York. WEST SHORE ROUTE. Summer tourists seeking the route of travel which will yield the most pleasure and in- struction en route will be pleased to learn that points of interest along the west shore of the Hudson River will be rendered speedily accessible by the completion of the New Yokk, West Shore and Buffalo Railway. Sojourners among the Catskiils, or transient visitors to that delightful mountain region, have a personal interest in the provisions already made or to be made for their special accommodation and comfort. At Kingston, Union Depot facilities will enable trains to make direct connection with trains of the Ulster and Delaware Railroad, thus obviating the transfer of passengers or baggage. At Catskill, connections will be made with the Catskill Mountain Railroad, in order to accommodate the great number seeking an entrance to the Mountain through that gateway. A speedy trip on an elegantly equipped train, over a superbly built double track, steel rail line, in the cool shadows of the Highlands, around the foot-hills of the Catskiils, and traversing all the historic and picturesque points along the west shore of the Hudson, will mark a new era in your experience of pleasure travel. Until the extensive Terminal Stations of the West ShO'^e Line at Weehawken, opposite Forty-second Street, New York, are completed, the trains of the New York, West Shore & Buffalo Railway will arrive at and depart from the Jersey City Stations of the Pennsyl- vania Railroad. NEW YORK PASSENGERS Will arrive at and depart from Pennsylvania Railroad Stations at the foot of Desbrosses Street and Cortlandt Street. BROOKL YlSr PA SSENGERS will arrive at and depart from the Brooklyn Annex Station, at the foot of Fulton Stn-et, Brooklyn. PASSENGERS from Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, and the South oy West, will connect m Union Station, Jersey City, avoiding the ferry and long transfer through New York. TICKETS, TIME TABLES, and information can be obtained at the Stations of the New York, West Shore and Buffalo Railway and connecting lines, and at the following offices : In JERSEY CITY, Pennsylvania Railroad Station. IN BROOKLYN, No 4 Court Street, and Brooklyn Annex Office, foot of Fulton Street. IN NEW YORK CITY, No. 946 BROADWAY, near Madison Square. No. 737 SIXTH AVENUE, corner 42d Street. No. 1323 BROADWAY, near 33d Street. No. 168 EAST 125th STREET, HARLEM. No. 162 BROADWAY, American Exchange, Tourist Office. No. 207 BROADWAY, Leve & Alden, Tourist Office. No. 261 BROADWAY, Thos. Cook & Son, Tourist Office. PENN. R R. station, foot of DFSBROSSES STREET. PENN. R. R. station, foot O^ cortlandt STREET. For information not obtainable at local offices, address HENRY MONETT, General Passengc- ^ent, No. 24 State '^ -^t, New York. 1 booW )p-^lwAT?.) 51 I r m fjJ32dmMjyjjdJf ry^^rf^r '^&ftAa5!^?fta^:' A A ^ A /«K -ys->i^^ LIBRARY OF CONGRESS I |, 014 107 714 4