THE HEART OF THE WHITE MOUNTAINS THEIR LEGEND AND SCENERY
Reading edition
BY SAMUEL ADAMS DRAKE AUTHOR OF “NOOKS AND CORNERS OF THE NEW ENGLAND COAST” “CAPTAIN NELSON” ETC.
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY W. HAMILTON GIBSON “Eyes loose: thoughts close” NEW YORK HARPER & BROTHERS. FRANKLIN SQUARE 1882
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1881, by HARPER & BROTHERS, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. All rights reserved.
To JOHN G. WHITTIER:
An illustrious and venerated bard, who shares with you the love and honor of his countrymen, tells us that the poets are the best travelling companions. Like Orlando in the forest of Arden, they “hang odes on hawthorns and elegies on thistles.”
In the spirit of that delightful companionship, so graciously announced, it is to you, who have kindled on our aged summits
“The light that never was on sea or land, The consecration and the poet’s dream.”
that this volume is affectionately dedicated by
THE AUTHOR.
PREFACE.
THE very flattering reception which the sumptuous holiday edition of “The Heart of the White Mountains” received on its début has decided the Messrs. Harper to re-issue it in a more convenient and less expensive form, with the addition of a Tourist’s Appendix, and an Index farther adapting it for the use of actual travellers. While all the original features remain intact, these additions serve to render the references in the text intelligible to the uninstructed reader, and at the same time help to make a practical working manual. One or two new maps contribute to the same end.
I take the opportunity thus afforded me to say that, when “The Heart of the White Mountains” was originally prepared, I hoped it might go into the hands of those who, making the journey for the first time, feel the need of something different from the conventional guide-book of the day, and for whom it would also be, during the hours of travel or of leisure among the mountains, to some extent an entertaining as well as a useful companion. So far as author and publisher are concerned, that purpose is now realized.
Finally, I wrote the book because I could not help it.
Samuel Adams Drake.
Melrose, January, 1882.
GENERAL CONTENTS.
FIRST JOURNEY.
PAGE
I.My Travelling Companions1
II.Incomparable Winnipiseogee: Voyage from Wolfborough to Centre Harbor.—The Indians.—Centre Harbor.—Legendary.—Ascent of Red Hill.—Sunset on the Lake8
III.Chocorua: Stage Journey to Tamworth.—Scramble for Places.—Valley of the Bear Camp.—Legend of Chocorua.—Sandwich Mountains.—Chocorua Lake.—Ascent of Mount Chocorua18
IV.Lovewell: Fryeburg.—Lovewell’s Fight.—Desperate Encounter with the Pigwackets.—Death of Paugus33
V.North Conway: The Antechamber of the Mountains.—White Horse Ledge.—Fording the Saco.—Indian Custom.—Echo Lake.—The Cathedral.—Diana’s Baths.—Artists’ Falls.—The Moats.—Winter Ascent of Mount Kearsarge39
VI.From Kearsarge to Carrigain: Conway Intervales.—Bartlett Bowlder.—Singular Homicide.—Bartlett.—A Lost Village.—Ascent of Mount Carrigain.—A Shaggy Wilderness55
VII.Valley of the Saco: Autumnal Foliage.—The Story of Nancy.—Doctor Bemis.—Abel Crawford, the Veteran Guide.—Ethan A. Crawford.—The Mount Crawford Glen.—Giant’s Stairs.—Frankenstein Cliff.—Superb View of Mount Washington.—Mount Willey66
VIII.Through the Notch: Great Notch of the White Mountains.—The Willey House, and Slide of 1826.—“Colonizing” Voters.—Mount Willard.—Mount Webster, and its Cascades.—Gate of the Notch.—Summit of the Pass76
IX.Crawford’s: The Elephant’s Head.—Crawford House, and Glen.—Discovery of The Notch.—Ascent of Mount Willard.—Magnificent coup d’œil87
X.The Ascent from Crawford’s: The Bridle-path.—Wreck of the Forest.—A Forest of Ice.—Dwarf Trees.—Summit of Mount Clinton.—Caught in a Snow-storm.—The Colonel’s Hat.—Oakes’s Gulf.—The Plateau.—Climbing the Dome.—The Summit at Last95
SECOND JOURNEY.
I.Legends of the Crystal Hills: Indian Tradition and Legend.—Ascent of Mount Washington by Darby Field.—Indian Name of the White Mountains113
II.Jackson and the Ellis Valley: Thorn Hill.—Jackson.—Jackson Falls.—Goodrich Falls.—The Ellis.—A Captive Maiden’s Song.—Pretty Indian Legend.—Pinkham Notch, from the Ellis.—A Mountain Homestead.—Artist Life122
III.The Carter Notch: Valley of the Wildcat.—The Guide.—The Way In.—Summit of The Notch.—Awful Desolation.—The Giant’s Barricade.—Carter Dome.—The Way Out132
IV.The Pinkham Notch: The Glen House.—Thompson’s Falls.—Emerald Pool.—Crystal Cascade.—Glen Ellis and its Legend144
V.A Scramble in Tuckerman’s: Tuckerman’s Ravine.—The Path.—Hermit Lake.—“No Thoroughfare.”—Interior of the Ravine.—The Snow Arch155
VI.In and About Gorham: The Peabody Valley.—Copp’s Farm.—The Imp.—Nathaniel Copp’s Adventure.—Gorham and the Androscoggin.—Mount Hayes.—Mount Madison.—Wholesale Destruction of the Forests.—Logging in the Mountains.—Berlin Falls.—Shelburne and Bethel165
VII.Ascent by the Carriage-road: Bruin and the Travellers.—The Ledge.—The Great Gulf.—Fatal Accident.—Lost Travellers.—Arrival at the Signal-station.—A Night on the Summit178
VIII.Mount Washington: View from the Summit.—The Great Gale.—Life on the Summit.—Shadow of Mount Washington.—Bigelow’s Lawn.—The Hunter Monument.—Lake of the Clouds.—The Mountain Butterfly189
THIRD JOURNEY.
I.The Pemigewasset in June: Plymouth.—Death of Hawthorne.—John Stark, the Hunter.—Livermore Fall.—Trout and Salmon Breeding.—Franconia Mountains from West Campton.—Settlement of Campton.—Valley of Mad River.—Tripyramid Mountain.—Waterville and its Surroundings209
II.The Franconia Pass: The Flume House.—The Pool.—The Flume.—Ascent of Mount Pemigewasset.—The Basin.—Mount Cannon.—Profile Lake.—Old Man of the Mountain.—Summit of the Pass224
III.The King of Franconia: Profile House and Glen.—Eagle Cliff.—Echo Lake.—Ascent of Mount Lafayette.—The Lakes.—Singular Atmospheric Effects237
IV.Franconia, and the Neighborhood: The Roadside Spring.—Franconia Iron Works and Vicinity.—Sugar Hill248
V.The Connecticut Ox-Bow: Newbury and Haverhill256
VI.The Sack of St. Francis De Sales: Robert Rogers, the Ranger.—Destruction of the Abenaqui Village.—Retreat and Pursuit of the Rangers.—Legend of the Silver Image259
VII.Moosehillock: Ascent of the Mountain from Warren.—View from the Summit267
VIII.Bethlehem: Bethlehem Street.—Sudden Rise of a Mountain Resort.—The Environs.—Maplewood and the Great Range.—The Place of Sunsets.—The “Hermit.”—The Soldier turned Peddler276
IX.Jefferson, and the Valley of Israel’s River: Jefferson Hill.—Starr King and Cherry Mountains.—The Great Chain Again.—Thomas Starr King.—Ethan Crawford’s.—Ravine of the Cascades.—Randolph Hill and King’s Ravine.—The Cherry Mountain Road.—Fabyan’s.—Captain Rosebrook291
X.The Great Northern Peaks: The Mountain Railway.—An Evening Ascension.—Moonlight on the Summit.—Sunrise.—A March to Mount Adams.—The Great Gulf of the Five Mountains.—The Castellated Ridge.—Peak of Mount Adams.—Conclusion304
TOURIST’S APPENDIX.318
INDEX335
Illustrations.
These Illustrations, excepting those marked *, were designed by W. Hamilton Gibson.
SUBJECT. ENGRAVER. PAGE.
Travellers in a Storm, Mount WashingtonR. HoskinFrontispiece
Winnipiseogee, From Red HillJ. Tinkey15
*“Alone With All Those Men!”V. Bernstrom20
Designed by W. A. Rogers.
Passaconnaway, From the Bear-camp RiverSmithwick and French24
ChocoruaR. Hoskin26
Lovewell’s PondJ. P. Davis34
Mount Washington, From the SacoF. S. King40
The Ledges, North ConwayE. Held41
Echo Lake, North ConwayG. J. Buechner45
Kearsarge in WinterR. Hoskin48
*Sliding Down KearsargeH. Deis53
Designed by W. A. Rogers.
Conway MeadowsW. H. Morse56
Bartlett BowlderE. Held58
*Nancy in the SnowJ. P. Davis68
Designed by Sol Eytinge.
*Abel Crawford (Portrait)Thos. Johnson70
Storm on Mount WilleyJ. Linton75
Mount Willard, From Willey BrookG. Smith78
The Cascades, Mount WebsterF. S. King85
Elephant’s Head, WinterH. Wolf88
Looking Down the NotchC. Mayer91
Giant’s Stairs, From Thorn MountainJ. Hellawell124
Moat Mountain, From Jackson FallsF. Pettit126
The Carter NotchSmithwick and French134
The Emerald PoolW. H. Morse147
The Crystal CascadeH. Wolf149
The Path, Tuckerman’s RavineR. Hoskin157
Hermit LakeW. J. Dana160
Snow Arch, Tuckerman’s RavineN. Orr163
The ImpJ. Tinkey166
The Androscoggin at ShelburneG. Smith176
Mount Adams and the Great GulfW. H. Morse182
Winter Storm on the SummitR. Schelling187
*The Tornado Forcing an EntranceJ. Tinkey194
Designed by Thure de Thulstrup
Lake of the CloudsJ. P. Davis200
On the Profile RoadSmithwick and French213
Welch Mountain, From Mad RiverJ. Hellawell217
Black and Tripyramid MountainsJ. S. Harley220
Franconia Notch, From ThorntonF. S. King222
A Glimpse of the PoolC. Mayer225
The Flume, Franconia NotchJ. P. Davis227
The BasinG. J. Buechner230
*The Old Man of the MountainA. Measom234
Designed by Granville Perkins.
*Eagle Cliff and the Echo HouseP. Annin238
Designed by Granville Perkins.
Echo Lake, FranconiaG. J. Buechner240
Mount Cannon, From The Bridle-path, LafayetteR. Schelling242
Cloud Effects On Mount LafayetteR. Hoskin245
*Franconia Iron Works And NotchC. Mayer248
Designed by Granville Perkins.
*The Roadside Spring 250
Designed by W. A . Rogers.
*Robert Rogers (PORTRAIT)C. Mayer260
*The Buck-board Wagon 274
Designed by W. A. Rogers.
Mount Lafayette, From BethlehemJ. Tinkey280
The Northern Peaks, From JeffersonSmithwick and French292
Mount Washington, From Fabyan’sE. Held301
*Mountain Railway-station in Staging TimesT. Johnson305
Designed by Granville Perkins.
Ascent by the RailwayJ. Hellawell309
The Castellated Ridge, Mount JeffersonJ. Tinkey315
Map of the White Mountains (East Side) xv
“ “ “ (Central and Northern Section) 111
“ “ “ (West Side) 207