Adirondack Country. William Chapman White (10).

New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 1954.

Why read it? The history of the Adirondacks, the names, the lakes, the peaks, the guides and impressions of the tourists and the seasons. "As a man tramps the woods to the lake.. .he knows he will find pines and lilies, blue heron and golden shiners, shadows on the rocks and the glint of light on the wavelets, just as they were in the summer of 1954, as they will be in 2054 and beyond; he can stand on a rock by the shore and be in a past he could not have known, in a future he will never see; he can be a part of time that was and time yet to come."

Ideas:

“The Adirondack spring brings not only the quicker pulse of new life but the feeling and fact of freedom, almost forgotten during the winter; it is the freedom of the earth from the blanket of snow, of the lakes from the shackles of ice, of the motorist from slippery hills, of man from heavy boots and clothes.” P. 248. ………. “In earliest May the Adirondack world is one of delicate color.” P. 252. ………. “With mid-May came black flies, the flaw in the Adirondack spring.” P. 255. ………. “No matter in what unlikely spot a lilac appears, some man once lived there and planted it …with grave memory many a lonely lilac bush now growing by an empty roadside in some out of the way place.”  P. 256. ………. “By the end of May the Adirondack world is a green world.” P. 257. ………. “As everywhere else in the land, June goes too fast.” P. 257. ………. “The greens of June have no precise naming…buttery …blackened …silvered …ruddy. …metallic …sunlit …gray-bearded …feathery …waxed …whitened …translucent …feathered …leathery …white-green …velvet … paper…purpled …rubbery …dusted.” P. 257. ………. “Bass fishing is not a simple thing of bent pin and worm, although that system can produce as many fish as five hundred dollars; worth of tackle.” P. 261. ………. “The majority of bass fishermen are plug casters, armed with short rods and, as lures, things made of wood, plastic or metal that are supposed to represent fish, frogs, or just some oddity that the inventor, although never having been a bass himself, imagines bass might like.” P. 261. ………. “So fisherman and his boat go out at dusk; the sunset dapples the still water as a wisp of evening breeze rustles in the pines.” P. 261.

To be continued.

Adirondack Country. William Chapman White (9).

New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 1954.

Why read it? The history of the Adirondacks, the names, the lakes, the peaks, the guides and impressions of the tourists and the seasons. "As a man tramps the woods to the lake.. .he knows he will find pines and lilies, blue heron and golden shiners, shadows on the rocks and the glint of light on the wavelets, just as they were in the summer of 1954, as they will be in 2054 and beyond; he can stand on a rock by the shore and be in a past he could not have known, in a future he will never see; he can be a part of time that was and time yet to come."

Ideas:

"In an era when men from all sides had designs on the woods for their own ;profit and devil take the next generation, Colvin's was a voice that could make even legislators hesitate before they voted." P. 207.

………. "Colvin spoke from knowledge tediously gained." P. 207. ………. "He [Robert Marshall] belongs in the Adirondack record not for what he brought to the area, but for a clear statement of what he learned there and his desire to share it with others." P. 208, ………. "Robert Marshall classified the various peaks by the excellence of the view from them." P. 209. ………. Thoreau: "In wilderness is the preservation of the world." P. 210. ………. "The idea that in themselves the woods...had a value ln their natural form, untouched by saw, or ax, was a new concept." P. 212 ………. "Although the number of lumberjacks in the winter woods may be smaller than in years past, and although every precaution is taken, it is still dangerous work—branches fall and kill men; machines slip; there are few winters when some sturdy young lumberman is not carried mute from the woods." P. 225.              "The group who would keep the woods forever wild...are described by their opponents as 'starry-eyed idealists,' 'impractical big city folk,' 'millionaire camp owners,' 'two-week vacationists,' and 'sloppy sentimentalists.' " P. 241. ………. Robert Marshall: "For thousands the most important passion of life is the over-powering desire to escape periodically from the strangling clutch of mechanistic civilization; to us the enjoyment of solitude, complete independence and the beauty of undefiled panoramas is absolutely essential to happiness." P. 242. ………. "Another time cycle, in which human beings have no part except as watchers, works in the

woods." P. 247.

To be continued.

Adirondack Country. William Chapman White (8).

Adirondack Country. William Chapman White (8). New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 1954.

Why read it? The history of the Adirondacks, the names, the lakes, the peaks, the guides and impressions of the tourists and the seasons. "As a man tramps the woods to the lake.. .he knows he will find pines and lilies, blue heron and golden shiners, shadows on the rocks and the glint of light on the wavelets, just as they were in the summer of 1954, as they will be in 2054 and beyond; he can stand on a rock by the shore and be in a past he could not have known, in a future he will never see; he can be a part of time that was and time yet to come."

Ideas:

"During his stay, he wrote a book, Saranac Exiles, which he signed 'Not by W. Shakespeare.' " [Rev. John

P. Lundy]. P. 169 ………. Rev. John P. Lundy: "To the everlasting honor of Saranac Lake it must be said

that it has no lawyers or news editors to do the mischievous and harassing headwork of keeping the

community in an uproar of needless excitement and agitation." P. 169 ……….:With such a large patient

population, Saranac Lake was a natural target for all peddlers of nostrums and gadgets; for years the tuberculosis experts in the village had to show patiently that each new one was of questionable value; machines for breathing, glass helmets to admit special gases, vaccines, and secret drugs were each boomed in turn until each went bust; one doctor arrived and opened a sanatorium to cure tuberculosis with a serum

made from turtles; he left in a hurry, three months later."?. 176 ………. "The best symbol of the village of Saranac Lake's eighty-year-old reputation as a 'Town of Second chance' for victims of tuberculosis remains: it is Dr. Trudeau in bronze.. .looking at the hills in which he taught me to find new hope." P. 178.

 ………. "Al Jolson played a benefit in Saranac Lake in 1927 and broke all theatrical records by staying on stage alone for three hours, an astonishing show of repertoire, stamina and ability to hold an audience." P.180 ………. "...Chester Gillette of Cortland, New York, who drowned his mistress Grace Brown in Big

Moose Lake in July 1906, providing the incidents and murder trial which inspired Dreiser's An American Tragedy."? p. 180.

To be continued.

Adirondack Country. William Chapman White (7).

New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 1954.

Why read it? The history of the Adirondacks, the names, the lakes, the peaks, the guides and impressions of the tourists and the seasons. "As a man tramps the woods to the lake...he knows he will find pines and lilies, blue heron and golden shiners, shadows on the rocks and the glint of light on the wavelets, just as they were in the summer of 1954, as they will be in 2054 and beyond; he can stand on a rock by the shore and be in a past he could not have known, in a future he will never see; he can be a part of time that was and time yet to come."

Ideas:

"As a storyteller no one surpassed Mike Cronin, guide and teamster; he was unique, however, in that he had only one story; it was the tale of how he drove Theodore Roosevelt out of the woods below Marcy in September 1901, after Roosevelt, then vice-president, had received the news that President McKinley was dying from an assassin's bullet.... Mike never seemed to remember to tell one astounding fact in the whole episode, that each of those black horses had two hundred hooves; if Mike liked a listener well and if the listener didn't look too skeptical, Mike presented him with one of the genuine horseshoes that his black team wore on that ride; there used to be about four hundred homes in the Adirondack country that proudly treasured a genuine shoe from Mike's black team." P. 158 ……… "Like most of the guides, Les Hathaway stuck to just one section of the woods, the area around Saranac Lake; 'There's maybe only a couple hundred square miles I know but Mister, I know' em, every rock and stump on 'em; the trouble with people today is they're so busy coverin' ground they ain't got time to notice what's on the ground they're covering.'"?. 162.

To be continued.

Adirondack Country. William Chapman White (6)

New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 1954.

Why read it? The history of the Adirondacks, the names, the lakes, the peaks, the guides and impressions of the tourists and the seasons. "As a man tramps the woods to the lake... he knows he will find pines and lilies, blue heron and golden shiners, shadows on the rocks and the glint of light on the wavelets, just as they were in the summer of 1954, as they will be in 2054 and beyond; he can stand on a rock by the shore and be in a past he could not have known, in a future he will never see; he can be a part of time that was and time yet to come."

Ideas:

Another view of the Adirondack guide: "A more impudent, lazy, extortionate, and generally offensive

class... would be hard to find." P. 153................ "Each Adirondack guide worked in only one part of the

country and took pride in being known as a 'Lower Saranac,' a 'Loon Lake,' a 'Blue Mountain,' or a 'Lake

Pleasant' guide; he never guided a party outside his own district." P. 157................ "The Adirondack guide

boats had to be storm worthy; few guides ever learned to swim." P. 157............... "If the great number of

stories which they knew and which, in retrospect, they seemed to tell around the clock, were not all based

on personal experience, they were at least the guide's in the manner of telling." P. 158................ "Well, sir, I

remember one day I was hunting in the swale over to Ampersand and I'd fired my last bullet; all I had for a
weapon was a bottle of iodine when along come a ten-point buck; I hit him with that in the tail; the iodine
itched and the deer started scratching and by the time I catched up to him he'd rubbed himself all away; all
that was left was a pair of antlers; I got 'em home over the fireplace." P. 158...............

To be continued.

Adirondack Country. William Chapman White (5).

New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 1954.

Why read it? The history of the Adirondacks, the names, the lakes, the peaks, the guides and impressions of the tourists and the seasons. “As a man tramps the woods to the lake…he knows he will find pines and lilies, blue heron and golden shiners, shadows on the rocks and the glint of light on the wavelets, just as they were in the summer of 1954, as they will be in 2054 and beyond; he can stand on a rock by the shore and be in a past he could not have known, in a future he will never see; he can be a part of time that was and time yet to come.”

Ideas:

“A ‘camp’ means more things up here than a ;porcupine’s got quills.” P. 140. ……….. “One caretaker complained that he had to hire ten guides, and guides were hard to find; ‘You see, the Missus has a rough camp back in the woods and she has twenty guests at a time,’ he said; ‘She decides each week to rough it for lunch at the ‘rough camp’; so in the morning a maid goes round to each guest asking whether he’d like squab or filet mignon and what kind of cold soup and dessert; then all the lunches are put in pack baskets; I need a guide for each two guests to cart the stuff so they can rough it.’ ” P. 149. ………. “The Adirondack guide was portrayed variously as a limitless fount of stories and yarns, a tracker with the skill of a bloodhound, a better shot than Annie Oakley, a chef who could take baking powder, flour, and salt and out-cook Delmonico’s, and an all-knowing rustic philosopher. His proudest boast was that he could take a city man into the woods, shoot his deer for him, drag it out, cut it up, and knock down anyone who said the patron hadn’t shot it.” P. 153.

To be continued.

Adirondack Country. William Chapman White (4)

New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 1954.

Why read it? The history of the Adirondacks, the names, the lakes, the peaks, the guides and impressions of the tourists and the seasons. “As a man tramps the woods to the lake…he knows he will find pines and lilies, blue heron and golden shiners, shadows on the rocks and the glint of light on the wavelets, just as they were in the summer of 1954, as they will be in 2054 and beyond; he can stand on a rock by the shore and be in a past he could not have known, in a future he will never see; he can be a part of time that was and time yet to come.”

Ideas:

“It was important to keep the fire going; matches were not invented until 1827.” P. 68. ………. “One other industry and activity, whiskey making and drinking, vividly marked life on the American frontier…a bucket of whiskey stood on the counter of every general store on a ‘help yourself’ basis… the amount of whiskey consumed in frontier social life was tremendous, a fondness for it is not unknown in the Adirondack country now, where the tavern keepers are numerous and prosperous.” P. 82. ………. “Timber was so abundant, and timber in the early days usually meant the giant white pine, that it was inconceivable to the early settlers that it could ever be exhausted..” p. 89. ………. “Joel T. Headley was one of the first to report a fact that was to draw thousands to the region in later years: many people sick with a variety of diseases seemed to improve in the woods.” P. 103. ………. S.N. Hammond: “The old woods should stand here always as God made them, growing on until the earthworm ate away their roots and the strong winds hurled them to the ground, and new woods should be permitted to supply the place of the old so long as the earth remained.” P. 110. ………. “To explain it [the stampede to the woods] fully, one must have been alive in 1869, weary of the city, beset by a threatening business panic, and moved by Rev. William Murray’s words; you choose the locality which best suits your eye and build a lodge under unscarred trees, and upon a carpet of moss, untrampled by man or beast; there you live in silence unbroken by any sound save such as yourself may make, away from all the business and cares of civilized life.” P. 113. ………. “Thus attired, Murray’s lady of 1869 was ready for the woods; the sight of her, with net over her face, man’s hat on her head, long gloves in place, and her short walking dress with Turkish drawers fastened tightly at the ankle probably sent all wild life scurrying and may explain why panther, moose and catamount disappeared forever from the woods.” P. 114.

To be continued.