CH.^Wy HHiMillMMiNMiikMWta LIBRARY Ot .pONGRESS. i^nr F 44 @ti|ti|riB]^t ;|xi UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 'J / VIEWS IN THE White Mountains. C. R. CHISHOLM AND BROTHERS, PORTLAND, ME. ^ Copyright, 1878. Br C. R. CHISHOLM & BROTHERS. The Riverside Press, Cambridge : Printed by II. 0. Houghtoa and Company. CONTENTS. Crawford Notch. — Willey Valley . Crawford House Notch Cut Willey Brook Bridge .... Frankenstein Trestle .... The Old Willey House .... Fabyan House View of the White Mountain Kange . Glen House Jacob's Ladder. — Mt. Washington R. K. Profile House Profile, or Old Man of the Mountain PAGE 5 5 7 8 8 9 . 12 14 . 15 16 . 18 20 CRAWFORD NOTCH. — WILLEY VALLEY. This view is taken from Elephant's Head, and looks south- wardly down through the Notch into the Willey Valley. To fully appreciate its beauties one should ascend Elephant's Head and there view the picture as it is : the right foreground is occupied by the base of Mount Willard ; Mount Webster on the left, sweeping down in steep descent into the valley ; in the centre is seen the slope of Mount Willey ; in the background rises the summit of Carrigain. Elephant's Head, from which the view is taken, is situated about half a mile in front of the Crawford House, commanding also a fine view of the beautiful plateau, and forms the left wall of the Gate of the Notch, at this point but twenty-six feet wide, between whose huge, rocky sides pass the Saco River, the old highway, and the more modern railroad. CRAWFORD HOUSE. The Crawford House is situated directly facing the Notch, and about one hundred rods distant, with a fine plateau of land, 6 CRAWFORD HOUSE. and a beautiful sheet of water (called Saco Lake), that ever ready duplicator of surrounding object, and delight of the artist, intervening. The Portland and Ogdensburg Railroad runs past the house, and has a neat little depot in close proximity for the convenience of tourists that may come from either direction. A. T. & O. F. Barron are the proprietors of the house, and it is managed by that agreeable and popular associate, C. H. Mer- rill, Esq., who is remembered with pleasure by all who visit the bouse. It is modern in all the requirements of a first-class hotel, and many decided improvements have been recently made in the surrounding grounds, one of which is the enlargement of Saco Lake by a dam at the outlet. The old and original Crawford House was built and kept for a long time by Thomas Crawford, son of Abel Crawford, and brother of Ethan Allen Crawford (who kept a house at the Fabyan place), and was situated at the lower end of the lake near the Gate of the Notch, upon the opposite side of the road It was from this house the present one derived its name. Many are the stories related by the old settlers now living in this vicinity, of the trials, hardships, and perilous adventures with wild beasts told them by the Crawfords themselves ; some of which we would be glad to publish here, had there been suffi- cient room without crowding out more important matter. There is a bridle-path to tlie top of Mount Washington from this house, and, until within a few years, was extensively used, it NOTCH CUT. 7 being no uncommon sight to see a company of thirty or more ladies and gentlemen upon mountain ponies filing off into the path at the left of the house, and disappear in the woods. Mount Willard furnishes another very important view, of which no picture is given in this book, for the reason that no photograph can do justice to the subject ; it would give those who had not been there but a faint idea of the grandeur of the scene, and those who had been there would say it was not a good picture. From here the mountains appear in their true formation, showing plainly the curved principal lines assumed by mountain sides generally ; the irregularities, such as prom- inences and depressions, are all lost by distance and the peculiar position of the observer. A person traveling through the woods up the side of either of the mountains, would say the form was anything but regular, and there was no possibility of their appearing in the true, grace- ful lines that they really do. Taken in detail, the formation is rough as it well can be, but as a whole, in the magnificent scale of nature, the beauty is complete. NOTCH CUT. This view is given as a specimen of the arduous work per- formed in building the railroad through the Notch, — this rock- 8 WILLEY BROOK BRIDGE. cutting being the last obstacle of considerable difficulty to overcome. Emerging from the cut one obtains an impressive view of Dismal Pool, sunk far below in the deep ravine, its sul- len waters reflecting in dark shadows the hills and ledges tower- ing above. WILLEY BROOK BRIDGE. This work consists in part of a wood trestle, that material being used in anticipation of eventually making an embankment at this point, and a permanent iron bridge of about 160 feet span, springing from the rocky base of Mount Willey to the pier of solid masonry which forms the abutment for both bridge and trestle. Height of bridge above the bed of the stream about 100 feet ; just above this point, as the road passes around the base of Mount Willard, a lovely view of the Willey Valley is obtained, not surpassed in beauty by the more famous view from the summit of Willard. FRANKENSTEIN TRESTLE. This work, noted for its beauty and graceful outline, spans a deep gulf at the base of Frankenstein Cliff, and is 500 feet long THE OLD WILLEY HOUSE. 9 and 85 feet high. The Cliff is one of the loftiest precipices of the mountains, and makes a grand picture as seen from the bridge. It is in view from the cars for some distance before the bridge is reached, and in its varying aspects forms an inter- esting study for the lover of nature. For some three miles, approaching the Cliff from Conway, and looking off to the right, an imposing view of Mount Washington is obtained up the Mount Washington River Valley, which is by some considered a more effective view of that noble height than can be obtained from any other point. From the upper end of the Trestle is also bad a beautiful view of the valley, stretching far to the south, surrounded on all sides by lofty ranges. THE OLD WILLEY HOUSE. Well we remember in our school-boy days how deeply our sympathies were wrought up by the narration of the particulars, to a certain extent, of the sad fate of the Willey family in our First Book of History. As our home was in another section at the time, it seemed then, as now, like reading of scenes and inci- dents in some foreign country which we never expect it will be our lot to visit ; and when we visited the house only a few days 10 THE OLD WILLEY HOUSE. since, it did n't seem possible that the articles of furniture and rooms were identical with those described so long ago ; even the cradle in which one of the children was supposed to have been lying but a short time previous to the calamity is preserved in good condition ; and well it might be, for it was built in the thorough manner of olden times, and looked as though it was meant for service. The body of it is made of inch pine boards, and well dove-tailed at the corners ; the rockers are two inches thick. The table around which the family were seated at supper the evening of that Monday night has been less fortunate, for visitors have been allowed to take small pieces, until the larger portion of the top is gone ; the bottom is yet entire. The house was built not far from 1820, and Mr. Willey, with his family, moved in in 1825, passing the ensuing winter quite comfortably. Late in June Mr. Willey and wife, looking from a window in the back part of their house (the one represented in the picture), saw a large mass of the mountain above them sliding through the fog towards their meadows, and almost in a line of the house itself. The slide moved under their eye to the very foot of the mountain, and spread itself across the road. At this sight they were greatly terrified, and resolved to move from the Notch ; but upon further consideration concluded that such an event was not likely to occur again, and if it should, he would be prepared for it. lie then built a strong hut farther down the Notch, to which the family might fly for shelter if occasion re- THE OLD WILLEY HOUSE. 11 quired. It is supposed that the fomily were endeavoring to reach this place when they were overtaken by the slide. On Sunday, August 27th, the rain began to fall, and Monday, the 20th, the storm was very severe, and the rain was a deluge. The little stream through the valley was swollen to a mad river, ready to take all in its course. The house itself was not injured, and had its inhabitants remained there, they would have been safe, for back of the house was a large rock thirty feet high, which divided the mass of debris as it passed by. The family consisted of Mr. Willey, his wife, five children, and two hired men. In searching for the bodies the first found was that of one of the hired men, David Allen, a man of pow- erful frame and remarkable strength. " He was found near the top of a pile of earth and shattered timbers, with his hands clinched, and full of broken sticks and small limbs of trees. Soon the bodies of Mrs. Willey and her husband were found, the latter not so badly crushed but that it could be recognized." Saturday, the body of the three-year old child was found, and the next day the eldest daughter, twelve years old, was found. Three children, a daughter and two sons, were never found. " The relatives who studied the grounds closely after the disas- ter were unable to conjecture why the family could not have outrun the land-slide, or crossed its track, if they left the house as soon as they heard its descent far up the mountain." Mr. James Willey states that the spirit of his brother appeared in a 12 FABYAN HOUSE. dream, and told him that the family left the house some time before the avalanche, fearing to be drowned or floated off in the Saco, which had risen to their door. They fled back, he said, farther up the mountain, to be safe against the perils of water, and thus when the land-slide moved towards them, were com- pelled to run a greater distance to escape it than would have been required had they stayed in their home, while they would have been swept off by the flood had they kept the line of the road which would have conducted them out of the Notch. It is a singular fact, Mr. Benjamin Willey tells us, that this explana- tion accounts for more known features of the catastrophe than any other which has been formed. FABYAN HOUSE. This house is located near the spot where the first house was built among the mountains for the accommodation of straggling visitors, but burned in 1818, and of which Ethan Allen Craw- ford (the mountain pioneer) was proprietor. It was situated near the cone-like elevation called Giant's Grave, which has since been graded for the present house. The former probably could not accommodate more than a dozen guests, while the present one is intended for five hundred. The contrast between FABYAN HOUSE. 13 the two houses indicates fairly the improvements made in all directions about the mountains for the ease and comfort of tourists. It is also near the site of the old house known by the same name, which was for many years kept by Mr. Horace Fabyan, and long the only prominent house among the mount- ains, and is well remembered by many tourists. This was also destroyed by fire, and for a number of years there was nothing erected to supply its place. But the location possessed so many advantages that a company was formed, composed of men of large means, who determined to build a house, that, in point of size, and adaptation to the requirements of summer tourists, should be unsurpassed in this region, and admirably have they accomplished their design. The Giant's Grave was graded, at great expense, in order that the house might be placed in the best possible position to render the view in all directions in- teresting and grand, and thus enable them to give it a com- plete and perfect drainage directly into the Ammonoosuc River, whose rapid current carries with it everything within its power. Of the desirability of this house as regards scenery and pure air, it need only be said that it is situated toward the upper or southeasterly side of a well-cultivated meadow, embracing an area of about one hundred acres, in the very midst of the mount- ains. In connection with a full and magnificent view of the surrounding mountains, the train can be seen ascending and de- scending Mount Washington. The Ammonoosuc River, which 14 VIEW OF THE WHITE MOUNTAIN RANGE. winds along by the side of the meadow, is well supplied with trout, and furnishes ample opportunity to the disciples of Wal- ton to while away a pleasant afternoon in capturing a quantity sufficient for a breakfast, that for delicacy is regarded by epi- cures as unsurpassed. The junction of the Portland and Ogdensburg, and Boston, Concord and Montreal, and White Mountains railroads, is di- rectly in front of the house. VIEW OF THE WHITE MOUNTAIN RANGE. This view, taking in four of the principal mountains which are included in the White Mountain range proper, with the in- tervening slope of woodland scenery, and the mountain tops capped with snow, is regarded by tourists as unsurpassed in beauty and grandeur by any mountain view in this country. The names of the mountains, as seen in the picture, are Mount Jefierson, 5,700 feet high ; Mount Madison, 5,3G1 ; Mount Mon- roe, 5,400, and Mount Washington, 6,285 feet high. One of the Indian names of these mountains was " Agrocockook," which signifies " The place of the Spirit of the Great Forest." THE GLEN HOUSE. 15 THE GLEN HOUSE. This house is one of the largest and grandest hotels of the White Mountain region. From the balcony of the hotel may be had an uninterrupted view of the highest summits in New England, while the parties ascending and descending the rugged ledges of Mount Washington may be watched by the aid of a glass. The whole front of the house, facing the mountains and the rushing Peabody River, contains rooms that are unusually attractive, while those on the other side are also favored with remarkable and pleasing mountain views. This hotel is now owned and managed by W. & C. R. Milliken. The Glen House stands on a plateau 830 feet above the Gor- ham valley, and 1.632 feet above tide- water at Portland, in the midst of a magnificent mountain-bowl. Behind it bend the thin, high ridges of Mount Carter and its spurs, 3,000 feet in height, and green with unbroken forests to their crests. On the south- west one sees the steep, bony braces of Mount Washington, running off, one behind the other, into the Pinkham forests, and towards Jackson. Directly in front are the outworks and huge shoulder of Mount Washington itself, and behind this heavy shoulder, on a retreating ridge, the pinnacle where the Summit House stands. Associated directly with Mount Wash- 16 Jacob's ladder. — mount Washington railroad. ington, and bending around to the northwest and north, are Mount Clay, rising over the huge " Gulf of Mexico ;" the stout, square-shouldered Jefferson, and the symmetrical, sharp, and splendid pyramid of Adams, with its peak so pointed that it looks unscalable. This mountain is by far the grandest of all in shape and impressiveness. And next to this, with lines run- ning eastward, is Mount Madison, which completes the staff of Washington. Thus four of the highest summits of the White Hills are, as we have said, in full view, directly in front of the hotel in the Glen. The height of Mount Washington is 6,285 feet ; Mount Clay, 5,400 ; Mount Jefferson, 5,700 ; Mount Adams, 5,800; Mount Madison, 5,361. No public house among the mountains is situated so near the Mount Washington range as this. There are views of the mountains to be had at a little greater distance that will give more pleasure to the artistic sense, but no view of the chief White Mountain range can be had from a hotel that is compar- able with this which the piazza of the Glen House offers. JACOB'S LADDER. — MOUNT WASHINGTON RAILROAD. This wonderful piece of engineering was projected in 1858, when a charter was granted to Sylvester Marsh for constructing JACOB'S LADDER. — MOUNT WASHINGTON RAILROAD. 17 the road. The work of building was not commenced until 186G, and it occupied three years in construction. It is nearly three miles long, and the ascent is one foot in three. In addition to the ordinary rails, it has a central double rail, with cross-pieces every four inches, into which a cogwheel, driven by the locomotive, plays. Four revolutions of the engine are required for one of the driving-wheel, the object being strength and safety rather than speed. The engine is below the passenger car and pushes it up the mountain. Both locomotive and car are provided with friction and atmospheric brakes, to guard against accident, and the ar- rangements for safety and comfort are so complete that all fear may be laid aside. The novelty of the ride and the fine view from different points on the road make a trip to the summit an enjoyable one. The view we have selected is near the spot in the old Fabyan Bridle Path, so called from its being the steepest and most dif- ficult part of the route. There were steps in the rocks a portion of the way only large enough for the horse's feet. Had not the horses been surer-footed than men sometimes are, there must have been many accidents here. This part of the road is built upon trestle-work from six to twenty-three feet high, by strong timbers being bolted together, braced in a substantial manner, and firmly set upon the solid rocks. The road here being built upon a curve and the rails being securely bolted together, there 18 PROFILE HOUSE. is no danger of the winds blowing the train and trestle-work over, as some have feared at times. Here is noticed a marked change in the vegetation, from the stunted growth of the firs to a large and beautiful variety of lichens. Occasionally you will find splendid vines filled with delicate blossoms entwined among the rocks ; also the first traces of Alpine flowers are seen here. At the top and left of this trestle-work is what is called the " Gulf of Mexico," a wild chasm 1,000 feet deep, in which a branch of the Peabody River has its source. From this point the ascent is more gradual, and the view more extended. PROFILE HOUSE. This house is in the Franconia Notch, and is one of the most romantically situated of any of the White Mountain resorts. It is nearly surrounded by mountains whose bases are but a few rods distant, and whose summits are reared in an almost perpendicular manner, until they pierce the clouds, or are gilded by the rays of the sun. There are many interesting freaks of Nature near at hand, and Messrs. Taft & Greenleaf, the pro- prietors, have spared no pains or expense in beautifying the walks thereto. The tourist can, if he chooses, leave the cars at Plymouth (at about one o'clock), and proceed up the Pemige- PROFILE HOUSE. 19 wassett Valley by stage, a distance of about thirty miles. The river and mountains are constantly in view, and each turn pre- sents a different scene, each outdoing the former until you arrive in the Notch, where no pen can describe the wonders displayed. Many prefer keeping their comfortable seats in the cars of the Boston, Concord, and Montreal Railroad until they arrive at Littleton. There coaches are in waiting to convey them the remaining eleven miles. The first two miles are ascending and rather tedious work (especially for the horses), then, suddenly the whole mountain-range is sj^read out before you, with a valley dotted with farm-houses between. In this valley lies one of the most picturesque villages in New England. It is completely surrounded by mountains more or less distant, and through its centre runs one of those swift mountain-streams whose banks are studded with graceful elms such as Turner used to adorn his beautiful landscapes. From this village Mount Lafayette is seen in its most attractive form. After leaving the village, the ground is ascending until within one and one half miles of the house, and then it is descending through the ancient forest, past Echo Lake, and in a few minutes we are in full view of the house and one of the most inspiring scenes in the world. 20 PROFILE, OR OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN. PROFILE, OR OLD MAN OP THE MOUNTAIN. We pass down the road in front of the Profile House, about one fourth of a mile to the head of a path leading to the right. Upon the left of the road is a rude platform and seat. From this point, by looking across the main road, over the trees and up to the height of fifteen hundred feet, the Old Man of the Mountain is seen in all his majesty. It is customary at places of resort to point out all interesting sights in its vicinity. Most of them have a rock or crag that, by the aid of a strong imag- ination, can be made to resemble a man, dog, or whatever it is most like. In this instance the reality far surpasses the descrip- tion. There it is, a colossal, symmetrical profile, standing out in bold relief against the sky, ready to face the storms of ages to come as well as it has in years gone by. He stands like a great commander-in-chief, marshaling the mountains into line of battle ; his thin lips are parted, as though about to utter in thundering tones the command for this section to the front, that, to the right, and with keen, observant look watching the result of the conflict. It is no wonder the Indians regarded it with superstitious veneration. The length of the face is from seven- ty-five to eighty-five feet, and is formed of different rocks. Mt. Webster. P. & O. H. R. Mt. Willi Mt. Nancj'. CRAWFORD NOTCH AND WILLEY VALLEY. Mt Willard Range. Cherry Mt. CRAWFORD HOUSK, FROM NOTCH. GRF.AT cur, CRAWFORD NOTCH. Mt. Willard. Mt. Webster. WILLEY BROOK BRIDGE. FRANKENSTEIN TRESTLE. Mt. Willard. OLD WILLEY HOUSE. Hlack Mt. FABYAN HOUSE. Carter Mt. GLEN HOUSE. r JACOB'S LADDER, MT. WASHINGTON R R. .^^mmm^m^mmmmt PROFILE HOUSE. PROFILE, OR OLD MAN OF THK MV. "g LIBRARY OF CONGRESS I0O00OO000' 013 984 796 9^ '(a^ ■v:!s>-:^v:i^'s^l I