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T II E 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 WHITE MOUNTAINS, 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 FIRST SETTLEMENT 
 
 OF 
 
 UPPER COOS 
 
 ANT) 
 
 PEQUAKET. 
 
 By Lucy, Wife of Ethan Allen Crawford, Esq. 
 — ■ .. ^\ . - 
 
 WHITE HILLS: Pp^iU... 
 1846, 
 
 MfV 
 

 Entered accorcTmg to Act of Congress, in the year 1845, 
 
 BY LITCY CRAWFORD, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of 
 New Hampshire. 
 
 PBINTED BT T. A. & A, T. SEEKISH, 
 » 74. Middle Street, Portlixid. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 It may be enquired, by some persons, what has be- 
 come of Crawford, the Mountaineer, or Ethan of the 
 Hills ? It will be the endeavor of the Authoress of this 
 Tale to relate some of his misfortunes and adventures, 
 briefly as possible, it being always a rule with him to 
 make short stories and not go a great way round ta|efFect 
 a small thing. 
 
 This she has done, in his own language, as nearly as 
 she could, for the information of others and the benefit 
 of all of her own family whom she is desirous of bringing 
 up and making useful members of society. These are 
 all true statements of things which have taken place 
 within her own knowledge, since she has been living with 
 him. These facts he was unwilling, at first, to have pub- 
 lished, as he did not wish to expose those who seemed to 
 be against him : they have been stated in as moderate 
 terras as possible, as we do not wish to injure the feelings 
 even of enemies if we have any such. It will readily be 
 seen why he was always involved in debt, if this history 
 is read with candor, and viewed in a right manner, as it 
 will show his misfortunes to have originated, first, m the 
 fire, which left him a large sum in debt ; next, in being 
 t^bliged to build J almost e%-ery year, so far from commoa 
 
It; INTRODUCTIOISI. 
 
 privileges ; and, ihen, in the two freshets, which caused 
 him a lieavy loss of" property. Taking all these things 
 into consideration it may be wondered how he succeeded 
 in getting along as well as he did, under so many losses 
 and dissppointments. But, saith the poet — 
 
 "Pigmies placed on Alps, are pigmies still; 
 And Pyramids are Pyramids in vales." 
 
 And, as the Scripture saith of men of ancient times — 
 
 "There were Giants in those days." 
 
HISTORY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 WHITE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 THE ROSEBROOKS. 
 
 Hannah Hanes was born in Brimfield, Mass., 
 August 3rd, 1744; and, at an early age, she 
 experienced Religion — at the age of seventeen, 
 1 think she told me ; and this religion supported 
 her through many trying scenes of life ; neither 
 did it forsake her in the time of death. 
 
 Eleazer Rosebrook was born in Grafton, Mass. 
 1747 ; was married to Hannah Hanes, in March, 
 1772, and there they lived, until after the birth 
 of their first child, a daughter : and (when this 
 child was one year and a half old,) he, like 
 many other enterprizing men, took his wife and 
 child and came into what was then called Upper 
 Coos (pronounced Quos) as far as Lancaster. 
 Here they made a temporary stay, while he 
 could look about and find a place to settle, until 
 after the birth of their second child, a daughter. 
 1* 
 
O HISTORy OF TUK 
 
 They then moved into woods, up the Connecti- 
 cut Kiver, as far as Monadnuc or Monadnock, 
 now incorporated Colebrook, nearly thirty miles 
 from any inhabitant, and without a road. They 
 took the Eiver, in some places, for a guide; 
 and, in other places, the}'' followed by marks of 
 spotted trees, which were spotted for the purpose 
 of shortening the distance , and then went into 
 a little log cabin, which had been previously 
 prepared by Mr. Rosebrook, my grandfather. 
 
 Now, in the woods, making a beginning, 
 setting an example lor others to follow, suffering 
 many hardships, and enduring many privations, 
 common to beginners in a new country, they did 
 the best they could and tried to be content with 
 their situation. They had provided themselves 
 with a cow, the only favored domestic animal 
 they possessed, and, having no pasture, nor fence, 
 she was at liberty to range about and go wherever 
 she pleased. Many times did Mrs. Rosebrook, 
 my grandmother, in the absence of her husband, 
 shut her dear child up in her cabin, and taking 
 her infant in her arms, proceeded into the woods 
 in search of her cow, Avhich she would be 
 directed to find by the sound of her bell. 
 Sometimes she was under the necessity of wad- 
 ing the river to get where the animal was, and 
 then she would return home and find the 
 deserted child safe, and, with the infant still in 
 her arms, and followed by the other child, did 
 she milk her cow. What courage must this 
 woman have possessed, after being for many 
 years among near relatives, such as parents 
 brothers, sisters and a numerous circle of friends 
 
WHITE MOUNTAINS. 7 
 
 and neighbors, who were near and dear to her, 
 and changing them for the woods ! What a 
 contrast between having a large society and now 
 being confined entirely to these her lisping child- 
 ren ! What woman in these days could do this 
 and not complain of its being hard or severe ? 
 But she had made up her mind to be content 
 and industrious in whatsoever situation she 
 should be placed, and having a monitor w^ithin, 
 which would say to her that although separated 
 from earthly friends, yet she had one that would 
 " stick closer than a brother," and while filled 
 with these thoughts, her fears of wild beasts, 
 and many other things, would flee from her. 
 
 Their living was principally upon animal food; 
 as God always provides suitably for every one 
 who depends upon him and will apply himself 
 industriously to obtain. 
 
 The woods were beautiful, and well stored 
 with game, such as Moose, Deer, Bears, &c., 
 and hunters might, in a short time, kill and 
 procure a sufficient quantity of this kind of food 
 to supply their families a long time. Some of 
 the flesh they would dry, and some they v/ould 
 smoke ; and, in various ways, did they preserve 
 it and make good wholesome food of it. 
 
 One grand article wanted now was salt, 
 which was scarce and hard to be got, and they 
 could not well live without it, in this fresh and 
 mountainous country. Some families suffered 
 considerably, by their children having their 
 necks swollen — the disorder w^as attributed to 
 the want of salt, which was afterwards rem- 
 edied, in a measure, by, carrying them to the 
 
9 HISTORY OP THB 
 
 salt water, and giving tliem a plenty oF salt fish 
 to eat, and applying the skin of the salt fish to 
 their necks ; but they never wholly out grew 
 this trouble. I have heard my grandfather say, 
 that while living in the Monadnuc, at one time 
 he went on foot to Haverhill, and bought one 
 bushel of salt, and carried it home, through the 
 woods, on his back, a distance, at that time, as 
 they followed the river the most of the way, of 
 not less than eighty miles. Can this same 
 country produce a man now, with such wonder- 
 ful power of muscle and strength of mind, to 
 endure this and not complain of its being hard ? 
 But such was the courage of these hardy new 
 beginners that they did not mind trifles. One 
 circumstance I think worth recording. 
 
 One Major Whitcomb, who lived in this 
 country, went on foot to what was then called 
 Lower Ccos, a distance of fifty miles from 
 Avhere he lived, and it was late in the spring; 
 as the people had planted, in that place, he had 
 great difliculty in finding potatoes, which it was 
 his whole business to obtain ; but he at length 
 succeeded in getting one bushel of small ones, 
 and these he carefully carried home, on his 
 back. Those v/hich would answer to cut, he 
 cut in pieces, and then planted them. After- 
 wards he counted the hills, and there were four 
 hundred hills of these planted potatoes ; and, 
 in the fall he harvested them, and had one 
 hundred bushels of good potatoes. Such was 
 the plentiful increase of almost every thing 
 put into the ground. So much so, that this 
 country wa? considered by people, two or three 
 
WHITE MOUNTAINS, ^ 
 
 liundred miles distant, to be equal to the western 
 country now ; and those who left their friends 
 to come to this, (Upper Coos, as they then 
 termed it,) were, generally, a robust and self- 
 denying people; and the friends whom they left 
 behind thought much more of the distance, than 
 we do now of going two or three thousand 
 miles; and their expectations of seeing them 
 again, were much less than now ; which may 
 well be imagined, when we reflect that it is 
 more practicable to travel ten miles now, than it 
 was to travel one then. 
 
 About this time w^as the Eevolutionary War 
 between the United States and Great Britain. 
 Grandfather volunteered his services ; as he 
 possessed the same independent spirit of our 
 forefathers, and was determined, as they were, to 
 free our country or shed his own blood in its 
 defence. Before he started, fearing for the 
 safety of his family, should he leave them alone, 
 lest they might be destroyed by the enemy, he 
 removed them down to Northumberland, and 
 placed them in a sort of fort, which was then 
 erected and guarded by the husbandmen ; they 
 then embraced each other, and he took his leave 
 of his family, having a Arm belief that if he 
 had entered rightly into a good cause, he should 
 be prospered, and impressed with these feelings, 
 they separated, while his wife's prayers were 
 constantly for him and the general good of the 
 country. But here, in this situation, she did 
 not remain long, having then tlie addition of 
 another child — a son. A gentleman, by the 
 name of White, kindly gave her an Asylum in 
 
10 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 his house. As his wife was sickly, and not able 
 to work, he gave her and her three children 
 their board for what they could do ; which she 
 considered a great kindness, as it gave her the 
 privilege of supporting herself and family with- 
 out being chargeable to her husband. 
 
 Mrs. Kosebrook remained where she was, on 
 permission, until her husband came home. He 
 then moved his family to Guildhall, Vermont, 
 and having settled them there, returned to his 
 duty for a number of months, discharging it 
 with bravery, and encountering with his foes, 
 whenever he was called upon, like a brave 
 soldier. 
 
 He and an officer were once sent to Canada 
 as spies. They were suspected, and finding it 
 out, they made good their retreat; they were 
 closely pursued by the enemy. Grandfather 
 was aware of it, and they travelled, night as 
 well as day, until they came to a considerable 
 stream of water; here they built a fire, and then 
 put it out, to make it appear as though they had 
 been gone for some time ; they then waded the 
 stream, and, when at a proper distance, struck 
 up another fire and dried and rested themselves. 
 The enemy came soon after, and found where 
 they had made the fire, which they had ex- 
 tinguished, and, supposing they were out of 
 their reach, returned; as one of the pursuing 
 party told him, afterwards ; and he likewise 
 said, that he told them it was useless to follow 
 farther, as Mr. Roscbrook was a Hunter and a 
 Woodsman, and knew better than to suffer 
 himself to be overtaken. 
 
WHITB MOUNTAINS, 11 
 
 Grandmother, while living at Guildhall, in 
 the absence of her husband, was frequently 
 visited by the Indians. As she was a woman, 
 and alone, they seemed to make her habitation 
 their place of resort, their being no man to resist 
 them. By disposing of their fur, they would 
 provide themselves with a plenty of what they 
 called Uncupy, or spirit, v/hich they carried in 
 bladders, taken from Moose, and, at times, they 
 would have a great drunk. This troubled her 
 much, knowing their savage dispositions ; she, 
 fearing she would offend them and incur their 
 displeasure, bore with them ; at one time, how- 
 ever, she became decided and cleared her house 
 of them, all but one, and she was so far gone 
 under the influence of the spirit, or liquor, that 
 she lay motionless upon the floor ; grandmother 
 took her by the hair of her head, and with the 
 strength of her feelings, dragged her out of 
 doors ; and the squaw by being put in motion, 
 came to herself so much that she had the use of 
 her limbs ; she drew her tomahawk and aimed 
 it at grandmother, who had just closed the door 
 after her, when this tomahawk came so near as 
 to take off* the wooden thumb-piece from the 
 door handle ; thus she Providentially made her 
 escape. Some time in the night, the squaw so 
 far recovered as to move herself out of sight of 
 the house ; and, the next day, after getting 
 sober, and recollecting how ridiculously she had 
 appeared, and what trouble she had caused the 
 good woman, the evening before, came back and 
 freely asked her forgiveness, and likewise said 
 she would not do the like again ; and she strictly 
 kept her word. 
 
1^ HISTORY OF THE 
 
 Grandfather came home again, on permission, 
 and as his wife had so much trouble with the 
 natives, and her family being again increased, 
 she did not well know how to have him return; 
 and as he had enlisted during the war, he hired 
 a man to take his place, and remained at home 
 to assist his helpmate in bringing up her young 
 family. As they had begun to fulfil the com- 
 mandment which was given to Adam, at the 
 beginning, it becam.e necessary she should hare 
 help ; and as a reward for his toils and hard- 
 ships during his services, he was paid off in the 
 old Continental money, which proved a nuisance 
 to him. I have now some of it still in my pos- 
 session, which I keep in remembrance of his 
 courage and valor. 
 
 Peace was proclaimed, and they remained in 
 Guildhall, and the people were, for a number of 
 miles, seemingly, all of one family, sharing in 
 each other's bounties and enjoying one another's 
 company, like so many brothers , and if one 
 happened to get a dainty, or a rare nice thing, 
 an invitation would immediately be given to the 
 neighbors, who would assemble, and they all 
 would have a social time of it. There was no 
 distinction in those days in point of dress or 
 grandeur, but all wore their own manufacture ; 
 I have heard my grandmother say that when 
 she was dressed in her striped, short, loose 
 gown, and her clean starched and well ironed, 
 blue and white checkered linen apron, she felt 
 much better then to appear in a meeting, among 
 Christians, than she has, since, when dressed in 
 silks. They then, had no ruffles, no ribbons, or 
 
WHITE MOUNTAINS. 13 
 
 any thing that appeared like ostentation, but all 
 Was neat and tidy; as this was the uniform 
 manner of dress, in those days, they all enjoyed 
 it, without a murmur, and felt happy. The 
 men wore garments made of the skin of Moose, 
 which they had learned to dress of the Indians ; 
 they were, as ihey said, cold things to put on in 
 the morning, but when once warmed, the cold 
 weather could not penetrate through, and they 
 would last a long time. For shoes, they made 
 of this same kind of skin, a substitute called 
 Moccasons, until the country began to be opened 
 a little, and then they got sheep ; the wool, the 
 women would card themselves and spin ; and 
 such were their habits of industry^, as this was 
 a slow way to get their wool worked up, I have 
 heard grandmother say that she used frequently 
 to work a whole week, both night and day, 
 without undressing herself — she would only lay 
 down, for a short time, with her clothes on, 
 while carding and spinning; when this was 
 done, she would weave it, and then with the 
 bark of some forest tree they would give it a 
 color ; w^ithout the process of a Clothier, or the 
 workmanship of a Tailor, they would cut their 
 own garments and make them — and in this 
 cheap, humble, but happy way, these people 
 lived for many years, until the enemy of con- 
 tentment began to introduce articles of merchan- 
 dize, v/hich soon created pride, and a sort of 
 rivalship commenced, and as soon as one came 
 in possession of a newly inported dress, it stim- 
 ulated others to follow the fashion, and one 
 extreme generally follows another. In this wa^'' 
 has our country since been infested with this 
 
14 HISTORY OP THB 
 
 foolish pride of dress, making gay the outside ; 
 while some, it is feared, have neglected the mosL 
 important part, the soul ; hut another era, it is 
 hoped, will take place, which will yet cause all 
 who watch for it, to be more and more happy. 
 
 Now while living at that time in this country, 
 the greatest disadvantage which they felt, most 
 seriously, was the want of good schools for 
 their children. As they seldom had any schools 
 so near as to have the privilege of sending them 
 at all, their eldest went but one day, their sec- 
 ond, one week — which completed their school 
 education. But as their mother had in early 
 life acquired a knowledge of letters, and the 
 proper use of them, she instructed them so well 
 that they could read and spell with considerable 
 accuracy. This they found to be useful in after 
 years, as they could read for themselves and 
 sometimes for others. For instance ; the hus- 
 band of the eldest became afflcited with weak- 
 ness of his eyes, so that he could not himself 
 see to read, and being drawn up with the rheu- 
 matism so much that he could not walk, it has 
 been a matter of great consolation to him, in his 
 dull hours, to sit still and hear her read : and 
 thus time passed more swiftly away than it 
 Would have done otherwise. I have often heard 
 my grandmother tell with great interest the pro- 
 ceedings of former years. One instance, I rec- 
 ollect, was this ; that at one time when the 
 State Legislature met, a man of rather ordinary 
 appearance presented himself The members 
 viewed him and then asked him if he was the 
 choice ol the people ? His answer was thi-s : 
 
WHITE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 15 
 
 Sirs, I am the only man in my town ; of course 
 there was no one to set up against me ; there- 
 fore I considered it my privilege to come here, 
 and I have made my appearance. This caused 
 some glee, but the honest man was not refused 
 a seat. At another time, as the military laws 
 were in those days similar to ours, a neighbor- 
 ing town legally warned a meeting for the pur- 
 pose of choosing military officers and to have a 
 training. After the officers were chosen there 
 was but one remaining soldier : and he looking 
 wishfully upon his superiors, said : Gentlemen, 
 I have one request to make, that is, as I am the 
 only soldier, I hope your honors will not be too 
 severe in drilling me. but will spare me a little 
 as I may be needed another time. He could 
 form a solid column, he said, but it racked him 
 shockingly to display. At another time, when 
 they were to have a training, an officer went 
 fifty miles to Lower Coos, as it was then called, 
 or Haverhill, now — for two quarts of spirit, to 
 treat his company with. As they had no car- 
 riages in those days, neither had they a road 
 suitable for one, he took his horse, put on a sad- 
 dle and then a pair of large saddle-bags, filled 
 with provisions for the journey, and a jug for 
 the spirit, and provender for his horse, and as 
 they travelled at that time, it took him three or 
 four days to perform this journey. When on 
 his way home, by some unknown accident, the 
 cork got loose and the bottle was emptied of its 
 contents into the saddle-bags. The liquor would 
 have been saved had not the oats soaked up a 
 part of it ; he, however, saved enough to treat 
 
16 HISTORY OF TUB 
 
 his company with. They did not require bo 
 much then as too many have required since that 
 time. 
 
 It had been a matter of considerable enquiry, 
 how they should get a passage through the 
 White Mountains ? Two men, who went in 
 search, by name Timothy Nash and Benjamin 
 Sawyer, discovered an opening through the 
 Notch. One of then climbed a tree to be sure 
 of the fact. Here one of ihem lost a mitten, 
 3t being on a high hilt, and from that circum- 
 stance they gave it the name of the Mitten 
 Mountain. When satisfied there might be a 
 way found here to get to the fertile country on 
 the Connecticut Eiver, without going so far 
 i'ound, they gave the information, and were re- 
 warded by having the whole tract of level land 
 given them above the Notch, and it was granted 
 to them by Governor Wentworth in 1773, as 
 Nash and Sawyers' Location, upon condition 
 that they should cut and make a good road 
 through this Tract of Land, and rause five 
 families to settle on it in five years. This land 
 was surveyed by General Buckman, a Deputy 
 Surveyor of public land, then belonging to the 
 Province, now State of New Hampshire ; and 
 they had got some families settled here, and the 
 people had began to settle in Conway and 
 Bartlett, and likewise in Jefferson, all of whom 
 had an example set them by Colonel Whipple, 
 from Portsmouth, who, for years, vv^as a real 
 Father to them. He placed them on his land, 
 and all they could raise, more than they needed 
 for their families, he bought; and paid them 
 
WHITB MOUNTAINt. 17 
 
 honestly to even a half a cent. He used to 
 bring from Portsmouth a bag of half cents to 
 make change, for the purpose of being honest 
 himself and trying to make his tenants honest. 
 This little surplus of grain was carefully laid up 
 for the inhabitants in case of their own need, or 
 that of other persons who should move in. 
 
 At one time, provisions in Bartlett were 
 scarce, and some of the people took their sacks 
 and money in their hands, and came through 
 the woods, a distance of not less than thirty 
 miles, to buy bread. This was refused by the 
 Colonel, saying his own inhabitants wanted all 
 he had ; and they were obliged to return empty. 
 They, however, had the precaution to examine 
 and find where the grain was, and shortly after- 
 wards returned, and with an auger, bored a hole 
 up through the floor under where the grain was, 
 secured by a lock, held their sacks under, and 
 they were filled. When satisfied they stopped 
 the hole with a plug, and then, on their backs, 
 carried the filled sacks to the woods, where they 
 had handsleighs prepared to draw the grain on 
 with, and thus returned in safety. The Colonel 
 finding it out, and being sensible of his error, 
 made but little fuss about it, yet took care how 
 he dealt with them afterwards. 
 
 The inhabitants now while clearing the tim- 
 ber oflf their lands, made ashes, which was 
 boiled into salts, and exchanged for goods. 
 Every thing was very dear. As the distance 
 was so great to go round to get to the sea-board, 
 they began to contrive means to go to Portland, 
 or, perhaps, Portsmouth was the first place 
 
18 IIISTOKY OF THE 
 
 where they went to market. With one horse 
 fixed to a car, they first went through the woods. 
 T-ie form of the car was simply this : two poles 
 cat ten or fifteen feet in length, the smaller end? 
 sei ring as th'lls .or the horse to draw by and 
 the largest :nd • dra gg^' ig on the ground; and 
 nearly in the [middle fastened with some short 
 pole", on which they would place a bag, or other 
 articles of loading. In this way the}^ got along 
 quite well until they came to the Notch. This 
 was a trying place to get through. To go 
 where they now do, was then utterly impossile. 
 They then turned out at the top of the Notch 
 and went over the edge and so managed to get 
 to the top, and by taking a zizzag course, as 
 much as possible, got down : but in doing this 
 there was danger of the horse tipping over — the 
 hill was so steep. And when they returned, 
 they would tie a rope around the horse's neck, 
 to keep him from tailing backwards. At one 
 time, however, one horse did so fall ; but he 
 was helped up without receiving much injury. 
 At length a committee was chosen to search and 
 look out the best road. They agreed in all 
 places until they came to the Notch. There 
 they held a council. One-half was for making 
 the road on one side of the stream, and the 
 other half, on the other side ; but after consid- 
 erable consultation on the subject, one of them, 
 turned and voted to make the load on the side 
 of the Saco, where it is now. Reader, when 
 you pass this place, now spoken of, please to 
 look and judge for yourself, if you would devise 
 ^i way to make a road on the other side of the 
 
WHITE MOUNTAINS. 19 
 
 Stream, and then imagine what courage and 
 perseverance our forefathers possessed. They 
 never seemed to take hold of the plough and 
 look back, but drove on. 
 
 At this time, grandfather remained at Guild- 
 hall. He had settled on a beautiful piece of 
 land, easy to cultivate, on the Connecticut river, 
 and things began to look flourishingly. He 
 seemed to be in a way to live without much 
 hard labor himself, as his two eldest daughters 
 were married, and his four sons growing up to 
 help him. But in this easy situation he could 
 not long remain. Having an ambitious, enter- 
 prising, public spirited disposition, and after 
 going to market in the manner spoken of, and 
 knowing there must be more help and persever- 
 ance to make this way practicable, he left his 
 situation and volunteered once more to serve the 
 public. In January, 1792, he took his family 
 and moved them to Nash & Sawyer's Location, 
 bought out my father, who had sDme time before 
 bought out three or four settlers who had declin- 
 ed to remain, and had been living there alone, 
 keeping bachellor's hall, in one of the small huts 
 they had built. 
 
 Soon after this, my father rather than to be 
 crowded by neighbors, moved twelve miles down 
 the Saco river, where he would have elbow room 
 enough ; and then began in the woods, in what 
 is called Hart's Location, and remains there un- 
 til this day, making as much improvement as 
 possible, and laboring for the public good — 
 while grandfather was beginning again in the 
 woods, yea, more than the woods, in the valley 
 
20 HIS5T0RY or THE 
 
 of the Amanoosuc, surrounded by mountains, 
 on all sides. He afterwards sold his farm at 
 Guildhall, and the effects or proceeds he laid out 
 in this lonesome spot, far from any neighbors, 
 twelve miles either way. In a little log cabin 
 they lived many years — suffering all the hard- 
 ships, which might well be expected or borne 
 in this lonely, uncultivated place ; and as they 
 were dependent on their neighbors for food, they 
 were obliged to go, or send their children that 
 distance to obtain it : always feeling anxious for 
 their safety when they were gone, fearing less 
 some accident might befall them. The way was 
 so rough they were fearful the horse would 
 break his leg and injure the child. Many an 
 hour, I have heard my grandmother say, she has 
 spent in meditation of her absent children ; and 
 at a late hour in the night, many times, before 
 they would return ; and then she would pour out 
 her love in prayer and thankfulness to her heav- 
 enly Father for preserving them, and that she 
 was permitted to receive them again to her hum- 
 ble mansion. 
 
 Thus they lived several years, working on 
 their farms and making roads ; sometimes for 
 pay and sometimes without pay, just as it hap- 
 pened, until the Legislature saw fit to grant 
 them a Turnpike, 1803. This was divided into 
 shares to the number of five hundred, and let 
 out to different men to make. After a while, as 
 travelleing and business increased, he built a 
 large and convenient two-story dwelling, on an 
 elevated spot, on the west end of what has since 
 been called Giant"*? Grave, with two room? un- 
 
WHITE MOUNTAINS. 21 
 
 der ground ; from the chamber over this, in the 
 second story, was an out side door, which 
 opened so that one could walk out on this hill, 
 which was beautiful, and gives a view of all the 
 flat country around it. He built a large barn, 
 stable, sheds and other out buildings — a sawmill 
 and grist mill, &c.; the latter was of but little 
 use, being one and a half miles from where he 
 lived. The mice injured the bolt so much it 
 was difficult to keep it in repair ; but the saw 
 mill was of great service, both to him and to 
 my father, when building. Thus he prospered 
 and lived well ; but his children were not satis- 
 fied with their situation ; married, and left him, 
 one after another ; and their leaving him and 
 setling them off, put him in rather low circum- 
 stances, in his advanced age ; still, he had 
 sufficient, but was in want of some one to help 
 him, as will be shown in the next chapter. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE CRAWFORDS. 
 
 Ethan Allen Crawford was born in Guild- 
 hall, Vermont, in 1792, and when quite young, 
 his parents moved to Hart's Location, in New 
 Hampshire, twelve miles from neighbors, one 
 is way, and six the other ; in a log house, in a 
 small opening among the trees. 
 
 Here our family lived alone, with the excep- 
 tion of a hired man ; when, one Saturday, my 
 parents went to spend the Sabbath in Bartlctt, 
 among the Christians ; and they left me and a 
 brother older than I was, with this hired man, to 
 take care of us, and with a plenty of provisions 
 to last until their return. Soon after they were 
 gone, this man picked up such things as he 
 thought valuable, and what victules were cooked 
 for us during their absence, steered for the 
 woods, and left us, two little boys, (to use the 
 words of Ethan,) with none to keep us company 
 all night, and without food. We had a cow, but 
 neither of us was large enough to milk her. 
 We, however, got some potatoes, roasted them 
 in the ashes and ate them ; then, being tired and 
 lonesome, we hugged ourselves up together and 
 went to sleep. On Monday, when they came 
 and found us, and things as they were, my 
 father was so incensed with the man for his ill 
 treatment to his little helpless children, that ho 
 
WHITE MOUNTAINS. S^ 
 
 followed him to Franconia, where he came out 
 of the woods. We recovered some of the 
 stolen articles, and had the man punished for his 
 perfidy. 
 
 While my father was clearing up his land, I 
 and my brother helped him all we could. Many 
 times I have chopped, and my hands would 
 swell and pain me in the night so much, that my 
 mother would get up and poultice them, to give 
 me ease. I never had a hat, a mitten, or a pair 
 of shoes, of my own, that were made for me, 
 until I was nearly thirteen years old. I could 
 harness and unharness horses, in the cold winter 
 weather, with my head, hands and feet nearly 
 bare, and not mind or complain of the cold, as 
 I was used to it ; it made me tough and healthy. 
 
 After this, I was sent to school, in the winter, 
 to some one of the neighboring towns, wherever 
 I could work night and moi'ning, and help pay 
 my board, until I could read, write and cipher. 
 
 In 1811, I enlisted as a soldier, under tho 
 command of Capt. Stark, for eighteen months ; 
 with a promise, from another officer, that I 
 should have a commission, after we should get 
 to Plattsburgh. Here I stayed through the sum- 
 mer ; and late in the fall, the spotted fever raged 
 in the company, and I was one of the subjects 
 of this contagious disease. I was sick, and did 
 not know but that it was even unto death, as 
 numbers were dying daily around me. I was 
 carried to the hospital ; but as it was so filled 
 with the sick, I thought I would fare better in 
 my own bunk, and got back there some how or 
 other. Here I made the best I could of it, and 
 
24 HISTORY or THE 
 
 having a strong constitution, as soon as my fever 
 turned, I crawled out and bought me a turkey 
 and had a part of it made into broth, of which I 
 took a Httle at a time until it strengthened me, 
 and I could get about. 
 
 Thinking that if I staid there, I would not live 
 long, I made an application for a furlow, to go 
 homiO, which was granted me. I started, but 
 was so weak and emaciated, I could walk but a 
 short distance in a day, and when the wind blew 
 I was obliged to stop and lay by, as I could not 
 stand against it. I, however, succeeded in get- 
 ting home to the White Hills in fourteen days, 
 with the assistance of some kind friends, who 
 would occasionally give me a ride. Once on 
 the way I was suspected of having run away 
 from the army and 1 was obliged to show my 
 furlow. 
 
 In the winter, after regaining my health, I re- 
 turned to my duty. I afterwards had to take the 
 place of a Lieutenant, a Sergant and a Corporal 
 and as I was called upon oftener than many 
 others on duty, one day when I was gone they 
 chose their officers, and I was left out. This 
 dissatisfied me so much I made my complaints 
 to the man that had promised to raise me above 
 a common soldier. He wrote to Washington, 
 to head quarters, and we soon had an answer 
 saying I might be discharged. This I showed 
 to*^the officer that had the authority to give the 
 discharge. He was unwilling ; but after he had 
 done it, he gave me a Corporal's commission, 
 which I accepted, and I stayed for a while. The 
 mam army moved off, and 1 was left with a 
 
WHITE MOUNTAINS. 25 
 
 company of invalids, and not much to do ; I 
 thought best to go home, and so I went home. 
 
 In 1814, I hired with two men who had 
 engaged to take out the trees by the roots, and 
 prepare for a road, sixteen feet wide, leading 
 from Russell, in the State of New York to St. 
 Johns, for fifty cents a rod. We made a begin- 
 ning soon after the frost was out of the ground ; 
 took our provisions and cooking utensils with us, 
 and there, in those woods, I staid seven months 
 without once coming out. Three men of us, in 
 that time, with one yoke of oxen, grubbed and 
 made a road nearly eight miles long, and then I 
 went home. 
 
 In the spring of 1815, as my eldest brother 
 was then in Russell, in the State of New York, 
 and I having been there, and liking the place, I 
 concluded to go again. I bought me a horse, 
 and I did go. The eighth and ninth of June, 
 the ground froze and the snow fell a foot deep, 
 or more, and lasted for me to draw logs to a 
 saw-mill, two days, with four oxen. 
 
 Here the pigeons were so numerous, in some 
 places, that the farmers were obliged to watch 
 their fields to keep the birds from picking up the 
 sowed grain. At one time I went with three 
 other men into the woods, on to a swell or small 
 ridge of land, where the pigeons had made their 
 nests and hatched their young ones, and on half 
 an acre of land, in some beech trees, we found 
 them in great abundance. We would chop one 
 tree and fall it against another and that would 
 cause the young ones to drop from both trees. 
 Some trees had forty nests in each of them, with 
 3 
 
^ HISTORT OF THB 
 
 two young ones in each nest. These were a 
 clear squad of tat, and as they could only hujj 
 along and could not get out of our way, we 
 picked them up and pulled off their heads and 
 took out their crops to keep them from spoiling. 
 There we worked until each of us had as many 
 as we could carry, in a bag, home on a horse's 
 back ; and a greater sight than that I never saw. 
 
 Among the numerous branches of business 
 which the man I hired with had for me to do, 
 was v/orking on a river of swift water, where 
 we boated barrels of potash fifteen miles down 
 the river. These barrels weighed five hundred 
 apiece. I could take one of these at a time, of 
 this average weight, and put it into the boat, 
 hoisting it two feet. There was but another 
 man in the boat that could lift but one end of a 
 barrel. My strength was so great, and my 
 health so good, I did not know but it would last, 
 until I began to have the rheumatism, by being 
 so often and so much exposed, and in the heat 
 of the day and when in a state of perspiration, 
 obliged to go into the water, and remain there 
 as we often times had to do. 
 
 Here I lived, and had bought me a piece of 
 land in the town of Louisville, in the State of 
 New York, and I had made a handsome begin- 
 ning, intending to settle there, near this brother 
 of mine ; when, in 1816, we received a letter 
 from our aged grandfather, desiring one of us 
 lo come and live with him ; as he said he would 
 not live long, being troubled with a cancer on 
 his under lip ; that his children were all married 
 and settled away from him, such a3 were capa- 
 
WaiTS MOUNTAINS^ ST 
 
 ])\e of taking care of their harvests, and that 
 one of us should have a deed of ail his property, 
 if one of us would come and see him, grand- 
 mother and imcle William, their eldest son, 
 (who was not capable of managing his business 
 through life,) and pay his grandfather's honest 
 debts. 
 
 My brother, who was always considered the 
 wiser of us two, said he would not do this, and 
 advised me not to ; setting forth the many diffi- 
 culties that would arise on the part of near 
 relatives, who, though not willing to go there 
 themselves, yet might find fault with another's 
 going; and tlie great responsibility resting upon 
 the one who should undertake the care of old 
 people. Although he honored and respected 
 them, yet he felt inadequate to the task, and 
 thought it devolved upon some one better quali- 
 fie<l for it. This council I heard and concluded 
 to abide by. 
 
 Unfortunately, I got l?,me and could not work; 
 I therefore thought I v/ould go home, and visit 
 them and my parents, v/ho lived twelve miles 
 distant from them ; and, in December, I started. 
 On my arriving there, the old gentleman ex- 
 pressed marks of gratitude for my obedience to 
 his summons, but as 1 had made up my mind 
 according to my brother's advice, I told him 1 
 had not come to stay, only to see him. On 
 hearing this he put his hand upon my shoulder, 
 and intreated me in such a manner, with tears 
 trickling <lown his furrowed cheeks, that my 
 former rosolntiou wns shaken ; for he liad ever 
 been a kind grandparent lo me, and liow could 
 
28 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 I deny him my services now when he so much 
 needed them ? 
 
 I then concluded to go back to Louisville and 
 sell my possessions there, and return to their 
 assistance, and do the best I could for them. 
 Accordingly I went back, and sold; [and in 
 March, 1817, returned to them again. I brought 
 with me two hundred and eighty dollars which I 
 had earned. This I contributed to the benefit of 
 the farm. Then I gave my notes for a sum of 
 from two to three thousand dollars, and took 
 up his. Afterwards he gave me a deed for his 
 farm, by me giving them a mortgage back, for 
 their maintainance through life. I provided every 
 means which he and his friends thought proper, 
 to remove the disease, but to no purpose, it was 
 so far advanced it was incurable. 
 
 It was now necessary to have a nurse — one 
 who would feel an interest in his being made 
 comfortable ; as the disorder so much affected 
 grandmother, she could not dress it, neither 
 could she bear to stay in the room when it was 
 dressed. And they desired me to go for a 
 cousin of mine, by the name of Lucy, who was 
 a [particular favorite of their's, and get her to 
 come and take care of him. I went and obtain- 
 ed her consent, with that of her parents, who 
 well knew his situation, and felt anxious that his 
 last days might be made as comfortable and 
 easy as possible. 
 
 The 5th of May, Lucy came home with me 
 and took the whole care of grandfather ; and he 
 was so well pleased with what she did for him, 
 that he thought no one else could do for him as 
 
WHlTJi MOUWTAiaS. »» 
 
 well ; mid would never let his own children, dress 
 his lip when she was there. His pains, which 
 were severe, he bore like a christian, v^^ithout a 
 murmur or a groan, when awake, and he would 
 frequently say he had no more laid upon him 
 than he was able to bear. He would converse 
 upon death, with as much freedom, as though he 
 was going to take a long journey, into a far 
 country, and never expected to return. 
 
 He gave Lucy and myself a great many 
 councils, and expressed a desire, in the course 
 of the summer, that as Lucy took such good 
 care of him, he hoped she would unite with me, 
 and continue there to stay; and, in the hke man- 
 ner, rock the cradle for the declining years of 
 grandmother, as she did for him ; and likewise 
 for uncle William, who, he said, might cause 
 some trouble, as most people in his situation, 
 possess a quick disposition, and would sometimes 
 he irritable. He told us not to mind such things 
 but to discharge a clear conscience towards him, 
 and we should have a reward for it, and if no 
 other, we should have a peace of mind, which 
 would surpass every thing in this world. 
 
 He would often say to Lucy when his can- 
 cer increased so much as to become an inhabit- 
 ed corruption, that he was only a glass for others 
 to look into and see their own final corruption at 
 death. He would never suffer any one to sit 
 up with him, or even go into his room in the 
 night to ask if he wanted any thing — always 
 seeming to be afraid we should do so much for 
 him that we should get sick. In this way he 
 lived from Mav unt if September upon nothing 
 3* 
 
so HISTORY OF THE 
 
 but sweetened milk and water, with sometimes a 
 little spirit in it, which he said he could not well 
 do without, as the cancer in his mouth and 
 and throat was so offensive to him. When his 
 flesh was all gone, and his teeth fell into his 
 mouth, his spirit left his body, without a struggle 
 or a groan, with his hands and eyes uplifted to- 
 wards heaven ; he, by signs, commended uncle 
 William and grandmother to my care. Our 
 good neighbors, who lived at a distance of twelve 
 and twenty miles, assembled and paid their re- 
 spects to his remains, on the 27th. 
 
 As Lucy had with so much judgment, alacrity 
 and perseverance discharged her duty towards 
 grandfather, and knowing no other that would 
 fill her place, I solicited her to engage with me 
 in the performance of the remaining obligations 
 1 was then under. She accordingly agreed to, 
 after I should have obtained the consent of her 
 parents, and on the first of November, we were 
 married. She now became a partaker of all 
 my joys and sorrows. 
 
 This winter (1818) being in good health, my- 
 self, and possessing a goodly share of strength, 
 I, with the help of uncle William, managed to 
 do all our own work, without having any other 
 help, as we wished to economise all we could 
 to meet my notes and take them up when they 
 should become due. In this way our honesi 
 endeavors were prospered; and I was able to 
 make my first payment without trouble, and 
 after getting through whh my Spring work, in 
 the Summer I hired men and went 1o labor on 
 the turnpike, for pay, bying up everything wc 
 
WHITE MOUNTAIPhSv 81 
 
 could earn and save from our common, neces- 
 sary living, for that purpose, as I was determined 
 to pay every demand as soon as it should be 
 called for. 
 
CHAPTER 111. 
 
 Early on the morning of tlie I81I1 of July, 
 my family not being well, I went to our nearest 
 neighbors for some assistance. It was nearly 
 eight o'clock when I returned with Mrs. Rose- 
 brook, and not long after, we had a son born, 
 which weighed nearly five pounds. After doing 
 what was necessaiy to be done, at the house, at 
 1 1 o'clock I went to carry some dinner to our 
 men who were at work on the Cherry Mountain 
 road, one and a half miles from home. Grand- 
 mother desired me, on my return, to bring her 
 some trout, as she said 1 must give them a good 
 treat and do something extra for their services 
 and my good fortune that morning. I accord- 
 ingly, though reluctantly, obeyed her commands. 
 The trout were in as great haste for the hook as 
 [ was for them. I caught in a few minutes, a 
 fine string of good large sized ones. I was gone 
 about one hour from home, and when on my 
 return, the first sight which caught my eyes, as 
 I came out of the woods, was flames of fire 
 ascending the tops of the chimnies, ten or fifteen 
 feet in the air ! I added a new speed to my 
 horse, who was then under a good headway, and 
 1 was soon there. Here I found Lucy and her 
 infant, placed on some feather beds, behind an 
 old blacksmith's shop, where she could not see 
 J be flamofis of Hre, in (he open air. I passed h«r 
 
WHITE MOUNTAINS. «0 
 
 iiiixiicdiately by and flew to the house, and tried 
 to save something from it, but all in vain. The 
 fire was raging ; and to that height I could not 
 save a hive of bees, which stood a few rods from 
 it. These were suffered to perish. There 
 were no men there excepting a Mr. Boardman, 
 from Lancester, who, with his wife, on their 
 return home from Saeo, called for some refresh- 
 ments, and while this was preparing, Mrs. Board- 
 man came into the room and enquired of Lucy 
 how she did, and what she should say to her 
 mother who lived three miles from them, when 
 she should get home. After a little conversa- 
 tion and receiving thanks from Lucy for her 
 kindness, she took her leave and went out. The 
 room where Lucy lay was about ten feet wider 
 than the other part of the house, which was 
 built with these two rooms under ground. And 
 there was a large poplar whose boughs and 
 leaves touched the chamber window where grand 
 mother slept. While in conversation with Mrs. 
 Boardman Lucy saw smoke and leaves pass her 
 window ; but as she was much engaged and the 
 wind shifted, she forgot to mention it. The girl, 
 going mto one of the rooms, heard the crackling 
 of fire overhead, and when she opened the 
 chamber door, the flames met her. She imme- 
 diately closed the door and gave information. 
 In a few minutes Mrs. Boardman returned and 
 said, Mrs. Crawford do not be frightened, the 
 house is on fire and cannot be saved ; be quiet 
 and keep still ; you shall be taken care of; re- 
 member your life is of more value than all the 
 properly which is to be consumed. These 
 ^vords, coming in so friendly a manner, and 
 
34 HISTORY OF Taa 
 
 from so good a woman, calmed all iier feai't-, 
 aad, when lell alone, she had the presence of 
 mmd to command herself without trembling. 
 She arose and dressed herself, then went to the 
 desk, which stood in the room, unlocked it, took 
 out all the papers and other things of conse- 
 quence from the drawers, and put them in a 
 pine chest, which stood near by ; then asked 
 Mr. Boardman to save it, which he did. She 
 then went into another room and took out some 
 draws, and they were carried out and saved. 
 She would have taken down the top of a brass 
 clock, had it not been for Mrs. Boardman, who 
 would, every time she saw her making exertions, 
 admonish her by saying she was not aware of 
 her critical situation, and as it hindered her by 
 these arguments from doing much herself, Lucy 
 gave up and was placed in an arm chair, and 
 carried to the place where I found her. The 
 infant was the last thing taken from the burning 
 ruins, as Mrs. Rosebrook had taken it and laid it 
 upon a bench in the bar-room, for the house 
 was built for a tavern. ]\fr. B. asked where it 
 was ? She said she knew, and ran in and 
 brought it out. We had a pig shut up in a pen 
 so near the building, that before he could make 
 his escape, was burned. The noise of this pig 
 attracted the attention of the other hogs and 
 brought them to the place, and it was with diffi- 
 culty that Lucy and one little brother of hers, 
 four years old, who lived with us, could keep 
 them from tearing every thing to pieees — beds 
 all on fire — cheeses' fdl around — hogs iu the 
 midst of them — all hurly burly — while the 
 
WHITli MOUNTAINS. 35 
 
 female parly had much to do tu keep safe what 
 they had taken from the house. And Mr. 
 Boardman had his horse and chaise to look 
 after. As there was but httle help, there could 
 not be much saved. The day was fair, and the 
 wind strong, and it blew in difierent directions, 
 so that the bed on which Lucy lay caught hre 
 three times, which she extinguished by smoth- 
 ering it with her hands. 
 
 The fire is supposed to have communicated 
 from a candle, accidentally left buring in a 
 kitchen chair, in the morning, in a tightly ceiled 
 room, by our grandmother ; and it was sometime 
 making its appearance, owing to the stillness of 
 the air, as that was the place from where it was 
 discovered. Lucy having been unwell in the 
 night, the old lady was called upon to come and 
 see her, and after rendering her services, Lucy 
 was better and desired her to go to bed again. 
 This, she was, at first, unwilling to do ; but after 
 a little pursuading, she went. I gave her a new 
 long candle, which she took and set in the chair, 
 and then she laid down on the bed, not thinking 
 to sleep, as she said ; but she did fall asleep, and 
 when she awoke, the sun shone brightly in her 
 face, and thinking she had neglected Lucy, and 
 unmindful of the candle, left it burning ; coming 
 out of the room, she shut the door after her and 
 came down stairs. 
 
 Dear Reader, my feelings at this time, may- 
 better be imagined than described, — no inhabited 
 house within six miles, on one side, and twelve, 
 the other — my family in this destitute situa- 
 tion — all my carriages sharing the same fate 
 
36 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 with the buildings, and no means to convey 
 them hence. As Mrs. Boardman was a feeble 
 woman, and out of health, she could not think 
 of giving up her chaise to carry away my family 
 with; neither was it a desirable carriage for 
 them. And while we were contriving some 
 means to get them away, it seemed as though 
 directed by the hand of Providence, a Tin 
 Peddler happened along, and after we had put 
 what things we saved into an old barn which 
 stood at such a distance from the other buildings 
 that it escaped the fire, he kindly emptied his 
 cart of its contents in the field, and we placed 
 some feather beds in his cart and put Lucy and 
 her brother and the babe in it. I then gave the 
 before mentioned trout to Mr. Boardman, helped 
 them to their carriage, and they went their way, 
 and we went ours. While on the way, the babe 
 w^as uneasy, and Mrs. Rosebrook picked rasp- 
 berries and gave them to the child, and to its 
 mother. Grandmother and Mrs. Rosebrook, on 
 horseback, myself and the peddler on foot, made 
 up our travelling party, and about the setting of 
 the sun, and over a very rough road, we all 
 arrived in safety at Mrs. Rosebrook's. The two 
 girls we had living with us, staid and slept in the 
 barn, and likewise the men, when they returned 
 from work. I had laid in a good store of pro- 
 visions for my family's use, as we were not 
 always sure of a crop, and depended on buying. 
 We had a small store pretty well filled with salt 
 and salt fish. I had bought forty dollars worth 
 of wheat and forty of pork. I had made two- 
 thirds of a barrel of maple sugar, and when 
 
WHITE MOUNTAINS. 37 
 
 done Bugaring, had taken the large potash kettle 
 which I had used and brought across the 
 Amanoosuc river, I walking over on a log, the 
 kettle on my head, uncle William helping me to 
 put the kettle on my head ; after putting it in a 
 cart I brought it home. These and all other 
 kinds of provisions were destroyed. Some new 
 cheese, however, was saved : this was in the 
 furthermost part of the house, where the fire 
 came last. AH my farming tools were destroyed, 
 excepting those that the men had working with, 
 such as ploughs, harrows, hoes, shovels, rakes, 
 pitch forks, scythes, &c. In the morning we 
 had enough and to spare ; in the evening, noth- 
 ing left but this new cheese, and the milk of the 
 cows. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Tlie next day was the Sabbath, and the liorses 
 were sent for ; the girls came down and joined 
 us. One incident, by the way, I would just re- 
 late. The swallows, after losing their nests, 
 followed the family ; and the barns of Mr. 
 Rosebrook, seemed to be alive with them — they 
 were actually partakers of our trouble. 
 
 Monday, my parents and Lucy's came to see 
 what was to be done ; and they agreed to move 
 a small house, twenty-four feet square, which 
 belonged to me, one and a half miles from 
 where ovu's stood before it was burnt; and sent 
 an invitation to our neighbors, who immediately 
 collected, with provisions for themselves and 
 oxen, to draw the building. 
 
 My loss by the fire was estimated at $3,000, 
 and there was no insurance. I was young and 
 ambitious, but this shock of misfortune almost 
 overcame me ; and I was for some days quite 
 indifferent which way the world went. I at 
 length was constrained to arouse my feelings, 
 and once more put my shoulder to the wheel. 
 
 My house was placed upon the spot, and left, 
 with one outside door, and chimney up as high 
 as the chamber floor ; there vvcre no windows 
 and there was nothing but a rough, loose floor 
 to walk upon. Yet we could not prevail upon 
 Lucy to stay any longer than two weeks where 
 
IVHITK MOUNTAINS. 39 
 
 she was. We tlierefore spread bed ciulhcs for 
 a carpet, and huii£^ some up for a petition, to 
 keep her from takina" cold ; and, thus situated, 
 she was accidentally visited by several gentle- 
 men and ladies from Portland. They seemed to 
 sympathize with her; and afterwards sent her 
 several articles of furniture, I'or the table. 
 Lucy, however took cold, which caused her 
 some pain and ti'ouble ; and she was obliged to 
 go back to Mr. Kosehrook's, and remain there 
 three weeks longer. 
 
 I hired two joiners, and went twelve miles for 
 lumber, to work with, and while we were thus 
 eno-ao-cd. Colonel Binnev, from Boston, with 
 two young men, came along, by the way of 
 Littleton, to my place. Finding us so destitute 
 of every thing, they stayed but a short time, 
 and then went down to father's. The yoimg 
 men wanted to go on the mounhiin ; they con- 
 sulted him, and greed to take him for a guide, 
 with a man to carry provisions ;uitl otht'r necf^s- 
 sary things. They rode to tiie top of the 
 Notch, then sent back their carriage, and pro- 
 ceeded to tiie woods. They had much difficulty 
 in managing to get through ; they however pro- 
 ceeded slowly — sometimes crawling under a 
 thicket of trees — sometimes over logs and wij'i- 
 falls, until they arrived to \\herc they could 
 walk on the top of trees. This may seem to 
 some strange, but it is nevertheless true. They 
 never reached the summil, but managed to get 
 along on some of the hilis. 
 
 As the day -wag. growiiig to a close, il^n' re- 
 
40 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 turned to the woods, in order to pass the night, 
 and erected a sheher for their protection. A 
 donee fog arose and during the night it rained. 
 In the morning, owing to the darkness, they 
 could not tell the best way to proceed ; but took 
 the surest way, by following the Amanoosuc 
 river, and came to my house. These men wore 
 fine and costly garments into the woods; but 
 when they returned, their clothes were torn and 
 nnich injured, by the brush ; and their hats 
 looked as if they had been through a beggar's 
 press. They were much exposed all night, 
 without fire or food. 
 
 In Se})tember, there came two gentlemen to 
 my father's, and engaged him to go with them to 
 the top of Mount Washington, where they 
 placed an inscription, in Latin, which was en- 
 graved on a brass plate, and nailed it on a rock ; 
 they likewise filled a bottle and put it in a rock. 
 The inscription was as follows, as I had it copied 
 and kept carefully at home. (I vouch not for 
 the latin or translation being correct ; it is at all 
 events, a true copy, as found on the plate ; and 
 w^as translated, with the exception of the word 
 *' perspire," by a friend, who was afterwards in 
 the vicinity.) 
 
 '' Attii/s ibunf, qui ad summa nitunteer''' — 
 They will go higher who strive to entre heaven. 
 "■Nil reputans, si quid superesset agendmi" — 
 Think nothing done while any thing remains to 
 be done. " Sic itur ad astra.'^ — We go thus to 
 the stars. " Stinere facto per inhostales sylvas 
 RiLstribiis pramptis fehcitcr superrtes. {Eheu 
 
WHlTi; MOUiNTAIXS. 41 
 
 gi( n 77 ti/sadrst vins^itdoyJ) Johaiints Braze}\Ca7i' 
 tabrigsensis^ Gear gins Daicson^ Fkiladelphmisis, 
 fhic posi(era?if irid Septemhris 3IDCCCXVIIV 
 After passing inhospitable woods, and siu'moimt- 
 ing abrupt ledges, (how it made us perspire,) 
 John Brazcr of" Cambridge, and George Dawson 
 of Philadelphia, placed this inscription here on 
 the fourth day of the Ides of Septem'ber, 1818. 
 
 We succeeded in having a comfortable, small 
 house, for the winter 1819. Wo had now many 
 difficulties to encounter, owing t© the limited 
 size of our small house ; it being at that time 
 the principal, if not the 'only market road then 
 travelled by the people, who depended upon 
 going to market in the winter with their produce 
 irom the upper part of New Hampshire, and 
 t3ven west of Vermonl; ; and tlie snow did not 
 fall early to make a good sleigh path. When 
 it did, our house was filled, and Lucy would 
 many times have to make a large bed on the 
 floor, for them to lay dow^n upon, with their 
 clothes on, and I w^ould build n large fire in a 
 large rock or stone chiraney, that w^ould keep 
 them warm through the night. It was no un- 
 common thing to burn in that fire place a cord 
 of wood in twenty-four hours, and sometimes 
 more. 
 
 At this time my father thought it best to sell, 
 as there w^as a chance, he thought; he being 
 holden with me on the notes, I suppose, would 
 like to have been liberated from them. He con- 
 sulted with grandmother, and gave her and Wil- 
 iiam a mort^arre of his farm, at that time worth 
 4# 
 
42 HiSTOUT OF THE 
 
 two of mine, so that there should be no incum- 
 brance on my barn. But the man to whom we 
 expected to sell, drew back, and we still remain- 
 ed, and struggled along as well as we could, 
 through the winter. 
 
 In the month of May four young gentlemen 
 came on horseback to visit the mountains. I 
 gave them the best information I could. They 
 set off together, and made the best they coufd 
 of their excursion through the forest, but suffer- 
 ed considerable inconvenience by the thickness 
 of the trees and brush, which would every now 
 and then take hold of their clothes, and stop 
 them ; they returned well satisfied, notwithstand- 
 ing the unfriendly brush. 
 
 As this was the third party which had visited 
 the mountains, since I came here to live, we 
 thought it best to cut a path through the woods ; 
 accordingly my father and I made a foot path 
 from the Notch out through the woods, and it 
 w^as advertised in the newspapers, and we soon 
 began to have a few visitors. As my accom- 
 modations were limited, small parties were under 
 the necessity of stopping at my father's, eight 
 miles from the Notch. 
 
 This summer I succeeded in removing a barn 
 from the place where our house had been 
 brought by our neighbors, after the fire, and I 
 converted the barn into a stable for horses. We 
 considered it quite comfortable for the winter, 
 and as I had payments to make, I had to work 
 economically to be able. 
 
 I spent the winter of 1820 in doing my own 
 
WHITE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 43 
 
 work and assisting the traveller up and down the 
 Notch, and over the mountains towards Lancas- 
 ter. As it is a common thing for the wind to 
 sweep away the snow through the Notch, open- 
 ing and leaving it bare, so the teamsters required 
 help to get along, and sometimes they have been 
 obliged to leave a part of their loads at the 
 Notch House, and I have gone down there and 
 taken it and conveyed it to the owners, and on 
 my return would bring home grain, and other 
 necessary things for our use, as 1 ever calculated 
 to manage so as to load both ways, and not lose 
 my time or the wear of my horses for nothing. 
 
 In March, as I had a famous dog for catching 
 deer, I told Lucy, one pleasant morning, I was 
 going out to the Notch with my dog and I hoped 
 to bring a deer home, alive, and we would tame 
 him. She smiled, and said to me she thought I 
 had better give up such an idea as that, for who 
 could catch and halter-break a wild animal like 
 a deer. Never mind, said I, there is nothing 
 like trying. So I took my rope, dog and snow- 
 shoes, and commenced my journey. After trav- 
 ehng about four miles in the roads, I turned out 
 and went into the woods, say half a mile, when 
 Watch, my dog, gave an alarm, which told me 
 he had found a deer. I went as fast as 1 could 
 and told Watch to be careful and not hurt the 
 deer. He had found a young buck and stopped 
 him ; I went up and Watch took him by the ear, 
 and held him, while I tied on my rope, in form 
 of a halter, and then began to descend the hill, 
 and come into the road. He was rather turbu- 
 
44 BISTORT OF THi: 
 
 lont, at first, but soon became quite taine anr! 
 peaceable, and woud smell of my hands, as 1 
 perspired some, as if for salt. 1 brought him 
 honif^, and made a place in the stable and put 
 liim in, and Lucy's little brother fed him with 
 c-abbage and small pieces of cut potatoes. We 
 kept him until June, when by accident, the litttle 
 boy happened to leave one whole potatoe, which 
 got so far into his throat, that I could not remove 
 it, and consequently the poor thing died. 
 
 In May, there came a gentleman and lady, and 
 put up whh us, for the night ; it began to snow, 
 and in the morning, the snow was good twelve 
 inches deep ; and they, being in a hurry, were 
 desirous to proceed on their journey, but did not 
 know how they could get through the snow with 
 their wagon. I then brought up my horse sled, 
 took off the wheels from their wagon, and placed 
 them and the wagon on the sled, and prepared a 
 seat for each of us to ride comfortably, attached 
 my horse to the sled, and carried them to Beth- 
 leham, twelve miles. As we had now got out 
 of the snowy region, and they could travel by 
 themselves, I assisted in putting their carriage 
 together again, for which he gave me a dollar, 
 xind we took our leave of each other, and they 
 pursued their way and I returned home. 1 went 
 one and a half miles down the Amanoosuc river, 
 or Ompompanusuck, according to the ancient 
 Indian name, and took the frame of an old grist 
 mill, which stood there, useless, and which be- 
 longed to me, and brought it home, having taken 
 }l apart, and made a temporary cheese house; 
 
WKITB MOUNTAINS, 45 
 
 and we had a diary, and made twelve hundred 
 weight of cheese, which I carried to market in 
 the fall, and sold for a good price. This ena- 
 bled me to make out another payment of 8200. 
 
 This summer there came a considerable large 
 party of distinguished characters, such as the 
 author of the New Hampshire map, &c. &c., to 
 my house, about noon, to ascend the mountains 
 and give names to such hills as were unnamed, 
 and after a dinner of trout, they set out, taking 
 me for a guide and baggage-carrier: we rode to 
 the Notch, and there I was loaded equal to a 
 pack-horse, with cloaks and necessary articles 
 for two nights, with a plenty of what some call 
 ''Black Betts," or " O be joyful," as it was the 
 fashion in those days, to make use of this kind 
 of stuff, and especially upon such occasions. 
 We travelled on until we reached the camp, about 
 three miles from the road, then I struck up a 
 fire, cut wood, and prepared our usual supper, 
 spread our blankets, brought for that purpose, 
 and after some interesting ctories told by the 
 party, I believe we all fell asleep. In the morn- 
 ing, after breakfast, we started on our intended 
 expedition, taking only provisions enough for the 
 day, and a sufficient quantity of " O be joyful," 
 and set forward and went over several hills, and 
 came to a beautiful pond of clear water, distant 
 one mile from the apex of the hill. Here we 
 made a stop for some time, enjoying the water, 
 which was delicious, and then went to the sum- 
 mit of Mount Washington. There they gave 
 names to several peaks, and then dmnk healths 
 
46 HISTOFwl OF THB 
 
 to ihem in honor to the great men Avliose names 
 they bore, and gave toasts to them ; and after 
 they had all got through, they pnt it upon me to 
 do the same ; but as this was a new thing to me, 
 ?md not being prepared, I could only express mv 
 feelings by saying I hoped all of us might have 
 good success and return to our respective fami- 
 lies in safety, and find them in health ; whicli 
 was answered by a cheer from all, as they had 
 cheered at other times before, when any one had 
 drank a toast. The day was fine, and our feel- 
 ings seemed to correspond with the beauties of 
 the day, and after some hours had swiftly passed 
 away in this manner, we concluded to leave this 
 grand and magnificent place and return to a 
 lower situation on earth. We then left the hill, 
 and came down to the before mentioned pond. 
 Here we staid a long time partaking of its wa- 
 ters, imtil some of us became quite blue, and 
 from this circumstance we agreed to give it the 
 name of Blue Pond, and at rather a late hour we 
 left it and proceeded towards the camp, but did 
 not all arrive there until nine o'clock in the eve- 
 ning. This water so much troubled one of our 
 party, or the elevated situation on which we trav- 
 eled, fatigue, or some other cause, had such an 
 effect upon him that he could not get along with- 
 out my assistance ; and he being a man of two 
 hundred weight, caused me to make use of all 
 my strength, at times. I however, managed to 
 get down at last, and when I did I was so tired, 
 I prostrated mysf^lf upon the gound and told them 
 I could do no more that ni^h — :hey must look 
 
WHIT£ MOUNTAINS. 47 
 
 oiU for themselves, for I was tired to the very 
 bone. They cut some wood and did the hest 
 they could that night, and in the morning, sleep 
 had again restored us, so that after taking some 
 refreshment, we started for home, where we all 
 .arrived in safety, and in good spirits. Here we 
 with pleasure recalled the proceedings of the 
 previous day, and partaking of another dinner, 
 most of them returned to their places of resi- 
 dence the same day. 
 
 In September, at one time, there came a 
 number of gentlemen up through the Notch and 
 sent to me to prepare and furnish them with 
 provisions and other necessaries for the expedi- 
 tion. I was accordingly fitted out, and when 
 ready, n:iy pack weighed eighty pounds. I car- 
 ried it to the Notch, on horseback, and when I 
 arrived there the sun was setting, and the party 
 had taken the path and gone along and left their 
 cloaks by the way for me. I piled them on top 
 of my load and budged on as fast as possible, 
 and when I arrived at the camp it w^as dusk ; 
 there was no fire — wood was to be chopped, and 
 supper to prepare, and when all this was done, 
 I was tired enougKto sleep without being rocked 
 in a cradle. 
 
 hi November I went on the hill in front of my 
 house, south, and there set up a short line of 
 sable traps, twenty three in number, and caught 
 twenty-five sable of fine quality, and one black 
 cat, or fisher. 
 
 This v/inter (1821) I spent doing my own . 
 work and buying salt, and transporting it from 
 
48 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 Portland to Lancester, and exchanging it with 
 the merchants for grain, and other things, for 
 my family's use. And as I had been somewhat 
 unlucky with my pet deer, last summer I thought 
 to try again for another, and in a manner like 
 the former one, I prepared and went near the 
 same place. I found several — one of which I 
 took alive. This was a beautiful young doe 
 and she was with young. I now felt quite rich, 
 in taking this prize. I suppose my feelings were 
 similar to those spoken of by Robinson Crusoe, 
 when he succeeded in taking the Lamas on the 
 Island. I did not know but that they might in- 
 crease, we could built a park and keep them, as 
 these animals are easily tamed, and then I 
 should have them to show our visitors in the 
 summer, when they come ; perhaps I could, now 
 and then, spare one for the table, if requested 
 ])y them, — but alas! this was only imaginary, 
 hke the fable of the maid and her milk-pail. I 
 put on my rope in the same manner as I did the 
 former one and began to try to lead her, but I 
 could do nothing with her ; she would not walk 
 with me, so I shouldered her and brought her 
 into the road : this made quite a load for me to 
 travel with, as I was then four miles from home, 
 but said I to myself, without some pain there 
 will be no gain ; so I made the best I could of it, 
 and when in the road would often set her down 
 and try to lead her, but I could not. This was 
 not exactly like the one I had taken the preced- 
 ing year — it was of a dark brown color. And 
 after I had got her home, (1 had either hurt her 
 
■u^^ITB MOUNTAINS. 49 
 
 in bringing her liome, or she was so delicate she 
 would not partake of food, and to put her out of 
 misery,) I concluded we had better dress her. 
 This was as fine a piece of venison as I had 
 ever seen. Now as I had not saved this one's 
 life, I said I would go again ; and I went and 
 my dog started a good sized buck, and followed 
 him tovvards home, and near the road he had 
 stopped him, and then waited for me to come up 
 and take him, and while here they were ob- 
 served by some travellers passing along at this 
 time, and before I had time to come up with 
 him, although I made long strides on my snow 
 shoes, as I feared something would happen to 
 him still ; when I came up, I found the traveller 
 had been to the house and obtained a gun and 
 shot him, and to my great motification, I found 
 him dead, with the man exulting in triumph over 
 this great feat which he had performed. I then 
 told him the great disappointment which he had 
 unconsciously given me, but as he was dead it 
 was of no use to make many words about it, so 
 he helped me to bring him home, and here he 
 was served like the former one, and sent to 
 Portland. 
 
 In March, I hired Esquire Stuart to come with 
 his compass and go into the woods, and see if 
 there could not be a better and more practica- 
 ble way found to ascend the Mountains. We 
 set out with provisions, blankets, fire-works, and 
 snow-shoes for the woods. We set our compass 
 — spotted trees, which made a line to be fol- 
 lowed at another time. When night came on 
 
50 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 I built a camp, and struck up a fire. We ate 
 our supper and retired with our dog quietly to 
 rest. We spent three days in making this search 
 and returned well satisfied we had found the 
 best way ; for the road which we had heretofore 
 travelled is an uneven one, going up a hill and 
 then down again, and this in so many succes- 
 sions, that it made it tiresome to those who were 
 not acpumstomed to this kind of journeying ; 
 and the way which we had now found is over a 
 comparative level surface for nearly seven miles, 
 following the source of the Amanoosuc, or Om- 
 pompanassook, until we arrived at the foot of 
 Mount Washington, and then taking a ridge or 
 spur of the hill. We could now ascend without 
 much difficulty, and found there might be a road 
 made, with some expense, sufficiently good, so 
 that we might ride this seven miles, which we 
 thought would facilitate the visitor very much in 
 his progress : and, to add to my encouragement 
 some gentlemen from Boston made a subscrip- 
 tion in 1823 to this purport : that, providing I 
 should make a good carriage road and have it 
 passable in three years, they would be holden to 
 pay the sums which were set against their re- 
 spective names ; and we had nearly $200 sub- 
 scribed for this purpose ; but as I was already 
 under so much embarrassment I did not feel 
 able to build an addition to my house, and I well 
 knew that if I made this road and did not have 
 suitable accommodations for those who would be 
 likely to come, it would only be imposing upon 
 the public to have a road to the Mountain and 
 
WHITE MOUNTAINS. 51 
 
 not have house room enougli to make those 
 comfortable who came to stay with us. I, there- 
 fore, was obhged to give up this generous offer 
 of theirs, and at my own expense do what I could 
 from one year to another, — but still intending to 
 do every thing in my power to make all happy 
 as possible in my humble situation. 
 
 In the summer, just before haying, I hired 
 men and went with them to cut this path, and 
 while in the woods, at the distance of three miles 
 from home, as I was standing on an old log 
 chopping, with my axe raised, the log broke and 
 I came down with such force that it struck my 
 right ancle and glanced, nearly cutting my heel 
 cord off : I bled freely, and so much so that I 
 was unable to stand or go. The men that were 
 wdth me — one, a brother of mine, and another 
 stout man — took the cloths we had our dinner 
 wrapped in, and tied up my wound as well as 
 they could, and then began to contrive means to 
 get me out of the woods. They cut a round 
 pole, and with their frocks which they wore tied 
 me in underneath it, and thought they could 
 carry me in like manner as we bring dead bears 
 through the woods ; but in this way I could not 
 ride. They then let me down, and took turns 
 in carrying me on their backs, until we got out 
 of the woods ; and then one of then came home 
 and got a horse, on whose back I was assisted to 
 get ; and I thus rode home with both feet on 
 one sije in ladies' fashion, and when I arrived 
 there I was assisted in alighting. There hap- 
 pened to be at my house then, a Mrs. Stabbard, 
 
bZ HISTORY OF THE 
 
 who is known in our country, and bore the name 
 of Granny Stalbard, whose head was whitened 
 with more than eighty years, — who ought to be 
 remembered for the good she had done, and the 
 ]nany sufferings and hardships she endured to 
 assist others in distress, and one who seemed to 
 be raised for the same end for which she lived 
 in those days. She was an old Doc tress woman; 
 one of the first female settlers in Jefferson, and 
 she had learned from the Indians the virtues of 
 roots and herbs, and the various w^ays in which 
 the}^ could be made useful. Now the old lady 
 said it was best to examine this wound and have 
 it properly dressed up ; but as it had stopped 
 bleeding I told her I thought it better to let it 
 remain as it then was ; but she thinking she was 
 the elder, and knew better, unwrapped it, and it 
 soon set bleeding afresh, and it was with difti- 
 culty she now stopped it. She, however, went 
 into the field, plucked some young clover leaves, 
 pounded them in a mortar, placed them on my 
 wound ; this stopped the blood so suddenly that 
 it caused me to faint, — this was a new thing to 
 me — a large stout man to faint ! — which made 
 me feel rather queerly, but there was no help 
 for it. This wound laid me up pretty much the 
 rest of the summer, but still we persevered, and 
 these men, with some others, finished cutting the 
 path through the woods. So it is that men suf- 
 fer various ways in advancing civilization, and 
 through God, mankind are indebted to the labors 
 of men in many different spheres of life. 
 
d- f% 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 This fall came Captain Partridge vAih a num" 
 ber of Cadets to ascend the Mountain, and as I 
 was not able to walk, we were under the neces- 
 sity of sending for our nearest neighbor, Mr* 
 Rosebrook, to guide them ; and likewise at other 
 times we were obliged to send for him to guide 
 gentlemen up the Hills. 
 
 At this time there was to be a general muster 
 at Lancester, and as I was lame and not able to 
 walk, Lucy was anxious to visit her parents in 
 Guildhall, just opposUe that place, and we con- 
 cluded to go and see them ; and on the day ap- 
 pointed, I with others went to see the soldiers 
 perform, and while on the ground I was sitting 
 down, there came a man who was celebrated 
 for wrestling and laid hold of me and stumped 
 me to throw him* I eased him off, and then he 
 went to others in the same way, and received 
 oimilar treatment, until he upset a whole row of 
 aid men sitting on a rail fence or board. He 
 seme again and insisted upon my taking hold 
 with him. I told him I was not in the habit of 
 that kind of sport, and also I was lame and could 
 not, even had I a disposition to ; and he came 
 the third time and caught hold of my vest and 
 rent it several inches in length, and at the same 
 lime with his foot gave me such a blow on mv 
 5* 
 
Oi III STORY OF THE 
 
 lame ancle that the hurt raised my temper to 
 such a degree that, unconscious of what I did, I 
 put my fist in such an attitude that it laid him 
 prostrate on the ground. He was taken up with 
 rather a disfigured face ; for which I was im- 
 mediately sorry, for I knew he was influenced 
 by liquor ; but it w^as done — and many were 
 glad of it — while I was ashamed to think I had 
 given way to passion, and when I came to where 
 Lucy was, I asked her to forgive my imprudence 
 by mending my vest. I told her it should be 
 the last time I would give way to an angry pas- 
 sion, and I have thus far kept my word. 
 
 In August 31, 1821, there came three young 
 ladies, the Misses Austins, who were formerly 
 from Portsmouth, to ascend the Hills, as they 
 were ambitious and wanted to have the honor 
 of being the first females who placed their feet 
 on this high, and now, celebrated place, Blount 
 Washington. They were accompanied by their 
 brother and Charles J. Stewart, Esq., who was 
 then engaged to one of them, and married her, 
 July 4th, 1822, and Mr. Faulkner, who was then 
 a tenant on their farm in Jelferson, attending 
 with their baggage. They were provided with 
 every thing necessary for the expedition, and 
 set forward. They went as far as the first 
 Camp that night, dividing it into two apartments, 
 and then put up. The next morning they pur- 
 sued their v/ay until they reached the next 
 camp, which they in like manner divided. It 
 came on unfavorable weather, and now being in 
 pretty good quarters, they stayed and waited for 
 
WHITE MOlJx\TAINS. 55 
 
 a better prospect. As their store of provisions 
 began to fall short, Mr. Faulkner came in and 
 Baid that I must, if I possibly could, go and re- 
 lieve him, as he had grain out in the field, then 
 suffering, and they wished to have me accom- 
 pany them. 
 
 I now mustered all my courage, as I was then 
 lame, took a load on my back and a cane in my 
 hand to help my lame foot, which was now 
 healed over, and went and overtook them. The 
 weather also lookhig favorable, we ascended at 
 six o'clock in the morning, and reached the sum- 
 mit just before the sun had got to the meridian. 
 What a beautiful sight ! we could look over the 
 whole creation with wonder and surprise, as far 
 as the eye could extend, in every direction, and 
 view the wonderful works of God! Every 
 large pond and sheet of water was plain to be 
 seen, within the circuit of one hundred miles, 
 for some time, until the sun had got up so high 
 as to cause a vapor to rise from the waters ; this 
 also, was grand to see ; the commencement of 
 the little vapor, which v/ould grow larger and 
 larger, until it made a cloud and entrenched the 
 view. Houses and farms were to be seen at a 
 distance, so far off that they appeared nothing 
 more than small specks. At one time, previous, 
 when here with some gentlemen, we counted 
 forty-two different ponds in different directions. 
 The Sebago Pond is distinctly to be seen, and 
 some have thought they could see the ocean 
 from this place ; but as there is no object be- 
 yond, it appears to look like a cloud, differing 
 
66 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 only a trifle in color from the sky. The ladies 
 returned, richly paid for their trouble, after being 
 out five days and three nights. I think this act 
 of heroism ought to confer an honor on them, as 
 every thing was done with so much prudence 
 and modesty by them ; there w^as not left a 
 trace or even a chance for a reproach or slan- 
 der excepting by those who thought themselves 
 outdone by these young ladies. 
 
 This winter, 1822, as my ankle was weak, 
 and the rheumatism now found its way to it, 
 I stayed at home as much as possible, doing only 
 what necessity really compelled me to, and in 
 the spring I made a considerable improvement 
 on my mountain road. This summer I went on 
 the mountain with one gentleman, and he was 
 a good traveller, and we reached the top of the 
 mountain and returned to the camp before sun- 
 set ; he proposed coming home that night ; we 
 took some refreshments and started, and we 
 came along until it grew quite dark, and I pro- 
 posed taking a little nap and waite for the moon 
 to rise and give us some light. He hesitated a 
 little in consequence of the wild beasts, which 
 he said might happen along, and take us while 
 sleeping. I advised him to calm his fears for 
 my faithful dog w^ould keep watch. We took 
 our blankets and laid down and soon fell asleep; 
 presently their came a large bear spattering 
 along in full speed, and as the air came along 
 with him he did not perceive us until within 
 a few feet of us, and then the dog sprang uj) 
 and went after him ; this awakened us, and as 
 
WHITE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 57 
 
 tlic moon had now got up so high as to shine 
 among the trees, we could pursue our path quite 
 well, and arrived home about twelve o'clock. 
 
 We set traps and caught two at one time, and 
 some more at other times this season, from which 
 we obtained considerable oil. 
 
 In August, v/e had some young gentlemen 
 from a University, — they were preparing for the 
 ministry ; and as they needed exercise, and a 
 respit from their studies, they chose this place 
 to spend their leisure hours, and regain their 
 strength, and view and contemplate upon the 
 works of God, and climb the Mountain. I went 
 with them as guide, and on the way I tried to 
 shorten the distance and make their toil less 
 tiresome by some anecdotes and telling some 
 little stories ; but as this did not coincide with 
 their feelings, I gave up these trifles and re- 
 mained silent most of the way ; and when arriv- 
 ing at the summit, they on this high and elevated 
 spot, oifered prayers to Almighiy God for his 
 goodness. This was, I think, the first prayer I 
 ever heard on this Mountain. This appeared 
 solemn — now so high in the air, where we could 
 look down upon inferior objects — what could be 
 more interesting ? 
 
 The same month others came, and among 
 them was a sea captain, a man of good statue 
 and heavy ; he, while coming down from the 
 hill, and in the act of jumping from one stone 
 to another, laying there promiscuously, slipped, 
 and unfortunately sprained his ancle. This was 
 yome trouble to him the rest of the way ; how- 
 
58 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 ever, he managed to get home. This was the 
 greates mjury happening to any person, while 
 going up or coming clown the hills, to my knowl- 
 edge, during our stay at the White Mountains. 
 
 This sumnVer, we had some trouble with uncle 
 William, as brother had predicted, when he 
 told uie if I should go up there, I must expect 
 trouble from dear relatives. As our situation 
 was so uncomfortable, grandmother was under 
 the necessity of making my father's house her 
 home ; and she was desirous of having William 
 live with her ; yet she did not complain of his 
 being ill treated, but wanted him, and coaxed 
 him to go there and live with her. But he did 
 not stay Ibng, as they could do whhout him. 
 They advised him to come home again, but this 
 was contrary to the old lady's feelings ; and she 
 then advised him to go and live with his brother, 
 and as he had ever been at her command, he 
 obeyed her, and went. But this was not home 
 to him ; and after a while, he returned ; and 
 said he would not be controlled any more, but 
 would remain on his farm ; he, therefore, came 
 back, and received from us as good treatment 
 as he ever had done. 
 
 In September, as I was ascending the moun- 
 tain with two young gentlemen, we saw in the 
 path, at some distance from the camp, a large 
 bear's track, but saw nothing of the bear. On< 
 our descent, near this place, the dog left us, and 
 in a few minutes, went to bearking in great 
 earnest. I said he has something. I went a 
 few steps and saw a cub, the bigness of a good 
 
WHITE MOUNTAINS. 59 
 
 si?:e(l cnr dog, climbing a tree. And how we 
 could get hini^ was the next thing. We talked 
 it over, and agreed that one should stand in the 
 road and keep watch for the old one, whom 
 we expected, should she hear the cries of her 
 cub; and the otner should cUmb the tree, and 
 get him off, while I and the dog should remain 
 at the foot of the tree and take him. The cub 
 was followed up the tree in good style. Ho 
 then walked out on a limb, and from that into a 
 small tree, which I took hold of, and shook so 
 hard that he fell off, and the dog caught him. 
 I then took hold of him, and tying his mouth 
 with my handkerchief, brought him safely home, 
 and kept him some time. At length a hired 
 man set up a pole, and tied a leather strap 
 around his neck, and gave him a trough of water 
 to bathe in. This he enjoyed remarkably well 
 for a while, but when the strap stretched, he 
 slipped out his head and said, I suppose, good 
 
 day. 
 
 This winter, 1822, I spent in buying salt, and 
 transporting it from Portland to Colebrook, and 
 exchanging it for grain ; I likewise bought a nice 
 mare, for which I paid in salt. I transported the 
 salt with this mare by sleigh loads. This winter 
 my dog caught a great many deer, and would 
 go with any one who desired him ; but an enemy 
 wanted him, and as he could not have, because 
 he was engagd, he gave him poison ; and I lost 
 my famous dag. But shortly after, I bought 
 another equally as good. 
 
 In June, when returning from the camp, in 
 
60 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 company with two young gentlemen, as we were 
 travelling along, we saw a bunch of mountain 
 ash ; they stopped, and each cut for himself a 
 beautiful, nice and straight cane, which they 
 intended to carry home with them; and after 
 this was done, we again pursued our path — I 
 forward, and they after me, in Indian file, as 
 this was the manner in which we used to travel. 
 The one behind saw another bunch, from which 
 he thought he could select a better cane. He 
 stopped to cut it, while we were walking on ; 
 and he, being in a hurry, after he had cut this, 
 to overtake us, unmindfully crossed the path, 
 and steered directly into the woods. The other 
 one that was next to me, observed his com- 
 panion was not with us, was alarmed, saying he 
 was subject to fainting fits, and thought he must 
 have fainted. I immediately threw off my load 
 and ran back to where I supposed we left him ; 
 there I hollowed as loud as my lungs would ad- 
 mit, a number of times. He at length heard, 
 and stopped. He was completely lost, and could 
 not find his way back. He answered, and I 
 went to him, and put him in the right path again. 
 This frightened me more than all the bears in 
 the woods ; but it however served as a lesson 
 to others, never to give up a certainty for an 
 uncertainty. 
 
CHAPTER VL 
 
 This summer, 1823, Chancellor Kent, from 
 New York, came to my house, with two young 
 gentlemen. As he was desirous of passing this 
 way, he hired a private conveyance here, after 
 leaving the stage, which did not then pass 
 through the Notch, as the mail was then some- 
 times transported on horse-back and sometimes 
 in a one horse wagon. He chartered me to 
 carry them to Conway, when they would take 
 the stage again. After putting up with our ac- 
 commodations, through the night, in the morning 
 I harnessed my two mares, who had each a 
 young colt, and they took the road foi^ward and 
 their mothers behind, which made a regular 
 team ; this amused them much. I carried them 
 to the destined place, the same day ; and while 
 on the way, we had an interesting time in ex- 
 changing jokes, &c. 
 
 In July, another man and myself took blankets, 
 provisions, and other necessary things, for a 
 small party, who were going to stay the second 
 night, on Mount Washington, as they were de- 
 sirous of being there and seeing the appearance 
 of the sun, when it should set in the evening an^l 
 rise in the morning. After staying at the foot 
 of the hill over night, we ascended, and being 
 there in season, went to work and built three 
 stone cabins. We then collected a quantity 
 6 
 
62 HISTORY OF THB 
 
 of dry moss, laid it in them for beds, spread 
 our blankets, and at an early hour, on this ele- 
 vated spot, retired to rest, now prostrate on the 
 ground, so much nearer Heaven than what we 
 had ever been accustomed. Our sleep was not 
 exactly sound, but was interrupted by dreams, 
 which one would naturally suppose would be 
 the case. In the morning we awoke by times 
 to view the object we came for. We had the 
 advantage of our neighbors, in seeing the ap- 
 pearance of light first ; and when the sun rose, 
 it came up, as it were, behind a veil, and ap- 
 peared the bigness of a good sized cart-wheel. 
 We could look upon it without straining oui: 
 eyes, as well as we can look upon the full 
 moon ; and then it rose from behind this cloud, 
 and came out in its full splendor and glory. 
 This was the first night I ever slept on Mount 
 Washington. One of the party made the fol- 
 iowing lines : 
 
 The Muses' most inspiring draught, 
 From Helicon's pure fountain quaff'd, 
 What is it, to the rising sun, 
 Seen from the top of Washington I 
 Cans't thou bear a dreary night ? 
 Stranger ! go enjoy the sight. 
 
 We then returned over Munroe, Franklin and 
 Pleasant Mountain, following our old path, came 
 in at the Notch, and from there home. 
 
 It was now beginning to be fashionable for 
 ladies, attended by gentlemen, to visit this place, 
 both for health and amusement ; and we were 
 most of the time crowded. As our house was 
 
WHITE flIOUNTAliXS. 63 
 
 SO small we could not accommodate but a few 
 at a time, although we could give them clean 
 beds ; but they were obliged to stow closely at 
 night, and near the roof, as we had but two 
 small sleeping rooms down stairs, and these 
 were generally occupied by ladies ; the gentle- 
 men were under the necessity of going up stairs, 
 and there lay so near each other, that their beds 
 nearly touched; but as we did all we could for 
 them, they seemed satistied with it. 
 
 In August, there came at one time, three dif- 
 ferent parties, which made quite a number for 
 us in those days. Early in the morning, the 
 gentlemen set out for the Hrlls, leaving the 
 ladies to amuse themselves and achieve such 
 victories as they, in their capacity, might think 
 proper. After dinner, the ladies inquired if the 
 hill north of my house had ever been visited, 
 and whether there were any views that were 
 interesting ? And after receiving an answer in 
 the affirmativ^e,they started and took the nearest 
 route, which was a very rough one. One of 
 them being active and ambitious, said she would 
 be the first one up. She then set out in great 
 haste, supposing that this could be done in a 
 few minutes. The day being warm, she soon 
 grew fatigued, and perspiring freely, she gave 
 out before she had attained^ half its summit; 
 and returned, nearly exhausted. She said this 
 hill should bear the name of Mount Deception, 
 for its deceptive appearance ; and, from this cir- 
 cumstance, it has since been called by that 
 name. The other ladies, taking it with more 
 
G-1 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 moderation, reached the top of the hill ; here 
 they could see some habitations in Bethel, and 
 had a good prospect of the valley, and the way 
 in which we travel to go up the Mountain, 
 which is a delightful view. They returned in 
 a different way. In the evening, I amused them 
 with the sound of my long tin horn, sent me by 
 a. gentlemen from Portland, for the benefit of the 
 echo, which, when the horn was sounded, would 
 vibrate along the side of the hili, until the 
 sound would die away on the ear. This had a 
 strange effect on one lady, as she said it seemed 
 when the horn was sounded as if it were 
 answered by a supernatural voice from Heaven, 
 inspiring her with strange ideas or feelings, 
 which she never before experieJiced. 
 
 Again we had another party come, from which 
 I will relate a circumstance. We went up the 
 mountain, the weather then looked favorable, 
 until we reached^ the top of the hill , and then 
 we went into a cloud, which was dark all around 
 us. Having reached the summit, and not hav- 
 ing any landmarks to direct us back, and not 
 being acquainted with the weather here, we 
 stayed only long enough for them to carve iheir 
 names, and then tried to return ; but I was lost, 
 myself, for a short time. I started towards the 
 east, and we wandered about until we came 
 near the edge of a great gulf. Here we stay- 
 ed and amused ourselves by rolling such large 
 stones as we could find loose, and these being 
 started, went with such force that they would 
 take otliers with lliem, and then rest only in the 
 
WHITE MOUNTAirsS. 
 
 65 
 
 valley beneatli. Although a little danger was 
 encountered in this kind of sport, had one of 
 us have slipped accidentally, and have been pre- 
 cipitated down the gulf; yet it was actually a 
 grand sight ; and while we were enjoying this, 
 there came up a strong wind and carried away 
 the clouds in as short time as they had been 
 gathering and comming on. Now what a con- 
 trast, to have the darkness all taken away, and 
 then a perfect clear sunshine come on. It 
 cheered all hearts. We then had a good pros- 
 pect of all the country around, and this oppor- 
 tunity was not lost. We could see what course 
 to steer, beat our way towards the path and 
 succeeded in finding it and returned home. 
 
 At another time I went up the mountains with 
 two gentlemen ; we started in the morning, 
 with the prospect of a clear day ; and having 
 attained the summit, could see the clouds gath- 
 ering below us ; and, as the lightning streaked 
 along in the clouds, a rumbling noise was heard, 
 but not like the sound of thunder. Here, as 
 there was nothing to give it an echo, it only 
 sounded like a rumbling noise, in the distance ; 
 but it was near us. What a situation to t)e 
 placed in, so high in the air ! Like the eagle, 
 we could now look down upon a raging storm, 
 while the atmosphere above, was perfectly 
 clear. We then went down to Blue Pond, and, 
 while here, the wind came up, attended with 
 hail, which descended with such violence, that 
 it seemed as though every hail stone left a mark 
 on our faces ; and to prevent losing our hats, 
 6^ 
 
66 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 v/e were obliged to tie them on with our hand- 
 kerchiefs. We went strugg-ling against the 
 w^ind a distance of one and a half miles ; some- 
 times it was with difficulty we could stand or 
 walk; until after we had attained this distance ; 
 we then got below the wind, and could now pur- 
 sure our way home, in a moderate rain ; we 
 arri\^ed there, completely drenched. 
 
 Two gentlemen from Bostofi, came and went 
 up the mountains ; and after remaining on its 
 summit as long as they wished, returned by the 
 way of Blue Pond, and from thence, down 
 Escape Glen, as they termed it, to the camp — a 
 passage romantic, but precipitous ; where one of 
 them, as they said, came near loosing his life, 
 by taking hold of an old root of a tree to sup- 
 port himself, which gave away. He was over 
 a perpendicular precipice of fifty feet; but for- 
 tunately, saved himself, and returned safely 
 home. He experienced no injury, save that of 
 being frightened. 
 
 This spring and summer, the Grey Cat or 
 Siberia Lynx, troubled us very much, making 
 several depredations among our sheep and geese, 
 and we underwent some fears for the safety of our 
 children. These cats were bold and not affraid 
 of man — never putting themselves much out of 
 the way to shun him. At one time a gentleman 
 was coming down Cherry Mountain, in a sleigh, 
 and saw two of these animals engaged in a 
 quarrel, as it appeared to him, in the road before 
 him; and it was with some difficulty that he 
 could convince them that the road belonged to 
 
WHITE MOUNTAINS. 67 
 
 him ; but with some entreaties, they separated, 
 one on either side, giving him just room to pass. 
 He said he might have reached them with his 
 whip, but as they were content to let him pass, 
 he was content not to disturb them in their 
 angry looking position. I set traps, and in 
 various ways tried to catch them. 1 even killed 
 a hen and set her for bait, feathers and all on, 
 in the appearance of life, supposing they would 
 like this, but they only seemed to amuse them- 
 selves by this, in coming up and looking at it, 
 and then passing on. At length I thought of 
 one more thing to try. I took some pickled fish, 
 which had a strong smell to it, for bait ; and the 
 first one afterwards who happened this way, had 
 the curiosity to see what was there ; and as the 
 trap was between him and the fish, he put his foot 
 into the trap and was held fast. He managed 
 to move the trap a little distance, but was soon 
 fastened by the grapple, which caught in a 
 thicket, where I found him. He was lying 
 partly hid, and I did not perceive him until I 
 came near stepping upon him, when he suddenly 
 started up, and I as soon sprang back to find 
 something to defend myself with; and when 
 prepared, entered into an engagement with him; 
 which was rather a tough one, he having the 
 advantage, being in the ticket. I conquered 
 him, at last, and brough him home in triumph ; 
 he measured six feet and over. In this, and 
 similar ways, I caught six of them. The next 
 spring I took one by stratagem ; as I Avas trav- 
 elling down tlirough the Notch, with a team and 
 
65 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 dog, below the Notch House, while we were 
 going on, my dog Ciame upon the track of one 
 of these animals, who had just crossed the road 
 before us ; the dog follow^ed so closely, that the 
 animal sprang into a tree, and then the dog set 
 at the bottom, barking earnestly at him. I 
 knew he had something, and leaving my team 
 in the road, took my small axe with me, which 
 I always carried, and went to him ; he was up 
 a tree thirty feet, watching the movements ot 
 the dog. I then cut two birch sticks, the longest 
 I could select, and twisting the ends put them 
 together, and at one extremity of the stick I 
 made a ring with a slip noose to it ; this I run 
 up through the boughs of the tree, and so man- 
 aged to get it over his head, then giving a sud- 
 den jerk, brought him down ten feet; he caught 
 on a limb, and the halter slipped off. I then 
 fixed it again, and he being nearer, gave me a* 
 better chance ; I put it over his head, down on 
 his neck, so that it held him fast, and then giv- 
 ing another jerk, fetch him to the ground. The 
 dog instantly seized him, but the cat soon extri- 
 cated himself, by tearing him with his claws, 
 which he seemed to know how to apply very 
 actively, causing the dog to cry for quarters. 
 The cat tiiem gave a jump the length of the 
 stick, over a spruce top four feet high, with the 
 halter still around his neck, and here he hung ; 
 I then fell beating him with a club, which I had* 
 previously prepared, and the dog recovering 
 himself, assisted me, and w^e soon finished him. f 
 Shouldering my booty, I returned to my team, ■ 
 
WHITE MOUNTAOS. 69 
 
 and placing liim on it, carried him down to my 
 father's, and there leaving him, resumed my 
 journey. On my return I took him home. I 
 never saw but one afterwards, and that, as I 
 was coming down Cherry Mountain; the dog 
 drove him into a tree, and I followed him up 
 there, myself; but the trees were so thick that 
 he jumped from one to another, and thus made 
 his escape, for the time. But shortly after, I 
 had a trap set in a brook, near the mouth, where 
 it empties into the Amanoosuc, hoping that I 
 might catch an otter ; the trap set near the end of 
 a log which crossed the stream, and was fastened 
 by a chain to a limb, six feet above the water ; 
 and this cat, wanting to cross the brook here, 
 walked on the log, when, stepping off, he put 
 his foot into the trap, and there he was held. 
 He managed to get back on the log, and then 
 on the limb, and wound up the chain in such a 
 manner, that he could not get either way ; here 
 I found him, dead, suspended between heaven 
 and earth. On these animals I had a premium 
 of three dollars apiece, which nearly paid me 
 for my loss and trouble. After making this 
 havoc among them, I was never troubled with 
 any of them again, while living at the Hills; 
 and there being no signs of them, I supposed I 
 destroyed the whole family. 
 
 In October there came to my house a family 
 from Portsmouth, wdio had hired a man to carry 
 them to Jefferson, in a coach, and it had begun 
 to snow before they arrived here, and they con- 
 cluded to put up with me for the night, and had 
 
70 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 it not been for this circumstance, they would 
 have had time to have finished their journey 
 that night. The next morning, as it continued 
 to snow, the man hired me to carry them the 
 rest of the v/ay ; and the other returned home. 
 They stayed the next day, and the second morn- 
 ing, as it had done snowing, I harnessed up two 
 horses and put them on before a good yoke of 
 oxen and commenced my task, and when going 
 over Cherry Mountain, the snow was plumb two 
 feet deep. We worked hard all day to get 
 twelv^e miles ; there I stayed over night, and the 
 next day I made out to get home again. This 
 snow all went off before winter and left us. 
 
 I had this fall engaged the Notch House, and 
 agreed to furnish it with such things as are 
 necessary for the comfort of travellers and their 
 horses. It is the case sometimes in the winter, 
 that if no one lived here, people, it seems, must 
 sufTer with the cold, for the wind comes down 
 through the narrows of the Notch ^vith such vio- 
 lence, that it requires two men to hold one man's 
 hair on, as I have heard them say. I have never 
 found it to blow so hard here as to equal this, 
 yet it has blown so hard as to take loaded sleighs 
 and carry them several rods to a stone wall, 
 which was frozen down so firmly that it was 
 impenetrable, and there the sleigh stopped. I 
 heard a second-handed story from a clergyman, 
 that the wind was once known to blow so hard 
 here, that it took a log chain and carried it to 
 the distance of a mile or more ; but I do not tell 
 this as a fact, only as a story which is told, and 
 
WHITE MDUNTAIJtS. 71 
 
 perhaps believed by some credulous folks who 
 live at a distance and form strange ideas of this 
 place. At one time I was going down to the 
 Notch House, with a load of hay to an occupant 
 there; when going round the elbow of the Notch 
 there came a gust of wind and upset my load 
 towards the gulf. 1 instantly turned myself, 
 and placed my feet against the raihng on the 
 road, that was put there for the purpose of keep- 
 ing horses from running off, which if I had not 
 done, my load must have gone over a precipice 
 of an hundred feet, with the horses attached to 
 it, and I cannot say where I should have been. 
 
 Here I waited until the wind abated, and then 
 I put my shoulder under and righted it again, 
 and went on. At another time some young peo- 
 ple were going down here, and at or near the 
 top of a long hill, one of the company's horses 
 made a mis-step and fell. In the fall, by some 
 means or other, the horse entirely cleared him- 
 self of all his harness, and lay by the side of 
 the road, while they were permitted to pass by 
 and go a considerable distance by themselves, 
 and the horse stopped yet behind, which made 
 sport enough for the rest of the company for 
 some time. 
 
 This winter, 1824, I bought hay at Jefferson, 
 and carried it sixteen miles to furnish the Notch 
 place with it ; and I had been advised by my 
 friends, to build an addition to my house, which 
 I was at first, rather unwilling to do, owing to 
 my limited circumstances, not yet being extrica- 
 ted from my first obligations ; hov/ever, I com- 
 
IIISTOnY OF THE 
 
 menecJ elrawino- lumber from Bethlehem, a c 
 
 lis- 
 
 tance of twelve miles, and this work, with draw- 
 ing hay, and other necessary business, occupied 
 my whole time for this winter. In the spring I 
 hired hands, and went industriously to work^ and 
 soon had a frame, thirty-six by forty feet, two 
 stories high, and it was raised by thirteen hands. 
 This was thought to be sufficiently large to ac- 
 commodate all who would be likely to call upon 
 us. During the summer and fall we had the 
 outside finished and painted. In July, we had a 
 number of excellent gentlemen, some of whom 
 were from the Southern States, to visit us, who 
 gave us an account of their manner of living 
 there, and a description of the countiy, man- 
 ners, &c., which vv^as interesting; and another 
 gentlemen, a painter, from a different part of the 
 country, who took some beautiful sketches of 
 the hills and likewise of the Notch, which 
 sketches, I presume, have been finished and 
 presented to the public. 
 
 In August, we had another party who ascend- 
 ed the Mountain, and while here the clouds 
 passed swiftly from under us and a rumbling 
 noise of thunder was heard, which excited a 
 clergyman, one of the party, who offered up a 
 very appropriate prayer to Almighty God, and 
 then we sung Old Hundred, in the lines set to 
 that tune. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 This summer, owing to the dampness of the 
 place on Mount Washington, where we built 
 .stone cabins, we never but once afterwards slept 
 in them. I went to Portland and there bought 
 a marque — for which 1 paid twenty-two dollars 
 — sufficiently large for eighteen persons to sleep 
 under at a time ; and a sheet-iron stove, for 
 which I paid six dollars : and these I carried 
 on, or near the top ; and spreading our tent near 
 a spring of water Avhich lives here. Our tent 
 Avith the tackling belonging to it, I had put up 
 in as small a compass as possible, and it weighed 
 eighty pounds and over. I then took it on my 
 back and carried it almost the whole distance 
 myself; but as I had some visitors then going 
 Up with me — one, who looked, and thought 
 he felt as stout as 1 was, kindly offered to assist 
 and relieve me, took my load, but could not 
 carry it far before he was satisfied with it. He 
 then laid it down and I took it again and con- 
 veyed it the remainder of the way : and on the 
 way we cut a pole to stretch this round, and I 
 carried that up also. This, however, did not 
 last long, as the storms and wind are so violent 
 here that w^e could not keep it in its place, and 
 it sooif wore out. At the same time we car- 
 7 
 
74 HISTORY OP THE 
 
 ried up a piece of sheet lead, which I had pur- 
 chased, eight or ten feet in length, seven inches 
 wide, and the thickness of pasteboard ; this was 
 put round a roller, which I made for the pur- 
 pose, for the benefit of those who went up, and 
 wished to leave their names ; which they could 
 now do much quicker and easier, with an iron 
 pencil which I made, than they could carve 
 them with a chisel and hammer, on a rock. 
 
 Shortly after this, a gentleman from Boston 
 came, and went up the hill without a guide, anc 
 while on the summit of this majestic mountain 
 he thought it a tavorable occasion to reconsider 
 the doings of the meeting held at the same place, 
 on the 27th day of July last, by Thomas C. 
 Upham and others. He called a meeting for 
 the purpose, and as no other prominent person- 
 age seemed to offer, he was invited to take the 
 Chair, 7iemine contradicute. He fully explained 
 the object of the meeting, to wit : To select s 
 suitable man to govern this mighty people. He 
 soon heard the name of the Hon. Jas. Kent, 
 late Chancellor of New York, called out from all 
 parts of this immense canopy, under which our 
 meeting was held. On taking the vote, it was 
 unanimously agreed to recommend him as a 
 candidate to fill the highest office in this re- 
 public. When he declared this vote, applause, 
 long and loud, rent the sky, the echo of which 
 still fills his ears. Believing the above nomina- 
 tion will be hailed with joy by those who wish 
 a virtuous man, unused to intrigue, to rule over 
 us ; and who are heart-sick of cabal ,t)piitical 
 juggling and rougery, he hereby pubiie!|ed it to 
 
WHITE MOUNTAINS. 75 
 
 the nation, believing it his duty so to do. He 
 then returned home, well satisfied with the pro- 
 ceedings of the day ; an account of which he 
 published in the Album, and left. I have here 
 transcribed, to show how many different objects 
 are sought on these mountains. 
 
 September 10th, another party ascended the 
 Moimtain ; the day was clear and warm ; they 
 found ice in great quantities from four to six 
 inches thick. 
 
 October 2d, Captain Partridge came with fifty- 
 two Cadets, and as I was gone from home, Lucy 
 managed and got along with them as well as 
 she could. It was not far from the middle of 
 the day when they arrived, and the Captain, as 
 he had been there before, took apart of them 
 and proceeded towards the camp that night, for 
 the purpose of having the next day before him 
 to make some barometrical observations, and the 
 others went the same afternoon down to view the 
 Notch and its wonders. Thence they returned 
 the same evening and stayed with us that night. 
 Lucy gave ihem all the beds she then had — which 
 was not enough to accommodate them. Some 
 slept on the floor and some slept in the barn, 
 and at one time, a number of them stacked 
 themselves up in a pile by the side of the fence, 
 in a bright moonshine ; but this was not a very 
 comfortable situation, for the bottom ones re- 
 moved their quarters and returned to the barn. 
 The next morning after breakfast, they took a 
 guide and went and met the Captain and his 
 party coming down the hill ; they, however, 
 went up, and back as far as the camp, and there 
 
76 HlSTOllY OF THE 
 
 stayed that niglit, while the former party came 
 home, and the next morning they all came to- 
 gether again to breakfast. We had one room 
 half the bigness of the house, which we used as 
 a kitchen, a victualing room, a sitting room, and 
 when crowded, a sleeping room ; but we were a 
 little better off, at this time, having a cooking 
 stove in a wood-shed adjoining the house, but 
 this place was not large enough to do all the 
 work in, therefore w^e had to use the kitchen to 
 do the rest of the work in. Though suffering 
 all these inconveniences, Lucy never murmured 
 or complained, but bore them with patience, say- 
 ing there was an overruling Providence in all 
 these things, and that these, and some other dif- 
 ficulties, were to try us, and she would always 
 put some good construction on everything, and 
 view things on the bright side, and in this way 
 we got along, and lived peaceably together, with- 
 out any difficulty. 
 
 In the winter of 1S25, I bought brick for a 
 chimney, and had them to draw twenty-one 
 miles, which made quite a job of it ; the lumber 
 I had to draw from twelve to twenty miles. 
 This, with what other work I had to do, made a 
 good winter's work for me. The doors we had 
 made in the winter, and in the spring the joiner 
 came and finished his w^ork ; and then, the ma- 
 son and painter completed the rest, so that we 
 had a house for our summer company, which 
 increased yearly. 
 
 At this time we began to feel quite comforta- 
 ble, as we had a plenty of house room. This 
 room required a good deal of furniture to make 
 
WHITE MOUNTAINS. 77 
 
 it any way decent, without extravagance, and we 
 we were obliged to buy such things as were 
 really necessary, which did not seem much like 
 getting out of debt, but still plunging in deeper 
 and deeper. Yet my creditors were so generous 
 as seldom or ever to call upon me, when I was 
 unprepared to meet them. 
 
 The first day of June, some gentlemen came, 
 and went up the mountains. They had rather a 
 fatiguing time of it, as we had not cleared the 
 path of windfalls, which had fallen the preceding 
 winter, and it was excessively warm in the 
 woods, the thermometer standing at 95 deg., and 
 on the summit at 60 deg. Heat so excessive is 
 seldom experienced here. ISotwithstanding how- 
 ever, the extreme labor which we had to encoun- 
 ter, we felt ourselves amply rewarded by the 
 clouds which enveloped the summit. The clouds 
 on the top, occasionally broke away and gave us 
 beautiful views ; others appearing between the 
 mountains around us, now rolling up their sides, 
 and now descending into the valley beneath, 
 forming a magnificent prospect. As I have 
 made some extracts from the visitor^s Album, I 
 will make a few more, to show the difference of 
 the weather, and the different descriptions given 
 by them, as they come in course, not all, but 
 only those which I think will be interesting for 
 those who have never been here,so that they can 
 form some idea of the place. 
 
 July 12th, two gentlemen and a small boy 
 
 came, and ascended the hill, unattended by a 
 
 guide ; they went within three quarters of a 
 
 mile of the top, when they were overtaken by a 
 
 7# 
 
78 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 thunder storm. One of them, with the boy, 
 returned to the camp, while the other persevered 
 and reached the summit. Mr. Hibbard, one 
 of the gentlemen spoken of, gives the following 
 account of his ascension : 
 
 "In the aforesaid excursion^ I the said Hibbard, with 
 precipitancy, ascended the Mountain, and reached the 
 summit within three or four hundred feet, when I was 
 overtaken with a thick cloudy vapor, which rushed on 
 with awful majesty, unmolested in its course even by the 
 mountain itself, and so completely beclouded my way 
 that it was with ditiiculty I reached the summit. I then 
 concluded to descend to the camp, but was met by the 
 cloud, which shot forth vivid lightning all around me. It 
 was then dark, and I made my way for the tent, on the 
 summit ; and made myself as comfortable as I could 
 through the night, but suffered some with cold." 
 
 The followino lines were afterwards appended 
 by M. F. M. Waterford, Jr.: 
 
 *' Whoe'er thou art, go view the White Mountains, 
 Their cloud cap't tops and clirystal fountains; 
 Ascend and breath the healthy mountain air. 
 And view the prospect spread so wide and fair — 
 Then view the Notch, my friend, return and tell, 
 Could you have spent your time and cash so well ? " 
 
 The evening before, the view was grand and 
 sublime. 
 
 The same afternoon, a party from the Colum- 
 bian Academy, with their Instructor, Rev. S. R. 
 Hall, came, and at six o'clock in the evening set 
 out, intending to reach the camp that night, but 
 they Avere overtaken by the storm before men- 
 tioned ; and I make use of their language to 
 describe it. 
 
 " The meuibers of the Columbian Academy proceeded 
 at a very late hour, six o'clock, P. 31., from E. A. Craw- 
 
WHITE MOUNTAINS. 79 
 
 ford's, aud were overtaken with a severe thunder shower, 
 before we arrived at the first camp, three miles distant — 
 and there was darkness impenetrable. We were -obliged 
 to camp in an old camp, wet, cold and uncomfortable, but 
 we took no cold; started at three o'clock, and arrived at 
 the other camp, where we obtained fire, and soon had a 
 comfortable breakfast. We then went towards the top of 
 Mount Washington, and found it covered with impene- 
 trable fog and clouds. We returned pleased but disap- 
 pointed." 
 
 July 27th, four gentlemen came from different 
 parts of the country, and I went with them on 
 their excursion. We started, and staid over 
 night at the camp ; early the next morning we 
 went up Mount Washington, and there enjoyed 
 a noble prospect. On our way home, two of 
 them and myself determined to fish, and after 
 we had arrived to the right place, we turned out 
 and went to the river, while the other two pro- 
 ceeded towards home. Here we commenced 
 our work, and as fast as we could put in a hook, 
 the trout caught it. One of the party had three 
 hooks attached to his line, and frequently caught 
 three at a time ; but the bushes were so thick 
 here, that they would get tangled and pester 
 him. I told him I could beat him in taking 
 them ; for I could put in and take one at a time, 
 and get them faster than he could. He came to 
 the same conclusion, and accordingly took off all 
 his hooks but one. We had sport enough 
 until satisfied I could carry no more home, and 
 then we left off. We caught in a short time 
 one hundred and thirty-five trout — as many as I 
 could stow in my provision sack — then went 
 home, with a plenty of this kind of food to last 
 during their stay ; which was enjoyed with 
 equal pleasure, a? when we were taking them. 
 
80 HISTORY OP THB 
 
 <r- U 
 
 About this time a Botanist came, who was 
 making a collection of the plants of the White 
 Mountains, as he could obtain here some rare 
 ones, such as are not to be found elsewhere in 
 America. 1 accompanied him in some of his 
 tours around the mountains, and learned the dif- 
 ferent plants and names, and tho different places 
 where they grew. He went three times up and 
 around the hills, and stayed some weeks with 
 us. In one of his excursions, he was accom- 
 panied by three gentlemen and a guide ; and the 
 following d€scription of the excursion was given 
 by one of the party : 
 
 '* Left ]Mr. Crawford's house at seven o'clock, A. M., 
 and reached the summit at one o'clock, P. M. In the 
 afternoon we were governed by the Botanist and his 
 guide. We concluded to camp on the summit and accor- 
 dingly stowed ourselves away upon the moss on the lee 
 side of a rock, without fire or candles, shivering and 
 shaking in the mountain breeze, like asper leaves freezing 
 with cold — the thermometer standing, at sunrise, at SS**. 
 In the morning, two of them descended to the camp, 
 while the Botanist, in company with the other, coasted 
 along by Plue Pond and Mount Munroe, and descended 
 the mountain by the most villanous break-neck route of 
 the Amanoosuc God help the poor wight who attempts 
 that route, as we did. And now, gentle reader, Heaven 
 bless you and preserve your goings forth, forevermere. 
 Good day." 
 
 On the 4th of July, 1825, I think it was, but 
 I may be mistaken in the exact time, although I 
 was not concerned in the affair which then took 
 place, a party from Jackson came up, on the 
 other side of the Hills, and after enjoying the 
 prospect as much as they chose, and using the 
 spirit which we had left there in bottles — which 
 
WHITE MOUNTAINS. 81 
 
 I justified them in doing, but did noi justify 
 them in carrying away the bottles, which be- 
 longed to mother — robbed the hills of the brass 
 plate, my sheet lead and every thing left there 
 by our friends — carrying all away. The lead, I 
 was told, was run into balls ; the bottles, of 
 course, were useful ; but what [use 'they could 
 make of the brass, with the Latin inscription 
 thereon, I am not able to say. But one thing I 
 know, it discovered a thievish disposition tojake 
 things which did not belong to them, and could 
 not do them any good — things which had been 
 placed there with care, and was expected to re- 
 main, and would undoubtedly have remained, 
 but for these mischievous persons, who did not 
 understand what belonged to good manners. I 
 have felt myself condemned for not prosecuting 
 them, as they ought to have been chastised and 
 dealt with in a manner according to their de- 
 serts. They were found out, and promised to 
 return the things they had purloined ; and that 
 was all they ever did about it; but the names 
 are known, and their deeds are registered. 
 
 In August, a gentleman came from Boston, 
 attended by his sister. She had made every 
 suitable preparation, before leaving home, and 
 was determined to ascend the Mountain — al- 
 though she had been tried to be discouraged on 
 her way, by all^ who knew her intentions, yet 
 she was not so easily turned — she did not mean 
 that there should be any thing lacking in a good 
 will. She desired Mrs. Crawford to go with 
 her, and as she had been, for a long time, 
 anxious to go, I consented; and in the afternoon, 
 
89 HisToay of the 
 
 having every thing in readiness, at four o'clock, 
 we started. We rode to the woods, and, each 
 taking a cane, pursued our journey. We walk- 
 ed that night nearly six miles, and arrived at 
 the camp in good season, with a tolerable pros- 
 pect for the next day. Here all spent the night 
 well, and early in the morning left for the 
 Mountain ; but before we had got up fairly out 
 of the woods, there came on a fog, with a thick 
 mist of rain; this was a great disappointment 
 to us. A council was held, and we agreed to 
 return to the camp, and there wait for another 
 day. We accordingly descended to the camp, 
 and spent the remainder of the day; in the 
 night it all cleared away, and the next morning, 
 in good season, we were on the summit. How 
 delightful ! Now the sun had risen, and as the 
 rain had laid the smoke, the air was perfectly 
 clear and warm — not a claud nor a vapor to be 
 seen. We could look in every direction, and 
 view the works of Nature as they lay spread 
 before us — could see towns and villages in the 
 distance, and so clear was the atmosphere, that 
 we could distinguish one house from another ; 
 but should I attempt to describe the scenery, my 
 pen would fail, for want of language to express 
 my ideas of the grandeur of the place. The 
 butterfly was here, busily employed like our- 
 selves, but, perhaps, not in the same way. I 
 have here seen, seemingly, being a mile in the 
 air and a mile above vegetation, squirrels, and 
 mice, near the top of this hill, and large flocks 
 of ravens, ducks, pigeons, robins and various 
 other birds, fly over and around ; a flyiag squir- 
 
wniTB MOUNTAINS. 83- 
 
 ril was once caught here, and also was a rabbit ; 
 patridges are found in the vicinity ; and insects, 
 of various kinds. After staying a sufficient 
 length of time, we all started for home. Mrs. 
 Crawford went and returned, without any assis- 
 tance, excepting in descending what is called 
 Jacob's Ladder, where I assisted her a short dis- 
 tance. We arrived at the camp, and taking 
 some refreshment, proceeded home, where we 
 arrived about six o'clock. The ladies considered 
 themselves richly paid, for their trouble and 
 fatigue — walking nearly eighteen miles. This 
 was the second party of ladies which ascended 
 the mountains; never after this did vfe persuade 
 ladies to follow their example ; but discouraged 
 them whenever we could, endeavoring to pre- 
 vent them not to attempt it, as we thought it too 
 much of an undertaking; but when they became 
 decided and must go, we did all we could to 
 assist them. 
 
 The appended extract gives a description of 
 the tour : 
 
 "The weather was tolerably clear, many clouds float- 
 ing about, but not so as to obscure the mn. The wind 
 blowing keen and very strong, prevented our stay longer 
 than half an hour, on the top. The view, of course, ia 
 very extensive, and presents a great sameness on every 
 side ; barren and bleak, innumerable hills, many ponds, 
 and the Green Mountains may be discerned in the more 
 distant view. The river Amanoosuc presents one of the 
 most pleasing objects, in its descent from Blue Pond, 
 forming a sheet of silver down the mountain, and winding 
 its serpentined course in the valley. This, contrasted 
 with the deep shade of the pines and other trees, in sonfie 
 degree, reUeves the eye. Several small streams imiting 
 their waters with this river, soon make a sufficient body 
 
84 HISTORY or THE 
 
 for trout fishing — many trout of a small size being caught 
 in it. The weather improved on our descent, and after 
 amusing ourselves to our notice, we returned about six 
 o'clock, took supper and again rested all night in the 
 camp, and the next morning arrived at Mr. Crawford's to 
 breakfast." 
 
 I will omit making any more extracts, but 
 will insert fragments of the remaining Album, 
 (much being lost,) and return to w^hat transpired 
 at hpme, according to my own knowledge. The 
 following is transcribed from the Album, being 
 written there in the handwritting of Dr. Park : 
 
 " August 27, 1825, John Park, Mrs. Park, Louisa 
 Jane Park, John C. Park and Mary Ann Park, of Boston, 
 Mass., arrived at ISlr. Crawford's, with the intention of 
 ascending Mount Washington. Unfortunately for us, Mr. 
 Crawford had left home, a few hours before we arrived, 
 for Lancaster, and was not expected to return until the 
 evening of the next day. Being limited as to time, and 
 the mountains appearing clear, except a little bluish 
 smoke, we determined to proceed on our visit ; on the 
 28th, at two o'clock, P. M., we set out, with a young 
 man for our guide, (Mr William Howe;) took the car- 
 riage down to the field about a mile and a half from the 
 house, where we were to enter the woods. In justice to 
 Mrs. Crawford, I must here mention, that besides all Ler 
 civilities, she added the very friendly offer to attend the 
 ladies to the top of the mountain, and expiessed the most 
 kind anxiety for them. After a walk, not very fatiguing, 
 and, to us, in many parts, romantic and pleasant, we 
 arrived at the camp twenty minutes before seven. Here 
 Mr. Howe made us a roaring fire, prepared us supper, 
 and all of us. Sachems and Squaws, betook ourselves to 
 the apartmentments alloted to us. About midnight it 
 began to rain furiously, but as the clouds came from the 
 west we were still in hopes of a clear day. In the morn- 
 ing, clouds flying thick, but as blue sky was occasionally 
 visable, we concluded to ascend, and, after breakfast, 
 took our departure from the camp, ten minutes past seven. 
 
WHITE (MOUNTAINS. 85 
 
 on the morning of the 29th. Illtlierto the path had been 
 on a general but moderate ascent. The camp is on the 
 Amanoosuc, and on quitting it, we began immediately to 
 ascend the steep, here making an angle of 45^^. To be 
 particular would be tedious. The task is excessively 
 laborious; for ladies, though not impracticable, it is too 
 severe. Having been joined at the camp by our driver, 
 Bachelder, each lady had an assistant, and though after 
 passing the woods and bushy region, the wind became 
 very fresh, we all continued to ascend, scrambling over 
 the cliffs, for some time. At last, exhausted by fatigue, 
 and coming to a shelf of rocks which appeared mpre than 
 usual steep and difficult, ]Mrs. Park and my daughter 
 Mary Ann, concluded it impossible to proceed. Unpleas- 
 ant as it was to separate so near the summit, for we were 
 now within three quarters of a mile from the apex, we 
 saw no other plan; and, lodging I\Irs. Park and Mary Ann 
 in a cleft between large rocks, where they would be in 
 some degree sheltered by the wind, we proceeded ; my 
 daughter Louisa Jane, having Mr. Howe to support her 
 on one side and Batch elder on the other. It was a des- 
 perate business ; the wind grew more violent every step 
 we ascended, and the fog or cloud which enveloped us, 
 was wet as rain. At twenty-five minutes past ten, we 
 reached the top, in the midst of a dismal hurricane — no 
 prospect — but certainly our situation partook much of the 
 sublime, from our known elevation, the desolation around 
 us and the horrors of the tempest. I have experienced 
 gales in the Gulf Stream — tempests off Cape Hatteras — 
 tornadoes in the West Indias, and been surrounded by 
 water spouts in the Gulf of Mexico — but I never saw 
 any thing more furious or more dreadful than this. I 
 staid on the top but five minutes, anxious for those whom 
 we had left. In less than a half of an hour, I found 
 them safe, though cold and anxious. The rest of our 
 party soon arris-ed, and taking a little refreshment, we 
 began to descend together. Soon after we left the regions 
 of barrenness and desolation and entered the woods, we 
 were met by Mr. Crawford himself, who had kindly come 
 out to see what might be our situation. We arrived safe 
 and well at the encampment, at fifteen minutes after one, 
 took a little refreshment, and continued our return to Mr. 
 
86 HISTORY OF TAB 
 
 Crawford's, where wo arrived precisely at six o'clock, 
 P. M., having been absent about twenty-eight hours. 
 
 " Gentlemen, there is nothing in the ascent of Mount 
 Washington that you need dread. Ladies, give up all 
 thoughts of it; but if you are resolved, let the season be 
 mild, — consult Mr. Crawford as to the prospects of the 
 weather; and with every precaution, you will still find it, 
 for you., a tremendous undertaking. 
 
 " Though we were disappointed after all we had read 
 and heard, in not having Mr. Crawford for our guide, yet 
 we had no reason to complain. Mr. I] owe, who con- 
 ducted us, will be found a faithful and obliging young 
 man. Of Mr. and Mrs. Crawford's kindness and atten- 
 tion, during our short stay here, we have ample reason to 
 join in the common report of all travellers." 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 In September, the same year, a small party of 
 gentlemen and three ladies came to visit the 
 mountains ; and I went with them. We stayed 
 at the camp over night : next day we went up 
 the hill and back again to the camp, with little 
 trouble or fatigue. After this, when walking 
 on a more level way, one of the ladies became 
 lame in her ancles, and it was with difficulty 
 she could walk. I then took off the bundle of 
 clothes from my back and made a good cushion 
 of them, and placed them on my right shoulder, 
 took my hat in my left hand ; the gentlemen 
 then sat her upon my right shoulder, and I 
 brought her some miles in this way quite well. 
 I have brought gentlemen along in a similar 
 way, when they thought they could go no further. 
 
 The following is another extract from the Al- 
 bum : 
 
 of rain, but the weather was good and the temperature 
 of the air, comparatively warm on the summit. Our 
 prospect but ill repaid us the flitigue of ascending, as the 
 atmosphere was smoky. After remaining on the summit 
 for more than an hour, and singing Old Hundred, in which 
 the whole party joined, at half past eleven o'clock, we 
 began to descend, and reached the camp in two hours 
 and a half. Here the party rested and refreshed about 
 an hour : left the camp and arrived at Mr. Crawford's at 
 
»8 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 seven o'clock in the evening. As the ladies of our pnny 
 iiiake a third of the number who hiive reached the suni- 
 niit of INIount Washington, something may be expected to 
 be said of them and of the practicability of the ascent for 
 ladies. ;Miss Harriet C. Woodward performed the ascent 
 and descent of the mountain and the walk from the camp 
 to Mr. Crawford's, with much less fatigue than could 
 have been expected. INIiss Lawrence suffered a little more. 
 Miss Elizabeth Woodward supported the ascent and de- 
 scend to the camp tolerably well, but became excessively 
 fatigued and lame during the return walk from the camp 
 to Mr. Crawford's, — and had it not been for the kind and 
 humane attention and assistance of Mr. C. (which we 
 here record with uuich gratitude) would scarcely have 
 been able to have reached Mr. C.'s. In conclusion ; 
 could ladies be carried and find a little more comfortably 
 accommodations on the mountains, the ascent of Mount 
 Washington even, would be a comparatively easy achieve- 
 ment. As it is, ladies, do not attempt it : at least, 7iei-er 
 b'lt in fair weuiker. Of Mr. Crawford's kindness and 
 humanity nothing need be said : all who vi?it the moun- 
 tain will be satisfied with it." 
 
 Getting tired of carrying blankets every time 
 we went up this mountain, and not being able 
 to leave them in safety on account of the mice 
 and squirrels, for they would make holes in 
 them, unless we hanged them on a tree, and 
 then they were exposed to the weather, — some- 
 time in the forepart of the summer, I bought a 
 sufficient quantity of sheet-iron and made a 
 chest that would hold ten bushels — apparently 
 large enough for the man who carried it to lie 
 down and rest himself in it. This we placed at 
 the camp and there made a deposite for all things 
 that might be left there. We had eleven blank- 
 ets, and cooking utensils for cooking a good warm 
 meal : and would frequently add to the variety, 
 by a dish of trout, which could be caught but 
 
WHITE MOUNTAINS. 89 
 
 a few rods from the camp. These I could cook 
 to a charm, much better ihan an old experienced 
 cook in a city hotel could, — at least, they tasted 
 much better here than there. 1 had a plenty of 
 good salt pork to cook them with, and that is the 
 very thing that gives them a relish — and fatigue 
 would never fail of giving us good appetites. 
 Afterwards I made my tea, and then could drink 
 it in clean fresh-washed cups. I had here every 
 convenience for doing all this work. I was pre- 
 sented with a box of tin-ware from the before 
 mentioned Botanist, containing an apparatus 
 sufficient for a number to eat and drink together 
 with ; and it was of a superior quality : and 
 then on the corner of the iron chest, I w^ould 
 sometimes put birch bark from a tree and spead 
 it as a substitute for a cloth, and in this way I 
 have enjoyed many a good meal with my friends. 
 We had two camps built and they stood facing 
 each other, and there was a good fire in the 
 middle. The -wood we cut from six to eight 
 feet in length and rolled it together, any way or 
 size we could manage, and when one pile burnt 
 out, we would put another on, and thus keep a 
 good fire through the night. One camp was for 
 ladies and the other for gentlemen. For beds 
 we took a large quantity of spruce and hemlock 
 boughs and laid them down — spread our blankets 
 upon them, and this would make a healthy bed. 
 To secure the ladies, we would make a blanket 
 curtain in front of their camp, and they were 
 entirely by themselves. Now the untiring mus- 
 quitoe would sing to us constantly and every 
 now and then would stop and taste a little. 
 8* 
 
90 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 I never knew a single person that ever took 
 cold from these wild excursions. We frequently- 
 received letters from invalids saying their healths 
 were much improved by this visit with us. 
 
 Now we were in trouble again, there being a 
 complaint for want of a shed and more stable 
 room. 
 
 The winter of 1S26 being at hand, and a 
 great deal to do, and after having done other 
 necessary business, I went to hauling boards 
 and shingles from the same short distance of 
 twelve miles only, and this being up through 
 the Notch. My father had put him up a new 
 saw-mill, and I could get boards from them now 
 better than from anywhere else, but it was some 
 trouble to draw them up the Notch hills. Some 
 perhaps think this a heavy job, but when a 
 thing is undertaken in good earnest, it is soon 
 over ; so with this job. In the spring I hired 
 men and went to work and soon had timber pre- 
 pared for a stable sixty feet by forty, and a shed 
 to stand between the old stable and the new one, 
 fifty feety by forty, which accommodated both 
 stables, and the whole length of these buildings 
 was nearly one hundred and fifty feet, in a 
 straight line, facing the road. The outside of 
 these buildings was nearly finished, when a stop 
 was put to all business in consequence of the 
 great rain, which you will soon find recorded. 
 
 In June, as my father with a number of men 
 was at work repairing the turnpike road through 
 the Notch, there came on a heavy rain, and they 
 were obliged to leave their work and retire to 
 the house — then occupied by the worthy VVilley 
 
WHITK IVlOUNT^UiNS. 
 
 91 
 
 family, and it rained very hard. While there 
 they saw on the west side of the road a small 
 movement of rocks and earth coming down the 
 hill, and it took all before it. They saw like- 
 wise, whole trees coming down, standing up- 
 right, for ten rods together, before they would 
 tip over — the whole still moving slowly on, 
 making its way until it had crossed the road, 
 and then on a level surface some distance before it 
 stopped. This grand and awful sight frightened 
 the timid family very much, and Mrs. AVilley 
 proposed to have the horses harnessed and go 
 to my father's, but the old gentleman told her 
 not to be alarmed, as he said they were mmch 
 safer there than they would be in the road ; for, 
 said he, there may be other difficulties in the way, 
 like the one just described, or the swollen waters 
 may have carried away some of the bridges, 
 and they could not be crossed ; and after some 
 reasoning with her in this way she was pacified 
 and remain safely. The next day as the storm 
 had abated, they set about removing the burden 
 from the road, which required much trouble and 
 labor. This seemed to be a warning as it ap- 
 peared so to them. Mr. Willey had looked 
 round and about the mountains and tried to find 
 out a safer place than the one they then occu- 
 pied ; and having satisfied himself, as he 
 thought, placed a good tight cart-body in such a 
 manner as would secure them from the weather 
 in case a similar thing should occur — as visitors 
 had advised them to leave the place, as they 
 were anxious for their safety ; and he, it appear- 
 ed, was fearful, or he would not have made this 
 
92 HISTORY OP THE 
 
 effort-: but there is an overruling God who 
 knows all things and caused all things to happen 
 for the best, although w^e short-sighted mortals 
 cannot comprehend them. Had they taken the 
 advice of St. Paul and all abode in the ship, 
 they might have been saved, but this was not to 
 be their case — they were suffered to perish. 
 
 August 26th, there came a party from the 
 West to ascend the mountain, but as the wind 
 had been blowing from the south for several 
 days, I advised them not to go that afternoon, 
 but they said their time was limited and they 
 must proceed. Every thing necessary for the 
 expedition being put in readiness, wc all, like so 
 many good soldiers, with our staves in our hands, 
 set forward at six o'clock and arrived at the 
 camp at ten o'clock ; and I with my knife and 
 flint struck fire, which caught in a piece of dry 
 punk, which I carried for that purpose, and from 
 that I could make a large fire. As this was the 
 only way we had in" those days of obtaining fire, 
 and after my performing the duties of a cook 
 and house maid, we sat down in the humble sit- 
 uation of Indians, not having the convenience of 
 chairs, and told stories till the time for rest. 
 The wind still continuing to blow from the south. 
 In the morning, about four o'clock, it commenced 
 raining, which prevented their hopes of ascend- 
 ing the mountain that day, and not having pro- 
 visions for another day, and they being unwilling 
 now to give it up, when they had got so near, 
 a meeting was called and it was unanimously 
 agreed that I should go home and get new sup- 
 plies and then return to them again. I obeyed 
 
WHITE ^.lOi;;\"iAlx^i^. ifJ 
 
 their commands ; shouldered my empty pack, 
 took my leave of them and then returned ; but 
 as the rahi was falling so fast, and the mud col- 
 lected about my feet, my progress was slow and 
 wearisome. I at length got home, and being 
 tired and my brother Thomas being there, I 
 desired him to take my place, which he cheer- 
 fully consented to do, and in a short time, he 
 was laden and set forward, and when arriving at 
 the camp, the party was holding a council as to 
 what was to be done, for the rain had fallen so 
 fast and steadily that it had entirely extinguished 
 the fire. They consulted Thomas upon the 
 matter to know if they had time to get in. He 
 told them to remain there would be very unpleas- 
 ant, as they must suffer with the wet and cold, 
 not considering danger, but if they would go as 
 fast as they could, they might reach the house ; 
 each taking a little refreshment in his hands, and 
 having the precaution to take the axe with them, 
 set off in full speed, and w^ien they came to a 
 swollen stream, which they could not ford, 
 Thomas would, with his axe, fall a tree, for a 
 bridge, and then they would walk over. They 
 got along tolerably well until they came to a 
 large branch, which came from the Notch, this 
 was full and raging, and they had some difficulty 
 to find a tree that would reach to the opposite 
 bank, but at length succeeded in finding one, and 
 they all got safely over, and those who could not 
 walk, crawled along, holding on by the limbs, 
 and when they came to the main stream, the 
 water had risen and come into the road for sev- 
 eral rods, and when they crossed the bridge it 
 
94 HISTORY OP TUB 
 
 trembled under their feet. They all arrived 
 ill safety about eight o'clock in the evening, when 
 they were welcomed by two large fires to dry 
 themselves. Here they took off' their wet gar- 
 ments, and those that had not a change of their 
 own, put on mine and went to bed, while we set 
 up to dry theirs. At eleven o'clock we had a 
 clearing up shower, and it seemed as though the 
 windows of heaven were opened and the rain 
 came down ahnost in streams ; it did not, how- 
 ever, last long before it all cleared away and be- 
 came a perfect calm. The next morning we 
 were awakened by our little boy coming into the 
 room, and saying, " father, the earth is nearly 
 covered with water, and the hogs are swimming 
 for life." I arose immediately and went to their 
 rescue. I waded into the water and pulled away 
 the fence, and they swam to land. What a 
 sight ! The sun rose clear ; not a cloud nor a 
 vapor was to be seen ; all was still and silent, 
 excepting the rushing sound of the water, as it 
 poured down the hills ! The whole intervale 
 was covered with water a distance to be seen, of 
 over two hundred acres of land, when standing 
 on the little hill which has been named and call- 
 ed Giant's Grave, just back of the stable, where 
 the house used to stand that was burnt. After 
 standing here a short time, I saw the fog arise 
 in different places on the water, and it formed a 
 beautiful sight. The bridge which had so lately 
 been crossed had come down and taken w^ith it 
 ninety feet of shed which was attached to the 
 barn that escaped the fire in 1818. Fourteen 
 sheep that were under it were drowned, and 
 
WHITS MOUNTAINS. 95 
 
 those which escaped looked as though they had 
 been washed in a mud puddle. The water came 
 within eighteen inches of the door in the house 
 and a strong current was running between the 
 house and stable. It came up under the shed 
 and underneath the new stable, and carried 
 away timber and wood — passed by the west 
 corner of the house and moved a wagon which 
 stood in its course. Now the safety of my father 
 and of the Willey family occupied our minds — 
 but there was no way to find out their situation. 
 At or near^the middle of the day (Tuesday) 
 there came a traveller on foot who was desirous 
 of going down the Notch that night, as he said 
 his business was urgent, and he must if possible 
 go through. I told him to be patient as the 
 water was then falling fast, and as soon as it 
 should fall and I could swim a horse, I would 
 carry him over the river. Owing to the narrow- 
 ness of the intervales between the mountains 
 here, when it begins to fall, dreans soon away, 
 and at four o'clock, I mounted a large strong 
 horse, took the traveller on behind, and swam 
 the river, and landed him safely on the other 
 side and returned. He made the best of his 
 way down to the Notch house and arrived there 
 just before dark. He found the house deserted 
 of every living creature, excepting the faithful 
 dog, and he w^as unwilling at first to admit the 
 stranger. He at length became friendly and 
 acquainted. On going to the barn he found it 
 had been touched by an avalanche and fallen in. 
 The two horses that were in it were both killed, 
 and the oxen confined under the broken timber 
 
96 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 tied in their stalls. These he set at liberty after 
 tinding an axe and cutting away the timber : 
 they were lame, but soon got over it. What 
 must have been the feelings of this lonely trav- 
 eller while occupying this deserted house — find- 
 ing doors opened and bed and clothes as though 
 they had been left in a hurry ; bible open and 
 laying on the table as it seemed it had lately 
 been read. He went round the house, and pre- 
 pared for himself a supper, and partook of it 
 alone, except the company of the dog, who 
 seemed hungry like himself — then quietly laid 
 down in one of these open deserted beds, and 
 consoled himself by thinking the family had 
 made their escape and gone down to my father's. 
 Early the next morning he proceeded on his 
 way and he had some difficultv in getting across 
 some places, as the earth and water were mixed 
 together and made a complete quagmire. He 
 succeeded in getting to father's ; but could ob- 
 tain no information of the unfortunate family. 
 He told this story as he went down through 
 Bartlett and Conway, and the news soon spread. 
 On Wednesday the waters had subsided so 
 much that we could ford the Amanoosuc river 
 with a horse and wagon ; and some of the time- 
 limited party agreed to try the ground over 
 again ; and they, with the addition of another 
 small party who came from the West on Tues- 
 day, and Thomas for guide, again set out, while 
 I with a gentleman from Connecticut, went to- 
 wards the Notch. After travelling a distance of 
 two miles in a wagon, we were obliged to leave 
 it and take to our feet. We now found the road 
 
WHITE MOUNTAINS. 97 
 
 in some places entirely demolished, and seem- 
 ingly, on a level surface ; a crossway which had 
 been laid down for many years and firmly cov- 
 ered with dirt — that to the eye cf human reason 
 it would be impossible to move — taken up, and 
 every log had been disturbed and laid in different 
 directions. On going still a little farther, we 
 found a gulf in the middle of the road, in some 
 places ten feet deep, and twenty rods in length. 
 The rest of the road — my pen would fail should 
 I attempt to describe it — suffice it to say, I could 
 hardly believe my own eyes, the water having 
 made such destruction. Now, when within a 
 short distance of the house, found the cows with 
 their bags filled with milk, and from their ap- 
 pearance, they had not been milked for some 
 days. My heart sickened as I thought what had 
 happened to the inmates of the house. We 
 went in and there found no living person — and 
 the house in the situation just described. I was 
 going down to my father's to seek them out, but 
 the gentleman with me would not let me go, for 
 he said he could not find his way back alone, 
 and I must return with him. We set out and ar- 
 rived home at four o'clock in the afternoon. 
 
 I could not be satisfied about the absent family, 
 and again returned, and when I got back to the 
 house found a number of the neighbors had as- 
 sembled and no information concerning them 
 could be obtained, and my feelings were such 
 that 1 could not remain there during the night, 
 although a younger brother of mine, being one 
 of the company, almost laid violent hands upon 
 me to compel me to stay, fearing some accident 
 9 
 
yo HISTORY OF THE 
 
 might befall me, as I should have to feel my way 
 
 through the Notch on my hands and knees, for 
 the water had in the narrowest place in the 
 Notch, taken out the rocks which had been beat 
 in from the ledge above, to make the road and 
 carried them into the gulf below, and made a 
 hole or gulf twenty feet deep, and it was diffi- 
 cult, if not dangerous, to get through in the 
 night — as all those who visited this scene of 
 desolation will bear testimony to ; but my mind 
 was fixed and unchangeable, and I would not be 
 prevailed on to stay. I started and groped my 
 way home in the dark, where I arrived at ten 
 o'clock in the evening. Here I found that the 
 party from the mountain had arrived ; as they 
 had nowhere to stay, they were obliged to come 
 in that night. Now we began to relate our dis- 
 coveries. They had much difficulty in finding 
 their way, as the water had made as bad work 
 with their path as it had done with the road, in 
 proportion to its length. The water had risen 
 and carried away every particle of the camp 
 and all my furniture there. The party seemed 
 thankful that they, on Monday, had made their 
 escape. What must have been their fortune had 
 they remained there ? They must have shared 
 the same fate the Willey family did, or suffered 
 a great deal with fear, wet, cold and hunger, for 
 it would have been impossible for them to have 
 come in until Wednesday, and their provisions 
 must have been all gone, if not lost, on Monday 
 night. It seemed really a Providential thing in 
 their being saved. No part of the iron chest 
 was ever found, or any thing it contained, ex- 
 
WUITK MOUNTAINS. 99 
 
 ccplhig a few pieces of blanket that were caught 
 oil bushes m different places down the river. 
 
 The next morning our friends, with gratitude, 
 left us ; and we had the same grateful feelings 
 towards them, wishing each other good luck. 
 
 The same day (Thursday) before I had time 
 to look about me and learn the situation of my 
 farm, and estimate the loss I had sustained, the 
 friends of the Willey family had come up to the 
 deserted house and sent for me. At first I said 
 I could not go down, but being advised to, I 
 went. When I got there, on seeing the friends 
 of that well-beloved family, and having been 
 acquainted with them for many years, my heart 
 was full and my tongue refused utterance, and I 
 could not for a considerable length of time speak 
 to one of them, and could only express my re- 
 gards I had to them in pressing their hands — but 
 gave full vent to tears. This was the second 
 time my eyes were wet with tears since grown 
 to manhood. The other time was when my 
 family was in that destitute situation. Diligent 
 search being made for them, and no traces to be 
 found until night, the attention of the people 
 was attracted by the flies, as they were passing 
 and repassing underneath a large pile of flood- 
 wood. They now began to hall away the rub- 
 bish, and at length, found Mr. and Mrs. Willey, 
 Mr. Allen, the hired man, and the youngest 
 child, not far distant from each other. These 
 were taken up, broken and mangled, as must 
 naturally be expected, and were placed in cof- 
 fins ; and the next day they were interred, on a 
 piece of ground near the house, and there to 
 
100 IIISTOKY OF TH£ 
 
 remain until winter. Saturday, the other hired 
 man was found and interred ; and on Sunday, 
 the eldest daughter was found, some way from 
 where the others were, across the river ; and it 
 was said her countenance was fair and pleasant ; 
 not a hruise or a mark was discovered upon her. 
 It was supposed she was drowned. She had 
 only a liandkerchief around her waist — supposed 
 for the purpose of having some one to lead her 
 by. This girl was not far from twelve years of 
 age. She had acquired a good education, con- 
 sidering her advantages, and she seemed more 
 like a gentleman's daugli^er, of fashion and af- 
 fluence, than the daughter of one who had locat- 
 ed himself in the midst of the mountains. It is 
 said the earliest flowers are the soonest plucked, 
 and this seemed to be the case with this young, 
 interesting family ; the rest of the children were 
 not inferior to the eldest, considering their age. 
 In this singular act of Providence, there wero 
 nine taken from time into eternity — four adult 
 persons and five children. It should remind 
 us, we who are living, to " be also ready, for 
 in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man 
 cometh." It was a providential thing, said Zara 
 Cutler, Esq., who was present afterwards, that 
 the house itself was saved, so near came the 
 overwhelmning avalanch. The length of the 
 slides are several miles down the side of the 
 mountain. The other three children, one a 
 daughter, and the other two sons, have never to 
 this day been found ; not even a bone has ever 
 been picked up or discovered. It is supposed 
 they must have been buried deei), underneath 
 an averlunch. 
 
WHITE xMOUNTAINS. 101 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Willcy sustained good and re- 
 spectable characters, and were in good standing 
 among the Christians in Conway, where they be- 
 longed. They were remarkable for their chari- 
 ties and kindness towards others, and command- 
 ed the respect of travellers and all who knew 
 them. Much more could be said in their favor, 
 but it would be superfluous to add. Suffice it to 
 remark that the whole intention of their lives 
 was to live humbly, walk uprightly, deal justly 
 with all, speak evil of none. 
 
 Then came a large slide down back of the 
 house in a direction to take the house with it, 
 and when within ten or fifteen rods of the house 
 it came against a solid ledge of rock and here 
 stopped and separated, one on either side of the 
 house, taking the stable on one side, and the 
 family on the other — or they might have got to 
 the rendesvous ; but there is no certainty which 
 of these divisions overtook them, as they were 
 hurried partly by the three slides which had 
 come together eighty rods from the house ; the 
 two that separated back of the house here met, 
 and a still larger one had come down in the 
 place where Mr. Willey had hunted out a refuge 
 for safety. When "the slide was coming down 
 and separating, it had great quantities of timber 
 with it ; one log, sLx feet long, and two feet 
 tlirough, still kept its course, and came within 
 three feet of the house ; but fortunately it was 
 stopped by coming against a brick, where it 
 rested ; the ends of trees were torn up, and 
 looked similar to an old peeled birch broom. — 
 The whole vallev, which was once covered with 
 9*" 
 
102 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 beautiful green gi'ass, was now a complete quag- 
 mire, exhibiting nothing but ruins of the moun- 
 tains, heaps of timber, large rocks, sand and 
 gravel. All was dismal and desolate. For a 
 monument, I wrote with a piece of red chalk, 
 On a plained board, this inscription : 
 
 The Family found here. 
 
 I nailed it to a dead tree, v/hich was standing 
 near the place where they were found ; but 
 since it has been taken away by some of the oc- 
 cupants of the house and used for fuel. 
 
 But to return to my own affairs at home : — 
 Fences mostly gone — farm in some places cov- 
 ered so deeply with sand and gravel that it was 
 ruined ; and, on the intervale, was piled in great 
 and immense quantities, floodwood, in different 
 places all over it. The bridge now lay in pieces 
 all around the meadow, and the • shed also ; 
 there was a large field of oats, just ready to 
 harvest, from which I think I would have had 
 four or six hundred bushels — these were destroy- 
 ed ; and some hay in the field was destroyed. — 
 My actual loss at this time was more than one 
 thousand dollars ; and truly things looked rather 
 unfavorable. After the fire, we had worked 
 hard and economised closely to live and pay 
 our former dues, which we made slow progress 
 in ; as it was necessary for the benefit of the 
 public, I had to buy so many things, which we 
 could not get along without, I could do but little 
 towards taking up my old notes, but still I must 
 persevere, and keep doing while the day lasted ; 
 and I thought no man would be punished for be- 
 
WHITE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 103 
 
 iiig unfortunate. Therefore, taking these things 
 into consideration, I would still continue to do the 
 best I could and trust the event. My father suf^ 
 fered still more than myself. The best part of 
 his farm was entirely destroyed. A new saw 
 mill which he had just put up, and a great num- 
 ber of logs and boards, were swept away to- 
 crether into the sand ; fences on the intervale 
 were all gone ; twenty-eight sheep were drown 
 ed, and considerable grain which was in the field 
 was swept away. The water rose on the out- 
 side of the house twenty-two inches, and ran 
 through the whole house on the lower floors, 
 and swept out the coals and ashes from the 
 fire place. They had lighted candles which 
 were placed in the windows, and my mother 
 took down a pole which she used as a clothes 
 pole, and stood at a wmdow near the corner of 
 the house, when the current run swift, and 
 would push away the timber and other stuff that 
 came down against the house, to keep it from 
 collecting in a great body, as she thought it 
 might jam up and sweep away the house ; for 
 the water was rising fast. And while thus en- 
 gaged, she was distressed by the cries of the 
 poor bleating and drowning sheep that would 
 pass by in the flood, and seemed to cry for help, 
 but none could be afforded. 
 
 My father at this time was from home, and 
 but few of the family were there, so they made 
 the best they could of it. This came on so sud- 
 den and unexpected that almost every thing in 
 the cellar was ruined, and a part of the wall fell 
 in. 
 
104 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 This loss of my father's property, which ho 
 had accumulated only by the sweat of his brow, 
 was so great that he will never be likely to re- 
 gain it. Many suffered more or less who lived 
 on this wild and uncultivated stream, as far as 
 Saco. 
 
 We had now a difficulty which seemed almost 
 insurmountable. The road in many places was 
 entirely gone ; the bridges, the whole length of 
 the turnpike, excepting two, a distance of seven- 
 teen miles, gone ; the directors came and looked 
 at it, and found it would take a large sum to re- 
 pair it. The good people of Portland, however, 
 to encourage us, raised fifteen hundred dollars 
 to help us with ; it was put into the hands of 
 Nathan Kinsman, Esq. to see it well laid out. 
 The Directors voted to raise an assessment on 
 the shares, to make up the balance ; and that, 
 with some other assistance, was divided into jobs 
 and let out, and we all went to work ; and, as it 
 was said, the sun shone so short a time in this 
 Notch, that the hardy New Hampshire boys 
 made up their hours by moonlight. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 \Vc got along much better with this work than 
 we expected. We were favored with good 
 weather, and had a decent sleigh path for the 
 winter. This great and wonderful catastrophe, 
 ?vhich happened among the mountains, caused 
 a great many this fall to visit the place. Among 
 others there came two gentlemen for the pur- 
 pose of going up to the mountain and visiting 
 the slides, to ascertain the qualities of naked 
 mountains, as they were in search of minerals. 
 We found on the west side of Mount Pleasant, 
 the largest slide ; it appeared one thousand acres 
 in dimension had slide off and rested in the val- 
 ley below. W^e wandered about, looking at the 
 wonderful works of God, until night overtook 
 us, and then on a ridge of the hill, near the 
 Amanoosuc, by the side of a large pile of flood- 
 wood, I built a camp, or wigwam, which was 
 sufficiently large for us then. I cut my wood, 
 struck a fire, and we each took our blanket and 
 retired to rest. As might be expected, the night 
 at this season of the year was long and cold ; a 
 thick mist of rain came on, and our quarters be- 
 ing small they complained of the cold and want 
 of room. I arose, renewed my fire, and spread 
 my blanket on them, and retired, myself, to a 
 thick fur tree, under whose boughs I took shelter 
 and soon fell asleep ; being very tired, and now 
 
106 niSTORY OF THE 
 
 having plenty of room, and feeling my compan- 
 ions were more comfortable, I slept till morning. 
 When I returned to my companions they were 
 gladdened to see the light of another day. I 
 iiave been over and around the mountains in al- 
 most every direction with botanists and with 
 minerologists. I have been up and down all the 
 slides of any magnitude, and have taken pains 
 to find out if there were any minerals of value 
 there, but have never as yet found any of con- 
 sequence. 
 
 It has been supposed by some that there were 
 valuable mines some where about the moun- 
 tains. I have searched for these also, but found 
 none. I recollect a number of years ago, 
 when quite a boy, some persons had l)cen up on 
 the hills and said they had found a golden treas- 
 ure, or carbuncle, which they said was under a 
 large shelving rock, and would be difficult to ob- 
 tain, for they might fall and be dashed to pieces. 
 Moreover they thought it was guarded by an 
 evil spirit, supposing that it had been placed 
 there by the Indians, and that they had killed 
 one of their number and left him to guard the 
 treasure, which some credulous, superstitious 
 persons believed, and they got my father to en- 
 gage to go and search for it ; provided them- 
 selves with every thing necessary for the busi- 
 ness and a sufficient number of good men and a 
 minister well qualified to lay the evil spirit, 
 they set out in good earnest and high spirits antic 
 ipating with pleasure how rich they should be in 
 coming home laden with gold ; that is, if they 
 should have the good luck to find it. They set 
 
WHITB MOUNTAINS. 107 
 
 out and went up Dry river, and Imd hard work 
 to find their way through the thickets and over 
 the hills, where they made diligent search for a 
 number of days, with some of the former men 
 spoken of for guides, but they could not find the 
 place again, or anything that seemed to be Hke 
 it, until worn out with fatigue and disappoint- 
 ment, they returned ; and never since, to my 
 knowledge, has any one found that wonderful 
 place again, or been troubled with the mountain 
 spirit. 
 
 I have heard it said by the people of Ports- 
 mouth, that when children were at play and 
 happened to fall out with each other, the worst 
 punishment they could inflict upon their mates 
 was to Avish them up to the White Hills, as that 
 was' considered the worst place in the world by 
 them. Perhaps their minds had been affected 
 by the story of Nancy, who perished in the 
 woods in attempting to follow her lover. She 
 had been at work in Jefferson for Colonel Whip- 
 ple, wdien the heart of this honest girl was won 
 by a servant of his ; and as he was going in the 
 fall to Portsmouth, he promised to take her along 
 with him, and after they should arrive there, he 
 would make her his wife. She was honest her- 
 self and thought him to be also ; and he had 
 contrived every means to please her in all their 
 domestic concerns which they were engaged in, 
 while under the control of the Colonel, and she 
 had entrusted him with her money, which had 
 been paid her for her labor, and she went to 
 Lancaster to make preparations for the intended 
 journey ; while she was preparing, her lover 
 
108 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 went away with the Colonel and left her behind. 
 She was immediately informed of his treachery, 
 and w'as determined to pursue him. There had 
 been a deep snow and there was no road — noth- 
 ing but spotted trees, besides the tracks of the 
 Colonel and her false lover to follow. When 
 she arrived at Jefferson she was wet with snow 
 which had collected upon her clothes, and was 
 wearied. The men that were there tried to per- 
 suade her not to go any farther, setting forth the 
 many difficulties she would have to - encounter, 
 and' likewise the danger she would be exposed 
 to in such an undertaking, through a howling 
 wilderness of thirty miles, without fire or food. 
 All these entreaties did not move her, or alter 
 her determination ; for such was her love either 
 for the man whom she had placed her affections 
 upon, or the money she had placed in his hands, 
 that she was inflexible ; and having a great opin- 
 ion of her owai ability, in her immagination she 
 thought as they had only been gone some hours, 
 and would probably go no further than the 
 Notch that night, and would probably camp 
 there, she might, by travelling all night, over- 
 take them before they started in the morning. — 
 In this she was disappointed ; they had left be- 
 fore she arrived ; but from every appearance 
 the fire had not gone out. It may be inquired 
 how it was known that the fire had not gone 
 out there .? When a fire is made in the woods, 
 it is made of very large wood, cut and rolled 
 together, and them left to burn, as was evidently 
 the case here, and there will be brands left at 
 each end of the fire. These brands she had 
 put together, and they burnt out as the ashes 
 
WHITE MOUJiTAi:SS. 
 
 10^ 
 
 plainly showed for themselves when the men 
 found them. She was tired and worn out with 
 fatigue and hunger, having taken nothing with 
 her to eat on the v/ay. Yet her passion was not 
 abated, and she still persevered, thinking she 
 should overtake them. She went on and got a 
 distance of twenty-two miles, when the men 
 thinking she was in earnest, followed her.— - 
 When she set off in the afternoon, they thought 
 she would not go far before she would come 
 back, and they waited until late in the evening, 
 expecting every moment to hear the sound of 
 her footsteps at the door ; but in vain did they 
 imagine this. They pressed on and found the 
 fire in the situation just described, which made 
 them think she found fire to warm her benumbed 
 limbs. Here they rested only a short time and 
 tlien proceeded and found her just after crossing 
 a brook, in a sitting position, with her clothes 
 frozen upon her — -having wet them while cross- 
 ing the brook, and her head was resting on her 
 hand and cane which had been her support 
 through the woods, and she was frozen to deatli. 
 This place is near my father's, and has ever 
 since, from that circumstance, borne the name of 
 Nancy's Brook, and Nancy's Hill. 
 
 ♦' Now in this VDlume let me build a tomb 
 For Nancy, love's sweet victim, in her bloom. 
 Her tragic end, though awful to relate, 
 Shows how true love controls a Woman's fate ! 
 Oh ! had she early given her heart to God, 
 Perhaps she had not felt the chastening rod. 
 But let U3 trust her sins are all forgiven, 
 And with her Saviour, that she rests in Heaven.*' 
 
 [J. C. N. I. 
 10 
 
110 HISTORY 0^ THE WHITE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 The reader would perhaps like to know what 
 became of her lover. Shortly after hearing of 
 this, his own conscience was smitten and he be- 
 came frantic and insane, and was put into the 
 hospital, where he in a few months after, died 
 in a most horrible condition. This is a true story, 
 as I have heard it told by those who were know- 
 ing to the facts, as related in the above statements 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 October 14th, there came a gentleman from 
 Crermany to ascend the mountains. I provided 
 him with a good guide, and they set out early in 
 the morning, knowing they must return that 
 evenino;, as there was no place for them to stay 
 on their way over night. I waited for their re- 
 turn until nine o'clock in the evening, and feel- 
 ing anxious for them, fearing they might be lost, 
 as there had come down in the flood a large 
 -quantity of timber and flUed up the path, so that 
 it was difficult of finding it, not far from the en- 
 trance of the woods ; and I did not know but 
 they might be lost in this place, as it would be 
 dark before they could arrive there ; and well 
 knowing the night must be long, cold and tedi- 
 ous, in their destitute situation, I took a lantern 
 and my long tin horn, mounted a horse and pro- 
 ceeded to the woods, where I alighted and then 
 •commenced blowing the horn, and it was soon 
 answered by the guide. I took my light and 
 steered towards the sound of his voice ; there I 
 found them completely lost — not more than .a 
 quarter of a mile from the open ground. — 
 AVhen they came here it was dark and the guide 
 had been there many times before this, and 
 knew the way well, yet the darkness bewildered 
 him so much that it was in vain he tried to get 
 ■out, and when satisfied he could not, ho groped 
 
113 BIITORY OF THB 
 
 his way about in the dark, and had broken somtj 
 boughs to lie down upon, without a blanket, and 
 no other covering than the canopy of Heaven to 
 cover them ; destitute of food, and not hav- 
 ing the means of making a fire, they had made 
 up their minds to spend tne night in this nncom« 
 fortable situation, when the joyful sound of the 
 horn caught their ears. I soon put them in a 
 way to get liberated from this place, and when 
 they came to the horse, I helped the gentleman 
 on his back, and then we all came home ; and a 
 more grateful man than this I scarce ever saw. 
 When arrived at the house, and finding his situ- 
 ation changed from that cold and lonesome one 
 to a good warm fire and supper, and then the 
 expectation of a good bed, it almost overcame 
 hinri. 
 
 The winter of 1827, I spent much like the 
 former winter seasons ; buying and laying in a 
 still larger share of provisions than usual, for 
 the benefit of those who should need while at 
 work on the road, and for the purpose of assist- 
 ing the weary traveller through the deep snows, 
 and over our rough roads. 
 
 In the spring I went to work on my mountain 
 road, as soon as the ground would permit, and I 
 made a road suitable for a carriage a distance of 
 one and a half miles into the woods. We could 
 now ride in a carriage from my house, three 
 miles, and our custom was at that time, to carry 
 visitors to the end of the road, and then return 
 with the carriage, and leave them to try their 
 own strength from there up and back, and then 
 w© would be ready there on their return, to bring 
 
WHITJE MOUNTAINS. 113 
 
 tiiem home again. I had intended to work on 
 this road every year, when I could, until I should 
 have completed it to the foot of Mt. Washington. 
 After reading the description given by Dr. 
 Park, and the other parly of ladies, shortly after 
 their return, and finding their opinion was that it 
 could not be exactly fitting that ladies should at- 
 tempt such an arduous undertaking, all the ladies 
 that visited the mountain were more willing to 
 give up the idea of the ascent, although they 
 had as much curiosity to view and contemplate 
 things not made with hands ; and still they, in 
 general, possess an ambition to excel and attain 
 to such noble and romantic acts, for some energy 
 both of body and mind is required to perform 
 such an enterprise ; and there had never been 
 but four parties of ladies up the mountain since 
 I had come here to live, now ten years past, and 
 I had promised the ladies that whenever I could 
 make a road suhable for them to ride a part or 
 all of the way to the foot of the hill, I would 
 never, in good weather, discourage them from 
 going there, but I would go with them myself, 
 and assist them wherever it was necessary. I 
 had made a road to ride on part of the way, and 
 ladies began to take me to my word, and they 
 this summer began to ascend the mountain a- 
 gain, and whenever we had more compan}^ than 
 what belonged to any particular party, I would 
 furnish them with another guide, so that they 
 should not be troubled or hindered in the least 
 They might go with us or by themselves, just aa 
 the parties chose, and I spent this summer in 
 going up and down the mountain with mv friends, 
 10* 
 
«i4 
 
 BISTORY OF TKB 
 
 find visiting the Notch and the desolate Willey 
 House, and in giving them as good an account of 
 what took place on that memorable night of tho 
 second of August last, and answering all their 
 enquiries as promptly and correctly as my hum^ 
 ble capacity and judgment would allow me to do. 
 It now became needful for the benefit of the 
 company, as it increased, to have an establish- 
 ment at the top of the Notch, as many wanted 
 to stop here and leave their horses, and pursuot 
 their way down the hill on foot, and view the 
 cascades as they come majestically down tho 
 hill, and over the rocks, and form such a beauti- 
 ful silvery sight. The flume, likewise, that is 
 curiously cut out by Nature through a solid rock, 
 the avalanches, and then the Willey House, &;c, 
 and on their return they needed refreshment. 
 Now having a disposition to accommodate the 
 public, and feeling a little self-pride, to have 
 another Crawford settled here, to make up a 
 road, I consulted with my father, and we agreed 
 to build there and place a brother of mine in the 
 house. We accordingly made a plan upon the 
 test and most convenient construction we could 
 invent, and in the fall, prepared timber for a 
 frame, 120 fieet in length, and 36 feet in width : 
 just as we were about to raise this, the snow fell 
 so deeply that we were obliged to give it up for 
 the present time. 
 
 I think that it was this fall that a man from 
 Falmouth had been to Lancaster and bought 
 some fat sheep and oxen : he had a team of hor- 
 ses and a wagon, and on his way home as he was 
 coming over Cherry Mountain, it had begun to 
 
WHITfi MOUr«TAINS, 115 
 
 snow : he arrived at my house, where he put up 
 for the night, and it continued to snow until it 
 had fallen two feet, and over : here he stayed 
 until it cleared away, and then he could not trav- 
 el with his sheep, the snow was so deep. I then, 
 with him, began to contrive means to help him 
 ^.long. We harnessed his horses, and put them 
 to a wagon, the oxen on forward of them ; but 
 this did not make a path sufficient for the sheep 
 to go in ; I then harnessed a horse and drove a 
 wedge into a short, large, round log, and put a 
 chain around this wedge, and led my horse, and 
 this log made a complete road for them to go in, 
 single file, and in this way, w^e got along quite 
 weU down into the Notch, a little way, when the 
 snow became thin : then he could go without my 
 assistance. I then left my log, mounted my 
 horse, and returned home, while the traveller 
 pursued his journey, without suffering much in* 
 convenience from the snow. It was no uncom- 
 mon thing for us to have two feet of snow, while, 
 in Bartlett, they would not have more than two 
 inches ; as we lived so high in the air, and the 
 mountains generally attract or hinder the storms, 
 we have snow, while others, who live not more 
 than twenty miles distant have rain and some- 
 times sunshine ; such is the variableness of the 
 weather where we then lived, still in the sum- 
 mer we generally had a good share of good and 
 clear weather, but Spring and Fall was the time 
 when we had most of these sudden changes. 
 Uncle William says, that in former days, when 
 they first went there to live, the snow would 
 sometimes be ten feet deep, and he has seen ths 
 
116 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 time, when they could drive a team of oxen and 
 horses any where in the field, on the crust, over 
 stumps and fences, and draw their wood homo 
 from any place they chose, w^ierever they could 
 best get it, as this hard crust made a smooth sur- 
 face for them to go on : had it not been for this, 
 they could not have got along where they did, 
 because it was rough and stumpy, and from such 
 Uttle circumstances it seems that there is nothing 
 made in vain. I have seen the snow so deep 
 when 1 lived there, that it was difficult to pass 
 each other with teams, when they met, until they 
 would have to stamp down the snow, and make a 
 patii for one of them to get out, and then some- 
 times they would have to unhitch their horses 
 and compel them to turn out, such was the depth 
 of snow ; and where there was a crust of it, it 
 was still more difficult. At one time when I was 
 coming home from Portland, with a loaded sleigh, 
 when I got up so far as my father's, it was snow- 
 ing, and there I baited my horses, and intending 
 to have come home that night, I came on as far 
 as the Notch-House, and there hired a man to 
 help me up the hill, wdth two horses ; we came 
 on part of the way, and the snow had got so 
 deep, that his horses would not work and we 
 were obliged to leave the sleigh and return to 
 the house ; by the way I had the precaution, to 
 put the tongue of the sleigh upwards, and the 
 next morning when I came to where I had left 
 the sleigh, all that I could discover of it, was the 
 tongue : this stood upright : the rest of it w^as 
 entirely covered with the snow, and it was 
 then utterly impossible for me to take it along 
 
WfilTB MOUNTAINl. 117 
 
 with me, and I there left it, and a man happened 
 to be with me, one who had stayed with me the 
 preceding night, who was on his way to Ver* 
 mont, with an empty single sleigh and a good 
 horse. One of my horses I put on forward of 
 his, and I and the other horse made a track for 
 them to follow : we worked hard half a day, to 
 get six miles ; such was the quantity of snow 
 which had fallen in a few hours. Other descrip- 
 tions I could give similar to this, but I do not 
 wish to tire the patience of the reader, with more 
 than what is necessary, to show the difterence 
 between the climate we lived in, and other cli- 
 mates not far from us, and what difficulties and 
 hardships we had to encounter in this region ; but 
 in later years, for some cause, we have not had 
 such quantities of snow, and have not been much 
 troubled with its depth, but many times for the 
 want of it. 
 
 In the winter, in the beginning of the year 
 1828, we went to work and bought lumber, and 
 had it drawn a distance of seventeen and a half 
 miles. I bought my brick, and had them to 
 haul twenty -two miles, which kept us busy 
 through the winter, v/ith what other work we 
 had to do. In the spring we collected men and 
 raised these buildings. I hired two joiners, and 
 they went to work on them. 
 
 In June, I again worked on my Mountain road^ 
 and then made it passable for a carriage, with 
 what I had done the year before, a distance from 
 my house of about six miles, on which I could 
 carry in a wagon, with two stout horses.^ 
 seven passengers at & time, and this ma,d^ it 
 
118 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 much easier for the traveller : for ladies could go 
 up much easier than they could go at any other 
 time before. They went oftener, and I spent 
 the most of this summer in ascending the moun- 
 tain, with my friends at the house, and in fishing 
 and hunting with them as much as they chose, 
 and bestowing every act of kindness on them 
 which r was capable of doing. The joiners, 
 with what other assistance we could afford them, 
 had the outside of these buildings finished and 
 the inside so much done that it was comfortable 
 for the winter. We were still at work, when on 
 the 2d day of September we were again visited 
 by a heavy rain, which was as great as the one 
 we had two years before. The water in some 
 places on the Amanoosuc, where the mountains 
 came near together, was higher than in the for- 
 mer freshet. On the Saco, it w^as not so high, 
 yet the other freshet had made the channel of 
 tlie river so wide, that the water flood could pass 
 without being dammed up, or stopped in places, 
 ,as it had been in the former one, therefore it did 
 not occasion so much damage, but passed majes- 
 tically along, taking only what lay in its course. 
 The bridges which had so lately been built anew, 
 were mostly taken from their places and moved 
 away, but not so far but that some of them could 
 be brought back and put in their former places 
 a^ain. The road was in many places entirely 
 destroyed. This put an end to all our business, 
 at present, as we did not know what could be the 
 result of this. The joiners packed up their tools 
 and left them and went home, and I was at thia 
 time transporting the United States Mail, from 
 
WHITE MOUNTAINS. 119 
 
 Conway to Littleton, twice in each week ; and it 
 being impossible to go with a horse, we carried 
 it regularly, on our backs, without losing more 
 than one single trip, to the satisfaction of our 
 friends and employer. The Directors of the 
 Turnkpike came and looked over the road again, 
 and they found it would take a large sum to re- 
 pair it, and make it passable, for the winter, and 
 they refused by saying that the corporation was 
 not able then to do it, but must have help from 
 some other quarter, as they knew no other way 
 for the Crawfords than that they must remain 
 shut up by themselves, as they could not then 
 make another road there. This did not exactly 
 correspond with my feelings, to be entirely shut 
 up without any communication with our southern 
 neighbors, and not have the privilege of getting 
 provisions, and other necessary things for my 
 family. I then concluded I would try my own 
 luck, and see what I could effect myself. I set 
 out in good earnest, and took a piece of paper, 
 and a man of judgment with me, and went down 
 through the whole length of the road, and made 
 an estimate of what I thought it would cost to 
 repair it again ; consulted with my father upon 
 the matter, to know what was best to be done. 
 I then took my estimate and went down to Port- 
 land, and saw where the principal proprietors of 
 the road lived. On my way there I called on 
 one of the Directors and took from him a letter 
 directed to one of the principal proprietors and 
 owners, to this purport, saying that the Crawfords 
 were doing a little on the road, but could not ef- 
 fect much, and we as a corporation, have con- 
 
i20 frlSTOET OF iSS, 
 
 eluded we cannot do any thing, at present, on the 
 road, but must let it remain in the same condi- 
 tion for the winter^ After having this letter read, 
 and showing him what I thought it would cost to 
 make it again, this proprietor then gave me a 
 power of Attorney, to act on his shares, and 
 likewise others did, untiLI had enough to rule 
 the meeting, which it was then my whole busi- 
 ness to effect. On my way home, I bought two 
 yoke of oxen, hired men and set them to work 
 on the roadi The first Wednesday in October 
 was the time for the annual meeting of the cor- 
 poration of the turnpike, to adjust their business. 
 When they had transacted their regular affairs, 
 it was ihen put to vote to know whether there 
 should be an assessment raised to repair the road. 
 There were some against mfe, but I liad the pow- 
 er in my hands and I could rule them just as I 
 pleased. I then, with the advice of my father, 
 voted to raise an assessment on the shares, and 
 that, with what other assistance we had from 
 Vermont, and the adjoining towns around, was 
 sufficient. We divided the broken places into 
 jobs, and let it out to different men, to make, sim- 
 ilar to Ihe way we had done in former times, and 
 we had a tolerable sleigh path again for the win- 
 ter. I went to Danville Bank, and hired $300, 
 to pay off the men, and for other expenses, and 
 after spending a sum of 8400 more, I was oblig- 
 ed to live without this money for nearly four 
 years, with no interest, and could not get h, until 
 it was collected from the benefit of the road. 
 Such was my reward for persevering and mak- 
 ing the road contrary to the opinion of the Di- 
 
TTHltE MOUNTAINS. 1^1 
 
 rectors, yet I could hot chafge tliem with ih© 
 fault, for they did not wish to have it done, until 
 Congress could assist^ or some other means could 
 be devised to help them ; hut it was done and I 
 did not feel sorry for it, although my prospect? 
 v^uffered ; still, as it was for the benefit of the 
 people, and I had done it for the general or p\Jih-> 
 lie good, I did not mind it so much, as I would 
 have done, had I done it from any selfish motive.- 
 But to return again to my own affairs at home ; it 
 field of grain which v/as partly cut, and still stand- 
 ing in the shocks, was swept away. As the chan- 
 nel of the river had been made wider in the for- 
 mer flood, it did not bring so much timber as at 
 the other time, yet great quantities of sand and 
 gravel were brought on to my intervale, and the 
 bridge and fences upon it, were again carried 
 away, and thus was my mountain road again de* 
 stroyed. My loss of property was then consid- 
 erable, but 1 did not make an ex^ct estimate of it 
 at that time, as there does not seem to be much 
 consolation in counting up one loss upon another. 
 My affairs looked gloomy, and I felt dmost dis- 
 couraged, as one misfortune kept following anoth- 
 er, and I could not tell where my troubles would 
 end. But in those times of trouble, Lucy was al- 
 ways calm and unruffled, whenever she thought 
 they proceeded from the hand of God. She re- 
 ceived things differently from myself; seldom if 
 ever did she complain for the want of any thing ; 
 but to know how to bring up our children, in the 
 right way, as they then began to be numerous, 
 she would say there was still more work for us 
 to do. 
 
 11 
 
122 HISTORY or THE 
 
 This Fall a large number of men were at work 
 on the road down through the Notch, and among 
 them was a young man that was sub'ect to a kind 
 of fits, which would take him suddenly, and 
 sometimes, when he was not aware of it. These 
 fits did not hinder him from laboring, though, in 
 some measure they afiected his mind, and so 
 much so, that they always looked after him, and 
 generally kept with, or near him, in order that 
 no accident should befal him. When he had one 
 of these turns, as he had worked hard through 
 the day, at night, he was tired, and in the evening, 
 showed some signs of wildness, which had been 
 noticed by some of his companions, and his fa- 
 ther was then with him, but the young man did 
 not wish to sleep with his father that night, but 
 slept with another man. Sometime in the night, 
 as it appears, he was thirsty, and wanted some 
 drink, he got up and came down stairs, unnoticed 
 by the rest of the company, went out of doors, 
 and it seemed that he lay down to drink out of a 
 small stream of water which then crossed the 
 road near the house, and while in the act of 
 drinking, he was taken with a fit, as it was sup- 
 posed, from every appearance, for in the morn- 
 ing when the men awaked and came down, and 
 went out of doors, they found him, lying dead and 
 stiff", with his face in the water. How long he 
 had lain there, they could not tell. He was 
 taken up and conveyed into the house, where a 
 rough coffin was prepared for him. My brother 
 Thomas being there, came to my house and got 
 a horse and waggon, and he was carried home, 
 followed by his father, to JeflTerson, the place of 
 
WHITE MOUNTAms. 123 
 
 his nativity, to his friends and connections, thera 
 to be interred. Here again we had an evidence 
 of the uncertainty of life, and the importance of 
 being prepared to meet death, let it come in 
 whatever shape it might come. This was a great 
 grief to his friends, they were in rather low cir- 
 cumstances, and depended upon him for his la- 
 bor, to help them support an aged mother who 
 had been blind for twenty years ; the first female 
 settler in Jefferson, and I think her blindness was 
 caused by a shock from lightning, which 'had 
 affected her eyes, and they could not restore her 
 sight, although some skilful physicians had tried. 
 She lived to be almost one hundred years old. 
 
 I went to Portland and bought furniture for my 
 new establishment, and supplied it with provis- 
 ions, and January, 1829, my brother Thomas 
 married and moved in and took charge of my 
 new stand. It being a new thing, and so con- 
 venient and accommodating, he had a great 
 share of the winter company. It was thought 
 that this would make a great place of resort for 
 those who would decline the more arduous un- 
 dertaking of ascending Mount Washington, for 
 just behind the house was the path which we first 
 made to ascend the hills, and a good way might 
 be found, one that could be made fit to ride in, 
 on horseback, by taking a zigzag course, from 
 one side of the hill to the other, which would only 
 make the distance a little further, but would make 
 the ascent much easier, and then the eye of the 
 curious might be almost satisfied from the sub- 
 lime, magnificent and delightful prospect from 
 Mount Pleasant, which is not much inferior in 
 
12i mSTORY OF THS 
 
 {he opinion of some, to that from Mount Wash^ 
 inglon. 
 
 Tliis winter I had given up the transporting of 
 the mail, and I had no great business on hand, 
 beside my necessary employment at home. The 
 4th of May, grandmother departed this Ufe, in 
 the 84th year of her age, after struggling through 
 several cold winters. Being afiiicted with a 
 cough, and worn out whh a decline similar to 
 that pf consumption, for the cold weather affect- 
 ed her very much, nature at length gave way, 
 and she could withstand it no longer, Our good 
 neighbors and friends again assembled and paid 
 their last respects to her remains, and she was 
 interred by the side of her husband, on a piece of 
 ground which was by them selected, not far from 
 where they had lived and slept many years of 
 their lives together. Here their bodies will 
 remain until called up at the last day. I have 
 placed some suitable monuments at their graves, 
 which can be plainly seen by their friends, and 
 their inscriptions can be read by all who v/ould 
 like to see and read them. 
 
 "Their nmries and years, spelt by their lettered ?<Iuso, 
 
 The place of f;inie and elci^y supp!} ; 
 And many a holy text aroiuid she strews, 
 
 Tivit teach the rustic moralist to die." 
 
 In the Spring, [ gave up the idea, at present, 
 of my carriage road to the mountain and thought 
 it would answer for a while, to m.ake a bridlo 
 nath to the foot of it. I accordingly went to work 
 and made a path sufficient for a horse to travel in, 
 Fcven miles, and I have sometimes gone farther 
 thiin this, but not often, and when arriving at thd 
 
WHITE MOUNTAINS. 125 
 
 place, \ve ^vould alight from our horses, and tako 
 off our saddles, lay them away, tie the horses to 
 a tree, and thus compel them to remain there 
 until our return, without food, generally, with the 
 exception of one whose age and fidelity com- 
 manded more attention than the rest, and which, 
 when at the advanced age of thirty, had the spirit 
 of a colt, and would carry a visitor safely and 
 in good style. For him I used to carry, or 
 cause to be carried, a sack of oats, as often as 
 possible, yet this was not exactly the right 'way 
 of treating the dumb beasts, to ride them on the 
 run, early in the morning, the distance of seven 
 miles, and then in a state of perspiration, give 
 them grain immediately, but there was no alter- 
 native. It had to be done in this way or not at 
 all, and thus we drilled our horses from day to 
 day, and frequently they have gone on the same 
 route six days in a week. It was wearing the 
 flesh, and trying the spirits, to stand all day, tied 
 to a tree, and then run home again as fast as 
 possible, at night. The only time they had to 
 eat, was a few hours designed for rest, but in this 
 way we travelled, the rest of the time while I 
 stayed at the mountains, but not without remorse 
 of conscience on my part, as our treatment of 
 the dumb beasts was rather inhuman. But I was 
 not able to remedy it, although I often promised 
 so to do, by carrying in the winter on the snow 
 a quantity of hay for them to eat when we were 
 gone. 
 
 This summer there came some Botanists from 
 Boston for the purpose of making a collection 
 of plants for themselves, and to collect an as- 
 
156 HISTOR'S: OF THE 
 
 sortment to send to Europe, and to get som« 
 live ones to send to New lork to a friend, to ba 
 placed in a botanical garden, I \vent with them 
 and two other men besides, to assist tlieni m 
 carr}'ing blankets and buHalo skins to make tliem 
 comfortable during the night, and also other 
 things needful for such an expedition of three 
 days. We traveled over and around the hill ; 
 and I and one of them went down into a great 
 gulf, and here we found a plenty of snow. One 
 place, I think w^as worthy of notice, where two 
 ledges of perpendicular rocks stood within six 
 or eight yards of each other, and the snow had, 
 drifted over on top of these ledges and covered 
 them both, making a complete roof. The sun 
 had softened this snow by day — but at night it 
 would freeze ; this had been done so many 
 times in succession, that it had formed a crust 
 which was almost impenetrable ; and I could 
 not safely walk upon it, because it was glassy 
 and slippery, and I could not make a dent upon 
 it with the heel of my boot ; and underneath 
 this, the ground was filled with water ; and warm 
 springs seemed to be there, which had caused 
 the snow to melt away from under, Such was 
 the size of this empty space that a coach with 
 six horses attached, might have been driven into 
 it. I do not know how far this cavern extended 
 as I did not go far into it, for the water was fast 
 dropping from the roof, but it appeared to be of 
 considerable length. It was a very hot, day, 
 and not far from this place, the little delicate 
 mountain flowers were in bloom, and here wft 
 procured as many as wc chose. There seemed 
 
WHSTE ^I0Ui^-TAi^'3. 127 
 
 to be a contrast — snow in great quantities and 
 flowers just by — wliich wonderfully displays the 
 presence and power of an all-seeing and over* 
 rulino; God, who takes care of these little plants 
 iind causes them to put forth in due season. 
 
 As we were going up the mountain about 
 three miles from home, where blue berries grew 
 in abundance, we found roads in diflbrcnt places 
 in the woods, \vhich were daily traveled by 
 bears. \Villiam Howe, a brother of Lucy's, 
 itieing then with us, we concluded we would take 
 a few of them, if they would please to let us, 
 nad we went to work \n the woods and mado 
 several log traps, such as are called by hunters, 
 dead-fallsj as they were built in such a manner, 
 tliat when a bear came to one of them and 
 Vantcd the bait, he would have to go in such a 
 way that while he took hold of it, the trap would 
 fall, and, generally, kill 'him mimediately. 
 
 I had two steel "^traps, which I set also at ono 
 Ume. When I was gone from home, William 
 went and found a steel trap gone ; he returned 
 liome, and taking another man with him, pur. 
 sued the remainder of the day, but overtook 
 nothing. Early the next morning they again 
 set out, and following, found where the animal 
 with the trap had lain'Uhe preceding night ; they 
 chased him all day, but could not overtake him, 
 snd returning homeward, came into one path, 
 :5ome distance above, where we had set these 
 traps, and when passing them, it was dark, they 
 heard a great noise, which seemed to them that 
 in old bear was cuffing her cub — he cried and 
 look on in so lamentable a manner. William 
 
128 niSTORY OF THB 
 
 was anxious to go and sec what was the matter 
 with them, but his companion would not sufler 
 him, as he was better acquainted tlian WiUiam, 
 and knew that if a cub was there confined and 
 its mother was chastising him for his impru- 
 dence, she would be likely to show them some 
 signs of her displeasure. They came home, 
 and voluntarily said they would not go again 
 after him. 
 
 Having that night returned home myself, and 
 receiving directions from them in regard to the 
 route, and not feeling satisfied to have such a 
 loafer make off with my property — he all the 
 while suffering with pain, while in his thievish 
 act — I concluded to go and look for him. Ac- 
 cordingly, the next morning, in company with 
 my brother Thomas, I set out, and soon found 
 where he had lain the second night ; we contin- 
 ued to pursue him as closely as we could trace 
 him by the marks he made on the bushes, by 
 breaking them with the trap, and laying the 
 green brake leaves, which grow common here. 
 1 guess he began to think that Ethan, the Old 
 Hunter, was after him, in good earnest, and he 
 was driven so hard and so closely, that he prop- 
 ably concluded to seek out for himself a good 
 place, and then give us battle, as it appeared 
 from the situation he was in when we overtook 
 him. He was in a thicket, dangerous to en- 
 counter, for he was one of the long legged kind, 
 savage in disposition, and now being covered, I 
 thought it best to look out for him. Thomas 
 coming up with the gun, was desirous of demon- 
 strating his skill in sliooting him, but as the gun 
 
"W'Hrra mountains. 129 
 
 had been ii)jured by hitting it against a tree, it 
 could not be fired easily ; he however ainr^ed at 
 the bear's head, but to his astonishment the ball 
 entered his fore foot, the one he had at liberty. 
 Beginning to feel tor his safety., I took the gua 
 and reloaded it, held the lock, the ailected part, 
 fi-rmly in my hand, and firing, fojtanalely shot 
 him through the head ; he keeled over and soon 
 died. We now released the trap from his foot, 
 which was nearly vrorn off; he had managed to 
 carry the trap and walk on three legs, on logs 
 and over windfalls, by carrying it entirely up 
 and clear df them. The trap when he first 
 stepped into it was fastened with a chain and 
 grapple ; this he broke, leaving behind all but a 
 iew links, an^ that part which adhered to tho 
 irap did not trouble him much. We stripped 
 him of his skin and then retiu-ned home with it^, 
 and the trap, feeling justified for our humaniiy 
 in releasing him from misery. 
 
 Early the same morning, William went to 
 find out what had been the trouble the evening 
 before, and when he came to the place, he found 
 a small cub caught by one hind foot ; it appeared 
 true what they had lieard the night before ; tho 
 trap was in a measure torn to pieces, and the 
 dirt and other stuff seemed to indicate tliat an 
 old bear had been there sure enough, but did 
 not happen to release the young one. a\s this 
 cub was small, it was suffered to go entirely 
 through, excepting one hind foot, and when ho 
 look hold of the bait, the trap fell and caught his 
 hind foot. William took hold of him and bound 
 up his ivory, then securing hi.s feet to keep hinj 
 
130 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 from scratching, broug;ht him home aUve ; think- 
 mg he might be tamed and make a pet, as he 
 seemed not much hurt, and being so young and 
 small he supposed he might be taught as much 
 as any other of his kind ; he would also make 
 a curiosity, as he was actually a native of the 
 place ; but cither the hurt, or the different posi- 
 tion in which he traveled from what he had been 
 accustomed to, affected him, or else he intended 
 to show proper resentment, and he died, shortly 
 after being brought home ; notwithstanding he 
 bathed him in cold water, and gave him water 
 to drink. His skin was taken oif and fastened 
 to the barn. 
 
 Shortly after this, word came about the mid- 
 dle of the day, that there was a bear in a trap. 
 A party from the west having jus? arrived, one 
 of the gentlemen said he would go and shoot 
 him ; accordingly, we, with others, mounted 
 horses and galloped off. On arriving at the spot, 
 we found a good sized bear in a steel trap. The 
 gentleman chose his distance, and this was not 
 far, of course, as he did not apprehend any 
 danger from the enemy now before him, for 
 Ethan was close behind. He fired three times, 
 resting his gun and trembling as if he were 
 freezing, (for any one under such untried cir- 
 cumstances would naturally have tremor of tho 
 nerves, although naturally brave and determin- 
 ed,) and after the third shot, I took a club or 
 lever, and fmished the matter of killing him ; 
 then placing him on my horse behind, brought 
 him home, as this was the way J was accustomed 
 to carry game home. 
 
WHITE MOUNTAINS. 131 
 
 Once, when going out, I found a good sized, 
 fat, short-legired bear in a steel trap, and having 
 a small gun, with only a partridge charge in it, 
 I stepped up to him and put the whole contents 
 of the gun into his face ; he fell back and died 
 immediately. It w^as always against my prin- 
 ciple to keep any wild animals in misery, when 
 they were in my power, or to try to sport with or 
 torment them, (further than to try their strength) 
 because they were savage by nature; but I 
 would relieve them from pain as soon as possi- 
 ble. 1 considered they had feelings, and wero 
 not to blame for the species to which they be- 
 longed ; therefore I had no right to do so ; but I 
 would treat them as well as I could. This bear 
 weighed three hundred, and I had some diffi- 
 culty in getting it on my horse. Some horses 
 are afraid of them and sometimes get frightened 
 by them ; this was the case with the one I had, 
 for whenever I made an attempt to put the bear 
 on her, she would snort and jump about in such 
 a manner, I could not get him on ; I then pulled 
 off my coat, blindfolded her eyes, put the bear 
 upon a stump, tied the horse close by, her head 
 to a tree, and then putting my shoulder under 
 the bear, lifted him on the saddle. I afterwards 
 rolled him back on behind, loosed the horse and 
 then mounted the saddle myself, took off the 
 blinders, and went on home. Perhaps we mad© 
 rather an awkward appearance, but as my com- 
 panion was now civil, I had no reason to com- 
 plain. Still it required some care and manage- 
 ment to keep the balance of him, and look out 
 for the hoi-se, for she would turn her head round 
 
132 felSTOflt OV TtllS, 
 
 and see her burden, and snort and stop sliori, 
 and appeared to feel quite dissatisfied and un- 
 easy with her load. This we dressed nicely^ 
 but the flesh was not of much use to my family, 
 as there was an antipathy at home, in conse- 
 quence of stories respecting their barbarous 
 conduct Eometimes, when they get hungry and 
 tear to pieces human flesh and devour it. Na 
 one would eat of the bear when cooked, aUhough 
 it smelled and tasted w^ell.- We managed to- 
 save the oil of what flesh we could not givo 
 away to our neighbors. 
 
 At another time^ wnen going out to this nw. 
 celebrated place for bears, I found a good siztcl 
 yearling bear caught in a steel trap by ons cf 
 his fore feet, and he appeared not to have been 
 long there.-. He had fastened the grapple to a 
 bunch of roots, and there v.as a chain between 
 the grapple and the trap ; here he was sitting ir: 
 an humble and ashamed-looking position. Ji 
 looked him over and at length concluded to con- 
 trive means to lead him home. I cut a round 
 stick, ten feet in length, sufliiciently large and 
 stout to lead him with ; then taking the throat- 
 latch from the bridle, the stirrup leather and tho 
 mail straps from the saddle, set the horse at 
 liberty, and managed to get hold of the bear's 
 hind feet, these I straitened and tied to a tree — 
 I then went up to his head and secured his 
 mouth, but not so tight but what he could lap 
 water ; while thus engaged, in spite of all my 
 care, he put out his fore paw, the one that was 
 at liberty, and placed it so hard against one of 
 my legs, that I really think had it not been for a 
 
vviriTE aiouxTAiN's. in*l' 
 
 good strong boot, he would have lorn {he skin, 
 but the boot prevented him from tearing my leg: 
 he however took a piece of my pantaloons with 
 him-; still I would not give up the idea of bring- 
 ing him home alive, I then fastened a strap 
 around him, before and behind, and the stick 
 upon his neck,- loosened his feet and then began 
 to tiy to lead him ; here we had a great struggle 
 to see which was the stronger, and which should 
 eventually be master ; and he played his part 
 so well I could do nothing with him ; he would 
 turn upon me and fight me all he possibly could, 
 I now thought I must kill him — but as I had 
 never been beaten by a wild animal,! was un- 
 willing to give up now.- He would come to a 
 tree and hold on, so that I found I could not lead 
 him.- I again contrived a way to connhe him, 
 but with more difficulty than before, as his feet 
 were entirely free, and being quick and active 
 with them, I had hard work to get them again, 
 but after a w^hile, I made out to. I then tied his 
 hind and fore feet together, in such a manner 
 that he could not scratch me ; then placing him 
 on my shoulder, with one hand hold of his ear, 
 to keep his head from coming too near mine, in 
 case he wished to make a little closer friend- 
 ship, I trudged on ; but he was so heavy and 
 ugly to manage that it made me sweat, and I 
 was obliged to lay him down often and rest, and 
 whenever I came to water, I would let him lap 
 it. I made out to get two miles — he all the 
 while growing worse and worse — at last he ac- 
 tually turned upon me and entered into an 
 engagement with me, by scratching and trying 
 12 
 
134 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 to bite, and after tearing my vest, I concluded I 
 would once more lay him down — and the way 
 was not easy — lifting him up as high as I could, 
 I let him fall, and the ground being hard, the 
 breath left his body. Here I left him, and went 
 home, and sent a man after him. 
 
 This fall, at that place, we caught ten bears, 
 for which I had three dollars premium, apiece, 
 and the skins were worth about as much more, 
 which paid me pretty well for my time and 
 trouble. 
 
 As we were passing back and forth through 
 the woods, we discovered signs of sable. As 
 they appeared plenty, I thought it expedient to 
 catch them and make merchandise of them — 
 their fur, at this time, bringing a high price, and 
 the fur of those sable which live in this cold 
 region, is much better than the fur of those of 
 a milder climate, and superior in quality. I 
 hired two men and went with them myself into 
 the woods ; we set up traps, spotted ' trees to 
 make a line that might be followed again, sev- 
 eral miles in length, and then selecting from a 
 flock of sheep, the oldest and poorest, such as 
 we thought would hardly winter for age, killed 
 a number, and took them for bait. This busi- 
 ness we stuck closely to, while in the season of 
 it, but it did not last long, as the snow falls early 
 on the mountains, and a small depth of snow, 
 with a warm day and cold night, would freeze 
 the traps, so that they would suffer being robbed 
 without any resistance. 
 
 At one lime William was going round to these 
 traps, he found a live sable in one of them, 
 
WHITS MOUNTAINS. IS'J^ 
 
 which, from its appearance, had just got in. 
 This was a pretty creature. He was three miles 
 from home, and knowing their dexterity and 
 fondness for mice, and being infested with rats 
 at the house, he thought he would bring him 
 home alive, and try an experiment with him. 
 So he pulled off his mitten, putting him in head 
 foremost, then placing him snug in his coat 
 pocket, went on his way. The little fellow 
 being warm and comfortable, enjoyed it quite 
 well. When he got home, we tied a cord around 
 his neck, two or three yards in length, and then 
 let Jiim go. He did not seem wild, but would 
 partake of food, such as was set for him. We 
 put him in the cellar, and he soon made a clear- 
 ing of the rats. He soon became satisfied with 
 our treatment towards him, and gnawing off the 
 string, which left the cord around his neck^ 
 climbed a window that was cracked a little, 
 made a hole through it, and escaped. He ap- 
 peared to understand longitude, as he steered 
 directly back, and the first time after this, on 
 going to the traps, we found him in the next one to 
 that in which he was first caught. Poor fellow, 
 he was now dead, the cord still around his neck, 
 and thus we knew him. These animals are 
 beautiful in form, color and motion — more active 
 than a cat ; and their fur is excellent for trim- 
 mings. 
 
 This fall we caught about seventy-five of these 
 sable, for which I realized nearly one dollar 
 apiece, and felt quite satisfied for our work. 
 VVe made a considerable haA^oc among the wild 
 animals, and we made a handsome profit from 
 
136 
 
 HiuroKv OF tk: 
 
 them, besides clearing the woods of some perrii- 
 .cious ones, such as might have troubled us had 
 they been suifered to live, as they ^^^^^re getting 
 plenty. We felt quite easy with the thought 
 that we were mostly free of them. 
 
 While engaged in this hunt, we discovered a 
 beautiful little pond, about two miles back of the 
 Notch House, one of the sources of the Merri- 
 nuic. The appearance of this pond and its 
 situation, pleased me much, as I thought it 
 would afford abundance of amusement for our 
 ■visitors, such as were fishermen. Beside this, 
 the way in -which we travelled Avas over a 
 romantic scenery. Leaving the main road, half 
 a mile below the Wiliey House, and travelling 
 in the woods half a mile, we came to a ledge of 
 great [height, impossible to climb.; this we took 
 a different course to go round. For beauty and 
 grandeur, it is no where surpassed by any spot, 
 to me known, about these mountains. This 
 pond was well calculated for Moose, as here 
 grew the lily, such as they were fond of pulling 
 up, eating their roots. Besides, we saw signs 
 and tracks of them, recently made, but we did 
 not happen to come in sight of any one of them., 
 while in hunting this fall ; although one was 
 heard, but it was dark and he took care to moke 
 off with himself before it was liglit enough for 
 him to be made a mark for the hunter. 
 
 This winter, 1S30,I had business at Colebrook. 
 I here found a man who had accidentally come 
 across a hollow log, containing a nest full of 
 young wolves; two of them he saved alive, and 
 •lamed ; these were so well domesticated, that } 
 
WHITE MOUNTAOS 137 
 
 thought it would £2:ratiry our friends, and add to 
 the noveUy of our scenery, to have such an 
 animal with us. I engao^ed him for the ne^xt 
 .summer. He was so docile as to suffer himself 
 to take a seat in the stage, in the spring, to Lan- 
 caster; then word was sent me to come for him ; 
 I went, and led him home, without any incon- 
 venience, excepting when crossing the tracks of 
 rabbits, he would jump and try to follow them ; 
 I would have to hold him fast by his chain. I 
 brought him safely home, and fastened him in 
 the blacksmith's shop, in full view for any one 
 who chanced to pass. Our little hoy tutored 
 him, and would make him howl whenever he 
 desired him. ' We found that when fed on ani- 
 mal food, he was more savage than when fed 
 upon milk. I never but once had any trouble 
 with him, and then when going into the shop 
 door, I stepped upon a bone v»'hich he had just 
 buried in the dirt, and he made a violent attack 
 upon me ; I chastised him severely, and ever 
 after, he remembered it, and whenever I came 
 near, he would appear humble, obedient and 
 fawning. He was as playful as any dog what- 
 ever, but he did not like strangers quite as well; 
 if they came near, while he was eating, he 
 would then appear cross, but he never hurt any 
 one. 
 
 I bought a beautiful deer, which I kept this 
 summer, and a handsome peacock; these all 
 amused our visitors. But there was in the wolf, 
 a kind of a shy, mischievous disposition, lurking 
 within, and whenever he could get a chance, he 
 would lay still and seem to be friendly; if a 
 12* ^ 
 
13S Mlb^TOEY OF THE 
 
 chicken would pa^•s his Avay, and il' he came 
 within his reach, he would make a sudden jump 
 iuid take him, and the sheep, when they passed 
 his door, he would try hard for one of them. At 
 one time I tied a long rope to the end of his 
 chain, and Jet him into the hog yard, where there 
 was a number of swine, and an old one, who had 
 young pigs, went at him in full rage, so much, 
 that she would not suffer him to take one of her 
 young ones., nor give him any quarter At 
 .another time we let him chase the calves, in 
 this way, with a rope tied at the end of his 
 chain, and he would have succeeded in killing one 
 of them, if he had been permitted. The deer 
 possessed a mild, peaceable, inoffensive disposi- 
 tion, letting any one go near her, and would eat 
 bread from the hands of any one, she was so 
 tame and gentle ; but let strangers go into her 
 pen, and take her by one of her hind legs and 
 they could not hold her ; such was her strength 
 and dexterity, that she would get away from 
 them, do the best they could. The peacock was 
 another favorite, he was a full grown one, and 
 for beauty was not surpassed by any fowl what- 
 ever ; he possessed a sort of pride in showing 
 himself, and our little boy had taught him to 
 strut, generally, when he desired him. These 
 animals were of no use to us, they were an ex- 
 pense ; but I always liked to have such things 
 to show our friends and visitors, as they all 
 seemed to be delighted in viewing them ; for 
 they combined, as it were, the nature of the 
 forest, and they, with the romantic scenery, al- 
 ways gratified every beholder. 
 
WHITE MOUNTAOS. 139 
 
 This summer I had no great business on 
 hand. I spent my time, mostly, with my visit- 
 ors at the house, and ascending- the mountains, 
 whenever they decidedly requested it. But as 
 I had been so many times up there, 1 was tired 
 and worn out. I did not go when I could help 
 it, but I always kept good and faithful guides, 
 and every other accommodation that was in my 
 power. The fame of this mountain scenery 
 beginning to spread, and it becoming fashionable, 
 many came to view these wonders of nature, 
 and they were generalljs if not always satisfied, 
 and considered themselves well paid for their 
 time and trouble, and likewise they were satis- 
 fied with their fare while they stayed with us. 
 We used to tell them that whatever was lacking 
 in substance we would try to make up in good 
 will, and do the best we could to make thetn 
 happy and their situation as pleasant as possible, 
 and this never failed of having the desired 
 effect of convincing them they were as much as 
 possible at home. Among others, there came 
 this summer four pedestrians from Boston, to 
 spend several days with us, and ascend the 
 mountain, fish, hunt, &:c. One pleasant morn- 
 ing three of them proposed trying the hills ; — 
 they were provided with a guide, and every 
 thing necessar}*, and set off' early, while the 
 other one remained at home with me. As he 
 had been up a few years before, he did not want 
 to go again, and chose rather to try his luck in 
 the forest. 
 
 A short time after they were gone, he took 
 his gun and steered for the woods to a place 
 
140 HISTORY OP THE 
 
 where I directed him, and where I had in th<» 
 spring put into an old rotten log some sak for 
 deer — they found the salt and frequented it. 
 Here he approached with great care, and soon 
 had the good fortune to see a deer, and after 
 shooting him, cut his ihroat, and with the assist- 
 ance of another man, returned in triumph to the 
 house with his prize. After performing the du- 
 ties of a butcher, he hung him up to ripen, aftei 
 which it was taken down and prepared for the 
 table, at which he and his friends bountifully 
 partook. During their stay with us I had a 
 quarter of a fine fat bear sent me; it was caught 
 in one of my traps, which I had previously lent 
 a neighbor: this they also enjoyed very much. 
 Here they stayed and spent some time, enjoying 
 themselves in various ways, and then returned 
 home. This feat which he performed was told 
 when he arrived home, but was hardly credited 
 by some of his companions. He referred them 
 to me, and I confirmed the statement. 
 
 I went up the mountain by an express desire 
 from a botanist, to collect plants and save them 
 alive, for I had been there so many times with 
 a botanist, to collect plants, that I had acquired 
 a considerable knowledge of plants, and the dif- 
 ferent places where they grew. I went over the 
 hills, and came down into the gulf, and then se- 
 lected different species, such as grow no where 
 else except in the cold climate of Greenland. — 
 I carefully took them up with a quantity of 
 earth, and brought them home, placed them'in a 
 vase, with some moist moss to preserve them, 
 and then labelled the vase and sent it immedi- 
 
AVUITi: MOUMAkNS. 141 
 
 alely to Boston. It was safely conveyed, and 
 the plants were placed in a Botanical Garden ; 
 how man}?- of them survived I cannot tell, as I 
 never heard from them afterwards. The plants 
 that were sent to New York the year before, 
 perished bj^ the way, or rather some of the deli- 
 cate ones. This was a beautiful employment, 
 which I always engaged in with much pleasure ; 
 finding out how curiously Nature had formed 
 ihem, and put them in different places, accord- 
 ing to their merits, or properties, and the state 
 of the atmosphere in which they were destined 
 to live. 
 
 This summer I guided several parties to the 
 Pond. The first time I went there, we caught, 
 in a short time, about seventy nice salmon trout; 
 they differed a little from our common river trout, 
 as ihey had a redder appearance, and their taste 
 and flavor was delicious. 'On the bank of the 
 Pond we struck up a fire, and after dre^^sing a 
 sufficient number of them, we cooked them in 
 real hunter style. 1 cut a stick with three 
 prongs to it, and put the trout on these prongs, 
 in form of a gridiron, and 1 broiled them over 
 the fire, and then I would cut pieces of raw pork 
 and broil it in the same way, and lay them on 
 top of the trout, and that would give them the 
 right relish ; and when cooked in this way, with 
 a piece of good wheat bread, they make a good 
 meal. I always enjoyed these and similar feasts 
 in the woods, as in such ways i suppose our 
 forefathers lived, when they first came over and 
 s«-ttled this country. We had no fears from the 
 -r}atives, as 1 expect they had in that time, bui 
 
142 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 we could eat and drink without fear of beings 
 troubled. All the fish which remained after we 
 had eaten, I took up and brought home. My 
 visitors, I believe, were as well satisfied as myself 
 in all these excursions, wild as they were ; at 
 least, ihey would express themselves so. 
 
 This fall, we again set our sable traps and 
 cau2"ht a number of sable, but not so many as 
 we would have done, had it not been for the 
 black cat, or fisher, who got the art of following 
 the line, and robbing tlie traps of bait, and would 
 not then be satisfied, but would take the sable 
 from the trap and eat them ; this we did not like 
 so well, but it so happened that we could not 
 help ourselves : they escaped being caught, al- 
 though we tried hard to catch them ; still, they 
 were so cunning or lucky we could not do it. 
 
 The wolves had been, for a long time, troub- 
 ling us, and were actually so cunning, I could 
 not catch one of them, although I had, in vari- 
 ous ways, tried. The nearest I came to catch- 
 ing them, was by setting a irap in the water 
 where they frequently crossed the river in a par- 
 ticular place. One of them sprung the trap, 
 but it was cold weather, and ice had gathered 
 upon it : it did not shut so closely but that he 
 pulled out his foot, and lucky for him, he made 
 his escape. One good haul 1 made while setting 
 the trap here in the water. It so happened that 
 a family of ducks were swimming along, and 
 they being so near together, four of them were 
 caught at the same time, in one trap. This, we 
 thought, was almost a miraculous thing — but it 
 
 V 
 
WUITB MOUNTAINS. 143 
 
 IS true, for I took them all out myself, and car- 
 ried them to the house. 
 
 In December there came a number of wolves 
 to visit my flock in the night, but the sheep re- 
 treated, and went under the shed, and got in 
 amidst the cattle and carriages. Their enemy 
 did not venture in there although they went as 
 far as the middle post of the shed, for we tracked 
 them there in the morning ; yet they satisfied 
 their craving appetites, in a measure, by going 
 just back of the stable and digging up the old 
 carcases of bears, which had been thrown there 
 a few months before ; these they gnawed closel 
 to the bone. The dog being shut up in the 
 house, began to be uneasy and tried to get out, 
 when at length, I arose and let him out of doors, 
 not knowing the cause of his uneasiness. He flew 
 at ihem and they retired a few rods and then 
 entered into an engagement with him, and I 
 really think they would have made a finish of 
 him.'had I not interfered and driven them away. 
 This was by a bright moonshine, and the dog, 
 after being first liberated from them, ran towards 
 me, and the wolves followed closely behind him, 
 until they came near me ; and as I had no 
 weapon to fight them with, being in my night 
 dress, I observed to them that they had better 
 make off with themselves, or I would prepare 
 for them, and that pretty soon. They then 
 turned about and marched away, but not with- 
 out giving us some of their lonesome music. 
 There were four of them. I counted their tracks 
 as they made them along in a light snow, and 
 it was just day-light. As ray sho^p had been 
 
144 HrSTORV OF TH3'" 
 
 on the placn for a long time, and had taken a 
 notion to ramble in the woods, they were trouble- 
 some to us, as we had to look them up every 
 night, for fear of their being caught. I was de- 
 termined to sell them and get rid of our trouble, 
 which I did the second fall after this. 
 
 This winter (1S31) there came some favorite 
 hunters to go Avith me and search for Moose. 
 As we knew there were Moose somevyhere about 
 the mountain, for tr/o had been seen to cross the 
 road a few months before, half a mile below my 
 house. Every thing being put in readiness, we 
 with our dogs and snow-shoes set off. We first 
 steered to the before-mentioned pond. We trav- 
 elled all day, but we found no moose, and at 
 night we went down to my father's ; there we 
 stayed that night, where some of our party 
 being wearied, remained the next day, and 
 amused themselves by cutting pasteboard min- 
 inoes, while father, Mr. Davis and myself went 
 out in search of moose. We travelled another 
 day, but with no better success than the former 
 day. We went up so high and so far into the 
 woods, as to get beyond the living animals, such 
 as we were then in pursuit of, as we could not 
 see a track or sign of one, and had actually 
 got upon a hill, from which it Avas difficult to get 
 down. We struck upon a brook which had 
 a smooth surlace, being then frozen over, and 
 father, sitting down upon the heels of his snow 
 shoes, commenced sliding down ; he had got 
 under good head way, when he came in contact 
 with a tree which stood in his way, and, to save 
 himself, caught hold of it; thus, as he was 
 
WitlTE MOUNT AIXS. 145 
 
 coming with such force when he took hold of it, 
 gave him a complete sotierset, and turned him 
 compleiely round the tree. We came down in 
 a similar manner, but not without fears, as it 
 was dangerous. We made out, however, to get 
 in that night. 
 
 The next day, as our part}'" which we left be- 
 hind had got rested, we started for home, and 
 on our way took some fine deer. These we felt 
 justified in ta~ki"ng, as it is said that wolves fol- 
 low when deer are |)lenty, and these ferocious 
 animals had been troublesom.e, making great 
 depredations among- flocks of sheep in the 
 neighborhood by killing a number at a time, and 
 many more than they wanted for present use J 
 but in my flock they had been more favorable, 
 although at one time, they killed and w^ounded 
 seven ; hov/ever, they generally took no more 
 than they wanted at a time. They Select the 
 finest and fatest, and on him perform a curious 
 act in butchering. We have found, after they 
 have visited the flocks, a skin perfectly whole, 
 turned flesh side oUt, with no other ftiark upon 
 it, excepting at the throat, where there was a 
 regular slit cut, as though it had been cut with 
 a knife, down as far' as the forelegs ; the flesh 
 all eaten out, and the legs taken ofl?', down as far 
 as the lowest joint ; the head and back bone 
 left attached to it; the pelt left in the tield, but 
 a few rods from the house ; they would some- 
 times set up a howling, and a more terific and' 
 dismal noise, 1 never wish to hear than this, in 
 a clear still night. Their sound would echo^ 
 from one hill lo another, and it would seem that 
 13 
 
14G EI5T0RY OP TH2 
 
 the ■uT)od3 were filled and alive with them. 
 
 V\"e had some troub]|? with the old barn, that 
 escaped the fire in 1816, as it had received some 
 severe shocks in the times of the freshets, and 
 had some considerable injury done to it this 
 winter. We had fears lest the wind would blow 
 it over, and destroy or injure the cattle ; how- 
 ever, we proped it up, and it did not fall. I 
 went to work and bought a sufficient quantity of 
 lumber^ and brought it home, for a new barn. 
 In the spring and summer I built a new one,^ 
 sixty fest long, and forty Vv^ide. This I set ba.-^k 
 of the shed, and I had a communication through 
 from the shed into it, which made it convenient 
 for all the buildings. 
 
 This summer we had a great many visitors,, 
 and amiOng others, a member of Congress, Dan- 
 iel Webster, It was in the warm weather of 
 June, and he desired me to go with him up the 
 mountain, Vvhich I accordingly consented to, and 
 we went up without meeting anything worthy of 
 note, more than was common for me to find, 
 but to him things appeared interesting ; and 
 when we arrived there, he addressed him.self in 
 this way, saying, " Mount Washington I have 
 come a long distance, have toiled hard to arrive- 
 at your summit, and now you seem to gire me a 
 cofd reception, for which I am extremely sorry, 
 as I shall not have time enough to view this 
 grand prospect which nov^r lies before me, and 
 nothing prevents but the uncomfortable atmos- 
 phere in which you reside !'' After making this 
 and som^e other observation?, we began our de- 
 scent, and there was actually a cold storm of 
 
WHITE MOUNTAII^S. 147 
 
 enow here on the hill, while below, it was toler- 
 ably clear, and the snow froze upon us, and we 
 suffered with the cold, until we came some way 
 down, and reached a warmer climate. We re- 
 turned safely home, when he related his tour to 
 his female friends, whom he had left behind to 
 spend the day at the house. Here they stopped 
 again over night, and the next morning he tool: 
 his departure. After paying his bili, he made 
 me a handsome present of twenty dollars. 
 
 I had bought a little piece of artillery from th? 
 company of militia in Whiteneld, and put it on 
 a Hide mound, which was called Giant's Grave, 
 just back, or at the end of the barn. This I had 
 there for the benefit of the echo, for when loaded 
 and touched ofl", it would maVie a great noise, as 
 it stood up in the air above the level of the sur- 
 face, thirty or forty feet high, and when the air 
 was still and clear, would e(*ho from one hi'l to 
 another, and then the sound would float along 
 down the stream until it all died away on the 
 ear. This was really grand and delightful, and 
 all who heard it were well pleased, and some 
 used to call it Crawford's hom.e-made thunder, 
 as it resembled the sound of thunder more than 
 any thing else. It was said that this echo was 
 similar to that on Lake George, when a gun 
 was fired there. This cannon was made fre- 
 quent use of, and for no other purpose, but to 
 amuse our friends and visitors. When once it 
 was londed, and fdled so full, and jambed in so 
 hard, that it burst in touching it off, and thatpiU 
 an end to this kind of sport, then, but we con- 
 stantly had company in the season of it, and 
 
148 HISTORY OK THE 
 
 many were in the habit of making us presents, 
 and among them we were presented with another 
 gun, much superior to the former, sent to us 
 from Boston, by Mr. Gale and Mr. Gibson, to 
 Portland, and brought from there, by a man who 
 had been to market, with cheese. This gun 
 would hold half a pint of powder at a time, and 
 the lirst tim.e when we loaded it, we fired it off 
 in the road, not far from the house, and it spoke 
 so loud, that it made the house jar, and cracked 
 sgme glass in the windows. We then removed 
 it to the before-mentioned place, where -the other 
 stood, and there it remamed a few ye§.rs, till at 
 length we had some men there who were help- 
 ing us get in our hay ; and one night it was de- 
 sired to have it fired oft^, and one of them loaded 
 it with more than a proper charge, and then put 
 in gravel and drove it in so hard, as he thought 
 he would give us such j^n explosion as we never 
 heard before .; then with his match he touched 
 it ofi^ and it burst, and flew all in pieces. 1 
 then sent to Portland and bought another to make 
 up this loss, and that I left with some other 
 interesting things, at the White Hills. Some 
 seasons we have burnt three kegs of powder in 
 that gun. Con>pany coming from all quarters, 
 we now suffered for the want of house-room, and 
 many times our visitors were so numerous, that 
 for the want of beds and lodging rooms, Lucy 
 .would have to take the feather beds from the 
 bedsteads, and make them up on the floor ; and 
 then the straw beds would answer for the bed- 
 steads ; and in this way we could accommodate 
 two, and sometimes four; and frequently shf 
 
WHITE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 149 
 
 would give up her own bed and lie down her- 
 self upon the floor ; as she was always willing to 
 suffer herself, if she could only make her friends 
 comfortable : but this, besides being unpleasant 
 all round, was wearing upon the constitution too 
 mach, after toiling hard all day, to be deprived 
 of a bed at night to sleep upon. But such are 
 the feelings w'hich many are subject to, if they 
 possess oi3liging dispositions, and, more espe- 
 cially, when they are used to misfortunes, as we 
 had been, that nothing seems too much for our 
 friends ; and as it seemed that it was not in- 
 tended for us to have enough to buy such things, 
 in abundance, as most of our visitors w^ere 
 doubtless accustomed to at home, therefore it be- 
 came needful to do every act of kindness in our 
 power. I was again advised by my friends to 
 build an addition, which I knew was necessary, 
 but which my circumstances, I well knew, 
 would not admit of: still, after considering and 
 reconsidering, I had been in debt ever since I 
 came here to live ; but I had never suffered 
 much inconvenience by it ; and I had never 
 been called upon in such s. manner as to make 
 m^ any cost, with two exceptions ; and I found I 
 could have fifteen hundred dollars, from the 
 Savings Bank, in Concord, by paying the inter- 
 est annually, for a number of years, if I gave 
 them good sureties, and having concluded to 
 build, I mortgaged my farm and obtained the 
 sureties required. 
 
 The roads were again good, and I expected if 
 they remained so, there w^ould be more company 
 every year ; and as the situation of my housa 
 13* 
 
j50 JIISTOFcY OF THE 
 
 vvas sach that it had a commanding view of all 
 ths mountain scenery around, and this was actu- 
 ally, as I thought, the only proper place for all 
 those who desired to visit this romantic spot, 
 although another establishment had been erected 
 three quarters of a mile below my house, for the 
 same purpose, which for its size and construc- 
 tion, was w^ell enough, yet there \yas but a lim- 
 ited prospect of the mountains there, for Mount 
 Deception stands between that and Mount Wash- 
 ington, therefore all who desired to see it had 
 to come to my house, and view it from there : 
 and all who acted upon principles of honor and 
 justice, preferred this place to any other, those 
 ■yvho lived here having beaten the bush and suf- 
 fered every hardship and privation, which such 
 a lonely place is subject to, when new ; and I 
 had done every thing to open and facilitate a 
 way to the Mountains, and make it as good and 
 convenient as I possibly could, therefore, in con- 
 sideration of all these circumstances, I expected 
 public patronage ; and I always had a goodly 
 share, particularly of distinguished men ; and 
 always will be likely to, I thought, at my house, 
 if kept in good style, without having all the 
 affluence of a City Hotel, as that will not be ex- 
 pected, so far in the woods, remote from market ; 
 but always having such things as are suitable for 
 such a place, served up in a proper mianner, neat 
 and clean, so as never to fail to satisfy persons 
 of judgment. 
 
 In the fall of 1831, as it is said to be a \ 
 
 an- 
 
 kee custom, that when a man is thous^ht to be 
 
 doino: well, there is always some one who 
 
WHITi: MOUKTAlNii. 151 
 
 wishes to dip into the same business, as other 
 men think they can do better, especially, if they 
 suppose they can indulge themselves, by living 
 easily, and by fair promises never to be fulfilled, 
 make others work without pay for their labor ; 
 so with a man from Jefferson, in our opinion, 
 and we have a right to our opinion, and to 
 pubhsh it, with proper motives, for the public 
 good. He came and bargained for a place 
 three quarters of a mile below mine ; I had been 
 acquainted with him years previously, and 
 thought him friendly, as most other people are, 
 and, also, that he was, as we were, friendly to 
 the inhabitants around, when, one day, happen- 
 ing t"o be down where this man was, for he had 
 come to look over the premises, (which he has 
 since left, and which, perhaps, " shall know 
 him " now " no more, forever,") and make a bar- 
 gain for the same, I said to him. William, 
 what are you here for, and where are you going i 
 which, by some, might possibly be thought im- 
 pertinent ; but it was a friendly way we had of 
 calling one another by the given name. He an- 
 swered, he was going to Bethlehem to see some 
 men there. I soon left, and this man went no 
 farther than to Mr. Rosebrooks, six miles, to 
 the man who owned the place, and bought it of 
 him : and, in January, was to take possession. 
 This clandestine management was mystery to 
 me, for we were pleased to have a neighbor 
 near, and no disadvantage had arisen by the set- 
 tlement, nor ever would have come, had this 
 man only taken the right course. We might 
 have been a great help to each other, as had been 
 
152 HISTORY OF THB 
 
 the case with others who lived there before him ; 
 but, instead of this, he took a different way to 
 manage. He, in summer, made use of my 
 mountain road, where I had spent considerable 
 money, and which I had labored hard to make 
 for visitors, and my own benefit, and thoug-ht as 
 much my property, as any other part of my own 
 farm, as it was made entirely at my ov/n ex- 
 pense, through my own land ; and to prevent 
 encroachment on his part, I was compelled to 
 make a fence and to put up a quit against him ; 
 and finding he could not have this privileGfe by 
 stealth, he sends a hired man to have Richard 
 Eastman, Esq. come down to his house, for he 
 was there at our house, wishing him to fnter- 
 cede for him, and see if I would not then com- 
 pro ni-^e with him, and let him have the privi- 
 lege of my road. The Esquire told him, it was 
 then too hite for this; he should have come to 
 me himself, before he had attempted to intrude 
 upon my rights, and then there would have been 
 no trouble in procuring this or any other favor, 
 and we could have lived like men, and we could 
 have been an advantage to (*€ich other ; but, in- 
 stead of this, he tried to live on me and the 
 effects of my hard labor. After this he made a 
 path on the back of Mount Deception and then 
 came into my road, advertising he had made a 
 new road, shorter) insf the distance to the Moun- 
 tain ; this I did not contradict in print, and thus 
 the public was imposed upon and I was robbed 
 of what was actually my own property in this 
 insinuating way. When I first came to live 
 here, there was a mail once a week from Maine, 
 
WMITK MOUNTAINS. 153 
 
 :up through the Notch to Lancaster, Vermont, 
 and it continued so for some time after ; and as 
 the inhabitants increased, there was another mail 
 joute estabhshed from Littleton to my house, in- 
 tersecting the one running through the Notch, 
 and it was necessary for the Postmaster to open 
 it and divide it, and send packages to the directed 
 places. I was properly appointed tp transact this 
 business, and tiien it run twice each week and 
 now three times, each wa}^ once in each work- 
 ing day, throughout the week, all the year ; my 
 neighbor having a desire to lake this situation of 
 Postmaster, got a petition draughted and had a 
 false afhdavit sworm to, for the sake of wresting 
 ihe office from me : this petitipn he carried 
 about, himself, to the industrious inhabitants, 
 who had not time to read it, as they said, and 
 were not aware of what they wer.e then doing, 
 when they signed it, supposing that they were 
 to have an office in their own town, and not dis- 
 turbing mine ; and he succeeded in obtaining 
 jiames of eighteen citizens and three selectmen, 
 as stated from Washington, and this was another 
 misrepresentation, as this was a new place and 
 the town had noi been organized ; therefore they 
 had no select men or any other officers, excepting 
 some men authorized to receive public money for 
 schools, and tha,t was all they had the power to 
 do. This is a copy of the letter from head 
 quarters. 
 
 Post Office Department, 
 
 Office of Appts. and Inst. 
 
 August, 24, 1832. 
 Ethan A. Crawford, Esq, 
 
 ^>ir : li is represented to this Department, in an afl;- 
 
154 HISTORY OF THB 
 
 davit, that you have, at divers times, detained letters and 
 papers which were direct"d to Phineas Rosebrook. The 
 Po.-!t Master General requires your answer to this charge. 
 It is also represented by eighteen citizens and three Sc- 
 lent men ^f (^arro!!, th it the pres-^nt location of vonr Post 
 OlK',e is very in:':onveni9nt, and that the people who de- 
 pc'nd on it would be much better accommodated by its 
 removal to the house of William Denison. The Post 
 Master General wishes to know if you have any objec- 
 tions to the proposed change of site. 
 
 I am, Sir, reKpectfulIv, ' 
 
 Your Obedient Servant, 
 
 S. R. HUBBARD. 
 
 This made me some trouble, as I was under 
 the necessity of vindicating my own character, 
 in the charge laid against me. I went to Mr. 
 Ros(;brook, myself, and he could not say as it 
 had been stated, but only to gratify the man, 
 who was an oliice seeker, had he spoken as he 
 did, and most of those w^ho signed the petition, 
 said they were willino; to sign one against it, if 
 1 wished them, but that I could do without as- 
 sistance from them by my answering the letter 
 referred to. However, he did not obtain his ob- 
 ject ; the Post pffice was not moved- 
 
 After getting through whh my summer and 
 fall company, in the winter of 1832, as I had 
 made up my mind to build, we had a great deal 
 to do. As we had our glass and nails, our 
 paints and oils, and other necessary things, to 
 buy and bring home, we did not get ready to 
 draw lumber until March. We then went at it 
 with two teams, myselt with one and my little 
 boy with another ; and this kept us in employ- 
 ment nearly two months. As it required a great 
 quantity of lumber, such as boards, shingles. 
 
•fTHITB MOCNTAIN3. 155 
 
 clapboards, &:c. from this same before-mentioned 
 distance of thirteen miles; and, in the spring-, I 
 hired men and went into the woods and pre- 
 pared timber for a house, and in Mav, we 
 raised iu It was sixty feet long and fort}' feet 
 wide, two stories, with the addition of a piazza 
 on one bide, sixty feet long, twO' stories, and this 
 fronts Mount Washington, East; North end, 
 Mount Deception ; South end, the beautiful 
 g-reen Hill, in the summer where Deer live, 
 since named Liberty Mountain, and whence they 
 have come down frequently into the intervale and 
 there played and gamboled about in full view, 
 and many times have gratified our visitors by 
 staying some time in this way, and then gallop- 
 ing off into the woods. Again I kept salt in an 
 old log at the end of the meadow, which in- 
 duced them to come down there. I desired my 
 men never to frighten them, or injure them, 
 choosing rather that they should come this way, 
 than to kill them ; and in the fall, this hill, like 
 the surrounting mountains, is richly ornamented 
 with various colors, which, if imitated by a 
 Painter, would make, as it would at any time, 
 a handsome picture. And there is a one story 
 piazza, fifty feet long, to accommodate the trav- 
 eller, as he could drive up by the side of it, and 
 then step into it right out of the carriage. I 
 hired six joiners, who went industriously to 
 work, and before the last of July, tliey had their 
 work done, and the painting outside was fin- 
 ished, so that it was ready for company, except- 
 ing plastering, which we postponed for another 
 year. This new addition gave us a great deal 
 
156 HISTORY OP THE 
 
 of room, which then required considerable furni- 
 ture to make it comfortable, without extrava- 
 gance ; and I w^as under the necessity of buying 
 all this, and it only involved me more and more 
 in debt ; but still, I hoped to see better times, 
 although I did not know when, for I was con- 
 tinually going from one expense to another. 
 Still I had paid away my money as fast as I 
 had received it, and, I thought, to good advan- 
 tage. There was, } may say, another great ex- 
 penf?e which still hung upon my shoulders, 
 which I did not know how to extricate myself 
 from. As I was obliged to keep a number of 
 horses, for no other purpose than to accomm.o- 
 date my friends, a few months in the summer, 
 for them to ride upon the mountain, these I had 
 to keep mo^t of the year, on hay and grain 
 ".vhen used, and th^y were of little use besides 
 this, the rest of the year. Then I had the most 
 of my help to hire, which took away my cop- 
 per?, as I always made it a practice to pay my 
 hired help, if I did not pay other debts, as I 
 always considered the laborer worthy of his 
 hire, and all those who depend upon their own 
 daily labor for a living, ought not to be cheated, 
 neither ought their work to be trifled with, 
 while they who trade and get their living by 
 speculation, deserve also to be punctually paid 
 their due, although they do not always have so 
 great immediate necessity ; but were there gene- 
 rally greater punctuality, there would be less 
 failures. I have often heard it said that 
 
 He who by the farm would thrive, 
 Must iither hold the plough or drive. 
 
■VTHITE MOUXTAINS. 157 
 
 And sometimes I tliougbt I did both ; but it 
 seemed I did not "et abead very fast, though I 
 made the best I could of it, laboring myself all 
 the time. I seldom lost a meal of victuals or a 
 day, in consequence of sickness, and I had no 
 other infirmities, excepting at times, the rheuma- 
 tism, which I think was caused by working in 
 the water when living in the State of New 
 York, and a tumor which 1 then thought was the 
 piles and treated in a manner for the piles ; but 
 this was a painful thing to me. Many times I 
 suffered greatly from the complaint, without say- 
 ing any thing about it, and I kept it to myself for 
 a long time. This, I suppose, was caused by 
 going through so many heats and colds in some 
 of the many and severe hardships which I had 
 encountered while in trying to do all I could for 
 the public, and I sometimes went beyond m.y 
 strength, and had 1 not more than a common 
 constitution, I could not have stood it so long as 
 I did. This summer we again had many 
 visitors, and among them came a gentleman 
 from Georgia, for his health. He had fallen in 
 company with a party which, after making their 
 visit, took their leave of him and us, and re- 
 turned, while he stayed some weeks; as his 
 health was poor, he did not care much about the 
 society of strangers, choosing rather to spend his 
 time in the circle of our family, while he amused 
 us, giving us descriptions of his country, and the 
 manners there, which interested very much ; and 
 sometimes he would play some tunes upon a 
 violin, which belonged to the house, and after 
 leaving, before he arrived at home, he wrote to 
 14 
 
15S HISTORY OP THB 
 
 US, infcrmfng us his health was improved by 
 our mountain air. 
 
 This winter, 1833, I bought a suflicient quan- 
 tity of lime and brought it from Portland and 
 Littleton, to plaster my house, also paper to 
 paper it with ; likewise in the spring, the ma- 
 son came and plastered it, and then we papered 
 it. We had some other troubles with our neigh- 
 bor, by bis encroaching on our property, be- 
 side what 1 have mentioned, which I will not 
 relate. Some may say 1 did not like to have a 
 man settle down near me : this, if so consid- 
 ered, was not so. I might have had the place 
 where he lived, twice. The first man that 
 bought the land as he thought, put up buildings, 
 but it happened that he did not buy the lot which 
 he had built upon ; this circumstance I was 
 aware of, and I might have gone to the right 
 owner and bought myself; hut I had no dispo- 
 sition for an act like this ; he afterwards went 
 and bought, which I was perfectly willing he 
 should do ; and, after a w^hile, he finding that 
 he should not be able to finish his buildings 
 and pay for the land, came like a man and 
 oflered it to me, first, and wished me to buy it. 
 This, also, I was advised to do, by my father, 
 and he offered to assist me if I bought it, but I 
 told him that I did not want it ; furthermore, I 
 was willing to have another establishment, so that 
 the public would not be compelled to put up with 
 a Crawford, because there could be no other 
 place ; and if I could not do so w^ell as to merit 
 public patronage, I ought not to have it ; and one 
 other reason induced me to have the place set- 
 
WHITE MOUx^Ti.ir«s"! 159 
 
 tied ; the more inhabitants, and the better the 
 accommodations, at the mountains, the more peo- 
 ple would be likely to resort here, as they would 
 be sure of being made more comfortable, and 
 would not be crowded, and moreover they could 
 have a choice. Sometimes we were full, also, 
 and desired some to go to our neighbor's, and 
 they answered if we had but a spare peg in the 
 house, why they could hang on that, one night, 
 and refused thus to be turned away, and we 
 would do the best we could for them, and make 
 them comfortable, if possible. This summer 
 we had more company than usual, which kept 
 us busy all the time from June until the last of 
 September; and not one night were we without 
 guests. In July, the 31st, we had seventy-five 
 to lodge, besides OLir own family ; early the next 
 morning a goodly number of the gentlemen 
 mounted horses and set off for the mountains, in 
 good spirits, while the remainder, many of them, 
 stayed and spent the day at the house with us ; 
 they all anticipated, the ensuing evening, a social 
 and merry time, as they intended to have an in- 
 nocent dance after the music of a violin, which 
 was to be used by a celebrated player, as they 
 had done the evening before ; but alas ! how 
 soon may the expectation of pleasure, in this 
 world, be cut off! They all reached the sum- 
 mit in good season and partaking of tiie fare 
 carried for them by the guide, and making such 
 remarks as they thought proper, they, at one 
 o'clock, began to descend. One of the party 
 being a sea Captain, said he would be the first 
 down to see the ladies, and instantly sol forward- 
 
160 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 The ETuide called out to him, and told him he 
 was going wrong ; but either he did not hear him, 
 or else he thought he might steer his way here 
 on this mountain as well as on the water, went 
 on, and they soon lost sight of him. The rest 
 of the party kept together until they reached the 
 horses, but saw nothing of the Captain ; but here 
 they found his horse and the rest of the horses, 
 and knew, from this circumstance, that he had 
 got out of the way. They then came home as 
 fast as possible, and related this to his brother, 
 sisters and friends, who were waiting his return ; 
 they were alarmed and felt anxious for his safety. 
 1 was called upon and consulted to know how we 
 were to manage to find him. We then agreed 
 that a fire should be made on or near the stream 
 which crosses the path coming down the moun- 
 tain, in case he should strike upon this stream in 
 his wanderings, and follow it down till he came 
 to this fire ; and then there should be some one 
 there to assist him home, while I should go on 
 ihe mountain and search for him ; we accord- 
 ingly set out ; his brother was to take care and 
 manage the fire and then leave some one to ]blow 
 the horn and be on the look out for the Captain ; 
 Avhile I ascending the mountain, went up Jacob's 
 Ladder, and out through the woods, that night, 
 and called out to him a number of times, but no 
 answer could I receive ; and thus I wandered 
 about, calling to him, until it grew so dark I 
 could see no longer. I then made my way 
 down to a temporary cam]), which we had to 
 acconniiodate us, v/hen at work on the road, and 
 here 1 staved the remainder of tlie niaht. Early 
 
WHITE !Vr0UNTAI>*S. 161 
 
 the next morning, while it was yet dark, I arose 
 and pursued after him again with renewed 
 vigor. I went again on the mountain and again 
 called out to him, in different places, but all in 
 vain ; no answer could I get, and I found one 
 might as well look for a needle in a hay mow, 
 as to find a man here on the mountain, unless 
 he had accidentally slipped and put out a joint, 
 or broken a bone, so that he could not walk. I 
 feared that this was the case with him, and 
 when worn out with fatigue and hunger, began 
 to call loudly, and I came home without finding 
 a single trace of him. This was sorrowful news 
 to his friends and relatives, but still a hope was 
 anticipated that he might find himself safe on 
 the other side of the hills, which was actually 
 the case ; and here we will make use of his 
 own language, as he wrote it in the Album after 
 his return. 
 
 August 1, 1833. 
 The inclination I felt to reach a wariri climate inducetJ 
 me to leave the party with whom I had ascended Mount 
 Washington yesterday. After half an hour's rapid walk, 
 I found myself alone — and a little time convinced me, that 
 attemptins; to find them was fruitless. I then found my 
 Way to the bed of a stream-— a br;;n h of the S ico, and 
 followed its winding for twelve miles ihrougli briers and 
 over rocks, from 1 till 7 o'clock P. M., and when the 
 approaching darkness warned me of the necessity of a 
 bed, I discovered an object more pleasing that all the 
 wonderful scenery that had served (though in a slight 
 degree) to while away my six hours incessant labor. 
 'Twas a log brilge crossing the stream in which I waa 
 wading. Following the road with renewed vigor, I arriv- 
 ed in an hour at Mr. Hanson's, when a bowl of milk and 
 a good bed left me nothing to regret, but the probability 
 •f uneasiness in the minds of my friends hers, 
 
 14* 
 
IG'J HISTORY OP THE 
 
 Thi.s morning, I left Mr. Hanson's at five o'clock — 
 walked seven miles to Mr. Wentworth's, in Jackson ; 
 rode three miles bare-back to Mr. Chislev's, who took 
 me in his wagon seven or eight njiles to Gould's, in Bart- 
 lett — whence I made the best of my way to this comfort- 
 able, temporary home, having been absent over thirty 
 I'oiirs. JXO. g. PALNE. 
 
 P. S. So the mountains brought forth a mouse. 
 
 [J. S. P. 
 "Go it you Cripples." 
 
 Kennebunk-port Party obliged to leave here this day in 
 anxious uncertainty for the fate of our cousin and friend, 
 Lieut J. S. Paine. [C. A. L. aud Party. 
 
 With hearts light and gay, 
 
 On a fine summer day, 
 
 We arrived at far fam'd Ethans's place ; 
 
 When the sun shone so bright. 
 
 And all filled wilh deliglit, 
 
 AVe welcomed with joy each known face. 
 
 Then we wanted to go, 
 
 To the mountains of snow 
 
 And look on that scene so sublime ; 
 
 But our friends said " nay," 
 
 ' T was a dangerous way. 
 
 And the rocks we should ne'er try to climb. 
 
 So we waited to hoar 
 
 What our friend Paine would bear, 
 
 From the weather, the road and the sight, 
 
 But w^e waited in vain. 
 
 For alas ! he ne'er came. 
 
 And dreary and dull was the night. 
 
 May he come in his gloiy, 
 
 To finish my story, 
 
 And tell of his victories won ; 
 
 Then with sun beaming bright, 
 
 And hearts bounding light. 
 
 We'll farewell to Movat AVashi:vgton. 
 
WHITE MOUNTAINS. 1G3 
 
 Tills poetic effusion Vv'as written by the ac- 
 complished Mrs. C. A. Lord, of Kennebunkport, 
 us saith the Album. 
 
 It is necessary for all who ascend the moun- 
 tain, especially for the first time, to be governed 
 by the guide, as the distance of more than a 
 mile is over rocks without any surface to make 
 any path or track, and unless the stranger takes 
 particular notice of the way in which he goes 
 up, he may like the Captain, get mistaken and 
 take a wrong course : although several years 
 ago, when it was the custom to go out and 
 camp at the foot of the mountain, then, early 
 in the morning, ascend the hill, a young Ver- 
 monter with some others came and went there 
 and stayed, and early in the morning set out to 
 chmbthe hills, and there came on a thick mist of 
 rain after they had started, and he being perse- 
 vering determined to go on, and for fear he 
 should lose his way when he should come back, 
 laid up piles of stones, as monuments or guides, 
 at proper distances from each other, so that 
 travellers should not get mistaken or lost, which 
 remain in honor to him at this day and have 
 been of use to many, who were like himself, 
 determined to pursue after they had undertaken 
 it ; he, however, returned to the camp after 
 reaching the summit, sent the guide home for 
 new supplies of provisions, and there they re- 
 mained until they had a clear day. Such was 
 the spirit of a Vermontcr. 
 
 I do not recollect any thing more, particu- 
 larly interesting, that took place this summer, 
 worth mentioning, but suffice it to say, we had a 
 
164 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 plenty of company until quite late in the fall^ 
 and some after the snow had got so deep that 
 they could not reach the top of the hill. 
 
 1834. Now as I was satisfied, for the pres- 
 ent, with building, I had not much business on 
 hand excepting that of buying and bringing 
 home supplies for the season. I spent my time 
 principally with my family. Home, with me^ 
 was always delightful, after spending the day in 
 different exercises and getting weary. To be 
 able to sit down and have half a dozen little 
 ones come and rest themselves upon me, all of 
 them having good reason and proper shapes, 
 which was a great satisfaction to me, was con- 
 sidered a blessing. In April, one week after the 
 birth of our ninth child, Lucy took cold, and as 
 she had been accustomed to administer physic 
 to her family, when unwell, she now thought 
 she Avould prescribe for herself. She then 
 ordered a dose of hygcan pills to be handed her, 
 took a large portion of them ; but as these had 
 not the desired effect, took another, which, as 
 her physician told her afterwards, was the means 
 of saving her life at that time ; but did not re- 
 store her to health. She remained sick and fee- 
 ble, whh a slow fever ; I then sent eighteen 
 miles for a physician who came and gave her 
 such things as he thought proper, but did not 
 remove the cause. We sent and he came 
 again ; but no better did she get. Her case was 
 now a desperate one. The child, for want of 
 proper nourishment, such as is natural for child- 
 ren, grew very worried and fretful ; this served 
 to add another trouble to Lucy, as she had 
 
WIIITK MOLXTAIXS. 165 
 
 always been healthy and could satisfy her iii- 
 infauts by nursing them, when, at this time, it 
 only seemed to injure it and not satisfy it ; and 
 41S she had the feelings of a mother, she said she 
 did not know how to bear with its cries. A 
 friend, a gentleman from Portsmouth, calling at 
 my house, at this time, when going on business 
 to Jefferson, saw the situation of Lucy, and she 
 having a brother living there, whose wife had 
 just lost an infant, they sent me word by the 
 gentleman upon his return from Jefferson, that if 
 I would bring the child to them, they would take 
 care of it. This information I received late at 
 night and when communicating it to Lucy, she 
 ■seemed rejoiced to think the child was provided 
 for ; for I brought up several objections to her 
 against parting with it ; told her that if they 
 nursed it, most likely their affections would be 
 so great for it, they would not be willing to give 
 it up ; all these things she could do away if she 
 -could but know it comfortably taken care of. 
 Her mind being fixed, suitable preparations were 
 made for its removal ; my courage began to fail. 
 I asked Lucy if we had not better wait and 
 bring her brother's wife over here ? She said, 
 no, as it would be a long time before she would 
 be able to come, and she could not bear the 
 sufferings of the babe any longer. It was then 
 wrapped up, and after it had received the part- 
 ing kiss from its mother which was imprinted 
 with a tear, for which she received a smik; in 
 return, for the child was then six weeks old, I 
 took it in my arms on horse back and carried it 
 sixteen miles without a murmur or a crv from 
 
165 EISTO^T or THE 
 
 the child, by stopping twice on the way and feed- 
 ing it out of a bottle, which I carried in my 
 pocket, which had been previously prepared for 
 it. The child was welcomed by its new mother, 
 and after receiving a plenty of nourishment, it 
 became satisfied. I returned home and related 
 my tour and good success in the conveyance of 
 the babe, and the satisfaction it appeared to take 
 now in a new mother's bosom. This, Lucy said, 
 was an act of Providence, for which she hoped 
 to be thankful ; and as Lucy got no belter, I 
 was advised to send thirty miles for another phy- 
 sician, who succeeded no better than the former 
 one in removing the cause of her complaint. I 
 likewise had the advice of several old and expe- 
 rienced ones, but all to no purpose. She re- 
 mained sick, weak and in great pain most of the 
 time. She was told by her friends that it was 
 not likely she would ever recover, or arise from 
 that bed of sickness ; this did not seem to affect 
 her in the least. She kept up good courage, as 
 she was desirous of getting well ; knowing that 
 she had a large family of her own, besides 
 uncle William to take care of, and much there is 
 depending on a mother, bringing up her children. 
 These things she took into consideration, with a 
 firm belief that God would, in his wise provi- 
 dence, see fit to send some means to help her ; 
 and after lying in this helpless situation from 
 April until July, her desires were answered. 
 Doctor Warren, with his family from Boston, 
 came to spend a few days with us ; and his good 
 lady, having been here before and learning that 
 Lucy was sick, came immediately into the room, 
 
rrEiTZ Mou^'TAI^'s. 167 
 
 and seeing how she was, said she would go for 
 the Doctor. He came in and examined her, but 
 did not prescribe any thing for her at that time. 
 He came the third time to see her and then wrote 
 a prescription for her, which as soon as it was 
 obtained, helped her, and in a few weeks she 
 was able to be about with her family. All this 
 did the Doctor, without receiving a single farth- 
 incp ; for he would not accept of a compensa- 
 tion for his trouble or advice, which we are still 
 indebted to him for. 
 
 Likewise we are imder many obligations to a 
 number of people of Boston, for their kindness, 
 their attention and presents during the summer. 
 
 My affairs at that time began to look gloomy ; 
 sickness had ever been a stranger at our house ; 
 now it became an associate there. Our next 
 youngest child was dangerously ill of the bowel 
 complaint, and company began to shun my 
 house, which was on account of the influence of 
 stage drivers, as our neighbor having made some 
 addition to his establi>hment, offered to keep 
 their horses on hay free from any expense to 
 them, if they would influence the company and 
 bring the passengers to his house. Of this, I 
 was verbally informed by them, but as I was 
 then keeping them at a very low rate, I did not 
 know how to keep them for nothing, and, of 
 course, they removed their quarters. I had done 
 much for them in making the place fashionable, 
 which caused them to have passengers, who 
 paid them handsomely for riding in their stages. 
 This I thought would be enough to ensure their 
 patronage, without an explanation to them. Tho 
 
108 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 owner of the line had been promoted to some 
 public stations, which should have insured better 
 ])rinci])les within his mind than to have let him 
 practice upon such a low narrow contracted one, 
 just for the sake of saving a trifle and try to in- 
 jure me in this way, and at a time when I was 
 in trouble ; but how much this added to their 
 interest, or to the credit of the stage and its 
 owner, I am not able to say ; but one thing 1 
 know, it was an injury to me, as I depended 
 upon my customers for money to pay for extra 
 expenses, which I had incurred by building and 
 making things good and comfortable for their 
 convenience. Some people are so avaricious 
 that tliey must have their own way even if it 
 hurts the honest and industrious ones ever so 
 much, as was the case, I think, with the one 
 just mentioned. I, however, made the best I 
 could of it, hired money to pay some debts, and 
 other creditors I pacified with promising them 
 they should have their pay as soon as possible. 
 In the fall as I was returning from Lancaster, on 
 horseback, in the forenoon, I called at a six 
 mile neighbor's, and there borrowed a fan, for 
 the purpose of clearing up some grain, and 
 when coming down what is called Cherry Moun- 
 tain, the horse made a miss-step, which brought 
 liim on his knees ; being encumbered with the 
 fan, I had not the means of saving myself and I 
 v.as brought suddenly across the pommel of the 
 saddle ; this struck an aflected part of my body 
 and hurt me very much. The horse recovered 
 himself and I regained my seat upon the saddle. 
 J went home that afternoon, and assisted in fan- 
 
ning Uji Iwrnly I)ushclr, of wheal: stap.cling in 
 llic ai?',- s'j thai the air might carry awa-y the chist 
 which arofco from it, and perspiring, I took cold, 
 which settled where I was most liable, and that 
 night my bowels began to swell and continued to 
 for three days,- and a man in greater disti'ess than 
 I was, I v/ould think never need be. I. neither 
 ;ite more than three crackers nor slept the whole 
 time, I had a high fever Which caused me to 
 be thirst3\ I drank freely of cold water, which 
 only increased my pain. I took physic, one por- 
 tion after another, without any efiect,' I grew 
 worse and- worse, until at length, I told Lucy I 
 must die ; I had no desire to live in so much 
 pt4n. She remonstrated with me, sayifig'I had 
 been the means of bringing a large family itito 
 the world,- and it v/as depending upon me for sup- 
 port, and I ought not to indulge such thoughts, 
 but should keep good courage, and perhaps there 
 would be a relief. I asked her when ? Oh ! 
 she said she could not tell when ; neither did I 
 kno ,v how much I could bear until I had the trial 
 put upon me. She told me to be patient and 
 perhaps God, who had let me suffer, woilld in 
 soAie way, cause relief. Well, I said I would 
 try one more thing. I would take half a tea-cup 
 full, or more, of Epson Salts, dissolved in water ; 
 this was prepared and I swallowed it. JNow, 
 said I, if this does- not answer the purpose, I 
 must bid you and the children farewell. I 
 began to pace the room ; things looked strangely, 
 and I had such feelings as 1 cannot describe, if 
 I :ittempt it. This did not last long before I felt 
 the salts begin to operate, and I soon found relief 
 15 
 
170 HISTORY ©F THE 
 
 from them. As soon as I was able to ride, 1 
 went to Littleton to a Physician ; told him my 
 case ; he said I was a tough one and wondered 
 I had lived through it, as mortification was near 
 at hand at that time ; he then gave me some 
 medicine and advised me to be operated upon as 
 soon as I could get a Surgeon, or it might in time 
 cost me my life. Other Physicians, also, told 
 me the same story. This I thought I could not 
 live through ; I still held the idea that I might as 
 well die with it as to die while undergoing such 
 an operation, for I thought it would certainly 
 kill me. 
 
 In the winter of 1835, as I had expressed 
 some desire of selling my place and settling my 
 affairs with the world, in consequence of ill 
 health, for I was not able to do much or go from 
 home but little, one night in April, there came 
 a man from Bartlett to make propositions to buy 
 my place. He was then going to Boston, and 
 knew of a certain stage company who would 
 buy it, as he thought, and, in so doing, would 
 confer a favor on me. I thanked him for his 
 good intentions, then went to work and bonded 
 it to him for six months, for ten thousand dollars; 
 this he wished to have kept a secret, for a short 
 time. My father coming in, before the close of 
 the business, wanted to know what the man was 
 there for ; but as 1 had promised not to speak 
 about it, I did not tell him. The old gentleman 
 said afterwards, if I had told him or if he had 
 known it, he would have advised me better. In 
 a short time the great cry of speculation in 
 land, was heard on all sides, and I could have 
 
WHITE MOUNTAINS. 171 
 
 »old it for two thousand dollars more than I had 
 bonded it for ; but as I had never been in the 
 habit of making children's bargains, there should 
 be no grunting on my part. 
 
 Now to make up the place of the little one 
 we had parted with the year before, (as what I 
 had predicted proved true, those who had taken 
 the child, unnamed, and nursed it so long, 
 claimed it as their own, having no other, and we 
 seemed rather compelled to give it up to them,) 
 in May, we had another child born, which gave 
 us ten in number, five sons and five daughters ; 
 nine of them are still living. While in this 
 solitary place, so far from human assistance, 
 Lucy did not put her trust in an arm of flesh to 
 save her, but she trusted to a higher power, and 
 was carried through every trial, for which she 
 has great reason to be thankful. 
 
 The man coming home from Boston, sent me 
 word that I might depend upon the money be- 
 fore the time of the bond running out, and I 
 made little other exertions to get money to pay 
 my debts with, supposing this would be the case. 
 As the bargain was so good, I thought there 
 would be no failure upon his part, and depended 
 upon it. He went again, and found a good com- 
 pany of specidators, who had money deposited 
 in a bank in Boston, and every arrangement be- 
 ing made, the papers drawn, in the evening, for 
 eleven thousand dollars, of which ten thousand 
 was to be paid him, and he was to have a share 
 with them of one thousand himself; the next 
 morning, when they met again to close the bar- 
 gain, no papers of the evening could be found. 
 
17? illSTORT Ol' TOL 
 
 This disarieeted the company, and t^iev would 
 do nothing more about it, as they supposed the 
 man thought it was going so (juickly, tiiat h(; 
 might have more ; tlierefore, took noccare of tho 
 papers. But the man says that they v;ere -lest 
 by the clerk who kept the office where they did 
 their business. Which, of those two v/as the 
 cause of thk mistake, I am unable to eay, but it 
 was a sad one to me, as 1 had depended so 
 much u})on it, and might have done so much 
 better, had it not been for my reliance upon this; 
 but it seems to show the uncertaiaty of man and 
 how little depcndance can be placed even on 
 those we think our friends.. I always thought 
 tills man my friend, having been acquainted with 
 him for years; but so it happened, and there 
 was no help tor it on my part. All the particu- 
 lars of this transaction, I was informeti of by 
 one of the company which thought of buying. 
 J asked the man to give me the bond, which he 
 said I might have, bat I could not get it. He 
 then told me he would try again to sell it, and 
 still thought that 'ho could dispose of it advan- 
 tageously both to himself and to me ; but this 
 was all a humbug. He still kept the bond, until 
 it died in his hands. He, however, lost nothing 
 more than his time and trouble, with the excep- 
 tion of what he intended, to make, as he had not 
 paid me any thing for it. 
 
 During the summer we had a goodly share of 
 company, notwithstanding tlie stage driver^' in- 
 lluence, and that of some tavern-keepers, who 
 were interested in this concerted |:lan of leading 
 company to the wrong place; and many wiiom 
 
WHITE MOUNTAINS. 173 
 
 they did decoy came to my house, and said they 
 were misled and should not be caught again in 
 that way ; but as I was then suffering with the 
 complaint before mentioned, I felt little ambition 
 about the proceeding of things, at times ; but let 
 them do pretty much as they did ; and at other 
 times I felt the abuse, and then tried to vindi- 
 cate my own rights, but this I could not carry 
 into effect, owing to the state of my mind, as 
 this complaint centered in its effects, mostly to 
 my head. 
 
 After this, I strived to sell, but the fever of 
 speculation had then begun to abate, and I could 
 not get more offered for it than enough to pay 
 what I was then owing, which was not as much 
 as the buildings had cost ; this I could not in 
 conscience take, as the place was actually worth 
 so much more. So we continued to slay longer 
 and do the best we could. 
 
 My complaint increased, at times troubling 
 me very much, and this winter, 1836, I was 
 advised to send to Concord and obtain some of 
 Dr. MorriPs patent medicine, which was cele- 
 brated for effecting great cures ; I was told that 
 perhaps it might reach my case. I wrote to 
 him, and in return, received the medicine, with 
 directions — these I followed as nearly as pos- 
 sible, but it only made me w^orse, instead of 
 better, having a tendency to heat and stimulate, 
 which was contrary to the manner that my com- 
 plaint should have been treated ; yet I did not 
 not think any one w^as to blame in the matter. 
 My friends being anxious that I should get well, 
 said I must keep trying, and if one thing would 
 15* 
 
174 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 viot do, try uiiolhcr ; this 1 did, but all \o no \)ur- 
 
 f'OSC 
 
 This v.inter, tis deer had becomo jdeiity in tiic 
 •vvoocJs, many parties went in ])ursuit of them ; 
 ?aid my eldest son (Harvy) jjosscssing the same 
 disposition as others, desired to go with them, 
 but as his constitution was not equal to that ol" 
 others, I did not consent to have him go with 
 them. 
 
 In March, a gentleman came to my house, 
 wlio had -been traveling some y"t3ars, and his 
 horse being weary, he concluded to stay a iltw 
 days and rest him. He being a sportsman, soon 
 contracted for a little fun with Harvey ; and as I 
 .had ever been against his going into the woods 
 V- ith others, I then concluded to let him go. 
 
 They were prepared, accordingly, and in the 
 ^afternoon set out. They steered nearly south 
 (5i my house, and went u[) the green hill where 
 deer were plenty, and having arrived there in 
 season, built them a can^p, and spent the night 
 linely, as they expxessed it. Early in the morn- 
 ing before they had breakfasted, not being ex- 
 perienced hiniters^ as they were anxious to find 
 what they were in pursuit of, they left their lodg- 
 ings and victuals all together, and went out upon 
 a tour of observation or discovery, intending to 
 return and breakfast shortly. After leaving the 
 camp, the dog went into a yard of deer, and 
 followed them, and they found there was no time 
 to be lost and were obliged to pursue, fast as 
 possible, on snow-shoes, or they would lose both 
 dog and deer. They soon came up wiih the 
 dog, who had a deer; they cut hi? Lliroat and 
 
WIHTE MOUNTAINS. 175 
 
 took out his inwards and left him there. Tim 
 dog pursued othei-s in a sitiiikir niaiiner.and tliey 
 caught three of them. By tliis time liunger be- 
 gan to call loudly upon them, and as they had 
 been in a hurry, unmindful of the course they 
 had taken, they were so bewildered among the 
 hills, they were not sure what course to take to 
 make for home. They, however, struck upon a 
 small stream and followed it down to the Am- 
 anoosuc river, nearly three miles below my 
 house, leaving their game behind, tired and hun* 
 gry enough. 
 
 The next morning I observed to them it was 
 not customary for hunteiib to leave their game in 
 the woods to spoil, and thought they had better 
 go and bring theirs in, or else we s4iould have to 
 take their word for what they had done. The 
 gentleman said he was satisfied to let his part 
 remain where it then was, rather than go the 
 route over again. He had a pleasant time and 
 a lucky one^ in hunting, found himself at home, 
 he w^as.then on good footing, and thought he 
 would keep so. But as Harvey had for so long 
 time, been wanting to hunt, 1 told him he must 
 go and bring home his game ; and after getting 
 rested he took a hired man and went after it. 
 He not being yet satisfied, thought he would 
 wander about, and, perhaps might find a deer — 
 one that he covdd catch and lead home alive, as 
 i had done. Tl^ south wind bcgining to blow 
 strong, and the clouds coming on, it was dark 
 before they were aware of it, and they could not 
 find the camp, where they intended to spend the 
 night, which camp had been built but two daya 
 
176 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 before, and in consequence of the darkness, they 
 were lost, and could find no other shelter than a 
 a large hemlock tree. They had barely the 
 means of obtahiing fire and that was all. Their 
 axe, provisions, and very thing conducive to 
 their comfort were at the camp, while they were 
 compelled to stay and draw out a long night, in 
 that season of the year. The wind blowing 
 violently made the trees writh and bend on all 
 sides of them. The rain descended in great 
 profussion upon them, and they had nothing to 
 shelter them from the impending storm. But 
 they were fortunate in getting fire in a dry tree, 
 which was some satisfaction, but not much com- 
 fort to them, as all the good this did was to burn 
 one side while the other was shivering with the 
 wet and cold. The snow being deep they had 
 nothing to stand upon besides their snow-shoes, 
 and in this perilous condition they spent a long 
 night. They said it was the longest one they 
 ever knew. They suffered greatly from fear of 
 being killed by falling trees, as they fell occa- 
 sionally near them, — but the same Preserver 
 who takes care of them in sunshine, cared for 
 them then, and they were permitted to behold 
 the light of another morning with gladness, and 
 in a few minutes they found the camp, but a 
 little way from where they had spent such a 
 miserable night. They then provided, them- 
 selves with a comfortable breakfast, and after 
 resting awhile, stated for home. They had the 
 preceding day gathered some of the venison 
 and tried to bring it home, but the snow was so 
 deep and soft, their snow-shoes would sink dee]), 
 
WniTE j\l() L.N TAINS. Ill 
 
 and it v.as with difficulty they could raise them, 
 mid thfiy were obliged to leave it there and make 
 their best way home, whei'e they were welcom- 
 ed : and, I thinlv, parents were. never more re- 
 jeiced than we werc when w'e saw Harvey com- 
 mg across the lield,-«s our anxiety had been so 
 great through the night that neither of us had 
 slept. After -that I %vas not troubled any more 
 from being teased by him for want of hunting. 
 H>e w-as now satisfied. 
 
 But to retiarn -again ''to m\^elf. Sometimes 
 I would seem to be quite well, and then I di<l 
 not mind my sickness so much as at other tinx's: 
 then there would a pain catch me in the spir^e of 
 my back, and run over me like a flash at' light- 
 ning, even to the top of my head, and ^vei-y 
 hair would seem to move. Many times T' hav<j 
 put my hand to the top of my head and'lelt the 
 hair to know^ if it did not stand straight on end, 
 as I could feel it rise, and sometimes would thii'ik 
 it would throw off my hat. The pain from my 
 back centered to my head, which caused me to 
 be forgetful. They who had ever been my 
 ncarest and best fdends, had become my ene- 
 mies, as it appeared to iiie, and from no other 
 cause than my being sick, and in trouble, when 
 I most needed consolation, and this cciusfK:l me 
 sometimes to be irrhablc which was not -exactly 
 my natural disposition, but Iknew not how to 
 liclp it then. My appetite -was gone and" I was 
 attended by a cough and aiPiicted by raising* 
 great quantities of phlegm ; my blood was re- 
 duced, and I would have extremes of heat and 
 cold pass through my veins, ono nCwv another. 
 
178 niSTORT OF THE 
 
 Sometimes in the morning, I would think I 
 could get up and should be smart that day ; but 
 after getting up and only walking in another 
 room, I would begin to shiver with the cold, and 
 have to go to bed again, and have my pillows 
 "svarmed and have them placed on my back, and 
 blankets warmed and put upon me ; in this way 
 I lived by turns, until 1 was returning from Con- 
 way in the Stage, having been dowr> on business 
 in ccmpany with Dr. Bemis, from Boston, and 
 some other gentlemen beside him when I was 
 attacked with this complaint, and had, in the 
 stage, two spasm, which required the strength of 
 a man to hold me. This sudden and unexpected 
 shock was below my father^s, and I did not then 
 think I should live to get home ; but I meant to 
 go along as I could. I had the kindest assist- 
 ance from the gentlemen in the stage, and ar- 
 rived at home where I soon after had another 
 spasm. Lucy sent immediately for a Physician, 
 who arrived and took away a portion of blood, 
 which soon relieved me. This kind and humane 
 Dr. Bemis, who was then staying at my house, 
 became acquainted with Dr. Rodgers, from New 
 York, who had previously, before he started, 
 been^ directed to put up with me, but was influ- 
 enced by some other persons to stop with my 
 neighbor. Dr. Bemis informed Dr. Rodgers of 
 my situation, and he came to see me, told me 
 unless I would consent to have an operation, I 
 could not live long, as the consumption was near 
 upon me ; said he would go and get his instru- 
 ments while another Physician who was with him 
 should stop and make preparations for the same. 
 
WHITE MOUNTAINS. 179 
 
 riiis, I did not consent to, neither did I refuse it. 
 rhe Doctor returned in a short time, and due 
 (reparations being made, went up stairs with 
 liem, when the operation was performed. How 
 stimable is the character of a good Physician, 
 •r of any really good man ! While " man's in- 
 lumanity to man makes countless thousands 
 nourn," so the kind ministrations of man to 
 nan, proves that God gives us in charge of his 
 ngels. 
 
 I then came down with them and soon found 
 elief. I now could sit in a chair much better 
 han for months before. The Doctor came and 
 ressed my wound several times himself, and 
 ben showed another person how to manage it, 
 nd when he took his leave, I asked him how 
 luch I :^hould pay him ? He said not any thing ; 
 lit he expressed a desire for me to get well ; 
 nd for this act of kindness I am indebted to Dr. 
 Jemis for his interceding as he did in my be- 
 alf, and Dr. Rodgers, for his assistance. I am 
 /e\{ persuaded, had it not been for them, I should 
 ot now have been here a living man. Times 
 ad now become hard and my creditors who had 
 ,'aited on me were afraid they should not get 
 leir pay, because my dissolution, as they 
 lought, was near at hand, and in the course of 
 le preceding summer, they had come upon me 
 ke a set of armed men. I turned out all my 
 ersonal property, even to the last cow, and some 
 rticles I turned out three times. I was after- 
 wards informed, but the state of my mind was 
 uch owing to the pain in my head, I was not 
 ensible of what I did, and in the fall, before I 
 
ISO HlSTOItY OF THE 
 
 was able to get about much, a Deputy Sheri fT 
 came from Lanociste« for' me to pay a sum of 
 three hundrc d dollars, which I was- owing the 
 Banky and one. i^iorc demand due a farmer for 
 atnjut forty dolloxs, principal ; but as he had 
 taken care not to have it redu<?e<d by interest 
 and cos;, w])ich he had- caused to be doubled, I 
 told him I had then n-othing to pay with, but de- 
 sired him. to bo patient, as they vve^re not sufier- 
 ing for- the money, and they and every other 
 creditor should have their honest dues, if they 
 would only show me lenity. He then left me 
 after obtaining a proi^isc, on ray< part, that as> 
 soon as. I was- able to ride I would .^-o to Lancas- 
 ter and s€;e them myself; and some days after, 
 according to promise, I went, and what do you 
 think those men did ? Why, for want thereof, 
 took my poor and emaciated bQ,dy and cast it 
 into prison. Althoiigh a brother of mine and 
 one of Lucy's, offered to give them bonds for' 
 my appearance at any time wh(?>never they 
 should call for me ; but this did not seem to par-- 
 cify them \ they were d^t-grmine'd upon other 
 purposes ; their object W8us saoneyand they re- 
 fused to take them. I was put in jail and this 
 place was to me a complete hell uj^jon earth, 
 now shut up from air and the society of my be- 
 loved family. My mind was weak and the time 
 hanging heavily, forced me to reflect on human 
 nature ; this overcame me, and I was obliged to 
 call for the advice of physicians and a nurse. 
 Here I was attended with a sort of spasms^ simi- 
 lar to the former ones, and was really so unwell 
 that one of my physicians atfectionately tol<i 
 
WHITE MOUNTAT>!S. 
 
 ISl 
 
 mo lie thought I sliuuld never pass the Gun hill 
 that was near tlie burying ground ; that was as 
 much as to say I should die. He then asked 
 me if they should not send for Lucy. I tohl 
 him, no ; it was enough for me to be there and 
 not her. Here they kept me twenty-five days 
 in this way. I had applied to an Attorney before 
 I went in to make arrangements for me to take 
 the benefit of the law, in such cases made and 
 provided, and when the time arrived they told 
 me J. could not do it, without perjuring myself. 
 I told them something should be done, for I 
 v/ould stay there no longer. They then con- 
 cluded to take our brothers for sureties and let 
 me go home. This added nothing to their in- 
 terest, nehher did it help them immediately to 
 their pay. They were secured before. I had 
 good signers with me on the notes and my farm 
 Avas holden, but when a man gets going down 
 hill, it matters not what shape it is in ; there are 
 enough standing ready to give him a kick and 
 hejp him down. They have since got their pay, 
 but the tanner dares not look me in the face and 
 say, How do you do ? but passes by as soon as 
 convenient ; they Avill have to answer to their 
 Judge. As Lucy wrote to him in the most af- 
 fectionate terms entreating him in the name of 
 a husband and a father, to go and see me and 
 advise some means to let me come home, and 
 sent it by the hand of her son, who handed it to 
 him ; he read the contents and put the letter in 
 his pocket, and never came near me, till the day 
 that I was set at liberty. 
 
 Having been for so longr a time racked with 
 16 
 
185J ins;TOKY of thb 
 
 pain, and having now these troubles, I did not 
 seem to get much better of my complaint, and 
 was advised by some friends and my family to 
 give up my farm and retire to a more secluded 
 spot where health might be regained, and ac- 
 cordingly, for that present time, changed situa- 
 tions, with a brother of Lucy's, and moved to 
 Guildhall, in Vermont, the place of our nativity. 
 Before we left we sent to those men to whom 
 I had mortgaged my farm, to come and take pos- 
 session of it, which they did, and I suppose, in a 
 lawful manner, put up an advertisement in the 
 house to sell it on the 16th of March, 1837. It 
 was then subject to two mortgages, uncle Will- 
 iams' was one and the other was their's. The 
 amount of their's was to be made known at the 
 time of sale ; but as it appeared, no one came to 
 buy, therefore they had the whole management 
 of the affair to themselves. At this time Lucy 
 was there and I expressed a regret to leave the 
 place where we had performed so much hard 
 labor and had done every thing to make the 
 mountain scenery to become fashionable, and had 
 just got in a way to make ourselves comfortable 
 and to be able to make our friends feel at home. 
 It was hard to give it all up and let it go into the 
 hands of others. And one of them made her this 
 reply, saying, fifty years hence, it will be as 
 in old time, there would be those rise up who 
 knew not Joseph, and it would not then be 
 known who did all these things. They then 
 rented it for one year, and at the expiration of 
 that year rented it again to the same man, for 
 five hundred dollars per annum. 
 
WHITK MOU.^TAIX*. 183 
 
 While we were at Guildhall, as there was a 
 sugar lot on the farm, I thought I would make 
 sugar that spring, with the help of my little 
 bovs, and as Lucy was always anxious about 
 me, when absent, particularly then on account 
 of my health and misfortunes, 1 happening one 
 nigiit to stay away later than usual, she thought 
 something might have befallen me, as I had only 
 one boy with me, and -after putting her children 
 to rest, at nine o"'clock, took a lantern and steered 
 for the woods ; but n-ever having been there be- 
 fore, she lost her way and was actually under 
 the necessity of calling for help. The boy 
 having amused himself peeling birch bark, while 
 I was engaged in boiling sap, we put some of 
 this dry bark on the end of a pole which was 
 long, set it on fire, and raised it .up so high in 
 the air that she saw it and then came to us and 
 stayed until we could all go home 'together where 
 v/e arrived at eleven o'clock. 
 
 We remained on this place ten months, where 
 we raised barely enough to support our family, 
 and as Lucy's brother must lease our farm at 
 the mountains, it being put into other hands, he 
 was then wanting his own to live on, and I went 
 down the Connecticut river one mile, and en- 
 gaged a large two story dwelling house, which 
 was then unoccupied, for the farm had been 
 rented to its nearest neighbor, and I obtained 
 the use of it until April, when his lease would 
 run out. Sometime this winter, a gentleman, by 
 the name of Jonathan Tucker, Esq., came from 
 Saco, Maine, who had an execution against the 
 ib rm T v.-n? then living upon, and the Mar-H-^i 
 
184 lllSTOllY or Til 15 
 
 the State came also, and set off, to tiiis Mr. 
 Tucker, nearly fifty acres of the best part of the 
 land, with the barn. This is the very place 
 Avhere our Grandmother lived when she had so 
 much trouble with the Indians. I have tilled the 
 same ground where their little log cabiD used to 
 stand, which was near the bunk of the river. 
 Afterwards, they or others built upon higher 
 ground. When this land was set off, I asked 
 Mr. Tucker if I might have the privilege of im- 
 proving it ? He told me to stay and do the best 
 I could, and if it were redeemed he should have 
 nothing more to do with it, and the Defendant in 
 the case had six months for redemption ; if it 
 were not redeemed, I could have a living from 
 it. According to human nature, in these days, 
 reader, how do you think this man let us live 
 here after the redemption ran out ? I wrote him 
 an account of our management and asked him 
 if I might pay the lawyer who had assisted in 
 obtaining this land ? He said I might. Thus 
 we lived upon this beautiful farm, while we had 
 the privilege of raising every kind oi grain and 
 vegetable, such as corn, rye, oats, peas, beans, 
 potatoes ; and we had a first rate garden, sur- 
 rounded with currants, gooseberries and plums ; 
 and as the river went round this meadow in a 
 semi-circle and made a bow in some places, there 
 was capital fishing, where my boys could catch 
 a plenty of pickerel, some trout, dace, eels, &c. 
 This made quite a market place, as these fish 
 mad(; grand living when cooked with good salt 
 pork. And here we could send our children to 
 
WHITE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 185 
 
 Bchool, six and seven months in a year. One 
 winter we furnished the school with nine scholars, 
 our own children, for which we received the 
 credit of the Committee, for as the law was, 
 every scholar drew a proportion of the public 
 money, and the more scholars there were, the 
 longer the school continued. We likewise had 
 every privilege which is comnoon in towns, such 
 as meetings for Divine worship and a good so- 
 ciety among our own relatives and friends. As 
 we had always been used to labor ourselves, we 
 instructed our children when quite young, to 
 be diligent in whatever they could do ; and this 
 seemed to be a great help to them as they could 
 earn their own living, and being accustomed to 
 work at home, they were not ashamed to go 
 abroad ; and when they wete not at school, 
 those of them that could be spared from the 
 farm and dairy, for we had cows and made but- 
 ter and cheese, could support themselves at home 
 or abroad, respectably ; while I could do mason 
 work, as I had assisted in helping plaster my own 
 buildings and learned how to make mortar, and 
 could, then, spread it well, and I could earn my 
 dollar per day when I worked at my trade ; and 
 in this and similar ways, according to the cus- 
 toms of New England, we lived on this beauti- 
 fut farm, by paying the taxes and keeping the 
 buildings in repair, which we consider to be an 
 act of benevolence from this Mr. Tucker, and 
 for which we will return our gratitude. There 
 are but few men in these days who would do so 
 much even for a relative, without some direct 
 16^^ 
 
186 IIIgTOUV or TllL 
 
 compensation from him, if noliiing inure lliaii a 
 promise, for which he never made me a request. 
 But the fifth year a lawyer Avho hved in Lan- 
 caster, bv some means obtained a lease of the 
 place and we were obliged to give him half we 
 raised on this piece of land belonging to Mr. 
 Tucker. There seemed to be quite a contrast 
 now, after living in the way just described and 
 now obliged to go halves with this lawyer, whicli 
 did not exactly suit my family, working hard as 
 usual, when they had the whole before. 
 
 In 1843, I hired the large three story building, 
 which was then empty, in sight of where we had 
 lived twenty years, at the mountains, and here 
 we are at the present time, in 1845. 
 
 It may be an inquiry, How these things have 
 become to be written ? Lucy had been advised 
 to keep a memorandum of things as they oc- 
 curred, for there seemed to be something very 
 extraordinary in our affairs in life, which was an 
 inducement for her laljor, in which she has taken 
 great pleasure, in order to h^ able to show the 
 public our way of trying to get a living, by deal- 
 ing honestly with men, and having a clean con- 
 science as regards my management with man- 
 kind. Moreover, the men to whom I had given 
 up my farm, said they were willing for us to have 
 it again, by our refunding them whatever they 
 had paid out, with the interest and cost, provided 
 Lucy would publish this history, which, after 
 being published, she could sell and it would be 
 an assistance ; and as we were then retired from 
 the cares of other people and had nothing but 
 our own fumilv to look after, she found tim'\ 
 
WHITE iMOl.XTAlNS. 
 
 187 
 
 It is the request of some of my friends to have 
 a genealogy of my father's family. Abel Craw- 
 ford is now eighty years of age, when this year, 
 1845, shall have passed away, and he was the 
 first man that ever rode a horse on the top of 
 Mount Washington. He was then aged seventy - 
 live, and is now a well, stout, athletic man, ca- 
 pable of doing work and business. My mother, 
 who was Hannah Rosebrook, is in her seventy- 
 fourth year, enjoying tolerably good health, after 
 having raised a family of nine children. Eras- 
 tus, their eldest son, was born in 1791, and grew 
 up a large, stout and tall man, six feet six inches 
 high, when standing barefoot, and after he was 
 twenty-one, he went into the State of New York, 
 and lived and married, and his wife had two 
 sons, and then he died there in 1825 ; and these 
 two sons of his are now nearly the same height 
 their father was when he was living. Ethan 
 Allen is my name, and I am fifty-three, with 
 much better health than when I left the moun- 
 tains. Stephen was born in 1796, and he died 
 when he was fifteen years of age, with the con- 
 sumption. Everett has a ^yife and four children, 
 three sons and one daughter, and lives in Jeffer- 
 son, New Hampshire. Dearborn lives in Ox- 
 ford, New Hampshire, has a wife who has borne 
 him ten children, six daughters and four sons. 
 Thomas J. lives at the Notch House, which 1 
 built in 1828, with his wife and four children, all 
 of them daughters. Hannah H. is married to 
 Nathaniel T. P. Davis, and they live in Hart's 
 Location, with my parents; who have lived there 
 
18S BISTORT OF THE 
 
 fifty years ; she has two children, both daugh 
 ters. Abel J. lias a wife and one child, a son 
 and lives in Jetierson, N. H. William H 
 Harrison, still lives at home with Mr. Davis, en 
 Joying life at his ease, without any care or trou 
 ble of a family, living in a "■ state of single 
 blessedness." Uncle WiUiam Rosebrook, who 
 was spoken of in the first part of this history, is 
 seventy-two years of age, and still lives with us, 
 enjoying good health. He never was married. 
 Lucy, my wife, has had ten children, five sons 
 and five daughters. Harvey Howe, not having 
 a strong constitution, learned the art of making 
 wagons, and has gone into the State of Ohio. 
 Our second son died when an infant. Lucy 
 Laurilla, Ellen Wile, Eluthera Porter, Ethan, 
 Stephen, Persis Julia, Placentia Whidden and 
 William, make out our number. 
 
 And now my friends, who have a little time to 
 spare, or whose health is impaired, come to the 
 mountains and make us a visit. You will find 
 us here, and there shall be no pains spared to 
 make your time pass pleasantly during your stay 
 with us, either in waiting on you or giving you 
 all the information in our power, and, as of old, 
 what we lack in substance we will endeavor to 
 make up in good will. We gratefully return 
 our warmest thanks for the public patronage 
 which we formerly received, while at the moun- 
 tain ; and we still hope by our united exertions 
 \o continue to merit. And when you get to 
 Conway, if coming in that direction, you will find 
 excellent treatment yi a Temperance Housq 
 
WHITE MOUNTAlJiS. 189 
 
 kept by Colonel Hill, the Postmaster, where you 
 will have entered the mountain scenery, and 
 where, in fair weather, you will see the ranges 
 of hills, or mountains, rising one above another 
 along the way, and when passing, reflect on the 
 mighty works of God and think what the labor 
 of man, in a few years, has accomplished. 
 
 The town of Conway, situate about twenty 
 miles south of the White Mountains, began to be 
 settled about the year 1776, by emigrants from 
 Conway, Durham, Lee and the adjoining towns. 
 The glowing accounts which the hunters gave 
 of the extensive tracts of interval bordering on 
 the Saco river, wdiich runs through the same, the 
 fertility of the soil, the exuberance of its forests, 
 especially its sugar maples and white pines, to- 
 gether with its numerous wild animals and fowls, 
 ail conspired to facilitate its settlement. At the 
 close of the Revolutionary war, in 1783, Con- 
 way had become more numerously settled than 
 almost any other inland town, of its age and size, 
 in New Hampshire. Its early inhabitants, how- 
 ever, were obliged to endure great hardships in 
 conveying their furniture and provisions through 
 a wilderness of sixty miles in extent upon pack- 
 horses and hand-sleds. 
 
 They soon began the lumber business, by 
 floating logs and masts down the Saco to its 
 mouth, where they received bread ^tufl" and 
 other necessaries of life in exchange ; the moose 
 and deer, at the same time, affording them a 
 tolerably supply of wild meat, and their white 
 and rock maple trees, an abundance of excellent 
 
190 HISTORY or THK 
 
 sugar. The rivers and ponds were also well 
 stored with wild geese, ducks and fish, of various 
 kinds. In consequence of these conveniences, 
 the rickness of its soil and its healthy climate, 
 Conway has now become a very pleasant town, 
 dotted with several handsome villages and con- 
 taining about two thousand inhabitants. 
 
 Colonel David Page, Joshua Heath, Ebenezer 
 Burbank, John and Josiah Doloff, were the first 
 who moved with their families to Conway. They 
 came by the way of vSaco, in the State of Maine, 
 thence up the river and across Lovewell's Pond, 
 to the Seven Lots (so called) in Fryeburg, 
 which town adjoins Conway, and had commenced 
 settling in 1764, by Moses Ames, Esq. and six 
 other families. 
 
 It was at the head of this pond, whicn lies 
 about two miles East of Conway, that Capt. 
 Lovewell and his Company, fought their san- 
 guinary battle with Capt. Paugusand his Indians, 
 on the 8th of I\Iay, 1725, and in which, both 
 Commanders and three fourths of their men, 
 were slain, consisting at the commencement, 
 of thirty-four Euglishmen and eighty savages. 
 These Indians belonged to the Pequaket Tribe, 
 inhabiting the country from the Notch of the 
 White Mountains to the Great Falls, on the Saco 
 river, about sixty miles in extent, which has 
 borne the general name of Pequaket, ever since, 
 from that circumstance. The town of Bartlett, 
 lying between Conway and the Notch of the 
 White IVlountains, originally consisted of several 
 locations, granted to \Villiam Stark, Verc Koyce 
 
WHITE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 \m 
 
 and others, in consideration of their services as 
 officers in the French war in Canada.- Enoch 
 Emery, Humphrey Emery and Nathaniel Her- 
 riman, hegan their settlement in lower Bartlett, 
 just befor the commencement of the Revolution- 
 ary war ; their land being given them by Capt. 
 Stark, for settling. In 1777, Samuel Willey, 
 Esq., Daniel Fox and Paul Jills, from Lee, pur- 
 chased a tract of land, in upper Bartlett, and 
 commenced clearing the same. Their horses- 
 which they had turned into an adjoining meadow 
 to graze, became dissatisfied with their new loca- 
 tion, together with their manner of living, and 
 started lor home. Instead of following the wind- 
 ings of the Saco in the path they went up, they 
 struck off in a straight line. In crossing the 
 first intervening mountain, it is supposed they 
 became separated and consequently bewildered.- 
 Diligent search was made for them but all in 
 vain. The next spring a hunter's dog brought 
 part of a horse's leg into the road in Conway.- 
 From a particular mark on the shoe attached to 
 the foot, it was ascertained to have belonged to 
 Mr. Willey's horse. On following the dog's 
 track, about sixty rods from the road, the carcass 
 was found. From the appearance of the large 
 extent of bushes browsed, it was concluded that 
 the horse lived till some time in March. None 
 of the rest of the horses were ever heard oL 
 Mr. Willey, not liking his situation in Bartlett, 
 sold his land there soon after the loss of his 
 horse, and purchased an original right in Con- 
 way, where he lived an independent farmer, 
 
192 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 until his death on the 14th of June, 1844, iit the 
 age of ninety-one years — being the last original 
 male inhabitant of that town. An anecdote of 
 liim is considered worth relating here. Owing 
 to the scarcity of provisions among the early set- 
 tlers and the vigilance of the hunters, moose and 
 deer soon became scarce ; but bears remained 
 numerous for a long time and are yet somewhat 
 plenty. These animals often proved an intoler- 
 able nuisance to the farmers, destroying their 
 sheep, hogs and other creatures. One night in 
 the summer of 1800, Mr. Willey was waked 
 from his sleep by the noise of his sheep running 
 furiously by his house. Springing from his bed 
 to a window, he discovered by the light of the 
 moon, an enormous bear in close pursuit of 
 them. Calling his eldest son, instantly, then a 
 stout boy about fourteen years old, they sallied 
 forth with their gun, and nothing on but their 
 night clothes, to pursue this fell destroyer. By 
 this time the sheep had made a turn and were 
 coming, pell mell, toward the house with the 
 bear at their heels. Secreting themselves a mo- 
 ment until the sheep had passed, Mr. AVilley 
 sprang forth with his gun to salute his ursalean 
 majesty. Old bruin, stopping to see what his 
 ghostly visitor meant, was instantly fired at and 
 severely wounded. Mr. Willey and his boy, 
 with their axes, offered him a closer combat, and 
 he readily accepted the challenge. After two or 
 three charges they considered it the better part 
 of valor to retreat to the house, which they did, 
 closely pursued by the bear. While thev were 
 
WHITE MOUNTAINS. 19S 
 
 in the house reloading their gun, the enraged ani- 
 mal went round to a back window, through 
 which he endeavored to enter the house, to be 
 revenged of his antagonists. The room adjoining 
 being dark, and Mrs. Willey supposing the bear 
 to be on t\ie other side of the house, in attempt- 
 ing to look out through the window, put her 
 head within a few inches of his nose. On dis- 
 covering her perilous situation, she gave one of 
 those piercing female shrieks which make the 
 welkin ring, and fell back on the floor. By this 
 time they had reloaded their gun and now issued 
 forth to renew the combat. But owing to the 
 bad state of the powder, they were unable to 
 fire the gun again. Perceiving the bear to be 
 gaining strength, and now showing signs of an 
 intention to retreat to the woods, after a few mo- 
 ments' consultation, they determined to make 
 another desperate effort to kill him with their 
 axes. Mr. Willey, after receiving strong assu- 
 rances from his boy that he would stand by him, 
 approached the bear a second time, and by one 
 well directed blow on his head, felled him to the 
 ground. 
 
 After passing Conway you will come into 
 Bartlett, and I will give you some account of the 
 early settlements there, as I received them from 
 Richard Garland, Esq., in his eighty-second 
 year. His intellect and memory is good now in 
 his advanced age, and he says that in December, 
 1783, he was one inhabitant among five who 
 came into that location, and that there were but 
 few inhabitants for a distance of thirty-six miles, 
 17 
 
194 HISTORY OF THB 
 
 mostly woods, seventy-five miles from Dover, 
 where they had to go for their provisions ; and 
 then they had them to draw on a hand-sleigh, in 
 the winter, over a little bushed path, without a 
 bridge : and the Roule, in Conway, when the 
 streams were open, went down the Saco river 
 in boats, or rather canoes, which they made out 
 of a large tree by digging it out and making it 
 large enough to carry several hundred weight, 
 and when they came to a place where the falls 
 prevented their passing, they would unlade their 
 boats and carry their provisions and boat until 
 they came to a smooth place again* At one 
 time the inhabitants got out of provisions and 
 sent for new supplies, and there came on a 
 heavy rain, and the Saco river was risen to 
 that height, they could not get back for some 
 time, and those they left of their families, had 
 to stint themselves to live on seven potatoes 
 per diem, until their return with provisions. 
 After some years this Mr. Garland had got a 
 small piece of land cultivated, and it then 
 needed ploughing, and two of his neighbors 
 offered him a team, if he could get a plough ; 
 he then went seven miles and borrowed the 
 nearest one, in the morning, brought it home on 
 his back, and his neighbor used it for him ; 
 while he the same day did a great day's work, 
 at piUng timber ; and, at noon, he went one and 
 a half miles and bought fifty pounds of hay to 
 feed his team on, and this hay he carried home 
 on his back, and at night he carried this same 
 plough home on his own back which made him 
 
WHlTfi MOUNTAiNS. 195 
 
 thirty-one miles, and half the distance with a 
 load, besides doing a good day's work, and 
 then, as he says, was welcomed to partake of the 
 bounties which a kind wife had provided, and 
 then could sit down in their humble cot with her 
 and their family of young children, without fear 
 or trouble. As they at that period began to 
 raise enough to support their families, they had 
 only seventeen miles to go to mill, and in the 
 winter God provided them with a good bridge of 
 ice, and in the summer they crossed in canoes 
 the Saco river. His family in those days, as the 
 old gentleman says, was a happy one ; but he did 
 not realize it then as he now does, while he can 
 look back to that time when he would work hard 
 all day, and, at night, come in and take his sup- 
 per, and then he would in the evening return to 
 his work ; and his wife, after putting her child- 
 ren to rest, would go out with him and pick u}) 
 the small brush and keep him a good light to 
 work by, until nine o'clock ; she then would go 
 in and make us a cup of tea, which we could 
 partake of together, and then we could retire to 
 rest, happy in our humble engagements, trying 
 to get an honest living. 
 
 In 1790, in the month of June, Pequacket 
 being incorporated into towns ; Bartlett was in- 
 corporated, under Governor Bartlett, and called 
 after his name. In August, they had a town 
 meeting and chose town officers. Jonathan Tas- 
 ker, tirst selectman ; John Pende.xter, second ; 
 Thomas Spring, third ; Richard Garland, first 
 constable and collector of taxes in Bartlett. The 
 
196 HISTORY or THE 
 
 next winter they had a school ; Moses Bigelow 
 was the in'st teacher of this school, of about fif- 
 teen schools, and now they have their large 
 schools, which will average, in the year 1844, 
 over one hundred and fifty scholars, and they 
 have one hundred and fifty voters in this small 
 valley amidst these mountains. There was a 
 time when one of these inhabitants had got en- 
 tirely out of meat, and came to this Mr. Garland 
 for some to carry into the woods, while he went 
 and found some moose to make meat for his fam- 
 ily. Mr. Garland gave him half he had him- 
 self, and then the man steered along for the 
 woods, and in a few days, he returned as rich as 
 any man could be seemingly with news of having 
 killed light moose, fine and fat. He then gave 
 Mr. Garland three hundred pounds of this meat, 
 provided he would take a hand-sleigh and go 
 bring in in, which he did, and he now says that 
 a bigger man never need be than he was then 
 with this supply, great as it was, of meat. As 
 they had began to make a road, some people in 
 Portland offered to give any man a barrel of 
 rum, if he would get it up through the Notch, and 
 Capt. Rosebrook volunteered his services, went 
 to Bartlett with his horse and car, and on the 
 other side of the Saco made a raft, rolled on 
 this proffered barrel, and then stood in water up 
 to his knees, and with a long pole pushed it 
 across ; he then, with the assistance of others, 
 this Mr. Garland was one, put it upon his car 
 and carried it up through the Notch, at least jas 
 much of it as was left through the politeness of 
 
WHITK .MOUNTAINS. 
 
 197 
 
 those who helped manage the atVair. Tliis was 
 the first article brouglvt up through where the 
 road goes now, and the first article of loading 
 ever "brought down, was a barrel of tobacco, 
 raised in Lancaster, by one Titus Brown, and the 
 road was so crooked, they were forced to cross 
 the stream, as Mr. Garland says, thirty-two times 
 to get from Bartlett to the top of the Notch, 
 where now is the Notch House and the Post 
 Office, where Thomas J. Crawford now lives. 
 The first white child born in Conway, was Jere- 
 miah Lovejoy, eighty-two years ago. Leaving 
 Conway you will pass along through Bartlett 
 till you come to Hart's Location. This was 
 located to Thomas Chadbourne, by Governor 
 Wentworth, under the crown of Great Britain, 
 for services rendered by Chadbourne in the old 
 Indian wars, and was called Chadbourne's loca- 
 tion. Chadbourne sold it to Richard Hart, for 
 $1500, and then the name was changed to 
 Hart's Location. Then you will come against 
 Sawyer's Rock, which com.es down near the 
 river, so that there is just room for the road ; and 
 this derived its name from the circumstance of 
 Nash and Sawyer, when they first were bushing 
 the path for a horse to travel in, through the 
 Notch ; they got down as far as here, and camped 
 for the night, and in the morning they emptied 
 their junk bottle of its contents, and Sawyer 
 broke it against the rock, and gave it the name 
 of Sawyer's Rock, and it has ever since borne 
 that name. And this was the first Temperance 
 meeting on the Saco river, or, so far as my re- 
 
.198 HlSTOllY or THE 
 
 membrance is concerned, in history, in liie 
 AVhite Mountains. 
 
 Some time after this there were two men rid- 
 ing on horseback, by the names of Blake and 
 Moidton, and they saw near the rock two moose 
 at play. They sprang from they horses and 
 frightened them. They attempted to jump the 
 rock, but the men having the advantage, caught 
 one of them by the hind leg, and with a jack- 
 knite, cut off liis heel cords, and hamstrung him. 
 They then went up and cut his throat ; and as 
 they were travelers and had not the means of 
 saving the meat, they went down to Bartlett, and 
 gave it to the inhabitants, who were glad to re- 
 ceive it. This happened, father thinks, forty 
 years ago. 
 
 There are in this Location eight voters and 
 twenty-six children under sixteen years of age, 
 and they had a school house built in 1844. It 
 accommodates only four familes, on account of 
 the distance they live apart, and the rest have to 
 board their children from home, if they give 
 them a chance for a school. 
 
 Then you will come up to my father's. Here 
 the stage stops and changes horses. Here the 
 traveler may stop for a time, if he chooses, as 
 Mr. Davis, last season, made a horse path from 
 his house to the top of Mount Washington. This 
 was done with considerable expense to him, and 
 for no other reason, than to accommodate those 
 who miglit prefer going from there on the moim- 
 tains, as they had several line views in going 
 that way. He charges the same as others do 
 
WHITE MOUNTAINS. 199 
 
 for guiding travelers up the mountains. Gen- 
 tlemen and ladies also can ascend. Then you 
 will, after leaving father's, come to what is call- 
 ed tJie Old Notch House, which place was set- 
 tled, uncle William says, about fifty-three years 
 ago, by one Mr. Davis, who first began there. 
 Since which period, others have lived there for 
 a short time, until Samuel Willey bought the 
 place, and repaired it. He with his family lived 
 there, till that dreadful night hi August, when 
 all were destroyed by the great storm, described 
 in the [foregoing pages ; then John Pendexter 
 built the barn, and that stands there still, and he 
 improved it. Others have lived there, by turns, 
 until last season Mr. Fabyan made thorough re- 
 pairs, both on the house and stable, and this sea- 
 son he has built a new frame for a house, sev- 
 enty feet by forty, for himself, when by next 
 season, he may be prepared for company that 
 visiting the mountains, wish to spend a portion 
 of their time at the Willey House. This place 
 which is now nothing but sand and gravel, was 
 over a beautiful valley, covered with maple, and 
 there used to be a great quantity of sugar made 
 there. And then you will come up through the 
 Notch to Thomas Crawford's, called the Notch 
 House. He has a road to the mountain, nearly 
 in the same place I first traveled, which was the 
 first path ever made to the top of Mount Wash- 
 ington. You will pass along to where a man 
 and his wife were once traveling, with one horse, 
 in what used to be called a pung, and met in 
 Jheir way a moose' The snow was deep, and 
 
^00 BISTORT OF THE 
 
 he thinking he had a right to liis path, refused 
 to turn out ; but when they came . near, the 
 moose jumped over the whole concern and just 
 cleared the woman's head. 
 
 Then from the Notch four miles will bring 
 you to the old Rosebrook stand, where once 
 stood, in or near the road, a shed seventy feet 
 long ; and as some hunters were pursuing a 
 moose, he came into the road and went directly 
 through this shed, passed on by the house, and 
 made for the river, and went down the falls, dis- 
 locating one of his knee joints. The hunters 
 followed about three miles, caught him and made 
 a grand feast of him. It was in those days no 
 uncommon thing to find these animals at any 
 time when they were hunted for. 
 
 This ancient Rosebrook place is thirty-six 
 miles from Conway, eighteen from Lancaster, 
 eighteen from Franconta, and a good road we 
 now have over Cherry Mountain, where once 
 was a good turnpike, and it may be traveled 
 with safety, both summer and winter towards 
 Jefferson ; this place, also, is eighteen miles 
 from Littleton ; and stages run six times a week 
 alternately, coming from Conway Mondays, 
 Thursdays, add Saturdays — resting on Sundays, 
 and arrives at either place, at night, fifty-four 
 miles apart ; and when you get to the old Rose- 
 brook Place, you are in the most romantic scen- 
 ery, perhaps, this side the mountains. 
 
 The reader may suppose me partial to this 
 place, and well he may, as I have lived here so 
 long, and have seen good times with my friends, 
 
WHITE MOUNTAINS. 201 
 
 who extend all over the land in every du'ection ; 
 and from this place, also, we have a good horse 
 path to Trinity Height, the summit of Mount 
 Washington. Nearly seven miles of this road 
 is over a comparative level surface, and two and 
 one quarter miles is on rising ground ; and many 
 have seated themselves on a hoi*se at the house, 
 and never dismounted until they have been to 
 the top of the mountain and returned. This can 
 be accomplished in six to nine hours. Parties 
 often stop by the way and fish for trout. These 
 in old times were plenty, and of large size ; but 
 in this day, having so many fishing for them, 
 they do not have time to grow very large before 
 they are called for. But they are excelleat, ail- 
 though small. Trout is the only kind of fish 
 caught in these cold streams about the Hills, and 
 not much game is left excepting deer, which 
 live here yet, and are caught now and then by 
 having good dogs to find and follow them until 
 tired out — sometimes the dog kills them, some- 
 times the hunter. Sometimes they are driven 
 to the meadow, sometimes to the Pond, where 
 they are hunted after in canoes, and taken or 
 killed. 
 
 As in the Providence of God, every thing 
 changes in this world, the weather now is not so 
 cold as it formerly was ; we have now scarcely 
 a week of steady cold, when, in former times, 
 I have heard grandmother say, she has seen six 
 weeks at a time that neither the heat from her 
 log cabin, nor the sun would soften the snow so 
 much as to cause one drop of water to fall from 
 
203 HlSTOJtr OF THK 
 
 the eaves of the house ; and we now seldom 
 liave over two feet of snow at a time, and in 
 years past it was no uncommon thing to have 
 from six to nine feet. I have [seen nine feet 
 measured upon a level surface, and have known 
 the snow to fall in less than twenty-four hours, 
 twenty-seven inches. Yet we have early and 
 late frosts in the spring, and early frosts in the 
 fall, which prevents our raising such things as 
 the frost injures ; but we generally can raise 
 good oats and potatoes, and somtimes wheat, rye 
 and peas. In 1820, I raised some round corn, 
 but have never since had any get ripe. There 
 is not a better place in New England for cattle 
 and sheep, than this. Goats and mules would 
 do well, but they are too troublesome. 
 
 We can now go to Portland and back with a 
 team, in from six to eight days ; in old times, it 
 has taken twenty-two days to go from Lancas- 
 ter to Portland, and back : and the snow was so 
 deep at one time that they were obliged to leave 
 their horses seven days in one place before they 
 could be moved. The average time of snow in 
 the fall is about the first of Novvember, and it 
 goes off generally the first of April, so thai about 
 the middle of May, we here begin to plough and 
 prepare our ground for raising such things as the 
 climate will permit. Fowls do well here, such 
 as ducks, geese, chickens ; and the turkey hero 
 is excellent. WeYhaye kept pigeons, but they 
 never seemed to increase to do much, only 
 serving to amuse the children. Bees do well 
 here and are common in the woods. They 
 
WHITE MOUNTAINS. 20H 
 
 make the best flavored honey, as they have such 
 a variety of wild flowers to extract their sweets 
 from. As for pork, we do not raise enough here 
 to support our own famihcs ; but depend on buy- 
 ing, principally, for our own use. There is 
 some maple sugar made in different places about 
 these mountains, but little in comparison to what 
 there was in former times. And the probable 
 amount of trout caught from one year to another, 
 according to my judgment, in the Amanoosuc 
 and Saco rivers, is from six to seven hundred 
 weight. The average weight is from four ounces 
 to eight. There have been some caught here, 
 forty years ago, that would weigh four and five 
 pounds, and many and large ones now are found 
 in the vicinity, in several directions. And sal- 
 mon have been taken here, fifty years since, of 
 ten pounds weight. Three or four hundred dif- 
 ferent Alpine White Mountain plants are found 
 about here ; and there are still found on some of 
 the slides, near the Willey, or old Notch House, 
 handsome minerals or crystalized quartz. There 
 used to be great quantities of fur taken round 
 these mountains ; but wild animals have all 
 been hunted so much, they are getting to be 
 scared ; but there is some sable or martin, and 
 some few other animals caught every year. I 
 will give the minutes of the weather. 
 
204 
 
 WHITE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 1844. 
 
 
 
 k 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 July 22, 
 
 38 
 
 87 
 
 60 
 
 July 27, 
 
 28 
 
 68 
 
 56 
 
 " 23, 
 
 67 
 
 78 
 
 66 
 
 " 28, 
 
 30 
 
 78 
 
 54 
 
 ♦' 24, 
 
 49 
 
 79 
 
 60 
 
 " 29, 
 
 54 
 
 78 
 
 63 
 
 *' 25, 
 
 52 
 
 66 
 
 51 
 
 " 30, 
 
 50 
 
 71 
 
 64 
 
 *' 26, 
 
 38 
 
 70 
 
 56 
 
 " 31, 
 
 64 
 
 66 
 
 58 
 
 
 QQ tN» 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 C5 fc* 
 
 &j 
 
 
 2 "^ 
 
 g 
 
 
 ~ '^>. 
 
 
 
 2 rT 
 
 
 
 S '^'* 
 
 g 
 
 
 
 Cl 
 
 
 s- ^ 
 ^ ^ 
 
 i^ 
 
 
 ^^ 
 
 
 
 ha 
 
 
 1845. 
 
 N 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 January 3( 
 
 ), 
 
 *8 
 
 10 
 
 *4 
 
 February 4 
 
 , 
 
 *2 
 
 10 
 
 4 
 
 31 
 
 
 15 
 
 *1 
 
 *5 
 
 5 
 
 
 20 
 
 IS 
 
 14 
 
 February ] 
 
 l' 
 
 *22 
 
 *2 
 
 *21 
 
 6 
 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 " i 
 
 > 
 
 *33 
 
 *6 
 
 *12 
 
 7 
 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 I, 
 
 *34 
 
 *8 
 
 *6 
 
 8 
 
 
 *1 
 
 6 
 
 3 
 
 *Below zei 
 
 0. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 This is the register of the thermometer for A. 
 D. 1844 — 5. When, on the whole, we had a 
 moderate winter, for this part of the country, and 
 the summers, in general, are not so warm as 
 they were formerly. As the land is cleared, 
 perhaps the winds in summer having greater 
 range, render the atmosphere more pleasant; 
 and in winter, snow that used to fall upon the 
 stumps and bushes, and all level places, is blown 
 off by the winds, and there is generally a cooler, 
 more dry, and salubrious air. 
 
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 Treatment Date 
 
 1SS8 ' 
 
 -^lil^L MAY ^^^ 
 
 ^V7^ ^a-WW-l I' ^„.,.-i .MM f Pf.HNQLOolbb. LP. 
 
 PRESERVATION 1 hCHNOLOGIES. 
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 Cranberry Township. PA 16066 
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