OWLS HEAD; 1865

Tags

Adirondack Mountains, Iron Mine, Owls Head, The Malone Palladium

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GLENWOOD STOVES; in Chateaugay

Tags

Adirondack Foothills, Adirondack Mountains, Chateaugay, Humphrey-Hyland, Kitchen Stoves

“ALL ABOARD; for Malone, Whippleville, Chasm Falls, Owls Head and Mountain View”

Tags

Adirondack Mountains, Malone, NY Central RR, Owls Head Mountain View, Whippleville

 

THREE BRIDGES; Same location, different eras

Tags

Adirondack Mountains, Saint Lawrence River Watershed

First Bridge; Boulders laid up by hand and beast

 

Second Bridge; Steel beam

 

 

 

Third Bridge; Steel and concrete

 

 

 

 

View From New Bridge

 

 

 

 

The Mind’s Eye

Tags

Adirondack Mountain Fishing, Adirondack Mountains, Saint Lawrence Watershed

 

 

VARIATIONS IN THE ADIRONDACK MOUNTAINS

Tags

Adirondack Mountains, Debar Mountain, Debar Pond, Headwaters, High Falls, Stone Chair

Debar Pond

And wildflowers found on its shores and bogs

 

High Falls

 

 

Headwaters

Abandoned Bridges and Mills

 

Including a Stone Chair; builder unknown

ADIRONDACK IMAGES AND TALES; Credits

Tags

Adirondack Guide, Adirondack Hotels, Adirondack Mountains, Adirondacks, Aiden Lair, Alfred Donaldson, Alvah Dunning, artists, Ausable, Blast Furnace, Blue Mountain Lake, Boreal Swamp, brook trout, Calamity Brook, canoe, Charles Hallock, chasm, Chateaugay, Daniel Craig McCallum, Dr. Joseph Stickler, Dr. Trudeau, Durant, E.R.Wallace, Eagle Lake, Edward Bierstadt, fly fishing, Fred, French Louis Seymour, geese, George Washington Sears, Herr Jagger, Indian Pass, Indian Pass Brook, J.T. Headley, Jay Gould, John Brown, John Leaf, Lean to, Leon Czolgosz, loggers, Marion River, McIntyre Iron Mine, Mission of the Transfiguration, Mitchell Sabattis, Monsieur LaPineaux, Moose River, Nessmuk, Nobleboro, Old Mountain Phelps, Old Ralph, Opalescent, Owls Head, Percy Bridge, Powerscourt Bridge, Railroads, Raquette Lake, Raquette River, Rushton Canoe, S.H.Hammond, Sabattis, saranac, Seneca Ray Stoddard, T. Addison Richards, Tahawus, Teddy Roosevelt, Thomas Tahauwas, Utowana Lake, Vanderwacker, Wallface, West Canada Creek, William Henry Harrison Murray, Woodcock, Zadock Pratt

This gallery contains 61 photos.

ADIRONDACK IMAGES AND TALES; The Future

Tags

Adirondack Guide, Adirondack Hotels, Adirondack Mountains, Adirondacks, Aiden Lair, Alfred Donaldson, Alvah Dunning, artists, Ausable, Blast Furnace, Blue Mountain Lake, Boreal Swamp, brook trout, Calamity Brook, canoe, Charles Hallock, chasm, Chateaugay, Daniel Craig McCallum, Dr. Joseph Stickler, Dr. Trudeau, Durant, E.R.Wallace, Eagle Lake, Edward Bierstadt, fly fishing, Fred, French Louis Seymour, geese, George Washington Sears, Herr Jagger, Indian Pass, Indian Pass Brook, J.T. Headley, Jay Gould, John Brown, John Leaf, Lean to, Leon Czolgosz, loggers, Marion River, McIntyre Iron Mine, Mission of the Transfiguration, Mitchell Sabattis, Monsieur LaPineaux, Moose River, Nessmuk, Nobleboro, Old Mountain Phelps, Old Ralph, Opalescent, Owls Head, Percy Bridge, Powerscourt Bridge, Railroads, Raquette Lake, Raquette River, Rushton Canoe, S.H.Hammond, Sabattis, saranac, Seneca Ray Stoddard, T. Addison Richards, Tahawus, Teddy Roosevelt, Thomas Tahauwas, Utowana Lake, Vanderwacker, Wallface, West Canada Creek, William Henry Harrison Murray, Woodcock, Zadock Pratt

BACK TO THE FUTURE; ABOUT TAHAWUS (BY TAHAUWAS)

or “WHAT IN THE DEVIL IS GOING ON UP IN TAHAWUS?”

The answer to that question immediately follows.

So that is what is going on up in Tahawus, NY.

Here is a look at the nice old ghost town before they started “refurbishing” it.

The following is a picture of the mine tailings that someone hopes to recycle.

 

 

 

I hope you realize that they have not stopped monkeying around with “MY” Adirondacks.

Probably never will.

Well, that is it. Thank you for coming to my cabin and visiting. It had been a long time since I pulled all those old photos out of my old “TEA CABINET.” Thank God the mice didn’t get in there and make nests out of them.

They do that, you know.

If I run across Dunning, Nessmuk or Old Mountain Phelps I will tell them you said “Hello.”

You be good now and keep an eye out for that old mountain lion; I hear he is still roaming around these parts.

 

ADIRONDACK IMAGES AND TALES; The Past

Tags

Adirondack Guide, Adirondack Hotels, Adirondack Mountains, Adirondacks, Aiden Lair, Alfred Donaldson, Alvah Dunning, artists, Ausable, Blast Furnace, Blue Mountain Lake, Boreal Swamp, brook trout, Calamity Brook, canoe, Charles Hallock, chasm, Chateaugay, Daniel Craig McCallum, Dr. Joseph Stickler, Dr. Trudeau, Durant, E.R.Wallace, Eagle Lake, Edward Bierstadt, fly fishing, Fred, French Louis Seymour, geese, George Washington Sears, Herr Jagger, Indian Pass, Indian Pass Brook, J.T. Headley, Jay Gould, John Brown, John Leaf, Lean to, Leon Czolgosz, loggers, Marion River, McIntyre Iron Mine, Mission of the Transfiguration, Mitchell Sabattis, Monsieur LaPineaux, Moose River, Nessmuk, Nobleboro, Old Mountain Phelps, Old Ralph, Opalescent, Owls Head, Percy Bridge, Powerscourt Bridge, Railroads, Raquette Lake, Raquette River, Rushton Canoe, S.H.Hammond, Sabattis, saranac, Seneca Ray Stoddard, T. Addison Richards, Tahawus, Teddy Roosevelt, Thomas Tahauwas, Utowana Lake, Vanderwacker, Wallface, West Canada Creek, William Henry Harrison Murray, Woodcock, Zadock Pratt

The next two days will be long.

Not for me, but rather for you – – – that is – – – if you read the whole thing.

Just a warning. Don’t become alarmed. Well – – – not yet anyway.

Today we will discuss the past. Tomorrow we will discuss the future.

HELP ME; I’VE LOST MY IDENTITY AND CAN’T FIND IT

(BY HIM)

I open this story with the only three things I can remember from my childhood; defined here as five years of age or younger.

First, and least important, I remember being in my crib and a man was looking through my window.

Second, and relatively unimportant, I fell into a swamp and almost drowned.

Third, and most importantly, I asked my mother who I was before I was me.

She almost went bezerk.

Now that we have the “possibly important facts” out of the way let us look at my stories in this book.

First, it started out as just a bunch of vintage Adirondack prints from the mid-1800′s.

Then I realized these prints needed a spokesman; so I invented Tahauwas, a take-off on “Tahawus” the original name of Mt. Marcy.

Tahauwas’ job was to keep the Adirondacks, in our memory if not in reality, as they originally were. They were left in our care by someone (I think it was God but you can put whoever you want in his place).

My stories have normally centered around “others.”

But this one is all about me.

This was originally intended to be short. In fact, it turned out to be the longest one in this series.The facts are as follows. They came to light as I looked for additional 1800′s Adirondack Mountain prints.

Those are all my confessions. Now we get on with the facts

First I was using MOA, the Making Of America, a digital Cornell University site.

As you can see I was looking at a September, 1859 issue of Harper’s New Monthly Magazine. I had homed in on “A Forest Story” written by T. Addison (full name T. Addison Richards).

Now you must remember that I am really “Tomosky” parading as “Tahauwas.” Why I decided to spell Tahawus as Tahauwas is beyond me. But Tahauwas I am, named after the Mountain that some fools renamed Mt. Marcy.

Well – – – let’s just let that go and not dwell on what they have done.

Let’s concentrate on my story; which I must admit, is terribly disjointed at this moment.

Something popped out of the page at me. It was the Adirondack Guide Tahawus who I was supposed to be.

I existed before I now exist.

Eerie!

As the story opens the writer, T. Addison Richards, finds himself in the midst of the thick Adirondack undergrowth and already misses the guide he found at Saranac. In the third paragraph of the story we find that the guide’s name is Tahawus.

But I am Tahauwas the Adirondack Guide. How could T. Addison Richards know such a fact seventy-eight years before I was born; 1938. Or maybe I should be asking myself how did I know I was someone “before I was me?” And how did I know I was to be Tahauwas?

But, on the other hand, what did T. Addison Richards know about Tahawus?

Ah yes! Addison’s view of me was that I was mercurial and would have been worse had not the beauty of the Adirondack Woods smoothed out my rough edges; he termed me a “misanthrope.” He also assumed I had made my village sweetheart, “Polly Ann”, into a scornful person.

Nice!

But then, much to Addison’s grief, he and his companion lose sight of the Mountain Trail and become lost. Now what does Addison do? He quickly reverses his viewpoint of me and knows that I would be of help. He almost sounds like he is in the middle of an atonement.

Desperate people do desperate things.

And through the night the men worried that there would be no survival. They had fired their guns, the normal signal for those lost, but to no avail. It was a fitful night. But then – – –

Now it is really getting scary. How did T. Addison Richards know that I had a close fishing and hunting pal by the name of Wescott? Not only did “my Wescott” know the Adirondacks but he was a 49′r; one of those people who climbed all 49 of the tallest Adirondack peaks.

There I was, reading what was supposed to be a nice North Woods story and looking at beautiful old prints but instead wondering if I am alive now or was I alive then – – – or yet – – – maybe both.

However, “A Forest Story” continued on. The two recently found men and the two guides, Tahawus and Wescott, are walking through the woods to their destination. A voice is heard and it is not a man’s.

Tahawus defended the capabilities of women in these forests. Following through, he suggested that they travel together. The party now numbered eight or nine, depending on whether you counted the hired help.

The troupe of eight thought they would see the whole of the area around the McIntyre Iron Works.

The party of eight followed their hearts to the following areas.

Now, as it turns out, the hired help is named Marianna. The ladies that she serves are quite inept in a canoe and can only catch fish when there are so many that the fish put themselves on the hook.

Marianna, in her apparent haste to learn the way of the North Woods, becomes a little to familiar with her watercraft and falls out. Tahawus comes to her rescue and pulls her into his skiff. Eyes meet and then glance to see if anyone has noticed.

On the next outing Tahawus shoots at their supper, a deer, but only wounds it. Marianna stands up in his skiff, grabs a gun and dispatches the deer with one shot.

Tahawus, or was it I, did not become irate at the situation. Just the opposite, he lauded her shooting and awarded the deer to her even though his first shot had wounded it.

In the end the party decided that the ascension of Mount Marcy would be the crowning glory of their newly combined group.

The view of the Santoni Range was marvelous.

Addison Richards decided that before the group departed he had to make a good farewell to Tahawus. It was not a farewell he took lightly. However, Tahawus had company.

And then T. Addison Richards, assuming that Tahawus was abandoning Polly Ann, attempted to make light of the uncomfortable situation.

So now we know that Tahawus was not mercurial nor a cad. We know that Marianna and Polly Ann were one and the same, and, as a bonus, she was already familiar with the North Woods.

Where does that leave me – – – and poor Wescott who never asked to be part of this story? He never poked around in old documents.

The only thing that I can advise you is don’t poke around in things that you have no business poking around in.

Am I Tomosky? Am I Tahawus? Or is this experience telling me I am T. Addison Richards? We are both writers separated by over one hundred years. Well – – – he is an artist – – – and an author – – – I write words; there is a big difference.

“MOM – – – – WHO WAS I BEFORE I WAS ME?”

ADIRONDACK IMAGES AND TALES; A Private Cottage

Tags

Adirondack Guide, Adirondack Hotels, Adirondack Mountains, Adirondacks, Aiden Lair, Alfred Donaldson, Alvah Dunning, artists, Ausable, Blast Furnace, Blue Mountain Lake, Boreal Swamp, brook trout, Calamity Brook, canoe, Charles Hallock, chasm, Chateaugay, Daniel Craig McCallum, Dr. Joseph Stickler, Dr. Trudeau, Durant, E.R.Wallace, Eagle Lake, Edward Bierstadt, fly fishing, Fred, French Louis Seymour, geese, George Washington Sears, Herr Jagger, Indian Pass, Indian Pass Brook, J.T. Headley, Jay Gould, John Brown, John Leaf, Lean to, Leon Czolgosz, loggers, Marion River, McIntyre Iron Mine, Mission of the Transfiguration, Mitchell Sabattis, Monsieur LaPineaux, Moose River, Nessmuk, Nobleboro, Old Mountain Phelps, Old Ralph, Opalescent, Owls Head, Percy Bridge, Powerscourt Bridge, Railroads, Raquette Lake, Raquette River, Rushton Canoe, S.H.Hammond, Sabattis, saranac, Seneca Ray Stoddard, Tahawus, Teddy Roosevelt, Thomas Tahauwas, Utowana Lake, Vanderwacker, Wallface, West Canada Creek, William Henry Harrison Murray, Woodcock, Zadock Pratt

I helped build this private cottage. It was one of the last buildings that I worked on. That is me, way over there on the right hand side, sitting on top of a stump. These are the first guests of the cottage owner. He just opened it up, brand new. I stay in the groundskeeper section of the place. That is my new job. I can’t do heavy work any longer. I have my own private door.

I have no idea what these people were thinking.

Look at those fancy dresses and hats on the ladies. And the guys are dressed up in their finest also. That fellow on the left has his knickers and a fine looking sport coat. The older guy, I can’t remember his name right now, he has a suit and a bowler hat. He is a guest of the owner. Why they dress like this to come up to the woods is beyond me.

I think the crisscross hemlock work on the porch railing adds a little Adirondack class to the cottage. The matching crisscross work around the foundation finishes it off.

I think we made a big mistake on the foundation. I wanted to use fieldstone like I had on the other cottages and lodges that I worked on. I am not sure who made the final decision to use Black Swamp Pine. Now usually Black Swamp Pine is fine. If it is kept under water it will never rot. That is why we use it for some of the work around the docks.

But see right there? Under each jointed section where the logs meet each other. Those are Black Swamp Pine foundation pillars. If the ground stays wet the pillars will last for years. But I don’t think that ground is going to be very wet with the building standing over it; especially with those nice wide eves on the roof.

I have to say that the choice of leaded glass windows was a nice touch. They only broke two of them when the buckboard brought them in. The owner hired a fellow from Utica to come up and re-lead the new glass panes.

He got the window job done but lost all his earnings in a poker game that evening.