The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1874-08-10
The White Mountains in 1870.

The writer of the following lines was one
of five young men, all then residing in Con-
cord, who left town on a hot July morning
forty-hve years ago on pedestrian excur-
sion to to the White Mountains. The per-
sonal occurrences during the round trip
would, if given, be of no general interest,
and it need only be remarked that we left
Concord on the morning of Saturday and
returned IN the evening of the second fol-
lowing Friday. The route was hence by
Centre Harbor and Conway, returning by
the valley of the Pemigewasset; walking
from Bristol to Concord on the last day of
the excursion, as thoroughly exhausted
creatures as ever went forth upon a tramp.
But there were some personal expert
ences which are in such contrast with those
of excursionists of the present period that
they may be of interest to many people.
1t is believed by the writer that there
were not in July, 1929, twenty-five people
in the entire White Mountain region, abroad
for the same purpose as ourselves. The
celebrated Benjamin Russell, proprietor
and manager of the equally celebrated Col
umbian (Rsiton) Centind (the major in
sisted upon the use of of c, instead of 5, in
the caption of the paper) with two other
Boston gentlemen, were sojourning day
or two in the tavern at Conway Corner,
North Conway being then unknown as II
resort for summer travellers. We had seen
Major Russell nine years before, and now,
as them he was clad in brown broad cloth,
and held in his hand the same capacious
snuffbox. Passing it to one of his asso.
ciates, he made this remark; IL think this
town was named for General Conway, a
member of the British Parliament, and
rather an apologst of the American Revo-
luton" Excepting Major Russell and his
two associates, and Mr. Bartlett, merchant
OF Boston, brother of Ichabod, and two or
three others, with us at the Notch, we saw
no other eXcursionsts in the mountain re.
gion,
In July, 1929, Thomas ] Crawford had
just opened small house for the enter
tainment OF travellers 1t stood few rods
east of the present Crawford house, and
contained sleeping apartments sufficient for
twenty to thirty guests. The bill of fare
was about as follows bread, white and
brown; cold corned beef; veal; bakers
crackers, and coffee and tea. Mr. Crawford
was our guide to the summit of Mt. Wash
ington, carrying, in canvas bag, thrown
over his shoulders, subsistence for the day,
corresponding in kind TO that served at
breakfast. The powers of endurance of the
five youths who followed Mr. Crawford in
single file may be judged, when il is stated
that we travelled to the summit of Mt.
Washington over all the peaks south of it,
descended by what was then known as
"Jacob's Ladder" thence to the Ethan
Crawford house, near the present Fabyan
place, and thence ''to the bound begun at"
making eighteen miles of mountain travel,
in sixteen hours. 1t was day the fatigue
of which will never be forgotten.
One circumstance more, and this desul-
tory article will be brought to a close. Our
party, on the return trip, sought shelter and
food in an implanted, one-story, waysde
inn, near the present Profile house We
were hungry MS the wolves which then so
abounded in that wilderness as to make it
necessary to house the sheep every night,
and were glad to eat the coarsest food in an
apartment where poultry of all kinds and
ages enjoyed "the freedom of the city," AZ
ter eating of rye and corn bread, sailed
beef crackers and honey, and purchasing
that variety of then cigars known as "long
mines, the only ones in the house, the
Concord eXcursionists departed down the
valley of the Pemigewasset And now the
reader is furnished with some information
by which to contrast the conditions of sum
mer excursionists in 1874 with those of
ls29.-"M," in Concord (N H. Monitor.