Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1890-03-27
For the Ellsworth American
Reed's Lake and Eastern Maine.
M. Edifnr.

e Mr. Editor:
u Many writers who have Travelled In tn
. western states, some Of them citizens O
q Maine, speak in high terms of the west ,es
y pecialiy of its many and various resource.
d vast praires. rich agricultural lands an
d other inducements intended to invite imm
y grafton. But little is said Of billiards. an
{ cyci"nes that so frequently sweep over tn
. country, destroying both life and propert
J ana the withering droughts that occur
!. running their crops and everything Of veg
: etabie life (as 1t has in some OF thoS,
2 states the past year.) Then. again, tn,
7. enormous floods that overflow the river.
banks for miles in extent. carrying build
ings bridges and everyt thing In their rag
ing current, causing death and destruction
IN their course, are seldom or never men
toned
Ihe soil in the east is more sterile than
10 he west, but the east Is not troubled
with droughts or floods; tornadoes are
not known down east. The Held crops in
the eastern states may not be 80 much in
quantity per acre; but in quality they far
"xceed the crops in the western state.
wheat, cornsand other grain are consider.
Ell superior to grain grown in the western
states
When commenced to write this article
| intended To give Il brief narrative of
some places In eastern Maine that were fa.
miiiar 10 me In years gone by. | wrote
the above 10 draw a comparison between
| the west and the east and 10 show tbs, th,.
west is not paradise all the time | sun
pose the western states have advantages
and disadvantages. in common with every
other section of our country. In some of
the western states quite boom is got M
every year BY land spectators who are NOT
80 much In the interest Of the country A,
'hey are to rll their own pockets
VIII now Resume my narrative of what
first intended 10 write The little pamnb
let published by George H. HAYNES. Esq.
gives very fair and proper description nf
heed- Pond and vicinity. Changing The |
name To Green Lake think decidedly |
wrong as do many others, descendants Of /
the first settlers. They believe that W..
should preserve unchanged the original
and traditional names a. mementos Of
those old pioneers who made the fr,t per.
msnent settlement In Ellsworth In l763
'""'e thah 10 years ago have often
been Informed by grandfather BENJAMIN
JOY and Others of the first settlers. and AL
30 ny their children that Moses Reed WAS
the first white man that crossed IN. u.
'e'S oi Reeds Pond He and an Indian
guide crossed the pond IN a wherry which
the white men at that time called the In.
dish birch canoe. Reed and his cud,,
spent several days exploring ,h,. lax. and
Tue Iand bordering on the lake Soon af.
Ief' He with two young men, sons Of Ii.
settlers commenced hunting and further
A3plorin2 the lake and the small pond.
'"a' eHptied into II. In former years the
o"nd was generally called Reeds LAX.
"hich think It should be called at the
present time a. Reed was the hrst to ex-
lisu uett. Dca ---4 \
'ound on all the large brooks otter-.
ninks, martins and other small anmal-
we're exceedingly plentiful. | have often
n my younger days examined several of ,
hc>e dams. There were two dams on
wormwood brook emptying into the lake
IN the northwest cove. have No. doubt
e ~. ,,li !
twellers can now be found A beaver was
,aught on the Great brook in 1900 by John
10y and Nathaniel Jellison, which was
supposed To be the last one caught in the
State
JOY and Jellison, the young men above
mentioned, were great friends OF Reed and
" ere with him much of the time. hunting
On the lake and ponds and in the forest ,
the country, soon after the Revolutionsr,
war those young men spent large part
Of their time hunting, until they were old
men. Their friends said they were not ht
northern side Of Reeds Lake short dis
lance b low the narrows. In former years
abundance Of white FISH went up this
brook in the night In the spawning sea
son and could be taken By boat loads in nets
when returning to the lake. These fish
suppose were what are now called land
locked salmon. The source of the Great
brook is Mountain Pond and a small pond
l,.l I
Great brook passes The water Of those
ponds is very pure and that region has al
ways been select place for catching
trout and perch of superior quality.
Reed ami his young companions had camps
on the shores of several Of these ponds;
the one on Reeds Lake was above the mar
rows at place now called Jellisons Cove
The walls were built OF small logs and the
roof was covered with hemlock bark. The
walls of the one at Jellison's Cove was In
very good condition in 1915. and some
other boys with several young men repair
ed it at that time and camped in it Occa-
>ionally when hunting and fishing up the
lake Reed called Mountain Pond Caribou |
Pond. In the warm weather caribrus |
came to this pond in large numbers. The |
caribou and moose are never found to- |
gether; they avoid each other | have
been told by old hunters that in the
winter moose and deer yard in the low
and swampy land, few in place. The
caribou herd together and go from place
to place, preferring the high land and
mountain forest for winter homes. The
water that flows into Reeds LAKE is from
several small ponds and brooks, not from
bogs but from high lands and mountain
springs, which makes the water in the
lake 50 clear and pure.
| On and near the banks Of the lake many
| relics of ancient mould frequently have
been found, such as arrow heads, chisels
and other implements made of stone, and
mounds in several places near the lake
have been found where the aborigines
occasionally made their homes and buried
their dead warriors with all their impe-
ments both of war and peace The mounds
have often been desecrated by seekers Of
relics of race that are fast passing away