The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1892-08-18
Up the Allagash.
AN INTERESTING JOURNEY INTO THE
| WIIDS OF MAINE.
Correspondence of the journal.

PRESQUE Isle, AUG. ), 1892 by the
of three gentlemen of this place
have been enabled to take a ten days eN
cursion into that wild region of western
Aroostook which we so often hear de-
scrbed as the paradise of hunters and
fishermen. From what have seen these
reports are not exaggerated. Our party,
of Dr.. G.. H. Freeman, County
Attorney c. +. Daggett, Sheriff James
Bolton. MI Gilman Bolton. of Boston,
Pressure Isle on Monday morning, July %,
for Fort Kent-distance 81 miles. We
passed through the towns of Caribou
Woodland and New Sweden. and across
townships IL in Range 4, and II in Range
>. The road from New Sweden to Fort
Kent is a new one and through wild, and
for the most part heavily wooded region.
The only houses are those of the French
sauatters. who settle, cut and till the land
in spite of frequent evictions by the own
ers. We took dinner at the house OF a
MI Peterson in New Sweden. He is Il
very intelligent man and is prospecting on
his large farm, the gift of the State. The
houses of the French squatters are made
of logs, with log barns and out-houses.
Situated at intervals of several miles,
these LOG houses, surrounded by a small
clearing. with buckwheat growing among
the stumps, the spinning wheel by the
door. barefooted children playing about
the open air fire on which boiled a kettle
of water, presented an almost exact re-
production Of the home life Of early New
Engla nd in the days when J ohm Alden woed
the coy Priscilla. 1t was in the vicinity
of one of these houses that our second
carriage. containing DR.. Freeman and MI.
Gilman Bolton, met with what might east
ly have been fatal accident. One end of
the pole became detached and fell on the
horses heels. They ran downa steep hill
and Just at the bottom the carriage over
turned, throwing its occupants beneath.
Fortunately they escaped with only few
bruises. Cutting away the top OF the car
riage we proceeded to Fort Kent, which we
reached at ) p. III. Here we passed the
house of the somewhat notorious Neddo,
who recently shot United States deputy
Marshal who came to arrest him for sell
ing liquors without license. Also here
are the old barracks used at the time OF
the bloodless ''Aroostook War;" and an
old block house erected in 1913. Crossing
the river on ferry we took the train fol
Connors, the western terminus of the Tenn
iscouata railroad. Here we found a sur
prise in the shape of a most charmingly
neat and new hotel. Connors is but a
small settlement a steam saw MILL the
railroad station, one store in which is the
Post Office the fine residence of Mr.. Con
nor's and the hotel. 1t contains only about
20 rooms yet cost over $50, 0O0
At ) the next morning we took the boat
which was to carry us up the st. Johns
and the Allagash as far as the falls. The
craft was one of those used in this region
for carryi z 9 supplies to the lumber camps.
The st. Johns and its tributaries are here
shoal and for the most part rapid, and
these boats are made long and wide and
draw. when loaded. not over 6 OF S inches
Our boat was about 80 feet long, Q wide,
and drew about 4 inches of water. She
was manned by a crew of five men, who
thoroughly understood the business of
river boating. Here we were joined by
W. Ii. Cunlitfe, ESD. of Kent, who is an
extensive lumber operator and who owned
the boat and furnished our supplies: also
Nh Hampton Page. collector at Fort Kent,
and his son Hampton. il. Slowing our
selves away under the canvas covering
which had been spread over the stern of
the boat we watched with much interest
the process of locomotion A pair of
stout horses. one of whom carried the
craft by tow line about 125 feet long
The length of this line enabled the driver
generally to ride near the shore while the
boat kept the channel. 1t was a novel
spectacle to see the horses FLASHING along,
now near the shore, now in the very mid
die Of the river, and occasionally swim
ming with only their backs and heads Wis
ible and all the while we kept moving up
the current, through swift, smooth water,
and anon through riffs where the water
boiled and seethed as it whirled over the
rocks. In such places the skill of our
captain and his crew was displayed. Him
self standing in the stern with the tiller
of the long sweep in his hand carefully
watching the current and measuring the
distances with his practiced eye-his crew
standing in the bow with long poles with
which they assisted in keeping the some
what unweildy craft in the channel, soon
freed us from any mementry uneasiness
that we may have felt, and inspired us
with full confidence that we were perfect
~ safe.
In this way we proceeded to the mouth
of the St. Francis. Here the boundary
line leaves the st. Johns and follows it's
tributary. Opposite the mouth of this
stream, on the American side, is the birth