The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1894-08-03
Attractions for Tourists
NeWbury, VT.

N0WOAIfg 49,
That well characterized portion 0
the Connecticut river valley which ha
its broadcast expansion IN Newbury
VT, and Haverbill, n. II had earl,
in the history of New England up
country colonizing projects the repu
tation of being highl. desirable trac
for settlement. Early explorers foun6
portions of the broad intervals in thu
two towns mentioned already cleared
and covered with tall. rank grass
having been previously cultivated by
the Indians for the purpose, as has
supposed, of raising Indian corn.
decade before the settlement began
plans were talked of for taking posses
sion of the ''rich meadows of Cohos'
(the Indian name of the territory
Then, as now, a frequented passage
way between the st. Lawrence river
and the Atlantic coast lay through
"Cohos." Reports of it had been heard
from adventurous hunters and from
captlves who had been token to Cana
ola and allowed to return One of the
prisoners thus taken through the
"meadows" by the Indians was John
Stark, afterwards General Stark. The
"interestlng account of Cohos' given
by Stark and his companion in captivi-
ty was added to the previous stock of
knowledge of the region $50 much
talked of in Massachusetts and New
Hampshire"
Dangers from the Indians caused
some delay in the occupation of a
country separated by wide expanse
of forest from any home of white men !;
still, this 'garden of New England"
did not have to wait for occupants I'M.
til civilization could reach it by pro-
gressive stages-the nearest neighbors
of its first white inhabitants being fully
sixty miles distant. Thus, for two
decades before the revolution the
"Cohos country" enjoyed a fame
which, since the opening of the prairie
era seems quite out of proportion with
its moderate dimensions.
For lovers of fine scenery it has at
fractions besides those which drew
the first settlers through the painless
forest. 1t possesses untold wealth of
landscape. The far. famed New Hamp-
shire mountains it claims by natural
right as its background They, or
some of them, are almost always and
everywhere visible; their outlines seen
in the distance through the mellowing
valley atmosphere forming delightful
visual horizon. Even as low down as
the track of the Passumpsic rail-
road, they present grand aspect but
every little eminence especially on the
west or Newbury side. exalts the pros
pect in their direction materially.
Osgood's "White Mountains" gives
a somewhat extended description of
this valley with its views, allowing to
Newbury more than twice the space
allotted TO any other town in the
vicinity; yet after all it omits the |
broadest and territorially grandest |
views TO be had in the town. These |
most extended and comprehensive
views, which, considering the ease
with which they may be had, are re-
markabe, are-very NATURALIZATION
the higher points at some distance |
from the river. The best panoramic |
outlook of this kind is 10 be had from |
an eminence not far from the south
westerly corner. some fourteen or
fifteen hundred feet above the river,
but to which one can ascend in a car
riage, and look at mountains far to the
northeast of Lancaster, n H., at
Mount Washington with its accom-
pany ing presidential peaks. Mounts
Lafayette and Moosilauke, the tips of
mountains in southern New Harnp.
shire-perhaps Kearsarge and Monad-
nock-thus taking in almost the whole
length of New Hampshire; while in
Vermont Ascutney and the eastern
range of the Green Mountains appear
in bold relief, occasional glimpses of
the Green Mountains proper being add
ed in clear day, and the northward
prospect reaching near, if not beyond
Canada line.
Besides the mountains, the valleys
of this region-eminently the river
valley proper-are objects of unusual
aesthetic interest. What biologists
call the terrace formation, which at
tanned high development in northern
New England, exists here in its greatest
perfection and it is where the terraced
valley is brought into prominent view
as well as the mountain, that the beau
tiful in landscape is most fully real
lied. A drive on the river valley road,
running as it generally does not on the
bottom land but on a terrace often
sixty to seventy-five feet above, gives
a commanding overlook of farm lands
covered with almost tropically luxu.
RANT vegetation, and variegated with
frequent shade trees and the ever
stream. AT the same time
the eye takes in the majestic granite
hills which wall in this great landscape
garden.
But Newbury possesses a unique
landscape observatory, where one need
only go and gaze, TO feel his sight and
soul beautified. Next back of the
alluvial formation of the valley, and
along its westerly side, is extended for
several miles, with an occasional break
Or modification, a sort of plateau
having an elevation of say 450 to $50
feet above the river, and terminating
much of the way along its eastern edge
in a PERCEPTIONS slope or escarpment
facing the valley. In favorable state
IF the summer atmosphere there is af-
forded along the edge of the plateau a
view which to call enchanting is to