Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1901-07-17
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AUGUSTA LOCALS.
NORTHERN MAINE.
Trip Through the Garden Spot
of the Country.
Thrifty and Prosperous Towns in
Great County of Aroostook.
n. E. Bowditch Describes PICTURESQUE Scenes
Along .. & A. Raj road.

| and her vast resources that to the no
vice 1t isTather a difficult task to know
! wnere 70 begin. IL. f.. Bowditch, VIII,
has just returned from a most delight.
full ipssthrough northern Maine ant
the border towns along the Canadian
frontier. has1pade some waysi lie notes
| winch he places before the journal
readers. hoping shat they may be tn,
means of turning Some sportsman OF
pleasure seeker toward the garden spo,
of Maine, Aroostook county.
| The traveller who has journeyed
through this vast domain in the olden
days. long before the. iron horse made
travel "A luxury. when the county was
in its infancy and its primitive ways
ana still more primitive mode of travel
made a journey into this far north ter
iltoly a sabbath day Journey, woult!
hardly recognize the Aroostook county
of today. o. vs.
Looking backward to the year 1899
we find the general government decid-
ed that the counties of Penobscot and
Washington were too cumbersome and.
by an act of the Legislature, divided!
these two counties and formed what is
now Aroostook county.
Later on in taG years 1S43 and 1874.
they borrowed .0me more territory
| from Piscataqui; snd Somerset coun-
/ ties and again from the mother county
Penobscot. until today Aroostook has
an area of $500 square miles, or sever
al times larger than the state of Rhode
Island and larger than Rhode Island
and Connecticut combined
| TO induce actual settlers to populate
| this immense county the State inaugu-
rated a very liberal policy OF selling to
| any and All VINO Wudld come i'll and
| take up land and settle upon it. 4 100
acre tract at 50 cents per acre. The
| whole amount to be p2ii for in labor
| on the public roads. OF u. tically their
| own roads.
This liberal induccmcnt on the part
Of the State had the desired effect and
| brought settlers in large numbers into
| the county who took up land undcT
| this honest aad act and developed them
! until today. Aroostuok county is the
| garden spot of Maine.
After the vast agricultural possibiii-
ties Of this great county began To he
| known and appreciated, the building
of a railroad "a open up AMI deVei"p
| in touch with the state and the out
side world begun to b. agEitated.
Meetings ware held. resolutions were
| passed favorinC railroad, III" only
| newspaper in the county. Tho Republic
! can, did EeGmanS work in keeping
the railroad project hcfor" TIC public.
ana the prospect looked more than bril-
| liant that the much talked Of ARGOS
| took Railroad would mat"rialiZ" ana
! become q certainty hut by the break
inc out of the civil War the railroad
project was swept aside like cobwcbS
ana the push and enterprise of Aro"s-
took county was turned toward the
conflict in the South ami 10 the keep
iug Of Names quota full.
The railroad project wac not dead.
however. only smouldcrinc and with
the dawn OF peace in the latter part OF
the COS, the project was again taken
up AMI brought to the front Til" Bur
leighs. who have been Identified with
Aropstook county and its early devel-
opmcat. and who have travcrsed the
| length and breadth of tn" county with
transit and level ON surveys, and VINO
know every inch of the county FROM
the Pcnobscot to the Canadian lnc'
took the matter in hand and with the
able assistance Of +. W. cram, Esq.
noW the efficient head at this great
vaiioad system and Others. pushed the
road to a finish.
Tho promoters Of the road mot with
obstacle after obstacle that would have
discouraged and disheartcncd less de-
tcrmincd men, but to them the die
and. today. Aroostook county and tn"
great north is rcapng the reward OF
their push and enterpris" by seeing
this q eat northern country opened up
to travel and in touch with the out
side world. Even the most sanSuine OF
it's supporters hardly dared to proph-
ccy the phenomenal growth OF the -
& a. Railroad.
| President Cram, who Is thorough
railroad man and can fill any position
with ability from the executive head
of this vast system to handling the
throttle on an engine, saw IN" posi-
bilities of Aroostook county and its
brilliant future and has given to tht
people of northern Maine road sec
ond t. none in equipment and serve"
Every part of this great system mas
been built upon honor.
This road has a total mileage of So
miles and c6 miles of side tracks ant
spurg. The whole system is. laid WITT
10pound steel rails. 1S-inch ballas
oyer gOo1 road bed. There arc some
CA modern iron bridges on the line
Even rs far north as Van Buren, on'
finds tn" same thorouGhncSs Of detail
the same substantial road bed, tht
same heavy rails and masonry anf
bridge work built with view OF
strength and safety. Nothing has beer
omitted and above all the same courte-
Gus treatment that is a part and parce
of b. IL A. from one end of the sys
TEN to the other
AroOStook is one of the Wealthies
counties in the State in natural re
""urC"S. It's immense water power ha.
been but partially developed while it!
supply of lumber is unfailing. Al
= along the line of the Il. & A.. industrie.
have sprung up that are giving EN-
. ployment to thousands and in agricul
, tural pursuits Aroostook stands first
T. The potato industry has given ARGOS