Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1910-11-16
ut. DESERT ISLAND.
THE QUEEN OF AMERICAN SUM
MER RESORTS.
GROWTH OF BAR HARBoR FROM FISH
ING VILLAGE TO PRESENT M
PogTANCE.


There is one spot on the coast OF Maine
where Champlain got the better OF Sseur
de Monts. While the latter was explor-
ing his newly-fonnd possessions on the
shores Of the Passams4uoddy, the other
French adventurer Was admiring the
beauties and the environments OF French
mans bay. Especially was his attention
directed to one great island where the
mountains came down to the sea, and to
this discovery he gave the name OF l.
Isle des Monts Desert. Translated into
plain English this would mean, 1.-THE isle
Of the desert mountains" which would
seem to imply that the spot wa more
barren and desolate than it Is to-day.
II is long stretch of time from the
present back to the year 1904, and the
great crags and bleak ocean buttes looked
far different to the adventurous French
msn than to the modern CrRsus who
builds his magnificent summer home on
their betting submits. Little did Cham
plain dream what the future had in store,
nor could he with prophetic ken foresee
the changes that time would bring in the
minds OF men. II was an age OF adven-
ture. hardships and privation, and there
was no eye for beauty ror conception Of
the age Of pleasure which was yet to be.
In speaking Of Mount Desert we natu-
rally associate il with Bar Hsrbor, without
stopping to think that the latter 10 but
one community while the island covers q
space Of one hundred square miles. 1t is
the largest island on the coast OF New
England and also the most picturesque.
Chief among the elevations OF the land 10
Green mountain, which towers to height
of eighteen hundred feet above the sea
which washes its base, and around whose
sides are deep gorges and caves whose
deep recesses are never penetrated by the
rays OF the sun. Other mountains are
there equally picturesque, and in the deep
forests which cover their sides may still
be found the antlered deer Is in the days
Of yore. 1t is no wonder that this spot
has been selected amidst universal APP
plause as the queen Of all American sum-
mer resorts.
Tastes difler and fashion is ever chang
ing its moods. But q few years ago
Saratoga Springs was regarded a. the only
summer resort OF wealth, and then came
Long Branch and stripped it OF its glory.
A few years passed on, and both Of those
once famous places were forgotten, and on
the brow o. Newport the seal OF fashion
had been securely set. Stately mansions
were erected on the shores Of Long Island
sound, and thither rushed the butterflies
Of society as moths are attracted to q
glimmering light.
Once more the tide OF fashion changed
les ebb and now, and the marble palace OF
the vanderbilts in Newport was closed
and another splendid summer home arose
on the cliffs Of Mount Desert. In view Of
the freaks Of fashion and changes of the
past, we may well inquire il the future Of
Bar Harbor is secure. There are other
spots in Maine equally as beautiful and
picturesque, and the time may come when
these will resound to the merry voice of
the pleasure-seeker and where other
marble homes may arise to lure the de-
voices Of wealth and fashion. Maine is
indeed fortunate in the romance and the
richness OF her possessions, and she can
furnish many spots where the forest meets
the So and the tides Of old ocean beat
.ceaselessly against the crumbling clifis
that stand upon its shores.
THREE HUNDRED YEARS AGO.
Almost 800 years ago . little vessel Of
seventeen tons dropped anchor in Bar
HaRbor, and its commander, Samuel de
Champlain, took possession OF the island
in the name of the French monarch,
Henry ~. l. was thickly peopied with .
strange race, but by these they were vel
coined with warmth equal to that which
greeted the Pilgrims on Plymouth Rock
sixteen years later. A French colony was
placed on the island within . few years,
and here the Jesuit priests, Seventh, De
Thet and Father Blard, labored long and
earnestly to convert the heathen natives.
This EFFORT ended in the usual manner.
Dissensions broke out among the colo
nists, which continue dto grow in violence
until Samuel Argall, an Engiish ofncial,
half explorer and half pirate, swooped
down upon them and made the French
men his prisoners. This ended the colony
and Jesuit rule with one swift blow, and
no further attempt was ever made to re-
conquer the island.
The above is the earliest history of
Mount Desert of which we have any su-
thentic written records, but there are
those who believe that the island was Wis
tied By the Norsemen long before Cham
plain or Sieur De Monts had seen its
shores. One OF the sblest Of these is Rev.
O. Fl. Fernald, who has written the fol-
lowing:
''At Southwest Harbor. one-hah mile in
land. on high ground, there has been q clear
ing from time immemorial- II we are correct
in our position, it was there long before the
Preach settled the island, and about it seems
to be marks rs II fortified BY stockade; but
in those early times . stockade must have
meant European occupancy.
ION Peynald's point, and near the shore, is
well which has been OF long standing. 1t
diders from our habit, since it seems to be
stoned mp in . triangular section. though now
"A ~Ar L