USA > Massachusetts > From the Hub to the Hudson : with sketches of nature, history and industry in north-western Massachusetts > Part 8
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FROM THE HUB TO THE HUDSON.
joke indeed. One who has never seen the Deerfield Gorge or the Adams Valley from Hoosac Mountain ; who has never climbed to the top of Prospect, or Bald Mountain, or Mount Hopkins, or Greylock; who has never invaded the awful stillness of that sacred place which is known by the profane name of the Hopper,- such a person should talk modestly of Berkshire scenery. He may have seen elsewhere in Berkshire, some very pretty views, and, if Mount Everett and Bash- bish have come within the range of his travels, some grand ones,-but with this latter exception, the only scenery in Berkshire that is really notable for grandeur, is in these three towns of Florida, Adams, and Wil- liamstown. It is true that Greylock may be seen on a clear day with the naked eye from Pittsfield and other towns in Southern Berkshire, but one who looks upon it from that distance cannot even conjecture the grand configurations of mountain forms, that are visi- ble here from any valley, or the marvellous magnifi- cence of the prospect from any of these summits. Mountains are to the traveler, what his best achieve- ments are to the wise man, beautiful not so much in themselves as in the outlook they afford. And they who look from the slightly undulating surfaces of Southern Berkshire upon. the outline of Greylock in the northern horizon, know but little of the sublimity of the visions they might have if they would climb to his top. Visiting the Berkshire Hills without going north of Pittsfield, is like the play of Hamlet with a good likeness of Hamlet in the upper left hand corner
I2I
FORT MASSACHUSETTS.
of the drop scene, and no other hint or mention of him during the performance.
Our first drive shall be along a charming valley road to a place of precious memory,-dear and sacred old
WILLIAMSTOWN.
Just beyond Braytonville the highway crosses the Troy and Boston Railroad; the white house and farm buildings .of Mr. Bradford Harrison are on the right, and on the left, in the meadow, twenty or thirty rods from the railroad, a small elm tree is growing. That tree was planted by students of Williams College, in the year 1857, to mark the site of old Fort Massachu- setts.
During the French and Indian wars, the invading forces from Canada more frequently followed the course of the Connecticut River southward into Mas- sachusetts ; but occasionally they came down by way of Lake Champlain, the Hudson and the Hoosac Valleys, crossing the Hoosac Mountain at this point, and fol- lowing the Deerfield River down to the Connecticut. To protect the settlements against these incursions Fort Massachusetts was built, about 1744. It does not re- quire any profound knowledge of military science to discover that the fort was badly placed. The rocky bluffs on the north were within rifle range, and from them an enemy could look down into the stockade and ascertain the strength of its garrison. "A judicious choice of posts," says General Hoyt, "and the princi- ples of fortifications, though probably understood by
6
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FROM THE HUB TO THE HUDSON.
the engineers of the time, seem not to have been re- garded in early wars. Most of these works were built on low grounds, often in the vicinity of commanding heights, generally constructed of single stockades with- out ditches or flanking posts, capable only of a direct fire, and against the lightest artillery untenable." But what these pioneer soldiers lacked in science they made up in courage. Fort Massachusetts is poorly located, but it was defended by some of the bravest men that ever lived; and it was the scene of one of the pluckiest fights recorded in our history.
Captain (afterward Colonel) Ephraim Williams was the first commander of the defences in this neighbor- hood, and his head-quarters were in Fort Massachu- setts. During the summer of 1746 an expedition against Canada was projected, Captain Williams was summoned to Albany to join it, and the garrison was left in the charge of Sergeant John Hawks with only twenty-two effective men. After the departure of Cap- tain Williams, Indians were seen prowling about the heights, north of the fort; and on the 20th of August, a force of nine hundred French and Indians, under the command of General Rigaud de Vandreuil, seized this hill on the right of the road where the chestnut woods now stand, and sent to Sergeant Hawks a de- mand for the surrender of the fort. The sergeant had no artillery, and but a poor supply of ammunition ; but he promptly rejected the proposal of the French com- mander, and with his twenty-two brave men defended the fort for twenty-eight hours against the overwhelm-
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NEW ENGLAND'S THERMOPYLÆE.
ing force of the enemy. Every Indian or Frenchman who came out from the safe cover of the forest was a target for these twenty-two sharp-shooters; and some were killed at the long range of sixty rods. The ammu- nition of the garrison was finally exhausted, and Hawks capitulated, making the condition that his forces should be humanely treated as prisoners of war, and should not be delivered to the Indians. The French com- mander accepted his terms of capitulation, and per- fidiously violated them the following day by surrender- ing half of the prisoners into the hands of the Indians. One man who was sick and unable to march was killed by the savages; the others were taken to Canada as prisoners, and were finally exchanged. The assailants lost forty-seven men before the fort ; while of the brave little garrison only one was killed. The bravery of Sergeant Hawks was rewarded by promotion ; after- ward, in the war of 1755 he rose to the rank of lieu- tenant-colonel. " Bold, hardy and enterprising, he acquired the confidence and esteem of his superior officers and was entrusted with important commands. He was no less valued by the inhabitants of Deerfield, his native town, for his civil qualities."*
The ambuscade at the Bars in the Deerfield Meadow, to which allusion has already been made, was formed by a party of these Indians under Vandreuil, who crossed the mountain after the surrender of the fort and made their way to Deerfield. The fort was demolished by its captors, but was rebuilt and more strongly garri-
* Hoyt's Indian Wars, p. 238.
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FROM THE HUB TO THE HUDSON.
soned during the following year. In all the subse- quent wars with the French and Indians, until the Peace of Paris in 1763 this fort was a post of much importance, and frequent mention is made of it in the old histories.
From the time of the building of the fort until 1755, the command of the forces and the defences of this region devolved as we have seen, upon Colonel Ephraim Williams, a native of Newton, and one of the first settlers of Stockbridge. Though frequently called to active service elsewhere his head-quarters were at this fort, and with the few settlers who occupied this valley he had thoroughly identified himself, sharing their perils and privations, and studying their welfare. In the year 1735, Colonel Williams, then in command of a regiment, was summoned to join General Johnson, whose head-quarters were then at the head of Lake George, near the site of the present village of Cald- well. On his way to this post, with an apparent pre- sentiment of his fate, the Colonel halted at Albany and made his will on the 22d of July; in which, after sev- eral bequests to his relatives and friends he directed " that the remainder of his land should be sold at the discretion of his executors within five years after an established peace ; and that the interest of the monies arising from the sale, and also the interest of his notes and bonds, should be applied to the support of a free school in a township west of Fort Massachusetts, for- ever ; provided said township fall within Massachusetts, on running the line between Massachusetts and New
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THE GRAVE OF A HERO.
York ; and providing the said township when incorpor- ated shall be called Williamstown."
On the 8th of September, following, he was des- patched from the camp on Lake George at the head af twelve hundred men upon a most important and hazardous enterprise ; and falling into an ambuscade of French and Indians was shot through the head. His body was buried near the spot where he fell, on the right of the road running from Glen's Falls to Caldwell, and in the vicinity of Bloody Pond, a lake- let which on that day received its terrible christening. A large rock has always been pointed out as marking the spot where he fell ; and upon this rock the students of Williams College a few years ago erected a marble monument, with an appropriate inscription. The . writer of this book well remembers descending one midnight from the stage-coach in which, a lonely passenger, he was making his way over the old war- path from Lake George to the Hudson; and clamber- ing under the light of the stars up the rude foot-path to the rock among the bushes, where the little marble obelisk guards the dust of this brave and good soldier.
The provision in the will of Colonel Williams was the foundation of Williams College. The sum thus bequeathed was increased by donations of individuals, and by a pious lottery which the Legislature granted to the trustees of the fund, until, in 1790, the solid walls of old West College were erected, and a consid- erable fund was placed at interest to assist in main- taining the school. It consisted at first of two depart-
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FROM THE HUB TO THE HUDSON.
ments-an academy or grammar school and an English free school, and was under the care of Mr. Ebenezer Fitch, a graduate of Yale. In 1793 it was erected into a college, and the first class, numbering four, was grad- uated September 2, 1795. Dr. Fitch continued at the head of the college till 1815, and was succeeded by Rev. Zephaniah Swift Moore, D. D. An effort was made in 1818 to transfer the college to Northampton, but after a stormy and protracted contest the Legisla- ture decided against a change of location. Upon this, Dr. Moore who had favored the removal, resigned the presidency; and Rev. Edward Dorr Griffin, of great fame as a theologian and a pulpit orator, was called to succeed him. Under his administration the college which had been in a low condition for several years, regained its prosperity. In 1836, he was compelled by declining health to withdraw from the position which he had so abundantly honored, and his mantle fell upon one who was worthy to wear it, and who for thirty-three years has worn it worthily. Wonderful aptitude for teaching, great prudence and skill in administration, dignity of demeanor and purity of character have made him the most revered and most illustrious, as he is now the oldest college president in the land ; while his contributions to philosophy and his active participation in the various enterprises of Christian benevolence, have gained for him the admiration and confidence of good men everywhere. Under the man- agement of President Hopkins and his efficient coad- jutors in the faculty, the college has advanced to a
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THE ROAD TO WILLIAMSTOWN.
leading position. The number of students is not so large as in some of our New England colleges, varying from two hundred to two hundred and fifty, but the instruction is all given by professors of experience, instead of being entrusted, as in many colleges, to incompetent tutors ; thus securing a thoroughness not easily attainable under the other system.
From this valley road the profile of the mountain on the south resembles a saddle; and this likeness gave to this group of hills of which Greylock is the central eminence, the ugly name of Saddle Mountain, by which it is known in the geographies. The highest of the two peaks visible at this point, and the one nearest North Adams, is Mount Williams ; the other is Mount Prospect.
Just beyond Fort Massachusetts, in the center of the valley, is the Greylock Cotton Mill, amid its cluster of drab cottages.
Blackinton is the name of the neat white factory village a mile further west. The woolen mill of S. Blackinton & Son built the village and one of the larg- est fortunes in Berkshire. The little brown wooden building in which the senior proprietor begun the business, working with his own hands,-is standing a little west of the mill. We cross the railroad and the river by a covered bridge beyond Blackinton, and soon after ascend a little eminence in the road from which the whole valley opens magnificently. In the west, and running far to the north are the Taghkanic Hills with their swelling slopes and their wavy outlines ;
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FROM THE HUB TO THE HUDSON.
between them and the hill on our right, which is a continuation of Mount Adams, and is known on this side indifferently as Oak Hill and East Mountain, the green valley of the Hoosac narrows to a gorge in the north-west ; in the northern horizon The Dome, a noble and symmetrical peak, is built up into the sky ; on the south the wooded ridge of Prospect stretches away toward the Hopper, the opening of which is scarcely visible ; in the east beyond the narrow opening be- tween Mount Adams and the southern group the mas- sive battlements of the Hoosac Mountain close the scene. Within this circle of hills a most charming valley is included. Observe the beautiful variety of surface; the natural grouping of the trees upon the slopes ; the picturesque and park-like appearance of the whole landscape.
Soon we pass through the factory grounds at the lower end of the village, cross another covered bridge, ascend a little hill and find ourselves at the foot of the broad and shady street on which the old village is built. Williamstown, like Boston, boasts its three hills, each of which in its day was crowned with historic edifices, but from one of them the glory has departed. At the top of the first hill on the right stands Griffin Hall,- once the chapel, but now containing the college cabinet, and the head-quarters of the Natural History Depart- ment. In front of Griffin Hall upon the brow of the hill is the soldiers' monument-a freestone shaft, sur- mounted by the bronze statue of a soldier,-erected in honor of the Williams boys who fell in the late war.
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CLASSIC SHADES.
Just beyond Griffin Hall is Goodrich Hall, a noble stone edifice, the gift of Hon. John Z. Goodrich of Stockbridge, containing the Gymnasium, the Bowling Alley, and the Chemical Laboratory. Across the street are East and South Colleges,-dormitories occu- pied by the Senior and Junior Classes. Lawrence Hall is an octagonal building named in honor of Amos Lawrence, one of the most liberal patrons of the col- lege ; which contains the Library, the collection of por- traits of graduates, and some sculptures in bas-relief from ancient Nineveh. Just beyond Lawrence Hall is the Chapel with Alumni Hall in the rear. South- east of the group of buildings, nearly hidden from the street by the foliage, is the Astronomical Observatory -the first one built on this continent-the Magnetic Observatory, and Jackson Hall, built by Nathan Jack- son, Esq., of New York, another generous friend of the college, and occupied by the Lyceum of Natural History. The tower of this building commands an excellent view of the valley and its encircling hills. The new Congregational Church is on the right be- yond this first group of college buildings. On the top of the next hill, old West College, the original Academy and Free School, erected in 1790, stands on the left. This building and Kellogg Hall in its rear, are dormitories for the Sophomore and Fresh- man Classes. The President's mansion is opposite West College.
At the head of the street, upon the western eminence, perished by fire, three winters ago, the old Congrega- 6*
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FROM THE HUB TO THE HUDSON.
tional Meeting-House. Williamstown street without the old church at the head of it, is a song without a cadence. To many of the graduates, Williamstown will never be quite herself again, now that the old church is no more.
Just beyond West College we turn to the right into a street leading to Mills Park, an enclosure of ten acres, in which a marble shaft surmounted by a globe, marks the spot where Samuel J. Mills and his associ- ates met by a hay-stack in 1807, to consecrate them- selves to the work of foreign missions. That was the beginning in America of this great enterprise of Chris- tian benevolence.
Returning to the principal street, we go on westward and turn to the north at the Mansion House. Follow- ing the road through the valley at the foot of the Taghkanic range for a mile and a half, we turn to the right into a cross-road which leads up to a little group of plain brown buildings with a sloping green in front of them. These are the little hostelry and bathing- houses of the Williamstown Mineral Spring,-known to fame in these quarters, and among graduates of Williams College everywhere, as the "Sand Spring." The temperature of the water, the supply of which is abundant, is about 70º Fahrenheit the year round ; and while it is said to be a valuable alterative and tonic in many diseases, it furnishes one of the most delicious baths ever enjoyed by mortals. In the cure of cuta- neous diseases these baths are said to be remarkably efficacious. How true this may be with regard to other
I3I
A SOVEREIGN REMEDY.
forms of skin disease we know not; but for that form of the disease which is most prevalent and most fatal,- known among the ancients as spurcitia or akaSapsia, and among the moderns by a name so common that it is hardly worth while to repeat it, they are certainly a specific. In the little bathing-house you will find swim- ming baths, plunge baths, shower baths, and all neces- sary conveniences for the refreshment and purification of the outer man. Give them a thorough trial and you will return to you lodgings cleaner, handsomer, happier and better men and women.
SOUTH ADAMS AND THE NOTCH.
The East Road to South Adams is the continuation of South Church street. For the first two miles it runs between the mountain and a series of diluvial hill- ocks that stand at its base. These conical mounds frequently occur in the country, but they are not often found so symmetrically disposed as at this point. They are composed of sand and gravel, and so regular are they in form that it is easy to suppose them to be the work of human hands. The earlier theory was that they were erected by the primitive races, either as fortifications or as burial mounds; and this theory has found poetical expression in one of Whittier's latest and best lyrics,-" The Grave by the Lake." But the geologists say, (and who can confute the geologists?) that these mounds were caused by the action of water ; though just how the water could have piled them up in their present forms they do not tell us very definitely.
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FROM THE HUB TO THE HUDSON.
Two miles south of the village a mound is seen on the left hand side of the road which, it is pretty safe to conjecture, is the work of men's hands. It is com- posed of the earth taken out of the open cutting at the western portal of the Hoosac Tunnel. The em- bankment of the railroad is built as far as the highway, and the road to the tunnel follows the embankment. For an account of what is to be seen at this point the reader is referred to the preceding chapter.
Having "done" the west end and the west shaft in much less time than the Messrs. Shanly with all their energy will require to do them; and having ex- plored, if we have a taste for such explorations, the Nitro glycerine Works near the shaft where Mr. Mow- bray manufactures the mild mixture, whose liquid elo- quence so gently persuades the rocks asunder, we go on southward. Two miles beyond the tunnel we reach an eminence in the road upon which we shall do well to pause and look about us. At the head of the valley in the north, walled in on three sides by the mountains, lies the village of North Adams ; before us is South Adams, and the beautiful hills beyond, in Cheshire, and Savoy; between these two villages the eye ranges over the whole six miles of fertile valley- a carpet of cunning patterns and matchless coloring, seamed by the railway and embroidered by the river ; and directly opposite, across the valley is the majestic front of Greylock, rising abruptly from the plain be- low to a height of three thousand feet above the river bed and thirty-five hundred feet above tide water.
HOOSAC TUNNEL-WESTERN PORTAL.
I33
SOUTH ADAMS FROM THE NORTH.
A mile further on the road follows a brook down into the village .of South Adams through which we may drive briskly; admiring the enterprise that keeps so many mills running busily, the public spirit that has built so fine a school-house as the one we see upon the hill, and the taste that has begun as in North Adams to ornament and improve the private residences and grounds.
Near the depot a street leads westward directly to- ward the base of Greylock; that we follow to the old Quaker Meeting-House, then turn to the right into the mountain road that leads over the lower ridge of the Greylock group into the Notch. There is hard climb- ing before us, but we shall have our reward. As soon as we reach that eminence just above us, we will look backward. On our right the Hoosac range lifts up its level rampart-southward the lines of the horizon are broken by the bolder peaks of the Cheshire mountains. Just below us, in the widening of the valley lies South Adams, and beyond it are the eastward slopes, over which the Williamsburg and North Adams Railroad is to run through Savoy. It is a very pretty picture, but we must not stay to look upon it, for there are richer prospects before us. A little further on we flank a forest that has stood between us and the valley on our right, and reach a point from which we can look right down into the beautiful meadows through which the Hoosac River runs. Did grass ever grow greener than the grass of those meadows, or was sunshine ever brighter than this golden flood that fills the valley with
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FROM THE HUB TO THE HUDSON.
its splendor? Look at the river with its willow fringes winding down through the meadows. Plainly it is in no hurry. In its quiet search of coolness and beauty it explores the whole valley. More than once it goes back as if it had forgotten something,-to bathe some thirsty cresses perhaps, or to sing its low sweet song in the shade of some alder-bushes. The river had a hard passage through South Adams. It had to go through the mill-several mills, indeed. The water- wheels churned it into foam ; the flumes led it through dark and perilous passages; the dyers stained its purity with logwood and copperas. It was made a menial servant and a scavenger. It did not enjoy town life, at all. And now that it has escaped into the quiet country again, it means to make the most of the country delights. So it lingers as long as it can in these green fields, and among these sedges. If it only knew what it must pass through at North Adams it would stay even longer, I think.
While we have been looking down into this valley, our steed has been tugging up a steep acclivity, and suddenly, as we reach the top, there opens before us a new scene. I think we can afford now to let our horse have a breathing spell. A panorama opens before us here, that we shall not tire of looking at till he is rested. Far away to the northward opens the valley through which the north branch of the Hoosac flows down from the mountains of Vermont. On the east the Hoosac range stretches away toward the north as far as the eye can see: from the hills of Savoy behind us to the
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DOWN INTO THE NOTCH.
northern horizon in Readsboro, there must be nearly twenty miles of this straight unbroken mountain chain, whose eastern slope is in full view. On the east our vision is bounded by the range of which Mount Adams is the southern abutment. Between these two ranges the valley stretches away narrowing toward its northern extremity till it is lost in the blue distance between the hills. This view is not so extensive as the view from Greylock or Mount Hopkins or the farther side of the Hoosac Mountain, but one would hardly be willing to admit that it is less beautiful than the fairest of them.
Going on a little farther we reach a little eminence, from which the view is widened somewhat ; the north- ern portion of North Adams comes into plain view, and Mount Adams confronts us with its solid grand- eur of outline.
Now we turn to the westward, passing on the left the signal station built by Mr. Doane for keeping the range of the tunnel,-and begin a rapid descent. To timid persons this may seem a perilous passage, but the road is smooth, and with a skillful driver, a steady horse and a stout harness there is not a particle of danger. If you were inclined to be afraid the laugh- ing of this little brook by the roadside would reassure you. Soon we emerge from the thicket of low birches and wild cherry trees through which we have been winding and find ourselves in the Notch. On the one side rises the steep flank of the mountain over which we have just passed-on the other tower Greylock, Fitch and Williams-a trinity of majestic mountain
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