History of Penobscot County, Maine; with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 4

Author: Williams, Chase & Co., Cleveland (Ohio)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Cleveland, Williams, Chase & Co.
Number of Pages: 1100

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Returning to the details upon our principal section, we find the dip to vary somewhat over the first half of the first synclinal basin. We had just said good-bye to the quartz rock of Holden; and on the ronte of the section to Brewer we find scarcely any ledges, the country being covered to a considerable depth by alluvial deposits, as it is upon the east bank of Penobscot river. At Brewer the rock is very quartzose, dipping from 30°-60" N. 20° W. Across the river in Bangor the rock is similar, dipping from 45°-50° N. 30° W. and N. W. The applica- tion of the term talcose to these schists would be more appropriate than to any other ledges on. the whole section. Yet the rock here is not really talcose; it has no magnesia in it, as the analysis shows, and an inspection of many of the layers exhibits particles of mica snugly stowed away. Often the strata in Bangor exhibit interesting curva- tures. Professor D. T. Smith, of the Theological Seminary, pointed out one such instance to us about two miles west of the city, which was very instructive, showing also the difference between the planes of stratification and foliation (or cleavage). Such an exhibition is uncom- mon along the line of the section.

Three miles northwest from Penobscot river, at W. Boynton's house, the schists dip at about the same angle, N. 40° W. At I. To- zier's, a mile further, may be seen an interstratification of clay slate and slaty talcose quartz rock, dipping 65°-70° northwesterly. In the edge of Glenburn the rock is more compact, with thicker layers. In Glenburn and Kenduskeag there are occasional variations from the normal northwesterly dip, but these are supposed to be local matters. The section, thus far, runs on the stage-road to Kenduskeag village, crossing the Kenduskeag river in Kenduskeag.

Beyond Kenduskeag village drift-deposits obscure the ledges for a great distance. The road passes over a "horseback" from the vil- lage to a cemetery in South Corinth, a distance of three miles. At a school-house and cooper's shop nearly four miles from Kenduskeag, in South Corinth, the first ledge with the southeasterly dip of the west side of the great synclinal axis appears, although it probably begins much sooner. Observations on both sides of the road, which we had not time to make, will settle the exact point where the middle of the basin is. The schists at the school-house decompose readily, perhaps containing a carbonate, and dip 80° S. 25° E. Adjacent ledges have a smaller dip. Near East Corinth the rock is more slaty and argilla- ceous. Opposite J. M. Shaw's house the layers are very much convoluted on a small scale, with an average dip of 45° S. 15° E. About a mile and a half north of East Corinth, appear ledges of bright green schist,

argillaceous, and often quite micaceous, precisely identical lithologi- cally with the greater part of the slaty rocks on the East branch of the Penobscot above Mattawamkeag. Like them, also, these strata are very much contorted, and their average dip is about 55° S. E. These peculiar rocks continue for two or three miles.

In the northwest part of Charleston, at B. Bradley's, a compact schist, resembling talcose schist, but really a quartzite, occurs, dipping from 70°-75° S. 30° E. The land here is higher than anything passed over west of the Penobscot, and it continues to rise till the summit of the mountain is reached, about 800 feet above the ocean. Upon the county map it will be noticed that a range of mountains extends through Charleston and the towns adjacent. The range is the one we are now crossing, and it must all be an anticlinal ridge, marking the line of the most important of all the axial lines specified above. Pass- ing down the north side of this range (for which we have no name), we find the opposite dip, making the anticlinal. We are coming into a narrower basin than the one just left, it being only ten miles wide, and "it has almost an east and west course. The first observation taken is of a ledge just north of Ricker Hill, in the southeast part of Dover; an argillo-micaceous schist dipping 72º N. 10° W. In this rock the mica is quite abundant and distinct. The dip is similar to this all the way to the Piscataquis river.

The traveller sees at once the superior fertility of the soil in the Pis- cataquis valley, when compared with that passed over since leaving Bangor. It seems to be due to the character of the rock, and to be confined to this basin of schist. The rock is often calcareous, and in- deed certain layers in Foxcroft are real limestone, and have formerly been burnt in kilns for lime. As in so many other instances, the char- acter of the rock here determines the quality of the soil in great meas- ure. By calling this superior to that in Penobscot county, we do not mean to underrate the latter-only that this is better. That in Penob- scot county is far superior to much that is found along the seacoast and covering granitic and gneissic regions. And most excellent farms are common on the road all the way from Bangor.

MICA SCHIST IN CARROLL.

In the town of Carroll, the principal rock is mica schist. It is the only rock seen upon the east and west road running through the town. At Mr. H. Gates's, in the west part of the town, is a very fine bed of dark-bluish limestone, whose layers dip 45° N. W. The bed is several rods wide and of unknown length. Mr. Gates manufactures from 100 to 300 barrels of quicklime annually out of this bed. It is capable of producing much more, and furnishes lime equal to the best. It can be produced cheaper here than at Rockland, and can successfully com- pete with that in the market hereabouts. Hints of other beds of lime- stone in Carroll reached us in both directions, particularly in the north- east. There is said to be a bed on the land of Mr. Ames. A similar bed also may be found on Mr. Coffin's land near the centre of the town. These limestones correspond better to the beds in azoic schists than with the Eolian limestone on Penobscot bay.

The mica schist of Carroll extends uninterruptedly as far as Musquash lake in Topsfield, in an easterly direction. In the east part of Carroll there is an anticlinal axis, the limestone being upon the western side. The southeast dip extends to Musquash lake, and into Talmadge and the Indian township. The northwest dips occur at the saw-mill in Talmadge and about three miles from Princeton in the other township. These observations indicate the presence of a synclinal.

A high range of mountains in the southern part of Carroll is evi- dently granitic, and connects as a mountain range with the syenite or Musquash lake, and has been traced into New Brunswick; and the pro- vincial geological map carries this granitic belt entirely through the province to the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

ABOUT LAKEVILLE PLANTATION.

The general outline of Scragly is given on the Penobscot county map, but it should lie partly in No. 6. We ascended a short thorough- fare from the east part of Scragly to Shaw lake, and found no ledges, but an immense number of boulders of granite and trap. This is a very pretty lake, but much smaller than Pleasant. It is not repre- sented at all on the State map. There are many islands in Scragly and Junior lakes, and a few ledges of granite.

Junior lake is connected by a short thoroughfare with Scragly, and it is six miles in length and perhaps four miles wide. It is represented correctly upon no published map. Two small lakes are situated near its north end, Duck lake and Mill Privilege lake, which are either omit- ted or not named upon the maps. No ledges occur either upon Junior lake or any of its small tributary lakes upon the north and west sides, of which there are five, which are incorrectly located or else omitted

HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

upon all the maps. Nearer the south end of Junior lake the boulders become small and much water-worn, consisting of an interesting con- glomerate, trap, schist, and granite. Close by Junior stream they ap- pear to be piled up in a ridge, much like a rampart. Magnificent veins may be seen upon any of these lakes.

Upon Junior stream large boulders of granite occupy the bed so much that it is difficult to manage a heavily loaded canoe among them. Two interesting boulders attracted our attention, as they had been worn into the shape of an hour-glass. We suppose the neck of the stone was worn most because the strongest currents chiefly exert their powers at that altitude. As is common to almost every thoroughfare, so here on Junior stream the upper part is very stony, with quick water, and the lower part with very deep water and marshy bank, insomuch that chiefly sedges grew upon them; while the surface of the water abounds in white and yellow water-lilies and pond-weed. At the mouth of the stream the land is a little higher, a coarse beach separating the thor- oughfare from Grand Lake, in which we found boulders of metalliferous trap, pyrites, conglomerate, granite, clay slate, and schists.

The character of the shores of both expansions of Grand or Witte- guerguagum, Pocumpus, and Sysladobsis lakes is uniform and may be described as a whole. The immediate shore is composed of angular blocks of granite, often of mammoth dimensions, with scarcely any soil over them. They are covered with moss, and the trees of the forest shoot down their roots among them with difficulty. The shores rise up grad- ually to hills and mountains, without a single clearing to give evidence of civilization. But no ledges appear, although their fragments are so common. These boulders often lie in the lakes away from the shores, and may project above the surface. One such in Sysladobsis lake must weigh many hundred tons. Where the summits of the boulders just come to the surface they render the navigation difficult. It is extremely rare to see any rock represented among the boulders upon these lakes, except the angular granite fragments. Most of them are of the por- phyritic variety.

On Sysladobsis lake may be seen the finest views of any of the west- ern Schoodic lakes. That part which lies in No. 5 is correctly repre- sented upon the county map, showing the "Big island " at the south end. That part of the lake which lies in No. 4 has a due north and south course, its northern extremity being only half a mile distant from Bottle lake. The Chain lakes in 4 and 5 are mostly small and swampy, except a single ledge of granite upon the upper or third Chain lake, which is the largest of the three.

THE EAST BRANCH OF THE PENOBSCOT.

The latest, and probably the best, summary of this re- gion was made by another of Professor Hitchcock's assistants-Dr. Ezekiel Holmes, of Winthrop, the chief naturalist of the exploration. He was assisted, as he re- cords, among others by Messrs. A. B. Farrar and William A. Johnston of Bangor, Benjamin Thomas of Maxfield, Manley Hardy of Brewer, and Louis Ketchum of Old- town. Deane Murch and his canoe were also engaged after the Hunt farm was reached. The narrative of Dr. Holmes, aside from its scientific value, possesses consid- erable interest. The language of the narrative is pre- served with little change.

On the 7th of August, 1861, the party embarked at Oldtown for the contemplated survey in a batteau and three birch canoes, furnished with the necessary quantity of supplies, comprising equipments and apparatus required to facilitate researches and inquiries on the rivers and lakes in the forest to be traversed.

The progress up stream in such a primitive craft, in a favorable pitch of water, must necessarily be slow and toilsome, but at low stages it must be slower yet by reason of the delays in looking out the deepest channels and the time lost in working over bars and shoals where there is scarcely sufficient depth, even for the light draft of canoes. On account of the low stage of the water at the time of embarkation, the steamers which then plied between Oldtown and Mattawamkeag were hauled up, and the facilities of transportation which they would have afforded and the consequent saving of time were denied the explorers. They had therefore to depend upon their own navigation for convey- ance through that section of the route, thereby consuming three days of their time, when one would have been sufficient, could! they have availed

themselves of the agency of steam, as is usual in the early and later parts of the season.

On the third day from departure they arrived at Nickatou (now Med- way), on the west branch of the Penobscot, which, to those bound up the east branch of the river, may be considered the end of the road, and the point where you bid adieu to civilization and take your plunge into the wild country. There were then but four settlers on farms above Nickatou village and the Hunt place in No. 3, and but nine in the whole range of country between Nickatou (west branch) village and the mouth of the Alleguash on the upper St. John-a stretch of not less than 150 miles. The cause of this was attributed to the fact that every township in this route was owned by proprietors who had hitherto held it for lumbering purposes. The State, having disposed of its interest in the lands, had not, of course, been called upon to aid in opening it up to settlers. The proprietors, content with the gains given them from the lumber, were not desirous of having them settled, thereby avoiding any calls of taxation for roads or risks from fires which might take place in clearing the lands.

No particular obstruction was met with in the canoe progress until the party came to Whetstone Falls, where it became necessary to un- load and carry by, a distance of half a mile. At this place the geolo- gist met with boulders of "encrinal" or fossiliferous limestones and other boulders containing fossil remains which had been brought down from sections above.

After getting by Whetstone Falls, a few hours brought them to Hunt's Farm, which is situate about midway of No. 3, Range 7. For more than thirty years this farm had been a welcome station or resting-place for the lumberman and voyageur as he passed up or down the river, and the probability was that it would continue, for years to come, to offer the same conveniences as theretofore, holding the monopoly of af- fording entertainment to the traveller for want of a rival establishment of the kind in the neighborhood. A road was some time before made from this place into the Aroostock Road at No. 3, Range 6, some twelve miles distant. The soil and agricultural capabilities of this farm gave a good criterion by which to judge of the surrounding lands in regard to their value for agricultural purposes. A large portion of it was interval, or alluvial, soil on the margin of the river. The remain- ing portions in the rear were high swells or ridges. The interval is well adapted to grass, being in its lower parts inundated in the spring of the year, and thus fertilized by the fine particles left on the subsidence of the waters. The higher portions are easily cultivated and very pro- ductive, and the swells or uplands afford excellent pasturage for stock. There are immense tracts of similar interval on the Penobscot and its branches near by (the Wassataquick and the Sebois), covered with forest and wild grasses which grow there in the rankest luxuriance, awaiting the hand of future settlers to subdue and convert them to smiling and productive meadows and fields, and thus enable them to contribute to the subsistence of man and to the wealth of the State.

By previous arrangement the party were here met by the Rev. Marcus R. Keep, of Ashland, who had done so much as a pioneer explorer of Katahdin, and made known to the public the characteristics of that grand old mountain, in regard to the sublime and extensive prospect seen from its summit, its peculiar geological structure, and the rugged toil required to ascend to its pinnacle. A portion of the party immedi- ately on arrival placed themselves under the guidance of Mr. Keep, who was also accompanied with Mr. Maxwell, of Golden Ridge, and left for the purpose of ascending the mountain and making a recon- noisance of the country on the way to and from it. As this would take them three or four days, the remainder agreed to wait for them and employ themselves in repairing boats, exploring the vicinity of the farm, and such other business as the furtherance of the expedition might de- mand.

As before stated, the Penobscot and the Wassataquick, which comes in on the west side, and the Sebois, coming in on the eastern side further up, are bordered with large tracts of interval land, made up of the fine alluvium brought down by the waters of the respective streams. The uplands in the rear are rather stony or rocky, on account of the boulders which have been strewed over them at some former period. Among these boulders are found limestone of the description before mentioned, and conglomerates and old sandstone of large size, indi- cating that they had not been removed far from their parent bed, wherever it might be.

The Katahdin party returned on Saturday afternoon, well satisfied with the labors, as well as the results and fruits of their expedition, and on Monday morning ( 18th) all again pursued their voyage up the river. Before night they came to the foot of Grand Falls, and there camped. The Grand Falls, so called, are a series of rapids and cascades extend-

HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

ing several miles, with occasional intervals of slack-water between some of the pitches." The whole form the most formidable obstruction in the river between Oldtown and Grand Lake. It was a good day's work to get "luggage" and boats up to the foot of the first or upper pitch, and it was found necessary to encamp, reserving for the next morning the remainder of the "carry " and the getting up to " Camp Johnson" in No. 5 in the 8th range.

The next morning and day proved somewhat rainy, but taking an early start they accomplished the rest of the portage, and once more em- barked. They found for a mile or two slack-water, after which a pretty smart current met them and continued until they came to "Stair Falls." An entirely different rock formation is found from the head of Grand Falls. Granite has entirely disappeared and given place to trap- rock and sandstone. Stair Falls are formed by ledges of the latter crossing the river at right angles, and for nearly or quite a mile flooring the river in successive steps or "stairs," In the rock of the lower step, on the east side, were found "trilobites " and other fossil remains very interesting to the geologists of the party. Even Louis-who, by the way, is a shrewd and active member of the Penobscot tribe, and no mean representative of the aboriginal race-became very expert in hunting up specimens of the kind.

On the 23d they arrived at Johnson's Camp, in No. 5 of the 8th. This camp had been constructed two years previously by one of the party (William A. Johnston) and his partner for the accommodation of their men while lumbering on this township, and it was found a very convenient stopping-place for a few days, from which different parties could proceed to examine the several localities in the neighborhood which promised to be interesting. These were the adjacent mountain, called the " Traveller," and some of its spurs; the rock formation at the dam at the outlet of the lake a mile or two above; the Stair Falls below and Bowlin Pond; Jerry Lake and Murch's or Horseshoe Lake on the eastern section of the township. The trap-rock of the moun- tains, the "Silurian rock of the Stair Falls," and the fossiliferous lime- stone in and about Murch's Lake afforded localities of interesting re- search and employment to the geologist. Suites of specimens from each were collected, all of which were enumerated and described in Prof. Hitchcock's final report. They also obtained many interesting specimens in the several departments of natural history, especially in ornithology, entomology and botany.

The raven (Corvus corax), the large red-headed woodpecker (Picus pileatus), and several other rather rare birds, were here procured. While Prof. H. with a party proceeded up Grand Lake (Montagamon), the rest proceed to the exploration of the eastern portion of the town- ship and the lakes in that section. The first point of examination was Bowlin Pond. Nothing very interesting presented itself in this vicinity except the remains of immense pines which were destroyed by the fires in 1825, the trunks of which were mostly fallen to the ground and lay quietly mouldering away. All of them were large, and some of them of enormous dimensions.

This was once undoubtedly one of the most heavily timbered sec- tions of any part of Maine, In threading their way slowly over the fallen monarchs of the forest, they could not but be struck with evi- dences of the vast loss that had accrued to the State by the sweeping of fires through its forests and timber-lands. Millions of dollars could not replace the value or make good the destruction thus made. Some, who pretend to know the facts, asserted that the ores which caused the destruction of the timber in this particular locality, were intentionally set by way of revenge for the loss of some hay burnt by some of the employes of the Land Agent, which hay belonged to some of the tres- passers on the public lands. If this be true, it was a revenge the ef- fect of which will live long after its perpetrators have passed away, and which more than one generation will look upon with regret. Much of this timber was cut and carried away soon after its being burnt, but thousands and thousands of these once stately pines lay strewed about, having fallen in every direction. The growth that has newly sprung up on the ground thus divested of its former magnificent growth is in strange contrast with the size and grandeur of the dead trunks below them. It consists principally of white birches, poplars, and wild cher- ries. If the theory of alternating growth be true, thought Dr. Holmes, it would well if another conflagration would clear the present incum- bents of the soil, and allow a new race of pines to begin their growth, and to make good, in the course of years, the loss of their ancestors.

The shores of this lake are low and rocky. The rocks are principally trap-rock, broken and strewed in profusion over the surface. Abundant signs of moose, deer, and bear were met with, and occasionally an otter- slide was seen on the margin of the lake, but the animals themselves were careful to keep themselves out of the way. Similar rock forma-

tions but not quite so many decaying trunks of heavy pines, were found on the way from Bowlin to Jerry Lake. The western shore of this lake was the terminus of the ramble eastward from the camp. Turning to a northwesterly course, they traversed the section between this and " Murch's" (Horseshoe) Lake. About a mile east of the stream, or outlet of the last-named lake (the waters of which pass into Bowlin), while travelling over a well-timbered hard-wood ridge, the party sud- denly came to one of the largest boulders they had ever seen. It stands comparatively alone, isolated, as it were, in the midst of the forest. It is closely surrounded by a thick and heavy growth, while from its top have grown up another forest of stately trees, far overtopping those of the forest around and below them. This boulder is composed of the encrinal or fossiliferous limestone, the site of which was afterwards found further west. It was ascertained on measurement to be 200 feet in circumference. Its walls or sides were nearly perpendicular, though worn and furrowed by the abrasion of water, either before or since its removal from its parent-bed. The height was 18 feet, and the area on the top nearly as large as at its base and quite level, and was covered with a small wood-lot. A soil had, by some means, been formed there, and birches, maples, and cedars had sprung up and grown, some of them, to the size of eight or ten inches in diameter. In one of its clefts a family of hedgehogs (Erethizon dorsatus) had taken up their resi- dence, but were too snugly ensconced in their "lair" to allow intruders to reach them. It was found that, although a "feeble folk," like the cony of old they had "built their house in the rock," and defied ene- mies to dislodge them. So the explorers "left them alone in their glory," and passed on.

Before starting on this expedition they had received several vague accounts of an island iu a lake somewhere in the neighborhood of Bow- lin, in which were sundry galleries and a cave of curious form and con- struction, "not made with hands." At the Hunt farm Deane Murch gave a new edition of the story about as indefinite as those they had be- fore heard, and also stated that he had himself, some thirty years be- fore, when out hunting, seen that same island, and thought he could again find it, and that it was in one of the Bowlin chain of lakes. As he was with the party, it was one of the objects, when they arrived at Camp Johnston, in No. 5, to make an exploration and ascertain the truth in regard to the island cave, and fix its location more definitely and certainly, if location it had. On account of the uncertainty of its whereabouts it was thought advisable to begin the search at the lower Bowlin, and proceed upward, exploring the lakes in course until they had found the island, the rock, and the cave in question, provided any- thing of the kind were there. Up to this point of the search they had found nothing that had the most distant indication of anything of the kind, and poor Murch began to think that his sight of the rock that he had told of was a dream or a delusive vision thrown over him by Po- moola [the Indian devil, who, unless propitiated by special service, was always bringing hunters into trouble], on account of some delinquency in his service. They judged, however, that, from the frequent and pe- culiarly emphatic use of the name of that venerable old demon, and the accompanying unmistakably expressive anathemas uttered by him in his disappointment thus far, Pomoola could have no fault to find with him on that score. The discovery of the huge boulder just described confirmed the belief of the existence of the island. It was concluded that this was one of its fragments, and that, judging from its size, the parent bed could not be far off. It was near night when they had finished the examination. They therefore went on about a half a mile to the stream before mentioned, and camped.

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History of Penobscot County, Maine; with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 4

Author: Williams, Chase & Co., Cleveland (Ohio) Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Cleveland, Williams, Chase & Co. Number of Pages: 1100

Author: Williams, Chase & Co., Cleveland (Ohio)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Cleveland, Williams, Chase & Co.
Number of Pages: 1100