USA > New Hampshire > Coos County > History of the White mountains > Part 6
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cured only by visiting the salt water, and applying the skin of salt fish to the affected part.
Small patches of land were cultivated, as the land could be cleared and seed procured wherewith to plant it. The first experiment in raising potatoes equalled, almost, the extrava- gant western stories of "great crops," so rife a few years since. One Major Whitcomb, after travelling fifty miles, procured one bushel of potatoes, which, by cutting. he made to plant four hundred hills. These he watched with all the interest of Crusoe over his grains of barley, and so well did they do, that he harvested, from his small sowing, one hun- dred bushels of good potatoes.
Capt. Rosebrook did not remain long, however, at Monad- nuc. Like a true pioneer, he was restless and ever on the move. He did not remain long enough here to build his " two-story wooden palace," but was soon on the look-out for some new home. Guildhall, Vermont, less distant from the settlements, and containing more inhabitants, he chose as his new place of residence, and thither removed his family. He had joined the Revolutionary army as a volunteer, shortly before leaving Monadnuc, and was, consequently, absent from his family most of the time. Hardy, fearless, and wary, he was of great value to the American forces in the irreg- ular warfare which they were compelled to carry on with the Indians, under English officers, on the Canadian frontier. Many are the " hair-breadth" escapes he made by his supe- rior cunning.
Guildhall was quite a rendezvous for the Indians, and his own cabin, some distance from any other, was their favorite place of resort when he himself was gone, and no one at home but his wife and little daughters. She, however, had no fear of them, and freely admitted all that came to her house.
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Generally they were very quiet, and, after spending the night, would leave peaceably. Their excursions to the settlements were for the purpose of exchanging their furs for trinkets and " uncupy," or spirit, which they carried in bladders taken from the moose and dried. At one time, however, near the close of the war, and shortly before the return of Capt. Rose- brook to his family, many Indians, loaded heavily with uncupy, came suddenly to his cabin, near night. Mrs. Rosebrook, as usual, kindly received them, and gave them permission to remain all night. Soon after entering, howev- er, she perceived that they had drank too freely, and feared they might become noisy and unmanageable. Determined to be mistress of her own house, and knowing a bold bearing was her only safety, in case they became unruly, when, late in the evening, they became boisterous and rude, she ordered the whole tribe out of doors. At first they thought to resist, but, intimidated by her boldness, they left her as she com- manded them. One squaw, only, sought to test the courage and strength of Mrs. Rosebrook, and she was soon dragged by the hair to the door, and pitched out among her companions. As the brave woman was fastening the door, after expelling her savage intruders, a tomahawk, thrown by the same squaw, came so near her as to cut off the wooden latch on which rested her hand. The same squaw, however, be it said to her credit, returned the next day, and asked Mrs. Rosebrook's forgiveness, and promised better for the future.
Capt. Rosebrook remained long enough at Guildhall to become the possessor of a fine farm. The broad, beautiful interval lands of the Connecticut, so easy to cultivate, and yielding so abundantly, it would have been hard for any other man to have abandoned for the wilderness. Still rest- less, and fond of the excitement attendant upon the life of a
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pioneer, in the year 1792 he sold his farm in Guildhall, and moved into Nash and Sawyer's Location. Excepting the Crawfords, twelve miles further down among the mountains, in the Notch Valley, he had no neighbors nearer than twenty miles. A log house had been erected here a few years pre- vious, but had been abandoned, and into this he moved his family. It was in the depth of winter ; the snow was piled up in huge drifts, and the entrance to his little hut could with · difficulty be found, even after the monster pile had been dis- covered, beneath which his cabin lay buried. After much shovelling he succeeded in finding the door and making an entrance for his shivering family. They had brought but little provision with them, and were dependent, almost en- tirely, upon the game he could capture, and what could be obtained from their neighbors. Often were the children sent, through the snow, to the Crawfords', a distance, as we have said, of twelve miles, to obtain such articles as were abso- lutely necessary to the sustenance of the family. From these long errands, through the snow and cold, frequently they would be unable to reach home until a late hour of the night. But Capt. Rosebrook, by his energy and industry, soon put an entirely different aspect upon this secluded spot. On what is called the Giant Grave, he built a large two-story house, very convenient. He also built, within a few years, large barns, stable, sheds, and a saw-mill and grist-mill. His farm was very productive, to which he added, yearly, many broad acres redeemed from the surrounding forest. His saw-mill, he says, was of great profit to him ; but his grist-mill was so far from his house, and " the mice injured the bolt so much, that it was difficult to keep it in repair."
Hardly, however, had Capt. Rosebrook become comfortably situated, when a cancer broke out upon his lip, which, after
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a few years of intense suffering, caused his death. Patiently he bore his suffering, and though unused, heretofore, to the confinement of a sick-room, murmured not, and at length died, peacefully, September 27th, 1817. In all respects Mr. Rosebrook was a remarkable man, large in stature, athletic, and very strong. His whole life was one of daring adventure. He loved the rugged scenes of pioneer life, and was never more in his element than while scaling the mountain or trap- ping the wolf or bear. There are men enough who prefer the city, and cling fondly around their native village ; but he could never endure the restraints connected with our larger settlements - the restraints of artificial life ; but freely, his arms and broad chest all bare, must breathe the strong, pure air, as it came rushing along through those mountain gorges.
Ethan Allen Crawford, the " Giant of the hills," was the heir to Capt. Rosebrook's property, and continued, after his death, to reside on the same place, to which he had removed, a few years before, to take care of Capt. Rosebrook and his wife. The Crawfords have been so intimately connected with the mountains, that to omit them would be to pass over entirely the history of these valleys. Ethan Crawford was nearly as well known to all the earlier visitors, and of almost as much interest, as Mount Washington itself. Many a lady, we presume, will recollect, distinctly, the kind assistance he lent them in descending those rugged heights - nay, even at times taking them, when very weary, on his broad shoulders, and carrying them down those precipitous paths, as tenderly as a father carries his infant child. We think now of one who said he carried her more than half way down Mount Washington on his shoulder. Ethan Crawford was born at Guildhall, Vermont, but his parents early removed to the mountains, and located themselves in Hart's Location, on the
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very spot where now stands the Old Crawford House. Here he spent his youth until he was nineteen years old. Many stories of his early life, which he was accustomed to relate, show the hardships which the early settlers of that region were compelled to endure. "Until I was nearly thirteen years old I never had a hat, a mitten, or a pair of shoes of my own. Many times I have chopped wood through the day, and at night my hands, which had been bare, would swell and pain me so badly, that my mother would have to get up and poultice them, before I could sleep. But so ac- customed did I become to the cold, that I could harness and unharness horses, in the coldest winter weather, with my head, hands and feet, nearly bare." Tough, hearty and cour- ageous were all these mountaineers. Their training was one long process of toughening and daring. Says Mr. Crawford, "Shortly after my parents came into this place, they went, one Sabbath day, to Bartlett, expecting to return the next day, and left myself and next older brother in the care of a hired man, with provisions enough prepared to last until their return. Soon after they had gone, the hired man picked up whatever was valuable, that he could carry, and, taking all the victuals cooked in the house, left us for the woods. The day wore away without our thinking much about it ; but, as night came on, we grew very hungry and a little frightened. We had a cow, but neither of us were large enough to milk her. Compelled, however, to satisfy our hunger in some way, we, at last, got some potatoes and roasted them in the ashes. On these we made our supper. After eating, as it grew
darker and darker, and we got tired of talking and wishing our parents would return, we went to bed, and, hugging our- selves up together as close as possible, went to sleep." On the return of the parents on Monday, the father immediately
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set out in pursuit of the man, and, just as he was leaving the woods at Franconia, caught him, and after taking the stolen goods, severely flogged him and let him go. What men brought up under such circumstances would not have courage ?
CHAPTER VI.
ETHAN A. CRAWFORD.
MR. CRAWFORD'S IMPRESSIVE MANNER OF STORY-TELLING. - THE BURNING OF HIS BUILDINGS. - HIS ENERGY IN REPAIRING HIS LOSSES. - HIS LABORS AS A GUIDE ON TO THE MOUNTAINS. - THE DIFFICULTY FORMERLY OP REACHING THE MOUNTAINS. - STORY ILLUSTRATING DIFFICULTY OF TRAV- ELLING IN THOSE DAYS. - PRESENT MODES OF REACHING MOUNTAINS. - FIRST ASCENT OF THE MOUNTAINS. - PARTY OF STUDENTS FROM FRYBURG. - EASE OF ASCENDING NOW. - FIRST BRIDLE-PATH. - ETHAN'S SEVERE WOUND. - GRANNY STALBARD. - CARRIAGE-ROAD FROM GLEN HOUSE. - LOVE OF HUNTING. - THE GRAY CAT. - ADVENTURES WITH THEM. - LAS- SOS AND CAPTURES ONE WITH BIRCH POLES. - WOLVES. - HIS ANNOYANCE AND DISCOMFITCRE BY THEM. - BEAR STORIES. - CATCHING THE CUB. - CAPTURE OF A FULL-GROWN BEAR.
MR. CRAWFORD'S many adventures among these mountains should be heard from his own lips to be fully appreciated. As told by another they lose the advantage of his own giant figure, emphatic gesticulations, and the quaint original style in which his ideas were expressed. Says his wife, "It was always a rule with him to make short stories, and not go a great way round to effect a small thing."
Very soon after the death of Mr. Rosebrook, the ample buildings which he had reared, and in which Mr. Crawford was residing at the time, were burned to the ground. It was a severe loss to Mr. Crawford, and one from which he never fully recovered. He was already in debt, and the loss of so
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much property seemed almost to shut out the hope of his ever extricating himself. But his courage did not forsake him, and, with his characteristic energy, he commenced to repair his losses. His family was immediately moved into a small log house, with but one door, one common apartment, no windows, and a chimney raised only to the chamber floor. This he repaired by degrees, as he had leisure, and by the next winter had a comfortable house.
His time was much occupied with travellers, many of whom had already begun to visit the mountains. His services were almost constantly in demand by those wishing to ascend to the summit of the mountains. At present it is hardly pos- sible to realize the difficulties, not only of ascending, but even of reaching, the mountains themselves. When cumbersome, unwieldy " stages " only lumbered out of Concord and Dover, and Portland, giving aches and pains and bruisings innu- merable to the weary occupant, a journey to the White Mountains was no trivial affair ; and these could but carry him to Fryburg or Conway, some thirty miles from his des- tination, while the journey must be finished on horseback. Slow, slow was the rate of travel in those days, and fortunate was the traveller if he reached the Crawfords in four or six days.
A curious incident, illustrating this point, as well as some of the other earlier New England customs, is related by Mrs. Crawford. On a time, " when they were to have a training, an officer went fifty miles to Lower Coös, as it was called, or Haverhill now, for two quarts of spirit to treat his com- pany with. As they had no carriages in those days, neither had they a road suitable for one, he took his horse, put on a saddle, and then a pair of large saddle-bags, filled with pro- visions for the journey, and a jug for the spirit, and provender
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for his horse, and, as they travelled at that time, it took him three or four days to perform this journey. When on his way home, by some unknown accident, the cork got loose, and the bottle was emptied of its contents into the saddle-bags. The liquor would have been saved had not the oats soaked up a part of it; he, however, saved enough to treat his company with."
At present the traveller has but to take his seat in a " spacious and well-ventilated railroad-car, elegant in its appointments as a parlor," enjoy all the pleasures ascribed by the poet to " Riding on a rail," -
" Singing through the forests, Rattling over ridges, Shooting under arches, Rumbling over bridges ; Whizzing through the mountains, Buzzing o'er the vale,"-
and presently he is set down at the very base of the moun- tains themselves on the eastern side. If he prefer to approach them from the south and west, the best modern coaches will bear him over good roads to the very centre of the wide clus- ter of mountains. Having reached the base of the mountains, the ascent, though now difficult and fatiguing, is not to be compared to the wearisome and perilous undertakings of the first visitors. Mr. Crawford gives the account of two young men, who undertook the ascent so late as 1818, with his father, the elder Crawford, as their guide. "They rode to the top of the Notch, then sent back their carriage, and pro- ceeded to the woods. They had much difficulty in managing to get through ; they, however, proceeded slowly, sometimes crawling under a thicket of trees, sometimes over logs and windfalls, until they arrived to where they could walk on the
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top of trees. This may seem strange, but it is nevertheless true. They never reached the summit, but managed to get along on some of the hills.
" As the day was drawing to a close, they returned to the woods, in order to pass the night, and erected a shelter for their protection. A dense fog arose, and during the night it rained. In the morning, owing to the darkness, they could not tell the best way to proceed ; but took the surest way by following the Ammonoosuc river, and came to my house. These men wore fine and costly garments into the woods ; but when they returned their clothes were torn and much injured by the bushes; and their hats looked as if they had been through a beggar's press. They were much exposed all night, without food or fire."
And often have I heard my father and eldest brother relate the perils of their first ascent, made in company with a party of students from Fryburg Academy. They went up from the east side of the mountain, as, in fact, most travellers did in those days. Many of the party, entirely overcome by the fatigue and difficulty of proceeding, fainted, and were obliged to return. Such, however, as did succeed, will probably never forget the undertaking. For the first few miles the difficulties were no more than one would encounter in any forest. But, as they ascended, the trees, changed from the maple and beech to the spruce and hemlock, became much smaller in size, at the same time thicker, while their way was much more broken and rough. At length, from forcing their way through the thick growth, they were compelled to stoop and go under the scraggy tops of the rough, stiff, hem- locks, and spruces, sending out their long limbs and interlac -. ing them so firmly as to form an impassable barrier. At each ascending step they were forced to stoop still lower, until
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from right angles they almost touched the ground with their faces. When they could proceed no further in this way, they forced their way up through the matted tops of the trees and walked on the low, stunted vegetation as upon moss. In this manner they passed the limits of vegetation and reached the summit. From their account I should judge a sorrier- looking set of men never descended Mount Washington. Their clothes were not only almost torn from their backs, but their bodies were lacerated sorely, by their perilous march through the dwarfish growth.
At present the ascent, though rough, is much easier. Visitors can start from any of the houses around the moun- tains, and ascend with nothing in the shape of stumps or trees to obstruct their way. Bridle-paths have been cut from all these points to the top of the mountains, so that even now females can ascend them on horseback. The first bridle-path was made by Ethan Crawford in 1821. He says of it: " In March I hired Esquire Stuart to come with his compass, and go into the woods, and see if there could not be a better and more practicable way found to ascend the mountains. He spent three days in making search, and returned well satisfied that he had found the best way ; for the road which we had heretofore travelled is an uneven one, going up a hill and then down again, and this in so many successions, that it made it tiresome to those who were not accustomed to this kind of journeying ; and the way which we had now found is over a comparative level surface for nearly seven miles, following the source of the Ammonoosuc, or Ompomponoosuc, until we arrived at the foot of Mount Washington, and then taking a ridge or spur of the hill.
" In the summer, just before haying, I hired men and went with them to cut this path, and while in the woods, at
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the distance of three miles from home, as I was standing on an old log chopping, with my axe raised, the log broke, and I came down with such force that it struck my right ankle, and glanced, nearly cutting my heel-cord off; I bled freely, and so much so that I was unable to stand or go. The men that were with me took the cloths we had our dinner wrapped in, and tied up my wound as well as they could, and then began to contrive means to get me out of the woods. They cut a round pole, and with their frocks which they wore tied me in underneath it, and thought they could carry me in like manner as we bring dead bears through the woods ; but in this way I could not ride. They then let me down, and took turns in carrying me on their backs, until we got out of the woods. There happened to be at my house, then, Mrs. Stalbard, who is known in our country, and bore the name of Granny Stalbard, whose head was whitened with more than eighty years. She was an old doctress woman ; one of the first female settlers in Jefferson, and she had learned from the Indians the virtues of roots and herbs, and the various ways in which they could be made useful. Now the old lady said it was best to examine this wound, and have it properly dressed up; but, as it had stopped bleeding, I told her I thought it was better to let it remain as it then was; but she, thinking she was the elder and knew better, unwrapped it, and it soon set bleeding afresh, and it was with difficulty she now stopped it. She, however, went into the field, plucked some young clover-leaves, pounded them in a mortar, and placed them on my wounds : this stopped the blood so suddenly that it caused me to faint." This is the history of the first bridle-path.
But these bridle-paths are but " notched trees " compared with what energy, enterprise and capital, have already com-
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pleted. At an expense of one hundred thousand dollars, a carriage-road has been constructed to the very summit of the mountain. "The length of the road from the Glen House to the top is eight miles. It is fifteen feet wide, clear of all obstructions, McAdamized in the best manner, and the average grade is a rise of one foot to eight and a half, with level spots at various points of interest, where travellers may rest and examine the scenery. Wherever the road is on the side of declivities, strong walls are erected, the road itself inclining inwards. For half the way up the mountain the road winds through the forest, coming out at the Ledge. From here it continues along the edge of the deep ravine, which separate Mount Wash- ington from Jefferson and Adams. Then it curves to the eastern side of the mountain, where it overlooks Peabody and Ellis rivers. The scenery here is perhaps superior to that on any part of the road. Above and below you can see the carriages moving slowly along the road, while the distant view is grand in the extreme."
But to return to Mr. Crawford. Almost constantly occu- pied as he was in summer with his visitors and farm, he yet found much time for hunting, which was his favorite recrea- tion. His winters were almost entirely devoted to this, and generally quite profitably. The mountains were then teeming with wild animals ; very valuable for their meat and skin. By his great strength, cunning, and courage, no animal could escape him.
" His rifle flashed, The grim bear hushed his savage growl ; In blood and foam the panther gnashed His fangs, with dying howl ; The fleet deer ceased its flying bound, Its snarling wolf-foe bit the ground,
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And, with its moaning cry, The beaver sank beneath the wound Its pond-built Venice by."
Alone and unarmed he would attack the fiercest animal of the forest; - the gray cat, or Siberian lynx, such a terror to the hunter, even when in company and armed with his rifle. This animal differs considerably from the wild-cat, with which it is often confounded ; resembling more in its appearance and disposition the caracal of Asia. It is perfectly untamable, and lives entirely upon the smaller animals of the forest. " At one time," Mr. Crawford says, " these an- imals became very bold, making great havoc among our sheep and geese, and causing us many fears for the safety of our children. I set many traps for them, baiting them with a variety of meats, from hens cooked, to chickens alive with feathers on; but nothing would tempt them, until I chanced to try pickled fish. The night after I had baited with this, one got into the trap. He was quite large, and moved the trap some distance into a clump of bushes, so that in the morning, when I came to look for him, it was some time before I could find him. He was lying partly concealed by the bushes, and I did not see him before I had my foot raised to step on him. He sprang and I sprang, fortunately far enough to get a large stick before he could attack me. With this I entered into an engagement, and it was some time before I was able to quiet him. I conquered, however, at last, and in triumph carried him home. He measured more than six feet in length. In this way I caught six of them."'
At another time, as he was passing down through the Notch with his team, his dog discovered one, but a short dis- tance from the road, in the top of a tree thirty feet high. Taking a small hatchet which he had with him, he cut two
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birch sticks, which he twisted together. so as to form one long pole. On one extremity of this he made with another stick a ring with a slip-noose to it. This he worked up through the limbs of the tree, and threw over the animal's head, somewhat as the Indian lassos the wild horse with his lariat. Jerking suddenly, as he threw the noose over his head, he brought the creature down ten feet, when the noose broke. He fixed another before the lynx could recover from the shock of the first jerk, and this time brought him to the ground. The dog instantly sprang upon him, but was soon glad to cry for quarters, and retreat with his skin nearly torn · from his body. The fellow now became furious ; but, unable to reach his captor, sprang into the top of a small spruce, four feet high, and here seemed determined to remain. The
battle now commenced in earnest. By means of the halter, Mr. Crawford held him firmly in his place, and, with such sticks as he could readily lay his hand on, commenced beating him to death. It was a long and exciting struggle, requiring all his strength to keep him from springing into his face; but he delighted in such contests, and by his well-directed blows at length killed him.
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