North Maine Woods Essay, Research Paper

Henry David Thoreau was born in Concord, Massachusetts in 1817. He was an avid outdoors man and the outdoors was the topic of many of his books. His best-known novel was probably Walden, during which he spent a year by himself in a cabin next to Walden Pond. The Maine Woods is a collection of three of his adventures to Northern Maine each during different times of his life. Thoreau was also a botanist and on his trips he spent much of his time recording information on plants and trees he observed. He had a certain deep respect and love for the great white pine which was cut down so much that he could hardly find one. He also loved to study the Indian culture and how they differed from the Yankees .

His first adventure consisted of Thoreau going to climb the summit of Mount Ktaadn (this is how he spelled it by ear). He began his trip from Massachusetts and took a steam boat up to Bangor. From Bangor he took a horse drawn cart up the Houlton Road to the Military Road which brought him to Lincoln. From Lincoln he traveled up the side of the Penobscot River to Mattawamkeag where they met two Indians that offered to pick them up at Nicatou when they left. Henry set off towards Nicatou only to be abandoned by the Indians. He was fortunate enough to have met up with a man by the name of George Mcauslin. He offered to take Thoreau up to Ktaadn by batteau. He and another couple of loggers started their trip by starting up the West Branch of the Penobscot River to Quakish Lake. Then into South and North Twin Lakes. After these two lakes he goes to Ambajejus Lake and encounters he first major portage. Between each of the lakes there was what is called a thoroughfare and a set of swift rapids or falls. They went through: Ambajejus, Passamadamet, Katepskonegan, Pockwockomus, and Aboljacarmegus lakes and falls. After all of these portages, and warping up of the falls, they reached Sowadnehunk dead-water from which they had a clear view of the great Mount Ktaadn. Thoreau told of the great fishing at this spot where they caught fish by the hundreds under the moonlight. From here they set off on foot towards the gigantic mountain. They stopped and ate blueberries the whole way up and decided to camp just below the summit for the night. The nest day they all ascended to the top but could not get the clear view of the land below that they had traveled because of the cloud cover. They left that day and got down to their bateau thinking what a wonderful journey it had been. They dropped of George Mcauslin and headed back to Bangor where Henry was picked up and taken back to Mass.

On his second trip Thoreau was headed to Chesuncook from the likes of Moosehead Lake. He was to accompany a group of Indians on their way to Lake Chesuncook on a hunting trip. These men were hunting for the great Northern Maine moose. They put in Moosehead Lake at Greenville and headed for Mt. Kineo. They then portaged over the land using an old railway to the Penobscot. The men hunted all of the little tributaries meeting the Penobscot including Russell Stream, Lobster Stream, Moosehorn, and Beaver Brook. None of these produced any moose for the hunters until they almost reached Chesuncook Lake. Here they went up Pine Stream and called out a mother and her calf. The gun man took two shots; one at the mother and one at the calf. The mother was hit but the calf escaped. The Indians tried to track down the mother, but they lost its trail amongst the other moose prints. They continued down the stream and found the mother dead in the middle of a shallow fast water. The Indian skinned it and cut out a part of its hind quarters, but left the rest of the moose where it was. Thoreau and his Indian friends then went to Chesuncook to stay at a logging camp. They continued hunting the next day around Ragmuff. They met another group of Indians and hunted around Caucomgomoc for the next couple of days. The party then polled back up the river and portaged back across the railway to Moosehead ,and the men headed back home.

For his third excursion, he decided to go through Moosehead Lake, up to the Allagash Lakes, and back down the East Branch of the Penobscot River. They started off in Greenville with a group of Indians from the Artoosoqu Tribe. The party carried over the old railway to the Penobscot river and descending to Lobster Pond. They carried around Pine Stream falls to Chesuncook Dead-water and decided to go up the Umbazookskus River. From there the men carried over to the head of the Allagash: Chamberlain Lake. They then stopped at a big island and stayed the night here(they have actually named a campsite after the author at this very place). The group then turned back around and headed back down Chamberlain Lake towards Telos Lake. From there they went through a dangerous pass to Webster Pond by attempting Webster Stream. The stream was so violent they had to carry around the end of it to go to the East Branch. Just down the East Branch the men shot a cow moose. On the way down the Penobscot they had to carry around a numerous amount of falls and rapids. The party camped just below Nicatou so they could reach Mattawamkeag the next day. From there the Indians and Thoreau went to Lincoln and then down to Piscataquis Falls. They then continued their way down the Penobscot passed Passadumkeag River. From there the men went straight down to Old Town and took the canoe out of the river for the end of their journey.

This book was a very educational experience for me. It talked about all of the different plants and trees of certain regions and about the Indian culture. Thoreau wrote it beautifully with a good combination of adventure and mind-expanding aspects to the book. I am an avid outdoors man myself so this novel really caught my eye and my heart. The way that the hospitality has changed is showed in the book. The whole way through his trips there were logging or Indian camps on the way open to anyone who wanted to stop. It shows how much the world has been inhabited since his the trips. One in 1846, one in 1853, and the last in 1857. So I conclude my review with a quote from the novel.