Stick Season

We are well into what local Conway Daily Sun hiking columnist, Ed Parsons, describes in a recent article as the “stick season” that period between leaf peeping and the first snow (which may arrive tomorrow) as we celebrate Thanksgiving, a holiday with a long history and numerous layers of meaning (more on this later). 

As Parsons points out, stick season allows us to view mountain peaks and profiles through the leafless trees to enjoy the panoramic vista usually hidden by foliage. As one who enjoys following in the footsteps of nineteenth-century White Mountain artists, hunting historic views and comparing them to White Mountain artworks I can appreciate this time of year. 

For example, with most of the leaves gone, you can get a sense of the view shown above. During the rest of the year, the foliage hides the scene from this location. 

For more info on the painting above follow this link here. 

Ed recommends that we appreciate what special things each season offers. He describes the joys of the smells, sounds and of course, sights, of stick season. 

It is only natural that many cultures have tracked the seasonal changes and developed special events to mark them. The major holidays of this time of the year celebrated around the world in different countries can be seen as a reaction to longer nights and shorter days as well as the end of the harvest season and a period of food uncertainty until Spring. 

In previous blogs, I have explored Thanksgiving and the way it is tied to historic traditions and seasonal changes.  

All the leaves are brown here. 

The soap makers here. 

Mapping the seasons here. 

Gator for Thanksgiving here. 

Have a very happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Halloween: Changes within a season and Reflections on mid to late autumn

This scene above is part of my regular commute to work. The view of the little white church nestled in fall foliage across Crystal Lake opens up after a long drive through kaleidoscopic tree tunnels this time of the year. Even though it is past peak it is still stunning!

On a different vibe, I also pass this less serene, but seasonally appropriate vista on my commute.

Within the "Halloween Manor" can be found this army of corn stalk zombies.  

I have not seen anything quite like this creative use of corn stalks before. Note exactly your friendly scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz. I explored the history of more traditional ways of displaying corn stalks in a previous blog here. 

So far we have had a warm and colorful autumn, but that is about to change

let's review what has happened so far and what is to come. 

I like big words and I can not lie...

I find that specific words help to create a word picture that helps me identify and understand the seasonal changes I see around me. 

For example, 

The term for leaves changing color is senescence. 

The term for leaves dropping is abscission. 

The sound of gently rustling leaves is psithurism (from the Greek for "whispering")

As part of our free outreach program to local schools and community groups, our current intern, Juli Medeiros, presented an autumn show and tell at the Conway Adult Day Center. 

During the program she explored the image she is holding on loan for exhibit from the Conway Historical Society 

 

In studying artworks, it is important to look at the back .... 

The label on the back indicates it is not a painting but rather a chromo or chromolithograph.

The distinctive size, shape and color of the crop identifies it as corn. This is the origin of our modern decorations.

To learn more about interpreting the seasonal changes see the webpage that our intern Juli Medeiros created for the circulation display she created here.

Have a warm and happy Halloween. 

Map to the Mountains: New Haven to New Hampshire

In 1827, Daniel Wadsworth sent a map and suggested itinerary for a trip to the White Mountains to Thomas Cole that was scheduled to begin 197 years ago today. 

Today, that letter is in the Thomas Cole papers at the New York State Library in Albany (Box 3, Folder 7). See the link here.  

The letter is written on one piece of paper and folded as was the custom of the time to serve as its own envelope.  

Wadsworth sketched a rough map on the back of the letter (click on the images to enlarge them). 

The map is outlined in the yellow box below. 

Here is a detail of the letter and map with a transcription (click on images to enlarge them). 

In a recent blog here we followed in the footsteps of Thomas Cole's final trip to the White Mountains in 1839. Thomas Cole is a world famous artist and considered the founder of the Hudson River School of Art. In this blog we will learn more about how he first got to New Hampshire and a little about his first trip here.  

Details of Cole's first trip to New Hampshire are sketchy and Wadsworth's letter is one of the best pieces of evidence we have for the trip. 

Let's start with Daniel Wadsworth, the man behind the letter, map and many of Cole's canvases. 

Thomas Sully, Daniel Wadsworth, 1807

Wadsworth Athenaeum 1976.79

The Curatorial narrative from the Wadsworth Athenaeum website about this painting points out "The sitter dons buff leather gloves with red stitching, characteristic of those worn when traveling. Wadsworth was a romantic traveler and amateur artist in his own right, who searched for beautiful scenes to sketch. The dreamy gaze, tousled curly hair, and nonchalant pose add to the painting’s romantic sensibility." Wadsworth founded his museum in 1844. He was born in 1771 and died in 1848.

Wadsworth had the eye of an artist, but lacked the skill and talent to realize his vision. Fortunately for us, he had the motive and means to travel and the will to direct Thomas Cole to make the art he wanted for him. 

Here is a print attributed to Wadsworth that was published (facing title page) in 1826 in the 2nd edition (with 1827 additions) of Theodore Dwight's The Northern Traveler. 

To view the print from the book follow this link here. 

To read the associated text (pp 311-314) online follow this link and start here. 

The view is looking north with Mt. Willey on the left west, Mt. Webster on the right east and Mt. Willard in the center north. 

You can match the historic print to a more modern view through google maps in my entry in the theclio app here. 

and my photo from the site with signs 

Now you have your own map so you can follow in the footsteps of Daniel Wadsworth and Thomas Cole. 

July 3, 1839 Crawford Notch Following in the Footsteps of White Mountain Artists

 

185 years ago today, Thomas Cole and Asher B. Durand sketched in Crawford Notch. Cole's sketch was later used as the basis for one of his most famous paintings. For a discussion of the misidentification of that view see our previous blog here.

The Cole sketch is now in the collection of the Princeton University Art Museum. FMI see this link here. 

The Durand sketch is now in the collection of the New York Historical Society. FMI see this link here. 

The sketches are very similar and were taken from around the same vantage point. 

 

You can visit that site today. For directions and information see these links here and here.

The center of each sketch features the "gate" through which the road runs, Elephant Head on the left and the Notch House and barn from that time period. 

 

For more images in this area follow this link.

FMI contact the Conway Public Library's Henney History Room

Operation Neptune

 

Today we commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day. The amphibious assault part of that invasion was code named Operation Neptune. Recently, we have fielded a number of questions about World War 2 and the roles that local folks played in that conflict. 

The Conway Public Library’s Henney History Room supports research on both an international and family scale.

For example, I was able to discover that my uncle Warren was involved in the development of the amphibious vehicles used on D-Day. He was a mechanic and worked for Donald Roebling, the great grandson of fabled bridge engineer John Augustus Roebling, who designed the Brooklyn Bridge.

Donald Roebling moved to Clearwater, Florida in 1929. His arrived about six months after the Great Lake Okeechobee Hurricane of September 16, l928, which swept across Lake Okeechobee, inundating newly developed tracts, killing 1,836 a residents and causing $25 million in damages. 

Many of the storm’s victims expired after the hurricane because rescuers were unable to reach them across so many miles of flooded, muddy swamps created by the storm. Roebling realized that an amphibious vehicle that could travel on land, swamps, and across deep water might have saved hundreds of lives. Between 1933-37 Roebling supervised the construction of four increasingly sophisticated amphibious tractors, culminating in the Alligator.

And the rest as they say, is history...

We welcome you to contact the Conway Public Library's Henney History Room to find out about your family's history.

People Who Can't Tell "Entomology" from "Etymology" ...

...bug me in ways I can't put into words.

For example, this is a bug - an Emerald Ash Borer to be specific. 

The branch of zoology that studies insects is called "Entomology." 

 

This bug has a starring role in an exhibit that we at the Conway Public Library's Henney History Room helped with and loaned items for. 

 

Entitled Of Baskets and Borers: The Past, Present, and Future of Indigenous Basketry in the White Mountains, the exhibit runs from June 1 – September 14, 2024. 

The exhibition explores the past, present, and future of Indigenous basketry in the White Mountains region. As a museum about a place, their exhibitions seek to present stories about the people, plants, and animals of our region. In this case, they will be exploring the intersection between Indigenous basketry, brown ash trees, and the Emerald Ash Borer.

FMI on the exhibit follow this link here.

This blog is about bugs, but also about words and language. The study of words is called "Etymology." 

Most of the items lent by The Conway Public Library's Henney History Room came from our Laurent family collection. 

Joseph Laurent (seen above) and his family sold ash baskets in Conway, but he and his son Stephen, were also linguists. 

Joseph Laurent's work on Abenaki grammar, vocabulary, place names, and dialogues was published in 1884, under the title New Familiar Abenakis and English Dialogue.

 

The Laurents ran an "Indian Shop" and sold a number of souvenirs. The site was established in 1884. In addition to the gift shop building are the remains of five cabins, one wigwam, a flag pole standard, a totem pole standard, and a monument to Joseph Laurent.

In the 1880s, Abenaki Chief Joseph Laurent (1839-1917) began yearly trips to New Hampshire. At first, he spent summers in Center Harbor. During one of his visits, he met William M. Wyman, the proprietor of the Elmwood Inn. They struck up a business partnership. Wyman offered land for a permanent seasonal camp here in the Intervale area of Conway. This piece of land was scenic and conveniently located to nearby hotels and the railroad depot.

In 1884 Joseph Laurent constructed several cabins and began a successful enterprise of selling crafts and providing entertainment to tourists visiting the area. Every summer, Laurent and his family would lead a small band of Abenaki Indians to the camp where they would sell their wares to tourists and locals alike. Laurent operated the camp on a seasonal basis for 33 years until his death in 1917.

The gift shop was originally owned and used by the railroad as a shed for a handcar and tools, it was purchased by Chief Joseph Laurent from a woman who had bought it from the railroad around 1900.

The cabins you see here today were built or moved to the site starting in 1884 and have been remodeled over the years. They were used for a variety of purposes including cooking, storage and sleeping.

You can visit the site today. For directions and information see this link here. 

While the entire collection at the library has been inventoried, only 15 items are more fully cataloged in past perfect see link here. 

We could use some volunteers to helps us document this important collection. 

At the site you will be greeted by this sign.  

The exhibit will also feature Laurent family items from the Conway Historical Society 

On the bottom of this basket you can find a sticker indicating it was for sale at the Abenaki Indian Shop. 

as well as tools and molds, 

For more info on other basket related exhibits see the following links:

Portland Museum of Art, Portland Maine here. 

Manchester and Nashua NH here.

Farnsworth Museum, Maine here. 

You can even buy the t-shirt. 

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Saskatoon Spring: Flowers for Fish and Funerals …

… and pies, basket frames, rope, and tea, as well as many other things.  

It is one of the earliest trees to flower around the Conway Public Library. It graces the entrance to the library park and has a very interesting history. 

One of its many nicknames is Shadbush. 

The "Shad" reference is from the historical era when immense schools of migratory shad fish returned in April to New England rivers, just as the "Shadbush" bloomed.

Other nicknames include serviceberry, sarvis, juneberry, saskatoon, wild-plum and chuckley pear.    

One naturalist suggests this native tree has so many different names because people in New England appreciate the beauty of the earliest flowers so much more at winter's end!
But equally beautiful are the stories and folktales that have been associated with this tree for hundreds of years.

One story is that the first settlers in the New England area often planned funeral services at the same time that the tree bloomed. Its blooming was a sign that the ground had thawed sufficiently to be able to dig graves. So the tree became known as the ‘serviceberry tree.

Traditionally the berries which fruit in June they are often used to make pemmican, a dried mash of lean meat, berries, and animal fat that was historically a common staple food among native peoples. The meat would be whatever’s on hand—bison, elk, deer—and the berries would be whatever’s in season—serviceberries, blueberries, cranberries. When properly prepared, pemmican can keep in storage for up to 10 years!

Shad fry Pembrooke, MA

Shad planking has become a political event in parts of New England. 

There is even a shad museum in Haddam CN follow the link here. 

Earlier today we explored the shadbush tree with second graders at the Northeast Woodlands Charter School in Conway. If you would like to learn more about New England's "working woods" contact us at the Conway Public Library's Henney History Room.