THE MILITARY AND CIVIL HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF ESSEX, NEW YORK; and a GENERAL SURVEY OF ITS PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, ITS MINES AND MINERALS, AND INDUSTRIAL PURSUITS, EMBRACING AN ACCOUNT OF THE NORTHERN WILDERNESS; AND ALSO THE MILITARY ANNALS OF THE FORTRESSES OF CROWN POINT AND TICONDEROGA., continued ...
By WINSLOW C. WATSON.
PART 11.
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY., continued ...
Lakes, concluded...
Interior Lakes and Rivers., concluded ...
The Au Sable ponds form the loftiest as well as most important reservoir of the South branch of the Au Sable river.
Lying amid the acclivities of the Adirondacs, and buried deeply in the solitudes of forests, which have yet scarcely been disturbed by the movements of enterprise, these waters are calculated, when more fully known, to attract the attention of the tourist and sportsman, by their solitariness, their beauty and sporting wealth.
They are four or five miles from civilized habitations.
Small boats have been placed upon them, to facilitate access to Mt. Marcy, towards which they afford one of the most direct routes.
The Upper pond is classed among the most beautiful lakes of the region.
The state some years ago erected a dam on the outlet of these ponds, to aid the manufacturing interests of the district, but it yielded to the pressure of a sudden and extraordinary accumulation of water, which contributed to produce a flood, that poured upon the Au Sable valley, in wide and terrible desolation. 4
I may here appropriately refer to a fact of some philosophical interest and great practical importance.
In the progress of my survey, I have observed, in repeated instances, the ruins of mills and dams, which, in the early occupation of the county, had ample water power, not a vestige of which now remains but a deep and worn ravine that once formed its channel.
As the progress of agricultural and manufacturing improvements — before which forests are leveled, the country opened, and the earth exposed to the influence of the sun and atmosphere — advances, springs and streams will be dried up, and it will become imperatively necessary to adopt artificial means to control and preserve the water power of this county.
4 Mr. George S. Potter.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
THE HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY
Re: THE HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY
THE MILITARY AND CIVIL HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF ESSEX, NEW YORK; and a GENERAL SURVEY OF ITS PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, ITS MINES AND MINERALS, AND INDUSTRIAL PURSUITS, EMBRACING AN ACCOUNT OF THE NORTHERN WILDERNESS; AND ALSO THE MILITARY ANNALS OF THE FORTRESSES OF CROWN POINT AND TICONDEROGA., continued ...
By WINSLOW C. WATSON.
PART 11.
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY., continued ...
Rivers.
The elevated and extended highlands of Essex county, naturally form the great water shed of an extended territory.
In their recesses, the sources of the Hudson almost mingle with the waters that flow into Champlain and the tributaries of the St. Lawrence.
A rivulet gurgling towards the Hudson, discharges from one extremity of the Indian pass, and a branch of the Au Sable from the opposite.
A pond lying amid the rocks, hundreds of feet above the pass, pours its waters into a confluent of the St. Lawrence.
The streams of a district, like Essex county, broken and mountainous, will be numerous, but turbulent and precipitous.
These characteristics are eminently useful in the aspect of a manufacturing interest.
Wherever the demands of business require water power in the county, it exists or can be at once created.
The tributaries of the Hudson traverse every section of the southwestern portion of the country, and afford illimitable facilities to various mechanical and other industrial occupations.
Putnam's creek, formed by the lakes and ponds in the mountains of the interior, courses a distance of twenty miles, supplying the power to numerous works and enters the lake at Crown point.
The Boquet interlaces, by its numerous branches, the central portion of the county, and affording, in a course of forty-five miles, unnumbered water privileges, discharges into the lake at Willsboro'.
Several of the most extensive and valuable manufacturing works in the county are established upon this stream.
The Boquet was formerly navigable to the falls, a distance of three miles, by the largest vessels upon the lake.
Its channel, now changed and obstructed, only admits, at favorable periods of the year, the lightest crafts.
Lake George penetrates Essex county several miles, and discharges through an outlet of about three miles and a half in length, into Lake Champlain, by a strong, deep, and equable stream, which is navigable to the lower falls.
This stream, in its course from Lake George to the falls, forms a most extraordinary water power, in some peculiarities, without a parallel.
It discharges per second a volume of water, exceeding four hundred feet, along a natural canal of one mile and a half in length, making chiefly by a gradual descent, a fall of two hundred and twenty feet.
Through almost its whole course water wheels, connected with machinery, may be dropped from its elevated rocky banks, into the stream, and propelled almost without any artificial arrangement.
The sloping banks of Lake George form an immense receptacle where the excess of water is accumulated, and gradually discharges.
Hence, no freshets can endanger the works upon its outlet, but a uniform and permanent supply of water is secured at all seasons, and under all circumstances.
This stream rarely varies three feet from its ordinary level.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
By WINSLOW C. WATSON.
PART 11.
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY., continued ...
Rivers.
The elevated and extended highlands of Essex county, naturally form the great water shed of an extended territory.
In their recesses, the sources of the Hudson almost mingle with the waters that flow into Champlain and the tributaries of the St. Lawrence.
A rivulet gurgling towards the Hudson, discharges from one extremity of the Indian pass, and a branch of the Au Sable from the opposite.
A pond lying amid the rocks, hundreds of feet above the pass, pours its waters into a confluent of the St. Lawrence.
The streams of a district, like Essex county, broken and mountainous, will be numerous, but turbulent and precipitous.
These characteristics are eminently useful in the aspect of a manufacturing interest.
Wherever the demands of business require water power in the county, it exists or can be at once created.
The tributaries of the Hudson traverse every section of the southwestern portion of the country, and afford illimitable facilities to various mechanical and other industrial occupations.
Putnam's creek, formed by the lakes and ponds in the mountains of the interior, courses a distance of twenty miles, supplying the power to numerous works and enters the lake at Crown point.
The Boquet interlaces, by its numerous branches, the central portion of the county, and affording, in a course of forty-five miles, unnumbered water privileges, discharges into the lake at Willsboro'.
Several of the most extensive and valuable manufacturing works in the county are established upon this stream.
The Boquet was formerly navigable to the falls, a distance of three miles, by the largest vessels upon the lake.
Its channel, now changed and obstructed, only admits, at favorable periods of the year, the lightest crafts.
Lake George penetrates Essex county several miles, and discharges through an outlet of about three miles and a half in length, into Lake Champlain, by a strong, deep, and equable stream, which is navigable to the lower falls.
This stream, in its course from Lake George to the falls, forms a most extraordinary water power, in some peculiarities, without a parallel.
It discharges per second a volume of water, exceeding four hundred feet, along a natural canal of one mile and a half in length, making chiefly by a gradual descent, a fall of two hundred and twenty feet.
Through almost its whole course water wheels, connected with machinery, may be dropped from its elevated rocky banks, into the stream, and propelled almost without any artificial arrangement.
The sloping banks of Lake George form an immense receptacle where the excess of water is accumulated, and gradually discharges.
Hence, no freshets can endanger the works upon its outlet, but a uniform and permanent supply of water is secured at all seasons, and under all circumstances.
This stream rarely varies three feet from its ordinary level.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY
THE MILITARY AND CIVIL HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF ESSEX, NEW YORK; and a GENERAL SURVEY OF ITS PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, ITS MINES AND MINERALS, AND INDUSTRIAL PURSUITS, EMBRACING AN ACCOUNT OF THE NORTHERN WILDERNESS; AND ALSO THE MILITARY ANNALS OF THE FORTRESSES OF CROWN POINT AND TICONDEROGA., continued ...
By WINSLOW C. WATSON.
PART 11.
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY., continued ...
Rivers., concluded ...
The warmth of the water, and the rapidity of the current prevent every obstruction from ice to the wheel.
The water may be diffused laterally, and its power multiplied to any extent.
The great and rare purity of the water renders it particularly adapted to those manufactories which require dyeing, bleaching and printing facilities.
In combination with all these singular advantages, this position commands the commercial thoroughfare formed by the lakes; it may reach the immense forests extending far into the interior, spreading on each side of Lake George; it has, within its own environs, a rich and abundant mineral region, and has near and easy access to the vast iron deposits of the Moriah district.
Such harmony in its arrangements, so great and remarkable advantages in the bounties of providence, are rarely combined.
The utilitarian spirit of the age, the interests of business and enterprise, would long since have converted these neglected privileges into elements of prosperity and wealth; but the blight of foreign ownership has paralyzed those high bounties.
The cupidity or grossly mistaken and pernicious policy of these proprietors has imposed terms so exacting, as to repel through a long term of years almost every purpose of an adequate occupation of these advantages.
The two main branches of the Au Sable river, nearly equal in size and importance, rise principally in the western part of Essex county, and by their numerous and wide spread confluents drain a territory of about eight hundred square miles.
These branches unite at Au Sable Forks and roll along the Au Sable valley a motive power that impels varied and extensive industrial pursuits equal to any other stream within the state of no greater extent and capacity.
The river Saranac penetrates Essex county from Franklin near the line that divides the towns of North Elba and St. Armands, and crossing the latter diagonally, enters Clinton county.
Gliding along high level banks, with scarcely a perceptible current, it exhibits almost the form and aspect of an artificial canal.
It is navigable in Essex county about fifteen miles by small boats, and probably by slight improvement might be adapted to the passage of the smaller class of screw steamers.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
By WINSLOW C. WATSON.
PART 11.
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY., continued ...
Rivers., concluded ...
The warmth of the water, and the rapidity of the current prevent every obstruction from ice to the wheel.
The water may be diffused laterally, and its power multiplied to any extent.
The great and rare purity of the water renders it particularly adapted to those manufactories which require dyeing, bleaching and printing facilities.
In combination with all these singular advantages, this position commands the commercial thoroughfare formed by the lakes; it may reach the immense forests extending far into the interior, spreading on each side of Lake George; it has, within its own environs, a rich and abundant mineral region, and has near and easy access to the vast iron deposits of the Moriah district.
Such harmony in its arrangements, so great and remarkable advantages in the bounties of providence, are rarely combined.
The utilitarian spirit of the age, the interests of business and enterprise, would long since have converted these neglected privileges into elements of prosperity and wealth; but the blight of foreign ownership has paralyzed those high bounties.
The cupidity or grossly mistaken and pernicious policy of these proprietors has imposed terms so exacting, as to repel through a long term of years almost every purpose of an adequate occupation of these advantages.
The two main branches of the Au Sable river, nearly equal in size and importance, rise principally in the western part of Essex county, and by their numerous and wide spread confluents drain a territory of about eight hundred square miles.
These branches unite at Au Sable Forks and roll along the Au Sable valley a motive power that impels varied and extensive industrial pursuits equal to any other stream within the state of no greater extent and capacity.
The river Saranac penetrates Essex county from Franklin near the line that divides the towns of North Elba and St. Armands, and crossing the latter diagonally, enters Clinton county.
Gliding along high level banks, with scarcely a perceptible current, it exhibits almost the form and aspect of an artificial canal.
It is navigable in Essex county about fifteen miles by small boats, and probably by slight improvement might be adapted to the passage of the smaller class of screw steamers.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY
THE MILITARY AND CIVIL HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF ESSEX, NEW YORK; and a GENERAL SURVEY OF ITS PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, ITS MINES AND MINERALS, AND INDUSTRIAL PURSUITS, EMBRACING AN ACCOUNT OF THE NORTHERN WILDERNESS; AND ALSO THE MILITARY ANNALS OF THE FORTRESSES OF CROWN POINT AND TICONDEROGA., continued ...
By WINSLOW C. WATSON.
PART 11.
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY., continued ...
Natural Curiosities.
Indian pass. The mighty convulsions which have upheaved the lofty mountains of this region, or rent asunder the barriers that enclosed the seas, which washed their cliffs, have left impressive vestiges of their power, in the striking natural phenomena spread over the country.
None of them afford more wonderful exhibitions of those terrific agencies, or more imposing beauty and magnificence, than a remarkable gorge, known as the Indian pass, in the impressive aboriginal Otneyarh, the Stony Giants.
It occupies a narrow ravine, formed by a rapid acclivity of Mount McMartin on one side, rising at an angle of forty-five degrees, and on the opposite by the dark naked wall of a vertical precipice, towering to an altitude of eight hundred to one thousand two hundred feet from its base, and extending more than a mile in length.
The base itself is elevated about two thousand five hundred feet above tide water.
The deep and appalling gorge is strewn and probably occupied for several hundred feet, with gigantic fragments hurled into it from the impending cliffs, by some potent agency.
The elements still advance the process.
So exact and wonderful is the stupendous masonry of this bulwark, that it seems, could human nerve allow the effort, a stone dropped from the summit, might reach the base without striking an impediment.
The pencil cannot portray, nor language describe, the full grandeur and sublimity of this spectacle.
The deep seclusion, the wild solitude of the place, awe and impress.
Many miles from human habitation, nature here reigns in her primitive silence and repose.
The eagles form their eyries amid these inaccessible cliffs, and seem like some humble bird as they hover over the deep abyss.
The heavy forests that clothe the steeps of McMartin, and shroud the broken and confused masses of rock in the gorge, add to the gloom and solemnity of these dark recesses.
A tiny rivulet just starting from its birthplace amid these solitudes, chafes and frets along its rocky passage, in its course to the Hudson.
A ravine lying among the Adirondacs, near Keeseville and known as Poke-0-Moonshine (the origin or meaning of this euphonious name I have not been able to trace), presents a feeble copy of the Indian pass in reduced proportions.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
By WINSLOW C. WATSON.
PART 11.
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY., continued ...
Natural Curiosities.
Indian pass. The mighty convulsions which have upheaved the lofty mountains of this region, or rent asunder the barriers that enclosed the seas, which washed their cliffs, have left impressive vestiges of their power, in the striking natural phenomena spread over the country.
None of them afford more wonderful exhibitions of those terrific agencies, or more imposing beauty and magnificence, than a remarkable gorge, known as the Indian pass, in the impressive aboriginal Otneyarh, the Stony Giants.
It occupies a narrow ravine, formed by a rapid acclivity of Mount McMartin on one side, rising at an angle of forty-five degrees, and on the opposite by the dark naked wall of a vertical precipice, towering to an altitude of eight hundred to one thousand two hundred feet from its base, and extending more than a mile in length.
The base itself is elevated about two thousand five hundred feet above tide water.
The deep and appalling gorge is strewn and probably occupied for several hundred feet, with gigantic fragments hurled into it from the impending cliffs, by some potent agency.
The elements still advance the process.
So exact and wonderful is the stupendous masonry of this bulwark, that it seems, could human nerve allow the effort, a stone dropped from the summit, might reach the base without striking an impediment.
The pencil cannot portray, nor language describe, the full grandeur and sublimity of this spectacle.
The deep seclusion, the wild solitude of the place, awe and impress.
Many miles from human habitation, nature here reigns in her primitive silence and repose.
The eagles form their eyries amid these inaccessible cliffs, and seem like some humble bird as they hover over the deep abyss.
The heavy forests that clothe the steeps of McMartin, and shroud the broken and confused masses of rock in the gorge, add to the gloom and solemnity of these dark recesses.
A tiny rivulet just starting from its birthplace amid these solitudes, chafes and frets along its rocky passage, in its course to the Hudson.
A ravine lying among the Adirondacs, near Keeseville and known as Poke-0-Moonshine (the origin or meaning of this euphonious name I have not been able to trace), presents a feeble copy of the Indian pass in reduced proportions.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY
THE MILITARY AND CIVIL HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF ESSEX, NEW YORK; and a GENERAL SURVEY OF ITS PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, ITS MINES AND MINERALS, AND INDUSTRIAL PURSUITS, EMBRACING AN ACCOUNT OF THE NORTHERN WILDERNESS; AND ALSO THE MILITARY ANNALS OF THE FORTRESSES OF CROWN POINT AND TICONDEROGA., continued ...
By WINSLOW C. WATSON.
PART 11.
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY., continued ...
Natural Curiosities., continued ...
The Wilmington Notch. The western branch of the Au Sable breaks through its mountain bulwarks, in a scene almost as thrilling and impressive as the Indian Pass.
The river compressed within a narrow passage of a few feet, in width, becomes here an impetuous torrent, foams and dashes along the base of a precipitous wall, formed by Whiteface mountain, which towers above it, in nearly a perpendicular ascent of thousands of feet, whilst on the other side it almost laves the abrupt, naked and rugged crags, of another lofty precipice.
Bursting through this obstacle, it leaps into an abyss of more than one hundred feet in depth, so dark and impervious from mantling trees, and impending rocks, that the eye cannot penetrate its hidden cavern.
A road which has been recently constructed through the pass, renders this remarkable spot easily accessible to the tourist; and I can imagine few scenes more attractive by its wild and romantic beauty, or its stern and appalling grandeur.
Nearly the whole course of the Au Sable and its branches presents a series of falls, cascades and rapids, which, whilst they adorn and animate the scenery, afforded innumerable sites of water power, rarely exceeded in capacity and position.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
By WINSLOW C. WATSON.
PART 11.
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY., continued ...
Natural Curiosities., continued ...
The Wilmington Notch. The western branch of the Au Sable breaks through its mountain bulwarks, in a scene almost as thrilling and impressive as the Indian Pass.
The river compressed within a narrow passage of a few feet, in width, becomes here an impetuous torrent, foams and dashes along the base of a precipitous wall, formed by Whiteface mountain, which towers above it, in nearly a perpendicular ascent of thousands of feet, whilst on the other side it almost laves the abrupt, naked and rugged crags, of another lofty precipice.
Bursting through this obstacle, it leaps into an abyss of more than one hundred feet in depth, so dark and impervious from mantling trees, and impending rocks, that the eye cannot penetrate its hidden cavern.
A road which has been recently constructed through the pass, renders this remarkable spot easily accessible to the tourist; and I can imagine few scenes more attractive by its wild and romantic beauty, or its stern and appalling grandeur.
Nearly the whole course of the Au Sable and its branches presents a series of falls, cascades and rapids, which, whilst they adorn and animate the scenery, afforded innumerable sites of water power, rarely exceeded in capacity and position.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY
THE MILITARY AND CIVIL HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF ESSEX, NEW YORK; and a GENERAL SURVEY OF ITS PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, ITS MINES AND MINERALS, AND INDUSTRIAL PURSUITS, EMBRACING AN ACCOUNT OF THE NORTHERN WILDERNESS; AND ALSO THE MILITARY ANNALS OF THE FORTRESSES OF CROWN POINT AND TICONDEROGA., continued ...
By WINSLOW C. WATSON.
PART 11.
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY., continued ...
Natural Curiosities., continued ...
Walled Banks of the Au Sable. The passage of the Au Sable river, along its lofty and perpendicular banks and through the chasm at the High bridge is more familiar to the public mind, than most of the striking and picturesque features in the interesting scenery of that romantic stream.
The continued and gradual force of the current, aided perhaps by some vast effort of nature, has formed a passage of the river through the deep layers of sandstone rock, which are boldly developed above the village of Keeseville, and form the embankment of the river, until it reaches the quiet basin below the high bridge.
In the vicinity of Keeseville, the passage of the stream is between a wall upon either side of fifty feet in height; leaving these it glides gently along a low valley, until suddenly precipitated over a precipice, that creates a fall of singular beauty.
Foaming and surging from this point, over a rocky bed until it reaches the village of Birmingham, it then abruptly bursts into a dark, deep chasm of sixty feet.
A bridge with one abutment setting upon a rock that divides the stream, crosses the river at the head of this fall.
This bridge is perpetually enveloped in a thick cloud of spray and mist.
In winter, the frost work encrusts the rock and trees, with the most gorgeous fabrics, myriads of columns and arches, and icy diamonds and stalactites glitter in the sunbeams.
In the sunshine a brilliant rainbow spreads its radiant arc over this deep abyss.
All these elements, rare in their combination, shed upon this scene an effect inexpressibly wild, picturesque and beautiful.
The river plunges from the latter precipice, amid the embrasures of the vast gulf, in which for nearly a mile it is nearly hidden to observation from above.
It pours a wild torrent, now along a natural canal, formed in the rocks in almost perfect and exact courses, and now darts madly down a precipice.
The wall rises on a vertical face upon each side from seventy-five to one hundred and fifty feet, whilst the width of the chasm rarely exceeds thirty feet, and at several points the stupendous masonry of the opposite walls approaches within eight or ten feet.
Lateral fissures, deep and narrow, project from the main ravine at nearly right angles.
The abyss is reached through one of these crevices by a stairway descending to the water by two hundred and twelve steps.
The entire mass of these walls is formed of laminae of sandstone rock, laid in regular and precise structure almost rivaling the most accurate artificial work.
The pines and cedars starting from the apertures of the wall, spread a dark canopy over the gulf.
The instrumentality, which has produced this wonderful work, is a problem that presents a wide scope for interesting, but unsatisfactory speculation.
A report of the state geologist asserts, "that near the bottom of the fissure at the High bridge, and through an extent of seventy feet, numerous specimens of a small bivalvular raolusca, or lingulse," are discovered, and "that ripple marks appear at the depth of seventy or eighty feet."
TO BE CONTINUED ...
By WINSLOW C. WATSON.
PART 11.
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY., continued ...
Natural Curiosities., continued ...
Walled Banks of the Au Sable. The passage of the Au Sable river, along its lofty and perpendicular banks and through the chasm at the High bridge is more familiar to the public mind, than most of the striking and picturesque features in the interesting scenery of that romantic stream.
The continued and gradual force of the current, aided perhaps by some vast effort of nature, has formed a passage of the river through the deep layers of sandstone rock, which are boldly developed above the village of Keeseville, and form the embankment of the river, until it reaches the quiet basin below the high bridge.
In the vicinity of Keeseville, the passage of the stream is between a wall upon either side of fifty feet in height; leaving these it glides gently along a low valley, until suddenly precipitated over a precipice, that creates a fall of singular beauty.
Foaming and surging from this point, over a rocky bed until it reaches the village of Birmingham, it then abruptly bursts into a dark, deep chasm of sixty feet.
A bridge with one abutment setting upon a rock that divides the stream, crosses the river at the head of this fall.
This bridge is perpetually enveloped in a thick cloud of spray and mist.
In winter, the frost work encrusts the rock and trees, with the most gorgeous fabrics, myriads of columns and arches, and icy diamonds and stalactites glitter in the sunbeams.
In the sunshine a brilliant rainbow spreads its radiant arc over this deep abyss.
All these elements, rare in their combination, shed upon this scene an effect inexpressibly wild, picturesque and beautiful.
The river plunges from the latter precipice, amid the embrasures of the vast gulf, in which for nearly a mile it is nearly hidden to observation from above.
It pours a wild torrent, now along a natural canal, formed in the rocks in almost perfect and exact courses, and now darts madly down a precipice.
The wall rises on a vertical face upon each side from seventy-five to one hundred and fifty feet, whilst the width of the chasm rarely exceeds thirty feet, and at several points the stupendous masonry of the opposite walls approaches within eight or ten feet.
Lateral fissures, deep and narrow, project from the main ravine at nearly right angles.
The abyss is reached through one of these crevices by a stairway descending to the water by two hundred and twelve steps.
The entire mass of these walls is formed of laminae of sandstone rock, laid in regular and precise structure almost rivaling the most accurate artificial work.
The pines and cedars starting from the apertures of the wall, spread a dark canopy over the gulf.
The instrumentality, which has produced this wonderful work, is a problem that presents a wide scope for interesting, but unsatisfactory speculation.
A report of the state geologist asserts, "that near the bottom of the fissure at the High bridge, and through an extent of seventy feet, numerous specimens of a small bivalvular raolusca, or lingulse," are discovered, and "that ripple marks appear at the depth of seventy or eighty feet."
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY
THE MILITARY AND CIVIL HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF ESSEX, NEW YORK; and a GENERAL SURVEY OF ITS PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, ITS MINES AND MINERALS, AND INDUSTRIAL PURSUITS, EMBRACING AN ACCOUNT OF THE NORTHERN WILDERNESS; AND ALSO THE MILITARY ANNALS OF THE FORTRESSES OF CROWN POINT AND TICONDEROGA., continued ...
By WINSLOW C. WATSON.
PART 11.
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY., continued ...
Natural Curiosities., continued ...
Split rock. Travelers in passing through Lake Champlain, observe in the town of Essex, a remarkable point, known to the French as Rocher fendu, and to the English, as Split rock.
It contains about half an acre of land, and rising thirty feet above the water, in a bold, precipitous front, is separated from the promontory by a fissure of ten feet in width.
Its slope and position have created the belief, that it has been detached from the adjacent headland by its own weight, and in some shock of nature, although it has probably been separated in the gradual attrition of the earth and disintegrating rocks, by the action of the elements.
It is a striking and interesting formation.
Guide books, and some works of high pretensions, describe an abyss of five hundred feet in depth, dividing the rock from the promontory.
I visited it last autumn, and walked through the fissure, two feet above the level of the lake.
Near Port Kendall, in Chesterfield, another of these remarkable phenomena occurs, to which frequent allusion has been made.
The outlets of several ponds upon these highlands, unite in a stream which forms at this place, a very superior water power, directly upon the margin of Lake Champlain.
The water rushes a distance of forty or fifty rods above the falls, through a chasm, which appears to have been opened by some mighty physical convulsion.
It presents a gulf sixty or seventy feet wide, with a depth of thirty or forty feet. 5
At the extremity of this passage, the stream plunges into the lake over a precipice of about forty feet.
A similar spectacle known as Split rock, is exhibited near Pleasant valley, where the whole volume of the Boquet rushes through a ravine of this character.
5 Levi Higby, Esq.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
By WINSLOW C. WATSON.
PART 11.
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY., continued ...
Natural Curiosities., continued ...
Split rock. Travelers in passing through Lake Champlain, observe in the town of Essex, a remarkable point, known to the French as Rocher fendu, and to the English, as Split rock.
It contains about half an acre of land, and rising thirty feet above the water, in a bold, precipitous front, is separated from the promontory by a fissure of ten feet in width.
Its slope and position have created the belief, that it has been detached from the adjacent headland by its own weight, and in some shock of nature, although it has probably been separated in the gradual attrition of the earth and disintegrating rocks, by the action of the elements.
It is a striking and interesting formation.
Guide books, and some works of high pretensions, describe an abyss of five hundred feet in depth, dividing the rock from the promontory.
I visited it last autumn, and walked through the fissure, two feet above the level of the lake.
Near Port Kendall, in Chesterfield, another of these remarkable phenomena occurs, to which frequent allusion has been made.
The outlets of several ponds upon these highlands, unite in a stream which forms at this place, a very superior water power, directly upon the margin of Lake Champlain.
The water rushes a distance of forty or fifty rods above the falls, through a chasm, which appears to have been opened by some mighty physical convulsion.
It presents a gulf sixty or seventy feet wide, with a depth of thirty or forty feet. 5
At the extremity of this passage, the stream plunges into the lake over a precipice of about forty feet.
A similar spectacle known as Split rock, is exhibited near Pleasant valley, where the whole volume of the Boquet rushes through a ravine of this character.
5 Levi Higby, Esq.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY
THE MILITARY AND CIVIL HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF ESSEX, NEW YORK; and a GENERAL SURVEY OF ITS PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, ITS MINES AND MINERALS, AND INDUSTRIAL PURSUITS, EMBRACING AN ACCOUNT OF THE NORTHERN WILDERNESS; AND ALSO THE MILITARY ANNALS OF THE FORTRESSES OF CROWN POINT AND TICONDEROGA., continued ...
By WINSLOW C. WATSON.
PART 11.
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY., continued ...
Natural Curiosities., continued ...
The Rainbow Falls. This remarkable cascade is situated in Keene within a mile of the romantic Au Sable ponds and forms a striking feature of that wild picturesque region.
It is upon Rainbow brook, a small tributary of the South branch of the Au Sable river.
The fall is computed from careful observation to be one hundred and twenty-five feet in sheer vertical descent.
The site is separated from the Keene flats, the nearest human residence, by a dense forest three or four miles in extent, and is hidden in the recesses of the vast wilderness of the Adirondacs.
It is embraced in the extensive tract of timber land recently purchased by Messrs. Thomas & Armstrong, and is now first revealed to general knowledge.
The falls are at present only accessible by a path through the forest; but they have already excited the attention of the artist and explorer, and it is in contemplation to immediately open by convenient roads, a district that will be regarded not among the least attractive or interesting in the Adirondac region, to the sportsman and the worshiper of nature, in her secluded temples.
6 Almon Thomas, George S. Potter.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
By WINSLOW C. WATSON.
PART 11.
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY., continued ...
Natural Curiosities., continued ...
The Rainbow Falls. This remarkable cascade is situated in Keene within a mile of the romantic Au Sable ponds and forms a striking feature of that wild picturesque region.
It is upon Rainbow brook, a small tributary of the South branch of the Au Sable river.
The fall is computed from careful observation to be one hundred and twenty-five feet in sheer vertical descent.
The site is separated from the Keene flats, the nearest human residence, by a dense forest three or four miles in extent, and is hidden in the recesses of the vast wilderness of the Adirondacs.
It is embraced in the extensive tract of timber land recently purchased by Messrs. Thomas & Armstrong, and is now first revealed to general knowledge.
The falls are at present only accessible by a path through the forest; but they have already excited the attention of the artist and explorer, and it is in contemplation to immediately open by convenient roads, a district that will be regarded not among the least attractive or interesting in the Adirondac region, to the sportsman and the worshiper of nature, in her secluded temples.
6 Almon Thomas, George S. Potter.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY
THE MILITARY AND CIVIL HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF ESSEX, NEW YORK; and a GENERAL SURVEY OF ITS PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, ITS MINES AND MINERALS, AND INDUSTRIAL PURSUITS, EMBRACING AN ACCOUNT OF THE NORTHERN WILDERNESS; AND ALSO THE MILITARY ANNALS OF THE FORTRESSES OF CROWN POINT AND TICONDEROGA., continued ...
By WINSLOW C. WATSON.
PART 11.
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY., continued ...
Natural Curiosities., continued ...
The Hunter's pass. This gorge lies in the town of North Hudson, and is formed by the deep, parallel precipices of Dix's peak and Nipple top, which are among the highest and most sequestered mountains of the Adirondacs.
It is similar to the Indian Pass, and second only to that amazing exhibition in its sublime and imposing features.
This pass is rarely penetrated even by the hunter, and at a very late period only has been visited for the specific purpose of exploration.
It is buried several miles deeper in the mazes of these forests and mountains than the Au Sable ponds or Rainbow falls, but is sufficiently near these points to enhance the attraction of the district, when it shall have become a new object of interest and resort.
The scene can now only be reached by the severest toil of several miles (but the feat has been achieved by brave and delicate woman) and when this is accomplished, the dense forest, the masses of rocks and their mosses, and their debris gathered for ages, renders the gorge almost impenetrable. 7
These successive revelations in the physical aspect of the county, illustrate the profound seclusion and great extent of the wilderness, and warrant the opinion, that other objects of deep interest remain in its recesses yet to be unveiled.
It is believed that several of the most secluded peaks of the Adirondacs have never been ascended.
This circumstance becomes still more impressive, if upon a map of the state, one point of the dividers graduated at one hundred miles, is placed at the Capitol, and we find on describing a circle, that it traces a line through the central part of the Adirondac group.
Mount Marcy and other prominent objects we have noticed, lie scarcely beyond this circle.
Two very remarkable subterranean passages in the town of Schroon near Paradox lake are worthy of examination.
The first of these forms the channel of a small rivulet, by a natural perforation of some hundred feet through the massive rock, ten or fifteen feet below the surface, over which passes the public road, as if by an artificial bridge.
The other, which I find referred to in early works on the topography of this region, is a highly curious and interesting exhibition.
The explorer enters a lofty arch, several feet below the surface, carved out of the solid rock.
It presents, at some points, the appearance of nearly an exact gothic structure, and at others, broken and ragged sides and canopy.
This dark and gloomy cavern extends a number of rods, and is from four to twelve feet in width, and ten to fifteen in height.
It constitutes the sluice way of a large stream, which propels a mill just above the entrance, and foams and dashes through the rocky and precipitous descent.
Trout are often found in pools within this passage, which are formed by the obstructions to the stream in its course.
7 The Elizabethtown Post.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
By WINSLOW C. WATSON.
PART 11.
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY., continued ...
Natural Curiosities., continued ...
The Hunter's pass. This gorge lies in the town of North Hudson, and is formed by the deep, parallel precipices of Dix's peak and Nipple top, which are among the highest and most sequestered mountains of the Adirondacs.
It is similar to the Indian Pass, and second only to that amazing exhibition in its sublime and imposing features.
This pass is rarely penetrated even by the hunter, and at a very late period only has been visited for the specific purpose of exploration.
It is buried several miles deeper in the mazes of these forests and mountains than the Au Sable ponds or Rainbow falls, but is sufficiently near these points to enhance the attraction of the district, when it shall have become a new object of interest and resort.
The scene can now only be reached by the severest toil of several miles (but the feat has been achieved by brave and delicate woman) and when this is accomplished, the dense forest, the masses of rocks and their mosses, and their debris gathered for ages, renders the gorge almost impenetrable. 7
These successive revelations in the physical aspect of the county, illustrate the profound seclusion and great extent of the wilderness, and warrant the opinion, that other objects of deep interest remain in its recesses yet to be unveiled.
It is believed that several of the most secluded peaks of the Adirondacs have never been ascended.
This circumstance becomes still more impressive, if upon a map of the state, one point of the dividers graduated at one hundred miles, is placed at the Capitol, and we find on describing a circle, that it traces a line through the central part of the Adirondac group.
Mount Marcy and other prominent objects we have noticed, lie scarcely beyond this circle.
Two very remarkable subterranean passages in the town of Schroon near Paradox lake are worthy of examination.
The first of these forms the channel of a small rivulet, by a natural perforation of some hundred feet through the massive rock, ten or fifteen feet below the surface, over which passes the public road, as if by an artificial bridge.
The other, which I find referred to in early works on the topography of this region, is a highly curious and interesting exhibition.
The explorer enters a lofty arch, several feet below the surface, carved out of the solid rock.
It presents, at some points, the appearance of nearly an exact gothic structure, and at others, broken and ragged sides and canopy.
This dark and gloomy cavern extends a number of rods, and is from four to twelve feet in width, and ten to fifteen in height.
It constitutes the sluice way of a large stream, which propels a mill just above the entrance, and foams and dashes through the rocky and precipitous descent.
Trout are often found in pools within this passage, which are formed by the obstructions to the stream in its course.
7 The Elizabethtown Post.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY
THE MILITARY AND CIVIL HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF ESSEX, NEW YORK; and a GENERAL SURVEY OF ITS PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, ITS MINES AND MINERALS, AND INDUSTRIAL PURSUITS, EMBRACING AN ACCOUNT OF THE NORTHERN WILDERNESS; AND ALSO THE MILITARY ANNALS OF THE FORTRESSES OF CROWN POINT AND TICONDEROGA., continued ...
By WINSLOW C. WATSON.
PART 11.
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY., continued ...
Natural Curiosities., concluded ...
Inflammable Gas. A striking phenomenon is noticed in Schroon lake.
In parts of that picturesque and beautiful sheet of water, inflammable gases are emitted from the bottom, where the water is eighteen or twenty feet deep.
When the surface is frozen over, the gas collects in various insulated bodies beneath the ice, where it can be readily discovered.
If a small aperture is cut in the ice above one of these collections, the gas rushes forth with violence, and when a match is applied to it, the gas ignites and flames up in a brilliant fiery column eight feet high, and continues to burn, usually, from five to fifteen minutes or until the receptable is exhausted.
In the summer, the gas rises to the surface at intervals, producing a strong ebullition of the water, which continues about five minutes, when it ceases and the lake becomes as calm as usual.
Sometimes burning shavings have been thrust into the gas before it is dissipated, when it instantly takes fire and bursts into a flame that ascends several feet high and spreads along the surface of the lake frequently two rods. 8
8 I am indebted to Hon. Joel F. Potter for the above statements. In his note he mentions the following additional facts: "A neighbor of mine cut a large opening in the ice, but was somewhat slow in lighting his match. When he did apply it, the gas had accumulated and he was thrown back by its sudden ignition about eight feet, with the lost of whiskers and eye-brows." He relates another experiment in which the gas was collected and retained in a rude receptacle. "We have cut a hole in the ice, and placed a barrel over it, with the lower head on. Around this, snow was piled, and a gas burner attached to the upper head of the barrel, protected by a glass lantern. With this apparatus the gas from one of the collections referred to has burnt nearly a whole night."
TO BE CONTINUED ...
By WINSLOW C. WATSON.
PART 11.
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY., continued ...
Natural Curiosities., concluded ...
Inflammable Gas. A striking phenomenon is noticed in Schroon lake.
In parts of that picturesque and beautiful sheet of water, inflammable gases are emitted from the bottom, where the water is eighteen or twenty feet deep.
When the surface is frozen over, the gas collects in various insulated bodies beneath the ice, where it can be readily discovered.
If a small aperture is cut in the ice above one of these collections, the gas rushes forth with violence, and when a match is applied to it, the gas ignites and flames up in a brilliant fiery column eight feet high, and continues to burn, usually, from five to fifteen minutes or until the receptable is exhausted.
In the summer, the gas rises to the surface at intervals, producing a strong ebullition of the water, which continues about five minutes, when it ceases and the lake becomes as calm as usual.
Sometimes burning shavings have been thrust into the gas before it is dissipated, when it instantly takes fire and bursts into a flame that ascends several feet high and spreads along the surface of the lake frequently two rods. 8
8 I am indebted to Hon. Joel F. Potter for the above statements. In his note he mentions the following additional facts: "A neighbor of mine cut a large opening in the ice, but was somewhat slow in lighting his match. When he did apply it, the gas had accumulated and he was thrown back by its sudden ignition about eight feet, with the lost of whiskers and eye-brows." He relates another experiment in which the gas was collected and retained in a rude receptacle. "We have cut a hole in the ice, and placed a barrel over it, with the lower head on. Around this, snow was piled, and a gas burner attached to the upper head of the barrel, protected by a glass lantern. With this apparatus the gas from one of the collections referred to has burnt nearly a whole night."
TO BE CONTINUED ...