EDWARD SHERMAN “THE CALIFORNIAN” HOAR

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR

THE HOARS CONCORD’S “ROYAL FAMILY”

Judge Hoar[Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar]’s brother Edward, after several years’ life in California in her early days as a state, had returned home, and not long after had gone abroad with his sister Elizabeth and their friend and neighbor, Miss Elizabeth Prichard [Elizabeth Hallett Prichard]. He married this lady in Florence, and, on their return, he bought a farm in Lincoln near Deacon Farrar’s and worked hard there, until our harsh climate began to pinch and stiffen him with rheumatism. He then went with his wife and daughter to Sicily and delighted in their pleasant acres near Palermo until they found the climatic perfection outweighed by the imminence of assassination. So they returned and shared with Miss Elizabeth their father’s house, where they were born. Mr. Hoar was only well enough to carry on the small place, but he loved to be in the woods and on the HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” river, especially with his friend, Henry Thoreau. His knowledge of flowers and birds, his adventures of travel and California life, his knowledge of books and his refined nature, kindly though sensitive and shy, made him a charming companion to the few who had the privilege of knowing him.

“NARRATIVE HISTORY” AMOUNTS TO FABULATION, THE REAL STUFF BEING MERE CHRONOLOGY

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EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN”

1677

July 16, Monday (Old Style): Daniel Hoar, the race-murderer nephew of the troublesome attorney John Hoar of Concord, got married with Mary Stratton, daughter of Samuel Stratton, and they would have a son John Hoar, born on October 24, 1678 and named after its grandfather (he would become a pirate in the Persian/Arabian Gulf, and would be killed in the pirate haven of Saint Mary’s Island in 1697, thus predeceasing the grandfather after whom he had been named, who would survive until 1794), Daniel Hoar, born about 1680, Leonard Hoar, Jonathan Hoar, Joseph Hoar, Benjamin Hoar, Mary Hoar, born on March 14, 1689, Samuel Hoar, born on April 6, 1691, Isaac Hoar, born on May 15, 1695, David Hoar, born on November 14, 1698; and Elizabeth Hoar, born on February 22, 1701. He would thus become a great-grandfather of Concord’s righteous Squire Samuel Hoar and a great-great-grandfather of Edward Sherman Hoar, George Frisbie Hoar, Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar, Elizabeth Sherman Hoar, etc.

John Evelyn’s diary entry for this day was in part as follows:

I went to Wotton to see my deare Brother.

NOBODY COULD GUESS WHAT WOULD HAPPEN NEXT

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EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN”

1823

December 22, Monday: Franz Liszt performed in Paris to sensational audience and critical response (he would perform in Paris no less than 38 times before the following April).

Edward Sherman Hoar was born.

In Newport, Rhode Island, Friend Stephen Wanton Gould wrote in his journal: 2nd day 22nd of 12 M / Recd this Afternoon a packet of information with a letter from Wing Russel of New Bedford, where there appears to be new troubles among the disturbers of Society. — This evening have recd News of the Death of our old & affectionate friend Elizabeth Towle on the 10th inst after about two weeks of illness. She died at Nazareth Pennsylvania where she resided with her husband Saml Towle, Since they left this Town. —her attentions to us & many more they left in this place will never be forgotten, in sickness she was Attentive & Affectionate, & as a companion pleasant & instructive both in deportment & conversation.- RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS

LIFE IS LIVED FORWARD BUT UNDERSTOOD BACKWARD? — NO, THAT’S GIVING TOO MUCH TO THE HISTORIAN’S STORIES. LIFE ISN’T TO BE UNDERSTOOD EITHER FORWARD OR BACKWARD.

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EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN”

1839

Edward Sherman Hoar matriculated at Harvard College.

Loring Henry Austin, Francis Lemuel Capen, Edward Everett Hale, and William Francis Channing graduated from Harvard. Channing would go on to study medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (although his practice as a physician would never extend beyond the administration of quack applications of electricity to the heads and feet of sufferers). NEW “HARVARD MEN”

After leaving Harvard, Ellery Channing had spent almost 5 years living in the home of his father Dr. Walter Channing, withdrawing books from the Boston Athenæum and presumably educating himself in this manner — but otherwise not doing much of anything. In this year he determined that he was going to make something of himself, as a farmer on the frontier! (Meanwhile, in this year, Abraham Lincoln was beginning to travel through 9 counties in central and eastern Illinois, as a lawyer on the 8th Judicial Circuit.)

THE FUTURE IS MOST READILY PREDICTED IN RETROSPECT

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EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN”

1840

January: Manlius Stimson Clarke was admitted to the Suffolk bar.

Early in this year, at the age of 15, Harvard College freshman Edward Sherman Hoar ran off in the company of a boy named Worthington “to hunt buffalo” — they would get as far as Kentucky (eventually Edward would return to Concord, to matriculate again but this time as a sophomore).

THE FUTURE CAN BE EASILY PREDICTED IN RETROSPECT

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EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN”

1841

October 12, Tuesday: The combined British detachment that had ventured out from the relative safety of the metropolis, Cabul, Afghanistan, by this morning had become large enough to transit the pass of Khoord-Cabul, and this was effected with some loss due to long range sniper fire down from the rocks at the sides of the defile. The force then set up a defensive camp perimeter on the far side of the defile at Khoord-Cabul and the 13th light infantry again subjected itself to losses due to its exposure to this unrelenting rifle fire, by returning through the pass to its defensive camp perimeter at Bootkhak. For some nights the camps would repel attacks, “that on the 35th native infantry being peculiarly disastrous, from the treachery of the Affghan horse, who admitted the enemy within their lines, by which our troops were exposed to a fire from the least suspected quarter. Many of our gallant sepoys, and Lieutenant Jenkins, thus met their death.”1

Frederick Douglass addressed the Middlesex County Anti-Slavery Society at the Universalist meetinghouse in Concord.

1. Lieut. V. Eyre (Sir Vincent Eyre, 1811-1881). THE MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL: WHICH ENDED IN THE RETREAT AND DESTRUCTION OF THE BRITISH ARMY, JANUARY 1842, WITH A JOURNAL OF IMPRISONMENT IN AFFGHANISTAN. Philadelphia PA: Carey and Hart, 1843; London: J. Murray, 1843 (three editions); Lieut. V. Eyre (Sir Vincent Eyre, 1811-1881). PRISON SKETCHES: COMPRISING PORTRAITS OF THE CABUL PRISONERS AND OTHER SUBJECTS; ADAPTED FOR BINDING UP WITH THE JOURNALS OF LIEUT. V. EYRE, AND LADY SALE; LITHOGRAPHED BY LOWES DICKINSON. London: Dickinson and Son, [1843?] HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” We very much need to know who was in town at the time, and who did and who did not attend this meeting: • Bronson Alcott ? • Abba Alcott ? • Anna Bronson Alcott ? • Louisa May Alcott (8 years old)? • Phineas Allen ? • Perez Blood ? • Mrs. Mary Merrick Brooks ? • Squire Nathan Brooks ? • Caroline Downes Brooks ? • George Merrick Brooks ? • Deacon Simon Brown ? •Mrs. Lidian Emerson ? • Waldo Emerson ? • Reverend Barzillai Frost ? • Margaret Fuller ? • William Lloyd Garrison ? • Nathaniel Hawthorne ? • Judge Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar ? • Edward Sherman Hoar ? • Senator George Frisbie Hoar ? • Elizabeth Sherman Hoar ? •Squire Samuel Hoar ? •Dr. Edward Jarvis ? • Deacon Francis Jarvis ? • John Shepard Keyes, Judge John Shepard Keyes ? • John M. Keyes ? • Reverend George Ripley ? • Mrs. Sophia Dana Ripley ? • Reverend Samuel Ripley ? • Sarah Alden Bradford Ripley ? • Lemuel Shattuck ? • Daniel Shattuck ? • Sheriff Sam Staples ? • Henry David Thoreau ? • John Thoreau, Senior ? • Cynthia Dunbar Thoreau ? • John Thoreau, Jr. ? • Helen Louisa Thoreau ? • Sophia Elizabeth Thoreau ? • Aunt Maria Thoreau ? • Aunt Jane Thoreau ? • Alek Therien ? • Miss Prudence Ward ? HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN”

1842

Edward Sherman Hoar joined the Class of 1844 at Harvard College during its Sophomore year.

Edward Capen graduated from Harvard.

Joseph Osgood graduated from Harvard Divinity School.

Frederick Goddard Tuckerman graduated from Harvard with a degree in law (but he would never practice law, instead living on his inheritance). NEW “HARVARD MEN”

DO I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION? GOOD.

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EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN”

1844

March 1, Friday: On this day and the following one Frederick Douglass lectured in New Bedford.

Harvard senior George Merrick Brooks wrote apologetically to his mother Mary Merrick Brooks in Concord, owning up to a recent incident involving himself and Edward Sherman Hoar and the public consumption of alcohol: Dear Mother, No longer than last night I was congratulating myself with the thought that by this time, the most unfortunate occurrence in my life was almost wholly blown over in the town of Concord. I sat down last night & coolly & calmly reflected upon the whole matter. I saw & felt the iniquity of the proceeding, & thinking thus, my thoughts naturally reverted to my parents. I knew the anguish that such a transgression must necessarily cause them, & while on that subject, the greif [sic] of my mind can better be conceived of, than expressed. But while suffering under such reflections, one thought consoled me, ie My parents love me (at least I have no reason to suppose the contrary) & if they love me they will forgive transgressions even of a blacker die than the one I have been guilty of if they sincerely believed that I had repented. I have given them my word that my penitence was sincere, have signed the temperance pledge, & intend that my future actions shall not belie my professions. Thinking thus the melancholy which has ever pursued me while thinking of the affair, began to abate. I concluded also that you, philanthropic & lenient to all, would be the same to your own Son, but how were all such fallacious hopes blasted in a moment by receiving your letter this mornings I almost agreed with you, when you HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” said that you wished you had strangled me in my cradle, or rather that some kind fortune had taken me away in my infancy, rather than have reserved me to be such a trial to my mother. To me your feelings are perfectly inexplicable: when you say that you should hail with joy & delight the news that should say to you “your son is a lifeless corpse” I really cannot fathom them, why you should wish a person to leave this world merely because he has committed a sin I cannot tell, you would not say the same of a common murderer. & yet you write it to me. What can I do to appease your grief? I have done all I can. I have promised. I shall perform my promises. O that the power was given me to express my most inmost thoughts & to transfer them to paper, if I could you would not think thus harshly of me, or if the power was given you to examine my thoughts you would look upon the matter in totally a different light. After perusing your letter it was impossible for me to give my attention to my studies & I hastened from recitation to answer it. When I read your letter I was in some doubt whether it would not be be [sic] best for to leave this land embark in some ship bound for a distant land & never again return, thinking that if the cause of your grief was removed, you would soon return to your former self, but I banished the idea, knowing that when you calmly reflected upon the subject you would see that it was acting the part of a christian to forgive rather than to be carried away by your feelings. And now Mother I beg I entreat you not to grieve so much on my account. I will own that I have committed a sin instead of an indiscretion, & moreover I will swear that I never in my life will be guilty of another of a similar nature. Give my love to Father, I feel sure that he will be lenient to me for this transgression. Never an event in my life ever caused me so much pain as this, & I trust there will never be another. from your affect Son George

CHANGE IS ETERNITY, STASIS A FIGMENT

March 27, Wednesday: As of a “Wednesday Morn” after the two previous letters (I have arbitrarily assigned the event to this particular Wednesday), George Merrick Brooks wrote again to his mother Mary Merrick Brooks in Concord: I never have but a moment to write on Wednesday, therefore I must be brief. I hope that neither you, nor any of the Concord people will try to shift the guilt from my shoulders & put it onto Bigelow’s for we were all equally to blame. I do not like to have him bear the brunt of all the scandal, & have all the guilt cast at his door. As to Edward Hoar’s having the habit of drinking confirmed upon him, he has it, no more than the man in the moon; to my certain knowledge he has not touched any [page “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project Edward “The Californian” HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” torn], about drinking the brandy at Bedford, if true I [page torn] he was quite sick from riding inside of a Sleigh Stage over a rough road, & I question not but many strong temperance would have done the same under similar circumstances.... I hope you will not be offended at the remark I made about that lady, to tell the truth I felt rather misanthropic last Sunday eve, & wrote accordingly. Give my love to Father. from your affect Son George M Brooks

WHAT I’M WRITING IS TRUE BUT NEVER MIND YOU CAN ALWAYS LIE TO YOURSELF

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EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” April 30, Tuesday: In a letter of this date from Waldo Emerson to Samuel Gray Ward of Lenox, Massachusetts, we learn that “Mr Thoreau is building himself a solitary house by Walden Pond.” TIMELINE OF WALDEN

At approximately 1PM on this day, however, cooking their noon meal of freshly caught fish during one of the most serious droughts that Concord had experienced, Henry Thoreau and Edward Sherman Hoar, Harvard senior and scion of Concord’s “royal family,” set a cooking fire in a stump on the bank of a stream that caught some dry grass that caused a forest inferno to go roaring up into Walden Woods. Over a hundred acres would be blackened on this day, including the totality of Fair Haven Hill. The Hoars would eventually reimburse the owners of the wood for their share of the damages that had been done, the Thoreaus would not.

To his townsmen, Thoreau became a persona non grata, a “dammed rascal.” Robert Sattelmeyer ... noted that “no dated journal entries after January 7 survive for 1944, and Thoreau published nothing that year after the last issue of the DIAL went to press. He delivered no lectures, and even his correspondence waned: only three letters from the year are extant.” — Professor Robert M. Thorson, THE BOATMAN, page 83 HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” The loss Thoreau had helped cause was on the order of $2,000.00, which at that time was approximately the value of two really fine new houses facing Concord common. And the Hoar family seems to have made a cash payment to the financially injured parties –the Hubbard brothers Cyrus and Darius, and A.H. Wheeler– while we know that the Thoreaus instead elected to conspicuously, promptly, and locally spend their surplus money by embarking on the construction of a new home. The “Texas” house cost the family $25.00 for the lot, $475.00 for construction materials, and $600.00 for labor. FIRE

It would not be until June 1850 that Thoreau would be able to deal with his responsibility for this forest HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” fire.2

SETTING FIRE TO THE WOODS (WRITTEN IN 1850) I once set fire to the woods. Having set out, one April day, to go to the sources of Concord River in a boat with a single companion, meaning to camp on the bank at night or seek a lodging in some neighboring country inn or farmhouse, we took fishing HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” tackle with us that we might fitly procure our food from the stream, Indian-like. At the shoemaker’s near the river, we obtained a match, which we had forgotten. Though it was thus early in the spring, the river was low, for there had not been much rain, and we succeeded in catching a mess of fish sufficient for our dinner before we had left the town, and by the shores of Fair Haven Pond we proceeded to cook them. The earth was uncommonly dry, and our fire, kindled far from the woods in a sunny recess in the hillside on the east of the pond, suddenly caught the dry grass of the previous year which grew about the stump on which it was kindled. We sprang to extinguish it at first with our hands and feet, and then we fought it with a board obtained from the boat, but in a few minutes it was beyond our reach; being on the side of a hill, it spread rapidly upward, through the long, dry, wiry grass interspersed with bushes. “Well, where will this end?” asked my companion. I saw that it might be bounded by Well Meadow Brook on one side, but would, perchance, go to the village side of the brook. “It will go to town,” I answered. While my companion took the boat back down the river, I set out through the woods to inform the owners and to raise the town. The fire had already spread a dozen rods on every side and went leaping and crackling wildly and irreclaimably toward the wood. That way went the flames with wild delight, and we felt that we had no control over the demonic creature to which we had given birth. We had kindled many fires in the woods before, burning a clear space in the grass, without ever kindling such a fire as this. As I ran toward the town through the woods, I could see the smoke over the woods behind me marking the spot and the progress of the flames. The first farmer whom I met driving a team, after leaving the woods, inquired the cause of the smoke. I told him. “Well,” said he, “it is none of my stuff,” and drove along. The next I met was the owner in his field, with whom I returned at once to the woods, running all the way. I had already run two miles. When at length we got into the neighborhood of the flames, we met a carpenter who had been hewing timber, an infirm man who had been driven off by the fire, fleeing with his axe. The farmer returned to hasten more assistance. I, who was spent with running, remained. What could I do alone against a front of flame half a mile wide? I walked slowly through the wood to Fair Haven Cliff, climbed to the highest rock, and sat down upon it to observe the progress of the flames, which were rapidly approaching me, now about a 2. This was the illustration used by Edmund A. Schofield in the Thoreau Research Newsletter 2, 3 of July 1991 to show the extent of the forest fire Thoreau and Edward Sherman Hoar caused in April 1844.

Consider also Wang Yufeng, an 18-year-old transient laborer in the national forest whose carelessness with his brush cutter would set off the enormous Black Dragon fire in northern Manchuria in 1987 – a fire far larger than the two-thousand-square-mile fire of 1918 near Duluth, Minnesota which would take nearly 400 lives. Wang would be shown on television at his trial, sitting in a little wood-barred cage with his hands manacled. For refueling the machine before it had cooled off, and thus starting a fire which consumed an area, along the border between China and Russia, the size of Ireland, he would serve six and a half years in prison. (Salisbury, Harrison E., 1989, THE GREAT BLACK DRAGON FIRE: A CHINESE INFERNO, Little, Brown, Boston.)

We might usefully compare Thoreau’s reaction to his having set this forest fire with the feelings of guilt that Samuel Langhorn Clemens (Mark Twain) was experiencing during the same timeframe, after a jailed tramp set his prison cell on fire, burning himself to death. Sam had given him the matches! He “remembered” this hoosegow in his writings only as a place of truth and heroism, as the place where Tom Sawyer saved Muff by testifying against the real murderer, Injun Joe. When he would revisit this spot on a quiet Sunday morning in the spring of 1882, he would be already 47 years old. You can read about his reaction to this return to an early scene of importance in THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MARK TWAIN, written at the end of his life and published in 1917. AUTOBIOGRAPHY HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” mile distant from the spot where the fire was kindled. Presently I heard the sound of the distant bell giving the alarm, and I knew that the town was on its way to the scene. Hitherto I had felt like a guilty person, — nothing but shame and regret. But now I settled the matter with myself shortly. I said to myself: “Who are these men who are said to be the owners of these woods, and how am I related to them? I have set fire to the forest, but I have done no wrong therein, and now it is as if the lightning had done it. These flames are but consuming their natural food.” (It has never troubled me from that day to this more than if the lightning had done it. The trivial fishing was all that disturbed me and disturbs me still.) So shortly I settled it with myself and stood to watch the approaching flames. It was a glorious spectacle, and I was the only one there to enjoy it. The fire now reached the base of the cliff and then rushed up its sides. The squirrels ran before it in blind haste, and three pigeons dashed into the midst of the smoke. The flames flashed up the pines to their tops, as if they were powder.When I found I was about to be surrounded by the fire, I retreated and joined the forces now arriving from the town. It took us several hours to surround the flames with our hoes and shovels and by back fires subdue them. In the midst of all I saw the farmer whom I first met, who had turned indifferently away saying it was none of his stuff, striving earnestly to save his corded wood, his stuff, which the fire had already seized and which it after all consumed. It burned over a hundred acres or more and destroyed much young wood. When I returned home late in the day, with others of my townsmen, I could not help noticing that the crowd who were so ready to condemn the individual who had kindled the fire did not sympathize with the owners of the wood, but were in fact highly elate and as it were thankful for the opportunity which had afforded them so much sport; and it was only half a dozen owners, so called, though not all of them, who looked sour or grieved, and I felt that I had a deeper interest in the woods, knew them better and should feel their loss more, than any or all of them. The farmer whom I had first conducted to the woods was obliged to ask me the shortest way back, through his own lot. Why, then, should the half-dozen owners and the individuals who set the fire alone feel sorrow for the loss of the wood, while the rest of the town have their spirits raised? Some of the owners, however, bore their loss like men, but other some declared behind my back that I was a “damned rascal;” and a flibbertigibbet or two, who crowed like the old cock, shouted some reminiscences of “burnt woods” from safe recesses for some years after. I have had nothing to say to any of them. The locomotive engine has since burned over nearly all the same ground and more, and in some measure blotted out the memory of the previous fire. For a long time after I had learned this lesson I marvelled that while matches and tinder were contemporaries the world was not consumed; why the houses that have hearths were not burned before another day; if the flames were not as hungry now as when I waked them. I at once ceased to regard the owners and my own fault, —if fault there was any in the matter, —and attended to the phenomenon before me, determined to make the most of it. To be sure, I felt a little ashamed when I reflected on what a trivial occasion this had happened, that at the time I was no better employed than my HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” townsmen. That night I watched the fire, where some stumps still flamed at midnight in the midst of the blackened waste, wandering through the woods by myself; and far in the night I threaded my way to the spot where the fire had taken, and discovered the now broiled fish, —which had been dressed, —scattered over the burnt grass. The only thing that heated their homes in winter, was this wood from these woodlots. The wood standing as growing trees had value. The wood stored in cords at various places in these woodlots, that had not yet been carted to the woodsheds of the houses in Concord, had value. This wood equaled warmth in winter, it equaled not only the comfort but also the health of their families, it equaled security. And, a whole lot of wood equaled a whole lot of money. One way to understand this woodland carelessness and destruction, therefore is the economic way. Thoreau destroyed value and then made no attempt to compensate the victims. That, quite frankly, is a tort. However, I wonder whether there might not be another way to understand this event. For many, many years our national policy, in our national forests, has been exceedingly simplistic. Four legs good, two legs bad: Smoky the Bear prevents forest fires. The end result of this protectionism has been, that our national forests have become tinderboxes, ready to succumb in massive conflagration after massive conflagration caused by random strikes of lightning. Because all fire is suppressed all the time, there is so much undergrowth and so much dead wood lying around on the forest floor that when a forest fire occurs, of necessity it burns hot. In these hot fires, everything is destroyed. It didn’t use to be like that. In the old days the native Americans kept these woodlands under control by constantly setting fires and burning off the undergrowth and dead wood. Very simply, open woodland was immensely more productive of game animals than dense woodland, and was easier to move through, and setting these fires was not a whole lot of work — so from the native American standpoint, this practice made a whole lot of practical sense. In consequence of such management practice by the native Americans, when a fire occurred, whether the fire was man-set or a random natural event, it moved rapidly through the forest at a comparatively low heat, leaving the trunks of the major trees protected by their thick bark and often not reaching into the canopy of leaves far overhead. Then came the white man whose mind was possessed of a different sort of greed, and the result has been, as we now understand, a whole lot of foolishness. The white man had the simplistic notion was that wealth was good and fire was destructive of wealth. The white man created the tinderbox. So, in the Concord woodlots in Thoreau’s florut, as a direct result of this incompetent white management practice, it was all danger all the time. Anyone who moved through the forest was liable “carelessly” to start something, the impact of which would inevitably be severe. –Therefore private property! –Therefore no trespassing! –Therefore this may look like nature, but what it is is, this is asset! Yada yada yada. My conclusion is that Thoreau was prescient in protesting such a foolish arrangement. It was not his fault that the forests around Concord had been transformed insanely into this unsustainable tinderbox. Yes, his carelessness had set the match — but that release of destruction might just as well have come from a random strike of lightning. You flibbertigibbets of Concord, if you want to shout “Woods Burner!” at Henry’s back as he walks down the town street, then for consistency you should be prepared also to shout “Woods Burner!” at God in the heavens, whenever you hear a roll of thunder in the distance or see a white flash on the horizon.

August: Accompanied by some friends, Dr. Joseph Leidy hiked to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, the Beaver Meadow and Hazleton coal mines, Harveys Lake in Luzerne County, and Mauch Chunk Lake in Carbon County.

Edward Sherman Hoar and George Merrick Brooks of Concord graduated from Harvard College with the Class of 1844, as did the Richard Frederick Fuller whom Henry Thoreau had been tutoring during their “walk to Wachusett.” RICHARD FREDERICK FULLER was the fourth son. He graduated at Harvard University, 1844, studied law in Greenfield, Mass., afterwards a year at the Harvard Law School, and, having completed his studies in the office of his uncle, Henry H. HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” Fuller, Esq., in Boston, was admitted to the bar on examination in open court, December, 1846, at the age of twenty-two. He became, and continued for two years to be, the law partner of his uncle, and subsequently practised law with success in Boston. Having been fitted for college, at the age of sixteen he entered a store in Boston, at the solicitation of his family; but mercantile life proving distasteful to him, be relinquished it at the end of one year. By severe application, he in six months made up for this lost year, at the same time keeping pace with the studies of the Sophomore class, and was admitted to college in the middle of the Sophomore year. He graduated the second or third scholar of his class. He died at his country home in Wayland, May 30, 1869. He had a taste for literature, was deeply religious, and an ardent lover of nature. One of his greatest pleasures was to walk in the early morning through woods and fields accompanied by his children.

Eddie would study law for a year in the Dane Law School, then for a couple of years in New-York — and in 1848 would be admitted to practice in the courts of New York (however, as a brother would put the matter, he “found the confinement oppressive”).

Charles James Capen graduated from Harvard.

Benjamin Apthorp Gould graduated (he had studied mathematics and the physical sciences under Perkins Professor of Astronomy and Mathematics Benjamin Peirce).

Augustus Goddard Peabody graduated from the Harvard Medical School. HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” September 12, Thursday: John Thoreau borrowed $500.oo from Augustus Tuttle to purchase materials for the construction of the “Texas” House, a mortgage on the home being offered as security. John Thoreau, Cynthia Dunbar Thoreau, Helen Louisa Thoreau and Henry Thoreau were present as the mortgage was signed, sealed, and delivered. Tuttle would be repaid in September 1855.3

Henry himself dug and stoned the cellar of this new family home. The Thoreaus would live in this “Texas House, to August 29th, 1850.”

“Is a house but a gall on the face of the earth, a nidus which some insect has provided for its young?” –JOURNAL May 1, 1857

Henry’s experience, helping his father build the new family home, the house they referred to as the “Texas” house because it was so far out on the grassy plains beyond the new railroad tracks south-west of the Milldam, would help him in his solitary carpentry at Walden Pond. And, something Thoreau scholars seem never to have considered, although they well know that Henry and Edward Hoar had recently, negligently burned down nearly 300 acres of the woods north of Concord at great cost to some of the town’s citizens: Thoreau may have had a supplemental reason for getting out of the family home. The loss he had helped cause was on the order of $2,000.00, which at that time was approximately the value of two really fine new houses facing Concord common. And the Hoar family seems to have made a cash payment to the financially injured parties –the brothers Cyrus Hubbard and Darius Hubbard, and A.H. Wheeler– while we know that the Thoreaus instead elected to conspicuously, promptly, and locally spend their surplus money by embarking on the construction of this new home. The Texas house cost the family $25.00 (or $100??) for the lot, $475.00 for construction materials, and $600.00 for labor. This was being thrown in Henry’s face in the streets! We know there were arson fires, we know there were grudge fires, we know that everything was not sweetness and light in Concord in the first half of the 19th Century. Could one supplemental reason for Henry’s stay on Walden Pond have been, that he needed to reduce his family’s fears that their new house might go up in flames, that if something had to go up in a grudge fire, it would be

3. This mortgage was placed on record on September 14, 1844 and recorded as discharged on February 11, 1856. HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” something that they could do without such as a shanty on a lake? Anybody who knows anything about living in small towns knows that the Thoreau family’s action must have been like touching a recent skin burn, and that so long as Thoreau was under the roof of the newly built, reasonably isolated Thoreau family home on the outskirts of Concord, that new house was in danger of going up in flames any snowy winter or wet spring when the townspeople could be sure the fire would not spread. We can imagine that, if such a situation occurred in our own lives, today, we would be greatly concerned at the attitude of the people we had injured – who considered that we were living high instead of meeting our obligations. And at our present level of historical research into life in Concord in the early 19th Century, we haven’t been able to clear this up. Perhaps the Concord newspapers and other dated public records have preserved some clue, that will help us clear this up. For instance, what sort of people were these woods owners, the Hubbard brothers and A.H. Wheeler? THOREAU RESIDENCES Dr. Alexander Keith Johnston’s visit to Jardine Hall continued: SCOTLAND Thursday, Sept. 12th. A long drive to-day. Starting immediately after breakfast, we took the road to Dumfries; which for some miles was very uninteresting, and would have been more so, had I not had Sir William to tell me the names and history of the more prominent objects and hills in our view. These I have now almost forgotten. The first and better half of our road was very much of a continued ascent, until we reached a poor village, with a name so foreign to my ears, that I could not retain it in my memory. There is a considerable seminary, or “Classical and Commercial Academy” in it, but we saw none of the scholars or boarders. From the hill above this village, there opened upon us a fine view, which reminded me of Milfield Plain; but the latter had a decided superiority in all respects. The plain below was a large basin encircled with hills, traversed by the little river Lochar on the nearest side, and occupied by the town of Dumfries to the south-west. Lochar Moss lies in the centre, an enormous peat bog of about 10 miles in length, and 3 in breadth; and our road cuts it into two unequal halves. This road is remarkable for its origin: a stranger, a great number of years ago, sold some goods to certain merchants at Dumfries on credit; he disappeared, and neither he nor his heirs ever claimed the money; the merchants in expectation of the demand, very honestly put out the sum to interest; and after a lapse of more than 40 years, the town of Dumfries obtained a gift of it, and applied the same towards making this useful road. We presume the good folks of Dumfries had concluded that the stranger had laired himself in this bog, and sunk in one of its pits, which served him for an untombstoned grave, a thing they of Dumfries seem to have in fear. Lochar Moss supplies the good people of Dumfries with an abundance of peat, which is the fuel with the commonality all over this district, and there were workers of it scattered throughout the moss. There is a certain interest about these men, who appeared to be of the lowest class in general. No noise attends their monotonous labour, the spade cuts without grating, the clod is thrown aside without evoking a sound, there is no converse, each toils by himself, without giving or receiving another’s orders or directions; silence reigns around, and imparts to the labour a peculiar, but rather disagreeable, interest; for this outward solemnity of nature tells not favorably on the minds of men of the low degree of cultivation these have. Solitude is not for them. Dumfries is a very fine town. We walked through its broad, clean, busy street with pleasure, admired its shops, its bridges, and its magnificent asylum for the insane, at a little distance on a. wooded bank above the Nith; drove through the pretty suburb of Maxwelltown, and following the course of the Nith, took a seaward direction. The road was greatly improved in interest; the land and the style of farming good. We were not long in arriving at New Abbey, where we rested an hour, in order to examine its beautiful remains. Within its walls there lie the bodies of many Maxwells, the prevalent families in this neighborhood; and as the head of them is a Roman Catholic, there appear to be many of that religion hereabouts. Near the Abbey there is a Chapel and manse for the priest and his charge. Leaving the Abbey, we had a pleasant walk through the churchyard; around the old garden, with its fern-clad wall; and up the road a little, where it is lined with a double row of limes, that meet overhead and form an avenue, where monks may have mused, or conned their sermons, in days of yore. There is a monument in the Abbey, erected to the memory of two young gentlemen — brothers,— who were drowned together hard by; and I now feel sorry that I did not take a copy of the inscription on their tombstone. I gathered some memorials of the place from its damp walls, which the ivy strives in vain to decorate. It is trite to make contrasts, for, in this world everything must suffer change and decay; nor doth it seem of use to revive a picture of the Celebration of High Mass, with all the gorgeous pageantry, in an Abbey that now shelters a herd of cows from the inclemency of the weather. What may be the thoughts of the spirit of the Lady Foundress, I know not! How vain it is to attempt to immortalize our affections, which are, and must be, part of our perishable organization! The Abbey was founded by Devorgilla, daughter of Alan, Lord of Galloway, and wife of John Baliol, Lord of Castle Bernard, who died and was buried here; his lady embalmed his heart and placed it in a case of ivory bound with silver, near the high altar; on which account the Abbey is often called Sweet Heart, and Suavi-cordium.4 Again we are on the road, and attention is kept awake by the novelty of every scene and object we pass. But the first place we note is the neat and pretty hamlet of Kirkbean; whose ornate character tells as plainly as a guide could, that a rich proprietor’s residence is at hand; and a triumphal arch erected across the road proclaimed to us that this proprietor, Mr. Oswald, MP., for Ayrshire, had brought to the favorite HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” residence his lady, the widow of the late Sir James Johnstone of Westerhall, to whom he had been married about three weeks ago. And next we admire a small and humble cottage, covered in front with the vine and fig tree, which appeared to be in a flourishing condition; and I observe that all hereabouts, and afterwards on our route, the brambles abound to a degree greatly beyond what they do on the Eastern Borders, and are loaded with fruit. The species too are not the same as they are with us. The prospect improves as we drive on, and we often stop to admire it; the Solway and its broad sands, the Westmoreland and Cumberland hills, the opposite coast with its indistinctly seen villages, the hills and woods of Galloway. Many interesting localities were pointed out by Sir William which served the purpose of raising and satisfying a curiosity that died away on the spot. We nighed the shore of the Solway; the road sides rough with brambles, and rich in many other plants that interest an eastern botanist. Sedum telephium, almost unknown on the eastern side of the island, was not uncommon here, truly wild and luxuriant. But it was as interesting to notice the different habit which some plants, common to the two districts, here assumed; in general they were more luxuriant. The banks too, where steep and elevated, were clothed to the very base with a very rash vegetation of numerous plants, and with trees and shrubs. A rock called “Lot’s Wife,” at the foot of a rocky deep ravine, was a tempting object, but time could not be spared for a descent upon it; it was rich in many a flower, and at an earlier season must have been gay and joyful with their various blossoms. We halt at Douglas Hall, a hamlet of poor cottages, where it was difficult to find accommodation for the horses. And then we had a nice stroll, first over some links, where I gathered Thalictrum flavum, which is a rare plant in Scotland, and Erythraea linarifolia. Ruppia maritima was plentiful in some pools of brackish water. We then entered on the Solway sands, which spread far and wide, around and before; my head was full of Sir Walter Scott and his vivid descriptions of them. This extent of sands has a grandeur and solemn influence, which is greater than one could imagine mere extent of a fiat surface could give; but you feel the scene, and that feeling would be even oppressive — fearful perhaps — were one alone to traverse their weary and watery level. After walking a short way over this fiat surface, we reached a coast bounded by a rocky precipitous bank of great height and rugged beauty. The rocks were hard and sharp as flint, of a reddish color, broken into acute angles and masses, and caverned with many caves that lead sometimes far inwards. Often an enormous mass of rock had fallen down and concealed the front of these dark recesses; and more than one might have been the type of the cave that sheltered Dick Hatterig and his ruffian smugglers. As this fine and bold piece of coast was wooded too to the very ledge, there were other places whence Kennedy might have been precipitated;— indeed the scenery seemed to be exact to that described by Sir Walter Scott, in his “Guy Mannering” It is of these very rocks that Chambers says:— “It has been supposed, with no inconsiderable degree of probability, that they furnished materials for the scenery of Ellangowan.”— I enjoyed this scenery greatly, and it was rich also in a botanical view. First in interest, there was the Samphire, growing in places whence to have gathered it would be indeed a “dreadful trade.” — “Half-way down hangs one that gathers Samphire,— dreadful trade!” Sir William told me, that within his memory a man living at Douglas Hall, was wont thus annually to collect Samphire from these rocks. I succeeded in reaching one tuft, which supplied me with specimens as memorials of the Colvend rocks; which, I ween, are somewhat grander than those of Dover, and not less immortal in man’s memory were they; in fact, the objects the great Northern Novelist had in his eye, when he drew the coast scenery of “Guy Mannering.” The Pyrethrum maritimum grew here abundantly, also in inaccessible spots; but it was truly ornamental, as its large white flowers showed bravely with the dark rock behind, The rock was studded everywhere with these and other sweet flowers. The Arenaria marina, Silene maritima, Statice armeria, Sedum telephium, Cochlearia officinalis, Asplenium marinum, commingled themselves on the rugged front, with wiry grasses, the Ivy, the Holly, the Whin, and several fine arching briars and roses; while on more exposed abutments, several yellow and green lichens found space to spread their circular patches. Sir William pointed out one or two specimens of the Yew, which would seem to be indigenous here. Left this scene with reluctance, and ascending the bank, we returned to Douglas Hall by a high road, that afforded extensive views of the Solway and the coast. I know not in what direction we were now driven; but the road was tortuous and interesting, and fringed on each side with numberless briars, the species different from those of Berwickshire, and more productive of fruit. The hills around us were granite, and the country was very unequal and rocky; so that Galloway must be as ticklish a place as Galway, for the gentlemen who love to follow the hounds fair; indeed we were told that fox hunting was here an unknown sport, and the proprietors give 10s 6d. for every fox that any countryman may destroy, by fair means or foul. There were many valleys stretching up and between these rough hills, that, as a botanist, I yearned to explore; but, it was onwards we must go, contented with the glances of fields which it seemed very certain I would never again re-visit. Oats and barley appeared to be the only corns cultivated, and the fields were redolent of annual weeds. Peat mosses were numerous, and in each of them a solitary individual worked away in cheerless silence. After a long stage in which we had passed very few houses, and not even an onstead, we came to Dalbeattie, a nice looking village that looks as if it had been set down in this thinly peopled district by some mistake, and one wonders what the 4.[“She feundit intil Galoway Of Cistertians order an Abby, Dulce Cor she gart thame all That is Sweet Heart the Abby call, But now the men of Galloway Call that Steid New-Abby.” WYNTOWN. It is named by Lesly “Monasterium novum, seu Sauvi-cordium.” —DE ORIGINE, &c., SCOTORUM, p. 9.] HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” inhabitants of it can find to do. Yet it has every symptom of comfort about it, and the stone houses are all covered with blue slates, and white washed. There is a good Inn in the village, and a mail coach passes daily through it. A few minutes drive now brought us to Munches, and to the end of our day’s travels. HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN”

1848

Edward Sherman Hoar passed the bar exam and became qualified to practice law in the State of New York (although as it would turn out, he would find the confinement in that practice in that state “oppressive” and would begin his practice of law again, in California). HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN”

1849

A cholera epidemic, spread by gold-rush enthusiasts while crossing the Texas panhandle, wiped out the leadership of the Comanche tribe. A popular song was “Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie.”

News of last year’s discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill was bringing a rush of 7,000 “Forty-Niners” to California, whose white population would jump in the next 7 years from 15,000 to nearly 3,000,000.

Dr. Thomas J. Hodges was part of this population movement. Unsuccessful as a prospector, for several years he would be drifting around California as a gambler, and a doctor at times.

Edward Sherman Hoar would be part of this population movement, by taking a boat to Vera Cruz, riding mule- back across Mexico, and then journeying up the coast to California. He would open a law office and serve as a state district attorney, before eventually becoming a cattle trader for about 7 years in Santa Barbara.

Josiah Gregg was another of those who would participate in this gold rush. HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN”

1850

John Rollin Ridge (Chee-squa-ta-law-ny, “Yellow Bird”) went to Shasta County, California, to participate briefly in the gold rush. The Marysville, California Herald published his poem “Yuba City.” His wife Elizabeth Wilson Ridge and daughter Alice Ridge joined him. In those years, in his own later words, he had been obliged to work “harder than any slave I ever owned.”

Having been referred to by editor Conmy of the Trinity National as a “Cayuse,” in Andy Cusick’s saloon in the gold country he “reached out, and with one hand dipped Conmy’s nose into the top of his glass, then bathed his either cheek in the fluid that had escaped on the bar.” He was not a half-breed that anyone could mess with.

California was admitted to the Union as the 31st state (Edward Sherman Hoar was serving as a state district attorney for this new state’s 4th Judicial District). Lawmakers legalized forcing native children into white custody, and barred California natives from voting, giving evidence against whites in criminal cases, and serving as jurors, steps that would render it exceedingly unlikely that any white man would ever be convicted of any violent offense against a native.

Over and above all the lynchings by committees of vigilance (vigilantees), between 1850 and 1890 the elected sheriffs of San Francisco would conduct 26 official hangings.

A gold miner from Chile brought in some alfalfa (Medicago sativa) seed (this plant would thrive in California as a forage crop). PLANTS HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” June 4, Tuesday-28, Friday: Waldo Emerson went with a group on the Ben Franklin steamboat on the Ohio River from Cincinnati to Louisville, then took the Mammoth Cave steamer to Evansville and up the Green River and the Barren River to Bowling Green, Kentucky. There they transferred to stagecoaches for a visit to Mammoth Cave. The party walked from 7:30AM to 9:30PM, venturing nine miles into the cave. Emerson went back into the cave again for four hours the next day, and missed his transportation and had to hike seven miles before he got a ride back to Bowling Green. He then took a stagecoach to Eddyville and a steamer down the Cumberland River to Paducah, and took another steamer down the Ohio River to Cairo and up the Mississippi River to St. Louis. Since people were dying of cholera in Emerson’s hotel, he left as soon as possible for Galena, and took a stagecoach to Elgin and a train to Chicago. While in Chicago he took a buggy ride along the shore of Lake Michigan. He then crossed Lake Michigan to New Buffalo and took a train through Detroit back to Boston.

June 5: To night June 5th after a hot day I hear the first peculiar summer breathing of the frogs. When all is calm a small whirlwind will suddenly lift up the blazing leaves & let them fall beyond the line & set all the woods in a blaze in a moment– Or some slight almost invisible cinder seed of fire will be wafted from the burnt district on to the dry turf which covers the surface & fills the crevices of sunny rocks–& there it will catch as in tinder & smoke & smoulder perchance for half an hour heating several square yards of ground where yet no fire is visible until it spreads to the leaves and the wind fans it into a blaze. Men go to a fire for entertainment. When I see how eagerly men will run to a fire whether in warm or in cold weather by day or by night dragging an engine at their heels, I am astonished to perceive how good a purpose the love of excitement is made to serve.– What other force pray – what offered pay – what disinterested neighborliness could ever effect so much. No these are boys who are to be dealt with – & these are the motives that prevail. There is no old man or woman dropping into the grave but covets excitement. Yesterday when I walked to Goodman’s hill It seemed to me that the atmosphere was never so full of fragrance and spicy odors. There is a great variety in the fragrance of the apple blossoms as well as their tints – some are quite spicy– The air seemed filled with the odor of ripe strawberries – though it is quite too early for them. The earth was not only fragrant but sweet & spicy to the smell – reminding us of Arabian gales & what mariners tell of the spice islands. The first of June when the ladies slipper & the wild pink have come out in sunny places on the hill sides – then the summer is begun according to the clock of the seasons.

In his journal, Henry Thoreau was for the first time able to deal with the forest fire he and Edward Sherman Hoar had caused on April 30, 1844. At the start of Volume II of his journal we find 7 leaves full of miscellaneous jottings prior to the initial recorded day date (which was that of May 12, 1850). These miscellaneous jottings included the following curious retrospective of said event:

I once set fire to the woods. Having set out, one April day, to go to the sources of Concord River in a boat with a single companion, meaning to camp on the bank at night or seek a lodging in some neighboring country inn or farmhouse, we took fishing tackle with us that we might fitly procure our food from the stream. Indian-like. At the shoemaker's near the river, we obtained a match, which we had forgotten. Though it was thus early ill the spring, the river was low, for there had not been much rain, and we succeeded in catching a mess of HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” fish sufficient for our dinner before we had left the town, and by the shores of Fair Haven Pond we proceeded to cook them. 'The earth was uncommonly dry, and our fire, kindled far from the woods in a sunny recess in the hillside on the east of the pond, suddenly caught the dry grass of the previous year which grew about the stump on which it was kindled. We sprang to extinguish it at first with our hands and feet, and then we fought it with a board obtained from the boat, but in a few minutes it was beyond our reach; being on the side of a hill, it spread rapidly upward, through the long, dry, wiry grass interspersed with bushes. “Well, where will this end?” asked my companion. I saw that it might be bounded by Well Meadow Brook on one side, but would, perchance, go to the village side of the brook. “It will go to town,” I answered. While my companion took the boat back down the river, I set out through the woods to inform the owners and to raise the town. The fire had already spread a dozen rods on every side and went leaping and crackling wildly and irreclaimably toward the wood. 'That way went the flames with wild delight, and we felt that we had no control over the demonic creature to which we had given birth. We had kindled many fires in the woods before, burning a clear space in the grass, without ever kindling such a fire as this. As I ran toward the town through the woods, I could see the smoke over the woods behind me marking the spot and the progress of the flames. The first farmer whom I met driving a team, after leaving the woods, inquired the cause of the smoke. I told him. “Well,” said he, “it is none of my stuff,” and drove along. The next I met was the owner in his field, with whom I returned at once to the woods, running all the way. I had already run two miles. When at length we got into the neighborhood of the flames, we met a carpenter who had been hewing timber, an infirm man who had been driven off by the fire, fleeing with his axe. The farmer returned to hasten more assistance. I, who was spent with running, remained. What could I do alone against a front of flame half a mile wide? I walked slowly through the wood to Fair Haven Cliff, climbed to the highest rock, and sat down upon it to observe the progress of the flames, which were rapidly approaching me, now about a mile distant from the spot where the fire was kindled. Presently I heard the sound of the distant bell giving the alarm, and I knew that the town was on its way to the scene. Hitherto I had felt like a guilty person, — nothing but shame and regret. But now I settled the matter with myself shortly. I said to myself: “Who are these men who are said to be the owners of these woods, and how am I related to them? I have set fire to the forest, but I have done no wrong therein, and now it is as if the lightning had done it. These flames are but consuming their natural food.” (It has never troubled me from that day to this more than if the lightning had done it. The trivial fishing was all that disturbed me and disturbs me still.) So shortly I settled it with myself and stood to watch the approaching flames.' It was a glorious spectacle, and I was the only one there to enjoy it. The fire now reached the base of the cliff and then rushed up its sides. The squirrels ran before it in blind haste, and three pigeons dashed into the midst of the smoke. The flames flashed up the pines to their tops, as if they were powder. When I found I was about to be surrounded by the fire, I retreated and joined the forces now arriving from the town. It took us several hours to surround the flames with our hoes and shovels and by back fires subdue them. In the midst of all I saw the farmer whom I first met, who had turned indifferently away saying it was none of his stuff, striving earnestly to save his corded wood, his stuff, which the fire had already seized and which it after all consumed. It burned over a hundred acres or more and destroyed much young wood. When I returned home late in the day, with others of my townsmen, I could not help noticing that the crowd who were so ready to condemn the individual who had kindled the fire did not sympathize with the owners of the wood, but were in fact highly elate and as it mere thankful for the opportunity which had afforded them so much sport; and it was only half a dozen owners, so called, though not all of them, who looked sour or grieved, and I felt that I had a deeper interest in the woods, knew them better and should feel their loss more, than any or all of them. The farmer whom I had first conducted to the woods was obliged to ask me the shortest way back, through his own lot. Why, then, should the half-dozen owners [and] the individuals who set the fire alone feel sorrow for the loss of the wood, while the rest of the town have their spirits raised? Some of the owners, however, bore their loss like men, but other some declared behind my back that I was a “damned rascal;” and a flibbertigibbet or two, who crowed like the old cock, shouted some reminiscences of “burnt woods” from safe recesses for some years after. I have had nothing to say to any of them. The locomotive engine has since burned over nearly all the same ground and more, and in some measure blotted out the memory of the previous fire. For a long time after I had learned this lesson I marvelled that while matches and tinder were contemporaries the world was not consumed; why the houses that have hearths were not burned before another day; if the flames were not as hungry now as when I waked them. I at once ceased to regard the owners and my own fault, — if fault there was any in the matter, — and attended to the phenomenon before me, determined to make the most of it. To be sure, I felt a little ashamed when I reflected on what a trivial occasion this had happened, that at the time I was no better employed than my townsmen. That night I watched the fire, where some stumps still flamed at midnight in the midst of the blackened waste, wandering through the woods by myself; and far in the night I threaded my way to the spot where the fire had taken, and discovered the now broiled fish, — which had been dressed, — scattered over the burnt grass. HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN”

1854

August 14, Monday: At 3 PM on this day, Henry Thoreau and Edward Sherman Hoar went to the location to which Henry had given the name Climbing Fern. At 6 PM Thoreau went on to Hubbard’s Bath

and then on to Fair Haven Hill (Gleason H7).5

That evening, in Boston, at a meeting of colored citizens in the Belknap Street Church, William Cooper Nell reported on the National Council meeting that had taken place in Cleveland, Ohio.

[Transcript] Aug. 14. No rain, — only the dusty road spotted with the few drops which fell last night. — but there is quite a high and cool wind this morning. Since August came in, we have begun to have considerable wind, as not since May, at least. The roads nowadays are covered with a light-colored, powdery dust (this yesterday), several inches deep, which also defiles the grass and weeds and bushes, and the traveller is deterred from stepping in it. The dusty weeds and bushes leave their mark on your clothes. Mountain-ash berries orange (?), and its leaves half yellowed in some places.

3 P.M. —To climbing fern with E. Hoar. It takes a good deal of care and. patience to unwind this fern without injuring it. Sometimes same frond is half leaf, half fruit. E. talked of sending one such leaf to G. Bradford to remind him that the sun still shone in America. The uva-ursi berries beginning to turn.

6 P.M. — To Hubbard Bath and Fair Haven Hill. I notice now that saw-like grass [^Paspalum ciliatifolium] seed where the mowers have done. The swamp blackberries are quite small and rather acid. Though yesterday was quite a hot day, I find by bathing that the river grows steadily cooler, as yet for a fortnight, though we have had no rain here. Is it owing solely to the cooler air since August came in, both day and night, or have rains in the southwest cooled the stream within a week? I now, standing on the shore, see that in sailing or floating down a smooth stream at evening it is an advantage to the fancy to be thus slightly separated from the land. It is to be slightly removed from the commonplace of earth. To float thus on the silver-plated stream is like embarking on a train of thought itself. You are surrounded by water, which is full of reflections; and you see the earth at a distance, which is very agreeable to the imagination. I see the blue smoke of a burning meadow. The clethra must be one of the most conspicuous flowers not yellow at present. I sit three-quarters up the hill. The crickets creak strong and loud now after sunset. No word will spell 5. We can be certain that they were very careful not to start any fires that would get away from them. HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” it. It is a short, strong, regular ringing sound, as of a thousand exactly together, — though further off some alternate, — repeated regularly and in rapid time, perhaps twice in a second. Methinks their quire is much fuller and louder than a fortnight ago. Ah! I need solitude. I have come forth to this hill at sunset to see the.forms of the mountains in the horizon, — to behold and commune with something grander than man. Their mere distance and unprofanedness is an infinite encouragement. It is with infinite yearning and aspiration that I seek solitude, more and more resolved and strong; but with a certain genial weakness that I seek society ever. I hear the nighthawk squeak and a whip-poor-will sing. I hear the tremulous squealing scream of a screech owl in the Holden Woods, sounding somewhat like the neighing of a horse, not like the snipe. Now at 7.45, perhaps a half- hour after sunset, the river is quite distinct and full of light in the dark landscape, — a silver strip of sky, of the same color and brightness with the sky. As I go home by Hayden’s I smell the burning meadow. I love the scent. It is my pipe. I smoke the earth.

During the last decade of his life, Thoreau visited his rivers more than twice as often as the upland woods and lakes that he is far better known for writing about. — Professor Robert M. Thorson, THE BOATMAN, page 3 HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN”

1856

November 2, Sunday: Samuel Hoar died in Concord (at this point Edward Sherman Hoar was visiting Peru).

Henry Thoreau delivered “WALKING” at Perth Amboy, New Jersey.

Bronson Alcott wrote about Thoreau in his journal at the Fourier community, Eagleswood, Perth Amboy, New Jersey, where both Alcott and Thoreau were visiting (JOURNALS. Boston: Little, Brown, 1938, page 287): Thoreau reads his lecture on “Walking,” and interests his company deeply in his treatment of nature. Never had such a walk as this been taken by any one before, and the conversation so flowing and lively and curious—the young people enjoying it particularly.

Nov 2nd Sunday [Transcript] THE ACTUAL JOURNAL Took a walk—2 miles W. of Eaglewood— The Quercus palustris or Pin Oak very common there—much like the scarlet oak— Name said to be derived from the dead stub ends of branches on the trunk beneath—like pins or tree-nails. Its acorns subglobose—& marked with meridional lines A mile & a half W. of Springs—a new oak—with narrow & entire willow like leaves—ap Q. imbricaria—Laurel or shingle oak—[^or] perhaps Michaux’s Q. cinerea—which may be a var of it— Ac. to Michaux’s plates I see that the leaves of the Q. phellos or Willow oak—are about 2 3/4 x 1/3+ inches—of the Laurel oak 3 1/2 x 7/8. His {uplan} willow oak—(Q. cinerea) leaf is about 3 x 3/4 & less tapering at base. The Cornus f [^F]lorida was exceedingly com- mon & large there. Conspicuous with its scarlet berries fed on by robins. The leaves were turned a brown scarlet or orange [^red] — About the 10th of November— I first noticed long bunches of very small dark purple or black grapes fallen on the dry leaves in the Ravine E of Spring’s House— Quite a large mass of clusters remained hanging on the leafless vine 30 feet over head there till I left on the 24th November— These grapes were much shrivelled—but they had a very agreeably spicy acid taste—evidently not acquired till after the frosts— I thought them quite a discovery & ate many from date [^day] to day swallowing the skins and stones— & recommended them to Spring. He said that they were very much like a certain French grape which he had eaten in France. It is a true frost grape—but ap. answeres to V. aestivalis(?) One I opened has only 2 seeds—while one of the early ones at Brattle- boro has 4—but [^one of] the late ones of Brattleboro has only 2—which also v. fruit & leaves— I have called V. aestivalis Was interested by Pierce’s Perpetual Calendar— HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” on a round stick (sometimes on a pencil case) by which you tell the day of the week &c for any date. Visited the principal Antique book store in Fulton street upstairs W. of Broadway— also Tunison’s Antique book store 138 Fulton st. May be worthwhile to get Oswald’s Etymologi- cal dictionary—& if possible, Smiths (smaller) (abridged) Dictionary of antiquities— He is the author of the Lat. Dictionary. ? I suspect it is the Quercus montana [^var monticola of prinus] so Common at Eagleswood with its large acorns now sprouted—indeed almost every acorn of white & chestnut oaks was sprouted. Noticed plenty of chimaphila maculata in the great Ravine. Saw more rabbitts & wild mice there than The boys said the wild rabbits here— Game is protected. played with the tame ones in the yard. The prevailing trees there are [^red] cedar —tulip—white oak—pin-oak [^chestnut oak] &c Gum tree—Pitch Pine—& of smaller trees the Cornus Florida—bThere was no white pine & but 2 or 3 small white birches. The wire-fence was something new—& the tongue used by an Irish woman to wipe a cinder out of her son’s eye— The 4 feet of flame issuing from one chimney of the State of Maine Steamer after we passed her—(the sun just set) like not yellow & fiery—but white like a lit cloud—or her smoke reflecting the departing day. A clayey soil at Eagleswood making very bad walking even after a frosty night only— —clay mixed with red-sandstone sand— When I was washed my hands—though but little soiled—the water was colored red— Am glad to get back to N. England, the dry sandy wholesome land—land of scrub oaks & birches [^& white pines] —now in her russet dress—reminding me of her flaxen-headed children. Saw some very large true horn beams— The pastures &c at Eagleswood more densely over- run with wild carrots—the commonest weed & a great pest. When I got back to N. England the grass seemed bleached a shade or 2 more flaxen—more completely withered. HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN”

1857

January: Edward Sherman Hoar returned to Concord to help in the Hoar household subsequent to the death of his father Squire Samuel Hoar and assist his sister Elizabeth Sherman Hoar with care of their aging mother Madam Sarah Sherman Hoar. He would come to be described in his home town with the nickname “The Californian.”

Harriet Beecher Stowe visited the home of the Massachusetts sculptor William Wetmore Story in Rome. He was at work at the time on the statue “Cleopatra,” which Stowe characterized as being like a “heavy thunder- cloud” with “lumbering weight and fullness of passion.”6 At one of the breakfasts that Story threw for the American expat crowd and tourists Stowe amused all with what Mary Beecher Perkins would characterize as a “sermon.” Stowe’s little presentation was about Sojourner Truth, was based upon the visit to Stone Cabin in Andover, and was in dialect. Truth, when she would belatedly learn of this, would object to the embellishment of her — that never in her life had she called a white woman “Honey.”

Herman Melville was touring Palestine and Jordan.

July 20-August 8: On Henry Thoreau’s 3d and last trip to the Maine woods, bringing along “one companion” from Concord (Edward Sherman Hoar) and with Joe Polis as guide (many other native Americans were absent from the village because they had evacuated to other native settlements when smallpox had broken out), he

finally completed his intended circuit around Mount Katahdin. To accomplish this they took a train to Portland and then a steamer to Bangor. The party went up the Allegash, that almost legendary white-water river of Maine, circled Katahdin, and came down the East Branch of the Penobscot River, once more crossing Moosehead Lake. TIMELINE OF THE MAINE WOODS

6. Looking at this plump and sullen statue today, or, at least, looking at the replica of it in the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Manhattan Island, what we receive is the thought “This ’do ain’t doin’ it, I gotta shed some poundage.” HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN”

Thoreau’s “one companion” was Edward Sherman Hoar, who had just returned to Concord after 8 years near the California goldfields. Did Henry inform Edward that the rush to California had represented “the greatest disgrace on mankind” and that as a gold digger he was “the enemy of the honest laborer,” as per “Life without Principle”?

Or had Eddie already figured this out on his own?

(The map prepared by Tom Funk which shows the route of this journey, and the one Thoreau had made in 1846, can be viewed on the following screens.) HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” Lucy Maddox points out in REMOVALS: NINETEENTH-CENTURY AMERICAN LITERATURE AND THE POLITICS OF INDIAN AFFAIRS (NY: Oxford UP, 1991, pages 157-8) that “Thoreau clearly went to Maine to find in the deep woods the same man that ‘the discoverers found,’ not to learn what life might be like in 1857 for the Indian community in and around Oldtown (where the children went to school and the adults took an interest in local and national politics). Having persuaded himself that the primitive man could still be found in the nighttime woods, Thoreau could then come home to declare the truth about Indian history: it is static, the Indians have learned nothing from the whites (since the true Indian is still a primitive), and they are therefore fated to become extinct. The only trouble was, he couldn’t publish what he learned by observing Polis in the woods. Joe Polis might read the article, might even confront Thoreau about its political implications. That complicated everything.”

July 21, Tuesday, Noon: … arriving at Bangor the next day at noon. We had hardly left the steamer, EDWARD HOAR when we passed Molly Molasses in the street. As long as she lives the Penobscots may be considered extant as a tribe. … HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” July 22, Wednesday: According to a chronology published in 1858, Henry G. Langley’s THE SAN FRANCISCO DIRECTORY; CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY OF PRINCIPAL EVENTS, The Fourth Anniversary Meeting of the Ladies Protection and Relief Society was held on the evening of this date, at the First Congregational Church. The Treasurer’s Annual Report was read, from which it appears that the Society received by donations, etc., during the year, $2,466.38, all of which, except $128.38, has been disbursed, besides which, 269 garments, 153 yards material, and 111 packages of groceries have been given away. The Society has relieved 207 cases, of destitution among women and children, and furnished many poor people with employment and the means of earning an honest livelihood.

Per reports in the San Francisco, California Daily Alta California:

THE MURDER CASE. — The case of Tomasa Garabaldi, charged with the murder of Richard Smith, on Pacific street, near Stockton, and the case of Petyer Nicholaus, charged with being an accessory before the fact to the said murder, &c., was called up for examination yesterday. The defendants were examined together. Col. Tingley appeared for the defense, and District Attorney Willis for the prosecution. Frederick Clark, the keeper of the dance house in front of which the murder took place, testified to about the same state of facts as when examined before the Coroner: Thomas Johnson sworn — Saw the deceased stand up to dance with a lady; before the dance deceased walked across the room; when he came back, Garabaldi had his place; deceased came to me and said a Diego had his place, and that he couldn’t come any such game over him, for he would lick any d----d Diego s-n of a b---h in the house; he then went over to defendant and they talked a while; Garabaldi took him by the coat and asked him if he “wanted to fight?” they then went out of doors, and Garabaldi took off his coat; I saw defendant, Nicholaus, push the deceased out into the street several yards; did not see him strike him; when he pushed him, deceased fell; when Nicholaus shoved Smith, the latter said: “All I want is a fair show,” I said, “You shall have a show;” he said: “No, boys. I’ve got no show;” and then fell down and said: “Oh! I am stabbed;” a man said to me: “Come, let us run, that man is killed;” I saw a man dressed in a grey shirt and black pants running down Pacific street; in the melee four or five men were striking Smith; the two defendants were among the number. Coroner Kent testified to the holding of the post mortem and the inquest, and described the nature of the wounds; one a slight wound, and the other a deep wound in the chest — running downwards — (knife shown); the wounds correspond with the size and shape of the knife. William Jones sworn — Saw Garabaldi and Smith at the dance house on Saturday night saw a rush to the door; went out; saw two or three men pounding Smith; cannot say that the defendant was one of them; saw Smith fall; it was too dark for me to see who struck him; I shoved a man with a yellow hat, who then went down the street. Smith was about five feet from the house when he fell; when Garabaldi was brought back to the house, several HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” of the crowd recognized him, and said he had killed the man. I have not been examined before. John Mons sworn — Was going up Pacific street on Saturday night; saw a crowd; went into the dance house; saw two men talking, Garabaldi and a white man; one said: “Let’s go out;” they did so; G. was stripped — coat off; when they got out they clinched, then they got separated; Garabaldi went a little ways out into the street, and stooped and took something from his pocket and then went in again and clinched with Smith, who was on the sidewalk; in a moment Smith fell, and Garabaldi went into the street; I turned Smith over and said: “the man is dead;” then I told some one to arrest Garabaldi, who then ran away down Pacific street; officer Wallace brought him back; before Smith fell, I saw a tall man, dressed in black, strike Smith from behind; it was neither of the defendants. Some one struck the tall man back. John L. Bonnard sworn — Was in the dance house; saw the rush; was among the last to get out; Smith was leaning against the side of the house; saw Garabaldi make a rush at him; a party closed in and surrounded him; saw a man who looked like Nicholaus; had on a brown hat; saw him strike once at deceased; could not see him hit Smith; think deceased’s back was in front of the large man who was striking him; he was striking a high blow; Garabaldi, at that time, was closed with deceased; they got separated; deceased walked out in to the street, and turned facing the house; heard Tom Johnson say: “You shall have a show;” deceased remarked that he had no show, and threw up his hands and fell on his face; I then saw a man with a grey shirt standing behind him; I was under the impression that he had cut him in the back; I followed the man till I met officer Wallace, who arrested him. Daniel Driscoll, sworn — Was in the dance house that evening, talking to a “chum” from Nicaragua; saw Smith and Garabaldi talking; saw them go out of the house; deceased was behind; when they got out, Garabaldi knocked Smith down; a tall man got hold of Smith; saw Garabaldi go down inside of his pants after something; they clinched again; it did not appear to be a fight. I could not see very well what they were doing; I saw Garabaldi run away down the street, a number following him; I turned to deceased; he was dead, blood running out of his breast. Frank Portier, sworn — Was in the Station House when defendant, Garabaldi, was brought in; he had on a white shirt, with blood on the sleeve; his wrist was slightly cut and bleeding. Officer Clark testified to finding the knife on Sunday morning, near the sidewalk where the deed was committed; the handle and blade were covered with blood; it was in a sheath stuck together with blood. Special officer Wallace then testified to having made HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” the arrest of Garabaldi; there was blood on his wrist, hand and shirt, and on his face; don’t know anything about Nicholaus. Peter Nicholaus, one of the defendants, then made a statement, which did not amount to much; he was at the dance; saw a rush; came out, and when the crowd came down street he ran also; did not see the fight; was talking to some ladies when he was arrested. The prosecution here rested. The following witnesses were examined as to the good character of Peter Nicholas: L. Gatenchia, a fruit dealer — Known Nicholaus for four years; quiet, peaceable man; liked by everybody; he is a workmate; discharge vessels; never heard any complaint against him; never saw the two defendants together. A. Georgianni — Has known Nicholaus for three years; a quiet, hardworking man; always heard of him as a pretty good boy to work; knew Garabaldi in New Orleans 1 1/2 years; knew nothing bad of him; never saw the defendants together, &c. The Court ordered that Garabaldi be committed to answer the charge of murder, and Nicholaus as accessory before the fact. The amount of bail in Nicholaus’ case was fixed at $3,000. MURDERER ARRESTED. — A man named Jas. Jones was brought to the Station House at 5 o’clock last evening, from Alameda, in charge of Sheriff Van Hagen, of Nevada. Jones is charged with having killed a man named John Baury, in a general bar-room fight, in which some twenty or thirty persons were concerned, at Red Dig, near Nevada. Three knives were drawn; Jones made a pass at a man named Brown, but missed him and plunged the knife into Baury’s shoulder. Baury died in two weeks afterwards. Jones escaped to Alameda county, where he has worked ever since. He told about the difficulty, and when the news of Baury’s death arrived, Jones was confined in jail and the Sheriff of Nevada notified by telegraph and came down for the prisoner. It appears that Bury, the murdered man, was on the same side in the fight as Jones. TRIAL FOR MURDER. — Ezekiel Bullock, indicted for the murder of Thomas Latta, in Sacramento, on the 9th June, was arraigned before the District Court on the 20th. His counsel gave notice of a change of venue to Sonoma county. EXECUTION. — Danforth Hartson was hung in Yreka on the 15th, for the murder of Burke. The culprit confessed to the murder, as also the murder of two Indians. ACQUITTED. — A Mexican named Phillipi, tried in Sonora for the murder of one of his countrymen in Campo Seco, has been acquitted. HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN”

JOE POLIS July 22, Wednesday, Morning: … The succeeding morning, a relative of mine, who is well acquainted with the Penobscot Indians, and who had been my companion in my two previous excursions into the Maine woods, took me in his wagon to Oldtown, to assist me in obtaining an Indian for this expedition. We were ferried across to the Indian Island in a batteau. The ferryman’s boy had got the key to it, but the father who was a blacksmith, after a little hesitation, cut the chain with a cold-chisel on a rock. He told us that the Indians were nearly all gone to the seaboard and to Massachusetts, partly on account of the small-pox, of which they are very much afraid, having broken out in Oldtown, and it was doubtful whether we should find a suitable one at home. The old chief Neptune, however, was there still. The first man we saw on the island was an Indian named Joseph NEPTUNE Polis, whom my relative had known from a boy, and now addressed familiarly as “Joe.” He was dressing a deerskin in his yard. The skin was spread over a slanting log, and he was scraping it with a stick, held by both hands. He was stoutly built, perhaps a little above the middle height, with a broad face, and, as others said, VARIOLA perfect Indian features and complexion. His house was a two-story white one with blinds, the best looking that I noticed there, and as good as an average one on a New England village street. It was surrounded by a garden and fruit-trees, single cornstalks standing thinly amid the beans. We asked him if he knew any good Indian who would like to go into the woods with us, that is, to the Allegash Lakes, by way of Moosehead, and return by the East Branch of the Penobscot, or vary from this as we pleased. To which he answered, out of that strange remoteness in which the Indian ever dwells to the white man, “Me like to go myself; me want to get some moose”; and kept on scraping the skin. His brother had been into the woods with my relative only a year or two before, and the Indian now inquired what the latter had done to him, that he did not come back, for he had not seen nor heard from him since. At length we got round to the more interesting topic again. The ferryman had told us that all the best Indians were gone except Polis, who was one of the aristocracy. He to be sure would be the best man we could have, but if he went at all would want a great price; so we did not expect to get him. Polis asked at first two dollars a day, but agreed to go for a dollar and a half, and fifty cents a week for his canoe. He would come to Bangor with his canoe by the seven o’clock train that evening, — we might depend on him. We thought ourselves lucky to secure the services of this man, who was known to be particularly steady and trustworthy. I spent the afternoon with my companion, who had remained in Bangor, in preparing for our expedition, EDWARD HOAR purchasing provisions, hard bread, pork, coffee, sugar, &c., and some India-rubber clothing. We had at first thought of exploring the St. John from its source to its mouth, or else to go up the Penobscot by its East Branch to the lakes of the St. John, and return by way of Chesuncook and Moosehead. We had finally inclined to the last route, only reversing the order of it, going by way of Moosehead, and returning by the Penobscot, otherwise it would have been all the way up stream and taken twice as long.

JOE POLIS July 22, Wednesday, Evening: … At evening the Indian arrived in the cars, and I led the way while he followed me three quarters of a mile to my friend’s house, with the canoe on his head. I did not know the exact route myself, but steered by the lay of the land, as I do in Boston, and I tried to enter into conversation with him, but as he was puffing under the weight of his canoe, not having the usual apparatus for carrying it, but, above all, was an Indian, I might as well have been thumping on the bottom of his birch the while. In answer to the various observations which I made by way of breaking the ice, he only grunted vaguely from beneath his canoe once or twice, so that I knew he was there.

Wednesday July 22 [Transcript] THE ACTUAL JOURNAL [in pencil:^The next morning a relative of mine who is well acquainted with and had been my companion on my 2 previous excursions into the Maine Woods”}] EDWARD HOAR [in pencil:^the Oldtown Indians offered to take me in his waggon to Oldtown & aid me assisted me in hiring select an Indian for our expedition] Am to Old Town with Thatcher in He is well acquainted with the Indians, and would select one for us wagon — I am struck by the appearance of large canoe birch trees — even about {possibly there is a “2” in the margin here, in pencil, next to a pencil line bracketing the paragraph} houses — as an ornamental tree — [in pencil:^near Bangor] (and they are very enlivening) Their trunks white as if white washed — though they rarely escape being barked & so disfigured HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” more or less by mischievous fingers. Their white boles [in pencil:^had a spirited & enlivening effect & were] are in keeping with the [in pencil:^we] At 1 1/2 miles N of Bangor — passed the spot fresh cool air at Treats Falls [in pencil:^of that latitude] where the first settler & fur trader one Treat lived — [in pencil:^it is said] [in pencil:^of these parts] Hear in all woods the tull-tull note [in pencil:^peculiar sharp] of the myrtle bird, which must breed in these [in pencil:^those] woods — It was rainy dog-day weather [in pencil:^like the previous 2 days] — rained early yesterday morning — & sprinkles this morning. Wilson did not know where they bred & says “Their only note is a kind of chip” — Were ferried [in pencil:^across] to the Indian Island in a batteau. [in pencil:^He told us that] The Indians were almost [in pencil:^nearly] all The ferryman’s boy had got his key — but he being [^the father] a blacksmith after a little hesi- tation cut the chain with a cold chisel on a rock — [in pencil:^which as he was a blacksmith he could well afford to do] gone — to the sea-board & to Massachusets — partly on ac. of small pox [in pencil:^having broken out] in Oldtown of which they are very much afraid. [in pencil:^The old chief] Neptune [in pencil:^however] was there. [^i.e. on the island] Saw [in pencil:^still] one, [^The first man we saw [^on the island] was] — Joseph Polis, whom George [in pencil:^my relative] had known from [^only a year or 2 before — & Joe inquired what he had done to him that he did not come back for he had not heard from him seen him since] [in pencil:^& now addressed familiarly as Joe. Joe’s brother had gone with my friend into the woods] a boy [in pencil:^the Indian] — dressing a deer skin in his yard — The skin was spread over a slanting log & he was scraping it with a stick in both hands. His house was a 2 story white one with blinds [in pencil:^& was] the best looking that I noticed — [in left margin in pencil:^It was] & surrounded by a garden & fruit trees — [in pencil:^as good as an average one on a N. E. village street. the only one with blinds that I saw] Corn Single corn stalks [in pencil:^were] standing thinly amid the beans — We asked him if he would like to go into the woods with us — [^i.e. to the Allagash lakes by way of Moosehead & return by the E branch of the Penobscot or vary from this as we pleased] To which he answered out of that strange remoteness in which the Indian ever dwells to the white man — “Yes me want to get some THE ACTUAL JOURNAL THE ACTUAL JOURNAL There appear to be three or four lines of faint pencil text written horizontally in the left margin. In Moldenhauer’s notes it reads: “We had at first thought to explore the St Johns from its source to its mouth — then to go up the Penobscot By lakes & E branch to the headwaters of the & lakes of the St John — & return by way of Chesuncook & Moosehead — We decided on the last route — only reversing it — going by way of Moosehead & returning by the Penob — otherwise it would have been all the way up stream & have taken 2ce as long —” moose.” [in pencil:^& kept on scraping the skin At length he got round to this topic again] He asked $2 00 a day — at which we demurred. As the The Ferryman had told us that all the [in pencil:^Polis this one] best Indians were gone — except Polis who was one of the aristocracy — & if he went at all would want a high price — We wanted to get one who was temperate & reliable — an older man [in pencil:^had] than we had before [in pencil:^&] — well skilled in Indian HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” [in pencil:^had been] [in pencil:^by several] lore. I was warned [in pencil:^by Lowell & Coe] not to employ an Indian on account of their obstinacy & [in pencil:^our] the difficulty of [in pencil:^] understanding one another & [in pencil:^(by Coe)] on ac. of their dirty habits in cooking &c [^] — but it was partly the Indian such as he [in pencil:^{&}] was, that I had come to see. The diffi- culty is to find one who will not get drunk & detain you whenever liquor is to be had. Some young white men of Old- town [in pencil:^(named Pond)] were named as the very ones for us. But I was bent on having an Indian at any rate. While we were talking with Polis named something like Nicholai Orson a young very dark complexioned Indian [^] came up — & Polis said “He go with you”. We found that the latter wanted to go very much — said he knew the country and all about it — But I said we don’t know you {perhaps Thoreau put a dash here} He was too dark colored, as if with African blood — [in pencil:^{P. said they did not mix with them}] & too young for me — while I was talking with him — Thatcher took Polis aside — & inquired the other’s character — When P. frankly told him that he wouldn’t do for us at all — that he was a very good fellow except that he would get drunk whenever he had a chance — [in pencil:^Polis at first asked 2 00 a day — but offered to go] He himself would go for us — for $1.50 per day & 50 ct a week for his canoe & would come to Bangor with his canoe & gun & blanket by the 7 Pm train — We might depend on him — T. said he would get away from Nicholai with as few words as possible. So [^T.] saying to N. that if we wanted him we would call again in a couple of hours — we departed. We thought ourselves very lucky to se- cure the services of Polis [in pencil:^this man] — who was known to be a particularly steady & reliable man. He said be as {the text seems to be cut off here} [in pencil:^I spent the afternoon with my companion — who] Hoar was waiting at the Bangor House mean- EDWARD HOAR [in pencil:^had remained in Bangor in making preparations for our expedition —] while — In the Pm purchased our stores &c [in pencil:^ — purchasing provisions] [in pencil:^a long {quietly} &] hard bread — pork — {&}coffee — sugar — &c] A light india rubber coat is useful — but [in pencil:^some 2 India rubber bags to put these things in — & some rubber clothing] you cannot work in it in warm weather — for your under clothes will be just as wet with perspiration as if dipped in water — before you know it — [^& beside I wore off the rubber against the cross bars behind my back] You could not wear Ind. rubber pants in addition unless you HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” sat perfectly still in cool weather — THE ACTUAL JOURNAL THE ACTUAL JOURNAL The only India rubber bags we could find in Bangor were no better than a canvas bag — the rubber rapidly cracking & peeling off — letting in water & dirtying the contents — They were [^would have been] an imposition if the seller had not admitted that they would not hold water — & asserted that he could not make one that would — doubted. Far better ones could be home-made of good India rubber cloth. Called on a Mr Coe — part pro- prietor(?) of the Chamberlain Farm [in pencil:^(spoke of it as “our farm”)] so called [in pencil:^a gentleman of B. extensively concerned in lumbering operations] on Chamberlain Lake — who gave us [in pencil:^advising us] [in pencil:^he said the mule was to carry as little as possible &] some advice as to our outfit — Said he should [in pencil:^would] like to have the making up of our packs — thinking we should take [in pencil:^being about] too many things — [in pencil:^He] Told of one who having to walk a few days through the woods — began by loading himself with carried[^] some 15 lbs of shot. [in pencil:^He] Advised The rule is to carry as little as possible us to go on foot — carry but few supplies & replenish at the different [in pencil:^But the camps were not what we wanted to see] [in pencil:^& a logging camps path is] camps we might find. [in pencil:^] He hastily scribbled [in pencil:^very fast & monotonous] this memorandum for us — “Axe [in pencil:^he had at first & { } V p 216] (?) Canoe Blankets Frypan Tea kettle Dippers Tea, Salt Hard Bread & Pork Pepper — Matches Ammunition & lines & Hooks Camphor” [in pencil:^We were told in Bangor of a man who lived alone, a sort of hermit] Spoke of a hermit who lived at the dam on the Allagash — taking care of it — who spent his time tossing a bullet from [in pencil:^for want of employment] one hand to the other — as if we might like to see him. [in pencil:^This sort of tit for tat — or bandying about some leader subject seems to have] [in pencil:^evening] [in pencil:^been his symbol] At 8 Pm Polis arrived in the cars & I led [in pencil:^of society] the way — while he followed me 3/4 of a mile to Thatcher’s [in pencil:^my friends house] with the canoe on his shoulder head — [in pencil:^v XXIV p 84] We decided to go by way of Moosehead — instead of up the Penobscot at once. Learned it would be down stream nearly all the way & not take more than half as long — HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN”

July 23, Thursday: Per the Daily Alta California of San Francisco:

THE ABDUCTION CASE. — Manuel Garcia and Felipe Benight were examined before Judge Coon yesterday on a charge of abducting a Chilean girl, 13 years old, named Sildenia Pina. Col. Don. Santiago James appeared for the defendants and District Attorney Willis for the prosecution. The prosecution asked for a continuance, on the ground that the prosecuting witness — the mother of the girl — was sick, and unable to attend. The defense allowed that the woman was not sick, and asked that the case go on. The court ordered subpoenas to issue for the girl, and the mother and grandmother, who presently came into court. The girl is short, thick set, and well developed for her age; dark complexion, black eyes, and a heavy suit of hair; the expression of her face was rather melancholy and listless. Her mother, Pape Pina, testified that she lives at French Bar; the girl was left at her grandmother’s, on Broadway street; the witness knew nothing of the abduction until she received a letter from the grandmother. The grandmother swore that she had always had charge of the girl; on Thursday last, about 12 o’clock M., the defendants came to her house, and shook hands with her and talked awhile, and then went away; after some time, the old woman wanted her granddaughter, and called, but received no answer; the girl was gone, and did not return until brought back by the officers on Tuesday night; some time before the girl left home, an anonymous letter came to the house, addressed to her, telling her to “pack up her bundle and be ready.” She had known Garcia about a year; he was a married man; Benight, the other defendant, she had known only a short time. The prosecution failed to make out their case. The girl was over ten years of age, and the charge of abduction would not hold under the statute.The defendants were accordingly discharged, and the case dismissed. STATE PRISON CONVICTS.— Within the past ten days some six or eight escaped convicts from the State Prison have been arrested in this city, and within the same period no less than eight daring burglaries and robberies have been committed in the night time. Circumstances have come to light which fasten the perpetration of all these offences upon the convicts recently arrested. It appears that these convicts are what are called “trusties” at the State Prison, and are allowed a certain degree of liberty on parole of honor. They are employed during the daytime as sailors and workmen upon the three vessels— the “Estell,” “Nip Cat,” and “Pike County” — which are owned at San Quentin and run daily between the prison and this city; when the vessels are here at night the desperadoes employed upon them have the free range of the city, (whether with or without the consent of the guards is not yet ascertained,) and are in ' the habit of committing all sorts of villanies, and escaping with their booty on board the vessel to depart in the morning. Green and Valentine, the two who were HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” arrested on Tuesday, were furnished and equipped for burglary; they had in their possession candles, matches, skeleton keys, and snuff to throw in the eyes of any one who should stand in their way. This affair should be looked into— it is an outrage. LADIES’ PROTECTION AND RELIEF SOCIETY.— The Lady Directors of the above Society met yesterday in the Washington street Baptist Church, to confer with the committee of gentlemen appointed by the Rev. Mr. Lacy, on Tuesday evening, to devise ways and means for the furtherance of the objects of the society. Four of the five gentlemen composing the committee were present; remarks were made by each encouraging the work, and tendering their services in any form in aid thereof. Resolutions were passed accepting their services in soliciting funds to provide a home, and empowering and requesting them to select a suitable lot, with a view of purchasing the same and erecting a house, to serve as a shelter for their beneficiaries. The ladies were confident that they could raise a sufficient sum to defray the daily expenses of the society; and the gentlemen of the committee were equally sanguine that the sum of $10,000 could be raised to provide a home. An earnest feeling of hope and trust prevailed, which, we are confident, will result in the accomplishment of the desired object. SHIPPED.— Michael Corbett, a young, able-bodied and rather respectable looking man, was up before Judge Coon yesterday, on the third charge of drunkenness within the past week. He stated that he had shipped on board the steamer Constitution for Oregon, and was to leave yesterday. On Tuesday he was so elated at the idea of getting away, that he drank a glass too much and weakened. Judge Coon, in consideration of his promise to go immediately on board and stay there until the steamer sailed, discharged him. OFFENSIVE TRADE. — Leonidas Haskell was tried for violating Order No. 34 of the Board of Supervisors, prohibiting the carrying on of certain offensive trades or callings within certain limits of the city. Defendant was convicted of keeping a glue factory, or tallow rendering establishment, near the Presidio. Judgment was entered against him in the sum of $100; defendant appealed. WILLIS CORSE’S CASE.— The case of Willis Corse was ordered to be stricken from the docket of the Police Court yesterday, upon information that the Grand Jury had found a true bill against him fur the murder of James McC. Gordon. Defendant is admitted to bail in the same sum as ordered by the Police Judge. ARRESTS: George Green and Frank Valentine, two escaped State Prison convicts, were arrested by officers Perham and Bovee. John L. Burbanks was arrested by officer Salisbury, on a charge of stealing a lot of blankets. A Frenchman, named Marcello, was arrested by officer Brown, for an assault with a deadly weapon upon Joseph HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” Marshall, at the Mission. ALARM OF FIRE. — The alarm of fire given by the Hall bell last night at half-past 12 o’clock for the Seventh District, was caused by the burning of a lot of straw and rubbish in the neighborhood of Second and Folsom streets, which was extinguished before the engines arrived. SENT FOR TRIAL. — James Jones, who was lodged in the Station House on Tuesday night, upon a charge of homicide, in killing one ———, at Red Dog, near Nevada, in March last, was sent to Nevada county yesterday, in charge of Sheriff Van Hagen. SENTENCED. — Robert Sheridan, disorderly conduct, fined $5; Ah Yeou, stealing three spoons, $40, or 40 days; John Fisher and Frank Steele, stealing a vest, fined $50 each; four cases of drunk, $5 each. CASES SET FOR THURSDAY. — Charles Sandford, charged with burglary; Michael McManus, assault with deadly weapon; Julius Gondicut, grand larceny; and Charles Storer, malicious mischief. POLICE C ALENDAR. — The calender of yesterday was short and uninteresting, containing the names of but twelve new and fourteen continued cases. REFUSED TO APPEAR. — Peter Lane, charged with an assault and battery upon Ellen Smith, was discharged yesterday; the complaining witness did not appear to prosecute. RICH GOLD SPECIMENS. — The San Joaquin Republican says: Mr. Thomas Mosely, of Wells, Fargo & Co., yesterday exhibited to us a very beautiful and valuable specimen of gold and quartz, weighing seventy-five ounces, of which about eighty per cent was pure gold. The specimen was received here in an invoice from Stanislaus county, and had no memorandum attached from which the locality in which it was found could be ascertained. The mass was nearly round, and very smooth. WHEW! SEE M URRAY, AND I F, SEE F ERG. — It is stated that W.I. Ferguson and Judge Murray have had a quarrel, and propose annihilating each other with weapons. If the rumor be true, let them duel it out — they can be spared better than any two men in California. The police are required to prevent persons from preventing the fight. — Sacramento Age. ATTACKED BY LIONS. — On Sunday night, July 6th, we learn from the Trinity Journal, while the train of Harker & Co. were encamped on Cañon creek, below Pennsylvania Bar, the mules were attacked by five lions, who killed one of them, and seriously injured another. We an indebted to Raveley’s Express for the above particulars. — Union.

JOE POLIS July 23, Thursday, Morning: … Early the next morning … the stage called for us, the Indian having breakfasted with us, and already placed the baggage in the canoe to see how it would go. My companion and I had each a large knapsack as full as it would hold, and we had two large India-rubber bags which held our EDWARD HOAR HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” provision and utensils. As for the Indian, all the baggage he had, beside his axe and gun, was a blanket, which he brought loose in his hand. However, he had laid in a store of tobacco and a new pipe for the excursion. The canoe was securely lashed diagonally across the top of the stage, with bits of carpet tucked under the edge to prevent its chafing. The very accommodating driver appeared as much accustomed to carrying canoes in this way as bandboxes.…

July 23, Thursday, Evening: … When we reached the lake, about half past eight in the evening, it was still steadily raining, and harder than before; and, in that fresh, cool atmosphere, the hylodes were peeping and the toads ringing about the lake universally, as in the spring with us. It was as if the seasons had revolved backward two or three months, or I had arrived at the abode of perpetual spring. We had expected to go upon the lake at once, and after paddling up two or three miles, to camp on one of its islands; but on account of the steady and increasing rain, we decided to go to one of the taverns for the night, though, for my own part, I should have preferred to camp out.

[From THE ALLEGASH AND EAST BRANCH] At the Bangor House we took in four men bound DOG on a hunting excursion, one of the men going as cook. They had a dog, a middling-sized brindled cur, which ran by the side of the stage, his master showing his head and whistling from time to time; but after we had gone about three miles the dog was suddenly missing, and two of the party went back for him, while the stage, which was full of passengers, waited. I suggested that he had taken the back track for the Bangor House. At length one man came back, while the other kept on. This whole party of hunters declared their intention to stop till the dog was found; but the very obliging driver was ready to wait a spell longer. He was evidently unwilling to lose so many passengers, who would have taken a private conveyance, or perhaps the other line of stages, the next day. Such progress did we make with a journey of over sixty miles, to be accomplished that day, and a rain-storm just setting in. We discussed the subject of dogs and their instincts till it was threadbare, while we waited there, and the scenery of the suburbs of Bangor is still distinctly impressed on my memory. After full half an hour the man returned, leading the dog by a rope. He had overtaken him just as he was entering the Bangor House. He was then tied on the top of the stage, but being wet and cold, several times in the course of the journey he jumped off, and I saw him dangling by his neck. This dog was depended on to stop bears with. He had already stopped one somewhere in New Hampshire, and I can testify that he stopped a stage in Maine. This party of four probably paid nothing for the dog’s ride, nor for his run, while our party of three paid two dollars, and were charged four for the light canoe which lay still on the top.

Thursday July 23d [Transcript] THE ACTUAL JOURNAL [in pencil:^{Thursday}] Early this morning the stage called for us — The Indian having breakfasted with us — and already placed the baggage in the Canoe to see how it would go — He had laid in a store of tobacco & a new pipe for the excursion [in pencil:^My companion & I had each a large knapsack as full as it it could hold — & 2 large] “India rubber bags — held our provisions & utensils — As for the Indian all the baggage beside his axe & gun EDWARD HOAR was a blanket] — The canoe was securely lashed diagonally on the top of the stage [in pencil:^accomodating] with bits of carpet to prevent its chafing [in pencil:^&] The very obliging driver appeared as much accustomed to carrying canoes on [in pencil:^in] the top of his stage as bandboxes [in pencil:^V bot of n.p.] At the Bangor House we took [in pencil:^way] in 4 men & a dog bound on a hunting excursion [in pencil:^one going as cook] in the wilderness — Their leader was a Leonard of Bangor — There were with him a Lane & Staples hunters — & another who went as cook — The dog was a middling sized [in pencil:^ — brindled] cur & ran by the side of the stage — his master [in pencil:^his head] HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” showing himself & whistling from time to time — but after we had gone about miles out of Bangor — the dog was suddenly missing & 2 of the party went back [in pencil:^while the stage waited] for him — I suggested that he had taken THE ACTUAL JOURNAL THE ACTUAL JOURNAL the back track for the Bangor house One man came back while the other kept on. The whole party declared their intention to stop till the dog was found — but the very accommodating driver was ready to wait a spell longer. The driver [in pencil:^He] was evidently unwilling to lose his passengers who would have taken a different conveyance — perhaps or another line of stages the next day — After half an hour the man returned leading the dog by a rope. He had overtaken him just as he was entering the Bangor House. He was then tied on the top of the stage, but several times in the course of the journey [in pencil:^being wet & cold] he jumped off — & I saw him dangling by his neck — This dog was depended on to stop bears with. He had already stopped one somewhere in N.H. We had found that there were 3 routes to Moosehead [in pencil:^some 60 miles distant] by independent conveyances — & [in pencil:^there] [in pencil:^was] considerable competition between them. 2 stage [in pencil:^40 runs for the wk] lines on alternate days, {there is possibly a dash here} whose routes differed [in pencil:^& the RR to Newport [in pencil:^stage line we took] — connecting there with another line of stages] but little — but the one we took was at first unwilling to take the canoe for less than 4 dollars [in pencil:^or a dollar more than a passenger] — saying that it hurt their stage [in pencil:^The other line from Bangor could carry it { } cheap the next day — & so the canoe down in the pm.] — The RR — would ticket us through for 3 dolls apiece, or the same as the stage — & even carry our canoe to Newport for nothing — for the sake of our fare — but as we would have to make in [^a] new arrangement with the stage there respecting the canoe, we did not go that way — It [^soon began to] rained & grew more & more stormy as the day advanced — so that we saw but little of the country There were a dozen or more passengers all the way — [in pencil:^The stage was crowded all — & we attended the more to our fellow passengers] {Thoreau wrote “V below” in the left margin in pencil} This Leonard [in pencil:^The leader of the party] was a handsome & gentlemanly dressed man [^with a faultless toilet] ap. about 30 years old — with a fair white complexion as if he had always lived in the shade [in pencil:^& a faultless toilet] — & quite a refined expression of face — He was the most [in pencil:^(refined &)] gentle- [in pencil:^with quiet manners & an intelligent expression of face] manly appearing man in the stage– [in pencil:^&] He might have passed for a [in pencil:^(handsome)] divinity student who had seen something of the world. He was indeed quite an elegant person — with quiet & gentlemanly manners. HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” I was surprised to find on talking with him in the course of the day’s journey [in pencil:^that he was a hunter at all — & yet more to find that] that he was appearently {Thoreau misspelled “apparently”} [in pencil:^probably] the chief [in pencil:^white] hunter of Maine. [in pencil:^&] was known all along the road. I afterward heard him spoken of as one who would endure a great deal of cold & fatigue without showing the effect of it [in pencil:^& he could not only use guns but make them being a gun-smith] He knew our Indian{—}& was known by him. Observed that he was a good hunter & said to be worth $6000. P. also told us that Leonard was a great hunter — If you had looked inside our [in pencil:^this] coach you would have thought we were prepared to run the gauntlet of a band of robbers — to make the journey from the coast up to the city of Mexico — or elsewhere — for there were 4 or 5 guns on the front [^front] seat [in pencil:^Polis’ included] & one or 2 on the back — Each man held his darling in his arms — One had a THE ACTUAL JOURNAL THE ACTUAL JOURNAL gun which carried 12 to a pound. It appeared that [in pencil:^(Leonard & his)] [in pencil:^this] party were [in pencil:^bound on our way but much further] — down the Allegash & St Johns & thence across to the Ristigouche & the Bay — of the Chaleur [in pencil:^to be gone 6 weeks], returning perhaps by Halifax. He [in pencil:^They] had canoes & axes & supplies for some distance on the way. [in pencil:^They carried flour & were to have new bread made every day not liking the right bread] He is a gunsmith & makes his own guns withal. — could ride over this rode for nothing — [in pencil:^In the spring he had save the driver of this line & 2 passengers from drowning — in the backwaters of the Piscataquis in Foxcroft having swum ashore in the freezing water & made a raft, and got them off — although the horses were drowned — at great risk to himself —] having saved the life of the driver & 2 passengers from drowning in 12 feet of freezing water in Foxcroft (as he pointed out) — in the spring. The 2 horses [in pencil:^& while — the other man who could swim — went to a house to save his life — He could ride over this road for nothing] were drowned. — Had hunted in Pennsyl- [in pencil:^v bot n p. He knew] vania &c — [in pencil:^He] Practiced a kind of hunting new to these parts — still-hunting. [in pencil:^I observed that they] Had a large & peculiar lantern which I suppose [in pencil:^at night] {there is a penciled “2” in the left margin} they were going to use in hunting. [in pencil:^I heard that] Some 15 caribou were taken by one (?) man about [in pencil in left margin:^3] [in pencil:^v panthers n.p.] moosehead last winter. Said that the caribou fed round & round the same [in pencil in left margin:^1] meadow returning on the same path — & he lay in wait for them. His mode of hunting seemed to be to go patiently in search of the game — & lie in wait for it — in a quiet & stealthy manner — Said that the horns of a moose would spread 4 feet sometimes 6 — would weigh 30 or 40 lbs (the hide 50) squirrels & mice ate the horns when shed. (They told me that the horns were HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” not grown at this season) The whole moose would sometimes weigh 1000 lbs — That the [in pencil:^seemed to] male was not 18 inches taller than the cow — [^yet agreed it was 7 ft high to shoulders] Said that a few months ago he shot 2 bears on the Mudford carry — right in the path — [in pencil:^also] that at this season they [in pencil:^bears] were found on the mt & hill sides after berries that we might come across them at trout stream [perhaps “streams”} in the neighbor- hood of the mts [^& were apt to be “saucy” — that most of the Indians didn’t dare sleep in the land but slept in their canoes on account of them!!] Told of some men where skinning a moose recently — & were driven off from the carcass by a pack of wolves — which ate it up — also of some panthers which appeared near a house in Foxcroft. Leonard said that when he was lost in the woods he steered by the limbs of the hemlocks which were largest on the S side — also some- times when he knew there was a lake near by firing his gun & listening to hear the direction & distance of the echo from over it. He said knew our Indian [^Polis] & said we had a good Indian there — a [in pencil:^that he was said to be worth $6000] good hunter — Polis also knew him — & told me [^said] he was a great hunter [in pencil:^He practised v b p.]. L had a very large canoe just made & awaiting THE ACTUAL JOURNAL THE ACTUAL JOURNAL him at the Moosehead carry — also a small one — He carried flour & was to have new bread made everyday — not liking the hard bread. Polis sat on the front seat saying nothing to anybody — with a stolid expression of face — barely awake to what was going on [in pencil:^again] — I was struck by the pe- culiar vagueness of his replies when addressed in the stage or at the taverns & observed that he really never said any- thing on such occasions — He was merely [in pencil:^barely] stirred up like a wild beast — & passively muttered some insignificant response. His answer in such cases was never the consequence of a positive mental energy — not distinct like a [in pencil:^a] [in pencil:^the] rifle report [in pencil:^which betrays the bullet] but vague as a puff of smoke [^evanescent on edges] suggesting no responsibility, & if you considered it you would find [in pencil:^have found] that you had got nothing out of him — This was instead of the conventional talkativeness [in pencil:^parlaver] & smartness of the whiteman — & [in pencil:^equally] about as profitable. Most get no more than this out of the Indian, & pro- nounce him stolid accordingly. I was sur- prised to see what a foolish & impertinent style a maine man a passenger used in addressing him, which only made Polis’ HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” eyes glisten a little. A tipsy Canadian asked P. [in pencil:^him] at a tavern, in a drawling tone, “You smoke?” if he smoked — to which he answered vaguely “yes”. — “Wont you lend me [^Let me take] your pipe a little while?” To which P. replied looking straight by the man[^’]s face [in pencil:^as if into the far horizon] — with a face singularly vacant to all that neighboring interests “Me got [^or perhaps “no got”] no pipe.” [in pencil:^This was what would be called in some places a Whopper] Yet I saw him put a new one with a supply of tobacco into his packet that morning. [in pencil:^for] [^Our little canoe was so neat & strong drew a favorable criticism from all the wiseacres among the tavern loungers along the road —] I observed from the stage many of the Fringilla hiemalis flitting along the fences — even at this season — [in pencil:^&] whence I concluded that they must breed [in pencil:^t]here Also between Monson & the lake [in pencil:^I began to see] the now very handsome panicles of the red elder berry [in pencil:^S. pubens] — the most showy objects by the road — side. In one place the tree cranberry in a so much earlier than the black yard [in pencil:^was] — already reddening [in pencil:^] — though no where else after was it nearly so early — Also [in pencil:^& also] by the roadside there a splendid great purple orchis nearly as big [in pencil:^as this] as the epilobium spike. [in pencil:^Which I would fain have stopped {the} stage to pluck — but as this would not be useful to stop or bear 2 like the cur on top — the driver would prob] When we reached the lake about 8 1/2 in the evening it was still steadily raining [in pencil:^have thought it a waste of time] & harder than before — & in that fresh cool atmosphere the hylas were peeping & the toads singing about the lake THE ACTUAL JOURNAL THE ACTUAL JOURNAL universally as in the spring with us — It was exactly like a cool spring evening. It was as if the seasons had revolved backward 2 or 3 months — or I had arrived at the abode of perpetual spring. There were two public houses near to- gether — & they wanted to detain us at the first — even took off some of our baggage in spite of us — but on our protesting shouted “let them go! let them go,” as if it was any of their business — Whereupon we thank- ing them for the privilege rode on [^leaving P. behind — who, I knew would follow] — his canoe [in pencil:^A new one had been built since I was here before but went to the old which was] Here we found a spacious house [^quite empty close to the lake] with an attentive landlord — which was what we wanted — A bright wood fire soon burned in the ample bar room — [^very comfortable in that fresh [in pencil:^& cool] atmosphere] & we con- gratulated ourselves on having escaped the crowd at the other house. Fog, the landlord, said that there was scarcely any hemlock about the lake. [in pencil:^an intelligent Ind. who was making canoes] He [in pencil, this is turned into “Here”] was an Indian who came to talk [in pencil:^there came to over the crossing with Polis — & gave me some information] with Polis — who made canoes — had HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” [in pencil:^respecting his art] made those 2 for Leonard — He told me that the winter bark, i.e bark taken off in May before the sap flows, was harder & better than the summer bark. He said that he used the red cedar [in pencil:^??] of uplands (i.e arbor vitae [in pencil:^?]) for ribs &c. THE ACTUAL JOURNAL THE ACTUAL JOURNAL THE ACTUAL JOURNAL THE ACTUAL JOURNAL THE ACTUAL JOURNAL

July 24, Friday: This seems the appropriate place to introject what the good folks at the Yacht Club in Moosehead, Maine now have to offer on the internet about the Summer 1857 visit to their locale by Henry EDWARD HOAR Thoreau and Edward Sherman Hoar. Their take on the native man of color in their midst, Joseph Polis, seems JOE POLIS to be that maybe he was invisible or maybe he did not exist but assuredly he was negligible or whatever. Their take on their out-of-state tourist visitors is worth a glance even if they do diminish Henry — characterizing him cutely as a cub scout who although he did possess a penchant for writing, wrote in a rather ordinary way — and nevertheless he seems “worth reading” if at the time he happens to be writing about Important Them or about their Important Locale: Thoreau and Moosehead Untold numbers of interesting and uninteresting people have visited this region. Many are emotionally unaffected by the terrain, by the inviting dark forest glades dripping over the shorelines, and by the deep, squally water. They go away, damp and carrying a few black fly kisses, having been left untouched by what they have seen and felt. But there are others who are stirred deep within by the mix of mountainous vistas, cold water, and raw freshness; a stirring coming perhaps from our earliest beginnings as people. Henry David Thoreau was one of these. What made him more unusual is that he described much of what he saw. He did this in a rather ordinary way; there is really nothing special about his narratives, no real adventure, but just a good picture of the times and the terrain. This is what made him unusual. At heart he was a cub scout with a penchant for writing. He wasn’t a tough woodsman or a sportsman. He was simply deeply curious about Nature. He came to Greenville twice: in 1853 and 1857. In 1853 he took a steamer up the Lake to Northeast carry and went onward by canoe. In 1857 he canoed up the Lake. He put in in downtown Greenville on 24 July 1857 and went north through the Moose Island Narrows and followed along the west shore of the Lake. He stopped for breakfast several miles north of Moose Island, for lunch near Squaw Point, and spent the night on the northwest shore of Kineo. He climbed to the Kineo summit. There is confusion in his writings about just exactly where he had breakfast and lunch and what he was HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” seeing as he went up the Lake. This is due to his method of making rough notes as he went and later writing them in more detail from memory.... After Kineo he switched to the east side of the Lake, going past Big and Little Duck Coves and on to northeast carry, arriving at suppertime. The lesson from Thoreau is that he achieved lasting pleasure from doing the obvious, nothing special, just getting out and observing Nature and feeling a part of it himself. He’s worth reading.

July 24, Friday, Morning: … About four o’clock the next morning, … though it was quite cloudy, accompanied by the landlord to the water’s edge, in the twilight, we launched our canoe from a rock on the Moosehead Lake. When I was there four years before we had a rather small canoe for three persons, and I had thought that this time I would get a larger one, but the present one was even smaller than that. It was 18 1/4 feet long by 2 feet 6 1/2 inches wide in the middle, and one foot deep within, as I found by measurement, and I JOE POLIS judged that it would weigh not far from eighty pounds. The Indian had recently made it himself, and its smallness was partly compensated for by its newness, as well as stanchness [??] and solidity, it being made of very thick bark and ribs. Our baggage weighed about 166 pounds, so that the canoe carried about 600 pounds in all, or the weight of four men. The principal part of the baggage was, as usual, placed in the middle of the broadest part, while we stowed ourselves in the chinks and crannies that were left before and behind it, where there was no room to extend our legs, the loose articles being tucked into the ends. The canoe was thus as closely packed as a market-basket, and might possibly have been upset without spilling any of its contents. The Indian sat on a cross-bar in the stern, but we flat on the bottom, with a splint or chip behind our backs, to protect them from the cross-bar, and one of us commonly paddled with the Indian. He foresaw that we should not want a pole till we reached the Umbazookskus River, it being either dead water or down stream so far, and he was prepared to make a sail of his blanket in the bows, if the wind should be fair; but we never used it.… We approached the land again through pretty rough water, and then steered directly across the lake, at its narrowest part, to the eastern side, and were soon partly under the lee of the mountain, about a mile north of the Kineo House, having paddled about twenty miles. It was now about noon.

July 24, Friday, Afternoon: … We designed to stop there that afternoon and night, and spent half an hour looking along the shore northward for a suitable place to camp. We took out all our baggage at one place in vain, it being too rocky and uneven, and while engaged in this search we made our first acquaintance with the moose-fly. At length, half a mile farther north, by going half a dozen rods into the dense spruce and fir wood on the side of the mountain, almost as dark as a cellar, we found a place sufficiently clear and level to lie down on, after cutting away a few bushes. We required a space only seven feet by six for our bed, the fire being four or five feet in front, though it made no odds how rough the hearth was; but it was not always easy to find this JOE POLIS in those woods. The Indian first cleared a path to it from the shore with his axe, and we then carried up all our baggage, pitched our tent, and made our bed, in order to be ready for foul weather, which then threatened us, and for the night. He gathered a large armful of fir twigs, breaking them off, which he said were the best for our bed, partly, I thought, because they were the largest and could be most rapidly collected. It had been raining more or less for four or five days, and the wood was even damper than usual, but he got dry bark for the fire from the under-side of a dead leaning hemlock, which, he said, he could always do. …

Friday July 24th [in pencil:^in the twilight] [Transcript] THE ACTUAL JOURNAL About 4 [in pencil:^the next morning] Am, though it was [^quite] cloudy as still [^well in twilight] we [^accompanied by the landlord to the waters edge] launched our canoe [^from a rock] on [this test is written in the margin] We had expected to go upon the lake at once — & after paddling up 2 or 3 miles to camp on one of its islands — but on ac of the steady & increasing rain we decided to go to the tavern[in pencil:^s] for the night — [in pencil:^one of the] taking great care that it floated free before we stepped into it — & then stepping lightly, lest we should make a hole in the bottom [in pencil:^When I was] Moosehead Lake [^]The canoe was [in pencil:^there 4 years before we had a rather small canoe for 3 persons, & I had] HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” [in pencil:^thought that this time I would get a larger one — but the present one was] [in pencil:^even smaller than that] a very small one — 18 1/4 ft long x 2 ft [in pencil:^It was] 6 1/2 inches wide in the middle, & 1 ft deep within, as I found by measurement — — & I judged would weigh not far from 100 lbs — [in pencil:^not so much] [in pencil:^80] Jackson thought a batteau for his excursion should not weigh more than 280 lbs — [in pencil:^The Ind.] Polis had recently made it him- self — except the sewing, which he hired — & it[in pencil:^s] [in pencil:^smallness was compensated for by its being] was of very thick bark & ribs — a very [in pencil:^staunch] & solid one [in pencil:^&] — Our baggage weighed about 166 lbs — so that the canoe carried about 600 lbs [in pencil:^in all] or the weight of 4 heavy men–-[in pencil:^To this afterward, when our stores had been reduced some 20 or 25 lbs — Also moosehide & moose meat were added weighing about 100 lbs — (Polis said as much as one man) which would make our greatest load about 675 lbs—[in pencil:^)] We sat flat on the bottom — with a splint or chip behind our backs — & there was no room to stretch our legs. There were 2 paddles & one of us commonly paddled with the Indian [in pencil:^He foresaw that we should not want a pole till we reached the Umbayookskus] [in pencil:^River] [in pencil:^we] He was [in pencil:^re] prepared to make a sail of his blanket in the bow of the canoe if the wind should be fair — but we never used it. P guessed very accurately at our ages — & said that he was 48 — It had rained more or less every day for we were since the morning of the 20th, so that we thought we might calculate [in pencil:^count] on some fair weather — The wind this morning was south — THE ACTUAL JOURNAL THE ACTUAL JOURNAL westerly — [in pencil:^{side}] Paddling along the Eastern-shore — We [^soon] saw a few summer ducks — which the Indian called Shecorways and some peetweets — naramekechus on the rocky shore — Also saw & heard loons [^(medawisla)] which P. said was a sign of wind He sometimes took a straight course up the middle of the lake but Having passed the small rocky isles between Sugar & deer Islands — toward mt Kineo — where there was no wind — within 2 or 3 miles of the foot of the lake [^we had a short consultation & [in pencil:^respecting our course &]] we inclined to the western shore for the sake of its lee, for [^otherwise] if the wind should rise it would be impossible [in pencil:^{which} This is on the E side [in pencil:^{but} at its narrowest point about midway up [in pencil:^{the Lake}] for us to reach Mt Kineo, — [in pencil:^{& we should prob. be able to recross there} This is the chief obstacle & danger in crossing [in pencil:^{P said he didn’t like cross lakes in littlum canoe — but}] [in pencil:^{nevertheless just as we say — made no odds to him}] the lakes — especially in so small a [in pencil:^{Yet P said that he sometimes took a straight course up the middle of the}] HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” canoe, [in pencil:^] for a very little wind makes [in pencil:^{lake bet — Sugar & Deer Islands when there was no wind — }] a sea that will swamp it. Squaw Mt rose darkly on our left [in pencil:^ea] — Montresor apparently calls this Ongueachonta & near the outlet of the Kennebec [in pencil:^{what P} moosehead Lake Orignal [in pencil:^{called} Spencer Bay [in pencil:^(?)] mt on the east — and al- ready we saw Mt Kenio in the N before us. P said that the lake was called [in pencil:^{here about 1760} [in pencil:^{Montressor [^in pencil:^{Moosehead lake}] calls it Orignal & Saymont is at} [in pencil:^{measured on the map} [in pencil:^{it is 12 miles wide at the}] “Mspame because large water.” [ [in pencil:^{widest point & 3 miles long}] [in pencil:^{in a direct line. The Cap.}] [in pencil:^{of the steamer said it was 38 as the course lay —}] Paddling near the shore, we frequently [in pencil:^{we probably went about 40}] heard the pe-pe of the olive-sided fly-catcher — also the wood-pewee — & the king-fisher At a gravelly & rocky bar between an island and the shore — over which we passed with more difficulty — P said, “very easy makum bridge here.” [in pencil:^{The Ind. having}] P. reminding[^ed] us that he could not work without eating — We stopped to breakfast on the [in pencil:^main] shore [in pencil:^Where the Mimulus ringens SW of Deer Island. grew abundantly] [in pencil:^We] Took out our bags & P made a fire under a very large bleached log — of white pine bark from a stump — saying that hem- lock was better — kindling with [^(canoe)] birch bark — Our table was a large piece of freshly peeled birch bark laid wrong side up — Our breakfast [in pencil:^consists of] hard bread & fried pork & [^strong] coffee — well sweetened in which we did not miss the milk. While we were getting our breakfast a brood of [^12] young [^black] dippers half grown came paddling by within 3 or 4 rods of not at all alarmed — & they loitered about as long as we stayed — now huddled close together — now moving off in a long line single file — [^very cunning[in pencil:^ly]] [in pencil:^{The Indian thought that} P. said the mother had perhaps been killed. They had white breasts & 2 white spots on each side of the back — otherwise were black — The mimulus ringens grew there. Looking northward from this place we [in pencil:^entering a large bay] seemed to be [in pencil:^] embayed — & did not know whether we should have to diverge from our course & keep outside a point — or should find a passage between this & the lake [^mainland]. I [^consulted my map &] used [in pencil:^the same] my glass and the Indian did also, but we could not find our place exactly [in pencil:^{on the map}] nor but it appeared that if we held on [^] could we detect a break in the shore — When any we should be embayed [in pencil:^Polis] I asked him the way he answered “I dont know” which I thought remarkably [^remarkable] since [in pencil:^had] [in pencil:^that] HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” he [in pencil:^] said [in pencil:^] he was familiar with the lake THE ACTUAL JOURNAL THE ACTUAL JOURNAL [in pencil:^{But it appeared that he had never been up} [in pencil:^{We had already penetrated}] [in pencil:^{this side — (already penetrated one such} It was misty dog day weather — & [in pencil:^passing one such bay at last after] presently [in pencil:^{though we were obliged} [in pencil:^{passing over}] [in pencil:^{bay & found that it had a hole in its bottom}] [in pencil:^{a rocky bar between an island & the shore — where there}] the mistes lifted somewhat — & revealed [in pencil:^{was just breadth &}] [in pencil:^{depth enough for the canoe bet. an island & shore — Where P}] a break in the shore northward — showing [in pencil:^{observed “very easy makum bridge here” but now D}] [in pencil:^{part of}] that the point was an island — Deer Island — & [in pencil:^that] our route lay westward of it — [in pencil:^{thought we were fairly caught}] It was the mist [in pencil:^above] that revealed it [in pencil:^{for we had not stressed}] — for where it had seemed a continuous shore — [in pencil:^even through a glass] one portion was now seen [in pencil:^{by the naked eye}] to be much more distant than the other — which over lapped it — by the [in pencil:^much] thick[in pencil:^er] mist which still rested on it, while the nearer — or Island portion was compara- [in pencil:^{The line of separation very distinct} [in pencil:^{immediately}] tively green & bare. [in pencil:^bare & green.] & the Indian [in pencil:^] said [in pencil:^remarked] “I guess you and I go there — I guess there’s — room for my canoe there” — This was his common expression in stead of saying we — He never addressed us by our names individually — only “you & he” — [^looking at the one he meant] While [in pencil:^{He guessed very accurately at our ages}] we called him Polis. [in pencil:^{& said that he was 48}] After breakfast I emptied the melted making what sailors call a “slick” — pork that was left into the lake — [^]watching to see how much it spread over & smoothed the agitated surface — & I drew my com- panions attention to it — Polus looked at it a moment & said “That make hard padlum thro’ — hol em canoe — So say old times.” [in pencil:^near the west shore v xxiv p 84] As we paddled along [in pencil:^] we saw many peetweets also the common iris or blueflag along & here and afterwards great fields of epilobium or fire weed — a mass of the rocky shore[^]. P. said the usnea which color we saw hanging from the trees was called chorchorque — We asked him the names of several small birds which we heard this morning — The wood thrush which was quite common & whose note he imitated — he said was called Adelungquamooktum — but sometimes he could not tell the name of some small bird which I heard & knew — — [^]but he said “I tell all the birds about here — this country — cant tell littlum noise, but I see um, then, I can tell.” I said that I should like to go to school to him — & learn his language [^He said good many do so] & asked him how long he thought it would take. He said [in pencil:^answered] HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” one week. The birds sang quite as in our woods — red-eye — red start — veery — wood pewee &c but we heard no bluebirds saw in all our journey — & they told me in Bangor that they had not the blue bird there!! Mt Kenio which was almost constantly visi- ble — except when concealed by islands or the mainland ahead — had a level bar of cloud concealing its summit & all the mt tops were cut off at the same height. {perhaps there is a dash here} P. said that Bematinichtik meant [in pencil:^{which though [the ap] about [a meaning] for an Ind word}] high land generally & no particular height. [in pencil:^] Off Deer Island we started a sum- mer duck with seven young — The old bird kept behind & appeared to drive them before — They ran over the water with a great noise as fast as a horse could THE ACTUAL JOURNAL THE ACTUAL JOURNAL {I} passing one such {in} at trot & were soon out of gun-shot & out of sight. I observed that P. could rarely sound the letter r — but used l instead — as also r for l sometimes — as el [in pencil:^2] load for road — pickleel {Thoreau changed “prickleel” to “prickelel”} — soogle Island — lock for rock &c yet he trilled the r pretty well after me — [in pencil:^P] He asked the meaning of reality which word one of us used — also of “interrent” [in pencil:^1] (intelligent) I asked him the meaning of the word Musket- icook — the name of Concord River — He pronounced it Muskéeticook {would that be a stray mark above the “e,” or would it be an acute accent mark?} — empha- sizing the 2nd syllable with a peculiar gutteral sound — & said it meant “Dead Water,” which it is [in pencil:^& in this definition he agreed exactly with the] [in pencil:^St. Francis Ind. whom I talked] [in pencil:^with in 1853]. We took the canoe over the bar [^a few feet inside] at Sandbar Island saving some distance — THE ACTUAL JOURNAL THE ACTUAL JOURNAL 5 2 but just before the waves had run so high that we took in a lap full of water — & it grew worse and worse as we neared the shore the wind having a — Island greater sweep {All of this material from “We took” to “greater sweep” appears to have been canceled by Thoreau}— Near this bar I measured [in pencil:^2] — a canoe-birch — (or rather some miles S.W of it on the main land — where we stop- ped to stretch our legs & look at the [in pencil:^{there}] 1 vegetation) I measured [in pencil:^] a canoe birch 5 1/2 feet in circ. at 2 1/2 from the ground. HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” [in pencil:^3] There was also the beaked-hazel, the only hazel I saw afterward — the diervilla — [in pencil:^{&} [in pencil:^was] alnus incana — rhue 7 feet high very abundant on almost all shores — The [^bark of] C. stolonifera [in pencil:^which grew there] P said was good to smoke & was called Ma- quoxigill “tobacco before white people came to this country — Indian tobacco.” [in pencil:^P was asleep &c] Soon after leaving this point we passed the Kennebec or outlet of the lake & heard the falls at the dam there — for even Moosehead [in pencil:^Lake] is dammed. On this point I discovered a fire still glowing [in pencil:^{though not smoking}] where somebody had spent the night or breakfasted — and a bed of twigs prepared [in pencil:^{You might have gone within 6 feet} [in pencil:^{So we knew not only that they had}] apparently for the following night. [in pencil:^{just left but that they designed}] [in pencil:^{without noticing it} [in pencil:^{to return again — }] P. was always very careful in approaching the shore lest he should injure his canoe on the rocks — letting it swing round sidewise [or possibly “side wise”] — and was still more particular that we should not step into [in pencil:^till it floated free & then should step gently lest we should open its] it on shore or [in pencil:^] while it rested on a rock — He [in pencil:^{said that}] [in pencil:^seams or make a hole in the bottom] [in pencil:^he] would tell us when to jump — After passing deer Island we saw the steamer from Greenville far east in the middle of the lake — & she appeared nearly stationary — After this I mistook several small rocky isles with a few trees on them for the steamer with its chimney. [in pencil:^{Here}] [in pencil:^(North of Deer Island)] — we were exposed to the wind from over the whole beadth of the lake & ran more risk of being swamped — [^Just before reaching Sand bar island] While, I had my eye fixed on the spot where a large fish had jumped — we took in a gallon or 2 of water which filled my lap — but we soon reached the shore [in pencil:^of Sand bar Island] & took the canoe over the bar [in pencil:^] a few feet widely only, saving a considerable distance Here again we crossed a very broad[in pencil:^er] bay [in pencil:^yet] — opposite the mouth of Moose River — [in pencil:^made what the voyagers call a traverse] which we did not see before reaching the narrow straight at mt Kenio — [^in pencil:^{v. p 92 no 24}] [in pencil:^I saw a large devils needle 1/2 a mile from the shore headed — toward the land] My companion trailed for trout where the lake was 3 or 4 miles wide at least — It had probably crossed — EDWARD HOAR [in pencil:^{a mile or more}] meanwhile — but P warned[^ing] him that a big [in pencil:^{from the shore} for some very large ones are taken here fish might upset us — [^]& he agreed to pass the line quickly to him in the stern, if he had a {Whe} bite — We approached the land again through pretty rough water — & then steered directly across [in pencil:^{to the Eastern side}] the lake [in pencil:^] at its narrowest part & were soon at length [^partly] under the lee of the mt — about having paddled about 20 miles a mile N of the Kenio House[^] — It being about noon — [in pencil:^{P’s moose story} [in pencil:^Where Kenio rose dark before us] [in pencil:^within 2 or 3 miles] When we were crossing the bay [in pencil:^] Polis HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” [in pencil:^{its}] repeated the tradition respecting mt Kinio having [^anciently] been a cow moose — its precipitous side still presenting the outline of her head when in a reclining posture — how a mighty Indian hunter whose name [in pencil:^I forget] this queen of the moose tribe — with great difficulty he gave suceeding in killing her — while [in pencil:^{His story had a good deal of repetition & did not amount to}] the calf was killed somewhere in Penobscot [in pencil:^{much}] Bay — He told the story at length as if he believed it — and asked us how we supposed the hunter could have killed such a mighty moose as that — Whereupon big a man of-war to fire broadsides into her with its big guns was suggested — Hodge says “Mt Kineo receives its name from that of an old Indian, who formerly lived and hunted in its vicinity.” We designed to stop here this after- Williamson says “Kineo is the Indian name for flint.” noon & night & spent half an hour looking along the shore northward for a suitable place to camp. We took out all our baggage at one place in vain it being too rocky — [^& while en{g}aged in this search we made our first acquaintance with the moose-fly] At length half a mile further north — by going half a dozen rods into the dense [^& dark — almost as dark as a cellar] spruce & fir wood [^on the side of the mt] we found a place sufficiently clear & level to lie down on — [^after cutting a way a few bushes] We required a space only (& 7 ft x 12 for all our purposes) & though it made no odds how rough the fire place was only 7 x 6 for our bed[^] — the fire being 4 [in pencil:^but] It was not or 5 feet in front of the tent — [in pencil:^] Polis always easy to find such a place hereabouts first cleared a path to it from the shore with his axe & we then carried all P. soon gathered a large armfull of fir twigs — which our baggage to it — [^]and the [in pencil:^(canoe was he said were the best for our bed — partly I thought because they as always afterward taken out & turned are the largest [in pencil:^thickest & could be the most rapidly gathered] [in pencil:^sometimes] over — with its bottom to the windward & a log [in pencil:^in the night] laid across it, to prevent its being blown away)]. It had been rainy [^raining] more or less for 4 or 5 days & the wood was even damper than usual — but Polis got dry bark [in pencil:^for the fire] [in pencil:^] from the under side of a dead leaning hem- [in pencil:^which he could always do] lock — [in pencil:^] & [in pencil:^(cut some large logs of dead keep fire damp rotten hardwood to last through the I was disappointed to find my clothes under my India rubber coat night.)] as completely wetted by perspiration as they could have been by rain and that this would always be the consequence of working in such a garment — at least in warm weather After dinner we returned southward along HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” the shore in the canoe, on ac. of the difficulty of climbing over the rocks & fallen trees — & began to ascend the mt along the edge of the precipice {no end punctuation} A smart shower coming up just then the Indian crept under his canoe while we being protected by our rubber coats proceeded to botanize THE ACTUAL JOURNAL THE ACTUAL JOURNAL So we sent him back to the camp for shelter — agreeing that he should come [in pencil:^meet] there after us [in pencil:^{us at the foot} with his canoe toward [in pencil:^{It had sprinkled [in pencil:^{rained} a little in the forenoon}] [in pencil:^&] We trusted that this would be the clearing up shower night. [in pencil:^{which it proved — but our feet & legs were w}] [in pencil:^The plants which attracted our attention on this mt which] We observed on this mt Potentilla tridentata [in pencil:^or mt Cinquefoil] [in pencil:^{which is usually} [in pencil:^{the summit of our mts [^were] {this word “were” is inserted between two interlines; see holograph} in our lat.}] [in pencil:^{compared to} abundant & in bloom[^at the very base — & by the water side [in pencil:^though]] — very beautiful hare- bells — [^over hanging the precipice] bear-berry — the Canada blue berry Vaccinium canadense ripe similar to the P. Pennsylvanicum [in pencil:^our earlier blueberry] — but entire leaved [in pencil:^&] with a downy stem [in pencil:^{It was [^have] not seen it in Mass}] & leaf [in pencil:^] — Clintonia borealis — Diervilla [in pencil:^trifida] — [in pencil:^The shad bush] [in pencil:^Canadensis] [in pencil:^] Amelancher [in pencil:^] commonly with blasted fruit. Mycros- tylis ophioglossoides a to us new orchidaceous plant [in pencil:^new to us] [in pencil:^Wild Holly] [in pencil:^] Nemopanthes — the Great round leaved orchis [in pencil:^Canadensis] [in pencil:^Painted] in bloom not long — [in pencil:^] trillium crythocarpum mt ash [in pencil:^spiranthes cernua at the top] — bunch-berry reddening as we ascended — — green at base of mt, red at top [in pencil:^{of the mt}] [in pencil:^{growing in tufts}] — a [^the] small fern in tufts — woodsia ilvensis [in pencil:^the fruit.] in Bradford found here a fortnight later Liparis lilifolia — & the 2 kinds of Apocynum — Though it had done raining our [in pencil:^{a Twayblade also grows there}] feet & legs [in pencil:^{clouds breaking}] were thoroughly wet by the bushes — The weather gradually clearing up [in pencil:^away] we had a glorious [in pencil:^{If I wished to see a mt or other scenery under the most favorable auspices — I would go to it in foul weather so as to be there when it cleared up — our mood is then most suitable & nature most fresh & inspiring — There is no serenity so fair as that which is just established in a tearful eye —}] wild view as we ascended of an inlet on the west divided by a small isle at its mouth — & of a very distant part of the lake [in pencil:^{though we did not then suspect it to be Moosehead}] seen over an island in that direction — at first a mere broken white line seen through the tops of the trees like haycaps — but spreading Beyond this we saw what appears to be called Bald Mt on the map some 25 miles distant near to a lake when we got higher — the source of the Penobscot — It was a boundless & uninterrupted forest on all sides as far as you could see Looking southward the heavens were completely overcast — the mts capped with clouds — and the lake generally wore a dark & stormy appearance — but from the surface of the lake just north of Sugar Island some HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” 6 or 7[^8] miles distant — there was reflected to us through the misty air a clear blue [^bright tinge from the clear] sky unseen They probably had a clear sky then at [in pencil:^{Greenville}] the S. end of the lake [in pencil:^{latitude} beyond — [in pencil:^{of another}] with its numerous wooded islands & uniformly dark surrounding forest this a perfect Lake of the Woods — & this brighter glimpse was the more interesting for the long cloud & storm we had had. [in pencil:^{It was an azure mist like the sparkling dust of amethysts standing on a mt in the midst of a lake — where would you look for the 1st sign of fair weather not into the heavens it seems but into the lake}] We looked down on the far unpretending buildings & grounds of the Kinio House, as on a little flat map — oblong square — at our feet Jackson in his report on the Geology of maine in 1838 says of this mt — “Horn-stone, which will answer for flints, occurs in various parts of the State, where trap rocks have acted upon silicious slate. The largest mass of this stone known in the world is Mount Kineo, upon the Moosehead lake, which ap- pears to be entirely composed of it, and rises 700 feet above the lake level. This variety of hornstone I have seen in every part of New England in the form of Indian arrow{-}heads, hatchets, chisels, &c. which were probably ob- tained from this mountain by the aboriginal inhabitants of the country.” [in pencil:^I have myself found at least 1000 made of the same material] It is generally slate colored with — white specks — becoming uniformly white where exposed to the light & air — and it breaks with a conchoidal fracture — producing a ragged cutting THE ACTUAL JOURNAL THE ACTUAL JOURNAL edge — I noticed some conchoidal hollows more than a foot over — I picked up a small thin piece of stone which had so sharp an edge — that I used it as a dull knife — & fairly cut off an aspen 1 inch thick [^with it] by bending it & making many cuts — though I cut my fingers badly with the back of it in the mean while. From the summit of the precipice which forms the eastern side of this mt peninsula [^& which is described as 5 or 600 feet high [in pencil:^{& is its most remarkable feature}] we looked & [in pencil:^probably] might have jumped down some six hundred feet to the water & the dwarfed trees on the narrow neck of land which connects it with the main. [a penciled caret “^” starts a line connecting to text written in left margin (see note 65)] Hodge says that these cliffs descend “perpendicularly 90 feet” below the surface of the water.. Standing near the edge & looking down from such a height most experience a peculiar dizziness — & feel an almost irresistible inclination to jump off. It [in pencil:^The {edge of the precipice} is a dangerous place to try the steadiness of your nerves. [in pencil:^So from rains we were unable to take of our shoes] [in pencil:^{on uneven surface}] Our tent was of thin cotton HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” Returning we met Polis puffing [in pencil:^perspiring] & panting about 1/3 the way up — but thinking he must be near the top [^& saying it took his breath away —] — I thought that superstition had something to do with his fatigue. He said that he had never ascended Kineo. It had now [in pencil:^fairly] cleared off On reaching the canoe I found [written vertically in left margin in pencil connecting to caret before “Hodge says”:{in his Modern Painters Ruskin says “I am not aware of any cliff in England or Wales where a plumb-line can swing clear for 200 feet,” & {there is here, Moldenhauer notes, an unintelligible word connected to marginalia, possibly modifying “can” or “in his Modern Painters”}] that he had caught a lake trout weighing 3 or 4 lbs while we were on the mt [in pencil:^fishing] at a depth of 25 or 30 ft [in pencil:^{Returning to our camp the canoe &c v 235} I also saw apparently This was fried for supper — chivins about where we washed the dishes — Our tent was of thin cotton cloth — [^& quite small] forming with the ground a triangular prism 6 ft long — 7 feet wide & 4 feet altitude [^so that we could not begin to stand up in it] — It required 2 forked stakes — a smooth pole & a dozen or more pins closed at the rear end — We reclined to pitch it within before it till bed time — each with his baggage at his head {Moldenhauer interprets that Thoreau circled in pencil “or else sat about before it till bed time — each with his baggage at his head” here in order to connect this material together, rather than to insert it somewhere else.} or [in pencil:^else sat about] Hanging our wet clothes on a pole before the fire during the night. [in pencil:^{for cut logs} v 235] As we sat there just before night — [^looking out thro’ the dusky wood] Polis heard a noise which he said was made by a snake. He imitated it at my request making a low whistling note — pheet pheet 2 or 3 times repeated — somewhat like the peep of a hylodes — but not so [in pencil:^loud] sharp — In answer to my inquiries he said he had never seen them while making it — but going to the spot he finds the snake. This he said, on another occasion, was a sign of rain! P. said that he had 50 acres of grass potatoes &c somewhere above Oldtown — beside some [in pencil:^that] about his house — He hires [^hired] a good deal of his work — [^hoeing &c] & prefers [^preferd] white men to Indians He put law [in pencil:^v xxiv p 98] questions to my because “They keep steady & know how.” [in pencil:^] companion learning that he was a lawyer — supposing cases which were his own he having been EDWARD HOAR purchasing land lately P. lay on the right side of the tent, be- cause, as he said, he was partly deaf in one ear — & he wanted to lie with his good ear THE ACTUAL JOURNAL THE ACTUAL JOURNAL up. As we lay there he asked me if I ever heard Indian sing — To which I replied that I had not often, and asked him if he would not favor us with a song. He readily assented — & lying on his back HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” with his blanket wrapt round him he commenced a slow [^somewhat nasal but [in pencil:^yet]] musical strain in his own language which seemed to be a chant taught them [in pencil:^{Indians}] long ago by the Jesuits — [[in pencil:^{So he had sprung a prayer upon us}] He translated it to us sentence by sentence afterward & it proved to be a very simple religious exercise or hymn — the burden of which was that there was only one God ruled all the world — [^This was hammered (or sung) out [^exceedingly] thin — so that some stanzas well nigh meant nothing at all] He then said he would sing us a Latin song — but we did not detect any Latin only some [^the] Greek words [in pencil:^{It may have been Latin with the Indian pronunciation} [in pencil:^v86 v xxiv] It was a dense & damp spruce & fir wood in which we lay [in pencil:^& except for our fire perfectly dark] {THE MAINE WOODS p. 179} — & when I woke in the night — I [^either] heard an owl from deeper in the forest — [^behind us] or a loon from a distance on the lake — Getting up some time after midnight to [in pencil:^(rekindle the fire)] or collect the [in pencil:^{scattered}] brands [in pencil:^{of our fire}] together — I observed partly in the fire a perfectly regular elliptical ring of light — about 5 inches in its shortest diameter [^& 6 or 7 in its longer] & 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch wide — It was fully as bright as the fire, but not reddish or scarlet like a coal — but a white & slumbering light [^like the glow worms. I could only tell it from the fire by its whiteness] I saw at once that it must be phosforescent wood — of which I had so often heard, but never chanced to see. Putting my finger on it with a little hesitation — I found that it was a piece of dead moose- wood (acer striatum) [^partially burned at one end] which the Indian had cut off in a slanting direction the evening before. Using my knife I found that the light proceeded from that por- tion of the sap wood den immediately under the bark — & this presented a regular ring [in pencil:^{which It} indeed appeared raised above the level of the wood at the end — [^pared off] & when I sawed the bark & cut into the sap it was all aglow — along the log. I was surprised to find the wood quite though prob. decay had commenced in the sap — hard & apparently sound — [^] & I cut out some little triangular chips with my knife & placing them in the hollow of my hand carried them into the camp — waked up my companion & showed them to him. They lit up the inside of my hand EDWARD HOAR showing the [^[in pencil:^{reavealing} lines &] wrinkles — appearing exactly like coals of fire raised to a white heat — & I saw at once how probably the Indians had [in pencil:^{one another & on}] imposed on [in pencil:^] travellers pretending to hold coals of fire in their mouths. I aslo [^also] perceived [in pencil:^noticed] that part of a decayed stump within 4 or 5 feet [in pencil:^of the fire] — an inch wide & six inches long — — soft & shaking wood, shone with equal brightness. I neglected to ascertain whether our fire had anything to do with the phenomenon — HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” but the previous days rain & long continued THE ACTUAL JOURNAL THE ACTUAL JOURNAL wet weather and undoubtedly had. I was very much [in pencil:^exceedingly] interested by this phenomenon and already felt paid for my journey — If I had met with this ring of light [in pencil:^while groping] ] in the [^this] forest [in pencil:^{alone}] away from the [in pencil:^{any}] fire I should [in pencil:^{It could hardly have thrilled me more if it had taken the form of letters}] [in pencil:^{or of the human face}] have been still more surprised [in pencil:^] . I little thought that there was such a light shining in the darkness of [in pencil:^{for me}] the wilderness [in pencil:^] — Though the moosewood was hard & apparently sound probably decay had commenced in the sap wood. {Thoreau put a pencil stroke in the left margin next to the two following lines, and marked the material as “2.”} I kept those little chips & wet them again the next night — but they emitted no light. [in pencil in the left margin:^{The next day}. The paragraph that follows is marked has a pencil line in the margin.] The Indian told me their name for this light — [^Artoosoqu] & in inquiring respecting the will o’ the wisp & the like phenomena — he told me [in pencil:^said] that his folks sometimes [in pencil:^{saw} passing [in pencil in the left margin:^1] reported having seen fire moving along thro’ the woods at various heights {Here Thoreau inserted “&” vertically, connecting it to the phrase “as high as the trees” below} with a noise at a considerable height, sometimes even [in pencil:^{even} as high as the trees, & making a noise. I was prepared [^after this] to hear of the most startling & unheard of phenomena witnessed by “his folks” for they are abroad at all hours & seasons in scenes so unfrequented by white men [^for me to see] — I found my faith & expectation as to what remains [^remained] to be seen by man in this world greatly increased Nature must have made a thousand revelations to them which she still keeps secret to us. I did not regret not having seen this — before — since I now saw it under circumstances [in pencil:^{so favorable. I was in just frame of mind too see something wonderful}] which enhanced its strangeness. [in pencil:^{& this was a phenomenon adequate to my circumstances & expectation}] [in pencil:^{& was prepared for any phenomenon [in pencil:^{thing however strange}] thereafter}] It suggested to me how unexplored still are the realms of nature — that what we know & have seen is always an insignificant portion. We may any day take a walk [in pencil:^into a new world] as strange as Dante’s imaginary one to L’Inferno or Para- diso. HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” July 27, Monday: Une demoiselle en lôterie, an operetta by Jacques Offenbach to words of Jaime and Crémieux, was performed for the initial time, at the Bouffes-Parisiens, Paris.

Waldo Emerson reported in his journal that Ellery Channing was complaining of a “new pedantry in T” and characterizing this as “a dry rot.”

July 27, Monday, Morning: … Having rapidly loaded the canoe, which the Indian always carefully attended to, that it might be well trimmed, and each having taken a look, as usual, to see that nothing was left, we set out again, descending the Caucomgomoc, and turning northeasterly up the Umbazookskus … the next opening in the sky was over Umbazookskus Lake, which we suddenly entered about eleven o’clock in the JOE POLIS forenoon. It stretches northwesterly four or five miles, with what the Indian called the Caucomgomoc Mountain seen far beyond it. It was an agreeable change. … We crossed the southeast end of the lake to the carry into Mud Pond. … After a long while my companion came back, and the Indian with him. We had taken the wrong road, and the Indian had lost us. He had very wisely gone back to the Canadian’s camp, and asked him which way we EDWARD HOAR had probably gone, since he could better understand the ways of white men, and he told him correctly that we had undoubtedly taken the supply road to Chamberlain Lake (slender supplies they would get over such a road at this season). The Indian was greatly surprised that we should have taken what he called a “tow” (i. e. tote or toting or supply) road, instead of a carry path, — that we had not followed his tracks, — said it was “strange,” and evidently thought little of our woodcraft. … We had come out on a point extending into Apmoojenegamook, or Chamberlain Lake, west of the outlet of Mud Pond, where there was a broad, gravelly, and rocky shore, encumbered with bleached logs and trees. We were rejoiced to see such dry things in that part of the world. But at first we did not attend to dryness so much as to mud and wetness. We all three walked into the lake up to our middle to wash our clothes.…

July 27, Monday, Evening: … After putting on such dry clothes as we had, and hanging the others to JOE POLIS dry on the pole which the Indian arranged over the fire, we ate our supper, and lay down on the pebbly shore with our feet to the fire, without pitching our tent, making a thin bed of grass to cover the stones. … I was awakened at midnight by some heavy, low-flying bird, probably a loon, flapping by close over my head, along the shore. So, turning the other side of my half-clad body to the fire, I sought slumber again.

Monday July 27th [Transcript] THE ACTUAL JOURNAL Having rapidly loaded the canoe — which P. [in pencil:^{the Ind always}] carefully attended to — and each having taken a look [^as usual] to see that nothing was left — we set out again — descending the Caucomgomoc — & turn- ing up the Umbazookskus [in pencil:^N. easterly] — which word P. [in pencil:^This name] [in pencil:^{the Ind}] said meant Much meadow River — We found it a very meadowy stream & dead water here — & now very wide on ac. of the though sometimes (ac. to P.) it is quite narrow rains[^] — Including the meadows — the space bet. the woods was [in pencil:^from] 50 to 200 rods [in pencil:^{wide [ ] &}] — Here is a rare place for moose — It reminded me of the Concord [in pencil:^River] — [in pencil:^{& what increased the resemblance}] I saw one [^old] muskrat house almost afloat — In the water on the meadows grew sedge — wool-grass — the common blue flag abundant (its plume just showing its head now above the [in pencil:^{as if it were a} blue water lily] water [in pencil:^] ) & higher in the meadows a great many clumps of that willow (narrow leaved & smooth beneath) which grows W of rock in the Wheeler meadow — [in pencil:^The] prevailing [in pencil:^one] there — P. HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” says [in pencil:^{said}] the musquash eats [in pencil:^{ate}] much of this willow THE ACTUAL JOURNAL THE ACTUAL JOURNAL There was also the C. stolonifera with shoots quite red [in pencil:^redder] as I had not seen [in pencil:^than before I had seen before] them. [in pencil:^(I had seen)] the)] fruit before large {possibly “large fruit”} & now whitish. Though still early in the morning we saw night hawks circling over the meadow — & as usual heard the Pe-pe [in pencil:^{muscicapa cooperi}] singing — & saw a robin — [There are pencil lines in the left margin, and this two-line snippet is marked as “2”:] There was quite an echo from the [in pencil:^them] [in pencil:^(distant woods)] — (It was something unusual to have the {This was marked with a pencil line in the margin, as “1”} linewoods even at this distance) [in pencil:^so distant from {the shore}] but when I was shouting in order to awake it — P. [in pencil:^{the Ind}] reminded me that I should scare the moose which he was looking out for & which we all wanted to see. The word for echo was Pockadunkquaywayle — along the distant edge of the meadow next A broad belt of dead larch trees — [^] which P. the woods on each side called Juniper — [in pencil:^{generally so called there}] & said had been killed by the back water caused by the dam at the Outlet of Chesuncook — gave it a [in pencil:^to the scenery. He called] peculiar wild appearance — [in pencil:^them Juniper —] I plucked at the waters [in pencil:^edge] The Asclepias incarnata with flowers a brighter red than ours — & very handsome — It was the [in pencil:^{only}] form of it [in pencil:^{I saw}] there — ————————————————————— The smooth form of Gray — of which he makes ours a var pulchra. The former is smooth except 2 hairy lines — The peduncles & pedicels are very much more slender — & the peduncles longer than in my specimen of the Pulchra. Bigelow does not describe the smooth one Having paddled several (4 or 5?) miles up the Umbazookskus — it became suddenly {or “suddenly became,” as there is a pencil line above “it became” and underneath “suddenly”} narrow — & swift the larches [in pencil:^{& other trees}] &c approaching the bank & leaving no open meadow — & we landed to get [in pencil:^get] & prepare a black spruce pole for poling up [in pencil:^pushing] against the stream. This was the first occasion for one. While the Indian was getting & preparing it — I took occasion to {There is a pencil line in the left margin from “bathed & examined” through “with ripe fruit” and the selection is marked “2”} bathe[in pencil:^d] & examine[in pencil:^d] the plants — The river though narrow [^& swift] was still deep with a muddy bottom. Beside the plants I have noticed [in pencil:^{mentioned}] I observed on the bank here — the salix cordata & rostrata Ranunculus recurvatus, & Rubus triflorus with ripe fruit. Ps. [in pencil:^{While Polis was preparing this [^pole] which}] was quite slender & {There is a pencil line in the left margin from “about 10 feet long merely whittled to a point” through “& the bark shaved off” and the selection is marked “1”} about 10 feet long merely whittled to a point & the bark shaved off. While we were thus employed — 2 Indians in a canoe hove in sight [in pencil:^{round the bushes}] — coming down stream. HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” & fell into conversation with him in Indian P. knew the old one an old man, who [in pencil:^he] belonged at the foot of Moosehead — & was the father [in pencil:^{was}] of the one who made [^making] canoes [in pencil:^there] & with whom I talked there — the other was of another tribe — They were returned [^returning] from hunting. I asked the younger if they had seen any moose — to which he said no{,} but I, seeing the moose hides sticking out from a great bundle made by [in pencil:^with] the blankets in the middle of the canoe — added “only their hides.” THE ACTUAL JOURNAL THE ACTUAL JOURNAL [in pencil:^{As this Ind was a foreigner — he may have wished to deceive me for it is against the law for] [in pencil:^{whites [^{& foreigners}] to kill moose [in pencil:^{them}] at this season — & then about moose warden}] We continued along through the most extensive larch wood [in pencil:^{which}] I have seen — tall & slender trees with fantastic though this was the prevailing tree here I do not remember that we saw any afterward branches [in pencil:^often] — seeing [^we saw] some fresh moose tracks you did not find straggling {THE MAINE WOODS 209} trees here & there throughout {THE MAINE WOODS 209} the woods but [in pencil:^{rather}] [in pencil:^{along the shore}] — but P. said that the moose were not driven out of the woods by the flies a little forest of the {water} — & the same thing to some extent appeared to be the case with the pines — white — & red — [in pencil:^{pines — & some other trees}] [in pencil:^was] [in pencil:^{are of a social habit}] [in pencil:^{They [^as usual at this season — on ac. of the abundance of water everywhere.] growing in “veins” or “clumps” or “communities” as the explorers call them}] [in pencil:^{& to distinguish them far away from the top of a hill or tree I should like to come go into their sheds perchance & see how they managed things} The stream was only from 1 1/2 to 3 rods — wide [in pencil:^{across a large community of pines which had never been minded — by the lumbering army}] [in pencil:^{& its institutions in full vigor — I suspect they would not be so [in pencil:^{false hearted or}] Konchus an army etc at any quite winding with occasional small islands rate} {when we came to an island P [^{the Ind}] never hesitated which side to take — as if the current told him which was the shortest & deepest} [in pencil:^{but}] & meadows — & spokelogans {See THE MAINE WOODS 242, “spokelogans”} — & some very swift & shallow places. {In Moldenhauer’s notes, the penciled caret here is connected by a pencil line to the end of “spokelogans” above and then to the interlining above ending “as if the current told him which was the shortest & deepest”} It was lucky for us that the water was so high — we had to walk but once carrying a part of the load [^at a swift & shallow reach] while the Ind. got not being obliged to take out [in pencil:^{Though he said}] up with the canoe.[^] [in pencil:^{once or 2ce it was very strong water — }] [in pencil:^{pass wrecked batteaux p 116} [in pencil:^{we found the red wreck of a batteau which}] While waiting for the Indian at the head [in pencil:^{had been stove some spring — }] of this carry — I saw {many} very fine specimens of the Great purple fringed orchis [^on the shore] — which is agreeably fragrant. There were some [in pencil:^{water} [in pencil:^{advena}] yel-lilies (nuphar) Scutellaria galericulata — clematis abundant — sweet gale — “Great smilacina” (Did I mean S. racemosa?) & Beaked hazel the only hazel I saw in Maine. I felt The Ind. wiping my back, on which he had [^accidentally] spat upon. [^He] said it was a sign [^that] I was going HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” to be married. [in pencil:^The {next opening of} the sky {was over Umbazookskus}] Having poled up in the narrow part [in pencil:^(of the [in pencil:^{Lake which}] Hodge calls the Umbazookskus River 10 miles long — river)] some 3 or 4 (?) miles[^] — we suddenly entered [in pencil:^{this} Umbazookskus lake [[in pencil:^{about 11} [in pencil:^(say at 10 1/2) {there is a penciled line here, connecting to earlier “of the”; which phrase is penciled out} Am] which stretched N. westerly [in pencil:^{by our interest}] [written vertically in pencil in the left margin:^{But perhaps he need not have been alarmed — for the moos wardens are not very particluar — I heard quite directly of one who — being asked what he should say if he killed a moose — answered — If you bring me a quarter of it I guess you wont be troubled” his duty being as he said only to prevent an indiscriminate slaughter of them for their hides — I suppose he would consider it an indiscriminate slaughter when a quarter was not reserved for him Such are the perquisites of this office} Hodge calls the Umbazookskus River ap. 4 or 5 miles — [^]with what P. called the Caucomgomoc mts seen beyond it. Our sudden ingress into this broad & open lake was an agreeable change. [in pencil:^{It was an agreeable change}] This lake was very shallow a long dis- tance from the shore — & I saw stone heaps on the bottom like those in the Assabet {THE MAINE WOODS 211}. P. thought that they were made by the Lamprey eel. The canoe ran into one. We crossed the SE end of the lake to the carry into Mud Pond — The Umbazook- skus lake is the head of the Penobscot in this di- rection — Mud Pond of the nearest head of the Alleguash [in pencil:^{one of the main sources of the}] (St John’s) — [in pencil:^{The state geologist}] Hodge calls the portage [in pencil:^{here}] 1 3/4 miles long — & states that Mud Pond is said [^has been found] to be 14 feet higher than Umbazookskus Lake — As the W. branch [in pencil:^{started}] of the Penobscot at the Moosehead carry is considered as [in pencil:^{to be about}] 25 feet lower than Moosehead Lake — it will be seen [in pencil:^appears] that the Penobscot in the upper part of its course runs in a broad valley between the Kennebec & St Johns & Lower than [in pencil:^{Thus}] either of them — In that portion of the state there from [in pencil:^(inspecting)] a [in pencil:^{the}] map one expects to find the highest land, he finds [in pencil:^a shallow] a valley. [in pencil:^{Mud Pond is about half way to Chamberlain lake into which it empties &}] P. said that this [in pencil:^{to which we were bound}] was the a very bad the wettest carry in the state — & as the season was a very wet one, we anticipated an [in pencil:^{he made one large bundle of the pork bag — cooking utensils — & other loose traps by tying}] [in pencil:^{them up in his blanket}] unpleasant walk — As usual [in pencil:^] we should have to go over it twice — whe & our method THE ACTUAL JOURNAL THE ACTUAL JOURNAL was to carry one half part way — & then go back for the rest. [in pencil:^{One path ran close by the door} where [^and often at carries] I heard the dog-day locust as in settled countries] There was a long hut in a clearing [^] at this end of the carry — which Polis who alone entered it, found to be occupied by a Canadian who had been blind for a year — HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” & his family. He seemed peculiarly unfortunate to be taken blind there. [in pencil:^{This was the 1st house above Chesuncook & last on Penobscot waters — }] After a slight ascent from the lake {sho} through a [^the] springy soil [^of the Canadians’ clearing] we entered on a [^level &] very wet & rocky path through the universal dense evergreen forest, which made the carry to mud Pond. [in pencil:^a mere {loosely paved gutter — where we went leaving from rock to rock — or from side to side — in the vain attempt to keep out of the water & mud}] When we were not on a rock we were in the water — & we thought this [in pencil:^it] a suitable We concluded that it was yet Penobscot water — though there was no flow to it approach [in pencil:^avenue] to Mud Pond.[^{on this carry}] [in pencil:^{v p 116}] It was here Howard {This name is “Leonard” in Moldenhauer’s notes, and is penciled out.} [in pencil:^{the white hunter whom I met in the stage}] told me that he had shot 2 bears a few months before [in pencil:^{They might be excused for not turning out there — or only taking the right as the law directs right in}] — They stood directly [in pencil:^{the path} [in pencil:^{he also said}] [in pencil:^{I do not wonder they did not turn out}] on the carry & did not turn out for him [in pencil:^{v p223}]. Here commences what was called the best timber land in the state 20 years ago — {a penciled caret here connects by a penciled arrow to text that Thoreau penned up the entire left margin.} [^Just this [^This] spot was then described as “covered with the greatest abundance of pine” — but now this is comparatively an uncommon tree there — yet there did not seem to be room for another amid the dense growth of cedar — spruce — fir &c. —] & it was then proposed to cut a canal [in pencil:^{at}] through here [in pencil:^{from lake to lake}] — but the outlet was finally made further east from Telos [in pencil:^{Lake}] into webster stream on the E. branch [in pencil:^{as we shall see}] The Indian with his canoe soon disap- peared before us, but ere long came back & told us to take a path which turned off westward, it being a better road — & at my suggestion he agreed to leave a bough in the regular carry at that place {lest} we might pass it by mistake — & here after he said we were to keep the main road & he added, “you see ‘em my tracks” — but I had not much faith that we could distinguish his tracks since others had passed over the carry within a few days. We turned off at the right place & then but were soon confused by numerous logging paths though we [in pencil:^{we}] [^which came into it] kept what we considered the main path — [^{though} it was a winding one] in which at long intervals we distinguished a faint trace of a footstep. This [in pencil:^{& this} though comparatively unworn] {THE MAINE WOODS 213 “unworn”} was at first a better road or at least a drier road than the regular carry which we had left — but at length it began to grow worse than that even — {Thoreau penciled this material vertically in the left margin, connecting it to this context:{^It was densely carpetted with moss & led through an arborvitae wilderness of the grimmest char-acter — the great fallen & rotting trunks had been cut through & rolled aside and their huge trees [^trunks] abutted on the path on each side, while others still lay across the path 2 or 3 feet high — on them & on the rocks from time to time were the blue scales of fir cones left by the red squirrels} [in pencil:^v p 116] & it was impossible to detect the Indian’s trail in the elastic moss which [^with a thick carpet] covered every rock & fallen log as well as the earth. Never the less I did occasionally detect the track of a man. [^& gave myself some credit for it] I carried my whole load a heavy knapsack — & a large India rubber pack {THE MAINE WOODS 214 “bag”} containing our bread &c [^{on} a blanket] about 60 lbs at once — but my com- panion preferred to make 2 journey [^journies] of it HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” by short stages. [in pencil:^(Whil [^In] the mean)]while I [in pencil:^{waited for him}] was making observations on the forest. [in pencil:^{We had left the Indians blanket bundle on the old Carry}] Having already come nearly 2 miles without seeing any signs of the [^Mud] Pond, I [in pencil:^(already)] began to suspect that we were off the true road. As I sat waiting for him [in pencil:^{my companion}]he would seem to be gone a long time — & I had ample opportunity [in pencil:^(meanwhile)] to EDWARD HOAR make observations on the forest. I now first began to be [^seriously] molested by the black fly — a very small — but perfectly formed fly of that color — [in pencil:^about 1/10 of an inch long] which I first felt & then perceived [in pencil:^saw] in swarms about me as I sat on a moss covered rock in this dark forest path — They are said to settle in rings about the neck — & are wiped {THE MAINE WOODS 214} off in great numbers but remembering that I had a wash in my knapsack prepared by a friend in Bangor — THE ACTUAL JOURNAL THE ACTUAL JOURNAL I made haste to apply it to my face & hands & was glad to find it effectual, as long as it was fresh — or for 20 minutes — both against we blackflies — moose flies & mosquitoes — & after- wards no see ems — They would not alight on the part thus defended. It was composed of sweet oil & oil of turpentine — with a little oil of spearmint & camphor. (Garrulus canadensis Canada jay, called moose-bird meat bird &c) 3 large birds of the jay genus — came flitting silently by degrees toward me — & hopped down the limbs inquisitively to within 7 or 8 feet —. They were more clumsy & not nearly so showy as our [^blue] jay — Ap — slate col. above, with ash colored breasts — light tips to tail — line of white side of nostrils — & black bills. Fish hawks from the lake uttered their sharp whistling notes low over the top of the forest — [in pencil:^{After I had sat there some time} ] I noticed here [^at a fork in the path] a tree which had been blazed — & the letters “Chamb-L.” written on it in [in pencil:^with] red chalk [in pencil:^{This I knew to mean} Chamberlain Lake] — so I concluded on the whole that [in pencil:^that] we were on the right course — though as we had come nearly 2 miles [in pencil:^(& saw no signs of Mud Pond)] — I did harbor the suspicion that we might be on a direct course to “Chamberlain-{Lake}” leaving out Mud P. This I found by my map would be [in pencil:^about] 5 miles — & I [in pencil:^then] took the course by my compass My companion [^having] returned with his bag — & also defended his face & hands with the insect EDWARD HOAR walking wash — we set forward again — The path [in pencil:^{& the path more indistinct}] rapidly grew worse — [in pencil:^] & at length after passing [in pencil:^{wild calla}] through a patch of [in pencil:^] calla palustris still to my surprise abundantly in bloom (owing I suppose to the freshness of the air —) we found our- selves in a regular swamp — made wetter HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” than usual by the unusual wetness of the season — We sank a foot deep in water & mud at every step & frequently up to our knees — & the I concluded that if Mud Pond was as muddy as the approach to it was wet — it cer- tainly deserved its name. trail was almost obliterated.[in pencil:^{v p117}] [in pencil:^{It was [ ]ing}] Having penetrated a considerable distance into this & found a tussock {THE MAINE WOODS 216} though there was no place to sit on which we could deposit our loads[^] {This caret is connected with a penciled line} — my com- panion went back for the rest of his pack — I had thought to observe on this carry when we crossed the dividing line between the waters of the St Jo Penob- scot & of the St. Johns — but my feet had hardly been out of water on this [^whole] carry — & it was all sta level & stagnant I began to despair of finding [in pencil:^it] — I remembered to have heard a good deal about the “highlands” — dividing the waters of the Penobscot & St. Johns — at the time of the N.E. Boundary dispute — & I observed by my map that that line is claimed by Great Britain as the boundary — prior to 1842 — passed between Umba- so [in pencil:^{so}] zookskus lake & Mud Pond — [^]& [in pencil:^] that we had either crossed it or were then on it. I thought that if the Commissioners themselves & the King of Holland with them had spent a few days here looking for that highland they would have had an interesting time — & perhaps it would have modified their views of the question some- what. The King of Holland would have been in his element {Thoreau drew a pencil arc around the front of the following word “here”} here [in pencil:^{Such were my meditations while my}] While my companion was gone back for his bag I studied the botany of that region. It was EDWARD HOAR a cedar swamp — through which the [^peculiar] note of the myrtle bird [^as usual] rang loud & clear [in pencil:^{It would have been amusing to behold the dogged & deliberate pace at which we entered that swamp, as if determined to go through it though the water should come up to our necks}] THE ACTUAL JOURNAL THE ACTUAL JOURNAL There grew the side-saddle flower — also ledum latifolium — Kalmia glauca — & which was new to me — Betula pumila {THE MAINE WOODS 216} [in pencil:^{We thought to name the swamp after the latter}] a little round leafed birch 2 to 3 feet high [in pencil:^] — [in pencil:^{It is evident &c p. 117} [in pencil:^{I was surprised to find the Callas [in pencil:^{which had long since withered with us}] still [^{fairly}] in bloom there}] [in pencil:^{There is &c} After a long delay [in pencil:^{while}] my companion came back & the Ind. with him — We had taken the EDWARD HOAR wrong road & the Ind. had lost us — he had very wisely been [in pencil:^{gone}]back to the Canadian’s camp and asked him which way we had probably gone — & he told him correctly that we had undoubtedly taken the supply road to Chamberlain Lake — [in pencil:^{slender supplies they would get over such a road at this season}] which they called 4 miles long. The Indian was greatly surprised that we should have taken what he called a “tow” (tote (ie toting or supply) road — instead of a carry path — & [in pencil:^{that we}] had not followed his tracks — & evidently thought little of our woodcraft. Having held a consultation [^& eaten a mouthful of bread —] we{—}concluded that it would perhaps HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” be nearer for us now to keep on to Chamber{-} lain lake{ [in pencil:^] } — omitting Mud Pond — than to go back & start anew for the last place. In the mean- while he would go back & finish carrying over his canoe & some baggage [in pencil:^bundle] — to Mud Pond — go down that & [in pencil:^{cross this &}] its outlet — & up Chamberlain [in pencil:^Lake] — & trust to meet us there before night. He supposed that the water in which we stood had flowed back from Mud Pond which could not be far off eastward — but was un- approachable through the dense cedars [in pencil:^{other trees}] &c Keeping on we ere long reached firmer ground — & crossed a ridge where the path was more distinct — but there was never any outlook [in pencil:^over the forest] Descending the last I saw many [in pencil:^specimens] of the great round leaved orchis — of large size {THE MAINE WOODS 217} — one which I measured — had leaves as usual flat on the ground — [^9 1/2 inches long x 9 wide & was 2] feet high. [^The dark damp wilderness is favorable to some [in pencil:^of these] orchidaceous flowers] I also saw the [in pencil:^{swamp gooseberry}] Ribes lacustre [in pencil:^{though they are} — plants too [in pencil:^{too} delicate for cultivation with green fruit — & in all the low ground where it was not too wet — the Rubus trifloris in fruit. [in pencil:^{At one place} I heard a very clear loud [in pencil:^{&}] [^piercing] note from a small hawk, like a single note from a myrtle bird myrtle birds — squirrels — & fish hawks made the only other sounds I remember on the carry — only [^very] much louder — [^{and that}] We then d [^{at long intervals}] also saw & heard [in pencil:^{v p114 about squirrel} [in pencil:^{& often saw on the bluish scales of the fir cones which}] [in pencil:^{it had stripped left on a rock or fallen tree}] [in pencil:^(on this carry)] several times [in pencil:^] The red squirrel [in pencil:^] — {This second “^” may indicate different placement of earlier interlineation on this line.} [in pencil:^{It}] which must lead a solitary life in that dark evergreen wilderness. I almost wondered how he could feel at home — how he could call any particular tree in this [in pencil:^that] shaggy wilderness 75 miles from a road as we had come [in pencil:^(one of those fir trees)] his home when there was & yet he would run up the stem of one of the myriads as if it were a so little life & fancied he must be glad to see familiar track to him. P. told me afterward on the E Branch [in pencil:^{How can a hawk ever find him there?}] us. though he did seem to chide us. We that this is now the only kind of squirrel in these woods — but added that {the} was often saw the [^{bluish}] scales of a fir cone whose sometimes the striped squirrel. [in pencil:^{This ac to the Indian is the only squirrel found}] [in pencil:^{there except the striped one occasionally}] seeds he had eaten left on a rock or fallen tree. [in pencil:^One of those {somber} &c v p114] We then entered another swamp at {not} a necessarily slow pace — where the walking was worse than ever — not only on ac. of the water — but the fallen trees which often obliterated the indistinct trail. The fallen trees were so numerous that for long distances the route was through a succession of small yards — where we climbed over fences as high as our heads — down into water often up to our knees — & then over another fence into a 2d [in pencil:^{yard}] & so on — & going HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” back for his bag my companion would EDWARD HOAR THE ACTUAL JOURNAL THE ACTUAL JOURNAL sometimes {in pencil:^once] lost his way & came back without it. In many places the canoe would have run if it had not been for the timber [^fallen] timber — again it would be more open [in pencil:^{too wet for trees to grow} [in pencil:^{A mossy &c p 117}] but equally wet — & no place to sit down [in pencil:^]. Making a logging road in THE MAINE WOODS is called swamping it — & they who do the work are called swampers — [in pencil:^{However I suppose they would tell you that this name arose from the fact that the chief work is to make the swamps passable.}]{Thoreau moved the interlined material “I now perceived the fitness of the term” by means of a connecting line, and inserted it here with a caret.} This was the most perfectly swamped We came to a stream where the bridge which of all the roads I ever saw — nature must have cooperated with art. [in pencil:^{there}] was made of logs tied together with cedar The swampers, whoever they were, had evidently done this work faithfully bark — had been broken up — & [in pencil:^{we}] got over as we could — This probably emptied into Mud Pond {Thoreau connected this by means of a penciled caret and lines to “A mossy &c” section.} & perhaps the Indian might have come up it & taken us in there if he had known it. [in pencil:^{Such as it was this [^{ruined}] bridge was the chief evidence that were on a road of any kind}] We then crossed another low rising ground & I [^who wore shoes] had an opportunity to wring out my stockings [in pencil:^this] but my companion [^who wore boots] had found that it was not a safe experiment for him, [in pencil:^for he might not be able to get] [in pencil:^(on ac. of the difficulty of EDWARD HOAR getting his wet boots on again.)] He went over the whole ground (or water) 3 times — [in pencil:^(& owing to the character of the walking his feet were badly chafed [in pencil:^{This caused our progress to be very slow}])] This delayed us [in pencil:^indeed] not a little — [in pencil:^{beside that the water softened our feet & unfitted them for walking}] As I sat waiting for him [in pencil:^{my companion} it would [^{naturally}] seem an unaccountable time that he was gone — So as [in pencil:^{I could see through the woods that}] the sun was EDWARD HOAR getting low — thick over the thick wood — & it was uncertain how far the lake might be [in pencil:^supposing we were on the right {path & in what part of the world we should be by nightfall}] & when we should get there at this rate — I proposed that I should push right through with what speed I could [^leaving boughs to mark my path] & find the Indian lake & the Indian if possible [in pencil:^(before night)] [in pencil:^{dark}]. & send the latter [in pencil:^back] to carry my companion’s bag. Having gone about a mile & got into EDWARD HOAR lower ground again — I heard a noise like an owl — which I soon discovered to be made by Polis — & answering him we soon came together He had reach the lake [in pencil:^{after} crossing Mud Pond, & running {some rapids below it — &}] & [in pencil:^{had}] come up about 2 miles on the [^our] path. So he went back [in pencil:^{If he had not come back to} meet us we [^probably] should not have found him] for my companion’s bag while I kept on. [in pencil:^that night — {since the path branched once or 2ce before reaching this part of the lake}] EDWARD HOAR Having waded through another stream where the bridge of logs had been broken up & half floated away — we continued on through alternate land [in pencil:^mud]& water to the shore of Chamberlain Lake [in pencil:^which we reached] [in pencil:^] in season for a late supper instead of dining HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” [in pencil:^having gone without our dinner] there as we had expected [in pencil:^] — It was at least a dozen [^5] miles by the way we had come — & as my companion had gone over most of it {THE MAINE WOODS 221} 3 times — he had walked full EDWARD HOAR a dozen miles — hard {Moldenhauer renders this word as “bad”} as it was — The In the winter when the snow water is frozen & the snow is 4 feet deep it is no doubt, a tolerable [in pencil:^{for a footman} [in pencil:^{p118} [in pencil:^{As it was I would not have missed that walk for a good deal}] path. [in pencil:^] [in pencil:^] [in pencil:^{since the dam was built has been connected with}] [in pencil:^{This} [in pencil:^{it}] Chamberlain was another noble lake — called 12 [in pencil:^{If you add}] (adding Telos which [in pencil:^now] is connected {THE MAINE WOODS 222} by dead water since the dam it would [in pencil:^will] be 20 miles) miles long — [^] & [in pencil:^{it is} ap. 1 1/2 to 3{ } wide. We could see the [in pencil:^{only}] clearing called the “Chamberlain Farm” with 2 or 3 log houses [in pencil:^{close together}] on the opposite shore — some 2 1/2 miles dis- tant. The smoke of our fire on the shore brought over 2 men in a canoe from the Farm — that being the signal agreed on when one wishes to cross. [in pencil:^{It took them about half an hour to come over but they had labor for their pains} One of them was the one who hermit of the Dam on the Alleguash of whom I had heard — & he told me this lake was 12 miles long &c — It took them 1/2 hour to come over [in pencil:^{We} After wading into the lake with our clothes [in pencil:^to] on & washing off some of the mud[^& putting on such dry ones as we had] — we camped [in pencil:^we ate our supper] [in pencil:^{& lay down}] on the [in pencil:^(sandy or)] pebbly shore — without pitching our tent — making a [^thin] bed of grass to cover the stones. THE ACTUAL JOURNAL THE ACTUAL JOURNAL Here first I was molested by the little midge [in pencil:^{v Harris p483} [in pencil:^(Simulium nocivum) {THE MAINE WOODS 222} {The last word is ap the Lat for no see ’em} called the no see ‘em [in pencil:^] — especially over the sand [in pencil:^(close to)] [in pencil:^{at}] the water’s edge [in pencil:^{for it is a} a kind of sand fly]. You would not observe them but for their light colored wings They are perhaps a kind of sand fly or flea — [in pencil:^{They} & are said to get under the clothes & produce a feverish heat — which I suppse [^was what] I felt that night. [^vs —]

{This material is on the recto of a leaf that Thoreau waxed onto his manuscript at page 283. He indicated with “vs—” (above) that the material was to be inserted after “which I suppse was what I felt that night”:}When Our insect foes [in pencil:^on this occasion] were 1st mosquitoes — only troublesome at night & when we sat still on shore by day 2nd black flies [in pencil:^(Simulium molestum)] {THE MAINE WOODS 222} which molested us more or less on the carries {&c} by day — [in pencil:^as I have before described] [in pencil:^Harris mistakes when he says they are not seen after June] {THE MAINE WOODS 222}] 3d moose flies — the big ones are called Bososquasis [in pencil:^{by the Indian}] — It is a large stout brown fly [in pencil:^much like a horsefly almost] 11/16 of an inch long [in pencil:^{& is} I got half a dozen of them {& the next}] {and} rusty colored beneath, with clear unspotted wings [in pencil:^(some dark beneath)] — pretty easily killed [^{commonly] — There HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” were [in pencil:^{also} also] much smaller flies of somewhat similar color [in pencil:^{& from}] 3/8 of an inch long with a dark spot on the wings [in pencil:^{also called} moose flies] v other side THE ACTUAL JOURNAL

P. arranged a pole on which we hung our stockings & other wet clothes to dry — He would not use our wash to protect his face & hands — nor had he any veil — he therefore suffered [in pencil:^{from insects now}] [in pencil:^and] on [in pencil:^throughout] this journey more than either of us. He regularly tied up his face in his handkerchief [in pencil:^&] & buried it in his blanket — finally lay down on the sand between us & the fire for the sake of the smoke — which he tried to make enter his blanket about his face — & meanwhile [in pencil:^for the {same purpose}] [in pencil:^he] lit his pipe & smoked that. As we lay thus on the shore with nothing be- tween us & the stars — I asked what ones P [in pencil:^he] was acquainted with or had names for — They were [in pencil:^in English] the Great Bear — which he called by this name — the 7 stars, which he had no English name for — “the morning star” (his name) & the Polestar [in pencil:^{North star}] In the middle of the night, or indeed each time that we lay on the shore of a lake, we heard the voice of the loon loud & distinct from far over the lake — It is a very [in pencil:^(interesting &)] wild sound quite in keeping with the place — & the

{The following text is from the verso of the leaf that Thoreau waxed onto his manuscript page 283. See notes 284 and 287. Thoreau ran a wavy pencil line through this entire section from top of sheet down to “HDT” (the material appears to be a mere letter fragment).} town. I will engage to take some afternoon walks with you — (retiring with {proudest} { } {into} the most {sound} part of the day. Yrs — sincerely — HDT. ap. like those that are about our heads in [in pencil:^the] Mass. woods — both [in pencil:^Both] [in pencil:^{these}] were called moose flies & I saw many of the last on [in pencil:^the] moose — These did not trouble us much {4th} the No see ‘ems above mentioned. THE ACTUAL JOURNAL

[in pencil:^&] THE ACTUAL JOURNAL circumstances of the traveller — very unlike the voice of a bird — [in pencil:^(A true wilderness sound.)] When camping in such a wilderness as this, you are prepared to hear sounds from some of its in- habitants which will give expression to its wildness — some idea of bears wolves or cata- mounts [in pencil:^panthers] {runs} in your head naturally — & when this note is first heard [^very far off] at midnight, you take it for granted that it is the voice of HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” [in pencil:^a wolf or a bear even] [in pencil:^for] some wild beast — [in pencil:^] only the last part of its note is heard, when it is distant — and it [in pencil:^{at the times it}] sounds even like the hallooing of a man. [There is a pencil line in the left margin connecting “at the times it” with “hallooing on a very high key,” and this is marked “2”] hallooing on a very high key — having thrown his voice into his head. or oftener reminds you of wolves & bears. Strange [in pencil:^to] as it may seem — the “mooing” of a cow {There is a pencil line in the left margin from “or oftener reminds” through “birds’ note resembles that”} on a mt side — comes nearest my idea of the voice of a bear than any sound — & this birds’ note resembles that. The sound of the loon [in pencil:^{It}] was the unfailing & characteristic voice [in pencil:^sound] of these lakes — We were not so lucky as to hear wolves howl — though that is an occasional serenade. [in pencil:^v p 114] As described to me, it is a very startling noise in the night which almost makes the hair stand on end — the very voice of the wilderness — giving ex- pression to it which it lacked before — It may last but a minute — & you could think there were 20 there when there were only 2 or 3. This of the loon [^I do not mean its laugh but its looning] is a long drawn [in pencil:^sometimes] call, as it were, on a high key — & [in pencil:^] singularly THE ACTUAL JOURNAL THE ACTUAL JOURNAL human to my ear — hoo-hoooooooo [in pencil:^{like the hallooing of a man in a very high key having thrown his voice into his head}] It is remarkable that I have heard an exact imitation of it when breathing heavily through my own nostrils — when half awake in the night — suggesting my affinity to the loon — as if his language were but a dialect or provincialism of my own after all — [^spoken in one of my provincial cities] & I carried its lexicon in my body — Laying [in pencil:^awake at midnight] in the midst of [in pencil:^those woods] [in pencil:^(that wilderness)] you [in pencil:^I] listen to hear some words or syllables of its [in pencil:^their] language — [in pencil:^(which will give expression to its wildness)], but we [in pencil:^{I}] listened in vain until we [in pencil:^{I}] heard the cry of the loon — I have heard it also from the ponds of my native village — but there it was not enhanced it gained no expression from the surrounding scenery. I also heard some [in pencil:^] low-flying bird [^in pencil:^{heavy} perhaps] a loon flapping by overhead — along the shore — HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” July 28, Tuesday: In Concord, Waldo Emerson recorded in his journal his experiences of the preceding day, with Ellery Channing on the river behind the home of Cyrus Hubbard, as musings in regard to consolations of nature far superior to those of art:

Yesterday the best day of the year we spent in the afternoon on the river. A sky of Calcutta, light, air, clouds, water, banks, birds, grass, pads, lilies, were in perfection, and it was delicious to live. Ellery & I went up the South Branch, & took a bath from the bank behind Cyrus Hubbard, where the river makes a bend. Blackbirds in hundreds; swallows in tens sitting on the telegraph lines; & one heron (ardea minor) assisted. In these perfect pictures, one thinks what weary nonsense is all this painful collection of rubbish —pictures of rubbish masters— in the total neglect of this & every lovely river valley, where the multitudinous life & beauty makes these pictures ridiculous cold chalk & ochre.

Sojourner Truth bought a house lot in Harmonia, a community of Hicksite integrationists, Quakers-becoming- Spiritualists, which was close to Bedford, about five miles from Battle Creek, Michigan. SPIRITUALISM The Battle Creek MI meeting had a very interesting history in the 19th Century. The meeting was begun in the 1830s by Quakers from central and western New York who were then migrating to Michigan. The Battle Creek meeting was Hicksite and part of Genesee Yearly Meeting. In the 1840s, Michigan Quarterly Meeting (Hicksite) wanted to “lay down” the meetings of ministers and elders on the belief that the authority of the ministers and elders over the spiritual life of the meeting was retarding spiritual growth of the members. That issue is tied up with the desire of many Friends to become more actively involved with abolitionist organizations. Other Friends considered these abolitionist organizations too worldly — participation would involve Quakers in non-Quakerly activities like working with hireling ministers, engaging in politics. Other Quakers, coming from the universal Quaker belief in the evil of slavery, embraced the abolitionist organizations and resented being “eldered” about such matters. Anyway, Michigan Quarter wanted to abolish the meetings of ministers and elders, but the action was not approved by the Yearly Meeting and in 1848, Michigan Quarter itself was laid down and the meetings and members attached to the presumably more conventional Pelham Quarterly Meeting — which at that time consisted of the Hicksite meetings in nearby Canada. The radicals resented the yearly meeting’s action, and formed a new organization called the Michigan Yearly Meeting of Congregational Friends. They were also known as Progressive Friends and later Friends of Human Progress. The Yearly Meeting –Genesee that is– dithered for a few years about what to do about those Friends who had “set up meetings contrary to discipline” first saying that they could come back without any acknowledgment of error and apparently never disowning anyone. Like the anti-slavery schism in Indiana Yearly Meeting HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” (Orthodox) about this same time, it appears that the old yearly meeting regretted the split and therefore found it difficult to take any action against their erring members. Anyway, Battle Creek Monthly Meeting (Hicksite) continued as part of Pelham Quarter of Genesee Yearly Meeting for the remainder of the century. The Congregational or Progressive Friends initially intended to set up meetings on the Quaker model, but liberated of what they saw as too much hierarchy and sectarianism. In some places these meetings operated, but it isn’t clear for how long. In Michigan and New York such groups were nearly identical with the Garrisonian abolitionists and seems to have been absorbed into the general reform movement and quickly lost their specifically Quaker identity. To make matters more confused, Spiritualism which was arising at this time seemed to many both scientific and reformist, and some of the Progressive Friends seem to have allied with Spiritualists. The Harmonial Society near Battle Creek in the 1850s seems to have been the product of ex-Quaker Progressive Friends, Spiritualists, abolitionists, etc. Quite probably some Battle Creek Quakers considered themselves both Progressive Friends and members of Battle Creek MM (Hicksite). The categories were not mutually exclusive. Sojourner Truth was close to both groups. She attended Battle Creek Meeting (Hicksite) and lived for a time in the Harmonial Society. She was present at the dedication of the new Battle Creek Meeting house and at that time sang a hymn –something otherwise not done in Hicksite meetings at the time– and claimed that she would have become a Quaker if Quakers had allowed music. Another local Quaker –though I believe she was Orthodox– was Elizabeth Margaret Chandler — who wrote anti-slavery poems and a column for the GENIUS OF U NIVERSAL E MANCIPATION and is credited with being the first important female voice in the abolitionist movement. Amy and Isaac Post’s long journey from Quakerism into spiritualism began decades earlier [than the 1850s]. They had left orthodox Quakerism along with Elias Hicks, who was Amy’s cousin. Hicks had separated from orthodox Quakers in 1827 in a spirit of holiness reminiscent of his contemporary, James Latourette, who at the same time was leaving Methodism. Hicksite Quakers sought a return to the primitive simplicity and freedom of conscience of the 17th-Century Quakerism of George Fox and William Penn. Between 1827 and the late 1840s, however, Hicksite Quakers, like orthodox Quakers, grew conservative and intolerant of the abolitionists in their midst. The Hicksite leadership tried to censor antislavery talk and quash any combination in reform with non-Quakers. In response, antislavery Quakers withdrew to form their own free meetings, open to all, Quaker and non-Quaker. They called their new Meetings “Progressive Friends,” or “Congregational Friends,” or “Friends of Human Progress,” and exchanged visits, speakers, and letters. Progressive Friends advocated freedom of conscience, speech, and action. They believed in non-violence (a Garrisonian as well as a Quaker tenet), and they supported the abolition of slavery and the equality of women. They also communicated with spirits, a practice they explained in the imagery of a force only recently discovered: electricity. Spiritualism in its various guises fascinated hundreds of thousands of reform-minded Americans in the 1850s, Harriet Beecher Stowe among them. Its most HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” sensational aspects —séances and spirit visitations— appeared in 1848, with the spirit rappings of the Fox sisters in Hydesville NY, not far from Rochester. But spiritualism also had a more rational side, one inspired by the thought of the 18th- Century Swedish scholar, Emanuel Swedenborg. Swedenborg taught that the spirit of God and the spirits of people could not be separated; he united nature and spirituality. His philosophy also blurred boundaries between the living and the dead, the physical and the supernatural. Doing away with original sin, Swedenborg put the responsibility for salvation in the hands of people, a responsibility that appealed to reformers. Perhaps what attracted adherents most was Swedenborgianism’s synthesis of liberal religion and science. Giles [B.] Stebbins, [Sojourner] Truth’s friend from Northampton and one who would remain close for the rest of her life, said that “[m]odern spiritualism makes the future life real and near, binding it to this by the strong ties of eternal law and undying human love, and gives us a natural religion and a spiritual philosophy, rational, inspiring, and enlarging.” Stebbins also revealed a side of spiritualism akin to Truth’s pentecostalism. Spiritualism, he said, duplicated primitive Christianity in manifestations that pentecostals called the gifts of the Holy Spirit: healing through the laying on of hands, prophecy, and speaking in tongues. In a certain sense, spiritualism was comfortable for Truth, for the Holy Spirit had figured prominently in her religion —as in the religion of Quakers— for thirty years. But what characterized spiritualism was less its pentecostal strains than its Quaker pacifism. An optimistic and tolerant faith of individualism and autonomy, spiritualism turned its followers more toward the spirits of the dead than toward Jesus the savior; this was perfectionism in a way new to Sojourner Truth. American spiritualism’s leading intellectual, Andrew Jackson Davis, had his own brand of millennialism, 180 degrees from the baleful warnings of Father Miller and his followers. Millerites cried, “Wo! Wo! Wo!” and warned Americans to repent before it was too late. Davis’s “Harmonial Philosophy” predicted the end of the era of ignorance, superstition, fanaticism, and intolerance, and the dawning of a new and golden age. All sorts of slavery were dying, Davis said, for “spiritual intercourse” proved that “all men shall ultimately be joined into one Brotherhood, their interests shall be pure and reciprocal; their customs shall be just and harmonious; they shall be as one Body, animated by Universal Love and governed by pure Wisdom. Man’s future is glowing with a beautiful radiance.” Many spiritualists were intent on hearing from the dead. According to spiritualist authors such as Isaac Post and Andrew Jackson Davis, the dead inspired their writings.

Per reports in the San Francisco, California Daily Alta California:

INQUEST UPON THE BODY OF HENRY PERRIER. — In the absence of Coroner Kent, Justice Hanraham held an inquest, yesterday, upon the body of Henry Perrier, who committed suicide on Sunday afternoon, by shooting himself in the head with a pistol. The following jurors were sworn, viz: E. Fulton, A.J. Gambill, George Rees, Samuel Gardner, J. Guthrie, and D.G. Waldron. The evidence HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” before the Jury was as follows: John Moore, sworn — I have known the deceased since 1849; his name is Henry Perrier; he resided near North Beach; I last saw him alive yesterday morning at breakfast, at about nine o’clock; I believe that misfortune in business was the cause of him killing himself; his age is about 57 years; he was a native of Geneva, Switzerland. J. B. Pertniset, sworn — I reside in Bush street; I have known the deceased since 1851; he was a paper merchant on Clay street; I last saw him alone with Mr. Moore, at breakfast, yesterday morning; I thought him insane; he was married and has a wife and daughter living in this city. A. Tance, sworn — I have known the deceased for four years; saw him yesterday, at about one o’clock; he had the appearance of being insane when I saw him. Phillip McCann, sworn — Says, he was called to go after the body, and brought it to the Coroner’s office; he found it in a house near Black Point; he was lying beside the bed. Dr. A.F. Sawyer, who made the post mortem examination, presented his report (the same as published in the Alta of yesterday). The jury, after hearing the evidence of the witnesses, and the report of the physician, returned a verdict that deceased came to his death from the effects of a pistol shot wound received from a weapon in his own hand, the same being done with intent to take his own life, while laboring under temporary aberration of mind. We also find that deceased is a native of Geneva, Switzerland, aged 57 years. [Funeral.] INQUEST ON THE BODY OF AN UNKNOWN CHILD. Justice Hanraham held an inquest upon the body of the unknown male child, which was found half buried in the sand in a vacant lot corner of Pine and Leavenworth streets, on Friday morning last. There was no evidence before the jury to show how the child came to its death; the only evidence was as to the finding of the body. The jury returned a verdict that the deceased came to his death by the hands of some person or persons to the jurors unknown. FORWARDED. — John Hurley, who was convicted of murder in Sierra county, and sentenced to ten years in the State Prison, was conveyed to his new home yesterday, in charge of Sheriff Proctor, of Sierra. STABBING. — At Port Townsend, July 3d, a soldier named Regan stabbed a person named Chas. Fitch, who died of his wounds two days afterwards.

Per the Sacramento, California Daily Union: San Francisco, July 27 — 3½ P.M. Mr. Henry Perrier, a native of Switzerland, and 57 years of age, committed suicide yesterday afternoon, between three and four o’clock, by shooting himself in the head HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” with a pistol, at his residence, near the foot of Hyde street, North Beach. He came to this city from Australian in December, 1849, and for some time past, until recently, was engaged in the paper-hanging business, on Clay street, between Montgomery and Sansome streets. He failed in that business some two months since. Since his failure he had endeavored to make a living by teaching music. The loss of his property, consequent upon his failure, seems to have unsettled his mind, and driven him to the verge of insanity. His wife, who had been acting as nurse to a lady of her acquaintance, returned home yesterday, and found the furniture of the house in an unsettled condition. While she was engaged in putting things in proper order, she heard the report of a pistol, and on going to the room, she found him in the last agonies of death. He lived but a few minutes. A large-sized Colt’s Navy revolving pistol was lying by his side. The body was soon after conveyed to the Coroner’s office, and a post mortem examination was made, last night, by Dr. Sawyer, who reports that “the ball entered the hard palate in the median line, near its posterior margin; entered the cavity of the skull, traversed the brain backward and upwards, producing the most extensive fractures of the cranium, the most marked of which was the shattering of bone in the posterior part of the skull. At the parietal suture, about two inches above the articulation of the union of the occipital with the parietal bones.” An inquest was held.... The body of deceased was taken possession of and buried by the Swiss Consul.

July 28, Tuesday. As I remember, Hodge mistakes when he says [of Chamberlain Lake] that “it is erroneously represented on the charts, for it extends in a north-northeasterly, south-southwesterly direction about twelve miles.” He appears to be thinking of the easterly part.7 On the north side there is quite a clearing, and we had been advised to ascend the bare hill there for the sake of the prospect.... Great trunks of trees stood dead and bare far out in the lake, making the impression of ruined piers of a city that had been, while behind, the timber lay criss-a- cross for half a dozen rods or more over the water.... We were glad to find on this carry some raspberries, and a few of the Vaccinium Canadense berries, which had begun to be ripe here.

July 28, Tuesday, Morning: … When we awoke we found a heavy dew on our blankets. I lay awake very early, and listened to the clear, shrill ah-tette-tette-te, of the white-throated sparrow, repeated at short intervals, without the least variation, for half an hour, as if it could not enough express its happiness. Whether my companions heard it or not, I know not, but it was a kind of matins to me, and the event of that forenoon. EDWARD HOAR It was a pleasant sunrise, and we had a view of the mountains in the southeast. Ktaadn appeared about southeast by south. A double-topped mountain, about southeast by east, and another portion of the same, east-southeast. The last the Indian called Nerlumskeechticook, and said that it was at the head of the East Branch, and we should pass near it on our return that way. We did some more washing in the lake this morning, and with our clothes hung about on the dead trees and rocks, the shore looked like washing-day at home. The Indian, taking the hint, borrowed the soap, and walking 7. James Thacher Hodge’s SECOND ANNUAL REPORT ON THE GEOLOGY ... OF MAINE AND MASSACHUSETTS (Augusta, Maine: Severance, 1838). JAMES THACHER HODGE “Having determined to visit Moosehead Lake, before proceeding to the St. John waters, I continued up the west branch to the lower carry into that lake.... The upper carry is about eight miles above the lower, and between them are rapids and falls.” HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” into the lake, washed his only cotton shirt on his person, then put on his pants and let it dry on him. …

July 28, Tuesday, Mid-day: … We were now fairly on the Allegash River, which name our Indian said meant hemlock bark. These waters flow northward about 100 miles, at first very feebly, then southeasterly 250 more to the Bay of Fundy. After perhaps two miles of river, we entered Heron Lake, called on the map Pongokwahem, scaring up forty or fifty young shecorways, sheldrakes, at the entrance, which ran over the water with great rapidity, as usual in a long line.…

July 28, Tuesday, Late Afternoon: … We landed on the southeast side of the island, which was rather elevated, and densely wooded, with a rocky shore, in season for an early dinner. Somebody had camped there not long before, and left the frame on which they stretched a moose-hide, which our Indian criticised severely, thinking it showed but little woodcraft. Here were plenty of the shells of crayfish, or fresh-water lobsters, which had been washed ashore, such as have given a name to some ponds and streams. They are commonly four or five inches long. The Indian proceeded at once to cut a canoe-birch, slanted it up against another tree on the shore, tying it with a withe, and lay down to sleep in its shade.… We had for some time seen a thunder-shower coming up from the west over the woods of the island, and heard the muttering of the thunder, though we were in doubt whether it would reach us; but now the darkness rapidly increasing, and a fresh breeze rustling the forest, we hastily put up the plants which we had been drying, and with one consent made a rush for the tent material and set about pitching it. A place was selected and stakes and pins cut in the shortest possible time, and we were pinning it down lest it should be blown away, when the storm suddenly burst over us.…

July 28, Tuesday, Evening: … At length, just before sunset, we set out again. It was a wild evening when we coasted up the north side of this Apmoojenegamook Lake. One thunder-storm was just over, and the waves which it had raised still running with violence, and another storm was now seen coming up in the southwest, far over the lake; but it might be worse in the morning, and we wished to get as far as possible on our way up the lake while we might. … It was twilight, too, and that stormy cloud was advancing rapidly in our rear. It was a pleasant excitement, yet we were glad to reach, at length, in the dusk, the cleared shore of the Chamberlain Farm. We landed on a low and thinly wooded point there, and while my companions were pitching the tent, I ran up to the house to get some sugar, our six pounds being gone; — it was no wonder they were, for Polis had a sweet tooth. He would first fill his dipper nearly a third full of sugar, and then add the coffee to it. Here was a clearing extending back from the lake to a hill-top, with some dark-colored log buildings and a storehouse in it, and half a dozen men standing in front of the principal hut, greedy for news. Among them was the man who tended the dam on the Allegash and tossed the bullet. He having charge of the dams, and learning that we were going to Webster Stream the next day, told me that some of their men, who were haying at Telos Lake, had shut the dam at the canal there in order to catch trout, and if we wanted more water to take us through the canal we might raise the gate, for he would like to have it raised. The Chamberlain Farm is no doubt a cheerful opening in the woods, but such was the lateness of the hour that it has left but a dusky impression on my mind. As I have said, the influx of light merely is civilizing, yet I fancied that they walked about on Sundays in their clearing somewhat as in a prison-yard. … When I returned to the shore it was quite dark, but we had a rousing fire to warm and dry us by, and a snug apartment behind it. … Invariably our best nights were those when it rained, for then we were not troubled with mosquitoes.… Some who have leaky roofs in the towns may have been kept awake, but we were soon lulled asleep by a steady, soaking rain, which lasted all night. To-night, the rain not coming at once with violence, the twigs were soon dried by the reflected heat.

Tuesday July 28 [Transcript] THE ACTUAL JOURNAL When we awoke we found a heavy dew on our blankets — very early I heard [^from the woods] the clear shrill endlessly [in pencil:^& monotonously] repeated ah-te te, te te, te (?) of the [in pencil:^a] myrtle [in pencil:^which could {not enough express its happiness}] bird — [in pencil:^] monotonously repeated. It was a handsome sunrise & view of the lake with the mts S Easterly. The sun appeared about E by N. from camp — Ktaden a little more (E?) than SSE A double topped mt a little more than SE, another portion of the last E.S.E HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” This last P. called Nolumskeetcook (?) at head of E. Branch — [in pencil:^{Having} We greased our boots & shoes with the pork fat We did some washing in the lake this morning [in pencil:^{& with our clothes hung about on the dead trees & rocks the shore looked liked washing day}] & the Ind. {this may be a comma rather than a period} taking the hint — walked into the lake & borrowing the soap washed his only shirt on his person — then put on his pants & let it dry on his [^him] person He carried no change of clothing — but putting on a thick jacket [in pencil:^{which laid aside}{sized}] & seizing [in pencil:^{a full his axe, his}] his gun & ammunition & a blanket — (which would also do [in pencil:^{in the boat}] for a sail) [in pencil:^{& knapsack for his if wanted}] [in pencil:^{& strapping on his belt which contained a large knife in a sheath] he walked off — at once ready to be gone all summer. He needed no knap sack — but at the carry he made a large bundle of the cooking utensils &c. {&} in tying them up in his blanket — He wore a dirty cotton shirt — a greenish [in pencil:^but no waist coat] flannel one over it — [in pencil:^] strong flannel drawers — & strong ap. linen or duck pants which had been white — blue woolen stockings & cowhide boots & a Kossuth {THE MAINE WOODS 226} hat — only putting on his jacket [in pencil:^{I found that his outfit was the result of a}] when it rained. [in pencil:^{long} [in pencil:^{v p116} [in pencil:^{experience & was hardly to be im-}] [in pencil:^{proved on — in the maine. He carried &c}] Wanting a button here, he walked off to a place where some Indians had recently camped, & searched [in pencil:^{but I believe in vain} {a long pencil line seems to link this with page 284 of the holograph} [in pencil:^{with out clothes hung about the dead trees to dry}] for one. [in pencil:^{the shore looked like washing day}] The [^We] crossed the lake early lest the wind should increase — in a diagonal direction NW about 4 miles — to the outlet which was not to be discerned till we were close to it — The Ind. name Apmoojenegamook — is as translated Cross Lake. [^or crosswise — ] [in pencil:^{because the course is across it}] This is the largest of the Alleguash lakes & the first St. Johns’ water that we floated on — It is another Great lake shaped in the main like Chesuncook [^without mts or high hills very near it]. On the N side there is quite a clearing [in pencil:(& several houses buildings)] [in left margin:^2 &] we had been advised to ascend the bare hill in their rear [in pencil:^there] for the sake of the prospect. {Thoreau put a line in the left margin joining “there is quite a clearing” with “for the sake of the prospect”} [in left margin:^1] {Thoreau put a line in the left margin from this to the bottom of the page} As I remember, Hodge mistakes when he says that “it is erroneously represented on the charts, for it extends in a N.N.E. SSW direction about 12 miles”. He appears to be think- ing of the Easterly part. There are no mts or high hills very near it. THE ACTUAL JOURNAL THE ACTUAL JOURNAL [written vertically in pencil in the right margin:^{a few simple & effective tools & no India rubber clothing — He was always the first to be ready to start in the morning & if it had not held some of our property — he would not have troubled himself to roll up his blanket}] some Also a partic township several [^many] miles further over was indicated to us [^containing the highest land thereabout] where by climbing a particular tree we [^in] the forest we could get an idea of the country — After reaching the middle of the lake {THE MAINE WOODS 227} HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” we found the waves [in pencil:^as usual] pretty high & P. warned my companion who was nodding that he must not allow himself to fall asleep in EDWARD HOAR the canoe lest he should upset us. ad- ding that when Indians sleep want[in pencil:^{ed} to sleep [in pencil:^{lay}] in [in pencil:^a] canoe they lie down straight. But in [in pencil:^crowded one that was out of the question] this case there was not room enough. A belt of dead trees stood all around the lake & made the shore for the most part [in pencil:^almost] inaccessible — This was the effect of the dam{s} (at [in pencil:^({Telos} &)] [^the outlet] further down the Alleguash). We coasted along {Thoreau put a pencil line in the left margin from here through “over which the waves were breaking”} the N shore [^side], searching for the outlet, about 1/4 of a mile distant from this inhospitable [in pencil:^(or harborless)] savage looking shore — [^over which the waves were breaking {violently} {THE MAINE WOODS 227} knowing that it might {easily be concealed}] Great trunks of trees stood dead [in pencil:^amid this rubbish, or by the overlapping {THE MAINE WOODS 227} of the densely forested shore] & bare far out in the lake, making [in pencil:^{It is remarkable how little these important gates to a lake are blazoned — There is no triumphal {THE MAINE WOODS 227} arch over this inlet or the outlet — but at some undistinguished point it trickles out through the uninterrupted forest almost as if {THE MAINE WOODS 228} through a sponge}] the impression of [in pencil:^{of the}] ruined piers of a city that had been — while behind the timber {Thoreau here drew a pencil line in the left margin from “& bare far” through “is concealed”} lay {criss} across for half a dozen rods or more over the water — Thus the natural sandy or rocky shore with its green fringe is [in pencil:^was] concealed or [in pencil:^&] destroyed. We reached the outlet in about an [in pencil:^which is] hour & carried over the Dam — There [in pencil:^] — quite [in pencil:^&] a solid structure — About 1/4 of a mile further there was a 2d Dam [in pencil:^v p26{1}] — below which, though broad enough it being swift & shallow — [^]we walked about 1/2 mile — while the Indian ran down with [in pencil:^{ }] the canoe & baggage — (I made it a rule [in pencil:^(however)] always to carry my knapsack when I walked myself — & also to keep it tied to a cross bar when it [^in] the boat that it might be found with the canoe if we upset) — We were glad to find on this walk [^carry] some rasp- berries — & a few of the vac. Canadense berries which had just begun to be [in pencil:^Heard the Dogday locust here {& afterward on carries}({as in} settled countries) — {about which I had associated {with more open countries}] ripe here. {Here Thoreau wrote in pencil, “if not” over “open” and “only” under “with”} We were now fairly in the Alleguash River — which name P. said meant Hem- lock Bark. [in pencil:^These waters flow northward {about 100 miles at}] [in pencil:^{first very feebly — then SEerly 250 more to the Bay of Fundey}] After about 2 miles of River we entered [^perhaps another large lake] Heron Lake, called on the map Pongokwahem — scaring up 40 or 50 young shecorways [in pencil:^at the entrance] which ran over the water with great rapidity, as usual in a long line — We saw a dark mt N.E. {Thoreau drew a pencil line in the left margin around the text below from “over the lake — not very far off nor high” through “same ragged & unsightly condition”} over the lake — not very far off nor high — which HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” P. [^said was] called Peaked mt & used by explorers to look for timber from — [in pencil:^there was] also some other high land more E — The shores were in the same ragged & unsightly condition [in pencil:^(desolate and inaccessible timber)] in cumbered with dead trees — both & for the same {reason}. fallen [in pencil:^owing to the dam on the Alleguash] and standing, as in the last lake [^{below}]. Some low points or islands were about drowned — {Thoreau put a pencil line in the left margin connecting this point with the following two lines.} This was another Great Lake — [^[in pencil:^lying running NW] [in pencil:^&] SE like Chesuncook] [in pencil:^& most of the long lake {thereabouts}[^] judging from the map some 10 miles long. [in pencil:^We had entered it on the SW side] THE ACTUAL JOURNAL THE ACTUAL JOURNAL I saw something white a mile off on the water — which turned out to be a great gull on a rock in the middle — which P. would have been glad to kill & eat but I asking about herons — since this was Heron Lake — P. [in pencil:^he] said he found the blue heron he flew away long before we arrived — There nests in hard-wood trees [in pencil:^were { }] were summer ducks [in pencil:^shecorways] about the rock also. I thought [in pencil:^that] I saw some thing [in pencil:^a light colored {object}] move on [in pencil:^{along}] the opposite shore 4 or 5 miles distant [in pencil:^] — where- [in pencil:^that it could be a moose though he never ^ {saw a white one} upon P. said [in pencil:^{but}] he could see a moose [in pencil:^there] “any where on shore [^clear] across the lake”{.}!! Rounding a point we stood across a [in pencil:^{bay a}] mile & a half or 2 miles to a large island [^3 or 4 miles down the lake]. We [in pencil:^{On Moosehead I had seen a large Devils needle half a mile from the shore}] [in pencil:^{met with}] met with ephemerae [in pencil:^{over this bay}] mid-way [in pencil:^{a mile from the shore}] — & they evi- [in pencil:^{headed toward the land where the lake was 3 or 4 miles wide at least — It had probably crossed}] dently fly over the whole lake. We landed on the [^SE side of the] island [^Island] — which was rather elevated & densely wooded — with a rocky shore — in season for an early dinner — Some body had camped there not long before — & left the frame on which a moose hide had been [in pencil:^{The construction of which P criticised severely thinking it showed}] stretched. [in pencil:^{but little woodcraft}] I saw here the broken shell of a fresh water lobster ap. 4 or 5 inches long — which had been [in pencil:^Polis {cut a birch & set it up on the shore for shade — & under this}] washed ashore. [in pencil:^{he sat or rather lay — catching a nap as usual}] Before engaging [in pencil:^(the Indian)] [in pencil:^{Polis}]we had talked of descending the Alleguash & returning [in pencil:^to Bangor] by way of the St. John — but had finally decided [in pencil:^{that after a short excursion to the Alleguash lakes which are near here we would}] to return by the E. branch of the [in pencil:^perhaps] Penobscot — & ascend Ktadn on the way — [in pencil:^(after a short excursion in this direction. [in pencil:^When we were on] At the Caucomgomoc the Indian [in pencil:^{the very}] recommended [in pencil:^to us] a new way — home — which was in fact the one [in pencil:^which] we had first thought off [in pencil:^{i.e. by} the St Johns] — He even said it was easier — & would take but little more time though very much further [in pencil:^round] HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” — & taking the map — he showed where we should be each night — & that when we got at the [in pencil:^{the banks would be settled all the way}] {Thoreau drew a pencil line in the left margin from “main St Johns” down the “the Mattawamskeag — & save a roundabout”} main St Johns [in pencil:^{more or less}] there would be but one or 2 falls or short carrying places — & we should go down the stream 100 miles a day — if the wind allowed it — & he indicated where we [in pencil:^{though only about 160 the other — but in the former case}] should carry over into Eel river{,} to save a [in pencil:^{It would be about 360 miles to Bangor this way[^] — & we should explore the}] bend {THE MAINE WOODS 232}, below Woodstock{,} [in pencil:^{in New Brunswick}] & so into the Schoodic {THE MAINE WOODS 232} Lake & then[{^ce}] into the Mattawamkeag [in pencil:^{St John from its source almost}] [in pencil:^{& we were again much tempted to go that way}] I thought it would be better to take the stage from Woodstock to Haynesville — or the Mattawamskeag — & save a roundabout {Thoreau underlined the following material in pencil up to “carries,” then his pencil goes above for the remainder of the line.} course & many carries — He said we {that we} [in pencil:^{ac. to that calculation}] should reach the French Settlements next day — [in pencil:^1] [in pencil:^{after this}]by keeping down the Allegash. When I asked him [in pencil:^{the Indian}] which course would take us through the wildest country — he said [in pencil:^(the one we had last decided on)] [in pencil:^{the route}] — ie. [in pencil:^{ }] by the E. Branch. Partly from this consideration as well as its shortness — we resolved {THE MAINE WOODS 233 (?)} to adhere [in pencil:^latter] {THE MAINE WOODS 233} to this [in pencil:^the] route — & make this island the limit [in pencil:^{We had now}] of our excursion in this direction — having seen [in pencil:^{¶}] the largest of the Alleguash lakes — The next dam [in pencil:^(as we were [in pencil:^{afterward}] told by the man who [in pencil:^{we had heard in Bangor of a Hermit} [in pencil:^(v p 219)] tended it,)] “way about 15 miles” further N. down [in pencil:^v p124] the Alleguash — & it was dead water so far [in pencil:^{The dam}] This island ac. to the map was about 110 miles from [in pencil:^{vnp}] Bangor NNW — & somewhat nearer [in pencil:^(E by S)] to Quebec {Thoreau inserted a caret after “Quebec,” that connects to both “we had...Hermit” and “v p124”.} In the meanwhile the wind increasing created such a sea, that we found our- THE ACTUAL JOURNAL THE ACTUAL JOURNAL selves prisoners on this island — [in pencil:^{for the nearest shore which was the western may have been a mile distant}] & took the canoe out to prevent its drifting away. I found growing on the rocky & gravelly shore, bare for half a dozen [^3 or 4] rods in width — — the Salix rostratra — discolor — & lucida Ranunculus recurvatus — Potentilla norvegica Scutellaria lateriflora — Eupatorium purpureum — Aster Tradescanti — Mentha Canadensis — {The following two lines are connected by pencil in the left margin and labeled “2”} (Betula papyracea — & excelsa — Populus tremu- loides — &c the nearest woods.) Epilobium angusti- {The following group of lines, down to “Rumex acetosella,” is connected by a pencil line in the left margin and HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” labeled “1”} folium abundant — Woolgrass — Lycopus sin- uatus — Solidago lanceolata — Spiraea salicifolia Antennaria margariticea — Prunella — Rumex acetosella — Onoclea & fruit — Raspberries &{c} [in pencil:^{[ ] of}] The shore westward was quite rocky & stoney with some pudding stone rock also [in pencil:^{on it}] [in pencil:^{& this was}] & [in pencil:^{was}] obstructed with fallen bleached or drifted

[in left margin:^3]] trees for 4 or 5 rods in width. {This paragraph is lined in pencil.}There was another island — visible toward the N end of the lake — with a [in pencil:^{elevated} high] clearing on it — [in pencil:^{the only one hereabouts in sight}] but we learned afterward that it was not inhabited [in left margin:^1] only[in pencil:^{had been}] used as a pasture [in pencil:^{for cattle which had wintered [in pencil:^{summered}] in these parts}] — but that there was a house on the mainland near the [in pencil:^(N end)] of the lake. [in pencil:^v p124] P. said that he could tell me some medi- cinal use for every plant I could show him. The inner {THE MAINE WOODS 235} bark of the aspen [in pencil:^{P. tremuloides}] is good for sore eyes — the roots of canoe birch for one’s water — & showing him the fruit of the onoclea — he said it was good for “lates” in women. {Thoreau drew a pencil line in the left margin joining the following two lines, and labeled this material “3”} We saw a thunder shower coming up from the west over the woods of the island — which [^when [in pencil:^{just as}] as we were [^had] hastily putting up our & even pitching [in pencil:^{pinning down}] our tent [in pencil:^{lest it should be}] plants which we had been drying suddenly [in pencil:^{blown away}] burst on us — It was accor As we lay huddled together under the tent which leaked considerably [in pencil:^(about the edges)] — we listened to some of the grandest thunder I ever heard — rapid {^round & plump} {THE MAINE WOODS 237, circled and connected to caret} peals [in pencil:^in successive] — like bang bang bang [in pencil:^] — like artillery in The [^as from a fortress in the sky] & the lightning was proportionately bright. The Ind. said “It must {THE MAINE WOODS 237} be good powder” — All for the benefit of the moose & us echoing far over the concealed lakes. I thought it must be a place which the thunder loved — [in pencil:^{when the lightening [ ] practised to keep its head in, since}] where it would do no harm to shatter a few pines. [in pencil:^(I perceived that)] this [^This] violent shower by its mere physical force falling on the lake had al- [in pencil:^as if] most instantaneously flatted down the waves — the commander of that same fortress had settled the waves for us so — & It clearing up we re- solved to start immediately before the wind raised {The pencil-line portion labeled “3” on previous page ends here.} them again — {Thoreau drew a pencil line in the left margin, through the end of the page and half the following page, and labeled this material “1”} He had cut a birch & set it up on the shore for shade — under which he sat or rather lay — for he embraced every such opportunity to sleep [in pencil:^{v} 137] — He said that [in pencil:^{the Caribou was a “very good runner” that} there were no {ne}] Caribou there now — though [in the left margin:^1] there used to be many — & pointed [^pointing] to the belt HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” of dead trees caused by the dams — he added — “no likum stump — when he sees that, he scared.” said he was a “very great runner” — Pointing S easterly over the lake & distant THE ACTUAL JOURNAL THE ACTUAL JOURNAL forest — he said — “Me go Old town [in pencil:^{go straight} [in pencil:^{I asked} [in pencil:^{he would}] But how get along over the swamps & fallen trees. [in pencil:^{said he}] “Oh in winter go any where — on snow-shoes — in 3 days" [in pencil:^] — i.e in winter when he [in pencil:^{right}] right across lakes [in pencil:^{across lake}] can go in any direction over the frozen lakes & through the forest on snow- There is a road {where} the Eagle Lake stood shoes — The fallen timber being [in pencil:^{in them}] covered — When from the Seboois to the E. side of the Lake — It may seem strange that I asked how he went he said — “1st I any road through such a wilderness should be passable even in winter when the go Kadn — W side — then I go Millinoket — snow is 3 or 4 feet deep — but at that season wherever lumbering operations [in pencil:^{over the single road & it becomes almost as smooth as a rail way}] then Pammadumcook — then Nickertou — are actively carried or teams are continually passing — & I then Lincoln — then Oldtown — or else was told that in the Aroostook country the sleds were required by he went a shorter way by the Piscataquis. law to be of one width (4 feet) Sleighs must be altered to fit to the What a wilderness walk for a man to track — so that one runner may go in one rut — & the other follow take alone — without hotels — only a dark the horse. Yet it is very bad turning out — Yet in the winter mt or lake for your guide board & station — track or road may be almost as smooth {The Maine Woods 236} as a railway. {the end of the pencil-line portion labeled “1” from the previous page} over ground well nigh impassable [in pencil:^v p 125 v P Harris {observed &c forward} 2 ps]] — in summer Going outside I said that I saw clouds still in the S.W. & we heard thunder there — He [in pencil:^{The Ind.}] asked me if the thunder went [in pencil:^{lound}] [in pencil:^(round)] — saying that if it did we should have more rain — [in pencil:^{I thought it did}] But we embarked never the-less. We paddled rapidly back toward the dams — The myrtle birds on the shore sang, ah, te.e.e te.e.e te- or else ah, te.e.e te.e.e te.e.e te.e.e [in pencil:^v 2ps forward] {Thoreau placed a line in the left margin connecting the following set of three lines.} As we were riding by Deac. Farrars lately — E. Hoar told me in answer to my questions, that both the young Mr Farrars, who had now come to Man’s estate, were excellent young men — (their father an old man of about 70 still once cut & corded 7 cords of wood in one day — & still [Thoreau penciled this vertically in the left margin:^{none of your half mile swamps — none of your mile wide woods merely as on the skirts of our towns}] cut a double swath at haying time — & was a man of great probity —) & to show the {communal} purity of one of them at least — he said — that his brother {Frisby} who had formerly lived there — inquiring what HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” had become of a certain hired man whom he used to know — Young Mr. Farrar told him that he was gone — “that the truth was he one day let drop a prophane word — & after that he thought that he could not have him about — & so he got rid of him.” It was as if he had dropt some filthy thing on the premises — an intolerable nuisance only to be abated by removing the source of it — I should like to hear as good news of the N.E. Farmers generally — It to some extent accounts for the vigor of the father — & the successful farming of the sons. I read the other day in the Tribune that a man ap. about 70 & smart at that went to the police in NY & asked for a lodging — having been left by the cars or steamboat [^when on his way to Connecticut] — When they asked his age native place &c he said [^his name was] he was McDonald born in Scotland in 1745 — came to Plymouth Mass. in 1760 — was in some battles in the revolution — in which he lost an Had a son 80 odd years old &c eye &c {there is at this point either a blotch on the page, or, indecipherable sticken material} but seeing a reporter taking notes he was silent. Since then I heard THE ACTUAL JOURNAL THE ACTUAL JOURNAL that an old man named McDonald 112 yrs old had the day before passed through Concord — & was walking {!} to Lexington — & I said at once he must be a humbug. When I went to the P. O. tonight [^(Aug. 28)] G. Brooks asked me if I saw him — & said that he heard that he told a correct story except he said that he remembered Braddocks’ defeat! He had noticed that Dr Heywoods old house, the tavern, was gone since he was here [^in] the revolu- tion. Just then Davis the Pm asked us to look at a letter he had received. It was from a Dr. Curtis of Newton asking if this McDonald belonged about Concord as he said — & saying that his story appeared to be a correct one. Davis had never heard of him — & as we presumed him to be a humbug we advised Davis to write accordingly — But I after- ward remembered reading nearly a year ago of a man of this name [^& age] in St Louis who said that he had married a wife in Concord before the revolution — & then began to think that his story might be all true. So it seems that a veteran of 112 after an absence of 87 years may come back — to the town where he married his wife in order to hunt up his relatives — & not only have no success but be pronounced a humbug.!! {Thoreau drew a large right parenthesis between the end of “success” in the previous line and the end of this line.} [in pencil:^{Polis had evidently much more curiosity respecting the few settlers in these woods than we — If nothing was said he took it for granted}] P. having observed that we came by the HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” [in pencil:^{that we wanted to go} [in pencil:^{to the next log hut}] Log huts at Chesuncook — & the Blind [in pencil:^{straight}] Canadians at the Mud Pond carry ({—}close to the door of the last) with{out}] stopping or [in pencil:^{to}] com- municating with the inhabitants — [in pencil:^{took occasion} to suggest here] said that the usual way now when you come near a house to go to it — & tell them what you had seen or heard & then they tell you what they [in pencil:^had] knew [in pencil:^{heard}] [in pencil:^{seen}]— but we laughed & told said that we had enough of houses for the present [in pencil:^{that I was more of an Indian than he was}] & came here partly to avoid them. [in pencil:^] He had evidently much more curiosity about them than we. [in pencil:^v {back} 5 ps] We had soon returned to the Dam at the outlet of Chamberlain Lake — but were then overtaken by a thunder {nother} gusty rain- storm — [^so we concluded that the thunder must have gone {round}] which compelled us to get under the This edge of the dam & [in pencil:^{& under}] the canoe — for shelter — It also raised a great sea on the lake so that [in pencil:^{We feared we should be obliged to camp there to catch some}] we got an early supper on the dam [^& tried for fish there] {THE MAINE WOODS, page 238} waiting for the waves to go down — The fishes were scarce & worthless {THE MAINE WOODS, page 238} & P said declared that there were no good fish in the St John’s water — must wait till we get to Penobscot water At length just before sunset we set out [in pencil:^{v p238}] — though the water was [in pencil:^{very}] rough — wishing to get over [^as] far [in pencil:^{as possible}] up the lake this night while we could, lest the wind should be too high [in pencil:^{still stronger}]the next day. We coasted down that desolate & harborless shore on the N side were the waves were breaking over the fallen & standing dead timber THE ACTUAL JOURNAL THE ACTUAL JOURNAL on our left, & not long where we could hardly have got ashore if we would — & landed on a point at the Chamber- lain Farm. While my companions were pitching the camp [in pencil:^{tent}] I ran up to the house & as [^to] get some sugar — our 6 pounds [in pencil:^P’s sweet tooth {p116} being gone {A line connected to penciled text in the margin begins here.} — [in pencil:^{Here was a clearing extending &c v p124}] They were unwilling to spare more than 4 lbs — since they only kept a little for such cases as this — & charged 20 cts a pound for it — which I thought [in pencil:^{certainly}] it was worth to get it up there — They unlocked a [in pencil:^{the}] store [in pencil:^to get] house for it. I saw there the man [^the hermit] who tended the Dam on the Alleguash some 15 miles below where we had been — & was said to spend his time tossing a bullet from one hand to the other. [in pencil:^(This man)] [in pencil:^{He}]having charge of the dam, [in pencil:^{& learning that we were going to Webster stream the next day}] told us some men who were [in pencil:^{me} [in pencil:^{that}] haying at Telos Lake — had shut the dam there at the canal there in order to catch trout — & if we wanted more water to get through the canal we might raise it — HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” for he would like to have it raised. There were several men standing about [in pencil:^here] the door there evidently ready to hear more news than I brought. [in pencil:^{v p124}] When I got back it was dark — but we had a rousing fire to warm & dry us [in pencil:^{& a snug apartment before us}] & {for} light — and while another shower was beginning I groped about cutting spruce & arbor vitae twigs for our bed. I preferred the arbor vitae on [in pencil vertically in the left margin:^{It was strange they were — for the Ind. had a}] ac. of its fragrance — The Ind. went up to the house to inquire after a brother who had been absent a long time. [in pencil:^p. 118] The {twigs} were It rained soaking very wet — but the[in pencil:^{y were}] [in pencil:^{soon dried by} {we}] heat of the fire reflected from the tent on [in pencil:^{were lulled to sleep by a steady soaking rain, which banished mosquitoes, &}] to them dried them very quick. [in pencil:^] It rained [in pencil:^{wanted no better house for the night Our best nights were those}] soakingly in the night — but we slept [in pencil:^{such} [in pencil:^{when it rained the hardest}] soundly — & these were the best nights we had since the rain kept down the [in pencil:^p 116 You soon {&c}] mosquitoes &c — &c lulled us asleep. [in pencil:^] The Indians boots — which stood under the eaves were half full of water in the morning. THE ACTUAL JOURNAL

July 29, Wednesday: According to a chronology published in 1858, Henry G. Langley’s THE SAN FRANCISCO DIRECTORY; CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY OF PRINCIPAL EVENTS, when John Bigler, US Minister to Chile, departed from that port for Valparaiso, he was accompanied outside of the Heads by a large party of his friends.

A filing: To all whom it may concern, be it known that I, John Austin of Washington County in the District of Columbia, for divers good causes and considerations me thereunto moving and also in further consideration of five dollars (illegible) money to me in hand paid, have released from slavery, liberated and set free my negro man named Charles Shiles being of the age of thirty- three (33) years and able to work and gain a sufficient livelihood and maintenance, and him the said negro man named Charles Shiles I do declare to be henceforth free, manumitted and discharged from all manner of servitude or service to me, my executors or administrators forever. In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand & affixed my seal this twenty second day of July in the year one thousand eight hundred & fifty seven. John Austin Signed, sealed and delivered in presence of G. B. Barnard, Henry Reeves HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” District of Columbia, Washington County, to wit: On this 29th day of July 1857 personally appeared John Austin, party to the above instrument of writing, before me the subscriber a Justice of the Peace in & for said County and acknowledged the same to be his act & deed for the purposes within mentioned and the said Negro man within named to be henceforth manumitted & discharged from all services to him or to any claiming under him and to be free and manumitted according to the act of assembly in such case made & provided. Acknowledged before me Henry ?Beaver, J. Peace8

July 29, Wednesday, Morning: … When we awoke it had done raining, though it was still cloudy. The JOE POLIS fire was put out, and the Indian’s boots, which stood under the eaves of the tent, were half full of water. He was much more improvident in such respects than either of us, and he had to thank us for keeping his powder dry. We decided to cross the lake at once, before breakfast, or while we could …

July 29, Wednesday, Noon: … We got our dinner on the shore, on the upper side of the dam. As we were sitting by our fire, concealed by the earth bank of the dam, a long line of sheldrake, half grown, came waddling over it from the water below, passing within about a rod of us, so that we could almost have caught them in our hands.… to my surprise, when I rounded the precipice, though the shore was bare of trees, not of rocks, for a quarter of a mile at least, my companion was not to be seen. It was as if he had sunk into the earth. This was the more unaccountable to me, because I knew that his feet were since our swamp walk very sore, and EDWARD HOAR that he wished to keep with the party; and besides this was very bad walking, climbing over or about the rocks. I hastened along, hallooing and searching for him, thinking he might be concealed behind a rock, yet doubting JOE POLIS if he had not taken the other side of the precipice, but the Indian had got along still faster in his canoe, till he was arrested by the falls, about a quarter of a mile below. He then landed, and said that we could go no farther that night. The sun was setting, and on account of falls and rapids we should be obliged to leave this river and carry a good way into another farther east. The first thing then was to find my companion, for I was now very much alarmed about him, and I sent the Indian along the shore down stream, which began to be covered with unburnt wood again just below the falls, while I searched backward about the precipice which we had passed. The Indian showed some unwillingness to exert himself, complaining that he was very tired, in consequence of his day’s work, that it had strained him very much getting down so many rapids alone; but he went off calling somewhat like an owl. I remembered that my companion was near-sighted, and I feared that he had either fallen from the precipice, or fainted and sunk down amid the rocks beneath it. I shouted and searched above and below this precipice in the twilight till I could not see, expecting nothing less than to find his body beneath it. For half an hour I anticipated and believed only the worst. I thought what I should do the next day, if I did not find him, what I could do in such a wilderness, and how his relatives would feel, if I should return without him. I felt that if he were really lost away from the river there, it would be a desperate undertaking to find him; and where were they who could help you? What would it be to raise the country, where there were only two or three camps, twenty or thirty miles apart, and no road, and perhaps nobody at home? Yet we must try the harder, the less the prospect of success. …

July 29, Wednesday, Evening: … It was the most wild and desolate region we had camped in, where, if anywhere, one might expect to meet with befitting inhabitants, but I heard only the squeak of a night-hawk flitting over. The moon in her first quarter, in the fore part of the night, setting over the bare rocky hills, garnished with tall, charred, and hollow stumps or shells of trees, served to reveal the desolation.

I am interested in an indistinct prospect, a distant view, a mere suggestion often, revealing an almost wholly new world to me. I rejoice to get, and am apt to present, a new view. But I find it impossible to present my view to most people. In effect, it would seem that they do not wish to take a new view in any case. Heat lightning flashes, which reveal a distant horizon to our twilight eyes. But my fellows simply assert that it is not broad day, which everybody knows, and fail to perceive the phenomenon at all. I am willing to pass for a fool in my own desperate, perhaps foolish, efforts to persuade them to lift the veil from off the possible and future, which they hold down with both their hands, before their eyes. The most valuable communication or news 8. RECORDS OF THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA RELATING TO SLAVES, 1851-1863. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M433, Roll #3: “Manumission Papers, 1857-1863.”) HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” consists of hints and suggestions. When a truth comes to be known and accepted, it begins to be bad taste to repeat it. Every individual constitution is a probe employed in a new direction, and a wise man will attend to each one's report.

Wednesday July 29th [Transcript] THE ACTUAL JOURNAL When we awoke the fire was put out & the Ind. boots which stood under the eaves of the tent were half full of water — [in pencil:^(Since it was left to me, I)] [in pencil:^{we}]decided to cross the lake early before breakfast, while we could [in pencil:^(or before the wind should rise —)] [in pencil:^Before {starting}] I had taken [^took] the bearing {THE MAINE WOODS 241} of the shore [in pencil:^{which}] we wished [in pencil:^{4}] to strike (S.S.E. about 3 miles distant [^before starting] lest [in pencil:^{it} [in pencil:^{when we were}] sudden [in pencil:^{misty}] {rain} or fog should conceal it in the morn [in pencil:^{midway — }] [in pencil:^{When you get out on to one of these lakes in a canoe, you are completely at}] [in pencil:^{the mercy of the winds, & a fickle power it is}] ing. We saw a few shecorways & a [in pencil:^{& so after much padd steady paddling & dancing over the dark waves of Apmoojene}] [in pencil:^{gamoosh — we found ourselves in the neighborhood of the southern land again — & heard}] fish hawk [in pencil:^] — Polis was looking about at [in pencil:^{ridges from time to time} [in pencil:^{the waves breaking on it}] {Thoreau began a pencil line in the left margin around “the hardwood hill with a view to purchasing —” down to the line beginning “there —,” and numbered this “2”} the hardwood hill with a view to purchasing — 4%2% He [in pencil:^{said that he}] wants to own a few hundred acres up there — [in pencil:^v p {239}] Coasting along the S shore [in pencil:^{&c}] a {Thoreau placed a pencil line in the left margin from “mile or 2” to “we had comparatively” on the following page, and numbered this “1”}: mile or 2 we [in pencil:^{at length}] breakfasted on a rocky point — the first convenient place [in pencil:^{that offered}] — THE ACTUAL JOURNAL THE ACTUAL JOURNAL We thought ourselves lucky to have crossed thus early — for the waves ran quite high now — but beyond this point we had comparatively smooth water — Leaving a spacious bay or [in pencil:^NE] prolongation of Chamberlain Lake on our left — we entered through a short straight into a small lake [^a couple of miles over] {THE MAINE WOODS, page 242} what is called in the map Lake Telasinis for which [in pencil:^{but}] P. had no distinct name [in pencil:^{for it}] — & then into Telos Lake — which P. [in pencil:^he] called [in pencil:^{This curved round to the NE. & may have been 3 or 4 miles as long}] Paytaywecongomec i.e. Burnt Ground Lake. [in pencil:^{as we paddled}] [in margin:^He had not been here since 1825] He did not know what Telos meant — thought it not Indian — and as this lake [in pencil:^{was}] was the head of the St Johns in this direction we wondered if it were not the Greek word Télos or end applied by some learned traveller^ — The Ind. said Spoke-logan [in pencil:^{(for & inlet in the shore — which led nowhere)}] & when I asked its meaning said there was “no Indian in ‘em.” There was a clearing with a house & barn [^& another [in pencil:^{small}] building] on the S. W. shore — [in pencil:^{temporarily}] occupied by some men who were HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” getting the hay — [in pencil:^It looked solitary enough cleared] also a small clearing or pasture on a hill on the W. side — [in pencil:^{of the lake}] We landed on a{t} point on the NE side to look at some Red [in pencil:^{commonly called Norway}] pines (P. resinosa) [in pencil:^The first we had noticed] {THE MAINE WOODS 243} & get some cones Here we also found a few vac. Canadense [in pencil:^{Canada blue}] berries — & raspberries [in pencil:^{ripe}] The outlet from this lake into the E. branch is an artificial one — a canal some 3/4 of a mile long — it being higher than Webster pond which is the source of the E. Branch on this side. [^{it}] It was not very apparent where [in pencil:^(the canal)] was, but the lake ran far up N. Easterly into 2 narrow vallies {THE MAINE WOODS 243} or ravines as if it had for a long time been groping its way toward the Penobscot waters — or remembered when it anciently flowed [in pencil:^{observing where the horizon was lowest}] [in pencil:^{Having come}] that way — & by following the longest of these we found the canal [in pencil:^{at length}] [in pencil:^{reached the dam}]. We had come about a dozen miles this Am. [in pencil:^{from our last camp}] [in pencil:^{There was}] [in pencil:^{We were surprised to see here an anchor on the bank}] Here was a dam where the hay makers had [in pencil:^{&}] left a line set for trout [in pencil:^{& the jackknife which had cut the bait on the clam beside it}] — [in pencil:^{These were the only traces we saw of them} The canal was a considerable & very rapid & rocky river — Here was a deserted Log hut — & herds grass up to our middle [in pencil:^{about it}] which would [in pencil:^{apparently}] not be cut for want of a market. We met here a solitary hunter — a small man, with [in pencil:^{where you could catch as many trout as you wanted}] canoe & gun & traps — who appeared have been cook baking some bread [in pencil:^v p{137}]. He said that [^it was 20 miles [in pencil:^{further on our route}] to the foot of Grand Lake &] the fu next house [in pencil:^{& that} (on our route)] was Hunts on the E. Branch [^about] 45 miles distant — though there was [in pencil:^(a house)] [in pencil:^{one}] about 1 1/2 miles up Trout stream — some 15 miles ahead — but [in pencil:^{It turned out that}] it was [in pencil:^(rather)] a blind route to it — Though going down [in pencil:^{the}] stream [in pencil:^{was in our favor}] we did not reach Hunts [in pencil:^{the next house}] till the morning of the 3d day after this — & the 1st regularly inhabited house [in pencil:^{behind us}] was now a dozen miles [in pencil:^{distant}] [in pencil:^{So that the interval bet the 2 nearest houses on our route was about 60 miles}] behind us — This hunter then must have a solitary time with his gun & canoe. [in pencil:^{The [^This] canal was a considerable & very rapid &}] Thoreau put a pencil line in the left margin next to this paragraph, that continues on the following manuscript page.] We were surprised to see here an anchor [in pencil:^{rocky river}] on the bank. P. decided that there was [in left margin:^2] quite water enough in the canal — & that THE ACTUAL JOURNAL THE ACTUAL JOURNAL he would run down it alone, while we our provision being about half consumed {THE MAINE WOODS 247} there was the less carried the greater part of the baggage HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” left in the canoe — We had thrown away the pork keg & wrapt its contents in birch bark — It had the appearance of a very rapid mt stream flowing through a ravine — & you would not [in pencil:^(have)] suspected that any digging had been required to persuade the waters of the St Johns to flow into the {Moldenhauer noted that this was the end of a pencil-line section, the remainder of the paragraph being bracketed in pencil and labeled “1”} Penobscot here{.} [in pencil:^It is {stated} & v{s}] I noticed there Aralia racemosa — & A. macrophyllus in bloom with bluish rays — & very [in pencil:^{quite}]fragrant (!) like some medicinal herb, so that I doubted at first if it were that. For the first time [in pencil:^{also}] we found raspberries really plenty — as if they flourished only on the Penobscot waters. {Moldenhauer notes that a new pencil-line-marked section begins here, and is labeled “2”} A very few years before my 1st visit to the Maine woods the waters of the St Johns were here conhnected with those of the Penobscot i.e. Telos lake was made to flow into Webster creak one of the sources of the E. Branch of the Penobscot — by cutting a short canal ap. only a few rods in length — & damming the outlet of Chamberlain Lake. The whole distance from Telos lake the head [in pencil:^v. {Springer}] of the Alleguash — to Webster Pond the head of the E. branch on this side is some 3/4 of a mile — & they are connected by a ravine in which {but} little digging could have been required — Since then the lumber of the upper Alleguash & its lakes has been run down the Penobscot. — i.e. up the Alleguash which here consists principally of a chain of large & stagnant lakes whose thorough-fares or river links have been made equally stagnant by damming. [in pencil:^{the}] [in pencil:^The rush of [in pencil:^] water has produced & then down the Penobscot —% such changes in {this canal that it} [in pencil:^{has now &c vbp}] We reached the head of Webster Pond about yes yes the same time with Polis [in pencil:^{him} our route being the The Ind. name of most direct. The Pond is called Webster Stream. [in pencil:^2] — of which this pond is the source — is, ac to Polis, Madunkehunk — of the Pond Madunke- hunk gamooc — i.e. Height of Land Pond [in pencil:^it was about 3 [^{2 or 3}] ms long.] [^{we passed a pine which had been splintered by lightening perhaps the day before}] {Moldenhauer noted that the left margin pencil line labeled “2” ends here, while the left margin pencil line labeled “1” begins here and continues through the remainder of the page.} It is wonderful how well watered this country is — As you paddle across a lake — bays will be pointed out to you — by following up which & [^perhaps] the tributary stream which empties in — you may [in pencil:^(by making)] [in pencil:^after] a short portage — or possibly at some seasons none at all — you may get into a nother river which empties far away from the one you are upon — Generally you may [in pencil:^1]go in any direction in a canoe — by making frequent but not very long portages — You are only realizing {THE MAINE WOODS 246} once more what all nature distinctly remembers here — for no doubt the waters flowed thus in a former geological HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” period — & instead of being a lake country — it was an archipelago. [in pencil:^{It would seem as if}] The youthful str & impressible streams can [in pencil:^{could}] hardly resist the numerous invitations & temptations to leave THE ACTUAL JOURNAL THE ACTUAL JOURNAL their native beds & run down their neighbors’ channels — Your carries are often on half submerged ground or the dry channels of a former [in pencil, but penciled out:^(Geological)] period. In carry- ing from one river to another — I did not go over such high & rocky ground — as in going about the falls of the source river — For in the former case I was once lost in a swamp — & again found an artificial canal which appeared to be natural. I remember once dreaming — (I forget whether before or after my 1st visit to Maine) of pushing a canoe up the rivers of Maine — & that when I had got so high that the channels were dry I kept on nearly as well [in pencil:^as before] through the ravines & gorges — only exerting a little [in pencil:^{it seemed to me} my more strength with my pole — & now dream was partially realized. vs. THE ACTUAL JOURNAL

{The following material is on the recto of a leaf waxed onto the holographic page. Thoreau intended by the notation “vs.” above that the material was to be inserted at this point.}

Where ever there is a channel for water — there is a road for the canoe — If it is true, that some western steamers can run on a heavy dew — (they [^the] told pilot told me at Old-town [in pencil:^in ‘54] that the steamer which runs [in pencil:^ran] thence up the Penob. drew (I think) only 14 inches — ) [in pencil:^& could move easily in 2 feet of water though they did not like to] then a canoe can fly. Montresor who was sent [^from Quebec] by the English about 1760 to explore the route to the Kennebec — over which Arnold afterward passed — supplied the Penobscot near {THE MAINE WOODS 246} its sources with water by open- ing the beaver dams & he says “This is often done”. He [in pencil:^& he] afterward says [in pencil:^states] that the Governor of Canada had forbidden to molest the beavers about the outlet of the Kennebec from Moosehead Lake on ac- count of the service which their dams did by raising the water for navigation. THE ACTUAL JOURNAL

At the outlet of Webster lake was another THE ACTUAL JOURNAL dam [in pencil:^{at which we stopped}] — & here while P [in pencil:^{the Indian}] went down the stream 1/2 HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” [in pencil:^{see what he had got to contend with}] mile [in pencil:^{through the woods}] to inspect it we got our dinner on the [in pencil:^{on the upper side of the dam}] shore — {Thoreau seems to have drawn a line from this point through the penultimate line on this page of his holograph journal.} There was a deserted log camp here — ap used last winter — with its {THE MAINE WOODS 247 (?)} “hovel” or barn for cattle. [[in pencil:^{In the house was} dark within there being but a single small window] It large fir-twig bed — raised 2 feet from the floor [in pencil:^{& occupying a large part of the single apartment above which a small window}] — & [in pencil:^A] long narrow table against the [in pencil:^{inside with}] wall & [^stout] log bench before it — The raspberries were still thicker & larger [in pencil:^{A simple & strong fort erected against the cold}] here [in pencil:^{than before} — As we were sitting by our fire just above the dam — concealed by its [in pencil:^{the}]

[these two lines of text in pencil run the length of the left margin:{— observed one or 2 wooden traps which had formerly in the woods here which had not been used for a long time — whose principal part was a long & slender pole}]

[The letter below appears in ink on the verso of a leaf waxed onto page 302 of the holographic journal, with a large inked X-mark over the entire sheet. Since material which may be a continuation of the journal is penciled throughout the letter, that material has been transcribed above as part of the journal’s text.] [in pencil:^{Lake on the St Johns waters}] {All this bracketed text refers to THE MAINE WOODS pages 248-249.} An Indian at {Old town} had told us that we should be] [in pencil:^obliged to carry 10 miles between Telos [^{the next after Webster Pond}] & 2d Lake on the East] [in pencil:^Branch — But other some [in pencil:^the] lumberers whom we met had laughed at] [in pencil:^assured us that [in pencil:^we] {should have to carry but [ ] not nearly so much distance}] [in pencil:^this — It turned out however that the Indian was nearest right —] [in pencil:^If we had been {accustomed to managing} a canoe in] [in pencil:^rapids [in pencil:^{to assist the Indian}] we might have run the greater part of the way —] {THE MAINE WOODS 248-249 reads “...if one of us could have assisted the Indian in managing the canoe in the rapids...” (?)}] [in pencil:^but as the Ind. was (to manage the canoe) alone, were were {Thoreau repeated the word}] [in pencil:^obliged to walk the greater part of the way.] [in pencil:^It is as if you were to pour water {through an in-}] [in pencil:^{clined & zig zag trough — & then launch a nut shell}] [in pencil:^{into it — expecting it to go down dry [in pencil:^{drop}] & right side up & dry — }] [in pencil:^{You have an almost, frequently quite, irresistible force urging you on}] [in pencil:^{& the problem is to choose the best course between the rocks & over the}] [in pencil:^{shallows with the least hesitation — & then by main strength & shell}] [in pencil:^{to get into it — or to hold on if possible long enough in exhaustion}] [in pencil:^{to sl[ ] the rapids before you}] {It was like navigating a water}

Concord Sep 9th 1857 THE ACTUAL JOURNAL Frien R I Thank you for your to {visit} kind invitation but I have taken so many vacations this year ({at} New Bedford Cape Cod — & Maine) that I cannot relaxation ({Imposition}?) {would}{ }{me} with — think of any more without shame & {disgrace} I have not earned what I have already enjoyed — As some heads cannot carry much {noise} — so it would seem that I HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” cannot bear so much society as you can — I have an immense appetite for solitude like an infant for sleep — & if I don’t get year enough of it this season I shall {cry} all the next year. I believe that C. is here still, he was 2 or days ago — but whether for good & all I do not {know}, nor ask. My mother’s house is full at present and {but} if it {were} not, I should have no right to {invite} you hither to hither — while enter{tain}ing designs such plans as I have hinted at — However if you should care to storm the earthen bank [in pencil:^{of the dam}] — a long string of checorways [in pencil:^{or summer ducks}] 3/4 grown — came waddling over it from the water below [in pencil:^(passed within 3 or 4 rods distant)] — & about a rod from [in pencil:^{of}] us. We could almost have caught them in our hands — I think I have formerly mistaken them here for a species of shell drake — [in pencil:^{ }] they have reddish heads & necks — & whitish tips to wings — They here being [in pencil:^{were}] abundant wherever we went — & every couple [^2 or 3] of hours — they would rush away in a long string over {THE MAINE WOODS 248} (?) the water before us — [in pencil:^{20 to 50 of them at once}] rarely ever flying — but running with great rapidity up or down the stream even in the midst of [in pencil:^{the most violent}] rapids [in pencil:^{& ap. as fast up as down} — or crossing it diagonally — the old ap. behind & driving [in pencil:^{from time to time}] them — & sometimes flying to the point again — as if to direct them — 20 to 50 at once — also [in pencil:^{saw}] some [in pencil:^{many}] small black dippers [in pencil:^{which behaved in a similar manner}] & once or 2ce a few black ducks — There being but one of us who could manage the canoe We [in pencil:^{we}] were here oblig{ed} to walk — carrying a good [in pencil:^{on our shoulders} [in pencil:^{the} [in pencil:^{took that which}] part of the baggage [in pencil:^] — while P. got down the [in pencil:^{would be least injured by being wet in the canoe — He was to stop when he came}{this interlined text in the right margin continues at the bottom of the manuscript page.} [in pencil:^{first} {for} stream alone. It [in pencil:^{The stream}] was exceedingly rapid & rocky & in some places shallow — [in pencil:^{This Webster stream is well known for a bad one & can hardly be considered navigable}] He commenced [in pencil:^{unless that may mean}] {Thoreau put a pencil line in the left margin connecting “by running over” with “soon out of sight,” possibly including the inserted text, and marked this material as “1”} by running over [in pencil:^{through the sluice way &}] the dam as usual & was [in pencil:^{that what is launched in it is sure to be carried swiftly down it though it may be dashed to pieces v lp}] soon out of sight [in pencil:^{behind a point}] in a wild gorge — By his direction we took an old [in pencil:^{“tow” road or} supply path [^on the S side] which appeared to keep down the stream though at a considerable distance from it — cutting off bends [^perhaps to 2d lake first] — having [[in pencil:^{taken}] got [in pencil:^{with our compass}] the course from the map [in pencil:^] for safety — THE ACTUAL JOURNAL THE ACTUAL JOURNAL [in pencil:^{to smooth water come up to the path & halloo for us —}] [in pencil:^{& after waiting a reasonable time so on & try again}] It was a wild wood path — with occasionally HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” a tree fallen across it — & the [in pencil:^{a few} tracks of [in pencil:^{some}] oxen which had been [in pencil:^(recently)] driven over it to some old [in pencil:^{camp}] clearing for pasturage — also [in pencil:^{mingled with the}] the tracks of moose which had lately [in pencil:^{We kept on steadily for about an hour without putting down our planks}] used it [in pencil:^{till}] . After walking rapidly about [in pencil:^{occasionally winding round a fallen tree or climbing over — for the most part}] 3 miles we came to the river again at [in pencil:^{far out of sight — & hearing of the river}] an old camp ground where there was a small {where we paused} clearing. [in pencil:^opening] Swiftly as the shallow & rocky [in pencil:^{I saw as I sat on the shore}] river ran here — a continuous rapid with dancing waves [in pencil:^] — I saw [^as I sat on the shore] a long string of shecorways which I [in pencil:^{something}]had scared run [in pencil:^{or summer ducks} [in pencil:^{something}] up the [in pencil:^] stream ap. with the same ease {possibly this “ease” is “care”}{THE MAINE WOODS 250] — [in pencil:^{just touching the surface of the waves &}] that they commonly did down it — but [in pencil:^{getting an impulse from them swiftly as they flowed from under them}] they soon came back driven by the [in pencil:^{a little}] Indian — who had fallen [in pencil:^] behind us on ac- [in pencil:^v p {126} [in pencil:^{He shot round a point}] count of the winding%s] of the stream. [in pencil:^] He had [in pencil:^{to land by us with considerable water in his canoe} [in pencil:^{just above & came}] found it very tumultuous & very “strong water” [in pencil:^{before}] and had been obliged to land once [in pencil:^] to empty out what he had taken [^in] it. He complained that it strained him to have to paddle so hard to keep his canoe straight in its [in pencil:^{having no one in the bows to aid him} [in pencil:^{said that}] course [in pencil:^] — & shallow as it {course} was it would [in pencil:^for] be no joke to be upset there — He said that the force of the water was such that he had as lief I would strike him over the head with a paddle as have that water strike him. It was as if {&c v back}] After a moments breathing space in which I held his canoe — P. [in pencil:^he] was soon out of sight again around another bend — & we shouldering our packs resumed our course through the woods — I found on the edge of this clearing the [in pencil:^{which is sure [ ]}] cirsium muticum or swamp thistle [in pencil:^] abundantly [in pencil:^{We did not at once fall into our path — but made our way with difficulty along}] [in pencil:^{the edge of the river — but at length striking inland through the forest — we}] in bloom. I think we scared up a black partridge [in pencil:^{recovered it — scaring up a black partridge (?) by the way}] just beyond. Before going a mile we heard P. calling [in pencil:^{and along our path}] to us — He had come up through the woods [in pencil:^] to find us having reached sufficiently smooth water [in pencil:^v p.{246}] to take us in. [in pencil:^] The shore was about 1/4 of a mile distant through a dense dark forest and as he led us back to it, winding about to the right & the left rapidly, I had the cu- riosity to look down carefully & found that he HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” was following his steps [in pencil:^{over that trail [ ]}] back — though I could [in pencil:^{ward}] only occasionally perceive his trail in the moss — & yet he did not appear to look down nor [in pencil:^{an instant} exactly hesitate [in pencil:^] but led us out directly to his canoe. [in pencil:^{a compass or}] This surprised me, for without [in pencil:^] the sight or noise of the river to guide us — we could not have kept on course many minutes — & could not have retraced our steps but a short distance [in pencil:^{& that}] — [in pencil:^] with a great deal of pains & very slowly indeed using a very laborious circumspection. [in pencil:^{But it}] [in pencil:^{appeared to me that he could go back through the woods wherever he had been}] After this rough walking in the dark [in pencil:^{during the day}] woods — it was very exhilerating as well as refreshing to glide down the rapid river [in pencil:^{which}] [in pencil:^{It which was about the size of the Assabet}] in the canoe once {THE MAINE WOODS 251} more — The [^This] river though [in pencil:^{still} [in pencil:^perfectly] though [in pencil:^] very swift was almost smooth — & to my (surveyor’s) eyes [in pencil:^showed] — a very regular and visible declivity — an [^regularly] inclined plane THE ACTUAL JOURNAL THE ACTUAL JOURNAL for several miles — like a mirror set a little aslant on which we coasted down. This very obvious regular descent — particularly plain when I regarded the water line against the shores — made a very singular impression on me — which the swiftness of our motion probably en- hanced — so that we seemed to be gliding down a much steeper declivity [^plane] than we were — & that we could not save our- [in pencil:^{if we [ ] come}] selves from rapids & falls should they [in pencil:^{to them}] [in pencil:^] suddenly present themselves{—} My com- [in pencil:^{have a}] panion did not observe this — but I [in pencil:^{surveyor’s eyes}] [in pencil:^&] satisfied myself that it was no [^ocular] illusion but a regular & smooth though very steep descent — I observed the angle at which a level line would strike the surface — & calculated the amount of fall in a rod — & [^which] was not remarkably great to produce this effect It was very exhilarating & the perfection of travelling — [in pencil:^{The} — coasting down this inclined mirror now & then gently winding — down a mt indeed — between [^2 evergreen forests edged with] lofty dead white pines sometimes slanted half way over the stream — [^& destined soon {THE MAINE WOODS 252} to bridge it.] I saw some [^monsters {THE MAINE WOODS 252}] nearly destitute of branches & scarcely diminishing in diameter for 80 or 90 feet As we thus swept along — P. from time [in pencil:^{in a deliberate & drawling manner}] to time repeated [in pencil:^] the name of “Daniel Webster — great lawyer.” ap. reminded of him HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” by the name of the stream — & he told

{NB: “woods —” appears here as the last line of the holographic manuscript image, but is presumably a photocopied glimpse of the last line of manuscript page 312}

[in pencil:^{at what he supposed his boarding house}] us of his calling on him [in pencil:^] once in Boston — [in pencil:^{In answer to our inquiries he described his person well enough}] I think it was the day after he de- livered {THE MAINE WOODS 253} his Bunker Hill oration [in pencil:^{on which occasion P. was present}] — He did not like him — declared that all he said “was not worth talk talk about a musquash” — The first time he called, he waited till he was tired without seeing him — & then went away — The next time — he saw him go by the door of the room in which he was waiting several times [in pencil:^{in his shirtsleeves}] [in pencil:^{He thought that if he had come to see an Indian, they would} [in pencil:^{after very long delay}] [in pencil:^{not have treated him so}] with out noticing him [in pencil:^] — At length [in pencil:^] he came in — walked toward him — and asked in a loud voice gruffly —”What do you want”? moving his hand as if he would strike him [in pencil:^{said to himself}] [in pencil:^{thought “You’d better take care}] & P. thought even by the motion of his hand that he was going to strike him [in pencil:^& he said to himself] & if he treated [in pencil:^{if you try that I shall}] [in pencil:(him so)] he should know what to do. He thought that an Indian would not have treated him [in pencil:^{We suggested that probably Mr Webster was very busy & had a}] so. {a line here connects text in left margin to interlineation on this line} [in pencil:^{great many visitors just then}] Coming to falls & rapids — our easy pro- gress was [^suddenly] terminated. P. went along shore [in pencil:^{while we scrambled over the rocks} [in pencil:^{picking berries} [in pencil:^{v p 135}] to inspect [in pencil:^] & decided to take out. [in pencil:^] This was [in pencil:^{the water}] the last of our boating for the day — we scrambled along the shore with our packs while P. found his way down the rapids — The [in pencil:^{peculiar growth of blueberries & raspberries on the}] raspberries & blue [in pencil:^{rocks here}] made the impression of high land — & indeed this was the height of land stream. They were} berries grew more & more abundant [in pencil:^{henceforth}] especially at the carries which were the rockiest [^places] & partially cleared — & no one had gathered the finest ones {Here Thoreau penciled a right-pointing “^” in the left margin, connecting to penciled text he wrote vertically in that margin: {When the Ind. came back — he observed “You got to walk — very strong water” So taking out his canoe he launched it again below the falls & was soon out of sight}] before us [in pencil:^{just below here}]. The rock [in pencil:^{ap.}] [in pencil:^w]as [in pencil:^] one form of slate standing on its edges — & my companion — who EDWARD HOAR THE ACTUAL JOURNAL THE ACTUAL JOURNAL [in pencil:^{v p135 At such times}] was recently from California thought it exactly like that in which the gold is found — & said that if he had a pan he would like to wash a little of the sand there. The Ind. [in pencil:^Polis] now got along much faster than we & waited for us from time to time — while HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” [in pencil:^{ }] we scrambled along the shore — I found here the only cool spring [^i.e. a little water filling a hollow in the sandy bank] in the bank that I drank anywhere on this excursion — It was a quite memorable event The water was everywhere in the rivers & the streams emptying in dead & warm {THE MAINE WOODS 254} compared with a [in pencil:^{decidedly}] mountainous region — I passed one white pine log which had lodged a year or 2 before in the forest near the edge of the stream which [in pencil:^{I judged}] [in pencil:^{probably its size detained it — at the but &}] was [in pencil:^{quite}] 5 feet in diameter [in pencil:^] . It was very bad walking along the shore — over fallen [in pencil:^{& rocks}] & drifted trees — & bushes [in pencil:^] — from time to time swinging ourselves round over the [in pencil:^{or else taking to a gravel bar — or going inland}] water by the bushes — [in pencil:^] At one place, the Indian being ahead I was obliged to take off all my clothes to get over a stream which came in while my companion found a rude bridge higher up in the EDWARD HOAR I saw there very fresh moose tracks — found a new Golden Rod {THE MAINE WOODS 254} q.v. perhaps S Thyrsoidea [in pencil:^{ap.}] woods. — We hoped to reach 2d lake [in pencil:^{that found}] [in pencil:^{& I saw no more of him for some time} [in pencil:^{any place}] {Thoreau penciled a line in the left margin, joining this line with the following one.} about 10 miles from Webster Pond, that night. [in pencil:^{Shortly after this I over took the Indian at the edge of Burnt Land which extended 3 or 4 miles at least which is about 10 miles from Webster Pond & which we expected to reach that night}] Some 3 miles above the lake [in pencil:^{2nd}] we came to Burnt Land — which extended 3 or 4 miles at least — This [in pencil:^{burnt}] region was still more rocky {Thoreau placed a large left parenthesis in the left margin, marking the following paragraph} I am interested in an indistinct prospect — a distant view — a mere suggestion often — revealing an almost wholly new world to me — I rejoice to get & am apt to present a new view. But I find it impossible to present my view to most people — In effect it would seem that they do not wish to take a new view in any case Heat lightning flashes which reveal a distant horizon to our twilight eyes — But my fellows simply assert that it is not broad day which every body knows — & fail to perceive the phenomenon at all — I am willing to pass for a fool in my often desperate — perhaps foolish efforts to persuade them to lift the veil from off the possible & future, which they hold down with both their hands, before their eyes — The most valuable communication — or news consists of hints & suggestions — When a truth comes to be known & accepted — it begins to be bad taste to repeat it. Every individual constitution is a probe employed in a new direction — and a wise man will attend to each one’s report. {Thoreau placed a large right parenthesis at the end of this paragraph, marking the entire paragraph as an aside. Moldenhauer notes that in the 1906 edition of the Journal, Volume 9, this was handled as parenthetical material on pages 495-496. Continuing here from page 308 of the holograph:} than before [in pencil:^{& though comparatively open we could not yet see the lake}] not having seen my companion for some time — I climbed with the Indian a EDWARD HOAR singular high rock [^on the bank of the river] whose summit {forming} a long narrow ridge only a foot or 2 wide at top — to HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” [in pencil:^{after calling many times}] look for him — & [in pencil:^] at length heard him answer to my call from a considerable distance inland — he having taken a trail which led off THE ACTUAL JOURNAL THE ACTUAL JOURNAL [in pencil:^{perhaps directly to the lake}] from the river — which he [in pencil:^{&}] was now in search of [in pencil:^{the river again & seeing a much larger & higher hill or rock of the same character about 1/3 of a mile further east}] [in pencil:^{or down stream}] — Continuing [in pencil:^{I proceeded toward it [^through the Burnt Land] in order to look for the lake}] to join him a little further down [in pencil:^{from the summit hallooing all the while that my companion might join me on the way & find}] the stream — hallooing all the while — I came to the [in pencil:^{Before we came to gether I noticed}] where a moose [in pencil:^{which perhaps I had scared by hallooing}] had ap. just run along a large rotten trunk of a pine some several feet above the ground — & 30 or 4 feet to making a bridge 30 or 40 feet long — which has been as convenient for him as for me. I thought that I must have just scared him by my hallooing. This burnt land was an exceedingly wild & desolate region — [in pencil:^{Judging}] by the size of the weeds &c it appeared to have been burned the year before — or possibly 2 years [^or possibly 2 years before] — It was covered with charred trunks either prostrate or standing which crocked {possibly this is “cricked”} {THE MAINE WOODS 255} our clothes & hands [in pencil:^{& you could not readily have distinguished a bear there by his color}] — intermixed with [in pencil:^{these were}] blueberry & raspberry bushes — Some {A left parenthesis in the margin indicates the following two lines, marking them as “2”} times we crossed a ravine 50 feet wide on a naked dry & fallen trunk — Great at least on one side {A left parenthesis in the margin indicates the following three lines, marking them as “1”} shells of trees almost unburnt without[^] — [in pencil:^1]but black within — stood 20 or 40 feet high — There were great fields of epilobium angustifolium ([in pencil:^{or}] fire weed) on all sides — the most extensive I ever saw — which presented great masses of pink — Among them we found some quite white — like the first — Having crossed another [in pencil:^{a 2nd}] rocky ridge [in pencil:^{an intermediate}] when I was beginning to ascend [^a 3d] The Ind. whom I had left on the shore some 50 rods behind — beckoned to me to come to him — but I made sign that I would first ascend the highest rocky ridge before me, from [in pencil:^{whence}] I wished to look out for [in pencil:^{expected to see}] 2d lake — My companion accompanied me to the top — This was formed just EDWARD HOAR like the others — and ran in the same direction Being struck with the perfect parall{el}ism of these [in pencil:^{singular}] rocks I took out my compass & found that & sharp edges they were they lay NW & SE the rock being on its edge [^] [in pencil:^{to speak from memory}] This {one was} [in pencil:^{one}] rock was [^perhaps [in pencil:^{1/3}] 1/2 of a mile in length — [^but quite narrow] rising gradually from the NW — but steep on to perhaps 80 feet high the SE end — The SW side was about as HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” steep as [in pencil:^{as we could safely climb}] the [in pencil:^{or the ordinary}] roof of the a[in pencil:^{n ordinary}] house — the NE [in pencil:^{was} an abrupt precipice which you could jump off — [in pencil:^{ch}] while the [^level] top of the ridge on which you could walk was only from 1 to 3 or 4 feet in width — [in pencil:^{rock hills}] The others [in pencil:^] were formed exactly like this [^]{This caret indicated that material in the left margin connected by a pencil line should be inserted at this point}. The river We could see the lake {it is possible that this word is “like”} {THE MAINE WOODS 256} [^over the woods] some 2 or 3 miles ahead — & that the river made a short [in pencil:^{an abrupt} turn [in pencil:^{southward}] southward between around the NW end of this cliff — or between us & the canoe — & that there was an important fall [in pencil:^{a short distance}] in it [in pencil:^(about 1/4 or 1/2 {a mile} of a mile)] below — I could see the canoe a hundred rods behind [in pencil:^{now}] on the opposite shore, but could see nothing of the Indian — [^& said [in pencil:^{observed to my companion}] that I wondered where he was though][in pencil:^{as} I [^we] supposed that he EDWARD HOAR had gone inland to look for the lake from some [in pencil:^{when I had started to return to the canoe I} [in pencil:^This] hill top as I had done — Which1 proved to be the case — for [in pencil:^{after awhile}] I [in pencil:^{heard a faint halloo &}] soon descried him on the top of a distant rocky hill on that side — As [in pencil:^{But after a long time had elapsed}] I still saw his canoe in the same place — & he had not returned to it & ap- peared in no hurry to come over [in pencil:^do so] and moreover {THE MAINE WOODS 257} THE ACTUAL JOURNAL THE ACTUAL JOURNAL There was a remarkable series of these great precipitous rock ridges {possibly this is “rock-waves”} {THE MAINE WOODS 256} revealed by the burning — perfectly parallel though not opposite to each other — like long narrow breakers precipitous on one side — No doubt the absence of soil had assisted the fire — {This lengthy interlineation runs down the left margin.} [in pencil:^abrupt]

[Moldenhauer notes that the following interlineation runs down the right margin in pencil:^{For a rude illustration take the half of a pear cut in two lengthwise lay it on its flat side the stem to the NW — & then divide halve it vertically in the direction of its length — keeping the SW half —}]

[in pencil:^{remembering still he had} [in pencil:^{I thought there might be some thing more to delay him}] [in pencil:^{previously} [in pencil:^{than I knew}] [in pencil:^] had [in pencil:^] beckoned to me [in pencil:^] — [in pencil:^&] I began to return [in pencil:^{river}] NW along the ridge toward the shore — My companion who had just been separated from us & had even contemplated the necessity EDWARD HOAR [in pencil:^{wishing}] of camping alone — asked [in pencil:^(being desirous)] to [in pencil:^{the party}] husband his steps — yet to keep with [in pencil:^(us)] — asked — where I was going {go} now — to which [in pencil:^I was going {far enough back to communicate with the Indian}] [in pencil:^{& that then I thought that}] I answered — that [in pencil:^] we would go along the shore together & keep the Indian [in pencil:^{him}] in sight. When we reached the shore the Indian appeared from out of the woods on the opposite [in pencil:^{side}] — but on account of the roar of the water it HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” was difficult to communicate with him. He [in pencil:^{therefore}] kept along the shore westward {THE MAINE WOODS 258} to his canoe while we sat on the shore [in pencil:^{stopped at the angle where the stream turned S around the larger precipices}]— I again said to my companion that we would keep along the shore & keep the Indian in EDWARD HOAR sight — We started to do so — & just then I saw the Indian [in pencil:^{latter}] who had crossed to our side 40 or 50 rods behind us beconing to me & I shouted to my companion who had just turned the point of the precipice 3 or 4 rods EDWARD HOAR from [in pencil:^{behind}] me on his way down the shore — & was partly out of sight{,} that I was going to help the Indian [in pencil:^Polis] a moment. I did so [in pencil:^{lying with my breast over a rock &}] — helped get the canoe down over a falling [in pencil:^{I lay with my breast over a rock holding on while he received it below}] holding one end while P. [in pencil:^he] caught received it below & within some [in pencil:^{10}] [^{10 or at most}] 15 minutes after [^was] {back} again at the point where the River turned south round the precipice in order to catch my companion] up with H. while P. glided down the river EDWARD HOAR alone — [in pencil:^parallel with {me}] it being but 1/4 of a mile to the Great [in pencil:^{Parapet}] Falls [in pencil:^{which he had seen}. But to my surprise [in pencil:^{though the shore was bare of trees (not of rocks) for a quarter of a mile at least}] when I rounded the Precipice [in pencil:^] — H. [in pencil:^my companion] was not to be seen — It was as if he had sunk into the EDWARD HOAR earth — It was the more unaccountable to me because I knew that his feet were very [in pencil:^{quite}] sore with walking that he was very desirous [in pencil:^{inclined}] to keep with us — & this was very bad walking climbing over or about the rocks. I hastened along hallooing & searching for him — though [in pencil:^yet] not [in pencil:^{[ ] did not get along}] so fast as the Ind. in his canoe — till we were arrested by the falls. The Indian then landed & said that we could go no further that night — the sun was setting — & on account of falls & rapids we should here have to leave this river & carry over [^a good way (3/4 of a mile)] into another [in pencil:^further east]. The next [^1st] thing then was to find my companion — for I was now very much alarmed concerning [in pencil:^about] him — & I sent P. to EDWARD HOAR follo along the shore down stream — which began to be unburnt wood again just be- low the falls[^He went calling, [in pencil:^{somewhat}] like the note of an owl [in pencil:^backward &]] — {THE MAINE WOODS 259} while I searched [in pencil:^{The In showed an unwillingness &c}] about the precipice which we had passed. [in pencil:^&] I remembered that he was near sighted {Thoreau penciled a diagonal line here.} also that he was weary & had said that if there were to be any more carries we should see a dead man on the carry {Thoreau penciled another diagonal line here.} — [in pencil:^&] I feared that he had [in pencil:^either] fallen from the precipice THE ACTUAL JOURNAL THE ACTUAL JOURNAL or [in pencil:^{fainted &}] had sunk down [in pencil:^(from exhaustion)] amid the rocks [in pencil:^beneath {it}] — I shout{e}d searched above & below this precipice for half in the twilight till I could not see — expecting nothing less than to find his body beneath [in pencil:^For half an hour I {was afraid & believed only the worst}] it — [in pencil:^] [in pencil:^I] thought what I should do the next HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” day if I did not find him [in pencil:^{Th[ ]}] — what I could do in such a wilderness — [in pencil:^(who could help me — & what [in pencil:^{how}] his friends would think [in pencil:^{feel}] if I should return without him — [in pencil:^v p 136] I rushed down from the precipice to the canoe to fire the [in pencil:^{Indians}] gun — but found that he [in pencil:^my companion] had the caps — I was still thinking of getting EDWARD HOAR it off when the Indian returned. He had not found him — but he said that he had seen his tracks once or twice [in pencil:^{along the shore}] — This relieved [in pencil:^encouraged] me very much — I suggested [in pencil:^proposed] that {A pencil line Thoreau started in the left margin here and labeled “2” goes down through “the lake —”.} we should both keep down the shore to the lake — but he [in pencil:^The Ind.] said we could do nothing {but come daylight we find him [^in pencil:^{No use — cant do anything in the dark — come morning then we find him” v136}] {This text continues vertically in the right margin — see 1st line at end of the manuscript page.} in [in pencil:^{the woods in}] the dark [in pencil:^] — & beside he [in pencil:^— & I considered that if he was}] was very tired with {Thoreau began a pencil line here in the left margin going through “might break his neck in the attempt” below.} his day’s work — [^that it had strained him very much getting down so many rapids alone] He objected [in pencil:^{to}] that we had better [in pencil:^{should}] not fire[in pencil:^{ing}] the gun — for [in pencil:^{saying that H}] if he heard it [in pencil:^{which}] [in pencil:^{was not likely on ac. of the roar of the stream}] [in pencil:^] it would tempt him to come to[in pencil:^{ward}] us & he [in pencil:^1]might break his neck in the attempt — for the same reason he objected to [in pencil:^{we refrained from}] lighting a fire on the [in pencil:^highest] rock — It was dark & we could do nothing more that night. [in pencil:^{The darkness was now so thick that}] I knew that he [in pencil:^my companion] had his Knapsack — [in pencil:^{it alone decided the question — we must camp where we were —}] EDWARD HOAR with blanket & matches — & if well would fare just as well as [in pencil:^{no worse than}] we {Thoreau wrote the following text in pencil in the right margin and connected it to the line that begins “but come daylight we find him”} [in pencil:^{well he could do without us, but if sick or dead he was prob near where we were — I did not feel sure that the Ind. had seen his tracks for he showed some unwillingness to exert himself complaining that he}] except that he would have no supper nor society — P. said it we find him in morning — It is not as if it was cold weather — There are no animals here that will hurt him — &c &c — [in pencil:^{v p 136}] We [in pencil:^{crossed the river to the eastern or smoother side &}] proceeded to camp on a smoother shore on the opposite, or E side of the stream [in pencil:^{there}] just above the falls — within 2 or 3 rods of them. We pitched no tent but lay on the sand putting a few [^handfuls of] grass & bushes under us. For fuel {THE MAINE WOODS 260} we had some of the charred stumps [in pencil:^]. {Moldenhauer says this is connected with a line to a vertical penciled interlineation in left margin, shown at the end of this manuscript page.} The fall close by [^was the principal one on this stream &] the earth — seemed to shake [in pencil:^under {us}] {Thoreau put a pencil line in the right margin connecting this down through “Indian complaining”} — [in pencil:^] It was a cool because dewy night — the more so prob. because of the [in pencil:^2] immediate neighborhood of the Falls. The Indian complained a good deal & thought [in pencil:^afterward] {Thoreau put a pencil line in the right margin connecting this line through the remainder of the manuscript page.} [in pencil:^that] he got some cold there. [^but we were not [^much] troubled by mosquitoes] I lay awake a good deal of the night — but unaccountably [in pencil:^to myself {was comparatively}] at ease for the most part respecting my com- HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” panion — [^at first I had apprehended the worst, but now I anticipated the best] I had now no [in pencil:^but little] doubt but that I [in pencil:^find] [in pencil:^{in the} morning] should [in pencil:^] him. [in pencil:^] Yet from time to time I fancied I heard his voice calling through the [in pencil:^1] roar of the falls from the opposite side of [in pencil:^{but I doubted if we could have heard him across the stream there.} [in pencil:^{Sometimes &c vnp}] the river — [in pencil:^] It was the most wild & desolate region we had camped — where if anywhere we might expect to be serenaded by wolves [in pencil:^(— & to hear the scream of a panther — for they are said to have been heard about Ktadn —)] The moon in her 1st quarter {in the} fore part of the night (till 11) setting over the bare rocks, hills served to {reveal} garnished with THE ACTUAL JOURNAL THE ACTUAL JOURNAL [in pencil:^{Our various bags of provisions had got quite wet in the rapids}] [in pencil:^{today & I arranged them about the fire to dry —}] {Thoreau began a line in the left margin that goes down past “of a night hawk flitting over” below.} bared and dry charred & hollow stumps & shells of trees — served to reveal the desolation — the Ossianic scene — It w I heard the squeak Sometimes I doubted of a night hawk flitting over — whether P. had really seen tracks — since he manifested an unwillingness to make much of a search — & then my anxiety returned.

July 30, Thursday: Per the San Francisco, California Daily Alta California:

A MYSTERIOUS MURDER. — A woman named Mary Boge John, familiarly known as “Dutch Mary,” was found dead in her bed, in a room on the first floor of a brick house on the west side of Dupont street, adjoining the Adelphia Theatre, about half-pasty 12 o’clock yesterday, under very peculiar and mysterious circumstances, which led to the belief that she was murdered. The deceased occupied two rooms on the south side of the hall of the building. In the first room she kept a bar for the sale of liquor, and the rear room was her bedroom. She was known as a woman of n ad repute. On Tuesday, her rooms were opened, and she was ab out attending to her business as usual. On Tuesday night her rooms were closed, but at what hour is not known. Yesterday, about 12 o’clock M., Mrs. Levy, who rents the building and occupies the room immediately above those of the deceased, observed that the iron shutters of the saloon were still closed, and no one seemed to be astir, which was rather an unusual thing. She spoke to another lady tenant of the house, and said she feared something had happened. Information was then conveyed to the police, and Officer Saulsbury and Special Officers McCormick and Hubbard proceeded to her rooms. They found the door HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” which opens from the hall into the bar room slightly ajar, and on entering the room found the gas still burning in the bar. The officers proceeded through the bar room into her bedroom, when a shocking and revolting sight met their gaze. The dead body of the woman was lying stretched out upon the bed. A wound, as if made by a slung shot, was on her left temple, from which the blood had flowed and saturated the bed. On her mouth a towel was drawn tightly, and tied in a sailor’s knot under her left ear. It was twisted over her mouth very hard, and must have caused strangulation. The corpse presented a most revolting sight. Information of the case was immediately brought to the Coroner’s office, and the body conveyed thither, but some officious person had untied the knot and removed the towel before Coroner Kent (who was engaged at the time in the Police Court) could get a sight of the body. The deceased was a native of Germany, aged about 32 years. She came to this country three years ago, and has been a prostitute ever since. About two years ago she removed to the building which she occupied at the time of her death. Upon searching her apartments, the following articles were found and taken in charge by order of the Chief of police, and handed over to Mr. Rigers, the Public Administrator: viz., one buckskin purse, containing $2,350; one do., $2,000; $15 in gold and $13 in silver, and a box containing the following articles: $123 in cash, 5 silver spoons, 1 pair sugar tongs, 1 tortoise shell box, 2 perfume bottles, 1 gold cross, 16 gold rings, diamond brooch, 1 pair diamond ear-rings, diamond finger ring, 1 small pair of silver ear-rings, 1 gold locket, 1 snuff box, 2 gold dollars, 16 small gold specimens, 1 specimen pin, 2 small breast pins, 1 bracelet, ladies’ watch and chain, ladies’ enameled watch, 1 gold fish, 3 ladies’ brooches, small gold chain, do. Neck chain, 2 gold pencils, gold buckle, silver hair ornament, hair of earrings, 1 gold waist hook, 2 silver pencils, 2 penknives, 1 silver heart, 1 diamond, 2 breastpins, 1 pair ear-rings, 1 fancy port monnaie. No clue has as yet been obtained as to the murderer. It is thought, however, from the kind of knot in which the towel was tried, that it was done by a sailor. This is, of course, only a surmise. It would seem, however, that the murderer was not actuated by a desire to steal, for nothing in the room appeared to have been disturbed. There is a fearful mystery hanging over the affair, which only time can solve. Dr. Sawyer will make a post mortem examination of the body of deceased this morning, and Coroner Kent will hold an inquest at the Police Court this evening.

Per the Sacramento, California Daily Union:

FATAL A FFRAY I N N EVADA C OUNTY. — The Nevada Democrat of July HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” 29th, says: An affray occurred at Humbug on Sunday evening last, resulting in the death of a German named Mueller. It seems that during the day, a man named Charles Davis had endeavored to get a daughter of Mr. Mueller to go with him to the circus, but the family were opposed to her going. In the evening Davis went to Mueller’s house and raised a difficulty with him about the matter, and caught hold of him and endeavored to pull him from behind the bar where he was standing. Mueller came round from behind the counter and made at Davis, who ran out of the house; Mueller took after him, and chased him some distance down the street, when Davis drew a pistol and fired at Mueller, the ball striking him in the right side. He died in about half an hour. Davis immediately fled to this place and gave himself up to the authorities. Justice Anderson held an inquest on the body the next day, and the above is the substance of the testimony given by Mr. Mueller’s daughter, who is a young lady some seventeen years old. Davis will be examined to-day.

We can usefully compare this day as originally entered into Thoreau’s journal with this day as eventually recorded in THE MAINE WOODS. The 1st of the following entries is from the journal, while the 2d, 3d, and 4th record the morning, noon, and evening of the same day respectively, as they appear in the book:

July 30. Thursday. I saw thus early the slate-colored snowbird (Fringilla hyemalis) here. As I walked along the ridge of the island, through the woods, I heard the rush and clatter of a great many ducks which I had alarmed from the concealed northern shore beneath me.... I heard here, at the foot of the lake, the cawing of crow, which sounded so strangely that I suspected might be an uncommon species,... To a philosopher there is in a sense no great and no small, and I do not often submit to the criticism which objects to comparing so-called great things with small. It is often a question which is most dignified by the comparison, and, beside, it is pleasant to be reminded that ancient worthies who dealt with affairs of state recognized small and familiar objects known to ourselves. We are surprised at the permanence of the relation. Loudon in his “Arboretum,” vol. iv, page 2038, says, “Dionysius the geographer compares the form of the Morea in the Levant, the ancient Peloponnesus, to the leaf of this tree [the Oriental plane]; and Pliny makes the same remark in allusion to its numerous bays. To illustrate this comparison, Martyn, in his Virgil (vol. ii, page 149), gives a figure of the plane tree leaf, and a map of the Morea,” both which Loudon copies. PLINY LOUDON Loudon says (“Arboretum,” vol. iv, page 2323, apparently using the authority of Michaux, whom see in my books) of the hemlock that “in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, the district of Maine, the state of Vermont, and the upper parts of New Hampshire, it forms three quarters of the evergreen woods, of which the remainder consists of the black spruce.” (!) Speaks of its being “constantly found at the foot of the hills.” The events attending the fall of Dr. Johnson’s celebrated willow at Lichfield, — a Salix Russelliana twenty-one feet in circumference at six feet from the ground, — which was blown down in 1829, were characteristic of the Briton, whose whole island, indeed, is a museum. While the neighbors were lamenting the fate of the tree, a coachmaker remembered that he had used some of the twigs for pea-sticks the year before and made haste to see if any of these chanced to be alive. Finding that one had taken root, it was forthwith transplanted to the site of the old tree, “a band of music,” says Loudon, “and a number of persons attending its removal, and a dinner HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” being given afterwards by Mr. Holmes [the coachmaker] to his friends, and the admirers of Johnson.”

July 30, Thursday, Morning: … I aroused the Indian early this morning to go in search of our companion, expecting to find him within a mile or two, farther down the stream. The Indian wanted his EDWARD HOAR breakfast first, but I reminded him that my companion had had neither breakfast nor supper. We were obliged first to carry our canoe and baggage over into another stream, the main East Branch, about three fourths of a mile distant, for Webster Stream was no farther navigable. We went twice over this carry, and the dewy bushes wet us through like water up to the middle; I hallooed in a high key from time to time, though I had little expectation that I could be heard over the roar of the rapids, and moreover we were necessarily on the opposite JOE POLIS side of the stream to him. In going over this portage the last time, the Indian, who was before me with the canoe on his head, stumbled and fell heavily once, and lay for a moment silent, as if in pain. I hastily stepped forward to help him, asking if he was much hurt, but after a moment’s pause, without replying, he sprang up and went forward. He was all the way subject to taciturn fits, but they were harmless ones. We had launched our canoe and gone but little way down the East Branch, when I heard an answering shout from my companion, and soon after saw him standing on a point where there was a clearing a quarter of a mile below, and the smoke of his fire was rising near by. Before I saw him I naturally shouted again and again, but the Indian curtly remarked, “He hears you,” as if once was enough. It was just below the mouth of Webster Stream. When we arrived, he was smoking his pipe, and said that he had passed a pretty comfortable night, though it was rather cold, on account of the dew. … … he suddenly exclaimed, “Moose! moose!” and told us to be still. He put a cap on his gun, and standing up in the stern, rapidly pushed the canoe straight toward the shore and the moose. It was a cow-moose, about thirty rods off, standing in the water by the side of the outlet, partly behind some fallen timber and bushes, and at that HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” distance she did not look very large. She was flapping her large ears, and from time to time poking off the flies with her nose from some part of her body. She did not appear much alarmed by our neighborhood, only occasionally turned her head and looked straight at us, and then gave her attention to the flies again. As we approached nearer, she got out of the water, stood higher and regarded us more suspiciously. Polis pushed the canoe steadily forward in the shallow water, and I for a moment forgot the moose in attending to some pretty rose-colored Polygonums just rising above the surface, but the canoe soon grounded in the mud eight or ten rods distant from the moose, and the Indian seized his gun and prepared to fire. After standing still a moment, she turned slowly, as usual, so as to expose her side, and he improved this moment to fire, over our heads. She RED MAPLE thereupon moved off eight or ten rods at a moderate pace, across a shallow bay, to an old standing-place of hers, behind some fallen red maples, on the opposite shore, and there she stood still again a dozen or fourteen rods from us, while the Indian hastily loaded and fired twice at her, without her moving. My companion, who passed him his caps and bullets, said that Polis was as excited as a boy of fifteen, that his hand trembled, and he once EDWARD HOAR put his ramrod back upside down. This was remarkable for so experienced a hunter. Perhaps he was anxious to make a good shot before us. The white hunter had told me that the Indians were not good shots, because they were excited, though he said that we had got a good hunter with us. JOE POLIS The Indian now pushed quickly and quietly back, and a long distance round, in order to get into the outlet, — for he had fired over the neck of a peninsula between it and the lake, — till we approached the place where the moose had stood, when he exclaimed, “She is a goner,” and was surprised that we did not see her as soon as he did. There, to be sure, she lay perfectly dead, with her tongue hanging out, just where she had stood to receive the last shots, looking unexpectedly large and horse-like, and we saw where the bullets had scored the trees. Using a tape, I found that the moose measured just six feet from the shoulder to the tip of the hoof, and was eight feet long as she lay. Some portions of the body, for a foot in diameter, were almost covered with flies, apparently the common fly of our woods, with a dark spot on the wing, and not the very large ones which occasionally pursued us in midstream, though both are called moose-flies. Polis, preparing to skin the moose, asked me to help him find a stone on which to sharpen his large knife. It being all a flat alluvial ground where the moose had fallen, covered with red maples, &c., this was no easy matter; we searched far and wide, a long time, till at length I found a flat kind of slate-stone, and soon after he returned with a similar one, on which he soon made his knife very sharp. … The Indian having cut off a large piece of sirloin, the upper lip and the tongue, wrapped them in the hide, and placed them in the bottom of the canoe, observing that there was “one man,” meaning the weight of one. Our load had previously been reduced some thirty pounds, but a hundred pounds were now added, a serious addition, which made our quarters still more narrow, and considerably increased the danger on the lakes and rapids, as well as the labor of the carries. The skin was ours according to custom, since the Indian was in our employ, but we did not think of claiming it. He being a skilful dresser of moose-hides, would make it worth seven or eight dollars to him, as I was told. He said that he sometimes earned fifty or sixty dollars in a day at them; he had killed ten moose in one day, though the skinning and all took two days. This was the way he had got his property. There were the tracks of a calf thereabouts, which he said would come “by, by,” and he could get it if we cared to wait, but I cast cold water on the project. …

July 30, Thursday, Noon: … We stopped to dine on an interesting high rocky island, soon after entering Matungamook Lake, securing our canoe to the cliffy shore. … We here dined on fried moose-meat. … After the almost incessant rapids and falls of the Madunkehunk (Height-of-Land, or Webster Stream), we had just passed HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” through the dead-water of Second Lake, and were now in the much larger dead-water of Grand Lake, and I JOE POLIS thought the Indian was entitled to take an extra nap here. …

July 30, Thursday, Evening: … We decided to camp early to-night, that we might have ample time before dark; so we stopped at the first favorable shore, where there was a narrow gravelly beach on the western side, some five miles below the outlet of the lake. It was an interesting spot, where the river began to make a great bend to the east, and the last of the peculiar moose-faced Nerlumskeechticook mountains not far southwest of Grand Lake rose dark in the northwest a short distance behind, displaying its gray precipitous southeast side, JOE POLIS but we could not see this without coming out upon the shore. … To-night the Indian lay between the fire and his stretched moose-hide, to avoid the mosquitoes. Indeed, he also made a small smoky fire of damp leaves at his head and his feet, and then as usual rolled up his head in his blanket. We with our veils and our wash were tolerably comfortable, but it would be difficult to pursue any sedentary occupation in the woods at this season: you cannot see to read much by the light of a fire through a veil in the evening, nor handle pencil and paper well with gloves or anointed fingers.

August 3, Monday: Sam Houston was defeated for the office of Governor of Texas by Hardin R. Runnels.

Henry Thoreau and Edward Sherman Hoar began their return to Portland, Maine by train and then to Boston by night boat (arriving in Concord early on August 8th). Thoreau drew up a list of the birds he had seen such as this Red-headed Woodpecker Melanerpes erythrocephalus:

A red-headed woodpecker [Melanerpes erythrocephalus] flew across the river, and the Indian JOE POLIS remarked that it was good to eat. As we glided swiftly down the inclined plane of the river, a great cat owl launched itself across the stream, and the Indian, as usual, imitated its note. Soon the same bird flew back in front of us, and we afterwards passed it perched on a tree. Soon afterward a white-headed eagle sailed down the stream before us. We drove him several miles, while we were looking for a good place to camp, for we expected to be overtaken by a shower, –and still we could distinguish him by his white tail, sailing away from time to time from some tree by the shore still farther down the stream. Some shecorways being surprised by us, a part of them dived, and we passed directly over them, and could trace their course here and there by a bubble on the surface, but we did not see them come up.

Louis Pasteur delivered a paper to the Lille Society in Lille announcing he has discovered that fermentation was caused by biochemical action of tiny organisms.

Per the San Francisco, California Daily Alta California:

CRIMINAL TRIALS. — The Sonoma Journal learns that the trial of Jack Carroll and Tom Hammond for their murder of Mr. and Mrs. Grazier, was to be convened at San Raphael before Judge McJinstry, on the 30th ult.... Chas. McAuley, indicted for the murder of Everman, at Tomales Bay, in July, 1856, has surrendered himself to the authorities of Marin, and will be tried at the next sitting of the court.

Per reports in the Sacramento, California Daily Union: In the Court of Sessions, yesterday afternoon, the Grand Jury presented indictments against the following persons: Thomas Girabaldo, for the murder of John Smith, on the 18th July.... MURDER IN CALAVERAS COUNTY. On Tuesday, July 28th, a man named Robinson was killed at Kelsey’s Gulch, three miles form Vallecitos, in Calaveras county, by another who has gone by the name of Sam Patch. The latter was arrested HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” and lodged in jail. The following is the account of the affair given by the Calaveras Chronicle: “Patch and the murdered man, (Robinson,) who had been mining partners, quarreled and separated a short time ago, about some gold dust that had been abstracted from their cabin — mutually charging each other with its theft. The matter stood thus, when Robinson, on Tuesday, came to Patch’s cabin with a pail of milk, which he was carrying him. Patch insisted upon sharing it with him, which Robinson refused. After a few words the latter stared home, and had proceeded about eighty yards, when Patch took down his rifle, and, taking a rest upon the door-frame, deliberately fired. The ball took effect in Robinson’s back, immediately under the ribs, ranging forward, through his bowels. At last accounts he was dying.” THE DEATH OF POSTMASTER DAVIS. — Last Monday we noticed the fact of the accidental death of R.F. Davis, Postmaster at Coloma. The following particulars will be of interest. They are contained in the Placerville Democrat of Saturday August 1st: On Saturday evening last, R.F. Davis, Postmaster at Coloma, in company with John L. Huntress, left this place for his home, in a buggy. Half a mile beyond Granite Hill the horses became frightened and unmanageable, and started at a fearful pace towards Coloma. Both gentlemen were thrown from the buggy, but in his fall Mr. Davis was caught between the wheels and dragged a considerable distance. At 7 o’clock they were found in the road, Mr. D. insensible. He was taken to Coloma, where he expired at quarter past 12 o’clock. From the time of the accident until he breathed his last he continued unconscious. His skull was fractured. Mr. Davis was born in Missouri in 1830. He came to this State from Montgomery County, Mo., in 1849 — resided in Coloma until ’51, then went to Yolo County, where he was appointed both Deputy Sheriff and county Clerk, and returned to Coloma in 1854. Early in 1855 he was appointed Postmaster, which position he held until the day of his death. [Character & funeral.] A CONDEMNED MURDERER SENTENCED. — The Placer Press mentions the fact that on Wednesday, July 29th, Jo. Bradly, convicted of the murder of Jacob Bakeman, was sentenced to suffer death at Auburn, and adds: [Prisoner’s comments and sentencing.] ALLEGED MURDERERS ACQUITTED. — In the District Court of Placer county, Patrick Mahoney, indicted for the murder of O’Connor, has been acquitted. Chee Loo E, one of the five Chinamen charged with the murder of Chung Kwang, was also acquitted. The Chinese were terribly indignant in consequence thereof, and closed their stores and houses as a mark of their displeasure. They say Chinese cannot get justice. MURDERER ARRESTED. — Tom Betts, charged with the murder of a man at Rabbit Creek, Sierra county, about a year since, was arrested at Oroville, on Thursday night, July HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” 30th. MURDER TRIALS CONTINUED. — The trials of Whitehurst, Roberts, and Bearss, for the murder of A.A. Mason, of Michigan Bluffs, Placer county, have been continued until the next term of the District Court. ACCIDENTAL DROWNING. — We mentioned in Saturday’s issue that a disturbance occurred on the arrival of the steamer Eclipse about 1 o’clock A.M., during which an unknown man was pushed overboard and drowned. Our information was incorrect in regard to the time of the accident, as it did not occur until some time after the difficulty referred to. We infer from the testimony elicited before the Coroner at the inquest subsequently held, that the deceased being in ill health and frightened by the sudden cry of the crew “clear the way,” in discharging freight, made a false step from the plank and fell overboard. Parties who had accompanied deceased, who was identified as a man named John Mitchell, aged about 23 years, a native of England, late of Michigan, and a passenger on the Eclipse, employed several persons to grapple for the body soon after sunrise, resulting in its recovery. Coroner Bell held an inquest on the body on the hulk at the steamer landing, about 10 A.M., J.J. Foley, F.A. Boige, Josiah Ames, Nathaniel Anderson, Cyrus Arnold and Nathaniel Starnes acting as jurors. The following evidence was elicited: Matthew Richardson, sworn — I have just arrived in this country; recognize the body of deceased as that of John Mitchell, aged about 23 years; have known him for several years; he and myself came in company from Michigan; we landed in San Francisco on yesterday; he was a Cornish man, (England); we came in company last night from San Francisco on the Eclipse; I last saw him this morning about 12½ o’clock in this city on the Eclipse; he was in the steerage cabin; myself and friend came ashore, and supposed he was also coming ashore; he complained of being unwell after we left San Francisco, but had gotten better; when we left him we went to the Western Hotel, and finding he was missing we returned to the boat in search of him, but could not learn anything in reference to him; we heard that a man had fallen overboard and was drowned last night, but was told it was a man who resided in the city; we were in search of him all night; this morning we employed some persons to search for the body of the man who had fallen overboard, supposing it might be deceased, and this morning about 9 o’clock the body was found in the river near where the Eclipse landed last night; he was sober; was not in the habit of drinking; was a miner; his people live in England; he had not had any difficulty with any one that I know of; I had been with him all the time after leaving San Francisco until the boat landed in this city. Wm. H. Thomas sworn — Came in company with deceased and last witness, from Michigan, and have been with them all HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” the time; heave heard the testimony of Mr. Richardson, and concur in his statements; I do not know any additional facts that could throw any light on the matter of the cause of death; the $120 found on the body was about the amount he was supposed to have with him; we intended to leave for Grass Valley this morning, for the purpose of mining. W.H. Brown sworn — Resides in this city; about 1 o’clock this morning I was on the hulk at the landing of the “Eclipse;” a few minutes after she landed, I heard a splash in the water and heard the expression “man overboard;” I and others used every exertion to get a rope but could not succeed; I held the lantern down and saw a man in the water but could not reach him; he fell between the steamer and the hull; he arose several times before he finally sank; he did not appear to be able to swim; the water was deep where he fell; I did not hear him say anything; we caught hold of some ropes but they were fast and we could not reach him with them; the hulk and boat were about four feet apart; there was no difficulty (row or fight) going on at the time; I did not hear any difficulty or quarrel at that time; the hands were removing freight at the time; I was within five feet of deceased when he fell; don’t think he could have been knocked overboard; I think he fell from the edge of the hulk; think I saw him on the edge of the hulk a few minutes before I heard the splash; the hands were hallooing “clear the way” to enable them to remove the freight, and my impression is that he aimed to get out of the way, and stepped overboard and was drowned; had he been pushed or knocked, I should have seen it I think. The jury returned a verdict of “accidental drowning.” The remains were interred at 10 A.M. yesterday.

JOE POLIS August 3, Monday, Morning: … We started early before breakfast, the Indian being considerably better, and soon glided by Lincoln, and after another long and handsome lake-like reach, we stopped to breakfast on the west shore, two or three miles below this town. …

August 3, Monday, Afternoon: … Soon after the Indian houses came in sight, but I could not at first tell my companion which of two or three large white ones was our guide’s. He said it was the one with blinds. JOE POLIS We landed opposite his door at about four in the afternoon, having come some forty miles this day. From the Piscataquis we had come remarkably and unaccountably quick, probably as fast as the stage on the bank, though the last dozen miles was dead water. Polis wanted to sell us his canoe, said it would last seven or eight years, or with care, perhaps ten; but we were not ready to buy it. We stopped for an hour at his house, where my companion shaved with his razor, which he pronounced in very good condition. Mrs. P. wore a hat and had a silver brooch on her breast, but she was not introduced to us. The house was roomy and neat. A large new map of Oldtown and the Indian Island hung on the wall, and a clock opposite to it. Wishing to know when the cars left Oldtown, Polis’s son brought one of the last Bangor papers, which I saw was directed to “Joseph Polis,” from the office. This was the last that I saw of Joe Polis. We took the last train, and reached Bangor that night. EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, Gregory Ennis of the City of Washington in the District of Columbia, for divers HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” good causes and considerations, me thereunto moving, have released from slavery, liberated, manumitted and set free, and do, by these presents release from slavery, liberate, manumit and set free my negro woman named Amelia Brown being of the age of thirty-five years and able to work and gain a sufficient livelihood and maintenance, and her the said negro woman I do declare to be henceforth free, manumitted and discharged from all manner of service or servitude to me, my executors or administrators forever. In witness thereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this third day of August in the year 1857. Gregory Ennis Witnesses: John F. Ennis Jno. C. Hamilton

District of Columbia, Washington County Pct. I, Joseph Pick, a Justice of the Peace in and for the District and County aforesaid, do hereby certify that Gregory Ennis, party to an instrument of writing dated the 3rd day of August 1857 and hereto annexed, personally appeared before me in my County aforesaid, the said Gregory being personally well known to me, as the person who executed the said instrument of writing and acknowledged the same to be his act & deed. Taken & certified before me this 3rd day of August 1857. Jos. Pick, J.P.9

December 13, Sunday: The Reverend Convers Francis preached in Concord. His prooftext for the Concord faithful was Matthew 7:5 and his topic was “Moral Evil is Prolific.”

December 13, Sunday: P.M. –To Goose Pond. This and the like ponds are just covered with virgin ice just thick enough to bear, though it cracks about the edges on the sunny sides. You may call it virgin ice as long as it is transparent. I see the water-target leaves frozen in under the ice in Little Goose Pond. I see those same two tortoises (of December 2d), moving about in the same place under the ice, which I cannot crack with my feet. The Emerson children see six under the ice of Goose Pond to-day. Apparently many winter in the mud of these ponds and pond-holes. In sickness and barrenness it is encouraging to believe that our life is dammed and is coming to a head, so that there seems to be no loss, for what is lost in time is gained in power. All at once, unaccountably, as we are walking in the woods or sitting in our chamber, after a worthless fortnight, we cease to feel mean and barren. I go this afternoon thinking I may find the stakes set for auction lots on the Ministerial Lot in December,’51. I find one white birch standing and two fallen. The latter were faced at one end, for the numbers, and at the other

9. RECORDS OF THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA RELATING TO SLAVES, 1851-1863. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M433, Roll #3: “Manumission Papers, 1857-1863.”) HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” rollen and broken off as short, apparently, as if sawed, because the bark so tears. At first I did not know but they had been moved, but thinking that if they had fallen where they stood I should find some hole or looseness in the ground at the rotten end, I felt for it and in each case found it; in one, also, the rotten point of the stake. Thus in six years two out of three stout (two-and-a-half-inch) birch stakes were flat. The hickory stake I set on R.W.E.’s town line in March,’50, was flat this last summer, or seven years, but a white [sic] stake set in’49-’50 JOHN HOSMER on Moore and Hosmer’s lot was standing aslant this month. A surveyor should know what stakes last longest. I hear a characteristic anecdote respecting Mrs. Hoar, from good authority. Her son Edward, who takes his EDWARD HOAR father’s place and attends to the same duties, asked his mother the other night, when about retiring, “Shall I put the cat down cellar?” “No,” said she, “you may put her outdoors.” The next night he asked, “Shall I put the cat CAT outdoors?” “No,” answered she, “you may put her down cellar.” The third night he asked, “Shall I put the cat down cellar or outdoors?” “Well,” said his mother, “you may open the cellar door and then open the front door, and let her go just which way she pleases.” Edward suggested that it was a cold night for the cat to be outdoors, but his mother said, “Who knows but she has a little kitten somewhere to look after?” Mrs. H. is a peculiar woman, who has her own opinion and way, a strong-willed, managing woman. HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN”

1858

January 1, Friday: For the facilitation of trade and economic ties with its neighbor to the south, Canada began to issue coins denominated in cents, switching over to a decimal system of currency (during the previous year the US had discontinued its practice of long standing of accepting the Spanish dollar, a non-decimalized coin, as official currency).

Henry Thoreau wrote to cousin-by-marriage George A. Thatcher in Bangor:10

Concord Jan 1st 1858

Dear Cousin, Father seems to have got over the jaundice some weeks since, but to be scarcely the better for all that. The cough he has had so long is at least as bad as ever, and though much stronger than when I wrote before he is not sensibly recovering his former amount of health. On the contrary we cannot help regarding him more & more as a sick man. I do not think it a transient ail —which he can entirely re- cover from— nor yet an acute disease, but the form in which the in- firmities of age have come upon him. He sleeps much in his chair, & commonly goes out once a day in pleasant weather. The Harpers have been unexpectedly prompt to pay him — but oth- ers are owing a good deal yet. He has taken one man’s note for $400.00, payable I think in April, & it remains to be seen what it is worth. Mother & Sophia are as well as usual. Aunts returned to Boston some weeks ago. Mr Hoar is still in Concord, attending to Botany, Geology, &c with a view to make his future residence in foreign parts more truly prof- itable to him. I have not yet had an opportunity to convey your re- spects to him — but shall do so. I have been more than usually busy surveying the last six weeks run- ning & measuring lines in the woods, reading old deeds & hunting up bounds which have been lost these 20 years. I have written out a long account of my last Maine journey –part of which I shall read to our Lyceum–, but I do not know how soon I shall print it. We are having a remarkably open winter, no sleighing as yet, & but little ice. 10. The manuscript of this letter can be checked as it is at the Berg Collection of the New York Public Library. The editors of the correspondence, Walter Harding and Carl Bode, would make out in 1958 that Thoreau, in recounting what was happening in the life of Edward Sherman Hoar a century before, had written: “Mr. Hoar is still in Concord, attending to Biology, Ecology, with a view to make his future residence in foreign parts more truly profitable to him.” Of course this wasn’t exactly what Henry had written as might be surmised from the factoid that Eddie Hoar knew precisely nothing whatever of the accommodations by which various species together inhabit and generate biomes, and over and above this, a general historical understanding that such a term hadn’t as yet been coined, even with the spelling “oecologie.” Thoreau had written the word “Geology” and thus we had interjected what was most decidedly an anachronism into this edition of his letters. Subsequently, because of the unforgiving nature of book publication, scholars have needed again and again to track down and scotch the persistent legends and reams of wishful thinking which this understandable error has, unfortunately, generated. HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” I am glad to hear that Charles has a good situation, but I thought that the 3d mate lived with and as the sailors. If he makes a study of navigation &c, and is bent on being master soon, — well & good. It is an honorable & brave life, though a hard one, and turns out as good men as most professions. Where there is a good character to be developed, there are few callings better calculated to develop it. I wish you a happy new Year — Henry D. Thoreau

The draft of “Allegash and East Branch” was announced.

TIMELINE OF THE MAINE WOODS

January 1: There are many words which are genuine and indigenous and have their root in our natures, not made by scholars, and as well understood by the illiterate as others. There are also a great many words which are spurious and artificial, and can only be used in a bad sense, since the thing they signify is not fair and substantial,–such as the church, the judiciary, to impeach, etc., etc. They who use them do not stand on solid ground. It is in vain to try to preserve them by attaching other words to them as the true church, etc. It is like towing a sinking ship with a canoe. I have lately been surveying the Walden woods so extensively and minutely that I now see it mapped in my mind’s eye–as, indeed, on paper–as so many men’s wood-lots, and am aware when I walk there that I am at a given moment passing from such a one’s wood-lot to such another’s. I fear this particular dry knowledge may affect my imagination and fancy, that it will not be easy to see so much wildness and native vigor there as formerly. No thicket will seem so unexplored now that I know that a stake and stones may be found in it. In these respects those Maine woods differed essentially from ours. There you are never reminded that the wilderness which you are threading is, after all, some villager’s familiar wood-lot from which his ancestors have sledded their fuel for generations, or some widow’s thirds, minutely described in some old deed, which is recorded, of which the owner has got a plan, too, and old bound marks may be found every forty rods if you will search.11 What a history this Concord wilderness which I affect so much may have had! How many old deeds describe it,–some particular wild spot,–how it passed from Cole to Robinson, and Robinson to Jones, and Jones finally to Smith, in course of years! Some have cut it over three times during their lives, and some burned it and sowed it with rye, and built walls and made a pasture of it, perchance. All have renewed the bounds and reblazed the trees many times. Here you are not reminded of these things. ’T is true the map informs you that you stand on land granted by the State to such an academy, or on Bingham’s Purchase, but these names do not

11. Maine Woods, page 168; Riv. 206, 207. ECOLOGY HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” impose on you, for you see nothing to remind you of the academy or of Bingham.12

THE FUTURE IS MOST READILY PREDICTED IN RETROSPECT

Summer: Henry Thoreau, Edward Sherman Hoar, Theophilus Brown, and H.G.O. Blake went on a 4-day camping trip to Mt. Washington.13 Edward and Henry would start out from Concord in a horse and carriage hired by Edward on July 2d, would reach the White Mountains and hire a wagon on July 7th, and the four of them would join up on July 8th. While on this trip they would eat in inns and sleep in hotels. Thoreau would sprain his ankle while climbing Mt. Washington and be laid up in the tent for several days.

Most tourists took the train from Boston or New York to the outskirts of the region and spent a night or more in a hotel in 12.Maine Woods, pages 168, 169; Riv. 207. 13. Agiocochook, that Henry and his brother John had first climbed in 1839. HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” one of these towns, taking walks, climbs, and drives to the clustered points of interest in the area. Then they traveled by coach in a circular route through the mountains in carefully timed stages, stopping at each of the important sites. Inside the region, stagecoach rides were the key to the scenic experience, since so many of the best views were seen from the road. Enthusiastic tourists tried to get seats on the roof for the most celebrated parts of the drive. Schedules were often timed for the coaches to arrive at the scenic areas when the best light illuminated the scene. When Caroline Barrett White and her husband visited the White Mountains in 1854, they managed to hit all the highlights of the tour in four days. They took the approved route in the usual direction. On September 6 the Whites traveled up Crawford Notch from North Conway to the Old Crawford House. From this direction, the scenery of the Notch was said to be more dramatic. On the following day they climbed Mount Washington on horseback. On the third day they traveled to Littleton, where they climbed Mount Willard, probably intending to get one of the recommended views of the Presidential Range from the west. The end of that day found them in the Franconia Notch, at the White Mountain House — a good hotel, Caroline recorded, with good food and service and “a splendid Chickering piano.” The Whites had their own horses and buggy and could have arranged their travel any way they wished. In spite of that, their circular itinerary was much the same as everyone else’s. By the 1850s, it was increasingly difficult to imagine the tour in any other way. HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” July 2, Friday: Henry Thoreau, Ellery Channing, and Edward Sherman Hoar left for the White Mountains.

They took a carriage to New Hampshire, and traveled while there in a hired wagon, eating in inns and sleeping in hotels. Thoreau would sprain his ankle while climbing Mount Washington14 and be laid up in tent for several days.

July 2: A.M.–Start for White Mountains in a private carriage with Edward Hoar. Notice in a shallow pool on a rock on a hilltop, in road in North Chelmsford, a rather peculiar-looking Alisma Plantago, with long reddish petioles, just budded. Spent the noon close by the old Dunstable graveyard, by a small stream north of it. Red lilies were abundantly in bloom in the burying-ground and by the river. Mr. Weld’s monument is a large, thick, naturally flat rock, lying flat over the grave. Noticed the monument of Josiah Willard, Esq., “Captain of Fort Dummer.” Died 1750, aged 58. Walked to and along the river and bathed in it. There were harebells, well out, and much Apocynum cannabinum, well out, apparently like ours, prevailing along the steep sandy and stony shore. A marked peculiarity in this species is that the upper branches rise above the lowers. Also get the A. andro~7nifoliu1n, quite downy beneath. The Smilacina stellata going to seed, quite common in the copse on top of the bank. What a relief and expansion of my thoughts when I come out from that inland position by the graveyard to this broad river’s shore! This vista was incredible there. Suddenly I see a broad reach of blue beneath, with its curves and headlands, liberating me from the more terrene earth. What a difference it makes whether I spend my four hours’ nooning between the hills by yonder roadside, or on the brink of this fair river, within a quarter of a mile of that! Here the earth is fluid to my thought, the sky is reflected from beneath, and around yonder cape is the highway to other continents. This current allies me to all the world. Be careful to sit in an elevating and inspiring place. There my thoughts were confined and trivial, and I hid myself from the gaze of travellers. Here they are expanded and elevated, and I am charmed by the beautiful river-reach. It is equal to a different season and country and creates a different mood. As you travel northward from Concord, probably the reaches of the 14.Agiocochook, that he and his brother John had first climbed in 1839. HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” Merrimack River, looking up or down them from the bank, will be the first inspiring sight. There is something in the scenery of a broad river equivalent to culture and civilization. Its channel conducts our thoughts as well as bodies to classic and famous ports, and allies us to all that is fair and great. I like to remember that at the end of half a day’s walk I can stand on the bank of the Merrimack. It is just wide enough to interrupt the land and lead my eye and thoughts down its channel to the sea. A river is superior to a lake in its liberating influence. It has motion and indefinite length. A river touching the back of a town is like a wing, it may be unused as yet, but ready to waft it over the world. With its rapid current it is a slightly fluttering wing. River towns are winged towns. I returned through the grass up the winding channel of our little brook to the camp again. Along the brook, in the rank grass and weeds, grew abundantly a slender umbelliferous plant mostly just out of bloom, one and a half to four feet high. Either Thaspium aureum or Cryptotaenia Canadensis (Sison).l Saw also the scouring-rush, apparently just beginning to bloom! In the southern part of Merrimack, passed a singular “Horseshoe Pond” between the road and the river on the interval. Belknap says in his History, speaking of the changes in river-courses, “In some places these ancient BELKNAP channels are converted into ponds, which, from their curved form, are called horseshoe ponds.” Put up at tavern in Merrimack, some miles after passing over a pretty high, flat-topped hill in road, whence we saw the mountains (with a steep descent to the interval on right). 7 P.M.–I walked by a path through the wood northeast to the Merrimack, crossing two branches of Babboosuck Brook, on which were handsome rocky falls in the woods. The wood thrush sings almost wherever I go, eternally reconsecrating the world, morning and evening, for us. And again it seems habitable and more than habitable to us.

December 28, Tuesday: At the American consulate in Florence, Edward Sherman Hoar got married with his childhood neighbor Elizabeth Hallett Prichard (through that winter and spring the couple would reside at the apartment of Elizabeth Sherman Hoar in Rome and associate with the Anglo-American community there).

Governor Samuel Medary of Kansas requested that federal troops be sent into Bourbon, Linn, and Lykins counties. THE 2D GREAT AMERICAN DISUNION

December 28: P.M. –To Walden. The earth is bare. I walk about the pond looking at the shores, since I have not paddled about it much of late years. What a grand place for a promenade! Methinks it has not been so low for ten years, and many alders, etc., are left dead on its brink. The high blue-berry appears to bear this position, alternate wet and dry, as well as any shrub or tree. I see winterberries still abundant in one place. That rocky shore under the pitch pines which so reflects the light, is only three feet wide by one foot high; yet there even to-day the ice is melted close to the edge, and just off this shore the pickerel are most abundant. This is the warm and sunny side to which any one–man,-bird, or quadruped–would soonest resort in cool weather. I notice a few chickadees there in the edge of the pines, in the sun, lisping and twittering cheerfully to one another, with a reference to me, I think,–the cunning and innocent little birds. One a little further off utters the phoebe note. There is a foot more or less of clear open water at the edge here, and, seeing this, one of these birds hops down as if glad to find any open water at this season, and, after drinking, it stands in the water on a stone up to its belly and dips its head and flirts the water about vigorously, giving itself a good washing. I had not suspected this at this season. No fear that it will catch cold. The ice cracks suddenly with a shivering jar like crockery or the brittlest material, such as it is. And I notice, as I sit here at this open edge, that each time the ice cracks, though it may be a good distance off toward the middle, the water here is very much agitated. The ice is about six inches thick. Aunt Jane says that she was born on Christmas Day, and they called her a Christmas gift, and she remembers hearing that her Aunt Hannah Orrock was so disconcerted by the event that she threw all the spoons outdoors, when she had washed them, or with the dish-water. AUNT JANE THOREAU Father says that he and his sisters (except Elizabeth) were born in Richmond Street, Boston, between Salem and Hanover Streets, on the spot where a bethel now stands, on the left hand going from Hanover Street. HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” They had milk of a neighbor, who used to drive his cows to and from the Common every day. BOSTON COMMON BOSTON

THOREAU LIFESPANS HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN”

1859

August 27, Saturday: Edward Sherman Hoar, the pregnant Elizabeth Hallett Prichard Hoar, and Elizabeth Sherman Hoar sailed from Liverpool for Boston aboard the Europa.

Since whale oil for lamps had begun to be scarce in the 1850s, Canadians had been converting seeping ground oil into kerosene and using this substance in their lamps. Seeping ground oil had been noticed, by white people such as George Bissell, to be present near the ground surface at a place called “Oil Creek” near Titusville in Venango County, Pennsylvania.15 On this day Bissell’s employee Edwin Laurentine Drake of Castleton, Vermont began drilling what was to become, upon reaching a depth of 21 meters, the 1st successful oil well.

Gerrit Smith delivered a printed letter to John Thomas,

chairman of the Jerry Rescue Committee, declining to participate in the 1859 annual celebration of the rescue of Syracuse’s Jerry McHenry. In this writing the millionaire expressed frustration with the abolitionist movement and forecast that because the mere words of the abolitionists had failed to persuade their countrymen, “For insurrections then we may look any year, any month, any day.”

August 27. A little more rain last night. What were those insects, some winged, with short backs and say half an inch long, others wingless and shorter, like little coils of brass wire (so marked), in dense droves together on trees and fences,–apparently harmless,– especially a week or ten days ago? I was telling Jonas Potter of my lameness yesterday, whereat he says that he “broke” both his feet when he was young,–I imagined how they looked through his wrinkled cowhides,–and he did not get over it for four years, nay, even now he sometimes felt pains in them before a storm. All our life, i. e. the living part of it, is a persistent dreaming awake. The boy does not camp in his father’s yard. That would not be adventurous enough, there are too many sights and sounds to disturb the illusion; so he marches off twenty or thirty miles and there pitches his tent, where stranger inhabitants are tamely sleeping in their beds just like his father at home, and camps in their yard, perchance. But then he dreams uninterruptedly that he is anywhere but where he is. I often see yarrow with a delicate pink tint, very distinct from the common pure-white ones. What is often called poverty, but which is a simpler and truer relation to nature, gives a peculiar relish to life, 15. There were, however, at this point, any number of pre-existing human-dug pits along Oil Creek, lined with decaying wood. Carbon testing of some of the wood from some of these pits indicate that native Americans had been well aware of the oil in this vicinity, and had been systematically collecting it, since at least 510 years ago, which is to say, since at least the Year of Our Lord 1487 before the sailing of Christopher Columbus. It is speculated that native American uses for the oil included use for ointment, use for medication, and use for waterproofing. HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” just as to be kept short gives us an appetite for food. Vilfa vaginaflora (?) well out. The first notice I have that grapes are ripening is by the rich scent at evening from my own native vine against the house, when I go to the pump, though I thought there were none on it. The children have done bringing huckleberries to sell for nearly a week. They are suspected to have berries [SIC] in them. On the 23d I gathered perfectly fresh and large low blackberries, peculiarly sweet and soft, in the shade of the pines at Thrush Alley, long after they are done in open fields. They seem like a different variety from the common, they are so much sweeter, tenderer, and larger. They do not grow densely but sparingly, now resting on the ground in the shade of their leaves, perfectly ripe. These that have ripened slowly and perfectly in the shade are the sweetest and tenderest, have the least of the bramble berry about them. Elder-berry clusters swell and become heavy and therefore droop, bending the bushes down, just in proportion as they ripen. Hence you see the green cymes perfectly erect, the half-ripe drooping, and the perfectly ripe hanging straight down on the same bush. I think that some summer squashes had turned yellow in our yard a fortnight or more ago. There are various ways in which you can tell if a watermelon is ripe. If you have had your eye on the patch much from the first, and so know which formed first, you may-presume that these will ripen soonest; or else you may incline to those which lie nearest the centre of the hill or root, as the oldest. Next the dull dead color and want of bloom are as good signs as any. Some look green and livid and have a very fog or mildew of bloom on them, like a fungus. These are as green as a leek through and through, and you’ll find yourself in a pickle if you open one. Others have a dead dark greenness, the circulations being less rapid in their cuticles and their blooming period passed, and these you may safely bet on. If the vine is quite green and lively, the death of the quirl at the root of the stem is almost a sure sign. For fear we should not discover it before, this is placed for a sign that there is redness and ripeness (if not mealiness) within. Of two otherwise similar, take that which yields the lowest tone when struck with your knuckles, i. e., which is hollowest. The old or ripe ones sing base; the young, tenor or falsetto. Some use the violent method of pressing to hear if they crack within, but this is not to be allowed. Above all no tapping on the vine is to be tolerated, suggestive of a greediness which defeats its own purpose. It is very childish. One man told me that he couldn’t raise melons because his children would cut them all up. I thought that he convicted himself out of his own mouth, and was not fit to be the ruler of a country according to Confucius’ standard, that at any rate he could not raise children in the way they should go. I once saw one of his boys astride of my earliest watermelon, which grew near a broken paling, and brandishing a case- knife over it, but I instantly blowed him off with my voice from a neighboring window before serious damage was done, and made such an ado about [IT] as convinced him that he was not in his father’s dominions, at any rate. This melon, though it lost some of its bloom then, grew to be a remarkably large and sweet one, though it bore to the last a triangular scar of the tap which the thief had designed on it. I served my apprenticeship and have since done considerable journey-work in the huckleberry-field, though I never paid for my schooling and clothing in that way. It was itself some of the best schooling I got, and paid for itself. Occasionally in still summer forenoons, when perhaps a mantua-maker was to be dined, and a huckleberry pudding had been decided on, I, a lad of ten, was dispatched to the huckleberry hills, all alone. My scholastic education could be thus far tampered with and an excuse might be found. No matter how few and scarce the berries on the near hills, the exact number necessary for a huckleberry pudding could surely be collected by 11 o’clock. My rule in such cases was never to eat one till my dish was full. At other times when I had companions, some used to bring such curiously shaped dishes that I was often curious to see how the berries disposed of themselves in them. Some brought a coffee-pot to the huckleberry-field, and such a vessel possessed this advantage at least, that if a greedy boy had skimmed off a handful or two on his way home, he had only to close the lid and give his vessel a shake to have it full again. This was done all round when we got as far homeward as the Dutch house. This can probably be done with any vessel that has much side to it. I once met with a whole family–father and mother and children–ravaging a huckleberry-field in this wise: they cut up the bushes, and, as they went, beat them over the edge of a bushel basket, till they had it full of berries, ripe and green, leaves, sticks, etc., and so they passed along out of my sight like wild men. See Veratrum viride completely withered and brown from top to bottom, probably as early as skunk-cabbage. HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” September 9, Friday: At the annual celebration of the Society of California, held as California was being admitted to the federal union of the United States of America, J.C. Duncan had read the poem of the day, written for the event by John R. Ridge.

Edward Sherman Hoar, Elizabeth Hallett Prichard Hoar, and Elizabeth Sherman Hoar arrived in Boston Harbor aboard the Europa. Elizabeth resumed residence in her family’s Concord home (the address is now 158 Main Street).

The Massachusetts Militia held its Grand Review of Troops at “Camp Massachusetts” near Concord (which should have kept them out of Thoreau’s hair for the entire day). Here is the illustration from the September 24 issue of Harper’s Weekly Gentleman’s Magazine:16

Heroic Followers Heroic Leaders

September 9: I start many pigeons [American Passenger Pigeon Ectopistes migratorius] now in a sprout-land. I have noticed for a week or more some swarms of light-colored and very small fuzzy gnats in the air, yet not in such concentrated swarms as I shall see by and by. Now for hazelnuts,–where the squirrels have not got them. Within a week I think I have heard screech owls at evening from over the river once or twice. HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN”

1860

January 23, Monday: Florence Hoar was born to Edward Sherman Hoar and Elizabeth Hallett Prichard Hoar in Concord (this would be an only child, with her name reflected the Italian venue of her parents’ wedding). Soon the family would purchase a farm in Lincoln (the Snelling/Hayden Farm on the Old Concord Road).

Henry Thoreau was being written to on plumbago business, by Chauncey Smith in Boston. Boston Jan 23d 1860 Mr Henry D Thoreau Dear Sir Enclosed please find note of my brother L.L. Smith for $100 payable in three months with my endorsement and acknowl- edge the [receipt] thereof to him Yours truly Chauncey Smith

[At right angles to the text of Smith's letter are later pencil additions by Thoreau including a list of clothing and supplies, and a column of figures. On the back of the note is one other column of figures and two columns of clothing, household & farming supplies, etc.]

The Senate Select Committee on the Harper’s Ferry Invasion was able to obtain testimony from Charles Blair, the blacksmith who had fashioned John Brown’s thousand pikes: By the Chairman: 16. But now I want to know, precisely, on a map, where this “Camp Massachusetts” was located! Was it where Hanscom Airfield is now, out beyond Thoreau’s birth house on Virginia Road? HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” Question. Will you state where you reside, and what is your occupation? Answer. I reside at Collinsville, Connecticut; I am a blacksmith by trade -- a forger. Question. Did you know the late John Brown who was recently executed under the laws of Virginia? Answer. I did. Question. Will you state when you made his acquaintance, and under what circumstances? Answer. I made his acquaintance in the early part of 1857, if I mistake not, in the latter part of February or fore part of March. He came to our place, Collinsville, as I supposed, to visit connections who lived in our town. He himself was born, as I have understood, in Torringford, ten miles from there, and some of his relatives lived in a town five miles from our village. He spoke in a public hall one evening -- perhaps by invitation of some of the community, but I do not know how that was -- and gave an account of some of his experience in Kansas, and at the close of the meeting made an appeal to the audience. After stating the wants of many of the free settlers in Kansas, their privations and need of clothing, &c., he made an appeal for aid for the purpose of furnishing them the necessaries of life, as he declared. I think there was no collection taken up for him at that time. I do not know that I spoke with him that night, but on the following morning, if I mistake not, he was exhibiting to a number of gentlemen who happened to be collected together in a druggist’s store some weapons which he claimed to have taken from Captain Pate in Kansas. Among them was a two- edged dirk, with a blade about eight inches long, and he remarked that if he had a lot of those things to attach to poles about six feet long, they would be a capital weapon of defense for the settlers of Kansas to keep in their log cabins to defend themselves against any sudden attack that might be made on them. He turned to me, knowing, I suppose, that I was engaged in edge- tool making, and asked me what I would make them for; what it would cost to make five hundred or a thousand of those things, as he described them. I replied, without much consideration, that I would make him five hundred of them for a dollar and a quarter a piece; or if he wanted a thousand of them, I thought they might be made for a dollar a piece. I did not wish to commit myself then and there without further investigation, but it was my impression that they might be made for a dollar a piece. He simply remarked that he would want them made. I thought no more about it until a few days afterwards. I did not really suppose he meant it then. I will endeavor to state the circumstances as correctly as I can, though three years have transpired, and I may find it necessary to refer to some of his letters to quicken my memory in regard to the matter. I have several of his letters with me here. I think he went to Springfield, Massachusetts, before a bargain was made between us; at any rate, the result was that I made a contract with him. From the tenor of this letter, [producing a letter from John Brown to Charles Blair, dated Springfield, Massachusetts, 23d March, 1857,] I think, he ordered me to make a dozen as samples, and I had forwarded them to Springfield before receiving this letter. Question. Will you be good enough to look at that weapon in the corner of the room [referring to the pike produced and identified by A.M. Kitzmiller] and see whether that is according HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” to the sample that you furnished? Answer. That is nearly like it. The first dozen that I made as samples had wrought-iron ferules, rivetted through and blacked. When he came to make the contract, he wrote it to have malleable ferules cast solid, and a guard to be of malleable iron. That was all the difference. Question. Was your contract to furnish the handles as well as the weapons? Answer. Yes, sir. Question. Did you, in your samples, furnish handles as well as weapons? Answer. Yes, sir. After seeing the sample he made a slight alteration. One was to have a screw put in, as the one here has, so that they could be unshipped in case of necessity. To go back a little when it became apparent to me that he was in earnest about having them made, I began to demur a little, doubting whether he was able to pay me, and I said to him, “Mr. Brown, I am a laboring man, and, if I engage in this contract with you, I shall want to know how I am going to get my pay.” He said, “That is all right. It is just that you should, and I will make it perfectly secure to you; I will give you one half the money, that is $500, within ten days; I will pay you the balance within thirty days, and give you ninety days to complete the contract.” That would carry it to somewhere near the 1st of July, 1857. Before making any move in the matter, I waited to receive the first installment. Mr. Collamer. Was there a written contract? Answer. Yes, sir; he drew up a contract in writing himself. The Chairman. Have you got that contract? Answer. I have not. It was a short contract, written on half a page of paper, perhaps; simply stating what the terms of it were. Question. How many was the contract for? Answer. A thousand. Question. At what price? Answer. One dollar each; pretty good, stiff pay; and hence, when I made the offer to make them for a dollar, it occurred to me as a matter of course that he would demur to the price, and it would fall through. He paid me $350 within ten days. This advancement was made in the latter part of March, 1857. I then went and purchased my materials. I went to a handle-maker in Massachusetts and engaged him to make a thousand handles. I purchased the steel for the blades and set a man forging them out, and he forged out perhaps five hundred of them. In the beginning of April I received another letter from him, stating that he was then unable to pay the balance of the money; that he had not the funds, but hoped to have them soon. [Letter produced, dated Springfield, Massachusetts, April 2, 1857, addressed by John Brown to Charles Blair.] Soon afterwards I received another letter sending me a draft for $200, making altogether $550, fifty dollars more than he promised to give me as the first instalment. [Letter produced, dated Springfield, Massachusetts, April 25, 1857, addressed by John Brown to Charles Blair.] Question. This letter says, “If you do not hurry out but 500 of those articles it may, perhaps, be as well, until you hear again;” did you construe that as a revocation of the order for the remaining 500? Answer. I did not. The thirty days, I think, must have expired HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” at the time that letter was written; and it alludes to the fact that $200 did not come until after the expiration of the first ten days. He explained to me in a letter, which I have lost, why the $200 of the $550 had not been paid me until after the expiration of the ten days. The last time I saw him before that, he inquired of me whether he could get two or three heavy wagons built in that vicinity, to be done in a short time, and I remarked to him that I had a friend who was engaged in the manufacture of heavy wagons, who lived at Colebrook, and that if he chose I would write to him and see if he could furnish any. I had done so, but this man, whose name was Parsons, wrote me that he could not furnish them in the time required, and of course nothing further was done about it. That explains the allusion in the letter to my Colebrook friend. Shortly afterwards, in May, I received a letter from Brown, saying that I need not hurry out the first 500 until the handles were properly seasoned, nor the remainder till I heard from him. [Letter produced, dated Cannistota, New York, May 14, 1857, addressed by John Brown to Charles Blair.] I at that time contemplated a journey into Iowa. About the time he left our place he said to me that he was going back to Kansas. I told him I had never made a journey west, and that I contemplated going into Iowa, and should be happy of his company. That explains part of his letter. In regard to the rest of it, the handles were in a green state, and I wrote him that unless they were seasoned, when the blades came to be put in, they would shrink away and all become lose; and if he was not in any particular hurry he had better let them remain and become seasoned. I worked on perhaps until several days after the expiration of the thirty days in which the second installment was to come, but, receiving no further funds from Mr. Brown, I stopped the thing right where it was, determining that I would not run any risk in the matter. I just laid it aside, and there it lay, the work in an unfinished state, the handles stored away in the store-house, the steel which I had purchased stored away in boxes, the few blades which I had forged were laid away. Thus it was until last June; nothing more was done. Question. Did you hear anything more from Brown? Answer. I will read to you all the letters I received from him during the time; that is, all I have preserved, and I think they embrace all I received. Mr. Fitch. Had you in the mean time sent him the five hundred? Answer. Not one; I never finished any of them. It is possible that I have lost two or three of the letters; but, if I mistake not, the next letter I received from him was dated at Rochester, in February, 1858, nearly a year after the contract I made with him. [Letter produced, dated Rochester, New York, February 10, 1858, addressed by John Brown to Charles Blair.] What he meant by saying in this letter that he was again in the United States I did not know, for I did not know that he had been out; but, since the Harpers Ferry affair, I have learned what that means. In answer to that, I wrote to him -- I have no copy of that letter, and I must give you my best impression of it -- that immediately after the expiration of the thirty days I dropped the thing; that I had never finished any of the articles, and, of course, had none to forward; that I considered the contract at an end, and had other business to attend to. That was the substance of my letter. After that, I received another letter HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” from him, dated at Philadelphia. [Letter produced, signed John Brown, and addressed to Charles Blair, dated Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 11, 1858.] Nothing more was heard from Mr. Brown at all, in any way or shape, until on the 3d day of June, 1859, the old man appeared at my door, unexpectedly of course, and said to me, “I have been unable, sir, to fulfill my contract with you up to this time; I have met with various disappointments; now I am able to do so.” I say it was the 3d day of June, because the receipt that I gave him, which I presume you have, bears date June 4. That is the only thing I have to remind me of the date. The Chairman exhibits to the witness (from among the papers proved by Andrew Hunter as having been produced at John Brown’s trial) a paper in these words: “Received, Collinsville, June 4, 1859, of John Brown, on contract of 1857, $150. Charles Blair.” And asks: Is that the paper to which you refer? Answer. Yes, sir. The evening before, he came in by the train, made his appearance about six o’clock, and stated to me that he was now able to fulfill his contract with me. I remarked, “Mr. Brown, the contract I consider forfeited, and I am differently situated from what I was then; it will be exceedingly inconvenient for me to do any more with it; I have business now of a different kind; my men are fully employed on other work; and I do not see how I can do it.” “Well,” said he, “I want to make you perfectly good in this matter, I do not want you to lose a cent.” I said “I shall not lose anything; I was careful in the first place not to exceed the amount of money I had in my hands, and I shall lose nothing if I drop it right here.” I said to him, however, that he might take the steel and the handles just as they were, and I would pass receipts with him. “No,” said he, “I do not want to do that; they are not good for anything as they are.” At that point I remarked, “What good can they be if they are finished; Kansas matters are all settled, and of what earthly use can they be to you now?” “Well,” he replied, “that they might be of some use if they were finished up, that he could dispose of them in some way, but as they were, they were good for nothing.” I then said to him, “I will receive of you the remaining $450, if you have it and wish to pay it to me, and if I can find a man anywhere in the vicinity that is accustomed to doing such work who will finish up the work, I will do so, provided I can do it and come within the means, and it will not be much trouble to me, because I am very busy and have not time to attend to it; but in case I do not succeed in finding a man to do it, I will refund you this $450.” Said he, “That is all right, and I will agree to it.” A short conversation passed on that day, and he left me with that understanding, but paid me no money then. He went to the hotel and stayed over night, and in the morning, about seven o’clock, he came again and told me that he was about to start for New York, and that he would pay me $150 then, and would send me from New York on the following day, or from Troy, within a day or two from that time, $300 more. I said “very well.” He took out his pocket book and paid me fifty dollars in bills and a one hundred dollar check, and I gave him the receipt which has been shown; I scratched it off in a hurry. He hurried to the cars and went off, as I supposed, for New York. A few days after that, four or five perhaps, I received a letter inclosing a draft for $300. [Letter produced, dated Troy, New York, 7th June, 1859, HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” addressed to Charles Blair by John Brown.] The letter that I wrote in answer to that, has appeared in the public prints, and I presume you have it. The Chairman exhibits to the witness a letter dated Collinsville, Connecticut, June 10, 1859, addressed to “Friend Brown,” and signed Charles Blair, being one of the papers proved by Andrew Hunter, as having been produced at John Brown’s trial, and asks: Is that it? Answer. That is the reply I made to that letter. In regard to the time, I think he spoke to me something about liking to have them finished up as soon as possible, and that was the reason of my saying that man could not finish them up any sooner. In the month of July, I was absent on a business tour at the West, and during my absence a letter was received from John Brown, requesting me, when those goods were finished up -- if I remember aright, the term “goods” was used, as in all his writing -- to forward them to Chambersburg, in Pennsylvania, to J. Smith & Sons, at the same time requesting me to give him the price of axes, hatchets, broadaxes, and picks. That letter my son received, and I have not got it with me. My son replied to it, in my absence, telling him where he could find the price of those articles, which we were making; that I was absent, and probably, when I got home, I would write him. It is that letter, I presume, which caused the subpena [sic] for me to be directed to “Charles H. Blair, alias Charles Blair.” Charles H. Blair is my son. Soon after I arrived home, I received a letter, in an entirely different handwriting, from Chambersburg. [Letter produced, signed J. Smith & Sons, addressed to Charles Blair, and dated Chambersburg, Franklin county, Pennsylvania, August 24, 1859.] A few days subsequent to that, I received another letter from J. Smith & Sons, requesting me to forward the “freight,” when ready. In my reply, which I have also seen in the papers, I made use of the term “freight” because they had used the term, and said it had not been forwarded, but would be in a few days. The Chairman exhibits to the witness a letter, dated Collinsville, Connecticut, August 27, 1859, addressed to Messrs. J. Smith & Sons, and signed Charles Blair, being one of the papers proved by Andrew Hunter as having been produced at John Brown’s trial, and asks: Is that your reply, of which you now speak, to the letter signed J. Smith & Sons? Answer. Yes, sir; that is my reply to that letter. I do not know that I said, if I did not I will here say, that I went out of town and got a man by the name of Hart to finish up this work for me. Mr. Hart was an acquaintance of mine, whom I had formerly known, and I knew him to be engaged in edge-tool manufacturing, a competent man to do it, and I submitted the whole thing to him. I received one other letter, which I cannot find, before a letter dated September 15, which I shall presently produce, simply saying to me that when I sent the goods to Mr. Brown, I should send them to the care of Oakes & Cauffman. I presume that, when I marked the goods, I left that letter at the manufactory of the man who finished them. When they were done, I saw that the blades were tied up in boxes, and the handles in bundles. I simply marked them according to the directions. Then the next letter I received was dated September 15, acknowledging the receipt of the goods. [Letter produced, dated Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, Thursday, September 15, 1859, addressed to Charles H. Blair, and signed J. Smith & Sons.] That is the whole story, HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” I believe. Question. Will you state of what wood those handles were made? Answer. Ash timber. Question. Was that Brown’s selection or yours? Answer. My impression is that it was his selection, It is a common timber that we use for fork handles. In the course of the conversation I had with him, he spoke of the handle being made like a fork handle, about the size of a hay-fork handle, and of the same material. Question. Did he prescribe the length? Answer. The contract, I believe, was that they were to be six feet or six feet and a half long. I am not positive which. Question. And the form of the weapon he showed from a weapon that he alleged he had taken from Pate, but to be accommodated to that fashioned pike? Answer. Yes, sir; and I will show you the difference. The dirk had a ridge in the middle and was beveled each way, and was not as wide as this by about one fourth. His direction was to have it made two inches wide, if I mistake not, and a trifle longer than the blade he showed me. That had a guard shorter than this, and had a neat handle. It was an expensive weapon. Question. Can you get a copy of that contract or the contract itself? Answer. No, sir; I could not lay my hands on it when I came away; it has been lost. Question. Did the contract prescribe minutely the mode and fashion and material of which the weapon was to be made? Answer. It did not describe the blade, but simply that the ferules and guard were to be made of solid malleable iron and a screw through the shank and the ferules; that, I believe, was the description; it described the length of the handle. Question. What is the blade there made of? Answer. Of cast steel. Question. You said they were put in boxes -- by whose direction were they put up separately from the handles when they were sent on? Answer. By Brown’s direction, in one of the letters I read to you; they were tied up in bundles of about twenty or twenty-five in a bundle. Question. Do you recollect in the address that you gave them to J. Smith & Sons to the care of Oakes & Cauffman, whether they were described as fork-handles? Answer. They were marked fork-handles; I do not think that was Brown’s direction; it was my own; I did not know what else to call them. They were properly fork-handles, and I so marked them. Question. How could you say they were properly fork-handles when they were intended for a weapon? Answer. Because they were just about the length and size; that is all. By Mr. Collamer: Question. Did you go to a fork-handle maker to get them? Answer. Yes, sir; I ought to say, perhaps, that they are rather smaller than he ordered. They are much smaller than they were when they were green. They have been made three years and they have shrunk some. By the Chairman: Question. Was the whole affair furnished by that man or HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” yourself, including the screw which connects the handle and the blade? Answer. We furnished them all, although the ferules and the screw were made at New Haven. The malleable iron was made by a firm in New Haven. Question. But the whole thing was furnished, so that nothing was required but to put them together? Answer. Yes, sir; that was in accordance with the contract. Question. What was the whole number furnished, did you say? Answer. The contract was for a thousand, but I think there were nine hundred and fifty-four sent. Question. Were they all sent at one shipment? Answer. Yes, sir; all at once. Question. I think you said it was in June, 1859, that he came back to your place of business? Answer. Yes, sir. Question. Did he tell you nothing in reference to what use he proposed then to make of them, except what you have already spoken of? Answer. Not another syllable; I have stated precisely the language that he used: “I think that they might be useful if finished up, but they were good for nothing as they were.” That, I think, is all he said about them. The idea I got, when he first spoke of them, was that he was going to sell them to the people in Kansas, and I think he made use of this expression, that he wanted them for the poor settlers in Kansas who were not able to purchase fire-arms; that they needed some weapon of defense to keep in their cabins, and such a thing would be useful to them. Question. When you were required afterwards to send them to Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, did any conversation arise as to the reason of their change of destiny? Answer. Not at all; I got the impression that they were on their way to Ohio or to the West; I never know where Chambersburg was at all, and having always had in my mind the idea that they were first originally destined for the West, I did not know but that he might send them, and that Oakes & Cauffman, as I supposed, were forwarding merchants, and J. Smith & Sons, I supposed, were a bona fide firm. Since further developments have come out, it appears who J. Smith & Sons were, but I certainly knew nothing about it at that time. By Mr. Collamer: Question. You say Mr. Brown made you these payments? Did he make them in money? Answer. Part was in money and part was in a draft or check. Question. In 1857, it would seem, he sent you a check on New York? Answer. A draft on New York for $200. Question. Was that of his own drawing? Did he sign it? Answer. I think not; I think it was a draft drawn by one of the banks in Springfield on a bank in New York, payable to bearer, or it might have been payable to Brown, I cannot remember that; that draft came to me through a man by the name of Rust, living in the same town where I am. In writing to him Brown inclosed this draft, and requested him to hand it to me. Question. Now, when you come to 1859, and what he sent you from Troy, what did he send you? Answer. A draft, according to my statement, for $300. If I HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” remember right, I cannot say positively, but it is my impression, it was a draft drawn by the cashier of one of the banks of Troy, payable to me. Question. Did you receive from him any other checks or drafts of any kind towards these payments? Answer. When I received the $150, for which I gave him that receipt, dated the 4th of June, 1859, he gave me, as part of that, one check drawn by Gerritt Smith for $100. The rest was in bank bills of the Springfield or Boston banks. I cannot say which. Question. Where was that check of Gerritt Smith upon? Answer. Upon one of the Albany banks, if I remember aright. I think it was a check made payable to John Brown, or bearer, or perhaps Brown’s name was not contained in it; but I remember it distinctly, because it occurred to me at once that Gerritt Smith was a prominent man, here was his check for $100, and I supposed him to be good for it. I was inclined to be more particular about the check than I was about the drafts. I knew the drafts must be good, having been drawn by the cashier of a bank. By the Chairman: Question. The money was all received on them; they were all paid? Answer. Yes, sir; as far as I know. I never heard anything from them. They were checked for me by Mr. Norton, who is treasurer of our savings bank. Charles Blair.

January 23. 8 A.M.— On river. Walking on the ice by the side of the river this very pleasant morning, I see many minnows (may be dace) from one and a half to four inches long which have come out, through holes or cracks a foot wide more or less, where the current has worn through and shows the dark stream, and the water has flown over the adjacent ice, sinking it down so as to form a shallow water four or five feet wide or more, and often several rods long, and four or five inches deep on the side next the crack, or deepest side. This water has a yellowish color, and a fish or anything else in it is at once seen. I think that they come out into this thin water overlying the ice for the sake of the sun’s warmth. Much heat must be reflected from the icy bottom this sunny morning, — a sort of anticipation of spring to them. This shallow surface water is also thinly frozen over, and I can sometimes put my hand close over the minnow. When alarmed they make haste back to the dark water of the crack, and seek the depths again. Each pleasant morning like this all creatures recommence life with new resolutions, — even these minnows, methinks. That snow which in the afternoons these days is thawing and dead — in which you slump — is now hard and crisp, supporting your weight, and has a myriad brilliant sparkles in the sunlight. When a thaw comes, old tracks are enlarged in every direction, so that an ordinary man’s track will look like DOG the track of a snow-shoe, and a hound’s track will sometimes have spread to a foot in diameter (when there is a thin snow on ice), with all the toes distinct, looking like the track of a behemoth or megalonyx. Minott says that pigeons [American Passenger Pigeon Ectopistes migratorius] alight in great flocks on GEORGE MINOTT the tops of hemlocks in March, and he thinks they eat the seed. (But he also thought for the same reason that they ate the white pine seed at the same season, when it is not there! They might find a little of the last adhering to the pitch.) Says he used to shoot the gray squirrel thus: he put his hat or coat upon a stick while the squirrel hung behind an upright limb, then, going round to the side, he shot him, for the squirrel avoided exposing himself to the coat as much as to the man. He has stood on the steep hill southwest side of Moore’s Swamp and seen two foxes chase a white rabbit all about it. The rabbit would dodge them in the thicket, and now and then utter a loud cry of distress. The foxes would burst out on the meadow and then dash into the thicket again. This was when the wood had been cut and he could see plainly. He says that the white rabbit loves to sit concealed under the over-arching cinnamon ferns (which he calls “buck-horns”) on the sunny side of a swamp, or under a tuft of brakes which are partly fallen over. That a hound in its head-long course will frequently run over the fox, which quickly turns and gets off three or four rods before the former can stop himself. For Spring and Blossoming vide Pliny, vol. ii, page 163. HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN”

March 27, 28, 31, and April: Henry Thoreau surveyed the Snelling/Hayden Farm on the Old Concord Road in South Lincoln of Edward Sherman Hoar.

View Henry Thoreau’s personal working drafts of his surveys courtesy of AT&T and the Concord Free Public Library: http://www.concordlibrary.org/scollect/Thoreau_Surveys/Thoreau_Surveys.htm

(The official copy of this survey of course had become the property of the person or persons who had hired this Concord town surveyor to do their surveying work during the 19th Century. Such materials have yet to be recovered.)

View this particular personal working draft of a survey in fine detail: HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” http://www.concordlibrary.org/scollect/Thoreau_Surveys/53.htm

This farm was very near Mount Misery, James Baker’s houselot, Garfield, and Frederic Hayden. On the back of this survey is written “Snelling Far, So. Lincoln” meaning “Snelling farm in South Lincoln.” Edward “the Californian” Hoar would manage this farm for some 11 years, and would personally drive the farm wagon to the market around Faneuil Hall in Boston to vend his produce.

Before a woodlot can be sold, its acreage must be measured so that its commodity value as a fuel can be accurately estimated. He did this dozens of times, especially for his townsmen thereby contributing to local deforestation. Before a farm can be subdivided for housing, a survey was legally required. Before an upland swamp can be redeemed for tillage, it must be drained. And with large drainage projects, accurate surveys were needed to determine the best pathways and gradients for flow. Thoreau helped kill several of the swamps he otherwise claimed to cherish. In short, Thoreau personally and significantly contributed to the intensification of private capital development throughout the valley. Additionally, he surveyed for roads, cemeteries, and public buildings, which required the cutting away of hills and the filling of wetlands. Like the bankers, lawyers, builders, farmers, and elected officials who were his clients, Thoreau was an instrument of change. He knew it, and it make him uncomfortable. But he kept doing it anyway, because he needed the money. — Professor Robert M. Thorson, THE BOATMAN, pages 116-117

[Lewis Hayden happens to have been a black leader in downtown Boston, an escapee from Kentucky. Does that mean that this “Frederic Hayden,” mentioned here and nowhere else in this database, was likewise black?]

March 28, Wednesday: Charles Wesley Moffet or Moffett, age 33, got married in Montour, Iowa with Emma Manfull (born August 3, 1831 in Augusta, Ohio). The couple would produce Edwin Sager Moffett, II during February 1861, Edith Moffett on February 12, 1863, Georgiana Moffett on June 26, 1865, Murry Moffet, Sr. on December 20, 1867, Jesse Moffett during January 1871, and Hannah Starr Moffett on October 20, 1873. HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” March 27 & 28. Surveying Ed. Hoar’s farm in Lincoln. Fair, but windy and rather cool. Louis Minor tells me he saw some geese about the 23d. HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN”

1866

Sometime after the death of the mother Sarah Sherman Hoar, Edward Sherman Hoar, Elizabeth Hallett Prichard Hoar, and their daughter Florence Hoar became part of Elizabeth Sherman Hoar’s Concord household. HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN”

1871

December: Jacob’s Ladder, that had been purchased in 1832 from the St. Helena Railway Company by the East India Company for £882, was at this point reconstructed at a cost of £846.

The Ancient Order of Foresters was formed.

Having sold their farm on the Old Concord Road in Lincoln, Edward Sherman Hoar and Elizabeth Hallett Prichard Hoar, their daughter Florence, Carrie Hoar (daughter of Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar and Caroline Downes Brooks Hoar), and their cousins Helen Pierce Van Vost and Augusta Pierce sailed for Italy in search of a better climate for Edward’s health. They would settle at Arinella near Palermo, Sicily and remain for a couple of years, raising crops of oranges, lemons, and figs.

President Ulysses S. Grant urged the federal Congress to implement the provisions of the National Telegraph Act of 1866, and buy out the Western Union Telegraph Company. HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN”

1872

Winter: Elizabeth Sherman Hoar passed this season at Arinella near Palermo, Sicily with Edward Sherman Hoar and Elizabeth Hallett Prichard Hoar. HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN”

1873

June: Edward Sherman Hoar and Elizabeth Hallett Prichard Hoar returned to Concord, to reside with his sister Elizabeth Sherman Hoar in their family’s house on Main Street.

John Burroughs placed a comment about Henry Thoreau in The Galaxy magazine, in an article titled “Exhilarations of the Road”: When you get into a railway car you want a continent, the man in his carriage requires a township; but a walker like Thoreau finds as much and more along the shores of Walden Pond. HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN”

1878

April 7, Sunday: The first version of Die Wallfahrt nach Kevlaar for alto, tenor, chorus and orchestra by Engelbert Humperdinck to words of Heinrich Heine was performed for the first time, in the Musikschule, München. On the same program was the premiere of Humperdinck’s Herbstlied for chorus and piano.

Elizabeth Sherman Hoar died. Subsequently, Edward Sherman Hoar would abandon the practice of law and he and Elizabeth Hallett Prichard Hoar would reside in the Hoar home on Main Street in Concord. HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN”

1885

Spring: The only known photograph of Edward Sherman Hoar was taken during this season, at the age of 61.

July 1, Wednesday: Edward Sherman Hoar and Elizabeth Hallett Prichard Hoar’s daughter Florence Hoar got married in Concord with Moses Brown Lockwood Bradford (1858-1928) — a cotton manufacturer who in 1895 would be the assistant treasurer for the Assabet Manufacturing Company in Maynard, Massachusetts. HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN”

1890

H.G.O. Blake’s THOREAU’S THOUGHTS (Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company; The Riverside Press, Cambridge).

Henry S. Salt brought forward the 1st edition of his THE LIFE OF HENRY DAV ID THOREAU (London: Bentley).17 H.D. THOREAU PAPERS

This biography included on its page 118 a defensive and perceptive comment by Edward Sherman Hoar: If he had any affectation in his sincere and aspiring nature, it was a sort of inherited petulance, that covered a sensitive and affectionate nature, easily wounded by the scornful criticism which his new departure sometimes brought upon him.

On pages 144-6, some memories were supplied by H.G.O. Blake: I was introduced to him first by Mr. Emerson more than forty years ago, though I had known him by sight before at college. I recall nothing of that first interview unless it be some remarks upon astronomy, and his want of interest in the study as compared with studies relating more directly to this world — remarks such as he made here and there in his writings. My first real introduction was from the reading of an article of his in the Dial on “Aulus Persius Flaccus” which appears now in the WEEK. That led to my first writing to him, and to his reply, which is published in the volume of letters. Our correspondence continued for more than twelve years, and we visited each other at times, he coming here to Worcester, commonly to read something in 17. 2d Edition London: Walter Scott, 1896; reprinted by Kessinger Publishing, ISBN 1-4179-7028-6 HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” public, or being on his way to read somewhere else. As to the outward incidents of our intercourse, I think of little or nothing that it seems worth while to write. Our conversation, or rather his talking, when we were together, was in the strain of his letters and of his books. Our relation, as I look back on it, seems almost an impersonal one, and illustrates well his remark that “our thoughts are the epochs in our lives: all else is but as a journal of the winds that blew while we were here”; His personal appearance did not interest me particularly, except as the associate of his spirit, though I felt no discord between them. When together, we had little inclination to talk of personal matters. His aim was directed so steadily and earnestly towards what is essential in our experience, that beyond all others of whom I have known, he made but a single impression on me. Geniality, versatility, personal familiarity are, of course, agreeable in those about us, and seem necessary in human intercourse, but I did not miss them in Thoreau, who was, while living, and is still in my recollection and in what he has left to us, such an effectual witness to what is highest and most precious in life. As I re-read his letters from time to time, which I never tire of doing, I am apt to find new significance in them, am still warned and instructed by them, with more force occasionally than ever before; so that in a sense they are still in the mail, have not altogether reached me yet, and will not probably before I die. They may well be regarded as addressed to those who can read them best. This biography also included some memories supplied by Ellery Channing:

Page 344: He said to me once, standing at the window,— “I cannot see on the outside at all. We thought ourselves great philosophers in those wet days when we used to go out and sit down by the wall-sides.” This was absolutely all he was ever heard to say of that outward world during his illness; neither could a stranger in the least infer that he had ever a friend in wood or field. HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” Page 353: Henry was fond of making an ado, a wonder, a surprise, of all facts that took place out of doors; but a picture, a piece of music, a novel, did not affect him in that fashion. This trait of exaggeration was as pleasing as possible to his companions. Nothing was more delightful than the enormous curiosity, the effervescing wonder, of this child of Nature — glad of everything its mother said or did. This joy in Nature is something we can get over, like love. And yet love,— that is a hard toy to smash and fling under the grate, for good. But Henry made no account at all of love, apparently; he had notions about friendship. AMENDED 2D EDITION

He also edited a volume of Thoreau’s ANTI-SLAVERY AND REFORM PAPERS. ANTI-SLAVERY, REFORM HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN”

1893

January 4, Wednesday: Edward S. Burgess wrote a short manuscript of “Notes on Concord People,” which is now on deposit in the Concord Free Public Library (this document mentions Henry Thoreau, his brother John Thoreau, Jr., his sister Sophia Elizabeth Thoreau, Edward Sherman Hoar, and John Burroughs): Thoreau’s brother John was of practical rather than literary bent. Singular, it is that there is so little of him in Henry’s book Week on Concord when he too was bred in our schools & had the same adventures Henry had. He was frightened to death. He cut his finger, lockjaw followed. Henry held him in his arms when he died. Henry told me for 2 or 3 days after that he felt the lockjaw tightening on him too — so great was his sympathy. Henry was very affectionate; he had a great deal of sympathy that people did not know; during his last illness he received a great deal of attention; people were constantly coming & sending him flowers &c. He came to feel very differently toward people, & said if he had known he wouldn’t have been so offish. He had got into his head before that people didn’t mean what they said.... LOCKJAW

From Mr. Edward Hoar. Dec. 30,’92. I have just finished reading Thoreau’s “Winter.” There is not so much natural history in it as in some other works, not so much as there is of matter addressed to man’s moral nature. I have greatly regretted that I did not know Thoreau better. Did you not often go out with him? Yes, I did; I was one of the few to whom he granted that favor. I was shown that side of his nature to the full, the natural history side, the minute observer. But there were other sides to him, and I was wholly unaware then of the moral side that appears so strongly in his books. He did not show me that in our walks. Thoreau was intensely a moralist, to him everything was valuable according as it appealed to the moral sentiment & he would lose no opportunity to intone a moral sentiment. Nor would he lose any opportunity for observing nature, even if it was to get up in dark night and watch for hours the lightning and a rotten log in Maine. He was ready to open that side of himself to any one who would pay the price. But that meant, to go with him in his walk; to walk long & far; to have wet feet & go so for hours; to pull a boat all day & to come home late at night after many miles. If you would do that with him, he would take you with him. If you flinched at anything, he had no more use for you. Thoreau was of a very fine-grained family. He knew he had not long to live & he determined to make the most of it. How to observe and acquire knowledge & secure the [word?] aspects of life without much expenditure of money was his great study. He would not wait as most men, to acquire a competence before settling down to realize the ends of life. He would show how they could be secured without money; or with very little. This was the object of his Walden Pond. Thoreau’s family had a scrofulous tendency; his sister Sophia, a very fine-grained nature, died of consumption and so did his brother; he died in Thoreau’s arms & that nearly killed HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” Henry.... I could not become a good ornithologist. When I was young I was a good shot, & could hit a bird on the wing at 200 yards. But when I became acquainted with Henry Thoreau, he persuaded me out of it. He would never shoot a bird, & I think his method greatly preferable to that of Mr. John Burroughs. Thoreau would lie & watch the movements of a bird for hours & also get the [word?] he wanted. He used to say that if you shot the bird, you got only a dead bird anyway; you could make out a few parts in anatomy or plumage just such as all Dr. Coues’ work is; but you couldn’t see how the bird lives & acts. Since then I have never shot a bird.... I think Thoreau has suffered in his editing. I think many things have been published which should not have been, notes & hints in [word?] to guide himself in future observations which are of no use to the public.

February 22, Wednesday: Edward Sherman Hoar died in Washington DC of lung disease. The body would be transported to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.

He cared nothing for the wealth or fame. His rare genius might easily have won, but his ear knew the songs of all birds. His eye saw the beauty of flowers and the secret of their life. His unerring taste delighted in what was best in books. So his pure and quiet days reaped their rich harvest of wisdom and content. HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN”

1912

Edward Sherman Hoar’s collection of some thousand plant specimens was presented by his daughter Florence Hoar (Mrs. Moses B.L. Bradford) to the New England Botanical Club (this included some hundred grasses and sedges that had been collected by Henry Thoreau). PLANTS HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN”

1936

November: Any number of readers have been thrown off stride by the manner in which Henry Thoreau critiqued a hapless family of Irish ecological refugees in the “Baker Farm” chapter of WALDEN, and have drawn an adverse conclusion as to Thoreau’s general sociability. But consider, this book had begun with a pointed discussion of household economy, of aims and manners of living. The record is more complex than what is contained in just this one chapter, in regard to Thoreau’s attitudes toward and dealings with people, common or otherwise, and such a mere excerpt should not be tendentiously taken out of its evocative context to make a point that could only be sustained by carefully disregarding other evidence. What comes to light in the aggregate, not only on the basis of Thoreau’s own reports but also on the basis of the testimonies of the many who knew him, is that he was a gentle and considerate man whose dealings with common people were predominantly marked by neighborly interest and fellow feeling. Although WALDEN happens to have become the primary repository of his cultural legacy, in fact Thoreau didn’t spend his whole life as a youth at Walden Pond, or crowing about that early experiment in living, or condemning others for failing to live as skillfully as he himself lived. He had found that he had several more lives to live, and had been in the process of living them, when snuffed by TB in 1862 — howevermuch the popular imagination seems intent upon containing this changing person at Walden Pond and in the years 1845-1846. There was so much more, and part of this is the nature and extent of Thoreau’s relations with his neighbors and passing strangers (including runaway slaves and poor Irishmen) during the years that he was no longer elaborating his early manuscript A WEEK ON THE CONCORD AND MERRIMACK RIVERS while in residence at Walden Pond.

MEN OF CONCORD AS PORTRAYED IN THE JOURNAL OF HENRY DAVI D THOREAU, ed. Francis Henry Allen with illustrations by Newell Convers Wyeth, issued in this year, is simply a 240-page compilation of excerpts from the JOURNAL in which Thoreau is allowed to describe and discuss, and report his walks and talks with, various of his neighbors, as a corrective for this general misperception of Thoreau’s neighborliness: Many readers, thinking of Henry Thoreau as the stanch individualist, the apostle of wild nature, the rebel against man-made institutions, the “hermit of Walden,” forget that he had any but the most formal relations with human beings outside of his own family. And yet his JOURNAL records many and many a conversation with fellow-townsmen, and its readers encounter much shrewd and understanding comment on the ways and manners of this and that individual or group. He talked familiarly with farmers, hunters, and fishermen — as familiarly as he did with his friend Ellery Channing, with Edward Sherman Hoar, Friend Daniel Ricketson, and H.G.O. Blake. Dr. Edward Waldo Emerson, in his

HENRY DAVI D THOREAU AS REMEMBERED BY A YOUNG FRIEND

has testified to the regard in which Thoreau’s humbler neighbors held him.... [A]fter speaking of Thoreau’s propensity for taking the other side in conversation “for the joy of the intellectual fencing,” Dr. Emerson goes on to say: “Thoreau held this trait in check with women and children, and with humble people who were no match for him. With them he was simple, gentle, friendly, and amusing.” “His simple, direct speech and look and bearing were such that no plain, common man would put him down in his books as a fool, or visionary, or helpless, as the scholar, writer, or reformer would often be regarded by him.... He loved to talk with all kinds and conditions of men if they had no hypocrisy or pretense about them, and though high in his HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” standard of virtue, and most severe with himself, could be charitable to the failings of humble fellow-men.” A man who lived on a farm and had worked in the Thoreaus’ plumbago-mill told Dr. Emerson that Thoreau was the best friend he ever had. “He was always straight in his ways: and was very particular to be agreeable.... When I saw him crossing my field I always wanted to go and have a talk with him.... He liked to talk as long as you did, and what he said was new.”

Although the matter was not publicized, MEN OF CONCORD’s pen-and-ink drawings had been done by his son Andrew Wyeth, rather than by the painter himself. Wyeth hoped to induce the Concord Free Public Library to pay him $5,000 for the entire set of a dozen original painted panels that had been used to create this book, but that was something that would not come about. The paintings would be sold individually on the general market, and eventually the library would come into possession of five of them, “The Carpenters Repairing Hubbard’s Bridge,” “Thoreau and Miss Mary Emerson,” “Johnny and His Woodchuck-Skin Cap,” “Fishing Through the Ice,” and “The Muskrat Hunters....” Other of the paintings would go to: • pen-and-ink drawings — privately held • jacket illustration — Brandywine River Museum

• endpaper illustration — Canajoharie Library and Art Museum • “Mr. Alcott in the Granary Burying Ground” — Boston Athenaeum • “A Man of a Certain Probity...” — privately held • “Barefooted Brooks Clark Building Wall” — privately held • “Thoreau and the Three Reformers” — privately held • “Barefooted Brooks Clark Building Wall” — privately held • “Thoreau Fishing” — location unknown

According to the Preface, “Wyeth was a lifelong admirer of Thoreau, whose spirit has become a part of him. His work for this book, therefore, is a tribute from an intellectual disciple to an author who has had an important formative influence on his character and work.” One of the pieces of material selected is from the journal of February 13, 1841:

Extract: “A Lean Farm”

February 13, 1841: My neighbor says that his hill-farm is poor stuff and “only fit to hold the world HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” together.” He deserves that God should give him better for so brave a treatment of his gifts, instead of humbly putting up therewith. It is a sort of stay, or gore or gusset, and he will not be blinded by modesty or gratitude, but sees it for what it is; knowing his neighbor’s fertile land, he calls his by its right name. But perhaps my farmer forgets that his lean soil has sharpened his wits. This is a crop it was good for, and beside, you see the heavens at a lesser angle from the hill than from the vale.

“MAGISTERIAL HISTORY” IS FANTASIZING: HISTORY IS CHRONOLOGY

The following tabulation would be Horace Rice Hosmer’s sarcastic take on a Franklin Benjamin Sanborn piece of eugenic engineering (and piece of typical Concord conceit), to wit, “Perpetuity, indeed, and hereditary transmission of everything that by nature and good sense can be inherited, are among the characteristics of Concord”:

The Harvard Apples that do or do not fall far from the Tree

CLASS NAME FATHER SON

1834 George Moore Abel Moore, the county sheriff in Concord, “Mason by trade and rich” “came from Sudbury a rich farmer”

1835 Hiram Barrett Dennis “came from Boston because he was a drunkard” “died a drunkard’s death when about 30”

1835 Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar Judge Samuel Hoar “came from Lincoln a rich lawyer”

1837 Henry D. Thoreau “little, deaf pencil maker” “never free from pecuniary difficulties the greater part of his life”

1841 John Shepard Keyes John Keyes, founder of The Republican during “Lawyer” [State Senator, District Judge] the 1840 election, “came from Westford”

1844 George M. Brooks “came from Lincoln” “Lawyer” [Judge]

1844 Edward Sherman Hoar “came from Lincoln a rich lawyer” “brother of Ebenezer R. Hoar”

1845 Gorham Bartlett Dr. Josiah Bartlett, the Thoreau family physi- [a pupil in Concord Academy cian, who became a] “Doctor” “came from Chelmsford”

1846 George Frisbie Hoar “came from Lincoln a rich lawyer” “brother of Ebenezer R. Hoar”

1847 George Haywood Dr. Abiel Heywood, long term town clerk “was a Doctor, and wealthy, and chairman of the Concord Board of Selectmen of Concord”

1849 Joseph Boyden Keyes “brother of Thomas L. Keyes” became a lawyer

1851 Nathan H. Barrett Captain Nathan Barrett Nathan Henry Barrett became a govern- “was a rich farmer of Concord” ment clerk

“Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project Edward “The Californian” HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” COPYRIGHT NOTICE: In addition to the property of others, such as extensive quotations and reproductions of images, this “read-only” computer file contains a great deal of special work product of Austin Meredith, copyright 2019. Access to these interim materials will eventually be offered for a fee in order to recoup some of the costs of preparation. My hypercontext button invention which, instead of creating a hypertext leap through hyperspace —resulting in navigation problems— allows for an utter alteration of the context within which one is experiencing a specific content already being viewed, is claimed as proprietary to Austin Meredith — and therefore freely available for use by all. Limited permission to copy such files, or any material from such files, must be obtained in advance in writing from the “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project, 833 Berkeley St., Durham NC 27705. Please contact the project at .

“It’s all now you see. Yesterday won’t be over until tomorrow and tomorrow began ten thousand years ago.” – Remark by character “Garin Stevens” in William Faulkner’s INTRUDER IN THE DUST

Prepared: January 16, 2019 HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” ARRGH AUTOMATED RESEARCH REPORT

GENERATION HOTLINE

This stuff presumably looks to you as if it were generated by a human. Such is not the case. Instead, someone has requested that we pull it out of the hat of a pirate who has grown out of the shoulder of our pet parrot “Laura” (as above). What these chronological lists are: they are research reports compiled by ARRGH algorithms out of a database of modules which we term the Kouroo Contexture (this is data mining). To respond to such a request for information we merely push a button.

Commonly, the first output of the algorithm has obvious deficiencies and we need to go back into the modules stored in HDT WHAT? INDEX

EDWARD SHERMAN HOAR “THE CALIFORNIAN” the contexture and do a minor amount of tweaking, and then we need to punch that button again and recompile the chronology — but there is nothing here that remotely resembles the ordinary “writerly” process you know and love. As the contents of this originating contexture improve, and as the programming improves, and as funding becomes available (to date no funding whatever has been needed in the creation of this facility, the entire operation being run out of pocket change) we expect a diminished need to do such tweaking and recompiling, and we fully expect to achieve a simulation of a generous and untiring robotic research librarian. Onward and upward in this brave new world.

First come first serve. There is no charge. Place requests with . Arrgh.