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MT. SUNAPEE STATE PARK A COMPREHENSIVE HISTORY Donald E. MacAskill REep 796 May 18, 1981 FOREWARD Mt. Sunapee State Park did not develop in a vacuum. There have been countless influences that have had their effect on the park we know today. For this reason an Indian and early settler history, a Mt. Sunapee land-use history, and a history of the tourism on Lake Sunapee have been included in the following pages. As this project points out, Lake Sunapee and Mt. Sunapee are somewhat inseparable. If it had not been for the lake's large tourist business, there would not have been a support group of hotel and resort businesspeople to lobby for the park development on the mountain. For this reason Lake Sunapee's booming tourist trade is described. The following description will help the reader obtain a feel for Mt. Sunapee State Park. The park is a major recreation area located at the southern end of Lake Sunapee. Within its boundaries are a large ski area and a bathing beach. The ski area is situated on 1,800 heavily forested acres. The lake waterfront offers crystal clear water and a l,OOO-foot sandy beach. The summit of Mt. Sunapee is 2,743 feet above sea level. During the summer glassed-in gondolas transport park visitors to the mountain summit. At the summit park users may hike a mile-long trail to Lake Solitude, a wilderness lake, or they ii iii may simply take in the scenic views from the summit lodge and surrounding area. In addition, a 47-mile-long hiking trail begins at the summit of Sunapee which leads to Mt. Monadnock. This trail is known as the Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway. Near the base of the mountain a newly-opened group campground has been developed. In the winter months Sunapee offers twenty well-groomed ski trails with varied terrain. There are five double chair- lifts, a J-bar, a T-bar, and a rope tow. Located around the base of the various lifts are a number of picnic tables which can be utilized for summer outings. Sunapee is a unique state park due to the fact that swimming, fishing, hiking, picnicking, foliage viewing, and skiing are all offered at this recreation area. Sunapee truly is "a park for all seasons." PREFACE The following history of Mt. Sunapee State Park is just the tip of the iceberg. There is much more information and data which could be gathered. For example, the state park deeds should be searched, and the agreement for the land transfer at Mt. Sunapee between the state and the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests would be useful to obtain. In addition, it would be of interest to pinpoint the year that Abija Johnson, the earliest farmer on the mountain, acquired his land and from whom he obtained it. This information could be found through a deed search at the Merrimack County Seat in eon cord. There is practically an endless amount of further research which could be done on this history. One of the main problems which arose in the preparation of this report was the discrepancies that were found between different sources. For example, in an interview it was reported that the Sunapee Mountain House, a hotel owned by the Johnson family, burned before it ever had a guest. Other interviews and written sources disagreed with this saying that the hotel was operated for about nine years before it burned. As best as possible these discrepancies were resolved by further research. The intent of this author was to have the information iv v contained in the following pages be as accurate as possible. Along the way in my search for historically correct information many people have offered their assistance and given of their time. Therefore, I would like to thank all of those who helped especially Richard Parker, Robert Sullivan, and the members of the Johnson family who were kind enough to allow me to interview them. TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page 1. "WILD GOOSE WATER"--THE EARLY DAYS . .. 1 2. MT. SUNAPEE--FROM A FARM TO A RESERVATION 9 3. SUNAPEE'S TOURISM--A BOOMING BUSINESS .•.• 19 4 . A PARK IS BO RN . • • 25 FOOTNOTES _ _ _ _ _ _ ......•..•.•. 34 APPENDIX A . _ _ . • • . • • . • • 37 APPENDI X B . • . • • • • • • • • . • • 42 BIBLIOGRAPHY . • . • . • • 46 vi CHAPTER I "WILD GOOSE WATER"--THE EARLY DAYS Ye say, they all have passed away, That noble race and brave, That their light canoes have vanished From off the crested wave; That mid the forests where they roamed There rings no hunter's shout; But their name is on youryaters Ye may not wash it out. Lydia Sigourney In our state today many of our water bodies as well as mountains and towns recall through their names the age of Indian ancestry. Such words as Connecticut meaning "the long river"; Kearsarge, "the high place"; and Monadnock, "at the silver mountain" are derived from Algonquin words. In addition, Sunapee is said to be an adaptation of two Algonquin words which roughly translated mean "wild goose water. "2 As legend has it, Lake Sunapee was a favorite hunting spot of the Pennacook Indians especially during the autumn months. It was in the fall that migratory wild fowl heading southward from arctic summer homes rested in countless thousands upon the waters of the lake. As far as can be determined, the Pennacooks never had a permanent settlement in the area of Lake Sunapee, but they did camp in the region during their hunting and fishing expeditions. Arrowheads, gun barrels, stone mortars, and tomahawks have been unearthed around the 1 \ - ---_._._.- I I \ TIm INDIANS OF NEW HAMPSHIRE Approximate location of Indian tribes in the leventeenth century 2 lake substantiating this theory. Who were these native people known as the Pennacooks? The Indians in the Merrimack River Valley were usually called Pennacooks by the early English settlers. For many years the Pennacooks had occupied the rich intervales along the Merrimack in the areas today known as eoncord, Bow, and 3 Boscawen. At sometime prior to the arrival of the Europeans, a confederacy of tribes began devel.oping in New Hampshire under the leadership of Passaconaway, the famous leader of the Pennacooks. By the end of the seventeenth century the Pennacook Confederacy, as ~t was known, was functioning rather well, and representatives from many allied tribes throughout New Hampshire, southern Maine, and northeastern Massachusetts often convened 4 for councils and ceremonies. (See map on following page for the location of Pennacook Confederacy.) The pur.pose of the confederacy was to secure peace through unity and council. The Pennacook Confederacy actually belonged to the Algonquin linguistic group which once occupied an area vaster than that of any North American tribe. The Pennacooks' lifestyle was an adaptation to the geography and climate of the New Hampshire area. Their time. was chiefly employed either in providing for their subsistence by hunting, fishing, and planting, or in guarding against and surprising their enemies. Their houses and canoes were made of light and perishable materials such as birch bark. Choosing to take all possible advantage of water carriage, the Penna- cooks generally traveled from place to place in canoe on the 3 waterways of the state. The wigwams of this native tribe were said to look like domes or upside-down bowls. They were constructed by driving eight ~r ten saplings into the ground enclosing the circular floor space of the wigwam, and then bending these poles together and attaching them at the top. The crude frame was then covered on the outside with tree bark or animal skins and lined on the inside with embroidered mats composed of rushes or bark. There ~as a hole in the top of the shelter to allow smoke to escape. These Indian houses protected the Pennacooks from New Hampshire's harsh winters. As a rule the Penna cooks spent the months of December, January, February, and March at their winter headquarters along 5 the Merrimack River. At their winter homes the natives had corn, beans, and smoked dried fish stored up to carry them through the cold weather. It was during the warmer months that the Indians traveled north to the "wild goose water" to catch fish and hunt water fowl. Fishing was accomplished by entan- gling the fish in weirs, dipping for them in scoopnets, or sticking them with spears. Hunting consisted of taking larger animals in wooden traps, snares, pitfalls, shooting them with bow and arrow, or sticking them with spears. eanoes were essential especially in the hunting of water fowl. It was not until the Europeans came to the continent that the Indians were introduced to guns and metal traps which made hunting much easier. Thus in the spring the Pennacooks journeyed to Sunapee's shore of rock in quest of the spotted trout. There are also 4 indications that they traveled further west to the eonnecticut River. At the basin below the rapids of Bellows Falls, an annual assembly of Indians was said to take place in order to scoop up the sea-run shad and salmon which were in great num- . h . 6 bers ln t e Connectlcut. On the eastern shore of Lake Sunapee north of the town of Blodgett's Landing in an area which later came to be known 7 as Soo-Nipi Park, Indian utensils have been found. It is inferred that the aborigines had a temporary settlement among the giant pines which were said to line this half-mile sandy beach. The Pennacooks are also believed to have built a summer village on the eastern shore of Little Sunapee Lake.

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