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The Adirondacks: A History of America's First Wilderness

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Lively and well written, Paul Schneider's The Adirondacks has appeared virtually simultaneously with Philp Terrie's Contested Terrain. Both are regional histories; either book well serves readers as an introduction. Those more familiar with the extensive Adirondack literature will not find the works redundant but rather complementary. Schneider is a journalist, whereas Terrie is an professor who writes more conventional history, largely recalling his own and other historians' previous narratives. Terrie's new survey is moderatley revisionist, however, in concern for the ordinary people of the region. Although Schneider likewise repeats much familiar history, his journalistic slant conveys more immediacy. The strength of his work derives from personal interviews with many Adirondackers, well conveying deeply different values and agendas. Dating from 1991 through 1995, the specific issues may be dated already as news, but as oral history and a record of controversy Scheider's book will became a lasting addition to the Adirondack literature. ISBN 0-8050-3490-0

Paul Schneider's The Adirondacks: A History of America's First Wilderness is both good history and great story-telling. Taking the region that is now the Adirondack Park from the first arrival of whites through the present, Schneider skillfully weaves together both present and past. For example, his chapter "The Prince of Otter China" tells about fur trapping today, and introduces the reader to several living "characters." Neighboring chapters then recount the history of trapping in the Park. Other groupings of chapters do likewise for lumbering, wilderness guiding, and mining. One "chapter" of the Adirondacks which he unfortunately slights are Dr. Trudeau and the tuberculosis "cure cottages" in and around Saranac Lake. This small quibble aside, I recommend this book to readers -- both New Yorkers /Adirondackers and general readers -- who want to learn more both about a specific, fascinating place and time and the idea of the American "wilderness" in general.

The title of this book, more than anything else, misses the mark here. "A History of America's First Wilderness" suggests a comprehensive history of key forces that shaped Adirondack geography and culture, and this book doesn't attempt to be that. Paul Schneider is a journalist, not an historian, and this difference in perspective is reflected in his writing. His book consists of a series of anecdotal essays, snapshots in time, with little thematic development, analysis, or reference across chapters. It's enjoyable reading and will give some insight into historical forces that have formed the ongoing battle in the Adirondacks over development, but better regional histories, such as Diana Muir's "Reflections in Bullough's Pond; Economy and Ecosystem in New England" probe deeper than "The Adirondacks" even tries.

I've been a fan of the Adirondacks for many years. This book offers a consise and readable history of the region. I learned a great deal about the park. This knowledge will greatly enhance my future visits to the park. The author's interviews with local people and officials greatly added to the enjoyment of the book. If you have any interest in the Adirondacks, I highly recommend this enjoyable book. Happy reading!

This book was a lot of fun to read. The author interviewed loggers, trappers, environmental activists, and administrators and interwove their stories with historical accounts. This juxtaposition of modern and historical served to keep the perspective fresh and relevant. However, be advised that this book was probably not intended to be a comprehensive, scholarly history of the Adirondacks. There are gaps in the historical storytelling. The author rarely takes the perspective very far from New York State. However, it does provide a very readable background for the modern debate over the Adirondack Park.

Aside from a traditional recount of the important white guys who did everything, Mr. Schneider captures the essence of the people throughout the modern eras. His time with modern trappers, loggers and bureaucrats capture the sense of urgency for anybody involved in the Park. Initially sought as a farming area after the strategic significance of the French and Revolutionary Wars, lumber and mining interests drove the Park after the attempt to cultivate a place with only 10 percent of its land arable. Mining was sort of disaster at first with many tragic elements. The descriptions of the old facilities as they sit or stand now was a pretty neat journalistic trick.

The historical portrayal of notables like Sir William Johnson and John Brown were real page turners. I've seen the signs just outside Lake Placid to John Brown's house and always thought it was the John Brown involved in the early 19th Century, not the infamous abolitionist. The tragic story of Mr. Henderson and his death in front of his eleven year old son was a real gut wrencher for any tough guy. It seems like there were at least half a dozen fellows who spawned the model for Fenimore's Natty Bumppo. Roger's Rangers, famous guides, French Aristocracy's designs and numerous other affairs and plans sets up a lot of good story telling.

I would still like know why places like Pottersville are called what they are. Where the summer camps were located and who went there. Famous painters, philosophers and robber barons are all very interesting. Knowing the issues and their implications of the future is very important too. Beating them to death is certainly something another volume must do. Fortunately this effort doesn't digress too much into any of these arenas without qualifications and genuine purpose. The real gems are the conversations with loggers like John Courtney and trappers like Toby Edwards. Each offer a unique perspective on the lives they have chosen in this region. Death & Taxes and the Price of Otter in China are two of the best chapters in the book.

Having told a number of people who frequent the Park about this book. I wish that I could give this book to one of them with assurance that it would be read and passed along. I'm sure this is the exact feeling of those with intimate knowledge and time in this vast area. A little bit of everything and everybody is covered in a well told story that spans centuries. I've yet to find the haunting image of Thomas Cole's Course of Empire. I'm sure that when I do it will serve as a guidepost to all that man is and will be in relation to the massive presence of nature in relation to the foibles of man. Certainly the small amount of time left to me on this planet will afford numerous jaunts to some of the treasures scattered about the six million acres that serves as model to the notion, forever wild.

My reading of this book has been interrupted. But so far as I have read, it is a worthwhile history of the mountain chain.

I started this a few years ago and set it aside. I finished it up recently. It was well written and covered so much of the history in a way that wasn't just names and dates. I enjoyed how it interleaved some interviews and other approaches to presenting the information.

Schneider knows his Adirondacks in a superficial way, and after reading his book, so will you. If the topic intrests you, pick up a copy of CONTESTED TERRAIN by Philip Terrie. Contested Terain is as sound as The Adirondacks is shallow. Style, of course is a matter of taste. Many people appear to enjoy Schneider's carefully studied casual prose.

Adirondack Park was created in 1892 to preserve the wild forest land and inhabitants and to keep the 2300 lakes and ponds flowing freely to ensure that the Hudson River will not dry up. It encompasses six million acres in the northeastern portion of New York. Blue Mountain Lake is beautiful on Indian summer days, as is Whiteface Mountain with the autumn foliage of russet maples and golden birches. Soon the brilliance will fade and the foliage will fall away.

Coon Mountain, High Peaks, Mt. Marcy, and Eagle Island are sights to see in the Fall. Sagamore, the camp once owned by the Vanderbilts and had compounds consisting of multiple buildings on the vein of European villages. This one consists of 27 structures, made of spruce. In Cape Cod, the Kennedys have their own compound. On Eagle Island, a family camp was built in 1899 by Benjamin Harrison's vice president, and has been a summer camp for the Girls Scouts since 1937.

"Practically speaking, in the Adirondacks, conservationists have never won a major battle without the support of the trappers and their far more plentiful brethren, the hunters and anglers." Mink and red fox are the favorites of the wealthy. By the mid-1800s, wolves, moose, and panthers had become extremely scarce. A trapper couldn't make a decent full-time living from lynx, fisher, marten, and most of the other furbearers.

At Lake Placid, the mountain resort which hosts the Winter Olympics, you will find the loons with velvety black haeads, ruby eyes, and dagger-like bills. The loon's predator, the bald eagle, does not spook the birds as they float placidly on the pond. But the mercury in the ponds and the acid rain which pollutes the water is making a dent, as the loons' culinary diet comes from the fish, which in turn affects their offspring.

You can see why the Roosevelts chose to go to this wilderness park for their summer outings. Teddy, the hunter, chose to find his trophies there. It borders Vermont and is as large as the state of New Hampshire.