"Well-written and thoroughly researched, Edward Pitts’s Beaver River Country will be a welcome addition to any Adirondack bookshelf."—Philip Terrie, author of Contested Terrain: A New History of Nature and People in the Adirondacks
"A story of hope and despair, success and failure, and triumph and tragedy in an unforgiving but beautiful and captivating land."—Neal Burdick, editor, Adirondac Magazine
"This much needed book is interesting reading and will be appreciated by this and future generations. Thank you, Ed!"—Terry Perkins, retired DEC Ranger, Stillwater Reservoir
"A 'must have' for your Adirondack library. Beaver River history in detail. Well researched, well written, well done!"—Kate Lewis, Director, Town of Webb Historical Association
Description
Encompassing the lands immediately surrounding the upper reaches of the Beaver River from its headwaters at Lake Lila to Beaver Lake at the settlement of Number Four, Beaver River country is the largest undisturbed tract of forest in the entire northeastern United States. During the nineteenth century it was widely considered to be the very heart of the Adirondacks and was visited by thousands of tourists seeking outdoor recreation. The area boasted a busy railroad station, two grand hotels, an exclusive resort, and an elaborate great camp, as well as dozens of guides camps and sporting clubs.
Pitts traces the generations of people who inhabited the region, from the ancestors of the Haudenosaunee, to the early European settlers, to the vacation communities and seasonal visitors. With each generation, Pitts shows how Beaver River country escaped the forces that fragmented and destroyed the wilderness in much of the Northeast. The forest and waters that attracted the early visitors are still there, preserved by a combination of happenstance and dedicated effort. Filled with rare vintage photographs, this book is a vivid portrait of this wild region, revealing how it came to be and why it survives.
About the Author
Edward I. Pitts is a retired attorney and federal administrative law judge. His articles on Adirondack history have appeared in Adirondac Magazine, Adirondack Life, LOCALadk, and the Adirondack Almanack.
June 2022