v2:i)c jTarmcr ittcintl)ij) faisttor. 



Ill 



A tew rods before rearliinc; the Notch, in an opening 

 of" several acres, is the Notch House, kept hy Thomas 

 Jefferson ('ruvfnrd. This hnuse is now much visited, 

 since the construction 'if n new path hv Mr. ('r;i\vford 

 to the summit of Mount Washington, (which commences 

 nenr hy,) called the '• Bridle Road." This path ascends 

 at first'abrtiptly, and passes over the rid^e of mountains 

 to the South of Mou.t W. The ascent is said to be 

 more ijradual than the last two miles of Mr.^Fahyan's 

 route, hut it requires a longer time to accomplish the 

 whole journey. Some prefer the '■ Bridle Road" on ac-, 

 count of the View to be obtained from the sammit of 

 Mount Pleasant and the other ridges over T^'hich it pas?es. 

 Occasionally a view can be obtained from thesr; when a 

 nrospect from Mount Washington is obsfnired by the 

 clouds. Mr. Crawford calls the distance over his road, 

 six miles. To appearance it would seem to be, perhaps, 

 a mile fir two more ; hut we may be mistaken. Mr. 

 ('rawford has the reputation ot keeping a trood house, 

 and will furnish excellent horses and safe guides to those 

 who wish to ascend from here. Since our visit in 1839, 

 he has much impriived his premises, having repaired, re- 

 painted and re-furnished his rooms with handsome furni- 

 ture. He also has recently obtained a comfortable double 

 wagon, manufactured at the well-known establishment of 

 Messrs. Downing &. Abbot of this town, and fitted up 

 with easy cushioned seats and " Shriver's patent springs," 

 for the accommodation of his guests. 



There is some rivalry between Messrs. Kabyan and 

 Crawford in regard to their respective houses and moun- 

 tain roads. Both of these gentlemen are obliging, good- 

 natured and accommodating to all who may call upon 

 them. Judging froni the great number of travellers to 

 the mountains, whom we met on our return through Con- 

 way and Centre Harbor, as well as the large number who 

 are daily passing through this town on their way, we be- 

 lieve they will find neilliertime nor inclination to quarrel, 

 nor room enough about their respective •' plantations" to 

 do so, if they should bo so disposed. For our own part 

 and for the benefit of the public, we could wish that they 

 might, by some arrangement for the mutual advantage of 

 hotli, unite their mountain paths so that the ascent might 

 he made by one and the descent by the other. Such an 

 arrangement would increase the interest and render the 

 excursion, if possible, more desirable. 



AN EXCURSION FROM THK WHITE MOUiN- 

 TAINS. 



The Willey House, slide in 182(). and destruction of a 

 family. — Charcoal and Jack-knives cojisidered, in con- 

 nexion with the interior icalls of a drcayim^ house, as 

 the means whereby hundreds wottld become celebrated 

 and hand down their naines to posterity. — Abel Craw- 

 ford's. — Midges, Musguitoes and an nnpnrallelled de- 

 struction of life by a Boston editor, cawsing a greater 

 sensation among the ■' small fry" at the mountains than 

 was ever before known. — Bartlett. — " Co7ning through 

 the rye" — in at vtie gate and out at another. — Conway. 

 LovewcU's pond. — Travi lUng to Centre Harbor, " by 

 express." — Rid Hill and }\'innipissiogee Lake. — Ceii- 

 Ire Harbor, farrning and silkicorms. — Meredith village, * 

 Meredith Bridge, Fellouyg Mills, and a last look at 

 Mount VV^ashington. 



Two miles below the JNotch Flouse is the far-famed 

 WiLLKY House, where resided the family of Mr. Samuel 

 Willey, consisting of himself, wife, five children, from 

 three to twelve years old, and two hired men, wim were 

 nil buried beneath the slide from the mountain west of 

 tlieir house wliich occurred on the night of Monday. 

 August !2G. 1G26. Tliis was the time of one of the mo^t 

 extensive floods ever known among the mountains. Tlie 

 r;'in had previously fallen in great quantities — the banks 

 of the Saco had been submerged, the road washed away, 

 huge rocks and trees hurled from their lofty elevations^on 

 the neighboring mountains and carried down the stream 

 by the force of the waters ; flocks of sheep and cattle, 

 supposed to be in safe places, as well as houses and out- 

 buildings down the valley, were destroyed. Previous 

 to the fatal night, several slides had occurred which 

 alarined the famdy — one slide having terminated in the 

 - valley about srixty, and another about twelve rods from the 

 house. In a more full account, which we find in the 

 Farmer's Monthly Visitor, {conducted by the senior edi- 

 tor of this paper,) Vol. 1, No. 8, llie writer says : — " Mr. 

 .Abel Cra\% ford, (who lives six miles below tlie Willey 

 House,) saw one of these slides, and represents it to us 

 as descending with prodigious power, hearing large rocks 

 and logs, and in some cases trees standing ; but not faster, 

 as he supposed, than a man could walk. The nearest 

 came so close to the Willey house, that Mrs. W. caught 

 her two youngest obildron in her arms to escape down 

 tlie valley." 



Trusting in an all-wise Providence, the family, who 

 were of a religious character, rennined in their exposed 

 situation utilil the night of the 2Glh, when the slide, by 

 which they were destroyed, occurred. An immense 

 quantity of trees, rticks and earth came down, back of 

 the housa. lo tlie depth of 25 feet and 10 or 12 rods wide, 

 in a confused mass. Strikinii a rock in the rear, the slide 

 left the dwelling standing where it :-t\\\ continues ; but 

 carried away an out-huildinu on the north. The family 

 ' in attemjilinu^ to escape from the house, which lliey prob- 

 ably supposed must certainly be destroyed, were met by 

 another slide, fartlier down the stream, and all perished. 

 Nothing was kiiown'ol their fate for two days — the road 

 beingso blocked up as not to allow of the passage of 

 horses and carriages. A traveller tVom Whiteficld pass- 

 ing through the notch, on foot, came to the house — found 

 the family absent, two horses dead under the ruins of the 

 barn, and a yoke of oxen, alive, which he succeeded in 

 extricating, 'j'his man passed on, (it is said,) supposing 

 that the family had escaped and were eafe 1 On the fo!- 

 ' lowing Thursday, the news of the disaster having reached 

 Conway, about 50 persons arrived— among the number a 

 brother of Samuel Willey — and wij^ the assistance of 



dov's, succeeded in rescuing the bodies of Mrs. Willey, 

 one of the hired men, named Allen, who were found near 

 each other, covered with brush, and Mr. Willey, at no 

 great distance from them, all very much mutilated. Two 

 of the children and the other lured man, IMicholson by 

 name, were found a day or two afterwards — the bodies uf 

 other three children have never been discovered. 



The Willey house, at present, is fast going to decay. 

 Six years ago while passing, we found it inhabited by the 

 family of a Methodist preacher. His wife, a modest and 

 comely looking woman, with two children, were the only 

 inmates of the house at the lime of our visit. Her hus- 

 band had gone ten miles to preach ! In answer to an en- 

 quiry, wlicther her situation did not prove lonesome in 

 that'sequestered and forbidding spot l we were assured 

 that she could remain contented, and live happy, even 

 there. The house, however, has since been deserted — 

 the walls and wood-work of the interior are garnished by 

 the names of hundreds of visitors, aspirants for fame, 

 whose soubriquettes are either emblazoned upon what re- 

 mains of the plastering with charcoal, or carved upon the 

 doors and wainscotting with jack-knives. Some future 

 slide from tlie mountains may, eventually, overwhelm the 

 house and consign to oblivion the works of ingenuity, 

 which have cost so much zealous labor — which have 

 probably been brought to their present state of perfection 

 through the agency of innumerable smutly thumbs and 

 fingers, and have resulted in the ruin of many a good 

 jack-knife. A porticju of the shed which remained on 

 the north side of the house a tew years since has been 

 destioyed. 'I'he doors have been pulled down and broken 

 — !he windows abstracted — we recognized lour or five 

 sashes of them garnishing a half-finished hut, (the orifices 

 of which had evidently been enlarged expressly for t^heir 

 accommodation,) situated some ten or a dozen miles 

 down the Saco in the town of Bartlett— and the house 

 otherwise defaced. This should not be ; the humlle 

 dwelling should be suffered to remain, unmolested by the 

 hand of man at least, until it shall crumble to pieces of 

 its own weight — a monument to the memory of the un- 

 fortunate family which fled from its walls, vainly seeking 

 for protection from the falling mountains in places, prov- 

 identially less secure from danger. 



Below the Willey House six^miles. i^lhe residence of 

 Abel Crawford, the father of the Crawford family, 

 who has already been mentioned. This is the old veteran 

 of all. The house where he lives is well known to trav- 

 ellers as one of the best public houses on the route to the 

 Notch, and is kept by his son-in-law, Mr. Davis, assisted 

 by a younger brother of the Crawfords. The elder Craw- 

 ford is nitw 73 years of age and has resided on this spot 

 ■10 '' winters," during which tune he has experienced hard 

 luck — having lost property to the amount of gSOOO or 

 more bv the flood which destroyed the Willey family — 

 some good luck — travelled up-hill more miles, caught 

 more trout, killed more bears, deer, midges, musquitoes, 

 and other wild and blood-thirsty animals, than any other 

 man within a hundred miles. Speaking of midges and 

 musquitoes, our venerable friend, Crawford, we arc told, 

 manages the varmints pretty niuch as he pleases To 

 their constant attacks during the warm weather, by ex- 

 posure, he has become perfectly impervious. Having 

 long been acquainted with the habits of these animals 

 they never approach the dwelling of the old gentleman to 

 '' present their bills'' without being invited to take a 

 smoA-e, or which they arc not remarkably fond. At the 

 time of the flood of ISl'G, as we have already mentioned, 

 Mr. Crawford was a suff'erer; one half of the intervale 

 croiind near his house, and one of his barns, we believe, 

 having at that time been overwhelmned and destroyed by 

 a vast quantity of rocks, trees, earth and rubbish, swept 

 down by the torrent. Mr. C. informed the writer that 

 the waters about his dwelling rose as high as the filth 

 clapboard, endanirering the lives of its inmates vvho for 

 sometime could not escape to the neighboring hills. The 

 house stands on as high grounil as may be found in the 

 valley, and, at a distance of several rods from the chan- 

 nel of the Saco. This place is called Hart's Location, 

 and the township contains some half dozen dwelling 

 liouses south of Crawford's, each surrounded by a few 

 acres of cultivated intervale ground. From the Notch, 

 Ihrough Hart's Location, to the town of Bartlett, the Saco 

 runs through a narrow valley shut in on either side by 

 immense hills and mountains. Just in the rear of Abel 

 Crawford's dwellinL^ with the Saco intervening, is a high 

 elevation called '• Mount Crawford" over 2000 lee t high. 

 'I'he view from this hill to the east, south, and southwest, 

 is said to be very <iiie. While here, we were shown some 

 very fine specimens of quartz and other minerals found in 

 the neighboring mountains by Mr. H. H. Crawford, a 

 younger son ol^" the ianiily. Mr. C. has recently discov- 

 ered a lead mine and some specimens of mineral paints — 

 among the latter yelloio ochre — in this nfighborhnod. 

 The editor of the Boston Mercantile Journal says of him. 

 that '' in his explorations of Mount Crawford, ho not long 

 since fell in with a huge quartz crystal of a dark color 

 and beautiful appearance, weighing some thirty or forty 

 pounds! He conveyed it some distance towards the 

 house, but the day being warm and himself somewhat fa- 

 tigued, he placed it conspicuously on a stump, intending 

 to carry it home at a future day. But it unfortunately 

 happened that a few days afterwards, some gentlemen 

 who ascended Mount Crawford, behejd the crystal, and 

 admired it so much, that being unable to convey it home 

 in a perfect condition, they broke it into many pieces, 

 and marched proudly to the house with fragments iu their 

 pockets !" / 



The Saco and several of its tiibutaries, within half a doz- 

 en miles, either above or below here, arc remarkable for 

 the fine iruut with which they abound. Stopping at Craw- 

 ford's overnight we had the pleasure of forming an acquain- 

 tance with (.'apt. J. S. Sleeper, of the Boston ftlorcantile 

 Journal, from one of whose interesting letters, written at 

 the mountains and published in that paper, wo have alrea- 

 dy quoted. Capt. S. is an enthusiastic disciple of " leak 



Walton," and frequently visits the mountains during the 

 summer months to indulge hiiiitelf m his favorite sport of 

 angling for trout. These unfortunate fish fear hiin tnore 

 than the musquitoes and midges do the elder Crawford. 

 When the Captain's arrival becomes known, there is a 

 general " hue and cry" among the whole finny tribe ; and 

 when upon a fishing excursion, it is said (we do not vouch 

 for the truth of the story) that the ill-fated fishes will 

 sometimes raise their heads above water, and with tears 

 in their eyes, like Davy Crockett's coon, cry tor quarters! 

 After staying some time at the "Notch House," (from a 

 pond near which he had taken one hundred and eighty in 

 one day,) Capt. Sleeper, with his son. had reached Abel 

 Crawford's on his return home, where lie seemed to be 

 detained, as by enchantment, until he could have a fair 

 opportunity to create a sensation among the inhabitants 

 of the Saco for some half dozen miles in the vicinity. 

 The breakfast table on the morning of our departure bore 

 ample testimony of his skill and success, Capt. S. depos- 

 iting upon our plate a diminutive monster, a little short 

 of '■ a feet" in length, which proved to be as much as we 

 could conveniently attend to for some thirty minutes and 

 over. 



From Crawford's, on Wednesday morning, we again 

 started in good season, and proceeded to Conway Corner, 

 about 20 miles. Passing Ihrough the upper part of Bart- 

 lett the open space and intervale land on the Saco be- 

 comes much more extensive and is shut in by the liills 

 and mountains much less. Loipking back and towards the 

 north, the view of the mountains is grand beyond deecrip- 

 tion. To the south-eaf>t is Pequ:iwket mountain in Bart- 

 lett and Conway. The route through Bartlett to Conway 

 is very fine — the scenery beautiful, and the road, like all 

 others in the nprth part of New Hampshire, hard and 

 good. Finding that we could shorten our day's walk a 

 couple of miles by taking the road on the western side of 

 the Saco, we left the stage road about II miles before 

 reaching Conway, having Bartlett and North Conway vil- 

 laijes on our left across the river. 



Passing over a road but little travelled, we opened a 

 farm gate, and found ourselves suddenly travelling across 

 a hay-field, with but a very faint outline of a path before 

 us, to say the best. 



The writer had been over this ground six years before, 

 in riding from Conway to the mountains ; and had met, 

 on this very spot, the elder Oawford travelling in the op- 

 posite direction. Our company, at the time, consisted of 

 four persons travelling in a couple of chaises, each drawn 

 by a single horse. We had then taken this road, as in 

 the present instance, to shorten the distance. Upon ar- 

 riving near another gate at the opposite extremity of the 

 field, and perceiving the slight pattern of a road beyond, 

 we proceeded a short distance farther — came lo a halt — 

 and were about making up our minds that it was of no 

 use to try to reach the White Mountains (which we could 

 see in the distance) if we must tide all the way through 

 corn and hay-fields. From this dilemma we were relieved 

 by seeing an old gentleman approaching us in a wagon, 

 and then we reasoned very coneclly that since he was 

 travelling from the opposite direction, over our road wliich 

 seemed lo go no-where, he most certainly must have com^ 

 from some-where; and consequently we concluded that 

 the road must have a termination. Saluting him, we in- 

 quired — 



" Is this the most direct way to the Notch ?" 



"Yes!" replied the old gentleman- in a tone which 

 seeined to indicate that it was a matter of course. 



" How far IS it to Abel Crawford's — old Crawford's we 

 mean ?" said we, continuing our inquiries. 



*' Nine miles — are you going there to-night ?." 



" Yes," replied one of our party, •' we intend to. Howr 

 IS the road beyond here ?" 



" Why, pretty good, seeing you've got here," replied 

 our friend — looking first one way and then the other, ae 

 if to determine whether we should gain anything by taking 

 the •' back track." 'Phen presuming in his turn to ques- 

 tion us, he continued — 



" It you are going up to ('rawford's to-night, when you 

 gel there, 1 s'pose you'll want to see Ihfe ' old man/ him- 

 self, sha'n't you ?" 



'' Certainly !" 



" Well, see him now, then !'' responded our friend, evi- 

 dently much pleased with hini&elf lor having introduced 

 to us so suddenly the veritable Abel Crawlord, in propria 

 perso}ia. 



Aside from the view of the mountains, the scenery 

 through Bartlett and the upper part of Conway is very 

 fine. The road on either side <»f llie river passes through 

 beautiful intervales and imiucdiLitcly beneath high hills. 

 .At one point in Lower Bartlett. on the western side, a 

 huge clifi' of craggy rocks overhangs it to the height of 

 several hundred feet, and seems to threaten the passer-by 

 with immediate destruction. Making our exit iioin hay 

 and corn-fields through a second g»lo, the road became 

 wider and better, and passes througn two or three miles 

 of pine plain land, opposite the pleasnnt village of iSorth 

 Conway ; and thence through another tract of improved 

 intervale, by several neat cottages and farm-houses to 

 " Shattigec," or Conway Coiner, 70 miles north-east of 

 Concord and 54 north-west of Portland. 



This village is « greal thtirough-fare for travellers to 

 the mountains from either Portland or Concord, who slop 

 here overnight. It is situated at the junction of the Saco 

 and Swift rivers — the latter rising ini or twelve miles 

 west of -it, nortli of the Whiteface mountain in Sandwich. 

 On tlie east is the town of Fryburg in the Slate of Maine, 

 in which is situated Lovewell's I'ond, so called from a 

 Capt. Lovewell, who witn thirty-four others, in the year 

 1775, here fought a desperate battle with three times his 

 ngmber of Indians, under the celebrated chief, Paugus. 

 In this severe contest, which lasted ten hours, all but nine 

 of the whites were either killed ur dangerously wounded, 

 and were at last compelled to surrender to IIm; Indians. 

 Both Lovewell and Paugus were slain in the encounter. 

 An interesting account of this and other battles of the 



