brown's tract. 241 



pear, though it will be a great mistake if when you 

 get here you imagine yourself " out of the woods" — 

 a long road yet remains to be traveled. 



This "tract" receives its name from John Brown, 

 formerly governor of Rhode Island. Some fifty years 

 ago, he bought two hundred thousand acres here — all 

 wilderness — with the intention of forming a large set- 

 tlement. By presents of land and putting up at his 

 own expense, mills and a forge for the manufacture 

 of iron, he induced many families to migrate — at 

 one time, it is said, there were thirty located in 

 this solitary spot. But at that period, there was not a 

 single public improvement west of Albany, hence 

 there were no facilities for getting to market. Added 

 to this, the land was cold and unproductive — the win- 

 ters long and severe, which so disheartened the set- 

 tlers that they one after another left. Governor 

 Brown, who had constantly furnished large supplies 

 at length died, and then the colony broke up. 



Three thousand acres had been cleared up, which 



now lies a vast common, with only one inhabitant to 



cultivate it. He occupies it without being owner, yet 



pays no rent, and no taxes : the Robinson Crusoe of 



this little territory, he has what he can raise, and no 

 11 



