'jd NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



discouraged, he killed himself, and the settlement was deserted. 

 Nathaniel Foster and his family lived in the Herreshoff settlement 

 from 1832 for a few years. In 1837 Otis Arnold moved in and 

 raised a large family there. 



Number Four, on Beaver lake through which Beaver river flows, 

 is situated in the western part of John Brown's tract, and it is one 

 of the oldest permanent settlements in the Great Wilderness. The 

 first fishing party visited the locality in 1818, and in 1820 Ephraim 

 Craft made a clearing there as first settler. Through efforts of Gov- 

 ernor Francis in 1822, ten families settled at Number Four. Many 

 improvements were made, and by 1832 there were seventy-five 

 settlers. But climate, soil and distant markets were against them, 

 so that by 1853 only three families remained. 



About 1820, Daniel Smith settled at Stillwater, 12 miles up the 

 river from Number Four. In 1830 he moved still farther up the 

 river to settle at a lake now known as Lake Lila (formerly Smith's 

 lake). He lived a wild hermit's life there for fifteen years. 



Lake Bonaparte. Early in the nineteenth century, Count de 

 Chaumont owned several hundred thousand acres in northern New 

 York. In 181 5, Joseph Bonaparte, former King of Naples and of 

 Spain and brother of the famous Napoleon, purchased of the Count 

 de Chaumont over 150,000 acres on the western side of the Adiron- 

 dacks. After his flight to America, Joseph Bonaparte lived in 

 splendor near Bordentown, N. J. In 1828 he built a hunting lodge 

 on Lake Bonaparte within his forest possessions. For several 

 summers he made trips to his property. According to Sylvester: 

 " He went in great state, accompanied by a large retinue of friends 

 and attendants. . . . When on his way, he cut a road through 

 the forest and often went in to his lake in his coach drawn by six 

 horses, with great pomp and ceremony. . . . Upon these excur- 

 sions he was often accompanied by the friends of his better days, 

 who, like himself, were then in exile. Sometimes in going and 

 returning, he would stop by the wayside to dine under the shade 

 of the primeval pines, and his sumptuous repasts were served on 

 golden dishes with regal splendor." In 1835 he sold his wilderness 

 property. 



North Elba and John Brown of Ossawattamie. The vicinity of 

 the present village of North Elba, a few miles south of Lake 

 Placid, has an interesting history. For many years, until the close 

 of colonial days, Adirondack Indian hunting parties made summer 

 homes in that broad valley between the mountains. 



