HISTORY OF THE ADIROXDACK BEAVER. 415 



did. for the following fall a large house was found by Mr. Gray, erected 

 at the same point.* During the past summer (1907) Mr. Woodruff visited 

 the locality, and he informs me by letter that he found a large and sub- 

 stantial dam, four feet high, and that there were then quite a number of 

 beavers there, several of which he himself had the good fortune to see. 



After completing the first liberation successfully, we made a quick trip 

 back to Old Forge, and the following day carried the remaining four beavers 

 to Big Moose Lake and released them upon a small stream entering near 

 its head. Very soon afterward it was discovered that these four beavers 

 had divided into two separate couples, as fresh cuttings and other signs 

 were found simultaneously on the streams and ponds east of Big Moose 

 Lake, on Township 41, Hamilton county, and along the Beaver River, in 

 Township 5, Herkimer county, more than fifteen miles distant. These 

 beavers have since increased considerably in numbers, and have spread 

 their operations over a wide area. 



The following year, 1906, Mr. George A. Stevens, proprietor of the 

 Stevens House, Lake Placid, placed a single Canadian beaver in a brook 

 entering the head of the lake, his intention being to introduce others later 

 on. This beaver soon after descended to the lake and remained there the 

 following summer and winter, cutting a number of small trees along the 

 shore. 



New v5foc^ From tl)e Uellovstone Par^ 



During 1906 the Commission contracted with the United States Secre- 

 tary of the Interior to purchase twenty-five live beavers, which were to be 

 captured in the Yellowstone National Park, and on September 3, 1907, the 

 first shipment of eight arrived at Old Forge, where the}" were received by 

 Protector Ned Ball. Four of these beavers were dead upon arrival, but 

 the remaining four were promptly released in a pond near First Lake of the 

 Fulton Chain. These have since divided. Two are now on the outlet of the 

 pond and two on a small stream on the Adirondack League Club land, 



* In a letter to the writer, dated March 28, 1906, Mr. Gray described this house as being " about 

 10 feet [in diameter] on grpund floor, 6 feet high, shaped like a haystack, gothic on outside." He 

 adds: " Don't know what it is inside — suppose poplar finish." 

 29 



