July, 1907 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



245 



" It seems to me I'd like to go 



Where bells don't ring nor whistles blow, 

 Nor clocks don't strike, nor gongs don't sound. 

 And I'd have stillness all around" 



T WAS a beautiful day in September when 

 the autumnal tints were beginning to show 

 their radiance under the glistening sun, 

 that my host and I landed at the little sta- 

 tion at Shokan, in the heart of the Catskills. 

 Here one obtains the first impression of the 

 grandeur and beauty of the Catskill Moun- 

 tains, for it is here that a cluster of mountains are seen, in- 

 cluding the famous High Point, Hanover, Balsam, Mount 

 Cornell and Wit- 

 tenberg, Cross 

 Mountains and Sam- 

 uel Point. Every- 

 where in the land of 

 Rip Van Winkle the 

 scenery is pictur- 

 esquely beautiful and 

 independently grand, 

 but nowhere has 

 Mother Nature been 

 more lavish with her 

 charms than in this 

 place. It is called 

 "The Gateway of the 

 Catskills." Witten- 

 berg Park is five 

 miles away in a 

 southwesterly direc- 

 t i o n from Shokan, 

 which is a pleasant 

 little hamlet with 

 churches and shops. 

 The way leads up 

 through the beautiful 

 Watson Hollow, on a 

 good road for a dis- 

 tance of two miles, 

 where we turn 

 sharply to the right 

 with our faces 

 toward Wittenberg. 

 The picture now pre- 

 sented to our view, 

 either hand. 



on 



is 



one of varied mag- 



Rugged Steps with Cobblestone Balustrade Give Access to " Moonhaw Lodge' 



nificence. The first mile of the drive is spent in the land 

 of civilization, and after a few moments' stretch and after 

 rounding a curve in the road, a little schoolhouse is dis- 

 covered among a cluster of big maples, with which it is sur- 

 rounded. For the next mile we pass a number of farm- 

 houses, which here and there dot the hillsides, or nestle in a 

 valley by the side of some beautiful stream. The last two 

 miles of the drive is through a depression, between Mount 

 Cornell and Wittenberg, which is well known to all noted 



fishermen as Ket- 

 cham's Hollow. 

 Passing along, with 

 Wittenberg always in 

 sight, with her mas- 

 sive head lifting itself 

 majestically above 

 the tree tops, we 

 come to the entrance 

 of Wittenberg Park, 

 in which "Moonhaw 

 Lodge" is built. 

 Wittenberg Park em- 

 braces within its ter- 

 ritorial area all of 

 the old estate which 

 was once the paradise 

 of the M o o n h a w 

 tribe of Indians, and 

 formed a part of a 

 tract of land deeded 

 by them to the white 

 men in 1 746. It was 

 here they lived in all 

 their characteristic 

 hi z in ess and savage 

 glory. The moun- 

 tains were clothed 

 with primeval forests 

 which abounded with 

 game, and the 

 streams were filled 

 with fish, both of 

 vyhich they took with- 

 out fear of conten- 

 tion, until the crack 



