164 



7 



fa 



GALL OF THE WILD 



Hermit of Hancock Lake Lives 

 In Log Cabin and Is Happy 

 with His Oxen, 



I Sikh 



i His 



30-Th pi 



the Stt 



BENNINGTON, Vt„ I 

 is already snow enough 

 tain towns of Searsburg and Woodford 

 for Mart Green, the hermit of Hanc 

 lake, to begin work on his annual 1 

 ber Job. 



Mart owns the only yoke of oxen s 

 in Bennington from January to Jan- 

 uary, and the few visits that he makes 

 to civilization in the course of the year 

 mark red letter days on the calendars 

 of the boys and young men with whom 

 the big woodsman is a prime favorite. 



Mart is now 41 years of age. and for 

 over a decade he has lived in his log 

 cabin on Hancock lake, more commonly 

 known as Sucker pond, in the town 

 Searsburg. 



Ordinarily, when one draws a m..._ 

 picture of a hermit the delineation takes 

 the form of an old man who, for some 

 reason, often a great disappointment, 

 lias taken himself away from the scenes 

 of civilization, but Mart is In the prime 

 of life, stands C feot Z inches in his bare 

 feet, and says that he can tramp the 

 legs oft from any man that ever wore 

 shoes. . 



Hi's father,, now close on to 70 years 

 of age, and a veteran t>f the civil war, 

 resides In the village, and has time and 

 again sought to persuade Mart to leave 

 his mountain home and live like other 

 people, but without success. 



All the land surrounding Hancock 

 lake is owned by the Bennington Water 

 Conipajiy, which, in order to guard 

 against any pollution of the water, has 

 established a rule that no camping par- 

 ties shall locate within 12 rods of the 

 shore. In many likely nooks on the Ben- 

 nington side of the mountain clubs of 

 young men from this town have built 

 log cabins, in which they camp dur- 

 ing the summer and frequently pass 

 Sundays when the larger portion of the 

 trip from town has to be made on snow- 

 shoes. 



To see that the law of the water com- 

 pany Is carried out Mart was years ago 

 made a custodian of the corporation's 

 property and the land in the vicinity has 

 been kept free from trespassers. 



During the course of a year Mart will 

 make a half-dozen trips to Bennington 

 for supplies and on these occasions the 

 common salutation among the young men 

 and boys who have a penchant for out- 

 door life Is: "Mart Green's In town to- 

 day wilh his oxen." 



The oxen, according to men whoss 

 memories hark back to the times when 

 all the work on the farm was accom- 

 plished with these slow . toilers, consti- 

 tute a fine team or "yoke." as oxen are 

 commonly called. They are unusually 

 fast walkers and a man on foot has his 

 work cut out for him to follow them. 



During the summer Mart hns but lit- 

 tle work for the oxen and they grow as 

 fat and sleek as stall-fed cattle. Dur- 

 ing July he makes several trips across 

 the mountain to a large beaver meadow 

 In the town of Stamford where he cuts 

 a supply of hay for the winter and hauls 

 it over the rough country on a bushy 

 tree top out of which he has cut some 

 of the limbs to make a sort of cradle. 



The Interior furnishings of Mart's 

 cabin are primitive in the extreme. 

 There are some bunks along the wall 

 and a large stove which answers both 

 purposes of heater and cooking stove. 

 When he cooks a venison steak h6 

 lays the meat on the stove griddle to 

 broil. When one steak is cooked he 

 removes the meat. and. turning the 

 griddle, puts on another slice. He 

 repeats the process, allowing the heat 



Mfen^t fSS'sr 86 SldK ° f thK 

 One of the most popular trips for 

 the young men and for even those 

 who have seen three and more de,-ades 

 id who still enjoy a stiff tramp Is 

 hike over the rough trail to Sucker 

 pond. Almost every Sunday In the 

 year, provided the weather be not too 

 disagreeable, Mart has visitors from 

 Bennington. 



His cabin is eight miles from the 

 ,lllage and the road is impassable 

 lor any beasts of burden less sure of 

 loot than his oxen and the trip Is 

 lever made by wagon. He owns a 

 lumber of boats, and during the sum- 

 ner derives a good rental from the 

 ise of them by fishing parties, for In 

 iplte of its discouraging name. Sucker 

 pond grows some of the largest speci- 

 mens of small mouth black bass jn the 

 state. 



^^C<^< 



