Part Z: Nature and “Wilderness in 19th-Century America
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During the second half of the nineteenth century, there was a growing conservation movement in North America; however, nature was still considered to be multi-use. Nature could be beautiful in value through tourism and valuable in natural resources like timber, land for cultivation, animals to be hunted, and more. The belief was that nature should be used for the benefit of people, so that even protecting land was “reserving nature for the people’s use.” Yellowstone National Park, for example, was created by the US Congress in 1872 with these values and motivations in mind. By protecting the natural and exotic beauty of Yellowstone, railroads and the tourist industry could profit from nature. Roads and hotels were built in the park that could be accessed by the new railroads. As Richard Sellars explains in Preserving Nature in the National Parks, “in an effort to ensure public enjoyment, nature itself would be manipulated in the national parks.”
Grand Canon of the Yellowstone
1872. Thomas Moran, 1837-1926. Courtesy University of California, San Diego. Open Access option from Smithsonian: https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/grand-canyon-yellowstone-17831 or https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thomas_Moran_-_Grand_Canyon_of_the_Yellowstone.jpg
Likewise, at this time in the Adirondacks, there were different groups using nature according to different economic values. The Adirondacks were becoming a well-used place; in fact, it’s much less used today than it was in the nineteenth century – a paradox at the heart of this story. Logging had become a prominent industry in the Adirondacks due to its vast and dense forests, though, in fact, it was the last region of New York State to be logged due to its rugged mountains, lack of infrastructure, and sandy soil that was bad for agriculture. However, once the loggers developed a system of floating softwood lumber down the numerous rivers they were able to dramatically increase logging in the region. By 1885 it was believed that only around one-third of the old growth forests were still standing, as seen in the attached map. We know now that even less than that were standing at the time.
Millions of trees were floated down the vast system of rivers in the Adirondacks by log drivers. This image shows log drivers trying to free a log jam, a deadly task.
“Log Jam.” 1888-1938. Ferris Jacob Meigs. Courtesy of the Adirondack Experience [Link]
This map was created based on the work done by the Forestry Commission in the summer of 1884. It shows the damage of logging on the forests and its relationship with new state land. The Forestry Commission’s Report of 1885 and this map go hand in hand in showing the state of the Adirondack forests at the time.
A. Robeson, 1884. Courtesy of the Adirondack Experience.
But as long as some portions of the Adirondacks were still untouched by loggers, it was one of the most beautiful, and most conveniently located, places in the country. It looked like the wilderness out West but was only a few hours by train from New York City. In 1869, Adventures in the Wilderness, by William H. H. Murray, was published and is believed to have been a catalyst for the tourism boom in the Adirondacks in the following decades. The next summer, thousands of tourists went to the Adirondacks in what is called “Murray’s Rush.” The train at the time didn’t even reach the park, ending in Glens Falls. Wealthy families from New York City, “Gilded Age men,” built so-called Great Camps and hotels on lakes and rivers that they would visit in the summer months. Adirondack guides (usually local residents) would accommodate their travel with their knowledge of the land and their Adirondack guide boats. There were more than 200 inns and Hotels by 1875, but only a few in 1850. The tourist industry and wealthy Great Camp owners valued the Adirondacks for its beauty and attractiveness, not its resource value.
Great Camps became a common vacation home of “Gilded Age men” and their families. The Durant family, J.P. Morgan, the Vanderbilt family, and many more all had Great Camps in the Adirondacks. Kamp Kill Kare was built by the Durants but was controversially sold in 1897 to a member of the Forest Commission Board in what was possibly a quid pro quo.
“Kamp Kill Kare, Lake Kora.” 1900. Seneca Ray Stoddard. Courtesy of the Adirondack Experience.
Frank Sperry, an Adirondack guide, next to his guideboat. Adirondack guides were hired to not only guide their clients and do the grunt work but also to entertain them with music and stories.
“Frank Sperry by Guideboat.” 1897. Courtesy of the Adirondack Experience.
The beauty of the Adirondacks mountains, lakes, rivers, and of course, forests, attracted countless tourists.
“Summit of Haystack.” Norman Stewart Foote. 1908-1915. Courtesy of the Adirondack Experience.
Would need to be reformatted or images otherwise edited, but this is an example of a carousel for multiple images.
Great Camps became a common vacation home of “Gilded Age men” and their families. The Durant family, J.P. Morgan, the Vanderbilt family, and many more all had Great Camps in the Adirondacks. Kamp Kill Kare was built by the Durants but was controversially sold in 1897 to a member of the Forest Commission Board in what was possibly a quid pro quo.
“Kamp Kill Kare, Lake Kora.” 1900. Seneca Ray Stoddard. Courtesy of the Adirondack Experience.
Frank Sperry, an Adirondack guide, next to his guideboat. Adirondack guides were hired to not only guide their clients and do the grunt work but also to entertain them with music and stories.
“Frank Sperry by Guideboat.” 1897. Courtesy of the Adirondack Experience.
The beauty of the Adirondacks mountains, lakes, rivers, and of course, forests, attracted countless tourists.
“Summit of Haystack.” Norman Stewart Foote. 1908-1915. Courtesy of the Adirondack Experience.
(Above, example of a tab block for images)
The Adirondacks were, in short, heavily used by 1885 – not a wilderness, but a measure of how nature was valued in Gilded Age America, whether material or aesthetic. When the state legislature asked for experts “to investigate and report a system of forest preservation” in 1884, they were asking in terms of forest preservation for future human use, or sustainable harvest. What Sargent and the other authors would suggest, however, was an emerging idea; protecting land, not for future use, or as they put it, that these forests “shall be forever kept as wild forest lands.” The authors of this report imagined a better future – on a longer timescale – for the forests that were valued by so many.
Sources
- Claire Elizabeth Campbell, “Governing a Kingdom: Parks Canada, 1911–2011”
- AND/OR Claire Elizabeth Campbell, A Century of Parks Canada, 1911-2011
- Richard West Sellars, Preserving Nature in the National Parks: A History (Full text)
- Norman J. Van Valkenburgh, The Adirondack Forest Preserve : A Narrative of the Evolution of the Adirondack Forest Preserve of New York State
- W.H.H. Murray, Adventures in the Wilderness, ed. William Verner with introduction and notes by Warder H. Cadbury (see original edition full text here)
- Paul Schneider, The Adirondacks: A History of America’s First Wilderness
This region belongs to the traditional lands of the Iroquois Confederacy (Haudenosaunee people); it is telling and representative of conservation/park language at this time that the report does not acknowledge this other history and groups of occupants. I plan to do more research of Indigenous history in the Adirondack region in the future.
(Reformatted to look nice; if do introduction post can also go there)
About the Author
This four-part series by Sam Lasher (History and Political Science, ’25) is based on research from the summer of 2023 funded by the Program for Undergraduate Research. Sam spent time both at Bucknell and in the Adirondacks with the guidance of Professor Claire Campbell. Special thanks to the Adirondack Experience for assistance and archival material.
Sam Lasher
History and Political Science, ’25
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