Ten Influential People in Adirondack History
by Editorial Staff
One thing for sure, this list is not complete. There are perhaps thirty important people who didn't make this short list. Suggestions from readers on the original post seeking nominations offers a much more complete list of those influential in the Adirondacks, but I said ten, and so here is ten. I've listed them roughly chronologically.
Something I found interesting: five of these men (yeah, they're all men) were born in the eighteen years between 1840 and 1858—an Adirondack Greatest Generation?
Deganawida (before 1600) - The Great Peacemaker, as he is known to the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), helped unite the various local Native Indian nations into the Iroquois Confederacy. In the process he set the Mohawk on a historical path that influenced European affairs. Thanks to the power of their Confederacy, mostly Iroquois names remain on the Adirondack landscape, including the Mohawk inspired "Adirondack." Without Deganawida's Iroquois Confederacy we might be speaking French today.
Honorable Mention: Hiawatha, who carried on (and to some extent carried out) Deganawida's mission, and Arent van Curler, considered responsible for the reasonably good relations between the Dutch and Native Americans, particularly the Iroquois.
William Johnson (c. 1715–1774) - As a commander of colonial militia forces during the French and Indian War, and later superintendent of Indian affairs, Johnson helped keep Iroquois allies working in the interest of the British. He was crucial in the British victory at the Battle of Lake George (1755) and in capturing Fort Niagara (1759) which put an end to significant French influence in the region. Although the Iroquois were important to determining what language Adirondackers speak today, William Johnson was instrumental.
Honorable Mention: Robert Rogers, commander of Rogers' Rangers and hero of Adirondack folk life, and Hendrick Theyanoguin ("King Hendrick"), the Mohawk Chief who helped bring the Mohawk to support the British.
James Fenimore Cooper (1789–1851) - One of America's most popular writers of the early 19th century, Cooper did for the Adirondacks what Mark Twain (who hated Last of the Mohicans) would do for the Mississippi. His "Leatherstocking Tales" hero Natty Bumppo served to define American impressions of Adirondack wilderness, and helped create the legend of the rugged frontiersman and the Adirondack Guide. Natty Bumpo rejected the trappings of modern urban civilization, much the way many Adirondackers still do.
Honorable Mention: Chingachgook, who became the idealized embodiment of the noble savage - a natural man, unencumbered by civilization, part of why the Adirondacks still uses so many Native American inspired names for a hundred rundown motels, and Ebenezer Emmons, the geologist whose Romantic native American inspired contributions to the New York Natural History Survey reinforced Native connections and provided the name "Adirondacks."
William H. H. Murray (1840–1904) - Adirondack Murray has long been considered instrumental in the birth of the Adirondack tourism industry. His 1869 book Adventures in the Wilderness; or, Camp-Life in the Adirondacks (which went through eight printings its first year) served as a simple guide to those who hoped to find spiritual enlightenment, physical health, and a return to man's natural state. The Great Wiki says that Murray argued that the "rustic nobility typical of Adirondack woodsmen came from their intimacy with wilderness." There's that rustic frontier nobility again.
Honorable Mention: Long Lake Guide Mitchell Sabattis, who guided Murray twice, and Benson J. Lossing whose heavily illustrated Field-Book of the Revolution served as the basic vacation tour guide model that Seneca Ray Stoddard later capitalized on.
Verplanck Colvin (1847–1920) - The Great Wiki says "lawyer, author, illustrator and topographical engineer whose understanding and appreciation for the environment of the Adirondack Mountains led to the creation of New York's Forest Preserve and the Adirondack Park." I, along with many of our commenters who made suggestions for this list, concur. His 1873 report arguing that the entire Adirondack region should be protected was instrumental in the creation of Adirondack Forest Preserve in 1885.
Honorable Mention: George Perkins Marsh, Henry David Thoreau, John Burroughs, John Muir, and others who convinced Americans that wild places were worth preserving.
Seneca Ray Stoddard (1844-1917) - Perhaps no single person in Adirondack history has had more impact on the region's modern tourist economy. His guidebook The Adirondacks: Illustrated, published from 1873 to 1914, included the first tourist map of the region, and inspired countless Americans and Europeans to experience the region's wonders - many of them returned for good. His 1892 illustrated lecture to the New York State Legislature is considered influential in the creation of the Adirondack Park.
Honorable Mention: Almanack reader Mara Jayne's suggested Adirondack artists: Thomas Cole, John Kensett, Sanford Gifford, Frederic Church, Samuel Coleman, J.D. Smilie, David Johnson, Asher B. Durand, James M. Hart, and Alexander Wyant.
Edward L. Trudeau (1848-1915) - Almanack reader Amy Catania suggested Trudeau saying, "When he came to the Adirondacks in the 1870s, Saranac Lake had less than 500 residents. Bloomingdale was a bigger town. At his death in 1915, SL had grown to around 8,000 residents. Just about all of the built environment in this little city in the ADKs grew up to serve the TB patients who followed Dr. Trudeau here. Dr. Trudeau built the first laboratory for the study of TB in the U.S. and the first Sanatorium to care for TB patients. Thanks to Dr. Trudeau, Saranac Lake was the national center for patient care and TB research up until the advent of antibiotics. And that meant a lot: the number of Americans infected with tuberculosis in the nineteenth century was as great as the combined number of cancer and heart disease patients today." I agree - he helped define the Tri-Lakes Region.
Honorable Mention: The thousands of anonymous nurses, doctors, and other workers who cared for the region's TB patients.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) - Avid naturalist and the founding father of America’s conservation movement, Theodore Roosevelt has been crucial to the kind of wilderness protection and wildlife conservation history that has defined the Adirondack region. Aside from helping to popularize the conservation of wild places, T.R. was a staunch supporter of the scientific approach to forest and wildlife management who pushed against "the depredations of man" by working to strengthen local fish and game laws and to professionalize the New York Fisheries, Game, and Forest Commission (forerunner of the DEC).
Honorable Mention: Foresters Bob Marshall, Bernhard Fernow or Gifford Pinchot who helped reverse the history of exploitation of the Adirondacks by the logging companies.
John Apperson (1878–1963) - Almanack reader Gregory Rosenthal suggested John Apperson by saying "he was Paul Schaefer's mentor and one of the earliest voices for, and probably the greatest catalyst for, the expansion of the blue line [in 1931] to include Lake George and other southeastern ADK lands." That's a big chunk of the region and home to many of those who today oppose the Adirondack Park Agency and it's controls over development inside the Blue Line. Without Apperson's leadership, the political landscape of the Adirondacks may very well have turned out differently. Apperson was a charter member of the Adirondack Mountain Club and an early proponents of skiing in the Adirondacks who pioneered the skiing of several routes in the High Peaks and around Lake George.
Honorable Mention: Paul Schaefer, for his work with the Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks, and Clarence Petty, for his role in influencing the classification of Adirondack lands.
Arto Monaco (1913-2003) - The work of Art Monaco in designing the area's theme parks has become a central part of the history of tourism in the Adirondacks, and the experience of Adirondack visitors in the last half-century. His creations have been found in the defunct Old McDonald's Farm (Lake Placid), The Land of Makebelieve (Upper Jay), Gaslight Village (Pottersville and then Lake George), and Frontier Town (North Hudson), at Storytown (now the corporate Great Escape) and Santa's Workshop in Wilmington (the last of a breed and a spot that made our Seven Human-Made Wonders of the Adirondacks).
Honorable Mention: Harold Hochschild, whose inspiration (and money) was crucial to the establishment of the Adirondack Museum, and Charles R. "Charley" Wood, the Lake George businessman and philanthropist whose impact on the Warren County landscape is undeniable.
Nelson Rockefeller (1908-1979) - Nothing on the man-made Adirondack landscape matches the Adirondack Northway, and in terms of impact on the communities along its route, it's huge. Just for that Nelson Rockefeller could make the list. But while a Republican New York State Governor he also sought passage of three major bond acts that provided over $300 million for land purchases (which helped establish 55 new state parks), created the Department of Environmental Conservation and the Office of Parks and Recreation, and banned DDT. Most importantly, however, he focused attention on suburban sprawl in the Adirondack Park and then appointed the Temporary Study Commission on the Future of the Adirondacks in 1968. That led to the creation of the Adirondack Park Agency - and we know where that story goes.
Honorable Mention: Ronald Stafford for helping create the North Country's prison economy, and, as Tony Hall noted, for his work as an Adirondack conservationist.
20 Comments:
I think a refreshing reality is how women are finally assuming far more influential roles in the North Country.
From state Senator Betty Little to APA executive director Terry Martino to the new slate of women elected to town supervisor posts in Essex County, that's a lot of change.
Some other highly influential women, some past, most still present and active:
Barbara McMartin, Anne Labastille, Betsy Folwell, Joan Weill, Cali Brooks...
--Brian
It is interesting (and maybe a bit disappointing) that not a single person on the list was a person born and raised in the Adirondacks. Am I wrong about that? It is my guess that even Deganawida may have even been born outside what is now the Adirondack Park. I guess it shows that much of the history of the area was shaped by people from outside the Adirondacks.
Paul, I thought about that and then I thought about lists of other places I'm very familiar with - and the most influential people in those places weren't born there either.
Pick a place and try it out.
These people all spent large parts of their lives here or decicated their lives to this place - it's offensive to consider them outsiders.
We need less of "if you weren't born here than you don't know" and more appreciation for the diversity of experience.
Every person here either moved here from somewhere else, or someone since their great-great grandparents did.
When they got here should we have called them outsiders?
It's about contributions to us all, not about where you were born.
Easy there anon 11:23...This wasn't any kind of what you called an "if you weren't born here than you don't know" comment. I was just noting that it is interesting that, given that the park has existed for over 100 years, that no one who has lived their whole life there had made the cut. In fact I think that the majority of those on the list spent relatively little time in the ADKS. I agree that doesn't diminish the impact they had on the area (good or bad). My comment was just an observation the list is very comprehensive.
It is clear that these folks did have great influence over the Adirondacks. It is also true that they are all mostly people who spent the majority of their lives outside the park (save a few). This may be the reason why some current Adirondack residents have that "go away outsider" attitude that someone mentioned above. When all the influence is coming from the "outside" it makes those on the "inside" feel like they are not in control of their destiny. Even when the "influence" may have a positive effect on their lives. Again, just an observation. This dynamic does exist, and I agree it is not productive.
One more big name: Bill McKibben. His book END OF NATURE, written here and about here, is arguably the first coherent argument about climate change.
Brian
John, Good choice there at the top with The Peacemaker.
I would think that Colvin who spent better than half his life in the adirondacks would not be considered an outsider.
how much time do you have to spend someplace before becoming an insider.
good example, if you are born and raised in Alabama but go to NYU as a student, then spend the next 60 years of your life in NYC, are you a New Yorker or still considered to be an outsider from Alabama?
what about people like Paul Jamison (I believe he technically lived his entire life outside the blue line), or Anne Labastille? Or Teddy Roosevelt who lived a few years as a cowboy and it actually had a profound influence on his values and politics.
I get the point of what the poster (Paul, I believe)was saying, just noting that where you are born or reside doesn't necessarily mean a whole lot.
A very interesting and impressive list. I am grateful for Brian Mann's acknowledgment of the contributions of women. Jeanne Robert Foster could be added to the list for her body of work which profiles the individuals who peopled the rugged 19th and early 20th century landscape. She did not paint pastoral pictures of the mountains and lakes. Nor did she build elegantly rustic mansions. She acknowledged the hard work, hard times, and hearty souls who lived in the Great North Woods she loved and wished to preserve. (She dedicated "Crane Mountain" to Paul Schaeffer who is on the list.)
Did Colvin actually spend 30 years in the ADK's? If he did, I would call that an "insider" if we need to use this term. It was my impression that Colvin spent many summers (and some falls) in the ADK's over the period that he was doing the survey (much less than 30 years) but that he lived most of his life in Albany. Did he even have a second home in the Adirondacks, where did he live? I would have to check. I just took out a book that tells his whole story but I haven't read it yet. But I have not seen anything that says that Colvin lived "half his life in the ADK's”. Maybe you are right. It doesn't really matter; he did have a great influence on the park. My point was, as you say, most of these folks did not live in the ADK's. Personally I would say that Colvin's greatest “influence” came from his misguided notion that logging was a threat to the NYC watershed. We now know that this was incorrect and that the watershed for NYC is far south of the ADK’s. This misinformation was used to convince the legislature to create the Forest Preserve. The result was probably a good thing, but this does show how science can be misused when it is not fully understood.
Colvin didn't misuse science, he was ahead of his time in thinking that watersheds were important, even to people in urban centers far away.
When you tell the legislature that the watershed for NYC is under threat from logging in the Adirondacks (based on his observations and study) then you are misusing that data. The NYC watershed was in no way threatened by that activity. guess is that his work was not very scientific so you may be right that I should characterize it some other way. The fact is, what he said was misleading. You may like the result but it doesn't make it right. when you support something like this you are headed down a very slippery slope.
I'm a little surprised that John Brown didn't make the list. Did he not live here long enough?
Jon Hoch
http://rosasghost.wordpress.com/
I think it's safe to say that Colvin didn't misuse science to mislead people. He may not have understood the science - because there was none.
Paul's argument about Colvin is just these kind of argument that I think goes too far - he's trying to make a political point - "see, these people use bad science to force their will on us." But, carrying that argument into the 19th century is inappropriate.
The bottom line, which I think is the point the anonymous commenter above was trying to make, is that Colvin did understand an important piece of the science - that watershed protection was important.
I'm not sure, but I think that one of the greater concerns was silting and reduced flow of northern rivers and streams and its impact on the levels of navigable waterways (like the Erie Canal) below.
Some of the Adirondack watershed does impact the Hudson - the Sacandaga Reservoir, for example, was built in part to control regular flooding events in the lower Hudson Valley.
There is no question that Colvin was on the right side of the science, even he he didn't fully understand, and thereby over-estimated, the immediate effects of the destructive logging practices.
As far as this question of who lived where longer - it's stupid, plain and simple. Unless you have an axe to grind, you believe that anyone in America has a right to fight for goals they deem worthy even if it's outside their "community" - whatever that is. The North forced the South to abandon slavery. The rest of New York forced the people of the Adirondacks to protect this area for the benefit of all New Yorkers.
Mostly, the people of my great grandparents generation moved to the Adirondacks after the Civil War. No one who wants to be taken seriously, should argue that somehow if you were not born here you shouldn't have a say. If so, than you are arguing that those great-grandparents must have been equally ignorant. And what does that say about their descendants? It's a ridiculous argument to make, or even to allude to. It's only a way to say - "see, they aren't like us"!
If that's so - then people who live in the Adirondacks should have no voice in Albany. After all, what could New York City or Albany or any other part of the state have to do with what we know?
We have a democracy, we all live in this state, we have a constitution, which provides for the Forest Preserve and reserves it for all New Yorkers. That was the right of all-New Yorkers and it was enacted more than 100 years ago - so let's quit whining about outsiders.
LOL Jon,
The reason I left John Brown off, and I thought about this a lot (check out my recent series on Brown), was because he didn't have a big influence here - at least not on all Adirondackers.
Had the Adirondacks had a large African American population, than yes - but the region didn't.
I don't discount Brown's impact on general American history and in fact I'd probably put him in the all time top ten there - but in the subset "Adirondacks" that argument just can't be made.
Even if we argue that he say, reduced the incidents of racism, the actual impact on this fairly homogeneous region is nil.
But yes, a great man, worthy of recognition.
Not trying to make any “political” argument, but you can take it that way if you like. I was just pointing out what has been proven over the years that men like Colvin should stop trying to mislead us in an effort to get to the end they desire. Even when there is a whole crowd of folks, with their blinders on, waiting to endorse his views, it is still wrong. Now this is strange! So I comment that it is interesting that folks that have had the most influence on the ADK’s (the point of the story I think) were ones who did not live much of their lives in the area, and the writer (and moderator) says that is “stupid”. Now I can’t really determine if my point is valid if I don’t know how much time they have spent here right? Seems like a rational question to ask how long they might have stayed in the area if I want to see a connection. John, I can only assume that this comment was to rid me from the discussion, it worked. My final comment to any of John’s stories will be this one: Keep preaching to the choir if that is what you want to do, but that doesn’t sound like much fun to me. Take care.
Paul -
The point of the list has absolutely nothing to do with whether these people were born, lived, or even visited, it was an attempt (albeit as I've said, somewhat limited in its approach) to discover who the most influential people in Adirondack History were.
You used veiled language to politicize the post as environmentalists lying about science and outsiders dominating life in the park - it's tiresome, but we get it.
Ned, here. You know, I think Paul’s observation that everyone on this list of influential Adirondackers was born outside the Blue Line is really pretty interesting. I don’t see it as a sly way of reiterating the tired old trope that if you weren’t born here, you don’t count. As someone who lived and reported in the Adirondacks for years but was born in Argentina and grew up in New York City, I’m as quick as anybody to give a kick in the shins to folks who try that nativist B.S.
But it is fundamentally interesting, not bad, just interesting, that of the 10 people you, John, cite as the most influential in the region’s history, all of them came from elsewhere. For one, it says a lot about the way our society, and the Adirondacks specifically, tend to grow — with a lot of help from the outside. Might it also imply this: that most of the very ambitious people born in the Adirondacks leave the Adirondacks and, at some point, stop identifying themselves as Adirondackers? If so, why?
It strikes me as a bit defensive to dismiss Paul’s observation so resolutely. I mean, if you’d compiled a list of the 10 most influential people in aviation history, say, and none of them had ever flown a plane, that’d be interesting, right? If your list of 10 best Spanish-speakers included no one from Spain, that’d be interesting, right? Paul’s right: It’s interesting that you deemed no one born in the Adirondacks influential enough to make the list.
At the end of the day, I really think these lists (including Mary’s list of A-holes) are fun to think about and enlightening. They get the wheels turning, anyway. It’ll be cool to see if the lists change much in, say, five years.
Lastly, early on in the thread an anonymous commenter said it’s difficult to think of a place whose course was shaped by its natives. What about Virginia?
Happy almost Winter Carnival, Ned
@John Warren--That makes sense.
John Apperson, my great-uncle, was born in Southwest Virginia, worked for several years as foreman for a branch railroad, and came to Schenectady in 1900 (age 21)to see if he could find employment with GE. He excelled as an engineer, but his passion was for the out-of-doors (hiking, skiing,& skate-sailing)... and he developed into one of the leading "preservationists" of his day. He used a scientific approach to back up his arguments, even taking on such powerful opponents as Robert Moses, who tried to build a highway along the shoreline of Tongue Mountain. The irony is, few people from Virginia have ever heard of him - or of his significant contributions to conservation & the environmental movement. By the way, after many years spent protecting Dome Island (centerpiece of Lake George)- he decided to donate the island to the Nature Conservancy (one of the first endowed gifts of land to that organization). I hope that everyone in the Adirondacks will claim his as one of their own - even if only as an adopted son. Ellen
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