Adirondack Stories
of the Black River Country
By William J. O’Hern
The spirit of Rev. A. L. Byron-Curtiss lives on through his recollections, stories and journal entries from his life in the Adirondacks.
Hardened guides, woodsman, neighbors, and parishioners fill these pages with vivid details of life in the mountains from the 1890s to 1950s. An excellent showcase of Adirondack folklore and a glimpse into early life in the Adirondacks.
Byron-Curtiss, also known as “the Renegade Reverend of North Lake” was a preacher, philosopher, political activist. He was also a thief, a fish hog, a tippler, scofflaw, and a nature lover. These are the elements that make fascinating reading.
The spirit of North Lake’s preacher lives on through these chronicles. So, too, does the hardened band of guides, woodsmen, and mountain people he kept pace with. Their knowledge of backwoods living steers the reader into a time that has almost vanished in the memory, but it will never be forgotten because of how vividly the reverend recalls mountain life in America as it was from the turn of the century through the Great Depression.
244 pages.