Adirondack Characters and Campfire Yarns

Adirondack Characters and
Campfire Yarns:
Early Settlers and Their Traditions

By William J. O’Hern

After his friends Harvey Dunham and Mortimer Norton passed away, Lloyd Blankman dreamed of organizing his newspaper and magazine articles, along with articles by his friends, into a book. Sadly, Lloyd died before getting very far into the project.

Author William J. O’Hern has resurrected Blankman’s vision, by joining his original writing with the enduring works of Blankman and his contemporaries in Adirondack Characters and Campfire Yarns, a mosaic history of the lives and traditions of the settlers of the Southern Adirondacks.

Venture into the wilderness with French Louie and Alvah Dunning and learn about lesser known characters such as Old Lobb of Piseco Lake and Moose River Plains guide Slim Murdock. Travel the trapline with Richard Woods, E. J. Dailey and Burt Conklin, “the greatest trapper.”

Adirondack Campfire Tales — Colorized Stoddard photo courtesy of Maitland C. DeSormo "Pictures of bygone days in the Adirondacks guided me to places where trappers trapped and loggers ran river drives, to one-room school houses and stone fences around the fields of hardscrabble farmers. Many trips to the headwaters f the Black River and West Canada Creek were inspired by stories about the first wealthy sportsmen traveling there by horse and jumper and the guides who led them to the bounty of that pristine wilderness." -- W. J. "Jay" O'Hern

Explore the turbulent waters of the West Canada Creek in search of trout, learn about the tools of the spruce gum trade, and find out why “the liars club” of Forestport called their get-togethers “parting with the dog.” Adirondack Characters and Campfire Yarns not only fulfills Blankman’s dream, it fills a void in the recorded history of a seldom written-about region and the people who settled it.

Over 80 vintage photographs!

“Yes, I once knew an Adirondack guide. I like to think that I knew him perhaps better than any one of his many friends and acquaintances. I spent many happy, unforgettable hours in his company in far-away places. In our years of association and companionship I came to love and respect this soft-spoken, mild mannered, unassuming man of the Great Outdoors with his vast knowledge of the deep forests and the wild creatures that dwell therein.”
–Henry P. Shepard