Burt Conklin, the trapper, took off to his trapline for two months and managed to sell $125 worth of fur at the Herkimer market that year.
Adirondack Characters And Campfire Yarns
Burt Conklin’s Christmas Present
An excerpt from ” Adirondack Characters And Campfire Yarns “, Starting on page 129.
Burt Conklin (right) provided his family with a Merry Christmas back in 1914. Ray Milks (left) was one of Burt’s trapping partners.
COURTESY EDWARD BLANKMAN (THE LLOYD BLANKMAN COLLECTION)
Lloyd Blankman
Burt Conklin, the trapper, had a poor year in 1906. It was the month of November. Christmas was coming on, money was scarce, and it was a family of five. So, Burt got his traps and supplies ready, said goodbye to his wife and three children, and disappeared into the forest.
In three hours, after an uphill march, he reached his Green Timber Camp near the Tamarack Marsh. From here his main and loop traplines crossed and crisscrossed in all directions reaching even as far as the Moose River. Now he proceeded to set his traps and collect his fur pelt harvest.
He didn’t see his family again until just before Christmas. With his son, Roy, he took his furs to the Herkimer market and collected $125, a considerable sum for those days. His catch consisted of mink, otter, fisher, martin, ‘coon, and foxes.
The Conklins had a nice Christmas.
