109 pages
Published February 2021
In this book, legendary Maine naturalist, outdoorsman and fur buyer Manly Hardy tells of his two-month long trapping trip with Rufus Philbrook in the headwaters of the Allagash and Penobscot rivers in 1859. The two young men built a cabin near Caucomgomoc Lake and ran trap lines for marten, fisher, lynx, beaver, otter, mink, muskrat and bear. From the elaborate half-pitch camp with an open fireplace and wooden ‘chimney’ to intricate hand-crafted deadfall traps for marten and fisher, homemade fur stretchers and clothing, encounters with Indians, ancient trails, active lumbermen and old logging camps, and keen observations of the weather and geography, the story is nothing short of fascinating.