First Whiteman in the Interior Adk's....

I read an interesting article lately on Issac Jogues, a French Jesuit priest, who was supposedly the first white man to see the interior of the Adirondacks. He was taken prisoner by the Mohawks, while traveling with a group of Hurons & other Frenchmen while traveling in Quebec. The party was taken by canoe, down Champlain to the junction of the Sacandaga & the Hudson, then overland to the Mohawk River region. Somewhere along the line he was brought back north again with a hunting party to the Saranac region. I guess he experienced a lot of torture and gauntlet running along the way but eventually managed to escape, went back to France, came back to the New World, went back into the Mohawk territory, got captured again and this time he got beheaded...(shoulda quit while he was ahead, huh?...or while he still had one)..

Anyhow ...this past summer I spent a couple of days with a friend who had a camp on the north end of Lake George across the lake from the Rodgers Rock area...I've never spent much time on the lake, the crowds always scared me away...that's not my style, but I couldn't help thinking what a beautiful lake it is indeed and what it must of looked like to the first europeon explorers & missionary types, when it was truly wild. Surely must have been something to see. I can only imagine the hardships Issac Jogues must have endured, but the sights he witnessed first hand must have been incredible.

[dundee]

Indeed. Big white pines, chestnuts & hemlocks. Lake trout, salmon, moose, elk, etc. No mercury, acid rain or purple loosestrife. Those were the days.

And the thick foliage surrounded the waters -I wonder what the first white man thought when he paddled his wooden raft down the Colorado River?

[dundee]

Originally Posted by looncry

And the thick foliage surrounded the waters -I wonder what the first white man thought when he paddled his wooden raft down the Colorado River?

That would have been Maj. John Wesley Powell (Lake Powell) and it was probably, "OH S*^&&TT!!!

Originally Posted by dundee

That would have been Maj. John Wesley Powell (Lake Powell) and it was probably, "OH S*^&&TT!!!

I wonder how long the hieroglyphics were on the canyon walls as he explored Arches and Bridges...Looncry

[dundee]

I just saw a Globe Trekker epidsode where they went to some canyon in the west. On the walls were hieroglyphics depicting a person on a horse. One of the other hikers was bright enough to know that the spanish brought horses around 1500 AD. So at least we know roughtly how old those are.

Others could be just slightly younger than when the first Native Americans crossed the land bridge. I can only imagine how long these hieroglyphics have been in the arid air of the southwest.

Originally Posted by dundee

I just saw a Globe Trekker epidsode where they went to some canyon in the west. On the walls were hieroglyphics depicting a person on a horse. One of the other hikers was bright enough to know that the spanish brought horses around 1500 AD. So at least we know roughtly how old those are.

Others could be just slightly younger than when the first Native Americans crossed the land bridge. I can only imagine how long these hieroglyphics have been in the arid air of the southwest.

I think my thread here dun got hijacked......

But it waz you who started me thinkin- and who knows-maybe Mr.Powell can be googled, tx! goodnite,Paddlewheel and Dundee Looncry

[nutmeg creeker]

Well, to get back on point, I would offer a suggestion to those who might want to do some serious reading on the subject: the Jesuits have always been a scholarly lot, and the narratives of their adventures in North America are comprehensive accounts of their encounters. The short title of their chronilcles, which I have seen but not read, is the "Jesuit Relations," and I know that much of the info is first hand accounts. It is good primary source material, and deals with Central New York, the Adirondacks, and French Canada. The Shrine of the North American Martyrs in Auriesville was established long ago in memory of the early Blackrobes, as they were called. Much of what is known of these earliest Europeans in the area comes from the "Relations"

[dundee]

Originally Posted by paddlewheel

I think my thread here dun got hijacked......

Yeah, kinda looks like we did that. Sorry!

Back in the 80's there was a "B -low budget" movie around named "Blackrobe". It was centured around the whole New York State, Huron -Iroquois confrontations with the Jesuits...It was actually a pretty good flick...the scenery in it was fanatastic....I always wondered where it was filmed.(whether it was actually done in the Adk's or not)...I remember when they did that remake of "The Last of the Mohicans" in the 90's it was filmed in the Smokie Mts.....

[dundee]

Yes, I recall Blackrobe being a good flick.

They wanted to film LOM in the ADK's, but needed to cut down trees to lay down filming "railroad tracks", build forts, etc. and that sort of thing is not allowed in the Forest Preserve.

I guess the Smokies have a large amount of old-growth timber that could resemble 18th century ADK's and they went there to film.

[fremontjackson]

Actually today we can still see "original" Adirondack vistas in paintings from the era.

A lot of the Hudson River School painters painted the Catskill mountain region and the Hudson River Valley. For example, the first of the Hudson River painters was Thomas Cole, and here are some
Thomas Cole paintings and their locations.

I camped and hiked in the Catskills a few months ago and saw the exact views of some of the most iconic Hudson River School paintings, including sites 8, 9 and 11 in that Thomas Cole link. It is a really neat feeling to know that, with normal climate and vegetative change of course, you are essentially looking at the same vista that these guys did 150-200 years ago, assuming these areas were not substantially altered prior to the preservation statutes. Not quite original white man vistas, but still pretty early.

Here are some Adirondack paintings by the Hudson River School:
Saranac Lake
Saranac Lake
Adirondack Landscape
Ausable Chasm

Would probably take a Hudson River School art historian to map out all the painting locations.

[Dick]

Originally Posted by paddlewheel

Back in the 80's there was a "B -low budget" movie around named "Blackrobe". It was centured around the whole New York State, Huron -Iroquois confrontations with the Jesuits...It was actually a pretty good flick...the scenery in it was fanatastic....I always wondered where it was filmed.(whether it was actually done in the Adk's or not)...I remember when they did that remake of "The Last of the Mohicans" in the 90's it was filmed in the Smokie Mts.....

1991, and filmed in Canada (Lac St. Jean, Saguenay Region; St. Felix d'Otis, Quebec), and Rouen, France.

Dick

[Dick]

Here are a few links to information about Issac Jogues:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Jogues
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08420b.htm
http://www.wyandot.org/jogues.htm
http://www.ewtn.com/library/mary/jogues.htm
http://www.stisaac.org/isaacarticles.htm

Dick

Originally Posted by Dick

1991, and filmed in Canada (Lac St. Jean, Saguenay Region; St. Felix d'Otis, Quebec), and Rouen, France.

Dick

Thanks Dick.....something I was always curious about.

I forgot all about this thread.....delayed reaction, I guess..

Originally Posted by paddlewheel

Back in the 80's there was a "B -low budget" movie around named "Blackrobe". It was centured around the whole New York State, Huron -Iroquois confrontations with the Jesuits...It was actually a pretty good flick...the scenery in it was fanatastic....I always wondered where it was filmed.(whether it was actually done in the Adk's or not)...I remember when they did that remake of "The Last of the Mohicans" in the 90's it was filmed in the Smokie Mts.....

Off the beaten path of this thread,but could ''Dances with Wolves'' be the best film of the year? Kevin Costner was not a saint but I could say his adaptation to the Sioux Indians way of life is remarkable. Looncry

Originally Posted by looncry

Off the beaten path of this thread,but could ''Dances with Wolves'' be the best film of the year? Kevin Costner was not a saint but I could say his adaptation to the Sioux Indians way of life is remarkable. Looncry

Where the hell did that one come from?...I want some of what you've been smokin'

[fremontjackson]

Museum employees lurking in this forum and read my post?

Adirondack Museum exhibition
A "Wild, Unsettled Country": Early Reflections of the Adirondacks
MAY 28 — OCTOBER 18, 2010