A Look at Local Days Gone By

Big Moose Landing: A once familiar spot on Fourth Lake

Before the automobile, the railroads and the steamers, those who traveled from “the Forge” to Big Moose Lake disembarked on the north shore of Fourth Lake at a location known as “Big Moose Landing.”

Another landing to the west was used that took the traveler past First (called Landon, then Rondaxe) and Second (called Foster, then Dart’s) Lakes to the Third (called Sherman, then Big Moose) Lake, north branch, Moose River.

But the guides with their sportsmen would usually head for Elba Island and bear north towards the shore where a landing developed that led to a trail through the woods.

This trail was called the “Carry Trail.”

After unloading at Big Moose Landing, you would carry your belongings up a hill and quickly come to what Edwin Wallace called “a lovely little pond” which we today call Surprise Pond.

Continuing another 3/4 mile past today’s Route 28 and the bed of the Raquette Lake Railway (now the hike/bike trail) you come to Bubb Lake.

Traveling around the southern part of Bubb Lake you then turn to the north and travel over the stream between Bubb and its neighboring Sis Lake.

According to Wallace, “Arnold used to send his son Otis, whom he designated ‘Bub,’ to this lakelet and a daughter, whom he called ‘Sis,’ to the neighboring pond to watch for deer; hence their names.”

A mile carry to the north of Bubb Lake was Moss Lake (once called Morse) and another 1.25 mile carry around the east side of Moss Lake took the traveler to Second Lake, north branch Moose River, or Dart’s.

Then a stream was taken 1 mile to the north followed by a final carry of 1.5 mile to Big Moose Lake.

These distances are from Wallace’s 1894 guide.

To reduce the distance by foot, guideboats and skiffs were left at the shores of Bubb and Moss Lakes.

This is the route Roy Higby described as taken by his father, Jim Higby, in the 1870s to reach Big Moose Lake.

As the Forge House and the Fulton Chain region grew more popular, the use of this route grew as did the need for accommodations.

William Dart first arrived in the region in 1871 with a group of boys to earn money from trapping.

According to obituaries, he decided to stay and Dart built his first camp in 1879.

In the winter of 1887-88 he built a “double-deck” camp, financially assisted by his friend Alexander B. Lamberton.

At the time, Lamberton owned the Forge House and Forge Tract.

Though reported to have been built for clients from Boston, it may have been for a bride, the former Mary V. Kronmiller of White Lake Corners.

The Boonville Herald reported in July 1888 that the newlyweds intended to live at Second Lake, north branch, “where they will keep open house.”

Celebrating their silver anniversary in 1913, Mary described the 2.5 day trip, traveling in a rowboat: They “rowed across one lake, carried the boat and packs to the next, rowed some more, camped in the open at night and then repeated the performance until they reached home.”

The Boonville Herald reported in 1887 that Emil Murer, born in Alsace-Lorraine, France, was the new owner of the Arnold Camp on the south shore of Fourth Lake. Near the location of the later Cohasset Hotel, Joseph Grady tells us that guide Jack Sheppard built the first camp on the location in 1874.

After Sheppard moved to Big Moose Lake in Fall 1877, Ed Arnold catered to travelers and friends at the camp until moving to Seventh Lake.

Continued Next Week…