Henry Abbott's Birch Bark Books by SLU Archives Intern Angelica Aksdal-Jansen, class of 2026.

1. The Anxious Seat (1914) 
2. The Lost Pond (1915) 
3. Camping at Cherry Pond (1916) 
4. Old Bare-Back and Others (1917) 
5. Camps and Trails (1918) 
6. Fish Stories (1919) 
7. The Chief Engineer (1920) 
8. Cold River (1921) 
9. Muskrat City (1922) 
10. On the Bridge (1923) 
11. Anthony Ponds (1924) 
12. Fishing Brook (1925) 
13. Wildcat Mountain (1926) 
14. Pioneering at Rowan-Wood (1927) 
15. Tirrell Pond (1928)
16. North Bay Brook (1929)
17. Psychology of the Lost (1930)
18. Raquette River (1931)

19. Pine Brook (1932)

     

condition of the book

• Cover good, the spine is off the book
• 1914 is faintly written on the front cover
• “Deerland Library Association/Deerland, N.Y.” is stamped on the pastedown
• On the flyleaf leaf, Henry Abbott’s name is signed but without “Christmas Greetings”
• 16 leaves, 25 pages
• photographs (2) and drawings (9):
  • photo: Bige sitting on “The Anxious Seat” (p. 6)
  • photo: “Bige and the Frying Pan” (p. 10)
  • drawing: an owl perched on a tree branch (p. 13)
  • drawing: a porcupine walking (p. 15)
  • drawing: a squirrel eating a green spruce cone (presumably from the text) (p. 18)
  • drawing: a rabbit (p. 19)
  • drawing: a racoon named “Coon” on a tree branch (p. 21)
  • drawing: an old hen partridge with seven of her half-grown chicks (p. 21)
  • drawing: a fox (p. 23)
  • drawing: a hermit thrush bird perched on a branch (p. 24)
  • drawing: a staff of music notes with the words underneath it “watch-ful wait-ing” (p. 25)

notes on the book’s writing/story

• Abbott wakes up early in the morning (before Bige) to go to the “anxious seat” at 3:30 am (p. 4)
• Abbott notes how it is easy to “see deer” along the shore of the lake or on a river bank, but it was much harder to see them in their forest home (p. 4)
• “The nature student who wishes to learn what deer do and how they act when at home, observe their habits in their natural surroundings when undisturbed and unafraid, must, therefore, conceal himself. For this purpose was the anxious seat constructed.” (p. 7)

• The anxious seat was located between two large birch trees about twenty-five feet above the ground (p. 8) Sitting on the anxious seat in silence so early in the morning gives Abbott the opportunity to observe other animals (an owl, a porcupine, squirrel). The squirrel noticing Abbott at some point doesn’t even run away, but climbs up the anxious seat and sits on Abbott’s shoe observing him (interesting part).

   

2. Lost Pond (1915)

condition of the book

• The cover is in good condition
• Flyleaf is inscribed “Cheer up / Christmas is here / Henry Abbott” in pencil
• 21 leaves, 37 pages
• Annotations in a pencil in a hand other than Abbotts. Annotations indicate a reader who knew the locale the book describes and had experience hiking in the Adirondacks
• Watermark on the 17th leaf.
• photographs (4):
  • photo: “Starting for Lost Pond”— Abbott and Bige about to start their hike (p. 11)
  • photo: “The Tent at the Source of the Roaring Brook” (p. 20)
  • photo: “The Lost Pond” (p. 27)
  • photo: “The Robbers”— two porcupines in a tree (p. 32)

notes on the book’s writing/story

• “Ever since childhood I have possessed that very human characteristic of wanting that which is forbidden, longing for what is just out of reach; and when a thing is said to be impossible, I at once have an intense desire to undertake to do that thing.” (p. 7)
• “primeval forest” (p. 15)
• Abbott is proud to discover a pond that hasn’t been mapped for 30 years. At the story’s end, Abbott and Bige are unlucky as porcupines steal their food, and they get stuck in the rain)

3. Camping at Cherry Pond (1916)

condition of the book

• The cover is in good condition
• Flyleaf, signed “Wishing you a/ Jolly Christmas / Henry Abbott” in pencil
• 18 leaves, 31 pages
• photographs (6):
  • photo: “The Cherry Pond Camp”— small log shack, house (p. 7)
  • photo: “The Dining Room”— outdoor dining room with a canopy over it; three unknown persons (p. 11)
  • photo: “The Beaver House”— beaver dam with two unknown persons standing on it (p. 18)
  • photo: “A Beaver Fountain” (p. 22)
  • photo: “The Dutch Oven”— a “Dutch oven” with some cooking pans, supplies (p. 25)
  • photo: “One of the Partridges”— Abbott holding a dead partridge he presumably hunted (p. 29)

notes on the book’s writing/story

• general plot/theme: deer hunting around Cherry Pond
• Abbott and Bige don’t have a lot of food to ration; are bored by the sameness/repetitiveness of their diet (pp. 3–4)
• Talks about hunting deer with a sense of honor (p. 6)
• Cherry Pond was one of Abbott and Bige’s favorite camping grounds; spent every year for the past fifteen years there both during the fishing and hunting seasons (p. 10)
• When Abbott and Bige encounter a family of deer at the end, they’re so captivated by observing the natural scene/behavior of the deer that they don’t shoot, even though the plot was a hunting trip

4. Old Bare-Back (1917)

condition of the book

• The cover is in good condition; the spine is split along cover crease
• Unsigned
• Notably, on the page before the title page, there is a drawing of bear on its hind legs with the caption “Old Bare Back”
• 33 leaves, 59 pages
• Watermark on last blank leaf
• photographs (5), drawings (3):
  • drawing: “Old Bare Back” (on page before the title page)
  • photograph: “The Lake Trout” (p. 8)
  • photograph: The Trout Hog’s Exhibit (p. 11)
  • photograph: “The Bear Trap” (p. 15)
  • diagram of a “translated” notice/warning from a bear’s language of marking a tree (p. 34)
  • drawing: bear prints (p. 35)
  • photograph: “The Burned Forest” (p. 39)
  • photograph: “Old Bare Back Today” (p. 58)

notes on the book’s writing/story

• The book focuses on a black bear called “Old Bare-Back,” who Abbott and Bige encounter multiple times. “Old Bear-Back” starts out the story without much fur (p. 13), but when Abbott’s has the hide as a rug, “its mid-winter coat and his fur four inches long”
• “It has been the writer’s privilege to see three large cities immediately after very destructive and historic fires had occurred; viz: - Chicago, Baltimore and San Francisco. In neither case was the sense of depression caused by the vision of ruin comparable with that produced by walking through a burned forest. The burned cities were rebuilt in a few years more expensively, and were then more beautiful than before. It will take a hundred and fifty years to restore the burned forest.” (p. 40)
• The book ends with Abbott finally having a worthy animal trophy (was failing to get a deer in the previous books)

5. Camps and Trails (1918)

condition of the book

• The cover in good condition; wear at top and bottom of spine
• Flyleaf inscribed “Wishing you peacetime / Christmas cheer / Henry Abbott” in pencil
• 32 leaves, 64 pages
• photographs (11) & drawings (1)
  • photograph: The Dan’l Boon Cabin— man sitting in front of a log cabin (p. 7)
  • photograph: “The Township Line” (p. 25)
  • photograph: “A Trail Blaze” (p. 27)
  • drawing: “Trails on Crescent Mountain” a diagram of the mountain and various trails Abbott made (p. 34)
  • photograph: “A Hunting Party at Cherry Pond Camp” (p. 40)
  • photograph: “Cedar Lake Camp” (p. 42)
  • photograph: “The Buck Mountain Camp” (p. 44)
  • photograph: “The High Ball Brook Camp—before” (p. 49)
  • photograph: “The High Ball Brook Camp—after” (p. 52)
  • photograph: “Whiskers On A Spruce” (p. 53)
  • photograph: “Basting a Venison Roast” (p. 59)
  • photograph: “A Dinner Party at Camp Hatchery” (p. 61)

notes on the book’s writing/story

• “About this time a shifting breeze carried the human scent the deer’s nostrils, and his head came up with a jerk. He blew a bugle blast of warning that could be heard a mile down the valley, and with head and tail erect he bounded away down the hillside as if the Devil was after him. Just then it occurred to me that I had a rifle in my right hand, and that, for that day at least, it was my business to hunt deer.” (p. 14)
• Abbott attempts to shoot a partridge but seems to fail and isn’t upset by it. Meanwhile Bige has successfully hunted a deer for supper (pp. 18–19)
• Personifies a pair of racoons by putting words in their mouth (p. 21)
• “The next time you lay out a trail, you take the compass along, and no matter how sure you may be that the compass is wrong, you go where the compass points. Many a man been lost in the woods by refusing to be guided by his compass and using his own judgment instead.” (p. 33)

6. Fish Stories (1919)

condition of the book

• The cover is good condition; some damage to spine
• Flyleaf inscribed “Christmas Greeting / Henry Abbott” in pencil
• 33 leaves, 62 pages
• photographs (4) & drawings (6)
  • drawing: “The Osprey” (p. 6)
  • photograph: “Hotel Palmer”— a small log cabin hotel (p. 11)
  • drawing: “The Coon”— a racoon on a tree branch (p. 15)
  • drawing: “Bill”— a stork standing in the water (p. 18)
  • photograph: “Dinner at Buck Mountain Camp” (p. 25)
  • drawing: “The Pickerel with two ruders” (p. 31)
  • photograph: “Buttermilk Falls” (p. 45)
  • drawing: “The Turtle with his trench hat” (p. 49)
  • photograph: “Wading Salmon River”— Abbott (presumably) standing in the water (p. 53)
  • drawing: “An Expert Trout Fisher” (p. 58)
• Two page preface by Henry Abbott 

notes on the book’s writing/story

preface

• In the preface Abbott talks about the notion/stereotype of fishermen exaggerating how many fish they’ve caught, “The truth always sounds better and in the case of a fish story, truth is often stranger than any fish fiction.” (p. 3)

text

• “Though an awkward appearing person by himself, in a landscape Bill made a picture of symmetry and beauty and his march was the very poetry of motion.” (p. 19)—writing about Bill, the stork
• Abbott’s fascination with the natural behaviors of animals in regard to fishing/hunting distracts him from his own hunting of a deer with Bige
• Abbott interestingly includes an Indian myth at Buttermilk Falls as part of its historical context (pp. 43–46)
• “With the judicial attitude of mind, considering all the evidence submitted, including my own early experience, I have arrived at the conclusion that the trout was first attracted by the odor of the bear’s paw, then rubbed against the soft fur, when the bear wiggled her toes and tickled the fish on his belly, whereupon the trout settled down in the bear’s paw, went to sleep and was tossed up on the shore to the waiting cubs.” (pp. 61–62)
• This book gives the reader an insightful and pleasant combination of Abbott’s love of fishing as well as him love of natural observation of other animals

7. The Chief Engineer (1920)

condition of the book

• The cover is in good condition, some wear on spine, a small piece of the cover has scraped off at the top left corner
• Flyleaf inscribed “Merry Christmas / Henry Abbott” in pencil
• 38 leaves, 70 pages
• photographs (15) and drawings (p. 1):
  • photo: “The Chief Engineer”— a beaver on its hind legs leaning against a small tree stump (p. 4)
  • photo: “A Beaver Fountain” (p. 7)
  • photo: “Camp Fireplace” (p. 13)
  • photo: “Beaver House”— a beaver dam (p. 19)
  • photo: “Bige Testing the Water of His Sucker” (p. 26)
  • photo: “The Pekan” (p. 29)
  • photo: A One Night Camp— Abbott or Bige standing next to a camp/tent (p. 32)
  • photo: “Section of Beaver Damn” (p. 37)
  • photo: “Beaver Posing” (p. 39)
  • photo: “Stone Pier in Beaver Damn” (p. 41)
  • photo: “Beaver Damn Fifteen Feet High” (p. 43)
  • photo: Bige Tearing Out the Damn (p. 51)
  • drawing: map sketch of Cherry Pond (p. 56)
  • photo: “Tree 18 Inches in Diameter Partly Cut by Beaver” (p. 58)
  • photo: “The Cottage” (p. 62)
  • photo: “Bear Wrecking Beaver House” (p. 65)

notes on the book’s writing/story

            -One of the longest and most detailed of the books
            -Ironic anthropomorphic humor throughout the narrative as Abbott describes beavers in
            the Adirondacks

8. Cold River (1921)

condition of the book

• The front and back covers are discolored (pinkish); small parts of the spine have come off
• Flyleaf inscribed “Merry Christmas / Henry Abbott” in pencil
• 29 leaves, 57 pages
• photographs (8):
  • photo: “The Start” (p. 4)
  • photo: “Going Down the Lake” (p. 6)
  • photo: “A Bit of Swift Water” (p. 8)
  • photo: “A Lady Bear” (p. 14)
  • photo: “Tenting on Cold River” (p. 18)
  • photo: “A Skunk” (p. 24)
  • photo: “Seymour Brook” (p. 31)
  • photo: “A Porcupine” (p. 44)
  • photo: “A Cold River Trophy” (p. 56)

notes on the book’s writing/story

• “In these civilized times, custom and the ‘rules of the union’ decree that we must go to the foot of the lake in one hour with a chugging machine whose jar and roar threatens one’s ear drums and makes conversation difficult, while we pass numerous docks and landing places about which a purple scum rests upon the water. Throughout the hour, instead of the sweet odors of balsam and pine, nostrils and lungs filled with the vile smell of burning oil and exploding gasoline; while the glimpse of hair, fur or feather, is shown by a flock of crows whose angry ‘caw, caw’ voices their protest against this modern invasion of nature’s solitudes.” (pp. 6–7)
• “Now, a deer is not only one of the timidest animals that live in the woods, but he also has more curiosity than any other animal of my acquaintance. It is very interesting sometimes, to watch the apparent struggle for supremacy in this animal, between impulses of fear and inquisitiveness. I have known a running deer to suddenly stop and listen, when the hunter made a curious and unusual sound.” (pp. 20–21)
• “The bump of ‘destructiveness’ is fully developed in all porcupines. We have observed the same trait in some human animals of our acquaintance. They never seem happy unless they are destroying something of value that others have produced.” (pp. 46–47)

9. Muskrat City (1922)

condition of the book

• The cover fair condition; the spine is peeling off
• Flyleaf inscribed “Merry Christmas / Henry Abbott” in pencil
• 32 leaves, 57 pages 
• photographs (8) and drawings/lithographs (3):
  • photo: “Owl’s Head Mountain in the distance” (p. 15)
  • photo: “Jim Flynn” (p. 17)
  • photo: “Jim Flynn’s Cabin” (p. 19)
  • photo: “Jim in his Look-out Tower” (p. 21)
  • photo: “Jim entertaining a guest on the mountain” (p. 24)
  • photo: “Blue Mountain see from Owl’s Head” (p. 27)
  • photo: “Owl’s Head over the roof of a saw mill” (p. 30)
  • photo: “Inside of Camp at Muskrat City” (p. 32)
  • photo/drawing/lithograph: “A Mink” (p. 33)
  • photo/drawing/lithograph: “A Marten” (p. 38)
  • photo/drawing/lithograph: “A Muskrat and his house” (p. 47)

notes on the book’s writing/story

• Abbott and Bige are lost as to where they are exactly, but know they’re at least in “Muskrat City”
• Author J.T. Headley’s description of the mass of trees being like the ocean in its expanse and movement (pp. 21–23)
  • “an ocean of tree-tops” (p. 22)
  • “It is a vast forest-ocean, with mountain ridges for billows, rolling smoothly and gently on like the subsiding swell of a storm.” (p. 22)
• The water, air and way of being in nature can heal a sick and disabled person (pp. 32–33)
• Animals Abbott encounters: mink, marten, woodchuck, fisher, racoon, fox, hares, snow- shoe rabbits 
• Abbott thinks that maybe the wildcats have come back (the sounds are like no other animal he has mentioned)

10. On the Bridge (1923)

condition of the book

• Cover in good condition
• Flyleaf inscribed “Merry Christmas / Henry Abbott” in pencil
• 25 leaves, 46 pages 
• photographs (7) and drawings (1):
  • drawing/sketch: “Cross Section of Beaver Dam” (p. 4)
  • picture: “Salmon River” (p. 7)
  • picture: “Salmon Pond” (p. 12)
  • picture: “Building a Guide Boat” (p. 18)
  • picture: “Carrying a Guide Boat” (p. 23)— Abbott carrying a boat
  • picture: “George, the Boat Builder” (p. 28)
  • picture: “Duffy” (p. 33)
  • picture: “End of the Trail” (p. 42)

notes on the book’s writing/story

• The best Adirondack boats made my Indians; big boat manufacturers allege making real “Indian canoes”– keeps sentimental demand for something that should be obsolete (p. 10)
• Abbott concerned about Bige not hunting baby deer or does with babies (pp. 20–21); calls deer his “pet deer”

• Abbott witnesses a porcupine (Bill) and skunk (Jim) come into confrontation on a beaver dam bridge (p. 39)

   

11. Anthony Ponds (1924)

condition of the book

• Cover in good condition; slight wear on the sprine
• Flyleaf inscribed “Merry Christmas / Henry Abbott” in pencil
• 22 leaves, 43 pages 
• *The book is divided into chapters (2)
• photographs (3), drawings (1) and map:
  • photo: “First Pond” (p. 14)
  • photo: “Second Pond” (p. 18)
  • photo: “Third Pond” (p. 24)
  • drawing: “Caught by a Rudder” (p. 44)
  • map of Long Lake and surrounding area attached to back pastedown 
  • watermark on the 16th leaf

notes on the book’s writing/story

• Abbott and Bige want to go to Anthony Ponds to hunt for meat, but more so because they want to explore “a new country we had never before seen.” (p. 5)
• Encounter a moose (thought to have been extinct in the area); don’t shoot it (pp. 8–9)
• Encounter a male deer with “a fine spread of antlers” (p. 12)
• As they continue on their hunting trip, they fail to shoot eight more deer (p. 13)
• Abbott has a clear close range shot of a bear who doesn’t notice them, and out of “hunting ethics” alerts the bear to their presence to give it a “fair chance,” and the bear gets away (p. 19)
   

12. Fishing Brook (1925)

condition of the book

• Cover in very good condition; small split on spine
• Flyleaf inscribed “Christmas Greetings / Henry Abbott” in pencil
• 19 leaves, 37 pages
• photographs (5), and a map:
  • photo: “East Inlet Falls” (p. 6)
  • photo: “Fishing Brook at Camp No. 1” (p. 8)
  • photo: “Fishing Brook at Camp No. 2” (p. 16)
  • photo: “The Buck Board Wagon” (p. 30)
  • photo: “Scotty’ and Others” (p. 34)
  • map of Catlin Lake and the surrounding area attached to back pastedown

notes on the book’s writing/story

• Focused on fishing truly “wild” trout at a brook where there is plenty Smith/”Scotty”: Scottish friend who loves nature, reminisces about nature and fishing trout in Scotland, “No better trout fishing than in Fishing Brook, could be found anywhere in the world, except in Scotland.” (p. 35)
• “In the years that followed these adventures, Bige and I made many trips to Fishing Brook. Recently, the automobile and better roads have brought to the banks of this and other accessible streams, two fishermen for every trout the waters contain. An equitable distribution would, therefore, give to each sport half of a fish. Those of us who have not lost the art of walking, and are not appalled by the immensity of the trackless forest, may still enjoy the pleasures of the rod, merely by leaving behind the highways of travel, as well as the trails, thus penetrating deeper into the home of the wild, where the jitney traveler does not now, and never will come.” (pp. 35-36)
   

13. Wildcat Mountain (1926)

condition of the book

• Cover in very good condition
• Flyleaf inscribed “Christmas Greetings / Henry Abbott” in pencil
• 25 leaves, 48 pages 
• photographs (2), drawings/lithograph (3) and map:
  • photo: “The Hatchery Cabin and Bige” (p. 6)
  • photo: “Jim Flynn” (p. 20)
  • lithograph/drawing: “Hermit Thrush” (p. 24)
  • lithograph/drawing: “Golden Eagle” (p. 28)
  • lithograph/drawing: “Wild Cat” (p. 32)
  • map of Forked Lake/Raquette River attached to the back pastedown

notes on the book’s writing/story

• Abbott reminiscing over his dear friend Jim Flynn (an infamous mountain man of sorts):

“Jim had met the big adventure. He had crossed over the great divide. If there is a Heaven, Jim is there. But he will not be playing a harp or singing bass in an angel choir. He will be drinking in the lyric melody that pours forth from the throats of a thousand wild song birds. Jim will not be tramping the hard pavement of golden streets. He will be treading the soft, moss covered, fern bordered paths under the arching branches of the forests of Heaven. He will be admiring the wonderful beauty of the wild flowers that grow in the garden of God.” (p. 22–23)

• Observe a specific kind of eagle
• See a wild cat
• “In a more distant landscape, the varying shades of green of these varieties were woven into a soft fabric, bordered by a blue-grey effect composed of distant clouds and sky. These latter, forming the frame of the cyclorama of which we were the center. Sown broadcast over this cloak of green, were scores of brilliant stars of varied magnitude, some of which, in the distance, seemed the size of single drops of water. Others, nearer and larger, were mirrors, but all were glittering in the brilliant sunshine—spangles upon this gorgeous, green garment of the earth. Need we say these ponds and lakes? We counted forty-four of them within our field of vision. We knew of many others which from this position were hidden from view by intervening hills or were buried by overhanging and surrounding trees.” (p. 35) (*beautiful description)
• *There is a list of mountains, lakes, ponds and streams that can be seen from Wild Cat Mountain on a clear day (pp. 37–38)
• In the list of different mountains on p. 37, there is a mountain called “N***** Head” (problematic)

14. Pioneering at Rowan Wood (1927))

condition of the book

• The front and back covers good condition; the spine is peeling off, small piece has fallen off
• Flyleaf inscribed “Christmas Greetings / Henry Abbott” in pencil
• On the top left corner of the pastedown “MII $10 ea” in pencil in unknown hand
• 28 leaves, 52 pages 
• photographs (12) and drawings/lithograph (1):
  • photo: “The Cabin” (p. 9)
  • photo: “The Dining Room” (p. 12)
  • photo: “The Kitchen” (p. 14)
  • photo: “The Lean-to” (p. 16)
  • photo: “The Boat House while building” (p. 18)
  • photo: “The Boat House” (p. 20)
  • photo: “The Golden Stairs” (p. 22)
  • photo: “The slain Beech” (p. 24)
  • photo: “Sawing Wood” (p. 26)
  • photo: “Partridge on Wood Pile” (p. 28)
  • photo: “Birch growing on roots of Pine” (p. 34)
  • photo: “Round Leaved Orchid” (p. 39)
  • lithograph: “The Loon” (p. 42)
  • watermark on title page, and on 25th leaf

notes on the book’s writing/story

• “It is a very human trait to want to build something. Not merely to be able to build something. Not merely to be able to pay someone skilled in art, to build after one’s plan or design; but with one’s own hands actually to construct however crudely or imperfectly, something durable or useful.” (p. 3)
• “Through all the ages achievement has indicated a characteristic of the human that is not possessed by the brute animal.” (p. 4)
• “Heretofore, at least by interference, the writer has acknowledged the possession of an irrepressible impulse to wander and explore in the forest; to leave the beaten paths of travel and thus to go where one can see what others have missed. This trait or habit has been called “wanderlust.”(p. 4)
• Gives detailed description of lumbering operations
• “As each ring represents a year’s growth, a simple problem in mental arithmetic disclosed the interesting fact that when George Washington was born, this tree was forty-five years old and probably was as many feet tall. Also, it was apparent that Nature had required two hundred and forty years to produce wood that we shall, in cooking our meals consume in one short summer.” (p. 27)
• Abbott has a deep admiration for the adaptability and fervor to live of trees (pine trees, bitch trees, maple trees, etc.
  -Habenaria orbiculata (p. 38)
• “We may even evaporate the syrup further until we shall have hard brown cakes of maple sugar. Then, indeed we shall not only point with pride to achievement. We shall not be merely players of the game, we shall have become producers and shall add something to the wealth of the world.” (p. 45)
• Abbott talks about how maple syrup is far healthier and more wholesome for humans than refined sugars
• Abbott advocate for producing maple syrup on a smaller, personable scale and not on an industrial scale
• “Here in autumn one literally lives in, and as the beautiful varicolored leaves begin to fall, one walks upon, the greatest of all artistic landscapes.” (p. 48)
• “The beavers have disappeared from our lake. The trappers got them and their coats have been transferred to the backs of society women in some more civilized (?) community.” (p. 49)

15. Tirrell Pond (1928)

condition of the book

            - cover near fine, small abrasion at the bottom of the spine
            - no Christmas salutation
            - 23 leaves, 40 pages 
            - drawings/lithographs (3), map (1):

• illustration: “Indian Teepee” (p. 7)
• illustration: “Pioneer Cabin” (p. 15)
• illustration: “The Bear Hesitated” (p. 41)
• map: Long Lake, Blue Mountain, Tirrell Pond attached to back pastedown

notes on the book’s writing/story

- The book is divided into two chapters. Chapter One is an account of “Plague Camp,” depicting the life of European settlers in the Adirondacks, and how John Tirrell came to be raised by an “Indian trapper.”
- Chapter Two is a description of Abbot and Bige taking a group of ill-prepared hunters into the country about Long Lake/Tirrell pond. They eventually come upon, and are scared away by, a bear. 
- Chapter One is written in sparse compelling prose and includes a detailed account of building a wooden cabin.

16. North Bay Brook (1929)

condition of the book

            - cover in good condition, small piece of spine missing
            - Flyleaf inscribed “Christmas Greeting/Henry Abbott” in pencil
            - 27 leaves, 56 pages 
            - photographs (11):

• photograph: “Falling a Spruce” (p. 6)
• photograph: “A Skidway” (p. 9)
• photograph: “Bob Sleds loaded” (p. 12)
• photograph: “Floating logs—Roll Bank” (p. 15)
• photograph: “A jam in the rapids” (p. 18)
• photograph: “River Drivers with Peavys” (p. 21)
• photograph: “Riding a floating log” (p. 29)
• photograph: “An Alligator” (type of boat) (p. 34)
• photograph: “Lumber Shanties” (p. 39)
• photograph: “On their way down river” (p. 44)
• photograph: ”Having ‘em drawed” (p. 48)
• photograph: “Codfish Hook/Hook that Caught Leviathan” (p. 51)

notes on book’s writing/story

- The book is divided into two chapters, “North Bay Brook” and “South Pond Epic.”
- Most of “North Bay Brook” is a detailed description of logging in the Adirondacks at the turn of the century. In the story Bige and Abbott contend with coming upon logs in the water—detailed description of how logs were moved by river, and attention given to the lingo and lifestyle of men working in the forest. 
--On page 45 Abbott announces his narrative is a fiction: “Readers who are familiar with the country of which we write, will not need a confession. They will at once know that we are writing ancient history…every tree of lumber size, that would produce logs capable of floating, has been cut and sent to the mill. The last log-drive went down river twenty-five years ago.”
- “South Pond Epic” is a narrative of catching a large fish (muskie?) identified as the “Leviathan.” It is eaten: “Stephen, the chef, on being called in conference, disclosed the fact that the kitchen boasts no cooking utensil big, so Leviathan was laid out, roasted, and served on a plank thirty-six inches long, fifteen inches wide, and two inches thick. An ornate collection of vegetables decorated the boarders of the plank while a group of distinguished guests sat about the table to honor the obsequies of the most heroic and most toothsome denizen of the waters of South Pond.” (pp. 55-56)

17. Psychology of the Lost (1930)

condition of the book

            -cover in good condition; spine broken
            -Flyleaf inscribed “Christmas Greeting/Henry Abbott” in pencil
            -29 leaves, 57 pages
            photographs (3):

• photograph: “Home of Daniel Boone” (p. 21)
• photograph: “Tote Road Point” (p. 30)
• photograph: “”Trout Hole” (p. 48)

notes on book’s writing/story

             -Very different emphasis and narrative voice than the other Birch Bark books

            -“Then there came back the urge for action. I was on the verge of panic, which has           proved undoing of many persons lost in the woods. However, something kept me  seated, until in a few minutes, I was telling myself I was not lost; I know exactly where I       was. It was not far down to the river bank. I would go down there, swim across and walk             home on the road.” (p.25

            -Book concludes with anecdote of Bige navigating the streets of New York City and
            Grand Central Station (pp. 52-57)

18. Raquette River (1931)

condition of the book

             -cover in very good condition, slight wear at top and bottom of spine
            -Flyleaf inscribed “Christmas Greeting/Henry Abbott”
            -28 leaves, 54 pages

            -photographs (4) maps (3)

• photograph: “A small section of the Raquette water-shed (p. 5)
• photograph: “Camping on the river near Raquette Lake” (p.12)
• photograph: “Raquette River below Forked Lake” (p. 15)
• photograph: “Logs going down the lower Raquette” (p. 25)
• map of Forked Lake and Raquette River (p. 30)
• map of Long Lake (p. 39)
• map of Follensby Pond and Raquette River (p. 55)

notes on books’ writing/story

-Much emphasis on fishing
-“One of the delights experienced in any kind of fishing is found in a study of the habits of the particular fish one hunts; then in applying the knowledge in out-witting the quarry. The more difficult the capture, the keener the zest in pursuit and the greater satisfaction when one succeeds in capture.” (p. 14)
-“The origin of the name “Raquette” has been much discussed and various theories have been advanced. One refers to the many falls rapids and therefore, it was called “Racket River.” The spelling later given a French twist to “Raquette River.” Donaldson in his “History of the Adirondacks” tells a story of Sir John Johnson, a British commander of a garrison at Johnstown NY, who in the spring of 1778 when hard pressed by American troops, fled with his followers toward Canada, taking the old Indian Trail. There being much snow in the woods, the party traveled on snow-shoes…After nineteen days of travel, through great hardship and suffering, the party arrived at Montreal. Some years later, a party of French Jesuit priests traveling south discovered the great pile of snow-shoes, near the shore and they called the lake—“Lake of the Raquette.” Raquette being the French name for snow-shoe. Later, the name was passed on to the outlet river…Emerson in his poem “The Adirondacks” calls the river “Pere (Father) Raquette” Thus suggesting an elderly Frenchman shoes name was given to the river and thereby became its godfather.” (pp. 50-51)
-Describes the “Philosophers Camp” near Follensby Pond in 1858 on pages 44 and 45.

19. Pine Brook (1932)

condition of the book

            cover in good condition, one inch piece at top of the spine missing
            Flyleaf inscribed “Christmas Greeting/Henry Abbott” in pencil
            23 leaves, 48 pages
            watermark on 10th leaf
            photographs (4) map (1)

• photograph “Forest fire on a mountain slope” (p. 15)
• photograph “A forest fire extinguished by the rain” (p. 21)
• photograph: “Second growth trees fifteen years old” (p. 33)
• photograph: “Conifers growing in the shade of white birch and poplar trees” (p. 39)
• map of Forked Lake and Long Lake attached to endleaf

notes on books’ writing/story

-Describes lumbering in Adirondacks, 1900 Pine Brook fire, and connection between the two. Then details the regrowth of the forest. “
-“Thus fourteen summers had come and gone since the Pine Brook fire and Nature had been busy in efforts toward repairing damage inflicted by that conflagration, when one day Bige and I discovered that beaver had returned to the Adirondack forests. The story of that interesting animal’s reoccupation of his ancient home was related in another publication entitled “The Chief Engineer.” (pp. 33-34)
-“This is the nineteenth and last of a series of sketches covering adventures and observations in the Adirondack Mountains. H.A.” (p. 48)

Abbott’s careful observations almost seem to be a sacred and spiritual practice in his descriptions of being alone and in silence so early in the morning. Abbott was from New Jersey and was an influential and respected watchmaker who was well connected to society, but within his uniquely charming The Birch Bark of Henry Abbott he conveys a sense of longingly wanting to embody being a woodsman and champion of nature. Animals become personified in their behaviors and Abbott makes them look at or interact with him with a human-like feel. Abbott notes down the sounds the animals make and makes it seem like they’re talking to him or singing--he writes of a hermit thrush bird “and with one eye on me sang, ‘Watch-ful wait-ing; watch-ful wait-ing” His writing conveys wanting to be “one” with nature, and a strong belief in keeping the Adirondacks shielded from human affairs.

The books discuss a variety of things that become themes: animal habits, hunting, established named camps, hiking (discovering and marking trails), and fishing. Abbott has the sort of understanding of nature which leads him to engage with the Adirondack terrain and enjoy its fruits. The books share Abbott’s insights through a love of hunting and fishing being intermixed with a sense of humor about natural experience, sometimes being content to mercifully spare (or miss a shot at) deer. The prose highlights Abbott’s inability to hunt “grander” animals himself, and a theme of Abbott being too generous of a hunter (and quite frankly being an ineffective hunter) repeatedly comes up. 

Personification of animals and their behaviors is a recurrent contemplation, porcupines and skunks are viewed in Abbott’s eyes to be a sort of dominant species in the woods that no animals want to really mess with. Abbott has a deep appreciation for the process of building things from lumbering, the tedious process of sugaring (prefers the process over an industrial sugaring or production of refined sugar), and his stories give an appreciation to the slow process of nature whether that of lumbering, sugaring, which he aligns with the descriptions of the growth of trees. Abbott in the last several books give the reader a commentary on favoring the “old ways” of the wilderness versus impending modernity on the ways of the forest. In this, he asks (and gives us, as contemporary readers, a chance to ask): what does the Adirondack’s Abbott describe it say about this moment in Adirondack history? Certainly, Abbott felt he was observing the Adirondacks at a moment when they were healing—new growth forests were starting to strive, deer were abundant, beavers had returned—herein is where Abbott found the solace he wanted to share in his Adirondack meandering. While these small volumes probably don’t go on any lists of essential titles for Adirondack conservation, they are, however, valuable testimonials to one man’s Adirondacks: a confessional of how small Adirondack experiences build a larger point of view. For this, we can all be grateful for Henry Abbott’s Christmas presents.