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Monday, July 21, 2003
Imagining Baxter, at home in his park
Copyright © 2003 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. | ||||||||||||||
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Also on this page: FOREVER WILD: Rediscovering Katahdin | |||||||||||||
Visiting the remote trout ponds and rivers at the foot of Mount Katahdin probably offers the same experience for anglers today as they did a century ago when Percival Baxter first fished them. Exploring the lush landscape, fishing the native trout waters, and feeling the overwhelming silence would have been much the same as it was for Baxter. As photographer John Ewing walked along Little Niagara Falls on Nesowadnehunk Stream, he peered in and commented: "I bet there is a brook trout right in that fast moving water." It's not hard to imagine Baxter making the same observation beside the banks of the river as he approached Kidney Pond for the first time in 1903. As Ewing left Rocky Pond at nightfall with a newfound angling friend, the two men trading stories about their favorite fishing trips, it wasn't hard to see Baxter there 100 years ago having a similar discussion. Perhaps Baxter was there in spirit the three days we attempted to retrace his steps on that first fishing trip, at the foot of Mount Katahdin. Indeed he would have relished the idea of ushering us to the places he first visited when he stayed at Hunt's Camp on Kidney Pond in the early 1900s. It is known and documented that James and Percival went to Kidney Pond that year. Typically such trips to sporting camps back then lasted several weeks. Baxter would have surely spent this time fishing many of these ponds if he were any kind of an angler. And if we know anything about Baxter, we know that much. Baxter would have enjoyed our re-creation of his trip. There were few trout landed in the stifling summer heat. There was more casting than catches. But there was plenty of fishing conversation. We fished Kidney Pond at dawn, Celia Pond at high noon, and Rocky Pond at dusk, all to little success. Still, it was a quest that would have suited a self-proclaimed "patient fisherman." Baxter struggled during his many years serving in the Maine Legislature to try to protect this area. But he was a visionary way ahead of his time. His idea to conserve this faraway mountain in such a rural state was not well-received. His bill failed to pass. So he decided to make the purchase himself. Over the course of 32 years he purchased land around Katahdin to preserve an area where Maine's wildlife and natural beauty could be enjoyed by all. Taking the last hike on our journey up to the fabled Rocky Pond, known for its beauty and isolated shores, it seemed then entirely possible the park's resident ghost was there. The surreal quietude at dusk, the haunting presence of the pond's two loons, and the sharp shadows cast by the boulders and mountains beyond made Rocky Pond the likely resting place for a lifelong fisherman. The task of piecing together this bit of history was a tenuous one made difficult by the distortions of time. But it makes sense that the spirit of Baxter was there in the park, ready to join a small party of fishermen as they hiked out of a remote trout pond at night, discussing as they did tales of tackle, techniques and fishing days gone by. Staff Writer Deirdre Fleming can be contacted at 791-6452 or at:
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