Now Available!
Historic Sporting Camps of Moosehead Lake, Maine
“Historic Sporting Camps of Moosehead Lake” is a valuable contribution to Maine’s recreational history. From the mid-nineteenth century to the present, the Moosehead region has attracted generations of those seeking a wilderness experience. Roger Moody’s book provides an insightful overview of how this experience evolved as well as informative and well-illustrated accounts of more than two dozen sporting camps.” Earle G. Shettleworth, Jr., Maine State Historian
As a long-term Moosehead Lake camp owner, I’ve often wondered about the histories of the sporting camps on the lake. How have these camps responded to the economic, technological, and cultural changes brought by the passage of time from the post-Civil War era to that of the present day? This book reviews individual sporting camp histories and answers the questions about their evolution. Roger Moody
Logging Towboats and Boom Jumpers
Camden/Rockport native Orris Albert “O.A.” Harkness was a true mechanical genius. From 1903 to 1951, he contributed significantly to the success of the Penobscot Log Driving Company and the Great Northern Paper Company in Maine’s Penobscot River timberlands by utilizing the developing technologies of the times to move logs efficiently to paper mills. His career began with designing and constructing several log boom tow boats and included designing dozens of “boom jumpers.” His responsibilities expanded to include oversight of a complex 3000′ tramway, steam and gasoline powered Lombard log haulers, a specialized railroad, sophisticated pulpwood conveyors, and crawler tractors, all to move harvested logs to and along the waters of the East and West Branches of the Penobscot River, initially to sawmills and then to paper mills. Through his great personal energy, inventiveness, creativity, ability to keep complicated machinery and mechanical systems in operation, and his intelligence in understanding GNP Co.’s competitive position and how to further it, emerges a fascinating narrative. The book includes many photographs of the time, as it explores logging in the Penobscot and Allagash watersheds. Written for those who are intrigued by history, it also contains expansive historical information about the many aspects of logging in the first half of the 20th century.
A fascinating account of O.A. Harkness helping Great Northern become the largest paper mill in the world by building a specialized inland navy to move logs to the mill. He also operated an innovative logging tramway, a fleet of Lombard log haulers, and a landlocked wilderness railroad to move logs from the Saint John watershed to the Penobscot. The ghost train locomotives still remain in the woods. Many rare historic photos and blueprints enhance the book.—Herbert Crosby, Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering Technology at the University of Maine, and Board Chair of the Maine Forest and Logging Museum.
Also available:
Thomas carved pine “panels” with chisels to create a 3D effect, and painted them, as shown on the book cover. A talented sculptor and artist. $15.95
Roger Allen Moody
Roger Allen Moody lives in Camden, Maine, and has long been interested in Maine history, especially its coastal and inland lake legacy. His background includes an undergraduate education at the University of Maine and a graduate degree in public administration from Syracuse University. His public service career counts many years of municipal and school management and serving for eight years as a Knox County Commissioner.
Roger also writes articles about Maine history for Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors magazine, and for WoodenBoat.