A Research Tech’s Perspective, Pt.3

I like to think I was accepted for the Research Tech position because of my skills and comfort level in remote backcountry locations and because I’m a quick learner and hard worker. It was definitely not because of my skills in the laboratory. Second only to my interest in protecting these wild places is learning the incredible history behind them. Many of the water bodies we sample have quite an intriguing and provocative history.

Very close to our sampling location at the outlet of Big Moose Lake in the Town of Webb is the site of an early 20th century murder that was the basis for Theodore Dreisel’s 1925 novel An American Tragedy. In 1906 Grace Brown was allegedly killed by her boyfriend Chester Gillette after notifying him that she was pregnant. The couple was in the process of moving to the Adirondacks though Gillette had only a small suitcase with him and had used a fake name when signing the nearby hotel register. On July 11th while rowing on Big Moose Lake, Brown was supposedly struck over the head with a tennis racket causing her to fall into the lake and drown. Gillette’s claim that Brown just simply got up and jumped into the water did not hold up in court and after a three week trial he was sentenced to death.

Just down the road sits Cascade and Moss Lakes, the outlets of which are also sampling sites for AWI’s ALTM program. Along the Cascade Lake loop lie the remnants of a former Girls Camp founded by entrepreneur George H. Longstaff that ran from the early 1930’s until the mid 1940’s. The north shore of Cascade lake still has many stone structures for hikers to wander around and explore. Nearby Moss Lake was also the site of one of George Longstaff’s Girls Camps which included tennis courts and a stable of 40 horses. This camp closed in 1972 and was acquired by New York State the following year.

In spring of 1974 a group of Akwesasne and Kahnawake Mohawks made their way to Moss Lake to reclaim a piece of their ancestral homeland which they called Ganienkeh, meaning “Land of the Flint”. Though this land was supposedly sold to New York state in the late 1700’s, the Iroquois Confederacy has never officially recognized the agreement. The ensuing standoff lasted three years and occasionally turned violent involving several shootings between the Mohawk and locals. Eventually a settlement was reached which granted those at the camp nearly 5,000 acres to the north by Altona, New York and cleared them of any legal consequence in exchange for leaving Moss Lake and relinquishing title claims to lands in New York and Vermont. Sadly the plan to set up a state agency to deal with the more long term issues never materialized.

Almost 15 miles to the Southeast lies several sampling sites in the Moose River Plains Wild Forest. When I first told my wife the names of some of the water bodies I would visit on this trip she scowled at the mention of “Squaw Pond”. I also detested the name and its demeaning nature. Thankfully the Secretary of the Department of the Interior issued an order to change the names of geographic features that were considered derogatory and Squaw Pond is now called Muskrat Lake.

In the nearby West Canada Lake Wilderness sits Brooktrout Lake, perhaps our most remote sampling site. A 1980’s survey of the lake found it to be fishless when just a century earlier it was said to be teeming with native brook trout. With a reduction in harmful emissions (primarily sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide) due to the Clean Air Act, aquatic plant life began to return and reestablish the food chain. In the early 2000’s fish were reintroduced to the lake and by the end of that first decade they were not only able to maintain a stable population but also reproduce. This achievement suggested that other affected waters could recover as well and proved that the reduction in emissions provided that opportunity for recovery. Similarly hard hit by acid rain emissions were Avalanche Lake and Lake Colden in the High Peaks Wilderness. Over three decades after these lakes were declared fishless and surveys failed to catch any fish, they once again have breeding populations.

History is often messy and seldom can it be seen in terms of black and white, but the story we create is usually fascinating nonetheless. It is full of failures to disparage but also successes to be celebrated and it is equally important that we remember both. Our ALTM sampling sites provide just a small sample of the unique natural and cultural history of the Adirondack Park that is just begging to be shared.

Funding for the Adirondack Long-Term Monitoring program is provided by NYSERDA. NYSERDA has not reviewed the information contained herein, and the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect those of NYSERDA or the State of New York.