Adventures in the Wilderness, Camp-life in the Adirondacks

"Rough camp-life among the Adirondacks is told with sportsmanlike gusto, interspersed with daring and adventure in remoter wilds, in older days, before the Indian had entirely disappeared from the Eastern States." -Saturday Review

William Henry Harrison Murray (1840–1904), also known as Adirondack Murray, was a clergyman and author of an influential series of articles and books which popularized the Adirondacks; he became known as the father of the Outdoor Movement.

Born in Guilford, Connecticut, he graduated from Yale in 1862 and then served as a minister in Greenwich, Connecticut and Meriden, Connecticut. He also served as pastor of Park Street Church in Boston from 1868 to 1874. He also delivered Sunday evening lectures about the Adirondacks in a Boston music-hall that proved highly popular, and he published a series of articles based on the lectures in a Meriden newspaper. In 1869, they were published as a book, Adventures in the Wilderness; or, Camp-Life in the Adirondacks.

The literary tone of the book made it extremely successful; it went through eight printings in its first year. Murray promoted New York's north woods as health-giving and spirit-enhancing, claiming that the rustic nobility typical of Adirondack woodsmen came from their intimacy with wilderness.

Although the book was to become one of the most influential books in the conservation movement of the 19th century, paradoxically, within five years it led to the building of over 200 "Great Camps" in the Adirondacks; "Murray’s Fools" poured into the wilderness each weekend, packing specially scheduled railroad trains. The book is cited as changing common parlance to use "vacation" instead of the British "holiday" for people vacating their city homes.

Contents

I. The Wilderness; Why I go to the Wilderness; Sporting Facilities; What it costs in the Wilderness; Outfit; Where to buy Tackle; Guides; How to get to the Wilderness; Hotels; When to visit the Wilderness; Healthfulness of Camp Life; What Sections of the Wilderness to visit; Black Flies; Mosquitoes; Ladies' Outfit; Wild Animals; Provisions; Bill of Fare

II. The Nameless Creek

III. RUNNING THE RAPIDS

IV. The Ball

V. LOON SHOOOTING IN A THUNDER-STORM

VI. Crossing The Carry

VII. Rod And Reel

VIII. Phantom Falls

IX. Jack-shooting In A Foggy Night

X. Sabbath In The Woods

XI. A Ride With A Mad Horse In A Freight-Cab