The Penobscot Man

by Fannie Hardy Eckstorm

Fannie Pearson Hardy Eckstorm (1865–1946) was an American writer, ornithologist and folklorist.

In "The Pendebscot Man" Fannie Hardy Eckstorm has given us a collection of stories of the Maine river men. With a loyal hand she has chronicled some of the deeds which exalted to heroism those lives of toil and hardship. Without idealization she has recorded them, but in the honest colors of reality; and these tales assume for us a new significance because their characters actually lived and breathed, and because these deeds of truest courage were performed without a thought of their heroism, without a suspicion that they were to be set forth in printed page.

The author knows well of what she writes, and her work is endowed with finest sympathy, and the full understanding of long familiarity. Her stories have that revealing, spiritual quality, so that the reader sees not only the deed, but the soul of the man who does it. The inner and the outer life are both made manifest.

CONTENTS
I. Lugging Boat On Sowadnehunk
II. The Grim Tale Of Larry Connors
III. Hymns Before Battle
IV. The Death Of Thoreau's Guide
V. The Gray Rock Of Abol
VI. A Clump Of Posies
VII. Working Nights
VIII. The Naughty Pride Of Black Sebat And Others
IX. Rescue
X. "joyfully"

This book originally published in 1904 has been reformatted for the Kindle and may contain an occasional defect from the original publication or from the reformatting.

354 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

(1865-1946)

Reviews

[Joanna]

I loved this book! The stories in it are true and are about real men. It was more than interesting to read about Joe Attien, Thoreau's guide on his second trip to the Maine woods, who drowned trying to run impossible rapids, just for the challenge of it. He could have saved himself, but chose to stay with those of his men who could not swim. "Oh, the folly of all self-sacrifice, the vanity of all things beautiful, the lying promise of spiritual ends which the cynic preaches! 'This might have been sold for much and given to the poor!' Verily. Yet when the poor had eaten and drunken it, what then? But the precious wastefulness, preserved within a book, — how many are fed from the ambrosia of such a fair and noble deed!"
And then there is the pretty story of "The Posies", where eleven pure white Ladies Slippers are plucked and saved by the rivermen, because they overheard a woman telling her companion that they were beautiful! Those rough men, who would dare each other to do deeds that often cost them their lives, yet took such care not to crush a little bird's nest that had been built close to the river where they worked! I doubt there will be men like them ever again.

[Zanyar]

This was surprisingly a great book. I really enjoyed the stories. Before this book I didn't know a thing about river runs. I'm amazed and awed by these people. Also a great audiobook by Librivox. Highly recommend.

[DMC]

The editor of this book annotated a 1904 text by FHE that profiles the life of the Penobscot River drivers during the era of the long logs, before there was any help from horses or steam. Most of the action in the book takes place on the West Branch. It was a fascinating look into the people and work of the era. Very interesting to compare the landscape then to today. The style of writing can be a bit cumbersome to read (the author had a hinting rather than direct style and alluded to all sorts of other texts), so I’d only recommend if you’re really interested in the content or locale.