Allagash

Allagash - the name itself evokes a sense of awe and adventure that only this wilderness area can convey. In Allagash, Gil Gilpatrick skillfully weaves fact and fiction to whisk you back through time on this legendary waterway. The fact in this exciting book is based on careful research - the fiction is based on facts that are known combined with careful speculation of what could have happened.

In Part One you are guided through the present-day Allagash region by Gilpatrick who has been a Master Maine Guide for over 40 years and has guided more than 100 trips through the Waterway. Significant historic and natural sights are highlighted and these points of interest are punctuated with anecdotes of personal experiences.

In Part Two you will learn about Maine’s colorful lumbering industry going back to the middle of the 1800’s. You will be impressed at what a sophisticated, well engineered operation it was back then. Like the western cowboy, the lumberjack’s life has always seemed rugged and adventurous - it was romanticized. The fact is, the lumberman’s life was filled with hard labor and countless life-and-death situations from sunup to sundown. You will be introduced to lumberjack characters like Mushrat Murphy, and be taken to lumber camps and onto the river to experience the life of the river driver.

Part Three is about the Bear Clan of the Wabnaki. The Native American’s use of the Allagash has been traced back to the end of the last ice-age. The account of their life along the river is literally sprinkled with colorful lore and legend. You will be introduced to the Great Spirit, or Manitou and to Gluscabe, a tribal hero. The beautiful Allagash was not untrodden wilderness. "It was a region that gave life to a people who husbanded its resources for thousands of years."

Gil Gilpatrick has spent his life in outdoor Maine. For 26 years he was an instructor of Outdoor Resources at the Skowhegan Regional Vocational Center. His other major occupation was guiding people on the Allagash. A Master Maine Guide, his years of experience has given him a detailed knowledge of the Allagash Wilderness Waterway, knowledge he has been sharing with others for over 30 years. Now retired from teaching and guiding, he is busy with his writing career while continuing to make trips into Maine’s wilderness areas with friends and family. Gil is a member of the Advisory Board for the Licensing of Guides. He has several books to his credit and writes an outdoor column for Maine’s Northwoods Sporting Journal.