he Sleeping Giant Park Association gratefully acknowledges the many people who have so graciously contributed their time and energy towards the publication of this book.

We are indebted to Michael Pochan, chairman of the The Sleeping Giant History Committee, and its members, George Heston and Howard A. Sisson. Special thanks are also extended to Norman A. Greist and William L. Sachse for their aid and support, and to Linda Olender for the design and production of the book. Of course, we cannot forget those wonderful zealots who rescued the Giant and kept him safe for all of us to enjoy. We thank them for their courage and vision and their gift to history. This book is our gift to them.

Nancy Davis Sachse, born and brought up in New Haven, is a graduate of Vassar with an M.A. from the University of Wisconsin. It was there that she authored A Thousand Ages, the history of the University of Wisconsin Arboretum. The Sleeping Giant Story is her special contribution to the Giant and to the many people who have been drawn to him throughout the year.

1 THE SLEEPING GIANT

To the geologist, of course, such anthropomorphism is ridiculous for, in fact, this is merely a succession of five ridges called, sensibly enough. First Ridge, Second Ridge, and so on, hut one cannot convince everyone of this practical view, nor is it possible to read through the events centering around the Giant for the last century without encountering references to the Head, the Chest, the Right Leg, the Left Knee, etc.. an intimacy which tends to color the whole history.

Actually, such geologic formations are the result of a volcanic eruption in the Jurassic Age between 170 and 210 million years ago during the breakup of an ancient super continent. As the lava flow cooled, the resulting sills shrank and fractured, making the columnar patterns of trap rock so familiar in southern Connecticut. It is basaltic rock, hard and durable. The name "trap" comes from the Swedish quarryman's term which means "step" or "stair.

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Indeed, if one climbs any of these characteristic ridges, the natural layers are easily seen.

Up until 1735, the Sleeping Giant ridge extended westward in a gradual slope which effectively blocked pas-sage except by foot until a road was hacked across before the days of dynamite. Now the width of Route 10 going on up to Farmington leaves little evidence of this ancient barrier, but the rocks rear1 up, covered wild trees and shrubbery on the west side. Long time residents refer to this part of the road as "the Steps".

Proof of the durability of trap rock came during the Great Ice Age about 20,000 years ago, when masses of gravel and boulders were dumped from Long Island all along the coast as the glaciers receded, scraping off the hills and moulding the landscape as we know it today. Melt water completed the sculpture with erosion as great rivers flowed down to the sea. For many years the trap rock ridges were subjected to tins action, and they are still riddled with springs. One cannot walk on the Giant, even in winter, without hearing the underground murmur of trickling water. Every April, lively freshets pour down faces of rock, filling pools in the gorges, making sonic trails difficult to traverse. The river which flows along by the Head of the Giant is the Mill, called so for the first mill established at the foot of East: Rock in New Haven.

All this territory, of course, was well known for centuries by the first men, the Amerinds (or Indians, as they came to he called). Their paths were the earliest, following game frails, and their legends have filtered down through the lore of storytellers. To them the Giant was Hobbomock. evil spirit, who, angry at the neglect of his people, stamped a foot (at what is now Middletown), and changed the course of the Connecticut River to the east. Before he could do further damage, Kietan, spirit of good, cast a sped upon the furious god so that he lay down and slept, for-even Hobbomock was also the bogey by which Indian mothers frightened their children into obedience. He was a greedy god, overfond of the plentiful oysters in the bay beyond, and that too may have been his undoing, so the little ones were warned.

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God or no, this ridge, rising to 739 feet at its highest point above the flat lands, made a wonderful lookout, a vantage point for hunters or warriors. Even now one can see around almost 360 degrees, a circle of miles in every direction.

It was nearly a century after the founding of the New Haven Colony before there was any settlement of white men this far inland. Ships made their way into the harbor, guided by the distant landmark of the Blue Hills as the Giant was then called, but it was all dense wilderness. As the population of the Colony increased there began a series of carefully allotted divisions, spreading from the original nine squares of the city.

Land was "acquired" from the Indians whose numbers (never great in this area) were lessening. Tradition has it that Theophilus Eaton bought 130 square miles including the Blue Hills from the Mattabasek tribe for 11 bolts of cloth and a coat, Indians had no idea what they were giving up, nor could they conceive of the numbers of white men to come, or how the land would be treated which had provided primitive people with all the basic needs.

By 1680, the Third Division of acreage by the New Haven Colony extended possession as tar as the Blue Hills, In 1735 the town offered Joel Munson two acres of this land if he could build a dam at the Steps and harness the power of the Mill River for industry, Munson not only finished the dam, but with hand labor managed to construct a cart way across the top. Within a year there was a grist mill and a saw mill, making the tar easier for those who wished to farm so far out, since it saved a long trip into town for the necessary grinding of corn and wheat, not to mention affording the exchange of news and produce.

With the mills came the erection of houses along the road, and a village, part of Hamden which was to become independent of New Haven by 1786. This village, being an offshoot of the strict Congregationalist group to the south, was given a Biblical name, Mt. Carmel, and the trap rock ridge beside it the same.

Even so, for Ezra Stiles, President of Yale College, who mapped the mill sites, this remained the Blue Hills.

Chimney Rock on the Blue Trail, 3rd Ridge

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Here on that, fatal July 5, 1779, when the British invaded New Haven, he sent his family and important papers. Seen from a distance, the tree-crowned ridge does have a blue tinge, hut it was particularly so when covered with a dense growth of pine. Besides pine, there was maple, hickory, oak, beech, chestnut, in fact so much valuable wood that in 1807 the whole mountain was enclosed by "a lawful fence" by the association of land proprietors in order to protect the growing wood from cattle. This continued until 1842, although one wonders how any enclosure could have been constructed or maintained around 2500 acres!

Mt. Carmel remained a modestly flourishing New England village right on up to the end of the 19th century. Population figures indicated no swift rise. Census records for 1790 show a count of 1422 souls in all of Hamden (of which Mt. Carmel was only a part). By 1880 this number had grown only to 3408,.

Families were large and sometimes scattered as sons went north to take up land in Vermont or out west to prairie country, but for the most part the same names appeared over and over in the church records and on the tax rolls; Dickerman, Tuttle, Bradley, Brockett, Bassett and so on.

Changes were slow to come, but when they did, the community was invariably upset. The original road by the Steps had been 6 rods wide, 99 feet, plenty of room for ox carts and wagons, in 1800, this became a toil road with a toll house a bit north of the Congregational Church, a galling imposition to the local residents who had to use the road continually. Efforts to remove this proving futile, another road was built by private subscription, which avoided the offending toll house and became known as "The Shunpike."(1)

Then came the great Canal Project, dug from New Haven to Northampton, Massachusetts, an enterprise which turned into a financial loss for everyone who invested in it. Farmers were enraged since it cut through many acres of good farm land and, with its various locks, diverted water from several crucial streams. It also provided power for manufacture of axles and carriage springs. From 1828 to 1846, barges could be seen as goods were sent inland by this

1) This is now Shepard Avenue.

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waterway from New Haven harbor. On September 14, 1839, African mutineers from the slave ship Arnistad passed by canal boat, on their way to the Hartford court, while people lined the banks to see such fantastic foreigners.

But in the end, all the moving of houses and digging up good farm sod came to nothing. The railroad outdated the canal. Shining tracks were laid along the same route, sometimes in the old bed, sometimes on the towpath. With the return of streams to their original channels, the Mt. Carmel Axleworks was moved to the site of Joel Munson's old dam on the Mill River, below the Mead of the Giant. Axies made here were for peddlers' wagons. After the Civil War, ownership changed hands several times, passing eventually to Willis Cook who was to become a significant figure in the history of the Giant. Cook had started working at the Axle Shop when he was ten, rising in forty years of service, in true American style, to the position of superintendent and eventually, owner. He became an important and respected member of the community, was appointed postmaster and later presided as judge m the Hamden court.

In spite of all these unwelcome intrusions, Mt. Carmel remained a tanning community, geared to the rhythm of the changing seasons, and the Giant slept on, undisturbed.

Joel Munson's mill flume. Early 1900's

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PAGE 7

THE RESORT ERA

or John H. Dickerman, the Blue Hills were The Dead Indian. The little red saltbox house on a knoll right under the Indian's nose, so to speak, had been built by the original Dickerman for his bride in 1792. Since then the clan had grown and prospered. The John of whom we write lived to the south of the flat lands farmed by Dickermans for generations. He was an unusual man, rated by his neighbors as the best farmer around, but with a sensitive side to his nature which made him intensely appreciative of the beauty of his surroundings in all moods and seasons. When the spirit moved, he expressed this in poetry, not quite up to Longfellow, but full of feeling.

By the late 1880's there was a movement to settle farther west where the rich prairie earth yielded a harvest other than rocks, but for Dickerman this was no reason to leave Connecticut. Everything one truly valued was at hand and besides, prairie land was no place to raise boys:

1) Dickerman, John, The Colonial History of the Parish of Mt. Carmel, New Haven, 1904, p.98.

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He was thinking of his own mountain, of course, a place where Mrs. Homer Tuttle declared wild flowers bloomed from early spring to November. She had counted 500 shrubs, herbs, and ferns, with at least seven species of violets.

As he plowed and cultivated, Dickerman also noted the variety of birds, including even the sandhill crane about which he eulogized in one of his poems, marvelling that such a big bird could:

Of course he could have seen sandhill cranes by the hundreds on the prairies, but John Dickerman was not about to leave New England. The Dead Indian provided enough adventure and interest. There was no one who knew more thoroughly every spring and cave, every trail and boulder on this trap rock ridge.

Since legend had it that Kietan, when putting Hobbomock to sleep, had first filled his pockets with treasures, there had been various attempts to mine in the Blue Hills. Dickerman, making a path to one of the highest points, found a thin seam of copper but it did not amount to anything. There were several pits sunk in search of this metal, but nothing worth the price of working (3). David Tall man, three generations before, had mined on Ridge Hill, north of the Dead Indian, sinking a shaft which Charles Murison later completed, but nothing further had been attempted.

In 1830, William Haswell, sent by the United States Government to make a coast survey, had spent some time on Third Ridge, living in a covered wagon. There Is no account of how he got it up there, since there were nothing but cattle trails to the rocky ledge, but his stay was remembered since this particular basaltic face became known as HaswelFs Ledge. High up, along the layers of trap rock was Abraham's Cave, familiar to every local inhabitant, a cave which in 1873 developed a legend of its own (4).

2) Dickerman, John H. Legends of the Blue Hills, p.6 Pub. by the author, 1888.

3) Remains of one of these pits is off the Red Circle Trail, just south of White Trail, a hole mostly filled in.

4) See chapter Dead Man's Cave

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Much of the mountain, a wonderful heritage, belonged to Dickerman, but the Yankee side of his nature began to consider how this could be exploited.

In 1886, the Centennial Celebration sponsored a History of the Town of Hamden, Connecticut by William P. Blake, geologist and mineralogist at Yale. In this work, Blake made the suggestion that:

Exactly! Dickerman could not have agreed more. He determined to launch a campaign for the development of a resort.

Since he was editor of The Connecticut Farmer and a contributor to The New England Homestead, he knew something of the power of the printed word, so for a start he wrote and had published in 1888, Legends of the Blue Hills, all in verse. Meanwhile he constructed a road up to the Fourth Ridge where he erected a pavilion, the only building on the mountain. In July, the following notice appeared in the local papers.

5) Blake, William P. A History of the Town of Hamden, Conn. Centennial Celebration, 1886, p.60-61

6) Hartley, Rachel M. The History of Hamden, Connecticut, 1786-1936, Hamden, 1943, p. 358.

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Later, recalling this gala event, Carolyn, Dickerman's daughter, said that 200 people had attended in 50 car-nages or wagons, ice cream was served, and everyone had a good time. (7)

Encouraged by this success, Dickerman built a substantial stone house in the tall near the pavilion, which was to become a shelter for climbing parties and hikers. Also he began to sell off some of the land. John Edward Heaton, a wealthy New Haven citizen, bought a large tract including the little red salt box on the north side of Mt. Carmel Ave.

That autumn, with the trees on the hills in flaming color, a climbing club was formed often members, including J. Walter Bassett, Frederick Thorpe, James L Webb, Chauncey Ives, and Frederick Brockett, most of whom knew the mountain from boyhood. Together they built a club house on the Fifth Ridge (the Giant's Right Knee).

About this time, or perhaps a little later, Frank Elwood Brown, a local architect, was challenged by the prospect on Second Ridge and built a cabin he called "Cedarhurst", with the assistance of Alec Osborn and Clarence Stilson who carried wood for the construction on their backs, There was no possible trail up Second Ridge, even for a donkey. Stone was picked up to be used where it was found, and since the structure was built upon solid rock, open to the winds from every side, it was anchored by cables fastened to the ground with iron ring bolts.(8) One room had a large fireplace and opened out upon a small piazza built of saplings cut nearby and left unpeeled. Since this porch almost overhung the cliff, it must have given the effect of an eagle's nest, especially by moonlight or in early morning when the surrounding peaks and valley were shrouded in mist. John Heaton found Cedarhurst so intriguing that he purchased it from Brown and had a trail of 350 steps hacked in the stone right to the ton. Some of them are still there.

Willis Cook, already mentioned as a prominent citizen of Mt. Carmel, owned the Head of the Sleeping Giant, as people now began to call, the mountain. He had an ox road constructed (there are still vestiges on the north side) by which he had sheathings transported for a little summer cottage, in early photographs this stands out like a bristle on the Giant's Chin. Once the area was discovered to be so conveniently located, yet pleasantly rural, more hous-

7) Saturday Chronicle, Sept. 21, 1907. Article by Carolyn Dickerman - clipping to be found in Arnold Dana Scrapbook 78 at New Haven Colony Historical Society.

8) There is still a ring to be seen on Second Ridge (the Giant's Chest).

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es were built, some by local people glad to have a chance to own a piece of the mountain them-selves. Bela Mann of Centerville and Frederick Brocket! of Mt, Carmel owned a cottage together on Third Ridge, a site which became famous for their ingenious tripod pulley arrangement for hauling water by bucket from the spring over a hundred feet down at the loot of Haswell's hedge, A daughter in the Mann family was in delicate health and even lived on the ridge for a tune with a nurse, in order to benefit from the pure air. A telephone line was strung to the cottage for communication.

George Peck built a house nearby, modeled after a railroad tower house; in order to catch the view, and David F. Weiser built an elaborate two-story edifice which was later owned by the Park family. Material for this was the Giant's own, picked up the from ridge itself.

Most of these places were weekend refuges, not meant for long stays, but the Hex1, Robert C, Bell of Granby. Connecticut, who had been the minister of the Mt. Carmel Congregational Church for a time, built himself a house on Fourth Ridge to which he took his family every August for twelve years. On arrival, tie always hung out an American (lag to let everyone know that the Bells were "at home". There were six or seven children, plus a pony for which a barn was provided. John Dickerman's carriage road must have been their means of access. This is now reduced to a hiker's trail but was once, as John Dickerman described it, "two miles of easy grade". Even so, one can sympathise with Mrs. Bell, getting provisions for this large brood up the mountain every summer.

Clarence Conklin, general freight agent of the New Haven Railroad, spent as main as six summers on the mountain with his family, providing visitors with tents.

The Cook house on the Giant's Head - one of several such vacation houses once located on the Giant.

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Along the foothills of the Giant, there arose several "fine estates" as the newspapers called them, belonging to William Brewster of New York, to Colonel Phelps Montgomery of New Haven, and to the original enthusiast, John Heaton. Artists were attracted too, for John H. Downes built a delightful studio as did Bancel LaFarge later.

Money was not always a necessity in order to live in the shadow of the Sleeping giant. In 1904, Walter and Estelle Greist, newly married, found an old boarded-up farm house in such bad condition that they got permission to live in it all summer for nothing. Cutting in panes of glass and stretching canvas across the sagging ceiling so that plaster would not fall into their food, they spent such a happy time that they determined to buy land, somehow. The farmhouse and 100 acres of land cost $2500, a fortune for a young couple in those days, so they persuaded various friends to invest, establishing the Mountain View Colony.

And then there was Miss Demaroy who had the simplest living arrangement of all. For many years her home was a tarpaper shack by what is now the beginning of the Red Circle trail at Ridge Road. A large black woman who gathered herbs and ground up small creatures into a salve, she assured Estelle Greist this would cure anything "after two rubbings".

"How many rooms do you have, Miss Demaroy?" Mrs. Griest would ask whenever she paid a neighborly visit. And the answer always was "According to how I place the twigs," for these she periodically shifted, thereby remodeling her house.(9)

When John Dickerman died, in 1913, his daughter recalled at least ten houses on the mountain, beside scattering of summer homes and cabins nearby. The dream of a resort park had been abandoned because of the water problem, but there were now people with a special interest in the Giant who were to be of infinite value in the years ahead.

9) From an interview of the author with Norman Greist on November 11, 1980.

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THE QUARRY FIGHT

n 1911, the Axle shop caught fire and the building burned. Around the same time Willis Cook's little cottage of sheathings on the Giant's Chin began to attract vandals. It was such an obvious destination of climbers that "Private" signs made little difference and pleasure began to go out of the ridge top lookout for the Cooks. When the Mt. Carmel Traprock Company proposed a lease of the Head for quarrying, the offer was accepted and by 1912 the sound of blasting and crushing could not be ignored. It went on all day, every working day.

The Company ran a spur of track across the Mill River to the base of the Giant's Head. That way, cars, each bear-ing 8 tons of crushed rock, could be run out to the trolley tracks and from there be drawn to nearby Connecticut towns. There was nothing better than trap rock for road construction, a growing need with the increase of motor cars.

When neighbors confronted Judge Cook with responsibility for the nuisance, he declared he was sick of having his property vandalized and saw no objection to turning a profit after all these years. Besides, what harm could be done to anything as vast as the Head of the Sleeping Giant? But he was not insensitive to the problem, for there was a special clause in the lease to the Traprock Company which stated that "no rock shall be taken from the knoll

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known as the Dumpling nor from any point where the quarry face would show from Mt. Carmel Ave." (1) This lease was to run for 20 years with a renewal privilege for another 20 years.

There was so much protest that a reporter from the New Haven Register was sent to interview one of the work-men, who declared they were "just working at the base, not going east into the rock at all. They will have plenty of rock there and the old Giant can sleep away as long as he wants. His head is too hard and too large to he disturbed by such picayune operations as are going on here." (2)

Unfortunately there is no by-line to this article, so the reporter must remain unknown, hut his style is distinctive and his bias definitely in favor of saving the Giant, for as lie points out, it had not been many years since the Palisades fight in New York, when stone crushing had finally been stopped through legal intervention.

Curiosity led him to climb the Head in his thin patent leather shoes, scrambling over rocks and slipping on wet leaves and pine needles. Arrived at the lop, he found Judge Cook's little house boarded up but covered with graffiti. Every Yale student seemed to have left name, class, and fraternity emblems there, including one carving in Greek, which the reporter recognized as a quotation from Xenephon's Anabasis. Litter and refuse were scattered everywhere, but what a view!

There is nostalgia in these old accounts before the advent of news photographers. This one in particular seems to capture the essence of that golden October afternoon.

1) Sleeping Giant Park Association papers, History Resource Room, Miller Library, Hamden.

2) The New Haven Register, October 20, 1912.

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Three years later the Sunday New Haven Register (July 11, 1915) gave a full feature spread with pictures to an article by William H. Avis on the Sleeping Giant. Avis was Hamden correspondent for the New Haven paper, a keen

3) The New Haevn Register, October 20, 1912

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sportsman, especially known for his almost daily plunges in the Sound, even in winter when he declared he "enjoyed nothing better than wading among ice cakes and lolling in the snow."(4)

A weekend on the mountain as guest of ex-deputy Judge Frederick Brockett in the Brockett-Mann cottage had been memorable. Avis, a master of purple prose, pulled out all the stops, describing the hikes up and down the rocky gorges, the landmark points, and the variable weather. They had just escaped being caught in a crackling thunder-storm one afternoon. Brockett had provided bounteously for the inner man with food and drink, and fired the imagination with his fund of lore including his own adventure at Abraham's Cave when he was a boy. The ingenuity of the windlass by which water was drawn up from the spring 120 feet below the cottage Avis found delightful, but above all he was mesmerized by the fabulous views. Since he had spent two nights on the highest ridge, he was able to look out over a moonlit landscape, then see it transformed with early morning fog, to be mellowed again in the sunset glow. Under this spell, his pen wrote in flourishes:

4) The New Haevn Register, June 17, 1944 from an article at the time of Avis's death.

5) The New Haevn Register, July 11, 1915

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But he did not stop there, ending with a fervent plea that some sort of legislation be enacted which would stop the stone crushing that threatened to destroy this haven of incomparable natural beauty.

Such fulsome prose might not be effective today, but Professor James W. Tourney of the Yale School of Forestry apparently read Avis's article with such interest that he brought it up at the next meeting of his dining club. with the suggestion that this area should he preserved as a public park.

Tourney was a forest specialist who had been with the Yale School of Forestry since its inception in 1900. He had often contemplated the many possibilities in the surrounding country, even a park connection from East Rock along what is now Ridge Road to encompass the Sleeping Giant. With his associates and friends who were equally park minded, he was able to lay a foundation for the project. Plans were made for acquiring land with the assistance of Dr. Anson Phelps Stokes of Yale. Stokes hired a resident of Mt. Carmel (for there was immediate interest shown here) to make a map of the mountain and locate land held by about thirty landowners. Town records were searched and assessed values determined.

But the timing was bad, for even as Avis had been writing ecstatically ot the view from the Giant. President Wilson, summering in New Hampshire, was pondering what course the United States would take in the German con-flict. Avis himself would soon be far too busy to hike on the mountain, since he worked at Winchester's, the firearms manufacturing plant, and was considered one of the best gunsmiths in the country. But he was so intrigued by the lore and history of the Giant that he bought a few acres on Third Ridge, including Abraham's (or Dead Man's) Cave. It was Avis's claim that this was a far more likely refuge of the regicide judges who had fled the Restoration of the English monarchy in the late 17th century than the cave at West Rock, which had always been known as Judges Cave.(6)

War wiped out all such romantic speculation. Before long Avis, with his family, was operating a separate plant,

6) The New Haevn Register, article by Avis, August 20, 1933.

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turning out gun barrels in West Haven, while Tourney's Sleeping Giant park plans were tabled for the duration. The Giant was not forgotten. It took some years of post war recovery, but by March of 1924 Tourney had set things going again with a good planning committee; himself as President, Bancel LaFarge, the Mt. Carmel artist, as Vice President, Arthur E, Woodruff as Secretary, diaries T. Lincoln of Westville and J. Walter Bassett of Mt. Carmel as officers. 'The Sleeping Giant Park Association was formalized at a public meeting on March 4, with the purpose, according to the Articles of the Association:

Speaking more informally of his own ideals, Tourney expressed his desire to see The Sleeping Giant, unposted, unfenced, open for all to enjoy and to have in common ownership: the Sleeping Giant, yours, mine and everybody's dedicated to the upbuilding of moral and physical health through the recreational opportunities which it affords."(8)

This was used on all the Association brochures for many years.

At that first meeting, 100 people joined, many of them well-to-do members of the New Haven community who were to give over and over within the crucial period coming up.

Among these was John Heaton, then living in Vevey, Switzerland, but who, when told of the Association, immediately donated a tract of 127 acres, including the little red house built by John Dickerman's ancestor..

7) From the Articles of the Sleeping Giant Park Association.

8) This appears on a brochure for July, 1928, for May, 1940 and for the most recent brochure, undated.

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Another enthusiast, closer to home, was Arnold P. Dana. He had been born and brought up in New Haven. One warm afternoon as a boy of 12, climbing on the Giant's Head with three companions, he had slipped and fallen over 100 feet into the rocky gorge below. Miraculously, he survived, caught in the bushes on the way down. Orrin Dickerman, in a carriage, took him home with one arm broken and the other dislocated a painful adventure never to be forgotten. But Dana always claimed that the Giant saved him.

After graduating from Yale. Dana spent 35 years in New York City on the editorial staff of the Commercial and Financial Chronicle. He had been able to retire at a still vigorous age and was now back in New Haven, where he had many interests, especially in local history and the outdoors.

William Avis, of course was immediately interested in the Sleeping Giant Park Association. He would eventually give up his small acreage for this cause, but at the beginning he took up his pen and launched forth in his usual style, with a call to action against the quarrying, which reflects the patriotic mood of the time:

Hark! Comes that rumble from the throat

Many land owners responded to the park project, Dickermas and Tattles as well as the Mt. Carmel Civic Club, even the Hamden Town Clerk, Almon J. Deans, who gave his service in preparing deeds. Some, who joined at first, lost interest or became discouraged. Everyone did not agree with Toumey's plan. A. T. Henrv of Blue Hills Farm, Wallingford, who owned land on the mountain, was one:

One family (kept discreetly anonymous) offered $40,000, provided the park be given their name. This the Board of Directors firmly rejected, but by September 9, 1925, 197 acres of land had been turned over to the Connecticut Park and Forest Commission. It was J. Walter Bassett of Mt. Carmel who tracked down titles and pursued possible donors. He knew everyone, who owned what and who was due to inherit, and he never gave up suggesting that by taking land off the tax rolls one could make a public gift to benefit society.

The Association settled into a small core of zealous workers who would stick. The first field meeting was held May 22, 1926 at three P.M. on the Third Ridge (now called the Left Hip) in a hut owned by the Appalachian Mountain Club, with tea served by the ladies of the Connecticut Chapter. This was now public land, but no one could ignore the distant grinding of the stone crusher.

By this tine the Trap Rock Company had sold to Blakeslee Associates, a flourishing firm which had no intention of giving up their valuable lease. When the Association offered to purchase this, the price quoted was $655,000, quite out of the question.

9) The New Haven Register, article by Avis, September 17, 1923

10) SGPA Papers, History Resource Room, Miller Library, Hamden, 1913-14, letter undated.

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Meanwhile, land acquisition continued, bit by bit. In 1927 Bassett could report 482 acres turned over to the Park and Forest Commission, all of it bought with contributions ranging from pennies donated by the Mt. Carmel school children to shares of valuable stock which could be sold for land purchase. By late in 1929, on the brink of the Great Depression, the number was up to 845 acres. If only the quarrying could be stopped! The figure for the lease had been reduced to $400,000, but still, of course, impossible.

Perhaps, Dana reasoned, it would be a good idea for the Association to buy the Head, in that way gaining a better advantage over the quarry operators. Willis Cook was gone now but his widow was sympathetic to the Association and willing to sell her rights and holdings for $65,000, but some people argued that this was putting the cart before the horse. What was the point of buying the Head when it might soon be blown away? Dana was undeterred. He pointed out that the quarry lease would be up in 1931, fading to mention their option to continue for 29 more years if they chose.(11)

In February, 1930, a campaign was launched to take up Mrs. Cook's 90-day option and raise funds to buy the Head, Dana was stoutly backed by Tourney and the rest of the Association Directors. Brochures were sent out, pleading for this last minute effort to Save the Giant.

Of the 141 contributors who responded, it is worth noting that some gave four times. And they made it. Before the next annual meeting, The Sleeping Giant Park Association owned the Head.

Still the air resounded with blasts of dynamite, and a reporter who called himself the Old Timer complained ... The Giant's chin is now as thoroughly battered as the Sphinx's.(12)

But there could be no more fund raising, so Dana and his cohorts turned to another resource, the law. Frederick Wiggim of New Haven was hired to represent the Association, and the clause about the amount of quarry-

11) SGPA papers, History Resource Room, Miller Library, Hamden, Dr. Nils Sahlin folder.

12) The New Haven Register, June 8, 1930. Of course it was not the Giant's Chin but his Scalp that was battered!

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ing allowed to show from Mt. Carmel Avenue was re-examined.

And now began a series of moves like a chess game between Blakesless Associates and the Sleeping Giant Park Association.

In July of 1930, when the quarry firm paid its first royalty check of $77.26 to the new owners, this was returned. Instead, the Association went to court in Danbury to ask for a temporary injunction. This was granted on condition that the Association file a $5000 bond in case final injunction was denied. That was one up for the protectors of the Giant since the quarry company, aware of the thin purse held by their adversaries, had asked for a $100,000 bond. On November 18, 1930, trial for the final injunction opened before Judge Carl Foster in Superior Court. It lasted almost three months until on February 2. 1931, victory! The Judge found the wording of the lease to be quite clear: no rock should be taken which showed from Mt. Carmel Ave., but he granted no damages for rock already taken, since the Cooks, original owners of the Head, had not found any objection.

Now Dana went in triumph to Ray Reigeluth the quarry executive, to ask for another quotation on the lease. $106,000, said Reigeluth, claiming that would be the cost of moving the machinery. Besides, he wanted to keep operating for a year to two. If the Association would not meet these conditions, in spite of the injunction, a new cut could easily be made on the north side of the Head where it would not show from Mt. Carmel Avenue.

It was now plain that further quarrying where the equipment now stood would not only violate the injunction, costing Blakeslee Associates a $10,000 fine, but might well cause a dangerous rock fall. Already two workers had lost their lives in this operation. Besides, with the Depression, money for road building had run out, and tons of crushed rock lay piled, unordered. If nothing else could stop the rock crushing, perhaps adversity would.

Anger and bitterness flared, an unpleasant situation, especially for the Association with its purpose of work-

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ing for the public good. Local indignation became so hot that the quarryrnen, formerly on good terms with area residents, were now looked upon as enemies. When Albert Worthen, a quarry manager, was ordered to make the cut around the north face, he was extremely reluctant. Gossip had it that even the wives of his workers had gone over to the other side.

At this stage the Association offered $25,000 for the lease. Reigeluth was insulted. "An indefensible posture", he termed this kind of bargaining. He had already cut a road through to the north face and started to cut trees. He might consider taking $25,000 from the Association, but he also demanded another five years of quarrying, long enough to take 250,000 tons of rock from the present quarry face, The Depression could not last forever.

As further assurance, Woodruff, the Association Secretary, who lived in Mt. Carmel, reported at the May Directors" meeting in 1933 that while fishing in the Mill River near the quarry he had met the caretaker, who assured him there had been no quarrying since June 20, 1932. There were tons of prepared stone on hand, but only one small stone "jawcrusher," although it was to be replaced by a larger one. This was the situation in July, 1933 when Dana went off for his summer vacation, leaving one of his directors, Miss Helen S. Porter, in charge. Tourney was dead, a sad loss at 67, he had not lived to see the victory of the injunction verdict. Now even Dana, who had taken over as President, was discouraged. He could not have left matters in more capable hands. Helen Porter was a small, dynamic maiden lady, well connected, well-to-do, and very civic minded. She had served on innumerable chanty boards, showing much good sense and determination. She was not accus-

Page 24

tomed to failure.

When it became evident that the cut around the north face of the Giant would not be stopped, she took it upon herself to raise the Association's offer to $30,000 for the lease. This she would raise herself, but she was very firm that no money would be forthcoming unless all quarrying were stopped.

Reigeluth wavered hut he did not give in. He agreed to accept $30,00 but said he must have three more years of quarrying on the vertical rock face. "Your friends," he wrote Miss Porter, "do not fully comprehend the generosity of our attitude."(13)

Miss Porter remained adamant. No more quarrying. "I know my giving public here in New Haven pretty well, she had written Reigeluth. earlier, confident that she would have the $30,000 by the first of November.(14) Meanwhile she set to work with telegrams, letters and phone calls to prove her confidence. Reigeluth almost pleaded to be allowed to quarry stone to meet current sales. Face to face confrontations made no difference. Since Arnold Dana was away, his sister, Maria, equally determined, stood firmly by Miss Porter.

And they won. On July 29 an agreement was signed for $30,000 as payment for the lease, quarrying to stop at once, but with two years allowed for removal of machinery and piles of already crushed stone.

The Giant's Head had been saved. In the end, Miss Porter's emergency campaign netted $32,000, two months before the date agreed upon, and in the midst of the Depression!

To all exclamations of astonishment and praise, she responded modestly, saying only. "I feel like a French girl praised for saving her mother from a burning house. It just had to be done."(15)

The Annual Meeting of 1933, held at the Giant on Columbus Day, was rightly called a Jubilee. Under a perfect sky, the autumn colors flaming from the wooded slopes, there was only good news to report. Arthur Woodruff, faith-ful Treasurer as well as Secretary, announced with pride that in one year the assets had gone from $662.55 to

13) SGPA papers, History Resource Room, Miller Library, Hamden Reigeluth to Porter, July 13, 1933.

14) SGPA papers, History Resource Room, Miller Library, Hamden Porter to Reigeluth, July 10, 1933.

15) The New Haven Register, July 22, 1973. Article by Eugene Seder.

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$39,751.18. To be sure, much of this went back into the purchase of the quarry lease, plus $50 earmarked to finance a trail to be named for Arnold P. Dana and which would lead from the quarry floor to the top of the Head. That left only $153.95, but what a year it had been!

Then it was Dana's turn to be eloquent. He thanked everyone, especially the women who, he claimed, held out hope when men had given up. He saw the crusher as a breeder of ill feeling and was glad that would go, along with all bitterness. Going back over the past he especially remembered John Heaton, now gone, the first land donor. And there had been other remarkable gifts: $8500 from two sisters in Waterbury (who preferred anonymity). $5000 in three gifts from another anonymous friend in Boston, and many others. Large and small, they had all added up to this victorious moment. On that October day the Giant seemed the private property of all who followed the trail to the now deserted quarry and responded to Dana's toast in what he called "Depression champagne" (apple cider):

The crisis was over, congratulations were certainly in order, but the Association had taken on a Giant indeed.

16) SGPA papers, History Resource Room, Miller Library, Hamden Annual Minutes, October 12, 1933.

The writer is indebted to Eugene Seder's research and analysis of SGPA correspondence which is in the History Resource Room, Miller Library, Hamden

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Page 27

MANAGINGING THE GIANT

By 1935, the crusher was gone although some of the loose rock remained, but Nature had begun the slow healing of the scar, or as one reporter put it, more familiarly:

At the aunnual meeting of that year, 1935, Dana announced his resignation as President of the Association. He was growing deaf, and though anxious to see the Water Company turn over property alone; Mill River at the corner

1) The New Haven Journal Courier, October 12, 1933.

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of Whitney and Mt. Carmel Avenues to round out. the protective area at the Giant's Head, he knew there were others already working on this project, which should succeed in time.

Discussion even arose about disbanding altogether. With so many acres turned over to the State Park Commission, what more was there to do? Had not enthusiasm died, now there was no visible threat to the Giant? But the members disagreed.. Put to vote, the resolution to disband was given a resounding No! With or without a crisis, the Sleeping Giant Park Association would continue. There were bound to be problems for a vigilant, locally support-ed organization.

Meanwhile, as the country was in the throes of the Great Depression, money for further improvement was tight, but there was an optimistic slant even to this situation. Financial strictures might be just what was needed for a return to simple pleasures, getting the youth of America out of their cars and back to using their legs. A Nature Trail Committee was formed under the supervision of A. J. Ralph of Mt. Carmel, the beginning of what was to become a remarkable enterprise, entirely the work of volunteers, ranging from Scouts to members of the Association and their families. The early trails were completed under the auspices of the Peabody Museum Associates, but this was only a part of what was to come. Maintenance was another problem and this too was provided by volunteers. Anyone who has walked a Sleeping Giant trail knows this could not have been an easy task for there are piles of boulders, thickets, entwined roots, hazardous drop-off, all to be considered and either featured safely or cir-cumvented.

But back to the year 1935 when Arnold Dana reluctantly resigned the Presidency of the

The Jonathan Dickerman House, now The Hamden Historical Society.

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Association. His place was taken by the artist Bancel LaFarge, with quite another sort of project.

By now, most of the cottages on the mountain were gone, either reduced to rubble by time or deliberately burned by the Park Commission to prevent vandalism. One house remained, the two-story Park House on Third Ridge, (the Left Hip), the highest peak. Edgar Heermance, Secretary of the Connecticut Forest and Park Association had already designed a 10% grade foot, path up to this point and a Work Projects Admimstration crew (part of President Roosevelt's federal recovery program) was scheduled to go to work on it. Since the material used for the abandoned house was part of the Giant, anyway, why not make use of it? An observation lower of Norman design was suggested, which immediately appealed to the members, and LaFarge promised to consult with the proper state authorities.

A fortunate aspect of the Giant's story seems to be that the right people always appeared at the rigid time. Head of the WPA workers for this project was Harry Webb, son of the Judge Webb who had been a member of the original hiking club in John Dickerman's time. Webb, a man of enthusiasm and charm, who had a flair for invention and was a great friend of LaFarge, supervised the path and tower building with special interest. Much of the loose crushed rock left lying on the quarry floor now became a part of the path. As the men cleared brush and dug in the old foundations, arrowheads and other Indian artifacts were found, all of which made an interesting exhibit at the next annual meeting.

By the fall of 1939, the Tower was finished, a handsome romantic structure, with a parapet at the head of a winding inside ramp and windows opening upon every side. Unfortunately, LaFarge had died the year before. J. Walter Basset served in the emergency as Acting President until Walter C. Greist took over. This was the same young man now with a growing family, who had brought his bride to spend the summer in 1904. He owned a large tract of land nearby, south of the Giant and took more than ordinary interest in the park, as did has wife and children.

Willis Cook's Ox Road on the head.

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That year, the Association put on a special ceremony in honor of the Tower. Mrs. Greist and Mrs. Bassett served cider and doughnuts to the attending members, and James Tourney's widow unveiled a tablet honoring the pioneers of the park which read:

One cannot resist recalling that this was the same peaceful, unspoiled view on the eve of another terrible World War that Avis had seen 24 years earlier.

There was now a custodian living in a house below the Head. In 1937 he had reported 5,600 visitors to the Giant but two years later, perhaps because of the new road and the Tower, there were 70,000!

Land acquisition was a prime goal. Bassett was now retired, living in Wallingford. close enough to keep up his interest. In 1938,. he had been able to report that the Water Company had finally transferred their property to the State, via the SGPA, making a total of 966 acres. His hope was to extend the park from Whitney Avenue on the west

2) SGPA papers, History Resource Room, Miller Library, Hamden Annual Minutes, October 12, 1939.

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to the Hartford Turnpike on the east, an unbroken strip that would encompass the entire Giant.(3) This would take some doing but there was always a way to get around reticent Yankees it you were one of them. For instance, when a campaign was launched to buy 49 acres on the Toes of the Giant, Bassett suggested this might be accomplished more readily if the 76 year old owner be allowed to continue to pasture her cows and gather wood, but not cut trees.

For years there was dickering for the Butterworth Tract on the Giant. This took in 82 acres on the north including a beautiful cascade. High on the bank above this tumble of water is a grove covering over an acre of 60 year old hemlocks. In April and May on either side of the tumbling stream and below in the wet woodland grew main of the flowers on Mrs. Homer Turtle's list. Years passed and much correspondence before the tract finally became a part of the park. On the high bank amid the hemlocks was a Primitive Camping Area. There were no buildings, but a spring had been piped about a quarter of a mile upstream for the camper's convenience. Adult leaders applied for this privilege from the ranger at the park..

One of the interesting land transfers after the war was that of Professor Arthur Graves Chestnut Grove. As a forestry student at Yale, many years back, Graves, with a friend, managed to buy a large tract on the south slope of the Giant. Here he built a cabin and in the course of his teaching career conducted experiments on chestnut trees, that doomed species threatened with extinction because of the chestnut blight, inevitably he became involved with the Sleeping Giant Park Association and offered his cabin several times for annual meetings. At retirement he was consultant to the Connecticut Agricultural Station and lived in Wallingford. In 1950, when he decided to sell his land, 35 acres were turned over to a realty company for division into lots, but the ten acres of chestnut grove were transferred to the State Park Commission, via the SGPA, with the stipulation that the Connecticut Agricultural Station should have control as long as necessary for work on the trees.

Successors to Graves continued to serve the board oft the Sleeping Giant Park Association, First Harold Jaynes

The Tower from the orange trail.

3) Bassett's hope is a reality. The Quinnipiac Blue Trail goes completely this route, all park land.

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and then his son, Richard, both scientists in the Connecticut Agricultural Station. For some time there was not much successful experimentation on the chestnut plot although hypovirulent strains inoculated into about 70 small trees at the Experiment Station continued to grow, even producing nuts, but competition with other trees in the forest made such an attempt difficult. Still, "breeding to combine the resistance of Asian species with the form and nut quality of American Chestnut persists."(4) Patience and time may bring hack our beautiful native trees.

In 1992, foresters discovered the woolly adelgid, an insect from the south which secretes a white cottony coat around itself and sucks out the life of hemlock trees. Control is possible in garden or small plots of land, but on the Giant where hemlocks grow densely in thick woods, this is too difficult and costly. We will probably lose these trees, but with research as on the chestnut, substitutes or even cures may be found.(5)

This may be the place to explain why all the Giant's friends are not named, as they should lie, but there are too many for the space allowed here. It may be of interest to note how often these friendships seem to run in families: Arnold Dana, his son-in-law and daughter. Philip and Katherine English, Hay and Mildred Spencer, son and daughter-in-law. Gilbert and Helen. and recently new born grandchildren, all life members. For many years "In Greist We Trust" became an affectionate slogan, for after Walter Greist came his son Norman, both Presidents of the SGPA. The tradition continues with son-in-law Ross Lanius. In fact since Norman Greist could look from his windows upon a stunning view of the Giant, this became "his" mountain, proof of the magnetism exerted by this trap rock ridge over those who live anywhere near. Greist was also insistent upon the Giant as a personality, never referring coldly to the Third or Fourth Ridge, but always to the Chest, the Thigh, the Left Leg, the Knuckles. He knew of a cave where he said he could go right down into the Giant's Esophagus!

In 1960 Greist, with Richard Elliott, laid out the 11 trails that cover over 32 miles of mountain. Six go in an east-west direction, each point blazed with a different color: yellow, blue (part of the Quinnipiac Trail), violet, white.

4) Giant News, Dec. 1992, No. 36, article by Sandra L. Anagnostakis, mycologist at the Conn. Agricultural Experiment Station.

5) Giant News, March 1992, No. 33, article by Chris Fagan, research technician with the Forest Service.

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orange, green. All five south-north trails are red blazed but in different shapes: triangle, square, circle, diamond, hexagon. These are off limits to motor vehicles of any kind but since there are a number of horse owners in the area, a special trail has been worked out for them so that riders and hikers need not interfere with one another. In winter this is marked for skiers.

Trails maintenance, sparked by John Menta, has been kept up by an indefatigable and loyal crew of volunteers. They meet once a week from early spring through December and now use hard hats and chain saws. After Hurricane Gloria in 1985, they dealt with over 400 blowdowns along the trails. On several other occasions they have joined the local tire departments to put out blazes which may occur in dry seasons hut have also been deliberately set. Every year certain trail blazes are repainted. And all this is a labor of love.

There have been other more immediate emergencies. In December, 1947, the Gulf Oil Company requested an easement to lay an 8-inch pipe set 30 inches below the ground with a 20 foot maintenance strip. This was to go through the gap between the Giant's Head and Chest (First and Second Ridges). At that time the Board referred to a reverter clause in a deed given by the SGPA to the state: "If the State does not use this land as a Park, it comes back to the Sleeping Giant Park Association." With this persuasion, the Oil Company was obliged to find another route for their pipe line.(6)

About the same time, Miss Helen Porter, ever vigilant, took up the cudgels against a proposed liquor package store to be situated across from the park entrance on Whitnev Ave. A letter of protest, signed by all the Directors, was sent to the Connecticut State Liquor Control Commission. Eventually the package store closed.

In 1966, a proposal by the Connecticut Radio Foundation to construct a television tower with an antenna 748 feet high on private land within the boundary of the Park caused consternation. Protests poured in. Norman Greist was President at the time and his files show phone calls as well as letters of objection. Yale Was said to be interested

6) This clause has not been found on any deeds since this time, but was referred to in the Minutes of 1947.

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in the site as an educational facility but once again, after a maddening period of correspondence and shifting from one authority to another, the project was abandoned.

Another tower proposal cropped up in the spring of 1984, this time from the Southern New England Telephone Company to erect a communication tower/ antenna off the Blue Trail on private property. This would have been visible over the skyline of the Giant. Petitions and letters from the Board and membership as well as articles in local newspapers finally con-vinced SNET to place their tower elsewhere.

A different sort of crisis arouse in April, 1991 with Governor Weicker's threat to close a number of Connecticut state parks, including the Sleeping Giant. Once again the Board and Members reacted. Postcards, petitions, letters without letup until finally the decision was revoked.

With each of these problems it has become obvious that a local Board of private citizens is needed to keep the Giant whole and undefiled, vet open to everyone just as Toumey lead wanted it to be. Recently a Friends of Connecticut State Parks was formed which consists of just such vigilant groups, intercommunication, held trips, and informal meetings, all this, it is hoped will provide a fusing of common interest and protection. Included in John Heatons original gift to the Association had been Jonathan Dicker-man's little red saltbox house below the Head, For a brief period a caretaker in the early years of the park lived here, but since there was neither heat nor electricity another house was pro-vided for him nearby. In 1961, with the increase of traffic around this curve of Mt. Carmel Ave, it was decided to widen the road and the Park Commission turned the Little house over to the

Page 35

Hamden Historical Society with the proviso that it be moved. This was done in 1962, to a tract of land across the road, with space for a parking lot, and recently an old cider mill. During the winter months it is closed but with warmer weather becomes a landmark visiting site. For a while Carolyn Dickerman. John's daughter, was a hostess, an appropriate homecoming for this feisty little woman who had once written from far away in her father's favorite literary style:

7) Arnold Dana Scrapbook #78, New Haven Colony Historical Society.

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After a few rainy annual meetings of the Association, a shelter was built with fireplaces on a knoll below the Head. In November, 1959, the State Park and Forest Commission gave the Association permission to erect a bronze plaque over one of these fireplaces to recognize the work of the SGPA.(8)

When Arnold Dana died in 1947, the SGPA devoted that September annual meeting to his memory. Msss Helen Porter unveiled a bronze tablet commemorating his fall. It was to be bolted to a rock opposite the cliff down which young Dana had tumbled, and read:

State Park and Forest Commission, 1939 (9)

Members spoke affectionately of this special friend, recalling his brilliant career, irrepressible optimism, and delightful personality.

Also bolted to a rock on the Tower path is a tribute to Edgar Heermance who designed it. The trail had earlier been named for John Heaton, but Heermance, a prominent supporter of the Giant during this critical period, took precedence. Now the policy of the Association is to avoid further such concrete memorials. Protectors of the Giant come in all ages from near and far. Money collected for land since the quarry fight has gone into the hundred thou-sands, some even left to the Giant in the wills of members, far more than the generosity of the faithful few of those

8) This plaque has disappeared but may surface as have others.

9) This was wrenched from the stone, leaving only bolt holes but resurfaced mysteriously to be replaced more firmly by the Park crew in 1992.

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early years. As only one example, until her death John Heaton's daughter, Countess Ardenghi, living in France sent an annual contribution and provided for the Giant in her will.

For many, contribution has been in the form of hard work. In the early days Boy Scouts planted 500 hemlocks and cut hack trees and brush to allow dogwoods to bloom in the woods. The old Axle Shop Dam by the Head is periodically repaired by vigorous volunteers, and it has become customary to help in the maintenance of the trails by "adopting" a particular one, walking it regularly to report on damage and obstacles.

There are three springs on the Giant which once afforded pure drinking water for hikers or campers. This involved installing as much as 170 feet of plastic pipe in one area, and hauling rocks with a tractor.

There is of course a park ranger with a working crew all year round, but there is close cooperation between the Association and the Giant's state management, the Department of Environmental Protection.

With each year more and more people use the Giant, but for over thirty years after the quarry fight, the surrounding land lay undisturbed. And then in the mid-sixties there came change to make John Dickerman whirl in his grave for where he had once plowed and plant ed there arose a college called Quinnipiac. Buildings were fortunately spread out and for the most part, low, but they were full of people, coming and going in cars and on motorcycles and bicycles. There was traffic on the trails in the park with the accompanying hazards of abuse: fire and vandalism. What to do?

As it has turned out, the college was not such a bad neighbor after all. By 1967 a member of the Quinnipiac faculty was added to the Board of the SGPA and for a while Minutes and

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documents were stored there. Eventually with creation of the History Resource Room in the Hamden Miller Public Library, these were transferred to safer keeping but the address remains a box number at Quinnipiac College. With the proximity of so much youth, custodial and safety precautions had to be stepped up. Besides the Sleeping Giant and 90 acres of Wharton Brook State Park in North Haven, ranger responsibilities extended over the more recently established West Rock Ridge State Park, There is no "off" season. Winter is for repair work. The fire hazard is kept at bay by the Department of Environmental Protection with spotting airplanes, and local fire departments are called from Mt. Carmel and West Woods or even farther away.

Twelve weeks of training at the: state police academy qualifies the ranger to make arrests on park land and give summonses to illegal campers or climbers. These last must report to the ranger station with proper gear, but even so, there are often rescues to be made. Copperheads, extremely poisonous, live in the rocks on the Giant but are rarely seen on the trails. Requests for hang gliding must be refused.

Since the Mill River flows into Lake Whitney, a public water supply, swimming is for-bidden, and camping is no longer allowed. There are better provisions for this on the West Rock Ridge, but Tourney's original invitation to the Giant still stands, open for all.

In spite of emergencies and necessary restrictions there have been rewards, accomplishments and good times. On March 3, 1984, a grand fete was held to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the SGPA. With this as inspiration. Board member, George Heston issued the first Giant News, a four times a year bulletin for members that has provid-

top: Cross-country skiiers, Ginnie & Bob Dowd on the horse trail.
bottom: Hikers on the chin, on one of 14 annual SGPA sponsored hikes.

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the stories, poetry, personal anecdotes, history as well as up-to-date developments, with illustrations. No one could have predicted such a long time success, proof of how much affection has been generated by this totemic string of trap rock ridges.

October 15. 1989 was the memorable day when the Tower on the Third Ridge was rededicated alter fifty years. This ceremony organized by PR expert, Tom Vocelli. included notable personages: the Mayor of Hamden, Elton Cooke who had worked on the Tower, his wife Florence, brought up in a house by the quarry where her father was one of the stone crushers, several descendants of other original Tower workers, and Harry Webb's daughter, herself a life member of the Association.

A highlight was the presence and recognition of Richard Elliott who, with Norman Greist, had mapped the trail system still in use. There was a large gathering at the Tower itself to see the newly replaced plaque honoring those responsible all those years ago. Among them, just so we would not get too mired in the past, was a young couple celebrating the anniversary of their marriage on the Giant! In a blaze of autumn color and haze of memory, this was an unforgettable afternoon.

For many members of the SGPA the best way to start off the holiday season is with a December hike followed by a carol sing at the Pavilion. Since there are two fireplaces, these are kept going, tables spread with goodies, and hot mulled cider provided by the Hiking Committee and members. Sometimes it snows. Always yokes are raised in the familiar songs. There have been hand bells, a flute accompaniment, even a battery operated keyboard. That's when the holiday really begins!

Now the organization started in 1924 by a small group of concerned townspeople and well-to-do New Haven citizens has become an Association of over 2000 members. Hikers from Switzerland, France and Taiwan have tried the Giant's trails and become members of the SGPA, for this system has been recognized as a National Scenic Recreational Trail System (the first so honored in Connecticut). There is a marked Nature Trail as well for those who

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want to learn and observe. Besides the 14 hikes each season provided through the SGPA there has been added the Hike-A-Giant, a rollicking family affair celebrated on every National Trails Day. All these walks are free to the public and are led by specially qualified experts in botany, geology, history, or just trail knowledge.

Land Acquisition, first under J. Walter Basset, and taken over by Russell Williams, continues under the patient vigilance of a dedicated committee. At this writing there are over 1500 acres in the Sleeping Giant Park. Some years ago at the annual meeting, the Association voted to go forward with a goal of 2000 acres by the year 2000, not far away!

There is no neat ending to this story. We go way back and look way ahead. So many people care about the Giant from conservationists, teachers, scouts, and hikers, to just plain men and women who hold the familiar woods and byways in fond memory.

As long as the population increases and open spaces lessen, there will be problems. So far the Giant has been rescued and tended, often by only a handful of generous people. They have left us a priceless inheritance.

House and Giant from Whitney Avenue. (about 1918)

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THE HOUSES ON THE GIANT

lthough there are no buildings on the giant since this land became a state park, there are still ruins. Below the quarry, now bare of crushed rock, are picturesque remains of this operation: the powder house and concrete pilasters with steps, Gilbert Spencer, who grew up at the foot of the Giant and served as fireman and rescuer in many emergencies, can point out traces of where the tracks led in for trains carrying rock out to the main spur. There are even sacks of hardened cement which have become one with the landscape.

Along the Mill River where first a grist mill and the Axle Shop existed there are wall foundations and grass-grown humps something like a Roman fortress. The dam originally built by Munson is still there, for in 1959 masons discovered mortar which they claimed was not used until the 1800's, indicating an earlier repair job to what must have been the 18th century dam, 120 feet long. Some of the native trap rock boulders which were used in this structure they estimate to weigh 200 pounds, guaranteed, to stay.

But the most interesting ruins are from the getaway houses that once sprouted on all live ridges of the Giant, each with its own family history. We have mentioned Willis Cook's House of sheathings on the Head. This lasted until the SGPA bought the Head from Cook's widow, but is now long gone. "Cedarhurst" on the Second Ridge, designed

Page 42

by Prank Elwood Brown and later owned by John Heaton has left, nothing but two of the iron ring bolts used to hold the cables over the root, but further away from the edge, Orrin Dickerman built a house in much the same style. He called it On A Rock, well named since traces of the stone foundation remain although the once open space is now covered with brush and trees. Dickerman built a stone chimney on one outside walk There was a single large room and a roof pitched to cover a narrow front porch irons which one could see over the fields below and the tar distant silhouette of New Haven. Tins structure is typical Sleeping Giant architecture.

In a hollow 250 feet southwest of Orrin Dickerman's was the Matthews cottage. In wet weather a little brook flowed nearby wind) must have been refreshing since water was always a problem for people living on the Giant. Now all this is gone but Gilbert Spencer has found old litter in what must have been a dump; bits of a stove, parts of tools, all kinds of bottles, milk, medicine, whatever, some whole and some that will turn lavender from the manganese in the glass mix once exposed to sunlight. Treasure for the modern archeologist!

But it was on the Third Ridge that the most budding occurred, probably because this is the highest point. First and most durable was the stone house constructed by David Weiser and later taken over by the Park family. This is gone but much of the stone work is in the Tower, which of course still exists, a proud beacon for all hikers on the main trail.

Old photographs show the Wetser-Park house as well as the Brockett-Mann cottage with the ingenious arrangement for fetching water from the spring below Haswell's ledge. Brockett also had a lookout tower which he eventually allowed a group of young teen-age boys

Mrs. Walter Greist (right) & Mrs. Charles Lincoln blackberrying on Ridge Rd. (about 1905)

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to use. They repaid his kindness by becoming fire watchers, proudly sporting badges that read Forest Fire Patrol.

Clarence Conklin, general freight agent of the New Haven Road built a house in the shape of a railroad signal tower where he spent six summers with his family and must have felt like the King of the Mountain. The tower cottage fell over in a windstorm some time in the 20's but was righted and put back in use until it was either taken down or burned.

We know that Brockett finally gave his young tire watchers permission to use the lumber on his watch tower. With the wonderful energy of youth, they had it down overnight. They had decided to build their own cottage, a ven-ture which has become one of the most diverting of all the Giant stones. They called themselves the Tarzan Rangers and were as follows:

Bernie Abrams (Tarzan) Bob Countryman (Lone Wolf) Bill Day (Buffalo Bill) Ray Donahue: (Big Boy) Gus (Smokie) Bill T. (Bananas) Jack (Ho Hum) Herb Birgstrand and Ray Spencer (Buddy or Joe)

Bernie (or Tarzan) kept a journal which has passed on to the Spencer family and become the treasure we refer to now. The object of this "gang" as Abrams called it "is to promote good fellowship and good health through out-door activities also preservation of the forest and of wild life. Some ot these fellows have been coming up to tins mountain some nine or ten years and have camped in the open in tents and in various cabins until the present cabin was completed in 1925."

That was easier said than done for everything except the lumber from the wafer tower had to be brought up

Fire Tower on 3rd Ridge built by Brockett. Tarzan Rangers keep watch.

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the mountain. They planned to have just one room (the getaway style) hut with windows and a little porch in the front. It took tour huge rolls of tarpaper for the roof so a burro was commandeered and two rolls attached. Halfway up the trail, the animal simply lay down in protest and rolled over its feet in the air, so Ray Spencer shouldered a roll of the tar paper and struggled upward. He emerged with his burden in time to hear one of his friends say, "Don't worry about the paper, I've got a jackass coming up with it! ' Of course Ray never lived this down!

Since they intended to cook in their cabin, they also needed a stove (in those days made of iron). This was brought up by a horse which died the next day of the effort. Remember the wide path called the Tower Trail had not yet been made. But in spite of the difficulties the cabin was built and the Tarzan Rangers moved in. They celebrated Thanksgiving there, once cooking a 16 1/2 pound turkey. Ray Donohue was the Chef Supreme. They spent most of their spare time there in every season of the year, even in winter when they constructed a bobsled which broke up after one try. Visiting girlfriends were initiated into the Royal Order of the Rafter Owls. It was all innocent merriment, never to be forgotten years of youth until April 12, 1928 when Tarzan writes:

"About 11 P.M. flames were noticed on the third mountain and by the time anybody reached the summit, Brockett's cottage was in flames and after going over to our cabin some 400 feet found that ablaze inside and in no time both places were leveled to the ground. After checking over the causes of the tires, find that both were set separately."

They hoped to rebuild but never did. In 1933 when the Quarry tight was won and the state took over land given by the SGPA for a park, any remains of buildings (except for the Park

Tarzan Rangers' House on "Hornet's Nest" on third ridge. 1925

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house) were cleared away, Gilbert Spencer has found a cluster of rings where the lookout tower was, as well as rings in rock on the Blue Trail where the Brockett-Mann cottage once stood. He learned early from his father exactly where the Tarzan Rangers cottage stood although there is no sign of it now.

Bernie Adams, (Tarzan) eventually went looking for gold in Colorado where he staked out his claim and sent a nugget to the Spencers for proof. Of them all Ray Spencer has stayed near the Giant, married his Rafter Owl and walked the trails with family and friends.

The story of the Tower has been told in an earlier chapter of this history. It is in prime condition, restored in 1996 by the state.

from left to right:
Tower on 3rd ridge built by the WPA under Harry Webb. Completed in 1393, renovated in 1966.
Dog on east side of tower. A pun on the name of Harry Webb's architect friend "Barker."
Spring 1966 Tower re-dedication ceremony: Governor Rowland, Randy Miller (SPGA president 1990-1996), State Senator Joe Crisco, and Hamden Mayor Lillian Clayman.

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John Dickerman built a road to the Fourth Ridge with a turn around for carriages in 1888, the spring after the famous Blizzard. Here he constructed an open pavilion as a lure for the resort he hoped would he developed, After the successful July 4 celebration, he built a stone house for a Mrs. Jamison who apparently did not keep the place for long.

Some years later a fairly sizable house near Dickerman's stone house was built by the Rev. Robert. C, Bell, a Congregational minister who brought his family for many summers to the Giant. Besides the children there was also a pony. This was another stone house, well known for Norman Greist said they always knew the Bells were in residence when the American flag could he spotted flying from the summit of the Fourth Ridge, There are enchanting pictures of just such a place with little children in pinafores like an illustration out of Beatrix Potter but no indication which stone house. They are both gone now, of course, but Gilbert Spencer, indefatigable field worker, can point out the turn around for the carriages as well as the stone foundations for one of the houses.

We have a first hand account of a simpler building from Henry Webb, eldest son of Harry the designer and supervisor of the Tower, who writes:

On the Fifth Ridge was a hiking cabin, built probably in 1889 and inspired by John Dickerman's resort attempt the year before. It was constructed in the usual style with sloping roof to an open porch. A big room inside could hold from 15 to 20 people (sitting up, not lying down!) and was the accomplishment of ten young men from the surrounding area, listed here for the benefit of readers who may recognize an ancestor:

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J. Water Bassett James J. Webb Frederick Thorpe George Bradley Alfred Vick Chaunceij Ires Elam Dickerman Frederick J. Brockett William Stiles Charles Tuttle

Bassett, of course, became the indispensable head of the first Land Acquisition Committee with the 1924 founding of the Sleeping Giant Park Association. Brockett eventually built a cottage on the Third Ridge with his famous winch arrangement for drawing up water from the spring below Haskell's Ledge, James Webb was to develop Spring Glen into a model farm in Hamden and become the father of Harry, among other children. But in 1889 these were young hikers just out for the fun of climbing and this simple building was adequate for shelter. They kept it long enough for people to remember their tradition of setting off a cannon every time they were putting on a fireworks display.

Also on the Fifth Ridge is a mysterious 1 1/2" iron pipe which Gilbert Spencer believes was put in by the Elm City Nursery in 1900 to run water down to their plant below. Water still stands here, seeping from a hole which may have been an attempt to mine copper, or even by an extinct volcano. Traces of lava have been found, one of the Giant s well kept secrets.

At the spot on the 1924 map called the Right Foot, (also on the Fifth Ridge) Dr. Leonard, Cheshire veterinarian, had a cabin built in 1953 which he enjoyed with his family in 1969 he turned it over to the state. As a prevention of vandalism it was then burned. If you go there with Gilbert Spencer, you can reach the site by the trail from Chestnut Road on the way to Hezekiah's Knob and find many interesting relics.

Remains of cable used to pull up buckets of water.

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Below this area of the Giant at 880 Mt. Carmel Ave., set back on a slope, is the Ferris Cottage, constructed by Gilbert's grandfather in 1919, although in its present state it does not look at all as it did originally. This became the refuge for the Tarzan Rangers after their cottage was burned on the Third Ridge. If you go inside you will find the skillful stonework remains. It was built for Rev. George H. Perris of Calvary Church.

And so we know that people on the Giant go way back, beginning with the Amerinds who left only arrowheads.

Even in pre-Civil War days we read of the line of rented carriages drawn up at the bottom of the mountain while climbers hiked the ancient trails for the stupendous views.

From Book 4 of Historic Papers in the Hamden History Resource Room of the Miller Library is an account of a party of three in the early days of the discovery of gold in California who spent a night on the mountain. They were inuring themselves for the rigors of exploring the distant gold fields. On their hacks they carried provisions and blankets, including a ten gallon keg of water (!). Their campfire as it glowed from the top of the mountain could be seen from the farmhouses below.

You never know what men have left on the Giant or how long ago, but there is plenty of proof that the mountain was explored and enjoyed before any of us got there.

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clockwise from top left: Stone house on fourth ridge built by John Dickermann in 1888, Orin Dickerman's cabin "On-a-Rock", on second ridge, ruins of the quarry operation, typical Sleeping Giant cottage on fourth ridge.

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DEAD MAN'S CAVE

Climbing was slippery on the wet leaves and pine needles as they scrambled for the fissure they knew was somewhere in the rock. From the top of the ridge was a straight drop a good 120 feet long, and then a mass of tumbled boulders, none of which would make a good landing spot in a fall. As always, they could hear the sound of water dripping from the springs down in file gorge and inside the mountain, almost as if Hobbomock's arteries were coursing with blood as he slept. Homer Tuttle, the Judge's son, was in idle lead as they picked their way down a steep etude, hanging on to the saplings that grew from the cracks in the ledge and bracing their feet on the tufts of moss that lined the way.

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And then Homer gave a shout. "There it is, old Abe's cave, sure enough!" As he drew near his voice became more excited. "And old Abe is at home, for see one of his shoes!"

Laughing and shouting, the boys made their way down to the dark opening where, sure enough, they could see, just inside, the protruding toe of a boot.

And then they knew. There was a foot in the shoe, all right, but it belonged to a dead man.

Whether any of them bothered to look much further. Brockett never said, only that they all turned and beat it like frightened rabbits. "We looked in one direction only and that was straight ahead. It was home and mother for us and the way we skimmed over those boulders would have discounted the speed of an aeroplane."(1)

And it did turn cold, blowing up one of those freak April storms, preventing any investigation by the "authorities" until Easter Sunday. The papers had a field day over what they termed "The Mount Carmel Mystery".

On April 14, The New Haven Register reported the partially decomposed body of an unknown man was found just below the breast of the Dead Indian on Mt. Carmel.

1) As told to The New Haven Register correspondent, William Avis by Brockett. Article published in this paper, July 11, 1915.

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The Morning Journal and Courier on April 16, in their article "The Mount Carmel Mystery" mentioned the suspicion of murder, declaring:

Justice Henry Tuttle, Homer's father, presided over the inquest. The foreman of the jury gave as the verdict, cause of death, unknown. He described the gold ring to the reporter as so worn inside that this might prove the wearer to have been a mechanic, "injurious substances gradually working in between the flesh and the metal."

Next day the Courier reported A Possible Solution. Word had come from Conductor Parker of the New York Road that the body was possibly that of Edward Barnum, employed by the Howe Sewing Machine Company. About, four months ago Barnum, a man in his thirties, had seemed moody and morose, no doubt disappointed in love. His landlady reported his disappearance with a bottle of laudanum in his possession. The river and harbor bad been dragged, and no discovery being made, he was "given over as lost."

All this information the Courier had from acquaintances of the dead man. There did not seem to be any rela-tives to come forward. Now it was thought that the ring was scratched by the knocking of the hand against the rocks during the death struggle.

2) Morning Journal and Courier, April 147, 1873.

3) Ibid, April 17, 1873.

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Still pursuing the human interest side, on April 18, the Courier reported that the father and brother of Barnum had arrived and fully identified the body as Edward Barnum of Bethel, Connecticut. He had been married, the paper went on to say and "through the interference of his mother-in-law his home was broken up and he became despondent and undoubtedly committed suicide. The body will probably be exhumed and taken to Bethel where it will be buried alongside his friends."(4)

This was actually going a bit far, for next day. April 19, the Courier was obliged to apologize for the mother-in-law fiction and state that Barnum was unmarried, while the Register had merely reported that "it is understood that there was, as usual, a woman in the case and that Barnum went crazy and suicided," adding with some complacence that the Courier had endured a rap from the Bridgeport papers for "representing that Edwin Barnum committed suicide because after his marriage his mother-in-law made it hot for him". They managed, however, in this way to repeat the gossip. They also got Barnum's first name wrong, but, continued by stating that Mr. Barnum's father "explains that the fatal despondency of his son was caused by poor health and misfortune, the last feather being the burning of a house at which he was stopping in Roxbury last July, and destruction of a portion of his own property with that of his fiance." (sic) (4)

From a body in a cave, Barnum had now become a personality described by the Courier in detail. He was, in fact, the nephew of the great showman. P.T. Barnum. then at the height of his career and touring with his circus in the neighborhood.

Edward, in his early thirties, had been a well set up young man. 5 feet, 8 inches tall with dark brown hair, a sandy mustache and black chin whiskers. He had been dressed like a gentleman in a soft black hat and brown sack overcoat. Under this latter he wore a dark cam-colored frock coat, black cashmere vest and black ribbed cashmere pants, a white bosomed dress shirt and white ribbed undershirt. He wore a linen-faced paper collar and black silk

4) Morning Journal and Courier, April 18, 1873.

5) The New Haven Register, April 18 and April 19, 1873.

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neck bow with red spots. His socks were gray and his boots fine, one of them patched. In his pockets he had a trunk key, a comb, a linen handkerchief marked E.B., a lead pencil and a wallet containing $23.65. At his side was a two ounce vial marked Kent, Pharmaceutics, Chicopee. Mass."(6)

The now famous ring was taken to Kirby's jewelry store in New Haven where it was examined by H.L. Davies who tried to make out the badly scratched engraving inside, which he thought was indeed his own work and said either "To Mother" or "From Mother".(7)

The people of MT. Carmel were indignant, after learning all these personal details, that the young man had been stripped except for a gray flannel band around his waist and tumbled face down into a plain pine bex to be buried without any ceremony, scandalous treatment from a god-fearing community. (8)

In the end, of course, Barnum was taken back to Bethel and accorded a proper funeral by his family. There was never any comment from the famous uncle, however.

Brockett and Tuttle would remember their adventure all their lives. When they grew up both owned property at one time on the Sleeping Giant. Brockett took many a weekend guest down the Devil's Chute to the fissure in the rock, where, with lighted candles, they explored the chambers within. There are three, the lowest about 40 feet below the mouth of the cave. As many as 16 persons can fit into the first chamber, hut farther in. the way is narrow and cannot he accomplished without a flashlight and in a prone position. It is also impossible to turn around. Once Brockett had among his sightseers, a woman weighing 190 pounds and had all he could do to get her out. (9)

Every child who has grown up in the shadow of the Sleeping Giant knows about Dead Man's Cave. When they hear the story of Edward Barnum, it sounds like a piece out of Mark Twain, giving them a delicious shudder as they stand at the entrance and remember the boys long ago scrambling down the rocks with wildly heating hearts.

Poor Barnum! He must have known the steep trail well to have chosen this place to meet his end. One won-

6) Morning Journal and Courier, April 29, 1873. There are three separate accounts in this edition.

7) Ibid.

8) Ibid.

9) The New Haven Register Avis article. op. cit. July 11, 1915.

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ders how he ever managed in his 'fashionable boots to maneuver the Devil's Chute. 1873 was a panic year. Businesses were in precarious condition; the papers reported many suicides. Edward Barnum was just one whose death came more vividly into public notice because the Giant took him.

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THE DANA STORY

I was very much interested to hear from George Woulsey some of his remembrances regarding the Mount Carmel accident. I told him I had been accustomed to say that the distance I fell was somewhere between 80 and 180 feet, hitting trees and projecting crags as I went down. He replied that he would put the maximum distance even higher, say at 200 feet.

My father sent a check to the elder Mr. Dickerman who drought me home in his buggy and I have in my scrap book a copy of the thank-you letter acknowledging the check. I should be very glad to hear from you any details which you may recall of that eventful day. I, myself, remembered that we stopped at the little grocery store then on the corner of Whitney Avenue and Trumbull Street, and bought some sugar cookies, of which we boys were very fond. We went up the Northampton Road, I believe, on the 7:15 train and though we had expected to go directly to the spring on the body of the Giant, concluded to climb the Head first. I have the impression that the day was

Page 58

very warm, though it was then early in the morning, and that we were so heated and thirsty on reaching the top that we were led to attempt a descent of the precipitous face.

As I recall it, you were leading the way, and came upon a sloping rock beneath which you could find nothing to get a foothold upon. I was following and in the effort to get by, slid off into space. I remember crying out that I was killed (manifestly a falsehood) and then was no longer conscious of what was going on, until I aroused and heard you, left alone on the cliff, crying out. Have you any idea how long it was before you heard my voice? Evidently some time must have elapsed, since the two Georges had had time to climb back and start on their way to get help.

I remember the long wait before anyone appeared, the rocks among which I lay and from which I managed to make my way to nearby trees, and I also recall the numerous flies that pestered me, but which I could not reach on account of having one arm broken and the other dislocated.

When the men from Mount Carmel Village arrived under the leadership of Mr. Miller who then had a factory on Whitney Avenue near where Judge Cook lived, I remember they were astonished to find me alive, as they had brought up a lumber wagon upon which to bring home my remains. The delighful draughts of spring water while another vehicle was being sent for, and the long ride home by road, as well as my mother called to the side door of No. 24 Hillhouse Avenue to receive me, stand out quite plainly, I also remember that Doctor Stephen Hubbard of College and Crown streets was called, but said it was a case for a surgeon and the late Doctor George Farnam upon looking me over remarked that it was a pretty bad smashup, considering it wasn't a railroad accident.

Doctor Farnam put my arm up in splints, but within a short time it began to swell owing to the bruises received in the fall, and I was in such distress that he took it out of the splints and placed it in a wooden trough. It. was late in the afternoon, when Doctor Farnam making a second visit, I called his attention to the right arm and told him there was something wrong with the elbow. How I hollered when, without saying a word, he grasped it in his hand

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and pulled the arm in place. I carry a scar on my left hand to show where I tore it during the fall. For several days both arms were laid up and I had to he fed like a baby.

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James E. Toumey 1924-1932
Arnold G. Dana 1932-1935
Bancel Lafarge 1935-1938
Walter C. Greist 1938-1945
J. Walter bassett 1945-1962
Norman A. Greist 1962-1982
Dag Pfeiffer 1982-1988
Mary Hallenbeck 1988-1990
Randall Miller 1990-1996
Herb Etter 1996-

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as identified by the SGPA Hiking Committee and Botanist Tina M. Landry, for her graduate thesis at Quinnipiac College

ARROWHEAD FAMILY
Broad-leaved Arrowhead, Sagittaria latifolia

ARUM FAMILY
Arrow Arum, Peltandra virginica
Jack-in-the-pulpit, Arisaema triphyllum
Skunk Cabbage, Symplocarpus foetidus

BARBERRY FAMILY
Blue Cohosh, Caulophylum thalictroides
May-apple (mandrake), Podophyllum peltatum

BEDSTRAW FAMILY
Bluets, Houstonia caerulea
Bluet, Houstonia longifolio
Cleavers, Galium aparine
Fragrant Bedstraw, Galium triflorum
Partridgeberry, Mitchella repens
Rough Bedstraw, Galium asprellum
Galium circaezans
Galium mollugo

BIRTHWART FAMILY
Wild Ginger, Asarum canadense

BLUEBELL FAMILY
Harebell, Campanula rotundifolia
Venus' Looking-glass, Specularia perfoliata

BROOMRAPE RAMILY
One-flowered Cancer-root, Orobanche uniflora

BUCKWHEAT FAMILY
Arrow-leaved Tearthumb, Polygonum sagittatum
Broad Dock, Rumex obtusifolius
Climbing False Buckwheat, Polygonum scandens
Halberd-leaved Tearthumb, Polygonum arifolium
Knotweed, Polygonum prolificum
Long-bristled Smartweed, Polygonum cepitosum
Mild Water-pepper, Polygonum hydropiperoides
Pennsylvania Smartweed, Polygonum pensylvanicum
Prostrate Knotweed, Polygonum aviculare
Sheep Sorrel, Rumex acetosella

BUTTERCUP FAMILY
Virginia Knotweed, Tovara virginiana
Marsh-marigold, Caltha palustris
Round-lobed Hepatica, Hepatica americana
Wood Anemone, Anemone quinquefolia
Columbine, Aquilegia canadensis
White Baneberry, Actaea parchypoda

Kidneyleaf Buttercup, Ranunculus abortivus Rue-Anemone, Anemonella thalictroides Bulbous Buttercup, Ranunculus bulbosus Early Meadow-rue, Thalictrum dioicum Hooked Buttercup, Ranunculus recurvatus Thimbleweed, Anemone virginiana Tall Meadow-rue, Thalictrum polygamum

COMPOSITE FAMILY

Common Tansy, Tanacetum vulgare Pearly Everlasting, Anaphalis margaritacea Sweet Everlasting, Gnaphallum obtusifolium Field Pussytoes, Antennaria neglecta Plantain-leaved Pussytoes, Antennaria plantaginifolia Common Dandelion, Taraxacum officinale Dwarf Dandelion, Krigia virginica Yarrow, Achillea millefolium Ox-eye Daisy, Chrysanthemum leucanthemum Robin-plantain, Erigeron pulchellus Smoothish Hawkweed, Hieracium floribundum Rattlesnake-weed, Hieracium venosum

62

Black-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia hirta Cat's-ear, Hypochoeris radicata Daisy Fleabane, Erigeron annuus Daisy Fleabane, Erigeron strigosus Common Burdock, Arctium minus Wild Carrot, Daucus carota Quickweed, Galinsoga, Galinsoga ciliata Panicled Hawkweed, Hieracium paniculatum Horseweed, Erigeron canadensis Orange-grass, Pineweed, Hypericum gentianoides Upland Boneset, Eupatorium sessilifolium Woodland Sunflower, Helianthus divaricatus Thin-leaved Sunflower, Helianthus decapetalus Sweet Joe-Pye-Weed, Eupatorium purpureum Crooked-Stemmed Aster, Aster prenanthoides Chicory, Cichorium intybus Common Ragweed, Ambrosia artemisiifolia Late-flowering Thoroughwort, Eupatorium serotinum Bur-Marigold, Sticktight, Bidens laevis Beggar-ticks, Bidens frondosa Heath Aster, Aster ericoides, Climbing Hempweed, Mikania scandens Blue Lettuce, Lactuca biennis Silver-rod, Solidago bicolor White Snakeroot, Eupatorium rugosum Lance-Leaved Goldenrod, Solidago graminifolia Tall Goldenrod, Solidago altissima Blue-Stemmed Goldenrod, Solidago caesia Elm-Leaved Goldenrod, Solidago ulmifolia Hairy Goldenrod, Solidago hispida Sharp-Leaved Goldenrod, Solidago arguta Heart-leaved Aster, Aster cordifolius

DAFFODIL FAMILY
Stargrass, Hypoxis hirsuta

DOGBANE FAMILY
Periwinkle, Vinca minor

EVENING-PRIMROSE FAMILY
Enchanter's Nightshade, Circaea quadrisulcata Common Evening-primrose, Oenothera biennis

FORGET-ME-NOT FAMILY
Spring Forget-me-not, Myosotis vema True Forget-me-not, Myosotis scorpioides

GERANIUM FAMILY
Wild Geranium, Geranium maculatum Herb-Robert, Geranium robertianum

GINSENG FAMILY
Dwarf Ginseng, Panax trifolius Wild Sarsaparilla, Aralia nudicaulis

HEATH FAMILY
Pink Azalea, Rhododendron nudiflorum Mountain Laurel, Kalmia latifolia

IRIS FAMILY
Blue-eyed Grass, Sisyrinchium mucronatum

LILY FAMILY
False Hellebore, Vaeratrum viride Solomon's Seal, Polygonatum Early Saxifrage, Saxifraga virginiensis Trout-Lily, Erythronium americanum Wild Oats, Uvularia sessilifolia Hairy Solomon's-seal, Polygonatum pubescens Wild Lily-Of-The-Valley, Maianthemum canadense Perfoliate Bellwort, Uvularia perfoliata False Solomon's-seal, Smilacina racemosa Indian Cucumber-root, Medeola virginiana Yellow Day-lily, Hemerocallis flava Day-Lily, Hemerocallis fulva Field Garlic, Allium vineale

LOBELIA FAMILY
Indian-tobacco, Lobelia inflata

LOPS BED FAMILY
Lopseed, Phryma leptostachya

MALLOW FAMILY
Cheeses, Common Mallow, Malva neglecta

MILKWEED FAMILY
Four-leaved Milkweed, Asclepias quadrifolia Purple Milkweed, Asclepias purpurascens Common Milkweed, Asclepias syriaca

MILKWORT FAMILY
Fringed Polygala, Poly gala paucifolia

MINT FAMILY
Gill-over-the-ground, Glechoma hederacea Wild Leek, Allium tricoccum Heal-all, Prunella vulgaris Blue Giant Hyssop, Agastache foeniculum Downy Skullcap, Scutellaria incana Horse-balm, Richweed, Collinsonia candensis Narrow-leaved Mt.-Mint, Pycnanthemum tenuifolium Bugleweed, Lycopus virginicus Wild Mint, Mentha arvensis Mad-dog Skullcap, Scutellaria lateriflora MORNING-GLORY FAMILY Hedge Bindweed, Convolvulus septum Dodder, Cuscutagronovii MUSTARD FAMILY Smooth Rock Cress, Arabis laevigata Cut-leaved Toothwort, Dentaria laciniata Early Winter Cress, Barbarea vema

63

Garlic Mustard, Alliaria officinalis Winter Cress, Barbarea vulgaris Pennsylvania Bittercress, Cardamine pensylvanica Cow-cress, Lepidium campestre Shepherd's Purse, Capsella bursa-pastoris Dame's Rocket, Hesperis matronalis Poor-man's-pepper, Lepidium virginicum Tumble Mustard, Sisymbrium altissimum Yellow Cress, Rorippa islandica NETTLE FAMILY False Nettle, Boehmeria cylindrica ORCHID FAMILY Moccasin-Flower, Cypripedium acaule PARSLEY FAMILY Wild Parsnip, Pastinaca sativa Sweet Cicely, Osmorhiza longistylis Black Snakeroot, Sanicula trifoliata Black Snakeroot, Sanicula gregaria Sweet Cicely, Osmorhiza claytoni Honewort, Cryptotaenia canadensis Water-hemlock, Cicuta maculata

64

Fool's-parsley, Aethusa cynapium Water-pennywort, Hydrocotyle americana

PEA FAMILY
Cow Vetch, Vicia cracca Hop Clover, Trifolium agrarium White Clover, Trifolium repens Crown-vetch, Coronilla varia Birdfoot Trefoil, Lotus corniculatus Red Clover, Trifolium pratense White Sweet Clover, Melilotus alba Pointed-leaved Tick-trefoil, Desmodium glutinosum Rabbit's-foot Clover, Trifolium arvense Naked-flowered Tick-trefoil, Desmodium nudiflorum Bush-clover, Lespedeza violacea Hairy Bush-clover, Lespedeza hirta Slender Bush-clover, Lespedeza virginica

PHLOX FAMILY
Garden Phlox, Phlox paniculata

PICKEREL WEED
Pickerelweed, Pontederia cordata

PINK FAMILY
Common Chickweed, Stellaria media Mouse-ear Chickweed, Cerastium vulgatum Deptford Pink, Dianthus armeria Evening Lychnis, Lychnis alba Bouncing Bet, Saponaria officinalis

PLANTAIN FAMILY
English Plantain, Plantago lanceolata Common Plantain, Plantago major Pale Plantain, Plantago rugellii

POKEWEED FAMILY
Pokeweed, Phytolacca americana

POPPY FAMILY
Dutchman's-Breeches, Dicentra cucullaria Bloodroot, Sanguinaria canadensis Pale Corydalis, Corydalis sempervirens Celandine, Chelidonium majus

PRIMROSE FAMILY
Whorled Loosestrife, Lysimachia quadrifolia Fringed Loosestrife, Lysimachia ciliata Yellow Loosestrife, Lysimachia terrestris

PURSLANE FAMILY
Spring-Beauty, Claytonia virginica

ROCKROSE FAMILY
Pinweed, Lechea racemulosa

ROSE FAMILY
Common Strawberry, Fragaria virginiana Dwarf Cinquefoil, Potentilla canadensis Roses, Rosa multiflora Common Cinquefoil, Potentilla simplex Pasture Rose, Rosa Carolina Rough-fruited Cinquefoil, Potentilla argentea Purple-flowering Raspberry, Rubus odoratus White Avens, Geum canadense Agrimony, Agrimoniae, Wood Strawberry, Fragaria vesca

SANDALWOOD FAMILY
Bastard Toadflax, Comandra umbellata

SAXIFRAGE FAMILY
Early Saxifrage, Saxifraga virginiensi

SNAPDRAGON FAMILY
Common Speedwell, Veronica officinalis Moth Mullein, Verbascum blattaria Blue Toadflax, Linaria canadensis Cow-wheat, Melampyrum lineare Butter-and-eggs, Linaria vulgaris Golden Hedge-Hyssop, Gratiola aurea Common Mullein, Verbascum thapsus Smooth False Foxglove, Gerardia laevigata Slender Gerardia, Gerardia tenuifolia

SPIDERWORT FAMILY
Asiatic Dayflower, Commelina communis

SPURGE FAMILY
Cypress Spurge, Euphorbia cyparissias

ST. JOHNS WORT FAMILY
Common St. Johnswort, Hypericum perforatum

TOMATO FAMILY
Nightshade, Solanum dulcamara

TOUCH-ME-NOT FAMILY
Pale Touch-me-not, Impatiens pallida Spotted Touch-me-not, Impatiens capensis

VERVAIN FAMILY
White Vervain, Verbena urticifolia Blue Vervain, Verbena hastata

VIOLET FAMILY
Common Blue Violet, Viola papilionacea Downy Yellow Violet, Viola pubescens Dog Violet, Viola conspersa Sweet White Violet, Viola blanda Northern Downy Violet, Viola fimbriatula

WATER-LILY FAMILY
Fragrant Water-lily, Nymphaea odorata Spatterdock, Nuphar advena

WINTERGREEN FAMILY
Indian-pipe, Monotropa uniflora Spotted Wintergreen, Chimaphila maculata WOOD-SORREL FAMILY Violet Wood-sorrel, Oxalis violacea

65

Birds Commonly Sighted on the Giant listed by Professor Richard Bernard of Quinnipiac College

Turkey Vulture Sharp-shinned Hawk Red-tailed Hawk Broad-winged Hawk Red-shouldered Hawk Mourning Dove Yellow-billed Cuckoo Screech Owl Great Horned Owl Chimney Swift E. Belted Kingfisher Common Flicker Pileated Woodpecker Hairy Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker Great Crested Flycatcher Eastern Phoebe Eastern Pewee Tree Swallow Barn Swallow Blue Jay American Crow Black-capped Chickadee Tufted Titmouse White-breasted Nuthatch Red-breasted Nuthatch Brown Creeper House Wren Winter Wren Northern Mockingbird Gray Catbird American Robin Wood Thrush Veery Eastern Bluebird Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Cedar Waxwing
Starling
Solitary Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Black-and-White Warbler
Worm-eating Warbler
Blue-winged Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Parula Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Palm Warbler
Ovenbird
Louisiana Waterthrush
American Redstart
House Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Northern Oriole
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Scarlet Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting Purple Finch
House Finch
American Goldfinch
Rufous-sided Townee
Northern Junco Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Song Sparrow

The end