Lucius Hubbard’s Maps Guiding canoeists through the north woods

by Charles Francis

In the years 1887 through 1889 the Canadian Pacific Railroad extended across Maine in what was referred to as a “Short Line.” The Canadian Pacific, which had begun construction in 1870, completed its goal of stretching from sea-to-sea in 1890. The railroad then embarked on an extensive program of tourism. While much of this program was directed toward developing hotels in the Canadian West, the railroad also advertised hunting, fishing, and canoe trips in the northeast. Starting in 1901 newspapers in the Maritime Provinces and Quebec and Ontario carried advertisements of the glories of wilderness experiences in the upper St. John Valley and in the Jackman, Maine and Sherbrooke, Quebec region.

Sherbrooke was the Canadian Pacific’s main junction in eastern Quebec. From there the line ran through the Lake Megantic area to Holeb, Jackman, and Greenville before continuing on to Brownville, Vanceboro, and the New Brunswick border.

Today the region from Greenville to Jackman, Holeb, and the border is viewed as one of the most remote in Maine. There are few convenience stores and paved roads. At the turn of the twentieth century, however, the situation was quite different. There were settlements up and down the Moose

River Valley and across the border in Quebec. Many of them had hotels that catered to tourists. The Canadian Pacific took advantage of this fact in its advertising of the region, especially in regard to canoeing. In fact, it had freight cars specially designed for carrying canoes.

Jackman, as it still does today, served as a major starting point for trips into the north woods. The railroad supplied teams that carried canoes and canoeists to the starting points of the Attean Lake trip and the Moose River or Bow trip.

On the Attean Lake trip, the canoeist could paddle to Holeb and be picked up at the Canadian Pacific station there.

On the Moose River-Bow trip, the pickup was at the Canadian Pacific’s Greenville station. The Canadian Pacific also supplied canoeists as well as hunters and fishermen with maps of the region. The maps were Lucius Hubbard maps.

Typical of the Lucius Hubbard maps of the north woods was one produced in 1900. It was advertised as “adapted to the uses of lumbermen and sportsmen.” It was a remarkable map in that it was practical and sturdy. It was a topographical map done on oiled onionskin for durability. It even folded into a wallet-sized envelope.

Lucius Hubbard was one of the early promoters of north woods wilderness experiences. In 1881 he published a book, Woods and Waters of Maine. Some editions even had a pocket in the back with a Hubbard map.

Hubbard’s maps were actually quite derivative, being based on earlier ones like those of Charles Way. Hubbard, unlike his predecessors, was a salesman. One of the things he did to make his maps appeal to the sportsman was to use Native American place names of Penobscot and St. Francis Indian origin. Many of them were based on the work of Fannie Hardy Eckstorm, the most knowledgeable source on Maine Native Americans at the time.

Another way that Hubbard was different from his predecessors was that he promoted the entire north woods rather than just the Moosehead Lake region. In short, he got sportsmen to look beyond the area that could be accessed from Greenville to other jumping-off places like Jackman or Holeb, which was exactly what the Canadian Pacific wanted. Later, the Bangor & Aroostook followed the Canadian Pacific’s lead in trying to attract those interested in wilderness experiences to the upper St. John Valley.

Hubbard actually produced a whole series of guide books to the north woods. While the later ones concentrated on what today is the Allagash Wilderness Waterway, the first dealt with trips in the Jackman and Moose River areas.

The Attean Lake trip began at Jackman, which was reached on the Canadian Pacific. From there it went to Wood Pond and Attean Pond. An alternative was to go to Boston Ranch on Holeb Pond and then to Moose Pond, Attean Pond, and Wood Pond.

The Moose River or Bow trip began at the Moose River Post Office, which the Canadian Pacific provided transportation to. This was by far the more challenging trip, and Hubbard recommended it for expert canoeists. The trip went from Long Pond to the Moose River to Brassua Lake and then to Moosehead at Rockwood. Hubbard was quite clear in identifying carries like the ones at Holeb Pond, Holeb Falls, and at Brassua.

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The Canadian Pacific continued to advertise canoe trips starting in Jackman into the 1960s. However, due to such cross-border developments as tariffs, taxation, and a seeming reluctance on the part of the United States and Canada to undertake public improvements that would benefit another country, the railway eventually gave up the advertising. The decline of and actual abandonment of some settlements in the Moose River Valley also played a part in the Canadian Pacific’s decision. Today, however, there is a resurgence of interest among canoeists in the Attean Lake and Moose River trips, and Jackman is again serving as a center for canoeists.

As for Lucius Hubbard’s maps, they are now collectors’ items. Some of them — depending on condition — which originally sold for a dollar or a dollar and a half, are now bringing prices in the fifty dollar range and higher.