The Long Trail Collection includes over 900 images of the oldest long-distance hiking trail in the United States: Vermont’s Long Trail. The collection is mainly comprised of black-and-white and hand-colored lantern slides derived from photographs... Show moreThe Long Trail Collection includes over 900 images of the oldest long-distance hiking trail in the United States: Vermont’s Long Trail. The collection is mainly comprised of black-and-white and hand-colored lantern slides derived from photographs taken between 1912 and 1937. It documents the Green Mountain Club’s building of original trails and shelters and illustrates the enthusiasm for the Long Trail project (and hiking in general) at the turn of the century. These images chronicle the views and landscapes seen by early hikers of the Long Trail and provide an historical record of people associated with the Green Mountain Club’s formative years. The images in this collection were captured by Green Mountain Club members Theron S. Dean and Herbert Wheaton Congdon, both of whom were early contributors to the trail’s development. Congdon surveyed and mapped a large portion of the early trail including a fifty mile stretch from Middlebury Gap to Bolton. Congdon, along with Leroy Little and Clarence Cowles, is also credited with the first winter ascent of Mount Mansfield on February 21, 1920. Dean is perhaps the most prolific documenter of the Long Trail’s development. Dean traveled throughout Vermont presenting slideshows and giving talks about the Long Trail, often to hundreds of people. A number of the original lantern slides in this collection were used by Congdon and Dean in their Long Trail presentations. Dean in particular meticulously cultivated his lantern slide collection and displayed these slides during his many talks. These lantern slides were originally digitized by the Landscape Change Program at the University of Vermont. The original slides can be viewed in the Dean and Congdon collections at the University of Vermont Special Collections in the Howe Library. More information about the Long Trail can be obtained from the Green Mountain Club. The slides were scanned by UVM's Landscape Change Program with the generous support of the National Science Foundation. The digitized photographs also appear in the image database at http://www.uvm.edu/landscape/. Show less
The photographer, W.H. Ridley of Burlington, told Dean that he was born on July 2, 1862. He is the little boy on the horse at left. He spent the summer of 1865(?) at the hotel with his parents. "Couching Lion" is the previous name for Camel's Hump. Slide colored by Mrs. Perry.
Text included with this images states that the Indian Pipe Fern is: "A first cousin of the Christmas Fern as fronds remain green all winter. It was known in Europe for many years but not found in America until Frederick Pursh found it in Smugglers Notch in 1807. It has since been found in the... Show moreText included with this images states that the Indian Pipe Fern is: "A first cousin of the Christmas Fern as fronds remain green all winter. It was known in Europe for many years but not found in America until Frederick Pursh found it in Smugglers Notch in 1807. It has since been found in the White Mountains, Easthills, and Adirondaks and New Brunswick." Show less
Photo attributed to Mr. Richardson of Newport, Vermont. Negative and slide done by Standard Slide Corp. - 209 W. 48th NYC. Colored by Mrs Perry in February of 1929. Copyrighted negative.
