Henry Buxton Says.. John Giberson Veteran River Driver of Patten Worked
Many Years in Woods of Maine and Minnesota
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Worked Many Years in Woods of Maine and Minnesota
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Few towns in Maine have a more enchanting scenic setting than the village of Patten on the Fish river in northern Penobscot county. I approached this gem of a town on Route No. 11 from Sherman and was amazed and delighted by the panorama of high mountains and wooded ridges brilliantly painted with the pigments of autumn. To the westward toward the mile-high Mt. Katahdin, looking much like a peak of the Rockies, and also on the westward horizon rose the pinnacles of Sugar Loaf and Traveler. Straight ahead to the north loomed the mighty shoulders of Mt. Chase, while to the eastward rolled ridge after ridge of wooded terrain gaudy with all the colors of fall. I stopped the car and gazed in mute admiration at this incomparable scenic display, and marveled that it was so little known to the tens of thousands of tourists who each year visit the Pine Tree State. The air was so clear that it seemed almost as if one could reach out a hand and touch those distant mountains, and the hush of autumn prevailed everywhere. A pure white cloud hung suspended above the frowning ramparts of Katahdin, and on the shoulders of Mt. Chase the autumn foliage seemed to glow like the embers of a slow fire.
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LUMBER TOWN
Patten itself has a rugged pioneer background such as is shared by few towns in the state. Rich resources of long lumber in the region were responsible for bringing this town into existence many years ago, and still residing there are many fine old-timers who spin sagas of the old lumbering days when the big woods rang with the axes of lumberjacks. The pioneer spirit is still strong in this town. Men talk straight from the shoulder in Patten, and the wo- men folks there are old-fashioned to the extent that they cling closely to certain fundamental truths that make for the stability of the home. I found that most of these wives and mothers of Patten would rather go to picnics and grange meetings than attend movies or bridge parties. These good folk live much as their ancestors did 75 years ago and are good neighbors in the best sense of the expression.
I felt strongly the pulse of Patten when I called on Mrs. Juanita B. Finch, one of the most public- spirited women I have ever met. She believes in her town and its people, and she was one of the leaders in the establishment of the public library. This library was established in the old Baptist church after the steeple had been removed, and the number of its books is growing steadily each year. The daughter of a lumberman, Mrs. Finch has a keen appreciation of the early lumbering history of Patten, and she has collected a number of fascinating stories of the days when large crews of men went into the woods in November and didn't emerge until the start of the river drives in April. In those days trainloads of queerly assorted individuals were brought in from Boston to work in the woods, and one of these was one John Mack, a ventriloquist and slight-of-hand performer who had traveled for many years with Barnum's circus.
John F. Giberson, 72, of Patten worked in lumber woods and on the rivers of northern Maine many years.
