By the Book

By Sandy Long

‘The Hudson:
from the wilderness to the sea’

Last month, “snapshots” were taken of Pennsylvania’s watersheds in an effort to capture the current state of their conditions. This annual effort will continue so as to determine problems and solutions while establishing protective measures. Benson Lossing, a skillful chronicler born in 1813, declared the Hudson River his subject for an early snapshot of sorts, setting out in 1859 on a 300-mile journey from the Adirondacks to New York City, ferreting out the history and lore relating to the watery channel, exploring its veins and arteries, climbing its mountainous flanks and giving voice to the deep flow of its story in “The Hudson: from the wilderness to the sea.”

Author of a dozen books, editor of NYC’s Family Magazine and a prolific artist, Lossing peppered his books with illustrations depicting the discoveries of his adventures. “The Hudson” is graced with more than 300 exquisite wood engravings based upon sketches Lossing made while journeying by foot, carriage, canoe and horseback, accompanied by his wife. Ironically, after turning the final page of Lossing’s delightful journal depicting the heart and soul of the Hudson, I was left with a distilled sense of loss for what his exploration revealed.

In the book’s first paragraph, Lossing makes clear his intentions. “It is proposed to present, in a series of sketches with pen and pencil, pictures of the Hudson River, from its birth among the mountains to its marriage with the ocean. It is by far the most interesting river in America, considering the beauty and magnificence of its scenery, its natural, political, and social history, the agricultural and mineral treasures of its vicinage, the commercial wealth hourly floating upon its bosom, and the relations of its geography and topography to some of the most important events in the history of the Western hemisphere.”

Lossing achieves his aim in a manner both informative and delightful: the intellect is fortified with facts while the senses are fed a steady stream of sensory detail, not the least of which derives from the poetry, folklore and wonderful engravings that decorate the book’s pages. The traveler is urged to “linger awhile on the banks of the Katz-Kill, from the Hudson a few miles into the country, for there may be seen, from different points of view, some of the most charming scenery in the world... The solemn Katzbergs, sublime in form, and mysterious in their dim, incomprehensible, and ever-changing aspect, almost always form a prominent feature in the landscape... The Indians called this range of hills On-ti-O-ra, signifying Mountains of the Sky, for in some conditions of the atmosphere they are said to appear like a heavy cumulous cloud above the horizon. The Dutch called them Katzbergs, or Cat Mountains, because of the prevalence of panthers and wildcats upon them. The word Cats-Kill is partly English and partly Dutch: Katz-Kill, Dutch; Cats-Creek, English.”

Lossing’s reverence for the landscape is evident. “The night was cold and at early dawn we found the hoar-frost lying upon every leaf and blade around us. Beautiful, indeed, was that dawning of the last day of summer. From the south-west came a gentle breeze, bearing upon its wings light vapor, that flecked the whole sky, and became roseate in hue when the sun touched with purple light the summit of the hills westward of us. These towered in grandeur more than a thousand feet above the surface of the lake, from which, in the kindling morning light, went up, in myriad spiral threads, a mist, softly as a spirit, and melted in the first sunbeam.”

Like that dissipating mist, the Hudson River of a century and a half ago has, with the passage of time, become something different, something considerably less pristine. Time flows in one direction only, and we have been borne downstream, so to speak. For his part, Lossing concluded his study with a sense of satisfaction. “We have had a pleasant and memorable journey from the Wilderness, three hundred miles away to the northward, where the forest shadows eternally brood, and the wild beasts yet dispute for dominion with man. We have looked upon almost every prominent object of Nature and Art along the borders of the Hudson, and have communed profitably, I hope, with History and Tradition on the way.”

Reading “The Hudson,” I am both delighted by its account and disturbed by the perspective it has given me. Good books make readers think, and I find myself wistful, worried, wondering about what a Hudson River snapshot will look like in another 150 years.

“The Hudson” is published by Black Dome Press, of Hensonville, NY. For more information call 800/513-9013 or visit www.blackdomepress.com.