Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - August - 2003 Issue
The Catskill Mountains and the Region Around By the Rev. Charles Rockwell
Catskill Mountain House
The first half of this book is the Reverend’s account including stories of wild animals, mostly bears, accounts of hand to hand combat and lucky last second shots that suggest attending one of the many local churches may have made the essential difference. Those who survived such attacks and were in good standing with their church are always acknowledged for their piety.
Whether the copyright laws were less demanding or the author simply felt that quotes around a dozen pages was enough acknowledgement, his account is often a compilation of relevant sections of other books. In this way, though the book lacks an index, it is a road map to identifying material related to this subject. Washington Irving’s account of Rip Van Winkle is found here and it is more entertaining for being placed in both a well described physical context and within the context of Dutch myths. It is also a reminder that Washington Irving was a story teller of extraordinary ability and an author whose written words should continue to resonate with readers in the years to come. James Fennimore Cooper of Cooperstown’s “Pioneers” is excerpted as well both to convey the poetic beauty and to remind us that the greatest writers of the day felt moved to write about this area. A few other writers whose works are quoted, remind us that writing skills, then as now, are not universally distributed but it in no way diminishes the book. All excerpts are short enough that neither elation nor grief ever completely overtake the reader.
While the Mountain House was in its heyday in the 19th century it was not alone. The Kaaterskill Hotel, the Grand Hotel and Laurel House were also important attractions to those who entered the Catskill Mountains by boat via Catskill. And to the south, in Ulster County, there were Mohonk and Minnewaska, two competing mountain houses owned by the Smiley Brothers.
