Before Maine was a STATE, it was part of Massachusetts.  When the discussion to build the Middlesex Canal between Lowell and the Merrimack River, to the port of Boston began, the State of Massachusetts sold two of the townships (36 square miles), they owned in what was to become Maine.  The money realized by the sale of these townships, went to finance the Canal.  It was chartered on June 22, 1793 and was built between 1775 and 1803.  It in effect opened up a large area in what became New England to trade.  However, 2 years after its completion, the Middlesex Turnpike was built and the Canal Company eventually went bankrupt in 1851.

Meanwhile, the townships were sold to lumbermen who used them as collateral for their various land purchases.  Sometimes the whole township was sold, other times, only parts were sold.  By 1820, when Maine became a state, the land had changed hands several times.

William Tell Club dragging deer		William Tell Club cooking a meal
William Tell Club tenting		William Tell Club hanging deer
Photos are from the Fogler Collection of the William Tell Club

At the turn of the century (1900) Mose Duty was a guide on Moosehead Lake.  He was born on the Duty farm, near Spencer Bay of Moosehead Lake.  He and his brothers were avid canoe men and famous in the area.  One brother, Bert, became a Game Warden.  Mose was a guide.  One of the men he guided was a member of the William Tell Club.

This club was built on the outlet of Spencer Pond, and was on the high banking overlooking the Stream flowing out of the Pond.  The club members were wealthy men from New England.  One of them at the time owned the township around the Pond.  Mose was fond of this area, and asked if he could have a lease on the north-west shore.  It was given to him, and in 1901, Mose started to build his first log cabin.  He had also become enamored with a waitress who worked at one of the Big Hotels on Moosehead.  When the first cabin was finished, he brought Lillian to it, and they lived there for many years. Mose called this cabin "Sabotowan" (the Draw String End of a Pack).  Mose was 21 years old at the time.

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When they first moved to that shore, there were many white birch trees growing on what later became the lawn.

When Mose wasn't guiding in the winter, he was beaver trapping.  Lillian didn't like the smell of the beaver in the Sabotowan, so Mose built a small cabin on the rise of the lawn.  There he dressed his beaver skins.  Later he added another room and used it for a guest cabin.  Lillian had a lady friend who came to visit.

In front of the small cabin he built a fairly large barn and started building boats for Moosehead Lake.  He also made many of the tools he used.  There was a bellows and anvil to do this work.  The first boat he built, Mose  and his horse skidded the boat on the ice to the outlet.  When spring came, he opened up the dam that had been built there by a lumberman in the area by the name of Fred Gilbert.  Fred winched long longs across the lake and then down the stream to Moosehead Lake.

Mose banged up his new boat somewhat, but he did get it to Moosehead at Spencer Bay.  He then started on another one.

Mose got together with Fred Gilbert and put in a telephone line from Fred's camp in North Inlet to the Sabotowan so the women could chat with each other.

On the other side of Spencer Pond by Duck Brook, was another lumber camp. 

It was an old one and was called the Cedar Camp.  Probably making cedar shakes for roofs.

Other than those two camps, the American Thread Company in Milo cut hardwood in the township from 1902 to 1975.  They made spools.

Fred Gilbert had his lumber camp in North Inlet, on the East shore.  His wife joined him but she was lonely.  "Fred Gilbert and Mose constructed a telephone line between the two cabins so their wives could talk to each other.

Mose and Lillian always had a cow.  Mose would get it in the spring, and Ray O'Donnell who ran a flying service out of Greenville would fly the cow into Spencer Pond for Mose.  One time he secured the cow out between his pontoons of the plane, and tied her up safely to the plane.  Then he took off.  All went well in the 15 minute flight until it came time to land.  Evidently bossy had loosened the ropes, and the wind had come up somewhat, so landing was disastrous.  Mose and Lillian ate beef that year.

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One agreement with Ray O'Donnell, who was the first bush pilot in Greenville, was that as he went over the cabins, he would watch below.  If a white sheet was put out on the lawn, it meant trouble, and Ray would land to see what was needed.

In 1942, Ray saw such a signal and when he landed, found that Mose was ill.  I've heard two stories, one that he'd cut himself on the leg and it infected, the other was that he had the flu.  Whatever, Ray got Mose in the plane and back to Greenville hospital.

Meanwhile, Lillian, who was almost totally blind, caught up a tin cup and tied it to her apron.  Then she got the cow they had at the time, and hanging onto it's tail, she walked out of the Camps.  There was a trail around the west side of the pond.  It forded two streams before it turned south and hit Spencer Stream itself.  She crossed that, probably on the dam.  Then found the trail that went to Kokad-jo, some 10 miles away.  When she was hungry, she would milk the cow for sustenance. 

She finally got to Kokad-jo where she left the cow and got a ride with the RFD mail man, to Greenville.  It was a long several days, but she made it in time to be with Mose when he died.

For several years, Lillian tried to get back to the Sabotowan, but being blind it was difficult for her.  Finally she sold the place to George and Louise Dulac, and Mr. and Mrs. Fred Thompson.  The two women were sisters, and were born on the farm next to Mose.  It was called the Ronco Farm.

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After two years, the Dulac's bought out the Thompson's and made plans to operate a Sporting Camp.  The land by now was owned by Oxford Paper Company, but they refused them permission to change the activity of Sabotowan.

Perseverance paid off, however.  George and his family moved a garage that Mose had built behind his guest cabin, next to a driveway.  They put these 4 walls and a roof up on the lakeshore, beyond the Sabotowan.  Then they put in a floor and made a nice little cabin out of it.  They called it the "Wee Cabin".

George heard that the William Tell Club was closing and Scott Paper Company planned on putting up a large lumber operation where the Club had been.  So George asked if he could take down the buildings and bring them over to the North West shore, so he could do some more building.  Permission was granted.

Aside from bits and pieces of things no longer wanted, the wood boards were removed and went into a cabin that was built along the shoreline, beyond the Wee Cabin.  It was called "Lunkers" after the fish often caught in the pond.

The present Cricket cabin, was always called the "Sleeping Cabin" for it held the overflow of the Sabotowan.  The Dulac's had moved up to the original trappers shack/guest cottage.  It was small and fine for the two of them.

Now they had 3 cabins to rent and a sleeping cabin for overflow.  The Lumber Company gave in, and in 1948, Spencer Pond Cabins was established as a sporting camp for the first time.

George Dulac developed arthritis in his back after 25 years, and they decided to sell.  The Oxford Paper Company, now adjusted to it being a Sporting Camp insisted that it be sold as one, with all of the cabins counted.

In 1969 Anne Howe heard the place was for sale, so she drove to the foot of the pond in the fall.  A road had been built by Scott Paper Company that far.  She met with the Dulac's but it was their little dog who made friends with Anne to Louise's surprise.  Later in the winter, Louise telephoned Anne to say as the dog liked her, she would sell the cabins to Anne and Chick Howe.

In the 25 years the Howe's owned the cabins, they built two more cabins.  One, large, called the Moose and another small one called the Skip-Wiley.  Then they built additions on all of the other cabins and also outhouses for each cabin, so the guests would have privacy.

Louise often advised Anne to do various things, like build a driveway from the camps to the new Oxford Paper Company road that circled the pond, to the camps.  Louise was very farsighted.

After 25 years of intense building and work, including raising a baby Moose at the camps, Chick and Anne decided for health reasons they would retire. They financed the cabins to Jill Martel and Bob Croce who operated the business for 14 years.   In 2010, Anne and Chick’s  granddaughter Christine Howe and her husband Dana Black were given the opportunity to lease the camps and bring them back under “Howe” family management. They are pleased to be able to have the opportunity to restore the camps and rebuild the family business their grandparents owned for close to 40 years. They have brought their two young daughters with them on this adventure. Following in Anne's footsteps and under her tutelage they are once again creating a place where families can get “off the grid” and take a different kind of vacation. Christine was often at the camps as a child and her grandfather’s shadow during several of the cabin additions, as well as during the construction of the Moose and Skip Wiley. They have had many adventures during their first year at the camps, which are recorded in the website blog. Dana with the landowners generous support is in the process of completely restoring the cabins. Christine and the girls have refreshed the cabins interior decor, completed some landscaping projects and ensured close attention to detail to maintain their original character and rustic ambience.

 - - Written in 2009 by Anne Howe. Not for reproduction without consent…etc

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