The mountain man has always held some level of prestige in our society. Rugged, ambitious and fiercely independent, he fights the elements to survive in the wilderness and make a living off the land. Many say the era of this woodsman is over nowadays, while others contend that the mountain man is not defined by an era, but by a state of mind.
Recent popular television shows, including one titled “Mountain Men”, highlight folks making a living in the deep woods even today. Perhaps they are our modern version of the mountain man. Still, the mountain men who were in their prime in the first half of the 20th century were one of a kind, and would have been a true sight to see.
In his 1976 book, “Goodbye Mountain Man!”, Donald Jack Anderson wrote about three mountain men who symbolized this era – Walter Arnold, V.E. Lynch, and E.J. Dailey. These were men of great influence in what many would call the formative days of the modern fur trapping era.
Walter Arnold
A history of trapping in Maine wouldn’t be complete without a heavy dose of Walter Arnold. Born in a lumber camp in 1894, Arnold was meant to be a trapper. He worked in various other occupations early in life, including lumbering and building cabins, making snowshoes and selling trapping lures and supplies. Still, the wilderness trapline tugged heavily on Arnold’s heart strings, and each fall he’d head to a deep woods trapping cabin to spend a long, harsh winter catching furs. He also wrote extensively in a diary and penned articles for national trapping publications of the day, as well as authoring several books on trapping methods. Even at an old age, Arnold continued to live in a cabin he built in the backwoods on Indian Pond. A true example of a mountain man, I’ve always thought the life and times of Walter Arnold were worthy of a book.
V.E. Lynch
They called him “Wildcat”. Virgil E. Lynch was born and raised in Missouri, but the lure of deep wilderness led this young trapper to the backwoods of northern Maine, in the Machias River country west of Ashland. Lynch was a true woodsman, guide and fur catcher who saw more adventure in his lifetime than most. While he enjoyed guiding hunters for deer, moose and bear, Lynch loved the the trapline, and his true passion was chasing bobcats, which earned him the name “Wildcat”. Though outsiders are not always welcome in this rough wilderness country, Lynch made a name for himself in northern Maine. He wrote books and articles on trapping, made lures and developed quite a reputation as a mountain man before old age lured him back to his childhood home in the Ozarks. Oscar Cronk, another noted Maine trapper and lure maker, wrote a book about Lynch’s life.
E.J. Dailey
In the old days, the Adirondacks of upstate New York rivaled the North Maine Woods as prime trapping grounds for men of the wilderness. Stubborn and independent, trapper and woodsman E.J. Dailey spent winters on his Adirondack trapline despite physical limitations. A bad knee and poor eyesight didn’t stop Dailey, who had never worked for another man in his life, from being a successful fur trapper. His articles in trapping magazines of the day gained him notoriety in the trapping world. He developed lures and trapping techniques, and even had a trap model named after him. Dailey was forced from his cabin on Cold Creek by the closure of marten and fisher trapping in the Adirondacks. Legend has it that he and his partner stashed 300 traps in a nearby swamp that have never been found. Despite leaving the cabin, Dailey persevered, running a trapline on the outskirts of civilization in his later years. It was Dailey who held the strong belief that the era of the mountain man is never dead.
Though the times are ever-changing, the spirit, drive, independence and ties to the land will always ensure that a few mountain men will always remain among us. Donald Jack Anderson’s “Goodbye Mountain Man!” can be found online or at used book stores. It’s a short, quick read that also describes Anderson’s boyhood trapping experiences and local ‘mountain man’ characters around his Pennsylvania home.
Hi . Love these books I’m 62 years and I’ve ben reading about these gentleman since I was a kid. Also the state of Maine i have found Many of old magazine I have bought over the years in Me have led me to serch out many of these books .For those of you looking for these kind of books look for In The Maine Woods best to all
When I was stationed in northern Maine, a friend used to have a cabin that supposedly belonged to Wildcat Lynch. A single room log cabin on the river. We used to spend weekends there fishing, hunting or just enjoying the wilderness. I can truly understand his love for the area.
Boy would I like to know all of the specifics on that! I want to go there some day soon.
Does anyone know where I could obtain a copy of this book Goodbye Mountain Man? I want to surprise fbs authors nephew with a cooy
Hi Erin,
Here’s a link to a copy: https://amzn.to/2UxI1Ge
E J Dailey was one of my grandfather’s best friends. Gene Rheaume was my grandfather. Grandpa, EJ and Pete Valois were the three amigos. I was the side kick. I was always hooked at the hip to my grandpa, and we would go over to EJ”s shack and they would talk for hours. I would only stay inside for a few minutes because I couldn’t stand the smell. That place stunk to high heaven. One time the three amigos came to school where I was in kindergarten and picked me up to go with them up into the mountains to do the trap line. Trouble was they didn’t let my parents know. I didn’t show up after school and the whole town was out looking for me. It was well after dark when we got back and my father, nearly out of his mind with worry, could have beat each one within a second of death. Dad told me I couldn’t see grandpa for the rest of my life. I wailed so loud and so long he changed it to a week. . I was five years old. Grandpa would tie my feet to the snowshoes, and I would hold onto his belt and we would go. My legs would nearly drop of. These are great memories. If you can imagine being little and being the four amigos with these guys, it was awesome, Something I bet you never heard was that they all liked to sing. The car they had a radio in it and they would sing to the song on the radio. When I was a little older grandpa and I were in the front seat and EJ and Peter were in the back and it was near Christmas. There was a song out called ” I’m Hard Rock, I’m Cocoa, I’m Joe”. It was supposed to be elves singing. But these three sang that to me. EJ was Hard Rock, Pete was Cocoa and grandpa was Jo. I remember like it was yesterday. These guys would trap beave and muskrats in the winter and fish in the summer. It was incredible to be in the presents of true outdoors men and grow up hang out witih them.