Baxter State Park and the Allagash River

Baxter State Park and the Allagash River covers two spectacular areas in the northern Maine woods. Baxter State Park, with more than 200,000 acres, is the largest park in the country purchased by one individual, former governor Percival P. Baxter. The park includes Mount Katahdin, the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail and the highest peak in Maine. Breathtaking photographs portray the scenic Allagash River, which was designated a wilderness waterway in 1966 by the Maine legislature. It was the first state-managed river area in the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System in 1970. Included in this volume are stereoscopic photographs of Mount Katahdin from the early 1870s. This mountain, sacred to the Native Americans, has an atmosphere that is masterfully conveyed in the extraordinary photographs used in this history. The Allagash River is portrayed as it was before the wilderness waterway was created. Baxter State Park and the Allagash River chronicles the progression of the river and park from lumbering, hunting, and fishing to its eventual preservation and tourism.

Frank H. Sleeper has authored numerous titles in Arcadia's Images of America series. In this history, he has captured the picturesque beauty of two of Maine's most visited sites. For more than thirty-seven years, Sleeper was a reporter and columnist for Portland newspapers. He has also served as a correspondent for Time Incorporated magazines. A Maine historian and preservationist, he is proud to present this photographic history of two of Maine's most distinctive treasures.