John Danforth’s life led him through Maine, Florida and Idaho, before his ultimate demise, and left a trail of interesting stories, unique inventions and lots of history. In August of 1913, in Juneau, Alaska, Danforth passed away.
More than 85 years later, Robert Cook of Farmington developed an interest in Danforth, a man whose life was shrouded in mystery as well as intrigue, and set out to write a book, called “Chasing Danforth,” which was recently published.
It was in 2000 that Cook and his wife, Florence, purchased two of the seven remaining camps on Treat’s Island at Parmachenee Lake. In the 1870s Danforth had established Camp Caribou, and it was that connection that would start Cook’s quest for the truth, and the story, behind the man.
Cook said his interest in Danforth started mostly out of curiosity.
“I started nosing around, and all I knew was a little bit about this and that, and a little history about the place,” said Cook.
Cook’s interest quickly turned to a diary, written by Danforth and his friend Fred Barker.
In 1876, Danforth and Barker embarked on a hunting and trapping expedition, which would be chronicled in the dairy, called “Hunting and Trapping on the Upper Magalloway and Parmachenee Lake: A Winter in the Wilderness.” Originally published in 1882, the diary was reprinted by Barker in 1929, with a forward that recognized his friend Danforth, who had passed away in 1913.
“That was the only thing I knew about Danforth, his date of death in 1913,” said Cook. “I had no idea when in ’13, where, or anything. So we started doing research.”
The research led Cook and his wife to Augusta, and the Maine State Museum Archives. After over eight hours of searching, they finally stumbled upon what they needed.
“We spent most of the day going through microfilm,” said Cook. “Ten minutes before they closed, my wife, Florence, was going down the thing, and bango, she found the birth certificate of John and Sarah’s son, Richard. And that gave us John’s original birthplace, being Bristol, New Hampshire. And that’s when the chase all started, Chasing Danforth.'”
Cook was able to discern that Danforth had established Camp Caribou, along with several other camps in the area, which he rented in a rotational system, allowing renters to move from camp to camp around the area, seeing many different lakes and ponds, as opposed to just one.
Danforth’s story continued with a boat ride to Florida on a ship he had built on his own, the first floating hotel in Stewart, Fla. He then continued on to Idaho, where he mined with his son until 1913, at which point he took a mysterious trip to Alaska, and ultimately died of pneumonia three weeks later.
The story of Danforth is told not by Cook, but rather by Henry Wells, a friend of Danforth’s and a member of the Parmachenee Club, the group that bought Camp Caribou from Danforth.
“The story starts with Henry Wells leaving his New York law practice for his annual six weeks in the Maine woods,” said Cook. “He gets on the train in the city, and someone asks him where he’s going and that’s how the story unfolds.”
The unfolding story is one of intrigue and mystery, and also one that touches on the many different sides of such a multi-dimensional man, while closely documenting the history of both the man and the areas he visited.
“It seemed like he was a character where there was a lot more than meets the eye,” said Cook of his subject. “Sure enough, he was an entrepreneur, he was a steamboat captain, he was a taxidermist, he was a guide, he was a fisherman, he was a postmaster at Parmachenee, and the list goes on and on.”
“Chasing Danforth” was published by Wilderness Books, and was printed in Farmington. It is more than 150 pages long, and is filled with old photographs, maps and documents concerning Danforth and the people and places around him.
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