In 1838, the Dace Farm, called "Dacey Clearing", was located on the side of Lookout Mountain. The Dace farm was the last outpost of civilization for travelers heading north on the river to the Allagash wilderness. On the river about two miles south of Dace Farm, another early settler cleared land for a farm. In the mid 1800s, his farmhouse was used as an inn by people traveling through the area. About 30 years later, in 1881, Lunksoos Camp was built on the old Dace farm site and was used as an inn by travelers.

Henry David Thoreau

American author, poet, and philosopher Henry David Thoreau and famous 19th century artist Frederic Edwin Church stayed near the present site of Lunksoos Camps during their travels in the "Ktaadn" region. During Thoreau's third trip to Maine in 1846, he traveled down the East Branch of the Penobscot River and on August 1, 1857, and camped about a mile from where Lunksoos Camp was built 24 years later. Thoreau describes the trip in his book "In the Maine Woods".  Thoreau and many other visitors to our area hiked to Mt. Katahdin by walking along Wassataquoik Stream, which is about a mile from Lunksoos Camp. The old road that Thoreau used is gone, but many guests at Lunksoos walk along sections of the Stream during their stay with us. 

The first Lunksoos Camp: an Inn

In 1881, C.R. Patterson, one of the Katahdin Region's early settlers, bought Dacey Clearing, built an inn there, and named it Lunksoos after the Algonquian word lunkasoo, which means mountain lion. He also built a road to the camp. That road was later rebuilt and is a gorgeous walk of about a mile along the river.

During the 1890s Mr. Patterson leased Lunksoos to Ayer and Rogers, a lumber company working along nearby Wassataquoik Stream. The team built the first large hunting and fishing lodge here, and named it Lunksoos Camp.

Creating Baxter State Park

In 1920, Senator Baxter (Rep., Cumberland County, later Governor of Maine) advocated that the state create public parks from unproductive land. While on the train coming home from the Republican National Convention in Chicago, Baxter and the other Maine delegates heard lumberman Burton Howe of Patten extol the virtues of Mt. Katahdin as the place to form such a park.

To prove his point about Katahdin to his colleagues, Howe led an expedition of politicians -- including Percival Baxter, businessmen, game wardens, newspaper and magazine editors and other state and local notables up the mountain. They all gathered at Lunksoos Camp, arriving on foot and by buckboard.

The group hiked to Katahdin from Lunksoos along the Wassataquoik Stream, the same route taken by Henry David Thoreau so many years earlier. They climbed what is now called Monument Peak, the Knife Edge, and Chimney Pond. When they came down, Baxter was committed to the concept of creating a park around Katahdin. He later purchased and donated the 200,000+ acres that became Baxter State Park.

As the eagle flies, Lunksoos is about 13 miles from the peak of Mt. Katahdin, which is famous today as the end (or start, if you walk south) of the Appalachian trail. We are proud that the group gathered here at Lunksoos before undertaking that historic expedition.

Donn Fendler: Lost on a Mountain

In 1939, Lunksoos Camp was the location of the rescue of then 12-year-old Donn Fendler of Lost on a Mountain in Maine fame. Mrs. McMoarn, who ran Lunksoos Camps with her husband, spotted Donn's arm as he waved from behind a log where he had collapsed. He was across the river; Mrs. McMoarn happened to be standing at the window looking out at the river. When she saw something move, she called to her husband Nelson to go and see if it was "that little boy". Donn had spent nine grueling days alone, hungry and bruised, struggling around the north side of Mt. Katahdin. He was brought across the East Branch River to Lunksoos Camp, immediately cared for, and his parents contacted. Donn was brought down river in a canoe, hospitalized, and fully recovered his health.

Donn was lauded for his courage and persistence with a parade in Augusta, Maine, and with a visit with President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Donn has graciously visited many schools and scout troops over the years, talking to the children about camping safety. Boy Scouts who come to Lunksoos for lunch with their families while snowmobiling are usually excited to learn that, "yes, this is the place"!

Recent times

During the 20th century Lunksoos Camp changed hands a few times and, from about the 1950s on, was leased to private parties for their personal use. In the 1990s the Camp was purchased by a Maine guide who added cabins exclusively for his hunters, and the name became Lunksoos Camps. In 2003 we reopened Lunksoos to the public, and are gradually becoming known as a great place to stay in the woods. Come see for yourself!

To learn more about Katahdin region history, we recommend:

• The Maine Woods, Henry David Thoreau, Penguin Books, 1988.
• Legacy of a Lifetime: The Story of Baxter State Park, Dr. John W. Hakola, Baxter State Park Authority, TBW Books, 1981.
• Lost on a Mountain in Maine, Donn Fendler, William Morrow & Co., 1992.