PRESENTATION: Great Camp Sagamore's history, programs, and preservation.

Sagamore Institute of the Adirondacks is the steward of Great Camp Sagamore and is dedicated to its use for education and interpretation. Our mission is to foster understanding, care, and respect for nature, people, and their critical interdependence. Great Camp Sagamore strives to be a place where broad and diverse audiences gather to use these unique buildings and natural setting to explore and understand Adirondack culture, the region's natural environment, and our relationship to both.

The source of the Raquette River, Raquette Lake has 99 miles of wooded shoreline, the largest natural lake in the Adirondacks. Dotted here and there with small towns, 80% of the shoreline is owned by the State of New York and “Forever Wild” by law. It was here in 1877 that designer, developer, and entrepreneur William West Durant began work on what would become the first of the so-called “great camps” with a distinctive architectural style, Camp Pine Knot. Elements of the style include log and native stonework construction, decorative rustic items, and a compound of separated structures. Raquette Lake then began to develop into one of the most prestigious summer getaways for the elite. The two other extraordinary estates showcasing Durant’s vision are the Vanderbilt's Sagamore and J.P. Morgan's Uncas. Today, all three are designated National Historic Landmarks.

FIELD TRIP: Following the presentation, we'll have a walking field trip through the self-sufficient workers’ complex at Sagamore, where generations of local families lived and worked to support the lavish lifestyle of the owners and guests, and where they created crafts that became synonymous with Adirondack regional culture. The functional architecture for the worker’s complex is red board-and-batten structures, very different from the Vanderbilt guest buildings.

You'll get an in-depth look at the camp of the gentry -- the owners' and guest buildings of the main complex, ranging from the stately-but-rustic Main Lodge and private “boys' club” Wigwam to the whimsical Casino/Playhouse, complete with its own bowling alley -- all of which are situated on a peninsula overlooking Sagamore Lake.

Historically, the Adirondacks were sought after by Gilded Age businessmen for their minerals, such as as iron and garnet, and for their alpine lakes, both products of the region's unique geology. Today, the Adirondack Mountains are well-known among professional geologists, “rock hounds”, and many recreational visitors as a major showcase for a large variety of rocks, minerals, and rock structures. It has been described as a “window” to the once magnificent Grenville Mountain Range, a Himalayan-magnitude edifice that over a billion years ago stretched from present-day Scandinavia to Antarctica. Sagamore is located in a particularly hot and high-pressure (deeply buried) part of the range as can be determined by close study of the local granite gneiss bedrock. This camp, like all parts of the Adirondacks, also shows evidence for the glaciation event that climaxed about twelve to eight thousand years ago, producing many of the pebbles, cobbles and boulders strewn about the grounds. Some of these rocks were later incorporated into building structures, particularly the roadways and paths, foundations and fireplaces. We will explore how the geology of this area has influenced local culture and history, as well as specific aspects of Sagamore.

Examine the economic philosophy and cultural impulses that led to what we now refer to as Adirondack Great Camps. This will be followed by a Q & A session led by an expert on the history and architecture of the region.

After that, you might be beckoned by a jigsaw puzzle or board game -- carrying on the illusion of "roughing it" in the wilderness. Or go outside and experience the quiet sounds of the night and the beauty of glittering stars.

The oral history project revealed the immense knowledge and close relationship to nature common to craftsmen who built the buildings and their furnishings at Great Camp Sagamore. For instance, the head caretaker's son helped nail bark to the exterior of a new building in 1914, but the bark was prone to cracking and the workers had to gradually learn by trial and error how to make it pliable. One of the carpenters was an expert in calculating log shrinkage when he built beds or tables using whole logs. In addition to utilizing local natural materials, workers also created things like drawings of local flora. The electrician's grandson sold drawings painted on shelf fungus to guests of the Vanderbilts. [Excerpted from “Doing History in the Adirondacks: Interpreting the Park, the People and the Landscape” by Maria F. Reynolds.] EXTRACURRICULAR: Ring Around the Campfire. Imagine yourself back in the day, sitting next to Jerome Kern or Richard Rodgers or Hoagy Carmichael as they worked through some of the songs that would become world famous! We'll sing some of those and more, so bring your stories, songs, or an instrument to play as we gather ’round the campfire at Sagamore's rustic lean-to. Makings for 'Smores provided!

Built during the winters of 1990-91, the “W. W. Durant” captures the opulence of a by-gone era with wainscoting, stained and etched glass, gleaming brass, rich carpeting, and polished oak, while at the same time offering the convenience and comfort of modern amenities.

The program concludes with this presentation. We trust you have enjoyed your learning adventure here at Great Camp Sagamore and will return for other rewarding Road Scholar programs in the future. Best wishes for all your journeys!