Sunday, October 23, 2016

Theodore Roosevelt & The Narcissus - Connecting Maine Communities

August 18, 1914 - Theodore Roosevelt aboard the Narcissus, waving to the gathered
townspeople in Gray, Maine. The Narcissus has been listed on the
National Register of Historic Places since 1980. It is currently under restoration at
the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine.
Image courtesy of Gray Historical Society

Update - 7-11-2026

May 31, 2026, Joe Banavige released this wonderful American 250 Tribute to William W " Bill" Sewall, TR's Maine guide (along with Wilmot Dow, Bill's nephew) 
Click here to see Joe's Substack post

      First Look at Logo - "My Debt To Maine" - Logo - Theodore Roosevelt Maine Heritage Trail 6-15-22

    The Narcissus Project Blog was created in April 2015. The first to reach out to a large number of folks through social media to introduce them to Narcissus. The blog posts appeal to folks interested in Theodore Roosevelt's connection to Maine, to folks generally interested in regional/local history, as well as those folks within the greater railway family. These posts will endear many of them to help support the Narcissus financially, as it undergoes a complete restoration over the next few years at the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine. As an interurban, the Narcissus connected people with communities in Maine. Theodore Roosevelt was well known for connecting people with places and/or ideas.

Theodore Roosevelt and the Narcissus should work together to connect Maine communities.

TR Trips to Maine

1872 - August - Moosehead Lake (Dexter, Greenville, Moosehead Lake Region)
1878 - August/September - Island Falls (Mattawamkeag, Mattawamkeag Lake/River, Bible Point)
1879 - February/March - Island Falls (Mattawamkeag, Lumber Camps/Oxbow area)
1879 - August/September - Mattawamkeag, Mattawamkeag Lake/River, East Branch of the Penobscot River, Wassataquoik River, Katahdin Lake, Mount Katahdin, Sandy Brook, Moose Pond, Oxbow, Aroostook River, Little Munsungan Stream/Lake, Munsungan Lake, Upper Munsungan (Chase) Lake, Wytopitlock, Kingman
1880 - August - Mount Desert Island - Bar Harbor, Schooner Head, Newport Mountain, Otter Creek
1902 - August 26 - Biddeford - Addressed the crowd
         - August 26 - Old Orchard Beach - speech - visit
         - August 26 - Portland - Speech - visit
         - August 26 - Lewiston - Speech - visit
         - August 26 - Augusta - Speech- visit 
         - August 27 - Bangor - Speech - visit
         - August 27 - Waterville - Speech - visit
         - August 27 - Ellsworth - Speech - visit
1912 - March 23 - Portland - visit
1916 - August 31 - Portland (PLI Interurban), Gray, Lewiston
1918 - March 28 - Portland
1918 - July 25-August 10 - Islesboro, Dark Harbor

Communities/Organizations that have a TR Connection(s) - Maine
     Being listed in the National Register of Historic Places carries its own merits as a nationally significant piece of electric railway history that is being restored. The Narcissus has numerous chapters of captivating stories to share. One example is the story of TR being a passenger on the Narcissus. But this electric railway beauty has a depth of character. And through storytelling, it will facilitate intriguing and diverse storylines that, through direct or indirect relationships, will provide Maine residents and visitors alike with a renewed perspective on many communities throughout the state.  I hope this post provides some context and perspective to generate interest in developing collaboration among stakeholders in the State. To work together to create a visitor-friendly statewide tour guide that connects Maine communities with connections to Theodore Roosevelt in Maine.
A Theodore Roosevelt Maine Trail through Maine, if you will. Here goes...


    The original mirror,  buffalo horns, from Theodore Roosevelt's Elkhorn Ranch reflects the image of the three men who used it daily on the North Dakota ranch during the mid-1880s. (l-r) Theodore Roosevelt, Wilmot Dow, and William Sewall. The mirror was a gift made by Wilmot Dow's grandson,
John A. Dow (son of Badlands Baby, Wilmot E Dow), to the Presque Isle Historical Society (ME). The image of the three men is from February 1879 in Maine. TRC 520.12.015 PWM

     My interest in Theodore Roosevelt began in 2010, while I was searching for details relating to his August 18, 1914, visit to Maine. I was going to ask the executive director of the Theodore Roosevelt Association to write a letter of support for a grant application to benefit the Narcissus. As the project manager for the Narcissus restoration, I felt that having Theodore Roosevelt be Narcissus's passenger would be a very important talking point in developing support for the project. As my research progressed, I became fascinated with Theodore Roosevelt and his profound attachment to Maine. Clearly, to me,  his three trips to Island Falls (August 1878, February 1879, & August 1879), spending weeks tramping, canoeing, snowshoeing, riding in sleighs and buckboards through the woods, lakes, rivers, and up the mountains of Maine with William Sewall and Wilmot Dow, cemented TR's attachment to Maine and its people. Those three trips to Maine followed an earlier visit (1872), followed by several more over the years, until his final trip in August of 1918, when he, his wife, and other family members stayed in a cottage in Dark Harbor, on Islesboro, to grieve the loss of the youngest of TR's sons, Quentin.

     Theodore Roosevelt is omnipresent in Maine. From Kittery to Presque Isle, TR has left his mark throughout Maine. If not TR himself, admirers have, on his behalf. Theodore Roosevelt is one of the most recognized Presidents of the United States. We can enhance the general population's understanding of TR's relationship with Maine by making his trips/travels in Maine more well-known. By presenting a statewide picture and then articulating the individual communities he spent time in or has some indirect relationship with, visitors will develop an innate interest. Many of the TR stories are very compelling. This leads people to want to visit those communities for a look-see.

     This post will begin to explain my efforts to create a map that encompasses Theodore Roosevelt's connections to several communities throughout the State of Maine. With some help, this map activity could become the first step in developing a more comprehensive statewide project.  The outcome of that might become, say, the:
 "Theodore Roosevelt Maine Heritage Trail"  TR4ME - Heritage Trail

Face page of folded Map & Guide for the Thoreau-Wabanaki Trail.

     These thoughts connect various communities in Maine as I visited and conducted research in some communities that TR and the Narcissus had visited. The thoughts became much more concrete when I attended my first Maine Woods Forever (MWF) Roundtable meeting at Unity College in Unity, Maine (October 15, 2015). One board member, MWF, Mimi McConnell, shared some of the MWF print materials with me. One of those was a map and guide of the Thoreau-Wabanaki Trail. MWF worked with Michael Hermann and The University of Maine Press, in Orono, ME, to produce this beautiful guide to Thoreau's Travels in the Maine Woods, of his trips to northern Maine in 1846, 1853, and 1857. As I examined the map/guide, I began developing a similar quality product for what may become the TR4ME-Heritage Trail. During that Roundtable meeting, I also met MWF board member Bart DeWolf. Bart, having learned of my TR connection, told me he wanted to research the vintage print/media materials available on the various trails and camps leading to Mount Katahdin from the early 1880s through the early 1900s. His interest was to develop a plan to conduct an expedition, probably several over time, in hopes of determining the most likely route/trail that TR had used in his approach and ultimately, his ascension, to the summit of Mount Katahdin, in what is now Baxter State Park.  A significant portion of the probable trail that TR used to approach Katahdin is through the land of the new Katahdin Woods and Water National Monument

Map side of the unfolded Thoreau-Wabanaki Trail Map and Guide

Guide side of unfolded Thoreau-Wabanaki Trail Map & Guide.

     Here is an example of one of TR's trips to Maine, which connects communities and provides opportunities for residents and visitors to visit those communities today. And experience the natural surroundings of the area's history, and meet locals, while casually following the trail TR took.

     TR's own biography and any number of historians have spoken about TR's first trip to Maine. He was 13 years old. Basically, he traveled by train to Maine in August 1872. Then, stagecoach, to stay at a camp at Moosehead Lake. The stagecoach ride became a life-changing event for TR. During the ride, he was bullied by a couple of young boys. TR was physically unable to defend himself. Following that incident, he pledged to himself to work diligently to become physically fit so he could defend himself in the future. The steps he took to do just that are well documented. This stagecoach ride in Maine in 1872 clearly had a direct impact on the boy who would become the man that we now know.

     So, in a very brief explanation of TR's visit, I see an opportunity.
I want to know more details about TR's time in Maine in 1872. I searched published books for more details. I didn't find many answers locally. Even some info I found had conflicting dates. And conflicting stories about his visit. Nothing, on which railroad company he used to travel to Maine. What town/city did he arrive in? What stagecoach line did he take to Moosehead? What town did he arrive in? What camp did he travel to? Did he take a steamer? What was the steamer's name? Was it a boys' summer camp? Did someone meet him and spend time with him in the area? What did he do during his stay? To name a few.

     I sent an email request for information to Heather Cole at Harvard University. Heather is the Curator of the Theodore Roosevelt Collection in the Houghton Library at Harvard in Cambridge, MA. Heather has been a great help to me over the past two or three years as I've called on her with research questions. Heather replied with a note and a link to TR's diary entries of his Moosehead trip from August 1872. Awesome!
Theodore Roosevelt's journal page with entries of his time spent in Maine during his
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

     A few answers and now, a few new questions have emerged. There is no mention of bullying during the stagecoach ride in either direction with Dexter.
I took this information and shared it with Candy Russell, Executive Director at the Moosehead Historical Society & Museums in Greenville, and with Carol Feurtado, Acquisitions staff member at Dexter Historical Society in Dexter.

Carol Feurtado (Dexter HS) was able to uncover some interesting details; however, since that research, we have found out details on the stage line and on the Lake House...and we are making progress on the steamships :)
  • The railroad that stopped in Dexter in 1872 was built in 1868 by the Dexter and Newport Railroad. It was leased by the Maine Central Railroad in 1869. Initially, the railroad station was located in the southern part of town, on what is now Railroad Avenue. The station relocated to the in-town area in 1889. No timetables on hand.
  • There were many stage lines in Dexter over the years to places like Bangor, Skowhegan, and Greenville. Currently, there are no specifications for them or any schedules/timetables. The stage traveled from Dexter to Greenville on what was then Valley Avenue Road. The road was built in 1836 and connected Bangor and Greenville while passing through Dexter. The road no longer exists as a whole. There are a few sections here and there that are used locally.
  • Merchants' Exchange was built in 1866 and was enlarged in 1890. If the building looks white in an image, it's probably the earlier version. If the image shows a tower on a darker building, it's probably the more recent version. Torn down in the 1930s to make way for the Post Office.
  • The Lake House mentioned in TR's diary is dated Moosehead, August 27, and was located in the Greenville area.
Jerry MacDonald of Dexter was a stage driver in a listing dated September 1870.

We are still seeking information on Mr. Peter Strong, the guide for TR during his fly-fishing trip at Echo Lake near Dexter on August 26th.

We are still searching for details on the name of the steamer, TR took from Greenville to Kineo House (2nd one). The location of Echo Lake brings up a question of logistics and timing based on TR's entries - more research is necessary.

We are also looking for additional materials (photos, etc.) to add more context.


    Thirteen-year-old Theodore Roosevelt's diary entries speak to spending the night of Wednesday, August 21, 1872, in a room at the Merchants' Exchange in Dexter, Maine. He traveled by stagecoach all the next day and arrived in Greenville. He would return to the Merchants' Exchange and stay there in a room on the evening of Wednesday, August 28, 1872, before leaving on the train for NY on the 29th and arriving in NY on the 30th. This image was scanned from a black and white negative labeled "Merchant's Exchange, Dexter, Maine L. D. Hayes, Proprietor." This photograph of a rather ragged poster. It depicts tall buildings, perhaps a hotel, surrounded by a vast crowd, which includes carriages and horses. Written at the bottom of the poster are the words, "Merchants' Exchange, Dexter, ME., L. D. Hayes, Proprietor." From the Bert Call Collection at the University of Maine

The Androscoggin Historical Society has a copy of the 1872
Auburn Directory. The above advertisement is from that directory.
It shows that the Frye Stagecoach line had a schedule to leave
Dexter at 11 a.m. for Greenville during the summer of 1872 :)

Thirteen-year-old TR took the steamer Twilight from Greenville
to the Kineo House. On two occasions, he paddled from Kineo House
across the Lake to climb Mount Kineo, seen here. Steamer arriving
at Mount Kineo in 1906, Unknown photographer - 
Reproduced from an original postcard published by G. W. Morris,
Portland, Maine, Public Domain,

This image is of the "2nd" Kineo House. You get a sense of why
thirteen-year-old TR would have made the notation "Good" in his
journal, after he wrote Kineo House :) The first Mount Kineo House
was built in 1848 and burned again in 1868. The second
Mount Kineo House was built in1870 and opened in 1871.
This second house would burn in 1882. The third Mount Kineo House
opened in 1884. This third house burned shortly after 1938. PWM postcard

The Lake House in Greenville, Maine

The image above and text from 1880 Farrar's Illustrated
Guide Book to Moosehead Lake and Vicinity.

     From this one trip to Maine, in August of 1872, TR opened the door to local history in the communities of Dexter, Greenville, and the Moosehead Lake Region. These communities present themselves to those folks who are aware. How many new visitors might these communities draw into the area to experience their spectacular landscapes and storied local history?

Online Theodore Roosevelt Trail - North Dakota

     When I sent an email off to Heather at Harvard, I also sent an email inquiry about TR's visit to Moosehead Lake to Sharon Kilzer, project manager at the Theodore Roosevelt Center at Dickinson State University. Sharon is doing amazing work at the TRC in North Dakota. Thousands of TR items are being scanned and cataloged for availability online through the TRC. In my online search through the TRC materials, before hearing back from Sharon, I found this page, Theodore Roosevelt Trail - The page has a map of the United States, and North Dakota is highlighted in red. There is a live link on the left of the page, under the text explaining the Trail - Theodore Roosevelt in North Dakota. A key describes the color code. Hover your pointer over a triangle, and a short description appears. - Elkhorn Ranch - I was so happy to find this page! It's very similar to what I was envisioning for the TR4ME-Heritage Trail online presence in Maine.

     Sharon responded to my email inquiry, and I expressed my excitement about finding the online TR Trail with the North Dakota connections. Sharon is eager to assist in planning and adding a highlighted "Maine" on the TR Trail map of the United States and integrating a "Theodore Roosevelt in Maine" live link that would lead to a map of Maine with colored triangles and links.

     I am not a marketing professional. I am not a professional writer (grammar and other writing errors so noted). And next, you'll learn I am not a professional sketch artist :)

     Early in this post, you read the list. That list included the various trips Theodore Roosevelt made to Maine. I may have even missed one? The point is that TR has left us a gift here in Maine. A gift that keeps on giving. His Maine legacy is here, in his writings, news stories, and books written of the time he spent here, the friends he made here, and what those friends have also left for us. Each Maine community and organization in that area touched by TR has a TR story to tell. We have an opportunity to uncover, collect, organize, review, research gaps/questions, refine an overall plan, and create something incredibly special with those stories that will attract people to these special Maine places

Connecting people and places is something that TR and the Narcissus both did very well :)

Interested in becoming involved, taking a role, or helping to make it happen?
Contact Phil Morse - Narcissus project sponsor
Email - p.morse31@gmail.com

     We will need to add Bowdoin College in Brunswick to this map. Theodore Roosevelt was a supporter of Robert Peary and his expedition to the North Pole via the SS Roosevelt :)

Theodore Roosevelt traveled all over Maine. By foot, snowshoe,
buckboard, train, interurban, carriage, sleigh, canoe, boat,
steamer, and rowboat. TR got it done! Now it's our turn :)
Let's spread the word about TR's travels in Maine.
Working together, we can create an inspiring, educational,
professionalTheodore Roosevelt Maine Heritage Trail map
TR4ME-Heritage Trail Interurban
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Click Here: For the list of links to Theodore Roosevelt Maine Heritage Trail Posts in Easy Order to View

We continue the restoration work on the 1912 Narcissus, the only surviving high-speed, luxury interurban coach of the Portland-Lewiston Interurban. 

Click Here: Narcissus Restoration-Related Posts

More than a century old, the stately "Elegant Ride," Narcissus, is a gem.  This shimmering precious stone of Maine transportation history is brilliantly resplendent as it emanates so many elements of history, including time, places, people, and events, that it was coupled to, that when just a smattering of its seemingly innumerable stories are shared, the contents first captivate, fascinate, then generate interest to learn more 🙋. The majestic Narcissus is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Please consider joining the epic journey to complete the Narcissus Project by donating today!

Click Here: Donation Options

The restoration of this majestic icon of Maine's electric railway history is but one in a series of captivating stories containing an abundance of incredible coalition narratives.

Click Here: History-Related Posts - Narcissus and Portland-Lewiston Interurban

     The Narcissus is featured in the national Gold Award-winning novel, Teddy Roosevelt, Millie, and the Elegant Ride. The "Elegant Ride" is the Narcissus. Theodore Roosevelt was a passenger on the Narcissus on August 18, 1914, between Lewiston and Portland, Maine, while campaigning for the Progressive Party candidates.

Click Here: Bookstores and Businesses promoting the Narcissus Project

Independent book publisher Phil Morse, holding
Gold Book Award Winner plaque for
 Middle Reader category for The Eric
Hoffer Book Award. Congratulations to
award-winning Maine author,
Jean M. Flahive
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