by David Flint
With the approaching 100th anniversary of the opening of the Massachusetts scenic roadway along Route 2 known as the Mohawk Trail, Lauren Stevens of Williamstown entertained and informed the Stephentown Historical Society on Monday with a presentation on its cultural significance. Stevens, former college professor, environmental columnist for The Berkshire Eagle and founder of The Advocate newsweekly and of the Hoosic River Watershed Association, recognized that construction of the road was a remarkable engineering feat that finally provided good access to Berkshire County across the Hoosac Range from the east. [private]But his interest in it was more as a cultural phenomenon. The road defined an era, he said, when roads connected towns and travelers were encouraged to relish the trip itself, stop here and there and savor the local scene. It was the product of the love affair that Americans had with the automobile since Henry Ford made them accessible to many. The era lasted about 40 years. In 1957 the Massachusetts Turnpike opened, not only sucking away all the traffic from the Mohawk Trail but also signaling that the purpose of highways had become to avoid towns and get to your destination as quickly as possible.
The Opening Celebration
The Trail runs from Orange, MA, to Williamstown, MA. It roughly follows a 100 mile long Indian foot path that ran between the Deerfield River and the Hoosic River. Dedicated on October 22, 1914, its opening was celebrated with an elaborate pageant in North Adams attended by 10,000 spectators. The pageant began with a portrayal of the receding of the waters of glacial Lake Bascom in which a large number of local school girls participated. This was followed by successive episodes portraying the history of the area from the agricultural period through the industrial revolution and into modern times. Included were episodes on the building of Fort Massachusetts, the coming of the early settlers, the coming of the Quakers, the Revolution, the end of the Civil War and “The Spirit of Education.” It was a straight line of improvement from savagery to civilization. Playing most of the “Indians” were members of the North Adams lodge of the Loyal Order of Moose, a fraternal organization open to white males only. They covered up their white skin with dark colored underwear.
The Fascination With Indians
With the Western Frontier declared in the 1890 Census to be no more, the country was yet more fascinated than ever with western expansion and Western Indians. That may explain how area history in this pageant became confused with western expansion. The theme seemed to be that the settling and civilizing of western Massachusetts was of the same nature, only earlier, as the settling and civilizing of the West. As one brochure put it, the automobile driver would recapitulate the pioneer experience, driving west up and into the Florida Mountain wilderness and then descending into the civilization of North Adams. One of the purposes of the pageant was to raise money to construct and erect a huge heroic statue of a lone American Indian to be placed silhouetted against the sky at the summit of the Hoosac Range.
As most people in this area know, the Indians of western Massachusetts were mainly Mohicans, not Mohawks. So how did the roadway get the name Mohawk Trail? Stevens ascribes this to the Mohawks ultimately having better “public relations.” And for some reason, although the Mohicans fought with the Colonists and the British against the French and later fought with the Americans against the British, the Mohawks were seen to be more friendly to the early white settlers. It may also have something to do with a mention by Williamstown historian Arthur Latham Perry about the “Old Mohawk war path,” a notion picked up by the pageant organizers. In any case it was probably C.Q. Richmond, prominent North Adams businessman, who was responsible for naming the roadway the Mohawk Trail.
For whatever reason, the name stuck and the name inspired countless entrepreneurs who established all sorts of shops and businesses selling all kinds of western and Indian themed food, clothing, trinkets, souvenirs, mementos and keepsakes. The road became essentially a linear western theme park.
Stevens said the pageant probably spent too much money so there wasn’t enough left over to put up the giant statue of the Indian. In 1954, however, a 20 foot high Indian, dressed of course in the style of the western Plains Indians, was put up at a souvenir shop in Charlemont. He was called The Big Indian, as was the shop. The year coincided with the opening of the Turnpike, thus the heyday of the Mohawk Trail was over. So one could say, as Stevens did, that the scenic roadway was now bookended with the glitzy pageant on one end and the “dignity” of the Big Indian on the other.
Stevens concluded that, “The Trail may not be a satisfactory reminder of Indians in colonial days, but it serves as an apt reminder of days when driving was more enjoyable.”[/private]