Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau, author, naturalist and explorer, often was led through unfamiliar Maine territories on his expeditions by members of the Penobscot tribe, including Joseph Attean.

In his writing, Thoreau chronicled place names and stories as they were passed on to him and also wrote about numerous adventures and incidents he and his guides experienced along the way.

One such anecdote was related by Thoreau in 1853. He and guide Joseph Attean were traveling near Lobster Lake, as recorded in Thoreau’s “The Maine Woods: Chesuncook.”

“We saw a pair of moose horns on the shore, and I asked Joe if a moose had shed them; but he said there was a head attached to them, and I knew that they did not shed their heads more than once in their lives,” Thoreau wrote.

The well-known writer died in 1862, but his writings continue to be a literary staple.