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All Available Item Data

Title

Adirondack Ike Interview

Subject

Adirondack Park (N.Y.)
Gray, Ira
Saratoga County (N.Y.)

Description

Ira Gray, aka Adirondack Ike, recounts his life and experiences in the southern Adirondacks. Gray tells of his childhood on the family farm, lumbering along the Hudson at Jessups Landing, his hunting exploits and his many experiences as a bachelor backwoodsman.

Creator

Dunn, Violet

Source

Saratoga County Office of the County Historian

Publisher

Saratoga Springs Public Library

Date

c. 1972

Rights

This item is in the Public Domain.

Format

MP3

Language

English

Type

Audio File

Identifier

SCOH017

All Available Item Data

Interviewer

Dunn, Violet

Interviewee

Gray, Ira

Transcription

Request from repository

Original Format

Audio Cassette Tape

Duration

49 min.

Time Summary

0:00 3:00 early childhood b 1886. big family,father married twice farm.
4:00 8:00 lumber. Logging on the sacandaga river. Boom to sperate logs based on marks. At Corinth (jessups landing)
8:00 10:30 tannery. Mostly Irish workers. Mother worked there. Irish fighting at the square dance
10:30 17:00 apple coring. cornhusking for feeding cattle, strip kernals for chickens; took corn to Edenberg Gristmill; took out toll in payment
17:00 18:00 took train from Hadley to Greenfield for work
18:00 20:00 20 mile walk to Harrisberg, deer hunting
20:00 23:00 got name Adirondack Ike, walked home in snow storm
23:00 27:00 became a forest ranger, led firefightining crew
27:00 30:00 still hunts at 84 years old. South Corinth 2 dogs
30:00 35:00 museum. Moose head. Left in his will. Never married. Story of engagement
35:00 43:00 wrote 121 short stories. Manuscript in Stoney Creek for publishing.
43:00 44:00 his legacy, friendships. Not afraid to die. Has questions for God about the bible. Why all this suffering, etc.
44:00 49:00 Saratoga County Bicentenial Committee and Supervisors meeting in Stillwater 1975

Physical Format

Oral histories

Citation

Dunn, Violet, “Adirondack Ike Interview,” Saratoga Room Digital Exhibits, accessed October 8, 2024, http://digitalarchive.sspl.org/items/show/239.

Output Formats

File

07-19-2017- Interview by V. Dunn with Ira Gray - Copy.mp3

Interactive Version