Mount Chocorua () is a mountain in the White Mountains of

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

, the easternmost peak of the

Sandwich Range The Sandwich Range is located in the White Mountains of New Hampshire in the United States, north of the Lakes Region and south of the Kancamagus Highway. Although the range is not outstanding for its elevation, it is very rugged and has excelle ...

. Although the mountain is not outstanding for its elevation, it is very rugged and has excellent views of the surrounding lakes, mountains, and forests. Being at the end of the range, its bare summit can be seen from almost every direction and identified from many points throughout central New Hampshire and western Maine, and it has been the subject of numerous works of art. Many hiking trails ascend the mountain. Scenic Chocorua Lake lies directly to the south.

Geography

Mount Chocorua is in the town of Albany and is the easternmost peak of the Sandwich Range in New Hampshire's

White Mountain National Forest The White Mountain National Forest (WMNF) is a federally managed forest contained within the White Mountains in the northeastern United States. It was established in 1918 as a result of the Weeks Act of 1911; federal acquisition of land had alre ...

. The Sandwich Range is located north of the Lakes Region and south of the

Kancamagus Highway Kancamagus (pronounced "cain-ka-MAW-gus", "Fearless One", "Fearless Hunter of Animals"), was the third and final Sagamore of the Penacook Confederacy of Native American tribes. Nephew of Wonalancet and grandson of Passaconaway, Kancamagus rul ...

. The range extends about east-west from Conway on the

Saco River The Saco River (Abenaki: ''Sαkóhki'') is a river in northeastern New Hampshire and southwestern Maine in the United States. It drains a rural area of of forests and farmlands west and southwest of Portland, emptying into the Atlantic Ocean ...

to Campton on the Pemigewasset. Chocorua's summit is a picturesque rocky cone, and the mountain is purported to be one of the most photographed in the world. The view from Chocorua Lake, which often casts a reflection of the mountaintop, was chosen to represent the White Mountain National Forest on a

quarter A quarter is one-fourth, , 25% or 0.25. Quarter or quarters may refer to: Places * Quarter (urban subdivision), a section or area, usually of a town Placenames * Quarter, South Lanarkshire, a settlement in Scotland * Le Quartier, a settlement ...

issued by the U.S. Mint in 2013 as part of its America the Beautiful coin series. The Chocorua Lake basin is protected by the Chocorua Lake Conservancy, previously the Chocorua Lake Association & Chocorua Lake Conservation Foundation.

Hiking trails

Although Mount Chocorua is under in elevation, its bare and rocky summit commands excellent views in all directions. There are many trails up the mountain, and they can be quite crowded during the summer months. Especially popular are the Piper Trail ( each way from the east), the Champney Falls Trail (from the north), and the Liberty Trail (from the southwest). Trails on the southeastern section of the mountain, as well as trails on Mount Paugus immediately to the west of Chocorua, are maintained by the Chocorua Mountain Club, an all-volunteer crew since 1908. Hiking trails (listed clockwise, starting from southwest side): Liberty Trail, Brook Trail, Bolles Trail, Bee Line Trail, Champney Falls Trail, Middle Sister Trail, Carter Ledge Trail, Nickerson Ledge Trail, Piper Trail, Weetamoo Trail, Hammond Trail

Legends

The Chocorua legend tells of a Native American prophet or chief, Chocorua, who is supposed to have lived near the mountain at the dawn of white settlement, although no authentic records of his life are known to exist. The usual story—much of it drawn from a short work of fiction by Lydia Maria Child—is that in about 1720 Chocorua was on friendly terms with settlers and in particular the Campbell family that had a home in the valley now called Tamworth. Chocorua was called away and left his son in the care of the Campbell family. The boy found and drank a poison that Mr. Campbell had made to eliminate troublesome foxes, and Chocorua returned to find his son had died. Chocorua, distraught with grief, pledged revenge on the family. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Campbell returned home one afternoon to find his wife and children had been slain. Campbell suspected Chocorua and pursued him up the mountain. Chocorua was wounded by a shot from Campbell's rifle and, uttering a curse upon the white settlers, he leaped from the summit to his death. There are at least three other versions of the legend of Chocorua. One is that Chocorua simply fell from a high rock on the mountain while hunting. A second is the white settlers pursued Chocorua up the mountain after an Indian massacre, and he leaped to his death. The third is that all the white settlers pursued him with guns, pitchforks, and torches. As Chocorua reached the top, the settlers decided to torch the remaining trees and in doing so they burned and exposed the topsoil of the last . As the flames drew closer to Chocorua, he cursed the white men and leaped to his death.

The curse

Although the exact words of Chocorua's curse (or even if there was a curse) are not known, it has been reported (Mudge, page 34) to be as follows.

"May the Great Spirit curse you when he speaks in the clouds and his words are fire! Lightning blast your crops! Wind and fire destroy your homes! The Evil One breathe death on your cattle! Panthers howl and wolves fatten on your bones!"

Another version appears in the story "Chocorua's Curse", by Lydia Maria Child, contained in ''The Token'' (1830):

"A curse upon ye, white men! May the Great Spirit curse ye when he speaks in the clouds, and his words are fire! Chocorua had a son — and ye killed him while the sky looked bright! Lightning, blast your crops! Wind and fire destroy your dwellings! The Evil Spirit breathe death upon your cattle! Your graves lie in the war path of the Indian! Panthers howl, and wolves fatten over your bones! Chocorua goes to the Great Spirit — his curse stays with the white men!"

The Chocorua legend is featured on a

New Hampshire historical marker The U.S. state of New Hampshire has, since 1958, placed historical markers at locations that are deemed significant to New Hampshire history. The New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources (DHR) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) are j ...

( number 31) along

New Hampshire Route 16 New Hampshire Route 16 (NH 16) is a , north–south state highway in New Hampshire, United States, the main road connecting the Seacoast region to the Lakes Region and the White Mountains. Much of its length is close to the border with Maine. ...

in Tamworth.

Cultural references

Paintings

Mount Chocorua, with its alpine spur, reflecting lake, wide viewscape, and romantic legend, has long attracted the attention of American artists. Art historian Robert L. McGrath has written:

"In terms of the broader history of American art, no mountain has figured more prominently in the representation of the national landscape. Without exception, Chocorua has been more frequently depicted than any other peak..."

Early 19th century painters of Chocorua included

Thomas Cole Thomas Cole was an English-born American artist and the founder of the Hudson River School art movement. Cole is widely regarded as the first significant American landscape painter. He was known for his romantic landscape and history painti ...

, who used the mountain again and again in his paintings as his vision of America and the human experience evolved. Cole is considered a founder of the

Hudson River School The Hudson River School was a mid-19th century American art movement embodied by a group of landscape painters whose aesthetic vision was influenced by Romanticism. The paintings typically depict the Hudson River Valley and the surrounding area ...

of American artists, which to a considerable extent overlapped with the "White Mountain School" of painters. Among the hundreds of artists who have painted Chocorua are

Asher Brown Durand Asher Brown Durand (August 21, 1796, – September 17, 1886) was an American painter of the Hudson River School. Early life Durand was born in, and eventually died in, Maplewood, New Jersey (then called Jefferson Village). He was the eight ...

Benjamin Champney Benjamin Champney (November 20, 1817Champney (1900) – December 11, 1907) was a painter known for his role in White Mountain art of the 19th century. He began his training as a lithographer under celebrated marine artist Fitz Henry Lane at ...

, Thomas Doughty, Aaron Draper Shattuck, David Johnson,

Albert Bierstadt Albert Bierstadt (January 7, 1830 – February 18, 1902) was a German-American painter best known for his lavish, sweeping landscapes of the American West. He joined several journeys of the Westward Expansion to paint the scenes. He was not ...

, Sanford Gifford,

Alfred Thompson Bricher Alfred Thompson Bricher (April 10, 1837 – September 30, 1908) was a painter associated with White Mountain art and the Hudson River School. Life and work Bricher was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He was educated in an academy at Newbur ...

, John Marin, e e cummings, and

Frank Stella Frank Philip Stella (born May 12, 1936) is an American painter, sculptor and printmaker, noted for his work in the areas of minimalism and post-painterly abstraction. Stella lives and works in New York City. Biography Frank Stella was born in Ma ...

. Among the most notable artists who have painted in the White Mountains was

John Frederick Kensett John Frederick Kensett (March 22, 1816 – December 14, 1872) was an American landscape painter and engraver born in Cheshire, Connecticut. He was a member of the second generation of the Hudson River School of artists. Kensett's signature works ...

(1816–1872). A painter of the Hudson River School, his ''Mount Chocorua'' (1864–1866) typifies American Luminism.

Literature

Wallace Stevens Wallace Stevens (October 2, 1879 – August 2, 1955) was an American modernist poet. He was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, educated at Harvard and then New York Law School, and spent most of his life working as an executive for an insurance compa ...

(1879–1955) mentions Mount Chocorua in stanza XXI of his poem " The Man with the Blue Guitar". It is also the subject of his poem "Chocorua To Its Neighbor". Ezra Pound mentions Chocorua at least twice in the ''Pisan Cantos'': "...For the purity of the air on Chocorua / in a land of maple..." Cedric H. Whitman (1916–1979), Elliot Professor of Greek Literature at Harvard University, wrote a narrative poem, "Chocorua", published posthumously in 1983. Most of the events in

John Bellairs John Anthony Bellairs (January 17, 1938 – March 8, 1991) was an American author best known for his fantasy novel '' The Face in the Frost'' and many Gothic mystery novels for children featuring the characters Lewis Barnavelt, Rose Rita Potti ...

' novel ''The Mummy, the Will, and the Crypt'' happen near this mountain.

Music

The American composer

Alan Hovhaness Alan Hovhaness (; March 8, 1911 – June 21, 2000) was an American- Armenian composer. He was one of the most prolific 20th-century composers, with his official catalog comprising 67 numbered symphonies (surviving manuscripts indicate over 70) a ...

(1911–2000), who often climbed the White Mountains during his childhood, composed a piano sonata named "Mt. Chocorua" (Op. 335) in 1982.Performed o
''Fred the Cat: Half a Century of Piano Music by Alan Hovhaness''
Marvin Rosen, piano. Koch International Classics, 1995. ASIN: B000001SGA Mount Chocorua features prominently in songs by New Hampshire native rock band

Scissorfight Scissorfight is a four-piece American band from Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Biography Scissorfight formed in 1995 in the town of Portsmouth. The original lineup consisted of guitarist Jay Fortin, bassist Paul Jarvis, and drummer Joel Muzzey. Bl ...

, including "Mount Chocorua Woman" from the 1996 album ''

Guaranteed Kill ''Guaranteed Kill'' is the first album from the New Hampshire group Scissorfight. Track listing # "American Cloven Hoof Blues" - 2:35 # "Supervirgin vs. Death Machine" - 3:31 # "Helicopter Killing Cottonmouth" - 2:26 # "Fine Me" - 2:30 # "Choc ...

''.

Panorama

Notes

References

*Hixon, Robert and Mary. ''The Place Names of the White Mountains'', Down East Books: Camden, Maine 1980. *Mudge, John T. B. ''The White Mountains: Names, Places & Legends'', The Durand Press: Etna, New Hampshire 1992. *Speare, Eva A. ed. ''New Hampshire Folk Tales'', Phoenix Publishing: Canaan, New Hampshire 1974. *Driscoll, John Paul, and John K. Howat, ''John Frederick Kensett: An American Master,'' New York: Worcester Art Museum, in association with W.W. Norton & Company, 1985.