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Extraordinary
Adirondack Journey of Clarence Petty: Wilderness Guide, Pilot, and Conservationist
Philip G. Terrie, author of Contested Terrain: History of Nature and People in the Adirondacks. Product Details
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First Person
The story of Petty's life reads like a Horatio Alger novel. His father moved to the mountains in the 1880s to work as a guide. His mother was a cook for one of the popular sportsmen's hotels in the area. Young Clarence and his brothers enjoyed the kind of childhood freedom and independence that today's youngsters can only dream about. Their father's sense of self-reliance and their mother's drive to educate her sons led all three to attend college. Clarence followed a path to the American landscape. His influence on state policy regarding the Adirondack Park and especially its millions of acres of wilderness has been profound. His life story provides a window into the politics of conservation in the Adirondack region from the early days of the twentieth century to the present.
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Clarence Petty is one
of the most interesting and important people ever to carry a canoe, bushwhack through the
backcountry, or dedicate his life to protecting the Adirondack wilderness. And he has
lived through a period of high drama in Adirondack affairs. As it winds through this
crucial era of the region's history, Christopher Angus's richly detailed account of
Petty's life and times touches on the critical elements of decades of struggle to shape
the Adirondack Park and preserve the qualities that define it... A powerful and inspiring
story. 
Author and naturalist Christopher
Angus profiles for the first time the adventurous life of Clarence Petty, one of the great
pioneer conservationists of the Adirondack Mountain region of New York State. Raised in
the heart of the Adirondack wilderness between Tupper and Saranac Lakes, Petty overcame
his humble beginnings and pursued a variety of careers as wilderness guide, forester,
Civilian Conservation Corps camp director, World War II pilot, district ranger, and aerial
forest-fire fighter -- ultimately leaving his indelible mark as a lifelong advocate for
the protection of the wilderness.