Family History In Search of a Homeland Through the Jalbert family's journey from Quebec to northern Maine, this essay explores the Acadian and Québécois migrations that shaped the upper St. John Valley—and the struggle to preserve a cultural history in danger of being forgotten.
Articles and Interviews Before Fort Kent's Can-Am Dog Sled Race, There Was Sunshine. There were about 50 dogs fenced in a locked area, all sitting on top of individual kennels, and they were hungry. Willard picked out three or four he wanted. When the first dog shot off the kennel roof, all I could see were teeth, and I had a really strong urge to be someplace else.
Articles and Interviews No Laughing Matter: Maine Criminalized French April 1, 1919 On April Fool’s Day, 1919, Maine Governor Carl Milliken signed a law criminalizing French in public schools. The law was one of the most racist in our nation’s history—a government-led campaign of cultural extermination.
Articles and Interviews Maine's Dirty Little Culture War The establishment of Maine's Allagash Wilderness Waterway ignited a conflict over land, culture, and historical memory. Drawing on family archives and firsthand experience, Greg Jalbert challenges the state's portrayal of the French-speaking guides and families who helped shape the river's history.
Articles and Interviews Legendary Allagash River Guide Encounters Legendary Supreme Court Justice. In October 1960, my grandfather, Willard Jalbert, Sr., the "Old Guide," led Justice Douglas's expedition from Telos Lake a hundred miles north along the Allagash River to Allagash Village, another thirty miles east along the St. John River to Fort Kent.
Articles and Interviews A Maine Christmas in the Wild above Allagash Falls. "We believed in Santa Claus, though no one had ever seen him. No one would ever dress up like him. They'd tell us he lived in the clouds and climbed right down the stovepipe. He'd get as small as he'd like, or as big as he'd like."
Videos First Snowmobile Opens Remote Backcountry In 1962 my father, Robert "Bob" Jalbert, bought one of the first snowmobiles in northern Maine, a Polaris Sno-Traveler. The snowmobile gave my grandfather, Willard Jalbert, Sr., access to remote backcountry that would have required a day or days to access on snowshoes. When he was younger,
Articles and Interviews A 115-Year Legacy. Spanning four generations and more than one-hundred years, from the early-1870s to 1986, my family has farmed, logged, trapped, hunted, guided, and built sporting camps along Maine's Allagash River.
Articles and Interviews Kingdom of the Jalberts: Greg Jalbert for Yankee Magazine, 1990 Everything unraveled one sultry late-summer afternoon in 1958, the horrifying day that changed the Allagash River forever.
Articles and Interviews "Rendezvous on the Allagash," Yankee Magazine, 1973 Pratson's descriptions capture the essence of a legendary figure who rose in stature to become known as the legendary Old Guide.
Articles and Interviews Willard Jalbert Sr.: The Old Guide of Maine's Allagash River A firsthand interview with Willard Jalbert Sr., Maine's legendary Old Guide, conducted by his grandson Greg Jalbert during an independent study at Colby College.
