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.

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.

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.

"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."

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.

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.