Thomas Cole climbed Mt. Holyoke in Hadley, Massachusetts, in 1833 and made a sketch of the oxbow curve in the Connecticut River to the southwest. He used the sketch and his field notes three years later when creating his iconic oil painting of the Oxbow. It embodied his artistic techniques and his philosophy of man's role in nature, thereby epitomizing the Hudson River School of art.
It is hard to imagine when driving across the Oxbow today on Interstate 91 in Northampton that this is the same landscape. Instead of pastoral farmland, there is a cardboard-manufacturing plant, the largest marina on the Connecticut River, and a community of homes-not to mention the highway itself. And the island is now on the Northampton side of the river, not the Hadley side, as in Cole's time. While exploring how these changes occurred, the author and his wife became involved with an oral-history project, interviewing residents of the Oxbow. Those interviews became the impetus for this book, interweaving quotations from the interviews with photographs and a well-researched historical narrative. It tells the story of how nature and man changed the island and the remarkable resilience of the Oxbow community.
ANNOTATED TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. The River, the People, and the Mountain
An overview of the formation of the Connecticut River, the history of the people inhabiting the region up until Cole’s time, and the development of Mt. Holyoke into a tourist destination.
2. Thomas Cole and the Oxbow
Discussing Cole’s life and the evolution of his philosophy and style, focusing on the Oxbow painting and the Hudson River School.
3. Flood of 1840: When the Island Crossed the River
The events leading to the separation of the Oxbow from Hadley and its realignment with Northampton.
4. Farming
The history of farming on the Oxbow Island up to the present time, including the effects of flooding, industry, and the construction of the interstate highway through its middle.
5. Deforestation
The causes of deforestation in colonial times, including agriculture, lumber, potash, and other industries. The role of early environmentally aware artists and writers along with the development of scientific resource management leading to the regrowth and protection of much of the regions forests.
6. Lumber, Pulp, and Packaging
The history of the sawmill built on the Oxbow receiving timber floated down the Connecticut River from New Hampshire and the pulp mill feeding on its scraps, eventually replaced by a cardboard packaging plant.
7. The Community
The story of the community which was developed on the Oxbow by immigrants coming to work in the pulp mill. Residents describe growing up and raising their children in a wonderful pastoral setting.
8. Floods
The history of flooding on the Island, both normal seasonal flooding enriching the farmland and the episodic more destructive floods. A description of how the residents cope with them.
9. Interstate 91 and the Oxbow Marina
The history of how Interstate 91 was built across the Island and the disruption is caused, with loss of farms and wildlife and constant noise. The story of how the cove created by digging fill from the edge of the Island for the highway became the largest marina on the Connecticut River and the problems it has created for the residents.
10. Epilogue
Appendix: Oral History Transcripts