Last week my wife and I took a vacation to stay with long-time friends in Rangeley Lake, Maine. They insisted we go with them to a place called Quill Hill, which offered a panoramic view of the northern Maine landscape. It did, of course, but more important to me was the explanatory panels placed around the summit viewing area.

They told how two French Canadian families, Andre and Albert Brochu, put together all their meagre savings, bought a second-hand White logging truck and trailer, and came down into Maine to haul logs to the mills. To make ends meet, they had to drive the truck around the clock. Andre took a twelve hour hitch, and Albert took over for another twelve hours, day in and day out. Backed by their indomitable mother Jeannette and father Emile, the Brochu sons succeeded through endless hard work in all sorts of weather. Adrian, the next generation, prospered with their strong reputation, eventually bought the land now surrounding the top of Quill Hill, and opened it for the benefit of everyone.

Their story is a tribute to the character and dedication of one French Canadian family in the far back country of northern Maine, and of many others with the same values who came here as mine did in 1764 into the Old Northwest of upstate New York. We, their descendants, should never lose sight of what they accomplished.