Adirondack Company Rail Road Headquarters,
117 Grand Ave., Saratoga Springs.

Photo courtesy of the  George S. Bolster Collection,
Saratoga Springs History Museum.

Every year, millions visit New York State’s Adirondack Park, encompassing a mountainous region larger than Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Glacier and Great Smoky Mountains National Parks combined.  In the 19th century, Saratoga Springs was a launching gateway for those seeking adventure in the vast wilderness before it became “The Park.”  A century and a half later, the “Health, History and Horses City” continues to be a springboard for travelers forging north.  The accounts of the 19th century men and women who ventured into The Adirondacks and made its mountains, lakes, streams and glens a magnet for “wilderness experiences” merge into an absorbing story reflecting our American spirit of opportunistic pursuits, both recreational and financial, often in symbiosis.

Ed Collins (Eamon Ó’Coileáin) writes about these adventurers and the pivotal role Saratoga Springs played in unlocking The Adirondacks. He highlights ruthless financier Thomas Durant who established railroad connections from “The Spa Village” into The Adirondacks in the 1870s, ushering in the era of “The Great Camps” and their wealthy owners who, by extension of their “gilded coat tails,” fostered a long line of entrepreneurs luring people to the mountains. By the turn of that century into the 20th, people along the northeastern seaboard were “vacating their city residences in summers” to pursue “Adirondack adventures,” creating our modern American practice of “summer vacations.” In chronicling this interesting slice of Saratoga Springs history, Collins reveals the role the Irish played in establishing Saratoga Springs as a horse racing and cultural mecca and in laying the 19th century foundations for today’s escapes into the modern-day Adirondack Park. Durant’s life plays out to its final chapter in The Adirondacks, reminiscent of Orson Welles’ great cinematic achievement Citizen Kane.

Collins first traveled into The Adirondacks in the mid-1950s. He and his wife, Jean, live in their Adirondack cabin retreat, crafted from native lumber, high on a mountain near Thirteenth Lake that inspires his research and writings and where he enjoys photographing landscapes. Several of his photos are included in an engrossing All Aboard for the Adirondacks historical narrative that recounts a by-gone era.

Collins’ many other works include: observations on the legacies of those who ventured early on into The Adirondacks in Adirondac; a personal reflection of surviving a life-threatening health crisis, inspiring others to re-examine their own lives; a narrative about the importance of avocational pursuits in senior years; an account of his personally surpassing 40,000 miles of daily walking (far more than Forest Gump!); a travel chronicle during the early covid pandemic months; and articles about Irish history and Irish cultural contributions in America.  As well, he has published poetry and photography – a recent magazine cover features his autumn photo of a forever-wild Adirondack Lake.

In the spirit of his good read All Aboard for the Adirondacks, the writer’s current focus is a biographical account of a 20th century descendent of North America’s First People who lived a long life “off ‘a the land” in The Adirondacks, never “tethered to things, property or residence.” At the same time, he’s working on a long tale about connections made between two people whose chance Adirondack encounter led to a life’s repair and renewal. As with All Aboard for the Adirondacks, his works live and breathe The Adirondacks. He can be contacted via the USPS, North River, N.Y.