"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.

"Rendezvous on the Allagash," Yankee Magazine, 1973
Willard Jalbert, Sr., the "Old Guide" (third from left) at his 1930s tent camp on Round Pond's Windy Point. He used the public picnic table as his dining room and cooked over an open fire.

In a Yankee Magazine article, Frederick John Pratson superbly portrayed my grandfather, Willard Jalbert, Sr. He captured the essence of a legendary Maine figure whose title became synonymous with the Allagash River, the Old Guide.

My grandfather's stories include standing on a log during a log drive to run the Long Lake Dam sluiceway, a fourteen-foot drop; killing two bears with an axe; and growing up on a remote farm three miles above Allagash Falls.

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