- August 29, 1923 – Robert Moses to Mrs. Stephen Loines –
My dear Mrs. Loines:
I wish to thank you in behalf of our park committee for your very generous gift of the fifteen acres of land on the Tongue Mountain peninsula. The letter in which you announced this gift was turned over to the Conservation Commissioner who is the official agent of the state in this particular matter. Commissioner MacDonald said that he would communicate with you immediately and send you the form which must be filled out and which must accompany the deed to the property. If you happen to have an abstract of title, this will help also.
The Governor and others who were present at the luncheon at Lake George were very much pleased with your gift and that of Mr. Peabody. These gifts are particularly welcome because they help to give the program an auspicious start and to indicate that there is local support for the park and conservation measures which we have proposed at Lake George.
As to the condition which you mentioned, I do not think that it will be necessary to state this in the gift to the state because there is now a unanimous agreement on this subject. The highway and conservation commissioners conferred with the Governor and with our committee on this subject, with the Senator from the Lake George district and others. They are all agreed that the plan proposed by the highway commissioner, Colonel Greene, for a road over Tongue Mountain somewhere near the present military road, should be carried out and that it is not practical to have a road around the front of Tongue Mountain and not desirable to have a bridge from your property across the creek at the end of Northwest Bay. Personally, I had previously thought that it might be desirable to have a road running in a little way over Tongue Mountain but running over state land. I can now see that the road over the mountain will satisfy all purposes. At the top of Tongue Mountain where the road crosses, Colonel Greene suggests a scenic road about two miles long, running in a circle on the top of the mountain and affording very fine views. This scenic road would only be a gravel road. We also have in mind some foot-paths on the top of the mountain, but this is a development that need not be considered until later on. Colonel Greene and I spent the evening on Friday with Senator Ferris at his camp in Ticonderoga and the Senator now agrees to the program above mentioned and has abandoned all ideas of a road around the front of Tongue Mountain or a bridge crossing the creek. The Governor fully approves of the plan.
Thanking you again,
Very truly yours,
Robert Moses, Secretary