Saturday, September 6, this year's Benton MacKaye memorial expedition started out from the Historical Society's Lucy Longley building. At 10 a.m., Historical Society curator Meredith Marcinkewicz provided an initial briefing on mill sites along the Mulpus River which were included in this year's destinations.

The first destination was Parker Road to see the MacKaye Cottage and the house next door where Benton enjoyed the Johnsons' hospitality, especially toward the end of his life. Jodie Rachman was tending a tag sale outside the house where the Johnsons used to live. She and her husband now own it, and she gave the expedition a short tour of the house.

The next destination was the Center Cemetery to visit Hazel MacKaye's (Benton's sister) naturalistic memorial stone. Horse Pond Road led from there to Great Road's old route, now just a dirt road, where the first mill site of interest was located. It was right by the old road and easy to get to as was the second mill site by the aptly-named Mill Race trailer park.

The third mill site proved a little more difficult to get to, but after some bushwhacking it was finally located. The third site, the old location of the White mill, was a familiar sight from the Conservation Commission's hike last spring at the Oxbow National Wildlife Sanctuary. On that hike it was viewed from the other bank of the Mulpus.

The expedition then abandoned archaeology to pursue vistas of the mighty Squannacook and headed up Kittridge Road which eventually led them to the river. It was problematic hiking along the river. The expedition found itself forced out onto Lawton Road and later elected to follow Squannacook Road. Squannacook Road had its own sights: another tag sale and Comcast's efforts to thread a new cable under the careful supervision of the Shirley Police.

Finally the Squannacook Conservation Area (and canoe parking lot?) was reached and the expedition paused for an hour to lunch, wade and swim. Jo Sheehan paused to chat as she was kayaking up river.

The route back led up Strawberry Lane and then through wooded areas of North Shirley where more of Shirley's history lurked in the form of old abandoned sawmills and trucks. From there, Route 225 led to Townsend Road which in turn led back to Shirley Center via Parker Road. At Parker Road, Robert Adam, a current resident of the MacKaye cottage, gave us a tour of the Shaker infirmary which he had recently moved across the street and is refurbishing to form part of a residence.

Weary but enthused by new perspectives gained on Shirley, the expedition returned to the Lucy Longley building and dispersed. We would like to thank Bob Burkhardt for organizing the expedition, the Shirley Rod and Gun Club for granting permission to pass through their facility, and the people who graciously hosted us along the way.