1823-1906: The Good Guide
A number of Native Americans were among the early Adirondack guides, and Mitchell Sabattis of Long Lake was one of most famous. "Sabattis was short and slight of stature, but with exceptional strength and endurance," wrote Ruth Timm, author of North Country Tales, Truths and Trivia. "He was gentle and unassuming, and unexcelled as a woodsman. Throughout his life he was an expert guide and his services were regularly sought after." In 1850 sportsman and writer L.E. Chittenden went on a hunting trip with Sabattis as one of his guides. Chittenden became very fond of Sabattis, "... and respected his skill as a guide and hunter." The author often boasted of Sabattis's skill and wrote at length of a hunting trip they made together:
One rainy, foggy night the two went to Moose Creek to hunt deer. After they ascended the creek as far as it would carry their boat, seeing no deer, they decided to return to camp. Suddenly they heard a deer and caught a glimpse of him standing in the shallow water on the marsh, barely visible behind some willows which grew up the bank. For five minutes the hunters stood trying to see the deer through the willows, hoping to get a clear shot. Sabattis stopped the boat opposite where the deer stood, "so near we could hear him chewing leaves, but still not seeing him."
Chittenden took a chance shooting blindly where he thought the deer's chest should be. Off across the marsh dashed the deer until he reached solid ground. The sportsman expressed his disappointment at having lost the buck, but the Indian assured him that the animal was wounded and they would get him.
Chittenden questioned Sabattis about his statement since, to him, the deer seemed to be uninjured. The Indian explained he was sure the animal was hurt "since it did not snort or whistle as an unwounded deer always does when suddenly startled, and that one of his forelegs appeared, by the sound, to be crippled." The pair crossed the marsh to the hard ground and with the light in his hand, Sabattis found where the deer passed through the thick woods and grasses. " Here is where he went out," said Sabattis, "and it's as bloody as a butcher shop."
Not believing him, Chittenden asked Sabattis to show him the blood. The Indian pointed to several places. He plucked a leaf with incurved edges, on the wet surface of which there was a discoloration, which he said was blood. "I am going after him," said Sabattis. After a while Chittenden heard a shot. Soon Sabattis appeared dragging the deer after him.
"Sabattis...took a lively interest in the religious affairs of the town," wrote Ruth Timm. "The Reverend John Todd, who brought the first formal religion to Long Lake, often spoke of his 'young friend Sabattis, a nobel young Indian man whose violin leads the music in public worship.'
"In 1865, the Wesleyan Methodists decided to build a church and Mitchell undertook to raise the necessary funds. In his activities as a guide he served some well-known ministers from Philadelphia, Pittsfield, Boston, and New York. He went to them for help and was permitted to speak to their congregations to plea for financial assistance. When he returned from his trip, he had $2,000 for a new building. After that the Indian was often asked to speak from the pulpit."
Michael Steinberg wrote, "In 1880 the old Abenaki Indian Mitchell Sabattis was still the most famous Long Lake guide. He was small, quiet and so strong that he worked as a guide into old age. He could track deer at night by the sound of its footsteps, with a rifle in one hand and a lantern in the other. His hotel was not as fancy as or as famous as the Prospect House (in Blue Mountain Lake) but visitors looking for the 'real' Adirondacks stayed there whenever they could. After he died, a mountain to the east of Long Lake village was named after him, and a village to the west was given his name."
