Aroostook County
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(Continued from page 37) must have thought himself fortunate to have a secure job during that troubled era. Perhaps that's why he asked Annette Hetu of Jackman to become his wife in 1932. Dave had a home to take his bride to, a 255- square foot camp. Enlarged, the camp would eventually serve as home for three of the couple's children. Umsaskis is far up the Allagash. Between it and the community of Allagash lie lakes and rapids. Long Lake is nearest to Umsaskis. Then come others as well as rapids like Horserace. When the Allagash was free of ice, the Jacksons traveled by canoe. In winter it was snowshoes and dogsled. That's the region where Annette Hetu chose to live in marrying Dave Jackson. It's where she chose to make her home and be her husband's helpmate. Annette Jackson wasn't a stay-athome wife. When Dave was out on patrol or when he was called out on an emergency, Annette was more often than not with him. Annette Jackson was
skilled with canoe and rifle. She fished and hiked, whatever the season. It was what being married to a game warden was all about. Annette Jackson was a bit more than a game warden's wife. She was a writer and an exceptionally skilled one at that. She wrote of sunsets, the call of geese in autumn or spring skies, and of the sounds of the waters of the Allagash and Umsaskis as they lapped sandy shores. She wrote of her life as a game warden's wife, and she put that story and the story of her husband and family into a book. Annette Jackson's book is My Life in the Maine Woods: A Game Warden's Wife in the Allagash Country. It just may be a classic. At least some think it is. There are those who compare it to the writings of John Muir and Edwin Way Teale. The most recent edition of the book has a foreword by Cathie Pelletier. She calls the book a “door to a museum.” Pelletier sees Jackson as capturing the essence of a past way of life,
of the steam log hauler and the single bit axe. When the book first appeared, in 1951, Louise Dickinson Rich spoke of it as arousing “envy in the hearts of all those who love the outdoors.” My Life in the Maine Woods came recommended to me by Kevin Quist. Kevin is a Maine Guide. He operates out of Stockholm, where he and his partner Lindy Howe, also a Maine Guide, have a sled dog kennel, Heywood Kennel. The pair take sportsmen, photographers, ice fishermen and the like into the north woods by dog sled. It may just be the dog sled connection to the Jacksons that first interested Kevin in My Life in the Maine Woods. The most recent edition of the book has a picture of Dave and Annette Jackson and a pair of sled dogs in harness on the cover. Cathie Pelletier and Kevin Quist clearly have their reasons for liking Annette Jackson's book. Because of Louise Dickinson Rich's praise, one almost inevitably must make a comparison
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