Long after sailors, fishermen and agricultural colonists
had domesticated the entire coastline of New England, the harsh,
glacier-scarred interior of NEW HAMPSHIRE , with
its dense forests and forbidding mountains, remained the exclusive
preserve of the Algonquin Indians. Only the few miles of seashore
held sizeable seventeenth-century communities of European settlers,
such as Strawbery Banke at Portsmouth .
Even when the Indians were finally driven back,
following the defeat of their French allies in Canada, the settlers
could make little agricultural impact on the rocky terrain of
this "granite state." Towns such as Nashua, Manchester
and Concord grew up in the fertile Merrimack Valley, but not until
the Industrial Revolution made possible the development of water-powered
textile mills did the economy take off. For a
while, ruthless timber companies looked set to
strip all northern New Hampshire bare - very few of the trees
you see now are original growth - but they were brought under
control when the state recognized that the pristine landscape
of the White Mountains might turn out to be its
greatest asset. Large-scale tourism began towards
the end of last century; at one stage fifty trains daily brought
travelers up to Mount Washington.
Ever since becoming the first American state to
declare independence, in January 1776, New Hampshire has been
proud to go its own idiosyncratic way. The absence of a sales
tax, or even a personal income tax, is seen as a fulfillment of
the state motto, "Live Free or Die." Alternative sources
of revenue include state-owned liquor stores
in which, unlike in neighboring states, you are able to purchase
alcohol on Sundays. The stores were set up after the failure of
Prohibition, and have been enthusiastically promoted ever since:
they even have them in freeway rest areas. The state has long
gained inordinate politi cal clout as the venue of the first primary
election of each presidential campaign, with its villages
well used to playing host to would-be world leaders.
One less ideological aspect of New Hampshire's individualism
is the emphasis on a healthy outdoor lifestyle. Hiking, climbing,
cycling and skiing are enjoyed both by energetic
locals and by the many visitors who drive up from Boston and New
York. The major destinations are Lake Winnipesaukee
, and Conway, Lincoln and Franconia in
the mountains further north. Some have grown rather too large
and commercial for their own good, but if you steer clear of the
paying "attractions," the lakes, islands and snowcapped
peaks themselves remain spectacular. To see the bucolic rural
scenery more usually associated with New England, take a detour
off the main roads up the Merrimack Valley - to Canterbury
Shaker Village near Concord, for example.
