Gulf Hagas

[Maxine]

I recently hiked the Gulf Hagas loop trail and was wondering how it got the name. I understand the gulf part but don't know the Hagas part. Maxine

[mudhead]

http://books.google.com/books?id=XRs...0hagas&f=false

Maybe weary can add something.

[weary]

http://books.google.com/books?id=XRs...0hagas&f=false

Maybe weary can add something.

Nope. I've heard the question discussed many times. I've never heard a plausible answer.

The trail was opened in the 1800s when Katahdin Iron Works was a bustling community with it's own railroad, serving the iron smelter. When the mine closed, the town gradually was abandoned, and the carriage road that served to take sightseers into the gulf went into disrepair.

When I first visited the gulf 40 years ago 12 inch iron spikes that held together the logs that formed the corduroy Pleasant River road were common, but most have been removed by hikers.

But the origin of the name remains a mystery.

Weary

[Pedaling Fool]

Is Hagas a surname? I can't find Hagas in the dictionary.

[woodsy]

Maine’s Grand Canyon, is named for Gulf Hagas Brook, a small tributary to the West Branch of the Pleasant River, which has cut the gorge.

[Tinker]

It's probably someone's last name. I thought it might have something to do with the Scottish sausage, but it's spelled differently: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haggis

[Pedaling Fool]

Maine’s Grand Canyon, is named for Gulf Hagas Brook, a small tributary to the West Branch of the Pleasant River, which has cut the gorge.

O.K., now that we know how Gulf Hagas got its name, I guess the new question is: How did the small tributary, Gulf Hagas Brook, get its name?...

[warraghiyagey]

O.K., now that we know how Gulf Hagas got its name, I guess the new question is: How did the small tributary, Gulf Hagas Brook, get its name?...

OMG. . . did you just make a funny? . . . That was a good one. . .

[4eyedbuzzard]

Likely from the Norman surname De Hagas

http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Haggis

http://books.google.com/books?id=PG0...otland&f=false

[weary]

Maine’s Grand Canyon, is named for Gulf Hagas Brook, a small tributary to the West Branch of the Pleasant River, which has cut the gorge.

Hmmm. I always thought the canyon was named for Gulf Hagas Mountain. Gulf Hagas brook is just a tiny stream that starts at a spring high on the mountain and runs down to the Pleasant River. Well, maybe the mountain was also named for the stream. Those old settlers did strange things, and had strange names.

I can hear them chuckling among themselves as they spread the name Hagas all though the hills. "Let'em try to figure that name out," they said.

Weary