It was a peaceful April morning in 1886 when tragedy struck without warning in East Lee. On a mountain ridge high above the village, the earthen dam at Mud Pond (AKA Basin Pond) burst. The destructive deluge that followed washed away numerous factories, mills, and homes. Seven people died.
The current was so strong that it rolled a giant glacial erratic boulder downstream to the site shown in the old photograph above—which was taken after the flood subsided. The enormous rock was visited by sightseers and picnickers, but over time, its isolated location was forgotten. This columnist and tenacious big-rock hunter Jim Moore of Pittsfield were determined to find it.
After some persistent research and a bit of intuition, we found the mammoth monolith hidden in a beautiful glade, enhanced with several small waterfalls. We mistakenly thought the site was owned by Lee Land Trust, but it is likely on private property, so the exact location cannot be shared. A present-day view of the boulder is shown below.
