Cuttyhunk - A Magical Island off Cape Cod?
by Jodie Montoya
In Shakespeare’s comedy, The Tempest, a shipwrecked
party survives a
spectacular storm and lands on a magical island. Nineteenth century
scholar
and author Edward Everett Hale suggested that this landscape of
wilderness and
meadow, “with its fresh springs, brine-pits, barren place and
fertile,”
lies just off the coast of Cape Cod. Whether or not Cuttyhunk is the
scene for
Prospero’s secret powers of nature, the island possesses its
very own
magic. This tiny, rocky island, a mere 2.5 miles long and 1 mile wide,
was the
setting for explorers, pirates and shipwrecks, and was visited by
Wampanoag
tribes, presidents, and soldiers. Originally named
“Pocuohhunkkunnah”
(probably meaning “point of departure” or
“land’s end”)
by the native Wampanoags, the island was discovered by English explorer
Bartholomew
Gosnold in 1602. Gosnold and his crew of thirty-two went ashore, built
a fort,
stayed for a month, and returned to England with a cargo of cedar logs
and sassafras.
Gosnold bestowed the region with a legacy names,
including “Cape Cod,”
for the abundant fish he enjoyed, “Martha’s
Vineyard,” for
his daughter, and “Elizabeth Island,” perhaps for
his sister or
the Queen herself. Gosnold wrote detailed descriptions of his New World
journey,
which Shakespeare may have read as background for The Tempest. In 1688,
businessman
Ralph Earle, Jr., the island’s first permanent settler,
promptly stripped
the island of its lumber and its lushness, creating its windswept, open
andscape.
The Slocum family owned Cuttyhunk for 200 years, until they
sold it in 1858
for an unimaginable fifty dollars. The town of Gosnold (which includes
all of
the Elizabeth Islands and remains the smallest in Massachusetts) was
incorporated
in 1864, and a one room schoolhouse, cemetery, and library soon
followed. In
1865, a group of wealthy New York gentleman established the highly
exclusive
Cuttyhunk Bass Fishing Club and built twenty-six fishing stands
– long
wooden platforms stretching out from rock to rock into the surf.
Several presidents,
including Theodore Roosevelt and Warren Harding fished on the island
(the club
is now a bed and breakfast).
The rocky shorelines and steep cliffs of the
Elizabeth Islands, deposited
by the melting glaciers about 18,000 years ago, differ from the sands
of Cape
Cod. In fact, many stones on Cuttyhunk are also found atop the
mountains of
New Hampshire and Vermont. The disastrous shipwreck that strands
Shakespeare’s
odd crew conjures images of Sow and Pigs Reef. This rocky ledge of
Cuttyhunk
slashed the hulls of many ships over the years, including the brig
“Aquatic”
in 1893 (five local rescuers died) and the whaling ship
“Wanderer”
in 1924. The aptly named Queen Elizabeth II struck a nearby rocky shoal
in 1992.
Today, Cuttyhunk, where locals travel by foot or by golf
cart, is home to
about fifty year round residents and numerous summer wash-a-shores.
Modern day
voyagers, intrigued by cultural history, natural history, or
simplicity, can
board a ferry or join Mass Audubon aboard OceanQuest’s
Venture Inn II
for a guided, daylong tour. These late summer Sunday trips leave
Wood’s
Hole and head Westward between Buzzard’s Bay (named for
ospreys which
were called “little buzzards” by the settlers) and
Vineyard Sound,
passing the main islands of Naushon, Pasque, Nashewena, and Penikese,
before
reaching Cuttyhunk fourteen miles out. Passengers may observe the
spectacular
swarms of migrating tree swallows, as thousands congregate to feed on
insects,
bayberries and fruit. Bird watchers may spot several species of
raptors, such
as Peregrine Falcons and smaller Merlins (also known as pigeon hawks),
which
follow unsuspecting birds at very low heights and suddenly accelerate
to catch
them by surprise. On the return trip, the small Weepecket Islands are
covered
with numerous Double Crested Cormorants and the less common Great
Cormorants.
These striking birds dive up to thirty-five meters to capture fish and
consume
a pound or more each day.
Once on the island, visitors can choose a short
tour of island history and
landmarks or a longer nature and birding hike, after which they may
explore
or relax. Lookout Hill, rising 154 feet above sea level, offers a
spectacular,
panoramic view of the islands as well as the coastlines of New Bedford,
Westport,
Dartmouth, and even Newport. This hill was also home to one of the five
bunkers
built by the Coast Guard in 1941 to watch the surrounding seas for
German u-
boats.
Is Cuttyhunk magical? Betsy Dorbian returned from her Mass Audubon
experience
and described the island as “quiet, understated, and
sweet,” evoking
the pace and tranquility of a simpler time. “It was just the
way it was.
It didn’t care if it had tourists on it or not.”
Cuttyhunk is an
enchanting journey into the past. As Shakespeare notes at the end of
The Tempest,
“We are such stuff/As dreams are made on.”
-
Mass Audubon cruises leave from Waterfront Park,
Wood’s Hole during
the summer months.
Preregistration required. For more information and to register, call
508-385-7656.
Jodie
Montoya is Education Coordinator for Massachusetts
Audubon
