Beautiful New Hampshire [antikvár]

IntroductionThe United States is a very large, powerful, and awesome national entity. Some of its states have annual budgets bigger than those of many nations. The national stimulus for growth, expansion, and development has been created out of the determination and drive that was first displayed by early New England settlers who struggled to survive in this new land. But mere survival was a bit short of what the first Yankees had in mind for a goal. Their resourcefulness and restlessness soon sparked the irresistible drive west that finally reached across a whole continent. The American spirit of independent endeavor began in New England and it's still there. "Yankee ingenuity" is not just a catchphrase. After more than 300 years, there's no sign that the reservoir of this ineffable substance in the hearts and minds of New Englanders is in any danger of running dry. Although in the 20th century some other parts of the country have out stripped it in population and economic wealth, New England is still the lodestar. It's the spiritual leader and catalyst, which in many ways, guides the career of the entire nation.New Hampshire is not large. But its 9,304 square miles assume many forms; its seasons bring with them a marvelous variety of weather. The beauty of its mountains and valleys, and rivers and lakes attracts a lot of tourists, and a lot of permanent residents, too. Some 800,000 persons now live in this triangular piece of New England, most of them in the cities of the south located near the 75-mile-wide base of the triangle. The big Connecticut River wriggles along the common border with Vermont. Counting the narrow northern tip, where the state shares a border with Canada, the western side measures 230 miles. That leaves the short coastal stretch and the long perpendicular line that is in common with Maine on the east: 180 miles.New Hampshire's marvelous mountains, the Whites, are the tallest on the East Coast north of the Carolinas. They occupy the northern half, attaining their highest reach in the lofty and legendary Presidential Range. Mt. Washington's sometimes-stormy summit, 6,288 feet, tops all the others. In this mountain country are the headwaters of the Connecticut River on the west and of the Androscoggin River on the east. Population is still extremely light, leaving great chunks of unspoiled forest and wilderness. For many years the region has been a favorite haunt of hunters and fisherfolk; more