osen to explore and ascertain the precise extent of Springfield, which
then extended to Northampton and Hadley. A pretty legend of the valley
is Dr. J.C. Holland's story, told in most musical verse of the Mountain
Christening.

"On a beautiful morning in June, they say,
Two hundred and twenty years ago."

Captain Holyoke and Captain Thomas with a little company of stanch
followers started out on a survey of the country.

"Holyoke, the gentle and daring, stood
On the Eastern bank, with his trusty four,
And Rowland Thomas, the gallant and good,
Headed the band on the other shore.

The women ran weeping to bid them good-bye,
And sweet Mary Pynchon was there (I guess)
With a sigh in her throat, and a tear in her eye
As Holyoke marched into the wilderness."

The melodious rhyme goes on to describe the journey up the valley and
the night camp, where:

"The great falls roared in their ears all night,
And the sturgeon splashed, and the wild-cat screamed,
And they did not wake till the morning light
Red through the willowy branches streamed."

The story of the naming of Mt. Holyoke is told as follows:

"The morning dawned on the double group,
Facing each other on opposite shores,
Where years ago with a mighty swoop
The waters parted the mountain doors."

"Let us christen the mountains!" said Holyoke in glee,
"Let us christen the mountains!" said Thomas again,
"This mountain for you, and that mountain for me,"
And their trusty fellows responded "Amen!"

Then Holyoke buried his palm in the stream,
And tossed the pure spray toward the mountain brow
And said, while it shone in the sun's fierce beam,
"Fair mountain, thou art Mt. Holyoke now!"

How much of this rhythmic legend is true and how much imaginary is
uncertain; but it is quite probable that in the course of this survey
Holyoke's name was given to the mountain, of which Holyoke city is a
namesake.

[Illustration: THE SECOND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.]

The town so originated and named grew gradually until the breaking out
of the civil war, but its most rapid growth has been since 1865. In 1857
the water-power and property were purchased by a company which organized
as the Holyoke Water Power Company, and which has fostered and developed
the natural advantages of the place as a manufacturing centre to a
wonderful degree.

[Illustration: THE CITY HALL.]

In the first