Annals of the Beaver River

Jessie Elliott was a unique figure in the history of the Beaver River country. People who visit the tiny settlement of Beaver River, NY these days are still told she went to prison for her role in the bootlegging that was rampant in the lumberjack days of the early 1920s. She is listed among the “lawless ladies” in Niki Kourofsky’s 2015 book,   Adirondack Outlaws . Pat Thompson’s memoir about life in Beaver River claims Jessie rode her steed through the settlement with her long hair flowing and a pistol in a holster on her belt. More fantastic stories about Jessie are found in Bill Donnelly’s   Short History of Beaver  River where she is described, among other things, as a good-looking Calamity Jane, a bootlegger and a prostitute. The truth underlying the legends reveals a much more complex and interesting wilderness woman. Jessie E. Elliott was born in April of 1885 at her parent’s home at Chase’s Lake, Town of Watson, Lewis County, NY. She was the youngest child and onl...