The Lord of Lackwaxen Creek

Look at any map of Pennsylvania and you’ll find in its upper right-hand corner—not far upstream from where New Jersey and New York State meet at the Delaware River—the little town of Lackawaxen. It lies some 30 miles east of Scranton, less than 15 miles north of Interstate Highway 84. Still relatively unsettled,

the area is nevertheless popular with canoeists and float fishermen in the spring and summer, the majority of whom drift past what is today the Zane Grey Inn without any knowledge of its history or any interest in the Lackawaxen River that joins the Delaware there.

It’s appropriate that we start with a Zane Grey tale of fresh-water fishing, for fresh-water angling is how ZG began his outdoor career. And when the last bear had been shot and the final swordfish fought, it was to fresh water he returned for sport in his elder years. The first stroke of the heart condition that eventually took his life occurred on a steelhead fishing trip to the Umpqua River, Oregon, in 1937. But the following story, written for the May, 1909, issue of Outing magazine, harks back to an early time in this century when Zane Grey—and our country—were both a deal younger.