Glaciers formed a series of five granite cliff ledges forty feet tall and twenty five feet wide on Cannon Mountain in the White Mountains of New Hampshire about ten thousand years ago. These granite cliff ledges formed an image of a jagged profile of a "Great Stone Face" that also became known as " the Old Man of the Mountain". The first recorded discovery of this "Great Stone Face" was in 1805 by a surveying team while Native American legend talk of a great stone face dating back in time to 1604.

The profile of the Old Man of the Mountain has since been used on United States stamps, New Hampshire's statehood quarter, and since 1945 on the state emblem of New Hampshire. The profile also appears on New Hampshire state highway signs and license plates.

Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote a short story published in 1850 in which he described the formation as " a work of nature in her mood of majestic playfulness". Several Presidents of the United States have paid a visit to the Old Man of the Mountain in the last one hundred fifty years. Thousands of tourists stopped each year to view the famous profile on the cliff.

I saw the Old Man of the Mountain for the third and final time in 1973. The visit to the "Great Stone Face" was a family vacation travel stop whenever the summer vacation destination was north instead of south to Cape Cod. The stop was a brief respite along Interstate 93 in New Hampshire through Franconia Notch State Park and viewing the profile was like seeing an old friend after an extended absence.

It was with this sense of recollection that I read about the collapse of the formation on May 3, 2003. Centuries of adverse weather had finally taken its toll despite man's attempts to alter natures design . People throughout the State of New Hampshire and all of the New England region remembered the last time that they had seen the "Great Stone Face" with the knowledge that this natural landmark would not be seen again. Flowers were left at the cliff's base as a tribute and a memorial by distraught people. In 2004 coin operated view finders were installed at the Franconia Notch State parkway to show how the "Old Man" looked prior to the collapse.

On February 7, 2007, plans were announced for an Old Man of the Mountain memorial. The memorial design is the work of sculptor Shelly Bradbury and designer Ron Myers of Essex, Massachusetts. The plan would include three distinct exhibits along a pathway from the base of Cannon Mountain to the shore of the Profile Lake. Visitors would walk between two standing stones that would act as a gateway to the memorial area that would honor the caretakers of the "Old Man". They would then encounter five huge stones which when viewed from a raised platform merge into a form that recreates the outline of the Old Man of the Mountain's profile. The third planned memorial exhibit along the pathway would feature a park at the water's edge. This park would use steel "profilers" that would allow visitors to line up and see the outline of the famous profile up on the cliff where the old man once stood.

The Old Man of the Mountain was a gift from nature nearly 10000 years ago and is not replaceable. However, I look forward to the completed memorial. New Hampshire lost a landmark and New England lost a natural treasure with the collapse of the "Great Stone face". Perhaps the words of Daniel Webster , a New Hampshire native described it best when he wrote " men hang out their signs indicitive of their respective trades: Shoe makers hang out a gigantic shoe; Jewelers a monster watch and the dentist hangs out a gold tooth; but up in the mountains of New Hampshire, God Almighty has hung out a sign to show that there he makes men". A man made memorial will not replace the natural gift formed from the glaciers but it sure will be helpful in remembering the majesty of the Old Man of the Mountain's profile on the granite ledges of New Hampshire's Cannon Mountain.

James William Smith has worked in senior management positions for some of the largest financial services firms in the United States for the last twenty five years. He has also provided business consulting support for insurance organizations and start up businesses. Mr. Smith has a Bachelor of Science Degree from Boston College. He enjoys writing articles on political, national, and world events. Visit his website at http://www.eworldvu.com