Joseph Battell entered Middlebury in the Class of 1860, but lung problems ended his college career in 1859. He traveled to Europe in 1860 to regain his health and returned to Middlebury in 1863 to focus on his writing. Within two years, Battell was again physically fragile. His friend Ezra Brainerd ‘64, by then faculty at Middlebury (and later its president from 1886-1908), recommended that Battell convalesce in the mountain air at Joseph Parker’s 300-acre farm in Ripton. After a couple of summers spent hiking and fishing, Battell’s health was strong, as was his love for the place, and he purchased the Parker farm in April 1866.
Spending summers in Ripton, Battell observed how Vermont’s original forests were being decimated by the lumber industry, and it provided the impetus for his systematic purchase of the mountainous tracts of land within view of his Bread Loaf Inn. Over the next fifty years, he managed to acquire over 30,000 acres, and the Bread Loaf Forest stretched nearly forty miles, from Bolton to Brandon, making Battell the largest private landowner in Vermont.
John Houston, Bread Loaf Farm Manager from 1866 to 1915, was also Battell’s land buyer. He carried blank deeds in his pocket and transacted land deals on the spot with willing sellers. If two people claimed to own a property, Houston would buy both claims – to save possible court time.