| For centuries the shifting, grass
topped dunes of Nauset Beach have formed the only barrier between
the windswept North Atlantic and the narrow arm of Outer Cape Cod.
The only opening in miles of unbroken surf between Provincetown and
Chatham is the narrow cut known as Nauset Inlet at Orleans.
Here, winter and summer, the ever moving tides
ebb and flow between the sea and Orleans Town Cove and Eastham Salt
Pond, flowing through winding channels and narrow creeks, draining and
flooding the vast salt meadows of Nauset Marsh.
Since the days of the early tribes of Cape Cod
Indians, the wide expanse of Nauset Marsh has been the
winter refuge of great flights of migrating Ducks and Geese. In
this same marsh, the Indian hunter of the Nauset Tribe. the early white
settler, the market gunner, and today the sportsman hunter have all
sought the wary waterfowl.
Over the years, the largest most prized of
these birds has been the Canada Goose.
A small outcropping of marsh grass, forming a
tiny island scarcely twenty yards in diameter backed by a broad salt
meadow and surrounded by a tidal channel near the southerly end of
Nauset Marsh, has for generations been called Goose Hummock by the
hunters of Cape Cod. Goose Hummock has created a favored resting
and feeding location for countless flights of geese winging their weary
way in over the dunes of Nauset.
It was at Goose Hummock that the market hunter
crouched shivering behind cakes of ice, not many years ago, waiting for
a sight of these great water fowl, outlined before a bright full
moon. Goose Hummock has seen teams of young geese, reared in captivity
and trained as live decoys, released as flyers to lure the flights of
wild geese within range of the hunter's gun.
t was in the creek and water holes around Goose
Hummock that Willis Gould, formerly a market hunter, experimented with
and perfected his now famous floating cork decoys.
And it was at this same spot, sheltered behind
a high dune, that there stood a small gunning stand which bore a
weathered sign, "Goose Hummock Camp". The camp had cost
but $105 to build as a good part of the building was fashioned from
driftwood found along the outer beach.
Winter seas pounded and washed away at the high
dune so that the camp had to be moved several times over the years.
Finally, in a great winter blizzard several years ago, mountainous seas
broke through the dune and destroyed "Goose Hummock Camp".
Later storms have washed sand clear around the little grass island, and
Goose Hummock may in time be completely covered.
Willis Gould, his son Bill, and Sarge Sargent,
could foresee the day when the relentless tides and surf might finally
win the battle against the little island, leaving nothing of it but a
memory. So, when these three built the first sporting goods store
on the Outer Cape in 1946, they named it Goose Hummock Shop.
Goose Hummock Shop soon outgrew it's original
building in East Orleans. The shop moved to the center of Orleans,
and in 1950, it's present home was built on Orleans Town Cove near the
Eastham town line. In the winter of 1953, Goose Hummock Shop was
doubled in size.
So, as the original and far-famed little grass
island in Nauset Marsh is being sanded into nostalgic memories, the
proud bearer of it's name, the "Goose Hummock Shop". continues
to grow in size and service. We hope to continue in this manner,
since 1946 supplying the outdoors man and woman on Cape Cod with
hunting, fishing, sporting, marine and boating supplies and accessories.
As always, preserving a reputation for knowledgeable and conscientious
service is our aim.
GOOSE
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