Under the Depression-era Works Progress Administration, Sandy Run had been dammed to create Lake Hope. The lake and its sandy beach quickly became a popular tourist destination, and cottages were built to accommodate overnight guests.
Emmett oversaw the cottage and boat rental operations at Lake Hope until 1948. These were exciting times, as the new prosperity after World War II prompted construction of Lake Hope?s dining lodge, along with more cottages.
More changes were soon to follow, with the Ohio General Assembly debating legislation to create the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and establish a state park system. The law became effective in 1949, and the new and expanded recreational facilities at Lake Hope were dedicated as one of Ohio's first state parks.
While Lake Hope was making the transition from a state forest gem to the pride of the new state park system, Emmett sought out the solitude of the backcountry. He traveled around the state, taking inventory of the state forest resources at Mohican, Shawnee, Pike Lake, Scioto Trail, Hocking Hills and Tar Hollow.
While conducting his inventory, Emmett trekked 500 miles in a few years? time, becoming intimately familiar with Ohio's greatest expanses of woodlands. Emmett eventually left the state forests, making his in the lumber industry and then turning to research in tourism and industrial planning.
His early experiences had left an indelible impression, instilled a life-long fascination with the natural and cultural history of Ohio forests, and earned him mastery of the discipline of careful observation.
Those keen powers of observation, and countless working and leisure hours spent on the trail, have made Emmett Conway a leading authority on Ohio's ancient footpaths.
Over the years, Emmett has rediscovered the precise routes trampled by a succession of Ice Age beasts, bands of paleo- Indians, herds of buffalo, legions of warriors, and fleets of stagecoaches. While he's hiking, Emmett's welltrained eye is always peeled for subtle clues, often obscured by time and progress.
Despite the pretzel logic of modern detours, the ancient footpaths invariably follow the smoothest grade, pass through the low gap in a hill, ford the stream in the optimal location, and provide the most direct route to an important site for food or water, or to an historic village or burial mound. In his travels, Emmett has discovered ageold pits on ridgetops that were crafted by Native Americans as smoke signal bowls, as well as "signal trees" with bowed trunks that had been bent as saplings to mark the trail.
Occasionally an unmistakable artifact, such as an arrowhead, has surfaced along the trail, confirming that he is indeed on the right path.
For Emmett, there is no greater thrill than piecing together all these elements, and feeling with certainty that he is standing on the very spot where a mastodon once trudged, or Chief Cornstalk passed on his way to face Lord Dunmore.
As Emmett has pursued his interests in trails, Native American history, pioneer folklore, iron furnaces, natural salt licks and the early manufacturing of salt, he has contributed much to our knowledge of Ohio's heritage.
Emmett's lasting gift will continue to challenge our imaginations and deepen our appreciation of the rich legacy of Ohio's state forests and Ohio State Parks.
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