"Why don't some of our authors use more of the historical material of
this region in story writing than they do?" asked Fritz.

"The material is so romantic that romance can add nothing to it,"
answered Molly. "But you forget Hawthorne. His Ambitious Guest has
imparted a weird interest to the event. He makes a young man, travelling
through the Notch, partake of the hospitality of the family on the fatal
night. At the fireside they fall to talking of their individual plans,
the guest expressing himself as desirious of achieving fame. It seemed a
terrible thing to him to die and to be forgotten, to leave no name
behind and no monument to mark his resting place. In the midst of the
conversation the ruin came, and the ambitious guest, flying with the
family, found his burial with the others. The story will live in
Hawthorne long after the true facts have been forgotten; or they will
live because Hawthorne's narrative will have conferred immortality upon
them."

This memorable event happened on the night of Monday, the twenty-eighth
of August, 1826. A terrible storm of wind and rain prevailed, the
mountain branches of the Saco and the Ammonoosuc speedily overfilled
their rocky channels, and the steep sides of hills loosened by the rain
swept down upon the valleys, destroying many an ancient landmark. One of
these slides swept down toward the Willey House, then occupied by Samuel
Willey, his wife, and family. The frightened inmates, seeking safety by
flight from the impending ruin, were overwhelmed by the avalanche and
perished, while the house remained untouched. The bodies of two sons and
one daughter were never found; the rest of the Willey household lie
buried in a small cemetery enclosure near the mansion house of Willey
Farm at North Conway.