River Dave trades the Merrimack River for the mountains of Maine

Mark Hayward, The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester
·3 min read

Aug. 17—He lives in a cabin off the grid and tends to chickens and a garden, but "River Dave" Lidstone no longer makes New Hampshire his home.

The modern-day hermit, who made national headlines last summer when he was jailed for refusing to leave his Canterbury homestead, relocated to Maine in April, he told the New Hampshire Union Leader on Wednesday.

"I'm back to living on the land," said Lidstone, now 82.

In a telephone interview, Lidstone was sparse on details. He wouldn't say what town he lives in or even the size of his new homestead. But he said he did purchase the property.

"It's in the mountains. My cousin from Vermont calls me the Maine Mountain Man now," Lidstone said.

Last summer, a Merrimack County Superior Court judge jailed Lidstone for refusing to leave the Canterbury land where he had been living for 27 years in a cabin off the grid and close to the shores of the Merrimack River.

For years, Lidstone had ignored court orders to vacate the property.

Even from jail, he refused to pledge to stay away from the property, famously telling Judge Andrew Schulman he will stay in jail until his body rots.

The judge freed Lidstone after his cabin burned down, and his notoriety led to donations of about $220,000, including a $180,000 check from Silicon Valley billionaire Alexander Karp.

Lidstone said he wants to keep his location a secret because he has made enemies battling sludge disposal on farmlands.

But he said life is excellent. His cabin, an old bear hunting camp, has three rooms and a loft bedroom.

He rescued the rooster and five chickens from his Canterbury home. The Maine native said family visits him frequently.

"I'm back home, and I don't have to fight with lyin,' crooked judges," Lidstone said.

He said the more he works the better he feels, and he split six cords of firewood earlier this year. He wants to install more solar panels, but they are unavailable at the local hardware store.

Lidstone said he was sad to hear that Leonard Giles, whose trust owned the Canterbury property, died in July at the age of 87.

"I liked the old guy. We shook hands, and I promised I'd never sue him," Lidstone said.

Lidstone long claimed he was not on Giles' property, but on land that New Hampshire Fish and Game Department eventually acquired and turned into the Muchyedo Bank Wildlife Area.

Fish and Game has disputed Lidstone's contention, and Lidstone never hired a surveyor to determine who owns the property.

Lidstone said he misses the many good friends he made in New Hampshire.

After his cabin burned last summer, Lidstone stayed with friends for a while. But by December he had returned to the land and started living in a woodshed.

Judge Schulman established a $500 a day contempt charge that would go into effect against Lidstone in April if he remained on the land. Lidstone said that prompted him to moved to Maine.

He said he never paid a bill to Orr & Reno, the law firm that represented Giles. He said he paid $5,000 for a lawyer to represent himself at one point.