THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA IRVINE GIFT OF LEISURE WORLD LIBRARY LACUNA HILLS SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY A COMPILATION OF FACT AND TRADITION COVERING LAKE GEORGE, LAKE CHAM- PLAIN, THE ADIRONDACK MOUNTAINS, AND OTHER SECTIONS REACHED BY THE RAIL AND STEAMER LINES OF THE DELAWARE AND HUDSON COMPANY BY WARWICK STEVENS CARPENTER GENERAL PASSENGER DEPARTMENT THE DELAWARE AND HUDSON COMPANY ALBANY Copyright, 1914 by A. A. HEARD AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY To the Members of THE NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION and THE LAKE CHAMPLAIN ASSOCIATION To whose efforts are so largely due the cherishing of old landmarks and the recording of history and tradition in the territory here covered THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED Great islands appeared, leagues in extent: Isle & la Motte, Long Island, Grande Isle. Channels where ships might float and broad reaches of expanding water stretched before them, and Champlain entered the lake which preserves his name to posterity Their goal was the rocky promontory where Fort Ticonderoga was long afterward built. Thence, they would pass the outlet of Lake George, and launch their canoes again on that Como of the wilderness, whose waters, limpid as a fountain-head, stretched far south- ward between their flanking mountains. Landing at the future site of Fort William Henry, they would carry their canoes through the forest to the River Hudson, and, descending it, attack, perhaps, some outlying town of the Mohawks. In the next century this chain of lakes and rivers became the grand highway of savage and civilized war, a bloody debatable ground linked to memories of momentous conflicts. Francis Parkman. FOREWORD HPHIS volume is the direct outgrowth of the "Literary and Historic * Note Book," covering the same territory, written for the Pas- senger Department of the Delaware and Hudson Company by Mr. Henry P. Phelps, and published in 1907. It appeared as a booklet of eighty pages, and at once met with an appreciation which has in no degree abated during the seven years of its circulation. Since that date the interest which had already developed in the historic country reached by the Delaware and Hudson lines has been tremen- dously augmented, a fact well evidenced by the attention that historical societies and other organizations are giving to the subject. Among the latter may be mentioned the Glens Falls Insurance Company, which for many years has commissioned some of the leading American artists to make paintings of the more striking events. These pictures have been reproduced in original colors and widely distributed. The Champlain Tercentenary Celebration brought popular attention to a clearer focus, and it has been further sustained by the subsequent completion and dedication of the memorials at Crown Point and at Plattsburg, and by the restoration and preservation of the two old forts at Ticonderoga and Crown Point. This interest resulted in continued requests for the "Literary and Historic Note Book," which was out of print, and indicated the need for this larger and more complete and permanent volume. Even briefly to describe every event of romantic or historic moment in this territory would have required many times the space here available. Much has been necessarily eliminated, but an attempt has been made to include every really important inci- dent and those minor ones which are of particular interest to that large class of visitors who wish to know the history of their Summer Paradise. The style of the text, that of separate paragraphs for each event, after the manner of Lossing's well-known "Cyclopaedia of United States History," was determined by the need of such vaca- tionists for much data that could not well be put into connected form in a small volume. A synoptical narrative introduction, cov- ering the great campaigns for the control of the Champlain Valley, together with the Chronology which follows, are designed as a background against which each paragraph may be thrown into relief to show its proper relation to the times and to other events. In the preparation of the "Summer Paradise in History" part of the text in the "Literary and Historic Note Book" has been used, though largely revised to meet the requirements of the present volume. While no original research has been made, many authorities have been consulted, and material drawn from them. A list of these appears in the bibliography, and acknowledgment of indebtedness to them is hereby made. w. s. c. January 1, 1914 ILLUSTRATIONS Cover Design from Detail of Champlain Memorial at Plattsburg, by Carl Augustus Heber Samuel de Champlain Frontispiece Restoration of Fort Ticonderoga 12 Ruins of Fort Ticonderoga Facing 16 Embarkation of Abercrombie's Expedition 17 Plan of Abercrombie's Attack on Carillon 18 Battle of Lake Champlain Facing 32 Grave of Captain Downie 33 Monument on Crab Island 33 Bloody Morning Scout 37 Statue on Site of Cooper's Residence Facing 48 Tablet to Commemorate Dam at Otsego Lake 48 Scene of the Battle of Lake Champlain 49 The Stem-bridge Lion 50 Fort St. Frederic 58 Lake George Battle Monument Facing 64 Ruins at Crown Point 65 Plan of Investment of Fort William Henry 66 Jogues's Island Facing 80 High Rock Spring in 1845 " 81 Saratoga as It Is Today 81 Two Early Steamers on Lake Champlain 90 Champlain Memorial at Crown Point Facing 96 The Black Watch at Storming of Carillon " 97 Champlain Memorial at Plattsburg 112 The Deep Clef t of Split Rock " 113 CHRONOLOGY 1609 July 4th. Samuel de Champlain discovered Lake Champlain. July 30th. Champlain's battle with the Iroquoia near Fort Ticonderoga. September. Henry Hudson sailed up the Hudson River to near the present site of Albany, and went in a small boat to the falls at Troy. 1614 Dutch built Fort Nassau on Castle Island, opposite Albany. 1624 Dutch built Fort Orange on mainland where Albany now stands. 1629 Dutch West India Company established the Patroon System, under which much of the country about Albany was settled. 1641 Fort Richelieu built at mouth of Richelieu River. 1642 August. Father Jogues first white man to see Lake George. 1646 Father Jogues, on eve of Corpus Christi, May 30, named Lake George Lac du St. Sacrement. 1664 Fort Richelieu rebuilt, and Forts St. Louis, at Chambly, and St. Theresa built. English obtained possession of New Netherland and changed its name to New York. 1665 Fort St. Anne built on Isle La Motte. 1666 January. 1st and unsuccessful expedition of the French under De Courcelles against Iroquois. October. 2d and successful expedition of the French under De Tracy against Iroquois. Arendt Van Corlear, returning through Lake Champlain with De Tracy, drowned off Split Rock, in memory of which the lake was long called Corlear's Lake. 1673 Dutch again gained control of New York. 1674 New York passed permanently into possession of England. 1689 King William's War began. 1690 February 8th. Schenectady Massacre. August. Winthrop's expedition against the French proceeded to Lake Champlain and returned. August. Expedition of Capt. John Schuyler against French Fort La Prairie on the St. Lawrence. 1691 June. Capture of Fort La Prairie by Maj. Philip Schuyler. 1693 January and February. Expedition of French against Mohawk towns, during which battle of Wilton was fought near Saratoga. 1697 Treaty of Ryswick. 1702 Queen Anne's War began. 1709 Nicholson's expedition against the French advanced as far as site of Fort Anne, building a road through the wilderness from Schuylerville to mouth of Wood Creek, along route now occupied by the Delaware and Hudson lines, and Fort Ingoldsby, Fort Miller, Fort Saratoga, Fort Schuyler and Fort Nicholson. It returned without delivering a blow after destroying forts as far south as Saratoga. 1713 Treaty of Utrecht. 1731 Fort St. Frederic built at Crown Point. 1744 King George's War began. 1745 November 17th. Saratoga Massacre. 1746 Fort Clinton rebuilt on site of old Fort Saratoga. 1747 Fort Clinton abandoned and burned. 1748 Treaty of Aix-la-ChapeUe. 1754 First Colonial Congress met in Albany to consider plans of union. 1755 Fort Carillon begun by the French. July. Old Fort Nicholson rebuilt and renamed Fort Edward. August. Fort Hardy built on the site of Schuylerville by Gen. Phinehas Lyman. August 28th. Gen. William Johnson changed name of Lac du St. Sacrement to Lake George. September 8th. Battle of Lake George. Fort William Henry begun by Johnson. 1756 Great Britain declared war against France. Fort William Henry completed. Fort Carillon, afterward called Ticonderoga, completed. 1757 March 18th. Vaudreuil advanced over the ice on Lake George and attacked Fort William Henry, burning every- thing outside of the walls. July 26th. Harbor Island Massacre. August 10th. Fort William Henry taken by Montcalm and garrison massacred by Indians. 1758 July 5th-9th. Abercrombie's unsuccessful expedition against Ticonderoga. 1759 Fort George built by General Amherst near site of Fort William Henry. July 27th. Ticonderoga abandoned by the French in face of Amherst's advance. July 31st. Fort St. Frederic destroyed by retreating French. August. Amherst commenced rebuilding St. Frederic, now called Crown Point. September 14th. Montcalm died at Quebec, following Wolfe's capture of the city. October 13th. Captain Loring, in first naval battle on Lake Champlain, defeated a French schooner and three sloops off Valcour Island. 1760 September 8th. Montreal surrendered by Vaudreuil to English. 1763 First attempt at settlement of Wyoming Valley. February 10th. By treaty signed at Paris, France ceded all her possessions in North America to Great Britain. 1771 First hotel in Saratoga built near High Rock Spring. 1775 Revolutionary War began. May 10th. Ticonderoga captured by Ethan Allen. May 12th. Crown Point captured by Seth Warner, and Fort George by Bernard Romans. September 4th. General Montgomery embarked at Crown Point on expedition against Canada. November 3d. Montgomery, advancing against Montreal, captured St. John on the Richelieu River. 1776 June 14th. American troops in Canada began to withdraw up the Richelieu River and reached Crown Point July 3d. October llth. Battle of Valcour Island, between fleets of Benedict Arnold and Capt. Thomas Pringle. 1777 Burgoyne's Campaign. July 6th . Ticonderoga evacuated before Burgoyne's advance . July 7th. Battle of Hubbardton. July 24th. Battle of Diamond Island on Lake George. July 27th. Jane McCrea murdered by Indians of Burgoyne's army. September 19th. Battle of Freeman's Farm or Bemis Heights, the first important engagement about Saratoga, known also as First Battle of Saratoga. October 7th. Second Battle of Saratoga. October 17th. Surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga. 1778 May 30th. Cobleskill Massacre. July 3d. Wyoming Massacre. November llth. Cherry Valley Massacre. 1779 July, August and September. Sullivan's expedition against Indians and Tories of western New York. 1783 Gen. Philip Schuyler built first summer residence at Saratoga Springs. September 3d. Treaty of peace signed at Paris between England and the United States. 1807 September 5th. Fulton's steamboat, the Clermont, arrived in Albany, after first successful trip. 1809 Steamer Vermont began regular service on Lake Champlain, being the second regularly and successfully operated steam- boat in the world. 1812 June 17th. War declared against Great Britain. 1813 Lake Champlain Steamboat Company, known later as Cham- plain Transportation Company, chartered by New York Legislature, thus making the Champlain Transportation Company the oldest steamboat corporation in the world. June 3d. Sloops Growler and Eagle sunk by British in the Richelieu River. 1814 British, under Sir George Preyost, invaded the United States and advanced to the vicinity of Plattsburg by September 4th, while the British squadron, under Captain Downie, advanced up the lake to Isle La Motte. September llth. Battle of Lake Champlain between Com- modore MacDonough and Captain Downie, and Battle of Plattsburg on land. December 24th. Treaty of Ghent signed by United States and Great Britain. 1839 Anti-Rent Agitation began in New York State. 1846 Constitutional Convention in New York State adopted amendments abolishing feudal tenure, thus ending Anti- Rent Agitation. 1909 July 4th-10th. Tercentenary celebration of the discovery of Lake Champlain. 1912 July 5th-6th. Dedication of Champlain Memorials at Crown Point and Plattsburg. INTRODUCTION THE GATE OF THE COUNTRY BESIDE earth's oldest waterway the oldest mountains stand. Far back in the aeons of unrecorded time, beside which the longest periods of history and tradition are as fleeting moments, the great crest of the Laurentian system of rocks, the Adirondacks, thrust its bold peaks above the primordial ocean. From their cul- mination they extended northward and eastward to Labrador and ran out into the northwest. Long afterward another convulsion up- reared the ridges of the Appalachians, a slim spur of which, the Green Mountains, shot parallel to the Adirondacks. In the tremen- dous strains which accompanied this second disturbance, long faults, or rifts, appeared at the edge of the Laurentian rocks. The greatest of these rifts ran northeasterly and southwesterly to form the valley of the St. Lawrence and continued more southerly beside the base of the Adirondacks, through the Champlain Valley. There, on the eastern edge of the valley, the substrata of the ocean were lifted gently upward, while on the western edge they sunk precipitately to form the rugged cliffs which sweep in dizzying lines from Port Henry to Bluff Point. Through the valley thus created the waters of the ancient inland sea of North America were still united with the ocean. Subsequently the floor of the valley was upheaved until the salt water of the sea drained out and left a fresh water lake, but little smaller than today. It flowed sometimes north into the St. Lawrence and sometimes south into the great interior sea, or down through the Hudson Valley, according to the tilting of the land. Then came the long age of ice, when the whole northern country was subjected to the grinding of the glaciers, which brought down vast quantities of rock and other deposits. The retreating ice left a great body of fresh water in the Champlain Valley, reaching back into Lake George and the depressions of the Adirondacks, the out- let of which was down the Hudson. As the ice receded northward the land subsided, until at last, in place of glacier and fresh water in the valley, the ocean again rolled, extending southward as far as Port Henry, followed a gradual downward tilt of the longOhamplain and Hudson Valleys at the south, drowning the Hudson a hundred miles below Manhattan and raising the northern end of the lake until the waters of the sea ran out. In the basin that remained lay Lake Champlain, its ancient valley intact, bordered by its primitive cliffs, and making natural highway from the great seaport on the south, where once it flowed, to the sister port at the north, to which its waters were now turned. Thus in the earliest paroxysms of the earth were formed the conditions which have made this great route the most fiercely contested and historic highway of the continent. Of the dark ages of aboriginal strife we know practically nothing. It does not appear that the long lakeside from Fort Wilh'am Henry to the foot of Champlain was then the permanent home of Indian tribes, but rather that they made it their highway for maraud- ing expeditions, with frequent clashes when war parties met along the shores. Certainly this was the condition in 1609, and had been long previous, when Samuel de Champlain and his barbarian allies paddled up the lake on their memorable voyage of discovery. They had reached almost to the carry between Lake Champlain and Lake George, which wound around the chiming waters of Ticonderoga, when the first of those savage and chance encounters to be recorded in history occurred. With the help of their French supporters, the Algonquins of the north were triumphantly victorious, but in their success on the still unnamed lake, before even Henry Hudson had ascended his river, was decided one of the almost forgotten and ap- parently unimportant events which, it is hardly exaggeration to say, determined the whole aftercourse of history in North America. By it was incurred the deadly enmity of the powerful tribes of central New York, and by it the French occupation of the valley of the St. Lawrence and of Lake Champlain was hindered and set back. Thus, while the French were struggling to establish their infant colony in the hostile wilderness, a settlement developed at the farther end of the long valley which should ultimately gain the ascendency. It was realized in the beginning that the struggle must come. During Dutch rule at Fort Orange and New Amsterdam, punitive French expeditions pushed southward to the Indian villages along the Mohawk, and adventurous explorers and trappers, the first coureurs de bois, who have spread such glamour over the pages of American history, had penetrated into every recess of the country, and knew well what it promised. Similarly the Dutch, in the security of their friendship with the Iroquois, had acquired first-hand knowl- edge of the territory. But France and the Netherlands were at peace, and their far-flung outposts were still deeply occupied in securing their first precarious foothold. The situation rapidly changed. In 1674 England permanently displaced Dutch rule and brought her great resources and restless energy to the struggling province of New York. She brought also her enmity of France and her antagonism to French ambition. In 1689, as a direct result of hostilities between the two parent countries, King William's War began on the historic highway. It was well started with the horrible Massacre of Schenectady in February, 1690. Throughout this war no decisive results were achieved, though several expeditions were launched against the rival settlements and much border warfare resulted. The first truce was called in 1697, when the Treaty of Ryswick was signed between France and England. It was of short duration. In 1702 the two countries were again in arms on the other side of the Atlantic, in what was known there as the War of the Spanish Succes- sion, and in America as Queen Anne's War. It was not until 1709 that an important move was made here, though raids were many. In that year occurred Nicholson's expedition, which advanced as far as Fort Anne and returned without striking a blow. The treaty of Utrecht, in 1713, brought a lull of some thirty years, during which both colonies grew rapidly stronger. Though they were at peace, the French founded a settlement and fort at Crown Point, called Fort St. Frederic. In 1744 began the war of the Aus- trian Succession, which is recorded in American history as King George's War. It witnessed the Saratoga Massacre and the fall of the strong French fort at Louisburg, on Cape Breton Island. Louisburg was restored to France, however, by the Treaty of Aix- la-Chapelle, in 1748. Thus in America the struggle had been barren of results, except as a training for the final test to follow. In full knowledge of the fact that this test was now imminent, the French proceeded energetically to strengthen their position during the interval of peace. Alarmed by these activities, the colonists, in the summer of 1755, though still nominally at peace, dispatched Gen. Sir William Johnson against St. Frederic, and the French began Fort Carillon, later called Ticonderoga. It was the first move in the French and Indian War, which was formally declared by England against France the following year. In 1756 Fort William Henry, which Johnson had begun in 1755, was finished, and Carillon was strengthened and practically completed. The field for the final desperate struggle was determined and the goals set. The first advantage was secured by Montcalm, when in 1757 he captured Fort William Henry, and its garrison was massacred by his Indian allies. There followed the abortive expedition of Abercrom- bie in 1758, when the most perfectly appointed and powerful army that had yet been raised in America was rolled back from the walls of Carillon. But the flood of English determination rose higher in 1759, sweeping the lilies of France from their southern ramparts and ending forever their dominion on the inland sea. The same summer Quebec fell before the forlorn attack of Wolfe, and in 1760 Montreal surrendered to the English, thus closing the reign of France in Canada. For fifteen years peace brooded over the northern war trails. When the banners were again unfurled, in 1775, they heralded a new object. Here was no thought of territorial aggrandizement. But though the War of Independence had a far different purpose than the old struggles with the French, the same strategy remained. Of paramount importance was the control of the Gate of the Country. Who held this historic gateway could decide the fate of the colonies and of dominion upon the American continent. With proper prep- aration and support it could be defended at many points. At Ticonderoga the French had built Fort Carillon in the fond hope that it would secure them against the northward advance of the British. But they had been forced to retire by the generalship of Amherst. A few miles to the north the British had expended $10,000,000 upon extensive works on the site of old Fort St. Frederic. The location was well chosen, and had Crown Point been fully armed and garrisoned it might have proved impregnable against any attack. Again at Saratoga was a strong strategic point for checking an advancing army. At the dedication of the Saratoga Battle Monu- ment, in 1877, Horatio Seymour related that once, as General Scott overlooked from an elevated point the ground on which the battle was fought, "the old warrior, with a kindling eye, stretched out his arm, and said : 'Remember, this has been the great strategic point in all the wars waged for the control of this continent! ' " In 1775 Ethan Allen and Seth Warner seized Ticonderoga and Crown Point, possessing without bloodshed the Gate of the Coun- try, which was held the following year by Benedict Arnold and his little flotilla against the first southward advance of the British. But a year later Crown Point was evacuated by the colonists, and when Burgoyne placed his guns upon Mt. Defiance, St. Clair retreated from Ticonderoga. A single determined stand remained to the Patriot Army. With Burgoyne defeated at Saratoga, unable to go forward or retreat, and with no help in sight, his advance down the historic highway ended in failure and cast its influence over the whole subsequent trend of world history. Another similar campaign, following the same old strategy, was launched in 1814, but MacDonough, with his hastily assembled and nondescript fleet manned by quickly trained levies from the land forces, "soldiers and sailors too," nipped the plans of the British in the bud and turned back the last armed expedition at the very threshold of the door. Today, the gate which has swung both ways to the conquering armies of two peoples and three nations stands wide and unguarded, while through it, forgetful of the perils of ambuscade and war, the citizens of all three nations pass unhindered. The war routes are still used, but not for war or the passage of armed fleets. Over them and along the bluff, archaic cliffs of the oldest valley, from the metropolis of one great country to the metropolis of the other, upon glistening bands of steel, or the unchanged expanse of the lakes, ply great steam shuttles, weaving stronger, as in a loom, the bonds of continued peace and prosperity. THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY ABERCROMBIE'S EXPEDITION was commanded by Maj.- \. Gen. James Abercrombie, who, with a combined army of English and Colonial troops, marched against Ticonderoga in July, 1758. His advance from the present site of Fort William Henry Hotel down through the long vista of mountains, islands and blue lake was as inspiring and spectacular as his retreat was pathetic. "Here," says Parkman, "on the ground where Johnson had beaten Dieskau (see Battle of Lake George), where Montcalm had planted his batteries, and Monro vainly defended the wooden ramparts of Fort William Henry (q. v.), were now assembled more than fifteen thousand men; and the shores, the foot of the mountains, and the broken plains between them were studded thick with tents. Of regulars there were six thousand three hundred and sixty-seven officers and soldiers and of provincials, nine thousand and thirty- four. To the New England levies, or at least to their chaplains, the expedition seemed a crusade against the abomination of Babylon; and they discoursed in their sermons of Moses sending forth Joshua against Amalek. Abercrombie, raised to his pla^e by political influence, was little but the nominal commander. 'A heavy man/ said Wolfe in a letter to his father; 'an aged gentleman, infirm in body and mind,' wrote William Parkman, a boy of seventeen, who carried a musket in a Massachusetts regiment, and kept in his knapsack a dingy little notebook in which he jotted down what passed each day. The age of the aged gentleman was fifty-two. On the evening of the fourth of July, baggage, stores and ammunition were all on board the boats, and the whole army embarked on the morning of the fifth." It is this embarkation which F. C. Yohn has painted, as shown in the illustration facing page 17. "The arrangements were perfect. Each corps marched without confusion to its appointed station on the beach, and the sun was scarcely above the ridge of French Mountain when all were afloat. A spec- tator watching them from the shore says that when the fleet was three miles on its way, the surface of the lake at that distance was completely hidden from sight. There were nine hundred bateaux, a hundred and thirty-five whaleboats, and a large number of heavy flatboats carrying the artillery. The whole advanced in three divisions the regulars in the center and the provincials on the flanks. Each corps had its flags and its music. The day was fair, [19] THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY and men and officers were in the highest spirits. Before ten o'clock they began to enter the Narrows; and the boats of the three divisions extended themselves into long files as the mountains closed on either hand upon the contracted lake. From front to rear the line was six miles long. The spectacle was superb the brightness of the summer day; the romantic beauty of the scenery; the sheen and sparkle of those crystal waters; the countless islets, tufted with pine, birch, and fir; the bordering mountains, with their green summits and sunny crags; the flash of oars and glitter of weapons; the banners, the varied uniforms, and the notes of bugle, trumpet, bagpipe, and drum, answered and prolonged by a hundred wood- land echoes. 'I never beheld so delightful a prospect,' wrote a wounded officer at Albany a fortnight after." They landed where Montcalm, with less than a fourth of their number, awaited the attack. Lord Howe (q. v.), a brigadier-general attached to the staff of Abercrombie, had a far greater grasp upon the situation than Abercrombie himself. Previous to the expedition, attired in the simple uniform of the rangers, he had reconnoitered the vicinity of Ticonderoga with Lieut. John Stark and others, and it is a tradition in the Stark family that he had even stood with Stark upon the top of Mt. Defiance and had remarked to him that a small battery upon that eminence would turn the trick nicely. Chief adviser of Abercrombie, he was thus in position to materially influence the plan of attack. As the English advanced in three parallel columns from the foot of Lake George, firing was heard in the woods to one side, and Howe rushed up to learn its cause. It came from an outpost of French, one of whom shot him as he broke through the bushes. His loss was irreparable, and thenceforth the attack proceeded in utter defiance of reason. Montcalm's men were almost entirely regular troops, and they were posted on high ground at the neck of the peninsula on which the fort stands. They were sheltered behind a breastwork of trunks of trees, protected in front by a vast and tangled abattis. Aber- crombie had a powerful artillery train, but, hearing that his enemy would soon be reinforced, he did not wait to bring it into action, and ordered an attack with musketry alone. The battle raged from one o'clock till evening of July 8. The English displayed desperate courage, but could not force the breastworks and abattis, which, in themselves almost impregnable, were defended with the utmost gallantry. At night the assailants withdrew in disorder, with the loss of two thousand men. Though the English were defeated, [201 THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY it was the last important success of the French arms on the con- tinent of North America. On the morning after his victory Montcalm planted on the field a great cross inscribed with these lines, composed by himself: "Quid dux? quid miles? quid strata igentia ligna? En Signum! en victor! Deus hie, deus ipse triumphal." "Soldiers and chief, and ramparts' strength are naught; Behold the Conquering Cross! "Pis God the triumph wrought! " ADIRONDACK MOUNTAINS comprise that vast system of rugged wilderness extending northward from the neighborhood of Saratoga nearly to the St. Lawrence River and westward from Lake George and Lake Champlain, occupying almost the entire northeastern corner of New York. They form part of the great Laurentian system of rocks, which constitutes the oldest known portion of the earth's crust to be thrust above the primeval sea. They were probably at no time the permanent abode of any of the aboriginal inhabitants of the country. By the Iroquois they were called the Couch-sa-ra-ge, or Dismal Wilderness, and were a favorite hunting ground of that nation. Their present name is the derisive term which the Iroquois applied to their enemies, the Algonquins, " Tree Eaters, " when they were forced to subsist upon bark and roots. ADIRONDACK WRITERS. The late Rev. W. H. H. Murray, better known as Adirondack Murray, has been, perhaps, one of the widest read writers on this subject. He published "Camp Life in the Adirondacks" in 1868 and "Adirondack Tales" in 1877, both volumes attracting much attention and some criticism. Before this, however, Alfred B. Street had published "Woods and Waters, or Summer in the Saranacs" (1865), and several years later "The Indian Pass," describing explorations in Essex county, and "Lake and Mountain, of Autumn in the Adirondacks." Mr. Street also contributed sixteen poems to accompany John A. Howe's "Forest Pictures in the Adirondacks," and many of his collected poems are tinged with the same local color. Nathaniel Bartlett Sylvester in 1877 published "Historical Sketches of Northern New York and the Adirondack Wilderness, " a work which contains much interesting matter. Philander Deming, a graceful and effective writer of fiction, has a volume of "Adirondack Stories," published in 1886, and scattered through the magazines are scores of sketches of Adirondack life and scenery. In fact there is probably no section of the country that [21] THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY has inspired more prose and verse with forest, lake or mountain setting than the Adirondacks, though much of it is not definitely localized there. AIKEN'S VOLUNTEERS were composed of seventeen young men, who, though too young to be liable for military duty, fought at the battle of Plattsburg (q. v.). A resolution of Congress, passed in May, 1826, twelve years after the battle, authorized the delivery to each of "one rifle promised to them by General Macomb, while commanding the Champlain Department, for their services as a volunteer corps, during the siege of Plattsburg in September, 1814." A LA POCAHONTAS. The green in the center of the village of Sandy Hill, now Hudson Falls, is said to have been, during the French and Indian War, the scene of an incident not unlike that which befell Captain Smith in Virginia. A young man named Quacken- boss, of Albany, on the very eve of his marriage, was impressed into the public service as a wagoner to carry provision to Fort William Henry, at Lake George. After passing Fort Edward he and his escort of sixteen men, under Lieutenant McGinnis of New Hampshire, were surprised by Indians under Marin, disarmed, bound, seated in a row, and deliberately tomahawked, one by one, all but the wagoner, who seemed to have found favor with one of the squaws during a brief interval preceding the execution. She arrested his slayer's arm, pleading, "He's no fighter; he's my dog!" Loaded down with plunder like a packhorse, he was then marched towards Canada; at the first Indian encampment on Lake Champlain being compelled to run the gauntlet, by which he was nearly killed. But his Indian angel bound up his wounds, and nursed him to recovery. Subsequently he was ransomed by the governor of Canada, and after several years returned to Albany, married his original sweet- heart, and lived to the good old age of eighty-three. ALBANY is the capital of the State of New York, and seat of the operating offices of the Delaware and Hudson Company. "O Albany, O Albany, Sweet is the tender melody Of thy old Latin name to me." Monahan. It was first visited by French fur traders, who, following the discovery of the mouth of the Hudson River by Verrazano, in 1524, made expeditions to the head of navigation for the purpose of [22] THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY bartering with the Indians. About 1540 they began the construc- tion of a fortified trading post on Castle Island, which then stood on the east side of the river near Rensselaer, though it has since become a part of the mainland. The post was seriously injured by a freshet, however, and abandoned. Henry Hudson arrived in his little ship, the "Half-Moon," in 1609, and he was followed in 1615 by a party of Dutch traders, who rebuilt the old stone "castle" of the French, on Castle Island, and named it Fort Nassau. It was well located to secure the traffic of the Iroquois. The falls of the Mohawk, near its mouth at Cohoes, made that river impassable for the canoes of the Indians, and accordingly a carry from the Mohawk at Schenec- tady ran overland to the Hudson at Albany. Thus Albany in the earliest times was the junction of the great routes of travel to the north and west, as it is today. Fort Nassau was damaged by high water in 1618 and was not restored. In 1624 the Dutch West India Company, which had been incor- porated in 1621 for the special purpose of trading in America, sent out thirty families, who built Fort Orange on the mainland where Albany now stands. Its site is now marked by a bronze tablet in Steamboat Square, just east of the bend in Broadway, upon which the following inscription appears: "Upon this spot, washed by the tide, stood the North East bastion of Fort Orange, erected about 1623. Here the powerful Iroquois met the deputies of this and other colonies in con- ference to establish treaties. Here the first courts were held. Here in 1643, under the direction of Dominie Johannes Mega- polensis, a learned and estimable minister, the earliest church was erected North West of the fort, and to the South of it stood the dominie's house." Finding the sending of settlers too expensive, the Dutch West India Company in 1629 adopted the method of granting manorial rights, known as the Patroon System (q. v.). Kiliaen Van Rensse- laer secured the first concession, purchased from the Mohawks a long tract upon the Hudson, including the present site of Albany, and began its colonization in 1630, naming it Rensselaerwyck. In 1652 Pieter Stuyvesant named the district immediately surrounding Fort Orange "Dorpe Beverswyck" (Beaver District Village). In 1664, upon the transfer of New Netherlands to the English, the name was changed to Albany. Nine years later, when the Dutch again obtained possession of the province, it was rechristened Willemstadt, but the following year, 1674, it passed back to the English and was again called Albany. [23] THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY Albany was chartered as a city by Governor Dongan in 1686, the first mayor being Peter Schuyler. (See Schuyler Family.) During the French and Indian War the city was a military storehouse and place of refuge, made secure by a fort and a stockade. The stockade took up a large section, reaching from the head of State Street, below the present Capitol, where about 1676 Fort Frederic (q. v.) was built, to the bank of the river, and from the site of the Union Depot as far south as a point near the present junction of South Pearl and Beaver Streets. Thus this old line of defence, which was completed in the spring of 1660, included nearly all the present business section of Albany. At no time, however, was it captured or even assaulted. Here, in 1754, was held the first General Continental Congress, com- missioners of seven colonies meeting to consider a plan of permanent union. In 1797 Albany was made the capital of the State, and as such a political center of activity and importance. The celebration in 1886 of the bi-centennial of the city's incor- poration brought into prominence many events of historical interest, and also resulted hi the erection of a number of bronze tablets at the more important points, on which much historical information is concisely and vividly recorded. A tablet in front of the Van Benthuysen Building on Broadway marks the site of the Southeast Gate in the old stockade. Here also stood the second City Hall, "in which the Congress of 1754 met and prepared a Union of the several Colonies for mutual defense and security. . . . On this ground was the house where lived Pieter Schuyler, the first and for eight successive years mayor of this city." A tablet on North Pearl Street, opposite the Delaware and Hudson Building, marks the Northwest Gate, and also the spot where Governor DeWitt Clinton, father of the Erie Canal, died on February 11, 1828. On the north- west corner of the Union Passenger Station a tablet commemorates the Northeast Gate. It bears the following inscription: "A little to the East of this spot stood the North East Gate of the city. Here it was that Symon Schermerhorn at five o'clock in the morning, 'Die Sabbithi,' February 9, 1690, after a hard ride by the way of Niskayuna in the intense cold and deep snow, shot in the thigh and his horse wounded, arrived with just enough strength to awaken the guard and alarm the people of Albany with the news 'Yt ye French and Indians nave murthered ye people of Skinnechtady!' Symon's son and negroes were killed on that fatal night. Symon died in New York, 1696. To the north was the road to the Canadas. Through this gate passed many of the troops at various times rendezvoused at Albany. The remains of Lord Howe were brought back this way, and Burgoyne returned a prisoner." [24] THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY After the lapse of more than two hundred and fifty years since the building of the Northeast Gate, "the road to the Canadas" still leaves from this point. The log palisade is gone, and the wooden gate has crumbled to dust. In its place stands an impressive struc- ture of steel and stone, the Northeast Gate as of old, through which pass now in a single summer more vacationists bound for the his- toric country to the north than the number of all the armies that fought for its possession. On the southeast corner of State Street and South Pearl Street a tablet commemorates the site of the oldest building in Albany. Here Gen. Philip Schuyler was born, and also Elizabeth Schuyler, who became the wife of Alexander Hamilton. "Adjoining on the west was the famous Lewis Tavern. South Pearl Street was for- merly Washington Street, and was but twelve feet wide, having a gate at this place. This house was called the Staats House, and was more elaborately furnished than other houses of the time, being wainscoted and ornamented with tiles and carvings. It was the house of Mayor John Schuyler." Many other tablets are scattered in different parts of the city, testifying to the important position which Albany has always held in the affairs of the Colonies and of the nation. ALGONQUINS were a group of Indian tribes living north of the St. Lawrence river when Champlain first entered its mouth. They were closely related to the Hurons and other tribes extending far into the northwest, and to the Mohicans, Pequots, Narragansetts, and other New England tribes, and to still others occupying a part of southeastern New York, Virginia, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. They had long been at deadly war with the Iroquoia (q. v.), of central New York, who were distinguished from the Algonquins and related tribes by a radical difference of language. Thus they allied themselves readily with the French in their campaigns against the English, as the Iroquois fought with the English against the French. Remnants of the Algonquin tribes are still to be found, mostly in the provinces of Quebec and Ontario. ALLEN, ETHAN, was one of the most picturesque heroes of the days of '76. "In 1766 he went to the then almost unsettled domain between the Green Mountains and Lake Champlain, where he was a bold leader of the settlers on the New Hampshire Grants in their bitter controversy with the authorities of New York. Dur- ing the controversy several pamphlets were written by Allen, in his [25] THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY peculiar Btyle, which forcibly illustrated the injustice of the action of the New York authorities. The latter declared Allen an outlaw, and offered a reward of one hundred and fifty pounds for his arrest. He defied his enemies, and persisted in his course. Early in May, 1775, he led a few men and took the fortress of Ticonderoga by surprise. His followers were called 'Green Mountain Boys.' His success as a partisan caused him to be sent twice into Canada during the latter half of 1775 to win the people over to the republican cause. In the last of these expeditions he attempted, with Colonel Brown, to capture Montreal (Sept. 25, 1775), but was made a prisoner himself and sent to England in irons, whence, after a con- finement of some weeks, he was sent to Halifax. Five months later he was removed to New York. On the 6th of May, 1778, he was exchanged, after a captivity of about two years, for Colonel Campbell, and returned home, where he was received with joy and honors. He was invested with the chief command of the State militia. Congress immediately gave him the commission of lieu- tenant-colonel in the Continental army. When, in the course of the war, Vermont assumed and maintained an independent position, a fruitless attempt was made by Beverly Robinson to bribe Allen to lend his support to a union of that province with Canada. He was supposed to be disaffected towards the revolted colonies, and he fostered that impression in order to secure the neutrality of the British towards his Mountain State until the close of the war. As a member of the legislature of Vermont, and as a delegate in Con- gress, he secured the great object of his efforts namely, the ulti- mate recognition of Vermont as an independent State. He removed to Bennington before the close of the war, thence to Arlington, and finally died in Burlington." (passing's "Cyclopaedia of U. S. His- tory.") His most memorable utterance, upon demanding the sur- render of Fort Ticonderoga (q. v.), "In the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress," has been otherwise reported, as "In the name of the Continental Congress, and by I'll have it." A more likely version is "Surrender, you old rat," quoted by one of his followers. ANTI-RENTISM grew out of an attempt to enforce certain provisions of the old Patroon (q.v.) System Albany, Rensselaer and Delaware, among other counties, being greatly excited for a number of years following the death of the last of the patroons in 1839. Bands of men disguised as Indians tarred and feathered, and, in several instances, murdered officers of the law, and two men were [26] THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY sentenced to death and twenty more to State prison, only to be pardoned by Governor Young, who was elected on the anti-rent issue. The matter was finally settled by the Constitutional Convention of 1846, which adopted amendments definitely abolishing all feudal tenures, and forbidding leases of agricultural lands for a period of more than twelve years. A number of Cooper's novels, "Satanstoe," "The Chain-Bearer," "The Redskins," are concerned with the anti-rent issue. ARMORER'S ERRAND. Among the messengers sent out by Ethan Allen to collect forces for his attack on Ticonderoga was Maj. Gershom Beach, a blacksmith, who went on foot to Rutland, Pittsford, Brandon, Middlebury, Whiting and Shoreham, making a circuit of sixty miles in twenty-four hours. This is one of the remarkable episodes of the American Revolution, and one that has never received the recognition that it deserves. The ride of Paul Revere was a holiday excursion compared with the journey of Gershom Beach. Every step had to be taken on foot "through a country practically without roads, an expanse of forest broken only at long intervals by a little clearing. The messenger must climb steep hills, thread his way through the valleys, avoid swamps, and cross unbridged streams. As night fell, still he must hold to a course not easily followed by daylight, and pause to arouse each family from sleep." (Crockett.) Mrs. Julia C. R. Dorr, the Ver- mont poet, has written of the journey of Beach in a poem entitled "The Armorer's Errand": "Blacksmith and armorer stout was he, First in the fight and first in the breach, And first in the work where a man should be." "He threaded the valleys, he climbed the hills, He forded the rivers, he leaped the rills. While still to his call, like minute men, Booted and spurred, from mount and glen, The settlers rallied. But on he went, Like an arrow shot from a bow, unspent, Down the long vale of the Otter to where The might of the waterfall thundered in air; Then across to the lake, six leagues and more, Where Hand's Cove lay in the bending shore. The goal was reached. He dropped to the ground. In a deep ravine, without word or sound; And sleep, the restorer, bade him rest, Like a weary child, on the earth's brown breast." [27] THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY ARNOLD, BENEDICT, whose name is written in the history of America with letters of infamy, might well have been remembered as one of the nation's greatest patriots and benefactors. It seems evident, however, that the honorable part of his career in the Revo- lution is traceable more to personal bravery, to ambition, and to spontaneous reaction to the conditions in which he found himself, than to deep-rooted attachment to the cause of independence. His services to the country, nevertheless, were no less valuable on this account. He claimed to have conceived the idea of capturing Ticonderoga, and was commissioned a colonel by the Massachusetts Committee of Safety for the accomplishment of this object. Finding Ethan Allen and others already embarked upon a similar mission, he deferred to Allen and joined the expedition as a volunteer. Later he commanded an expedition against Quebec, which marched northward through the entire extent of the Maine wilderness, after which he went up Lake Champlain to Ticonderoga, where he was placed in command of a fleet on the lake. His engagement with the British under Carleton (see Battle of Valcour) was the first naval conflict with the mother country. He was largely responsible for the defeat of Burgoyne in the battle of Saratoga (q. v.), where he was severely wounded. After a reprimand by Washington, ordered by the Continental Congress because of fraudulent transactions while he was military governor of Philadelphia, he plotted to betray the country, his plans being all but consummated at West Point in September, 1780. AUSABLE RIVER rises in Indian Pass but a short distance from the source of the Hudson, and takes its tumultuous course northward and eastward, passing near its mouth through a tre- mendous rocky chasm which has become world-famous as one of the natural wonders of this continent. It takes its name from its sandy bed near its mouth the French word for sand being sable. BAKER, CAPT. REMEMBER, one of the most prominent and daring leaders of the Green Mountain Boys, was killed by Indians near the mouth of the Lacolle River, a tributary of the Richelieu, while on scout service in connection with Montgomery's Expedition (q. v.) to Canada in August, 1775. He is said to have been the first American killed on Canadian soil during the Revolu- tionary War. A tablet to his memory has been erected on Isle La Motte. (See Commemorative Boulder on Isle La Motte.) [28] THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY BAKER'S FALLS is the local name for the falls on the Hudson River at Hudson Falls, so named from Albert Baker, the first settler, who built a sawmill there in 1768. The fall from the crest of Richard's Dam to the foot of Baker's Falls is about eighty-five feet, making the water-power at Hudson Falls second only to Niagara Falls in the State of New York. BALLSTON SPA, although less widely known than Saratoga Springs, is really, of the two, the original resort. Hither (although some authorities claim it was the High Rock spring) in 1767 was brought by his Indian friends Sir William Johnson, when very ill, and here he quickly recovered his health, and returned to his home and Indian mistress in Johnstown. Ballston suffered a "northern invasion" in the fall of 1780, when Captain Munroe, formerly a trader in Schenectady, headed a detachment of Major Carleton's band of Tories and Mohawk Indians, devastating, plundering, and taking prisoners. (See Carleton's Raid.) BATTLE OF DIAMOND ISLAND. Following the capture of Ticonderoga by Burgoyne, in 1777 (see Burgoyne's Campaign), large quantities of supplies were placed on Diamond Island in Lake George, under guard of two companies of the British. Here they were attacked by Colonels Brown and Warner of the American army on July 24th, but without success. Brown and Warner thereupon retired to the east side of the lake, burned their boats and retreated through the woods to Paulet, Vermont. BATTLE OF HUBBARDTON. Upon the evacuation of Fort Ticonderoga by the American troops in July, 1777 (see Burgoyne's Campaign), a portion of the American army, acting as a rear guard to St. Glair's retreating orces, took up a position at Hubbardton, where they were attacked by the British on the morning of the 8th. The British were held in .check for some time, but receiving a rein- forcement of Hessian troops under Baron Riedesel, the Americans were obliged to give way. It is here that tradition credits Col. Seth Warner, who was in command, with shouting to his men, "Take to the woods, boys, and meet me at Manchester." They vanished from the sight of the astonished British and Hessians like mist before the morning sun. BATTLE OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. One of the most important naval engagements of the War of 1812 was fought off the town of Plattsburg, September 11, 1814, between a British fleet under [29] THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY Capt. George Downie and an American squadron under Commodore Thomas MacDonough. In August a British army of about 12,000 under Sir George Prevost advanced along the western shore of the lake to Plattsburg, which was held by General Macomb with about 1500 men, the object being to penetrate to the Hudson as Burgoyne had attempted to do in 1777. To effect this movement it was necessary to dispose of the American fleet, consisting of fourteen vessels of all classes, carrying 86 guns and 850 men. Anticipating the arrival of the British, MacDonough had extended his fleet across the entrance of Cumberland Bay, from Crab Island on the south to near Cumberland Head on the north. They were all at anchor, this being the one naval battle of consequence in which the vessels of either side remained at anchor during the entire engage- ment. MacDonough, however, had taken the precaution to drop auxiliary anchors astern of each ship, with cables running to their bows, by which they could be readily swung around. It was this brilliant maneuver which decided the action. When the British appeared around Cumberland Head, MacDonough assembled the crew of his flagship on the quarter-deck, where he knelt and com- mended his men, his cause and himself to the Leader of Hosts. The British fleet consisted of sixteen vessels, carrying 95 guns and 937 men. Fire was opened by the Americans, but not returned until the British flagship, the "Confiance," had reached a position opposite the head of the American column. Both fleets were then anchored in long lines, parallel to each other. The first broadside of the "Con- fiance" killed or wounded forty men on the "Saratoga," MacDonough's flagship nearly one-fifth of her force. The engagement at once became general. On the "Saratoga" a hencoop was shot away and a rooster, released, flew into the rigging, where he remained flapping his wings and crowing until the action ceased. Within an hour the starboard battery of the "Saratoga" was disabled, whereupon the cable to her auxiliary anchor was manned and the ship swung around until her port battery was brought to bear upon the "Confiance." The remainder of the fleet executed the same maneuver and raked the British vessels with galling effect. Captain Downie of the ' 'Confiance" was killed, and all of the ships in the British squadron were so badly shot to pieces that they were in a sinking condition. After two and a hah* hours of this desperate fighting the British flag was struck. The Americans, however, were in no condition to press their victory further. Not a mast in either fleet was fit to carry sail. The British finally managed to limp off, while the Americans remained at anchor. [30] THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY Immediately upon the cessation of the battle, the land attack of the British, which had begun with the appearance of the fleet around Cumberland Head, was abandoned. (See Plattsburg.) Thus ended the second attempt of the British arms to control the Champlain Valley. The soldiers and sailors of both fleets who were killed in the fight were later buried on Crab Island (q. v.), where a monument has been erected to their memory. In the Plattsburg cemetery, across the bay, Captain Downie and the British and American officers who fell with him were interred, where, after the lapse of a hundred years, lie friend and foe alike, a flag with the emblem of the Grand Army of the Republic marking the graves of each. The British loss was about two hundred, including prisoners; the killed and wounded Americans numbering one hundred and twelve. The British lost all but twenty of the ninety-five guns they brought into action. During most of the fight MacDonough pointed a favorite gun, and was twice knocked senseless. For his services he was made captain, received a gold medal from Congress, and was presented by the legislature of Vermont with an estate on Cumber- land Head, overlooking the scene of the engagement. At the time of the action his official rank was that of master commandant, though he was then popularly called commodore. It was not until later that he was regularly commissioned a commodore in the navy. The last eye-witness of the Battle of Lake Champlain was prob- ably Benajah Phelps, who died in Colorado Springs, November 25, 1903, at the age of one hundred and three. His story of the engage- ment, as related to J. E. Tuttle, was printed in the Outlook for November 2, 1901. BATTLE OF LAKE GEORGE was fought September 8, 1755, in three distinct engagements. Baron Dieskau, in command of six hundred Indians, as many Canadians, and two hundred French regulars, ascended Lake Champlain intending to attack Fort Lyman, afterwards Fort Edward (q. v.), but for some reason turned towards Lake George, where Gen. Sir William Johnson's army of colonists on an expedition for the capture of Crown Point were encamped. In the vicinity of the present Williams Monument (q. v.), the French surprised and engaged 1,000 New England militia, under Colonel Williams, and their allies, two hundred Mohawks. Colonel Williams was killed and his men put to flight. As they retreated towards the lake three hundred were sent out to succor them, and the fighting [31] THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY was resumed near the English camp; General Johnson being in com- mand till wounded, when Gen. Phinehas Lyman succeeded him. The savage allies of the French were inclined to skulk, the Canadians were frightened, and Dieskau's regulars had to bear the brunt of the battle. Nearly all of them were killed, and Dieskau was wounded and taken prisoner. The same day at sunset a party of French, who had halted at Bloody Pond, were surprised and routed by a detachment from Fort Lyman with such results as gave this bit of water its sanguinary name. In all, the casualties of the day were, of the French, nearly four hundred; of the English, two hundred and sixty-two. For this victory General Johnson received the thanks of Parliament, and was voted five thousand pounds and created a baronet, but General Lyman was not mentioned in the report, and received no honors. The battle monument, erected in 1903, stands in the State reserva- tion of thirty-five acres, at the head of the lake. BATTLE OF LACOLLE was an indecisive engagement between the Americans and British, fought at Lacolle, north of Plattsburg, March 30, 1814. It was one of the preliminaries in the defence of the Champlain Valley against the southward advance of the British. (See Plattsburg and Battle of Lake Champlain.) BATTLE OF SARATOGA. Two important battles of the Revolution are known by this name, because fought on nearly the same ground and by practically the same forces; the one September 19, the other October 7, 1777. The first is also known as the battle of Freeman's Farm, first battle of Stillwater, and first battle of Bemis Heights; the second also as that of Bemis Heights and of Stillwater. The first, in which each side lost from six hundred to one thousand, was indecisive; the second was followed ten days later by the surrender of Burgoyne and his army. (See Burgoyne's Campaign.) At Bemis Heights, nine miles south of old Saratoga, now Schuyler- ville, Burgoyne encountered the entrenched Americans under Gates, and September 19th attempted to turn their left. In this, after two hours' desperate fighting, he was frustrated by Gen. Benedict Arnold, assisted by Gen. Dan Morgan, and would then, perhaps, have been disastrously defeated had Arnold been properly sup- ported. This not being done, a quarrel arose between Gates and Arnold, and the latter asked and received permission to return to Philadelphia. He finally yielded, however, to the wishes of many [32] GRAVE OF CAPTAIN DOWNIE AND BRITISH AND AMERICAN OFFICERS WHO FELL IN BATTLES OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN AND PLATTSBURG MONUMENT ON CRAB ISLAND TO THE SOLDIERS AND SAILORS WHO FELL IN BATTLES OF PLATTSBURG AND LAKE CHAMPLAIN THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY officers, who knowing a decisive battle was imminent, and having no confidence in Gates, begged him to remain. At the decisive moment, on October 7th, he rushed upon the field without orders, and together with Gen. Dan Morgan (q. v.) and Gen. Enoch Poor (q. v.), in a series of magnificent charges, broke through the enemy's lines, putting them to flight and winning the victory. Just at the close of the battle Arnold was severely wounded and was taken on a litter to Albany, where he remained disabled till the following spring. During the night Burgoyne retreated and took up a strong posi- tion about twelve miles from Saratoga Springs (at Schuylerville), where, entirely surrounded, his supplies cut off, with no hope of relief, which he had expected from the south and west, and the American army every day growing stronger, he surrendered to General Gates on October 17th. The victory roused the wildest enthusiasm throughout the country, and was the determining event that led France to her alliance with the United States. (See Saratoga Battle Monument.) "We are told that, during more than twenty centuries of war and bloodshed, only fifteen battles have been decisive of lasting results. The contest of Saratoga is one of these. From the battle of Marathon to the field of Waterloo, a period of more than 2,000 years, there was no martial event which had greater influence than that which took place on the battlefield of Saratoga." Horatio Seymour. BATTLE ON SNOWSHOES is one of the inexact designations which has often been applied to the engagement between Rogers's rangers and the French on March 13, 1758. It was one of the brushes which the uncompromising outposts of the British army, the backwoodsmen of the ranger corps, were continually having, which had no decisive results whatever save as a check to French raids, and which are worth recording and treasuring in memory simply because of the indomitable determination with which they were carried through. On this particular occasion Rogers had been dispatched with one hundred and eighty men to attack a French outpost at Ticonderoga. He proceeded up Lake George to near the vicinity of the mountain which now bears his name, where he crossed over to the western side of the range and marched his men down Trout Brook. He observed every precaution in his advance and kept a portion of his men in the rear as a reserve. The French, however, had warning of his approach, and instead of encountering [33] THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY an outpost, he met first a email detachment and was immediately thereafter attacked by a force of upward of six hundred. In the pitched battle which ensued, ninety-nine of Rogers's little command were killed, or more than one-half, and many others were wounded. The details of this fight in the deep snow and bitter cold, as drawn from Rogers's own report in his private Journal, afford one of the most vivid pictures of the desperate fighting of the times of which we have record. "Rogers retreated with the remainder of his party in the best manner possible. Several men, who were wounded and fatigued, were taken by the savages who pursued his retreat. He reached Lake George in the evening, where he was joined by several wounded men. From this place an express was dispatched to Colonel Haviland for assistance to bring in the wounded. The party passed the night with- out fire or blankets, which were lost with their knapsacks. The night was extremely cold, and the wounded suffered much pain, but behaved in a manner consistent with their conduct in the action. "In the morning the party proceeded up the lake, and at Hoop Island met Capt. John Stark bringing to their relief provisions, blankets and sleighs. They encamped on the island, and passed the night with good fires. On the evening of March 15th they arrived at Fort Edward." Caleb Stark. BATTLE OF VALCOUR. The first naval conflict between Great Britain and the Colonies was fought off the southwestern shore of Valcour Island in Lake Champlain on October 11, 1776. The American fleet under Benedict Arnold consisted of one sloop, two schooners, four galleys and eight gondolas. Preparatory to an attempt to seize Fort Ticonderoga and gain command of the lake, the British had built a fleet at St. Johns, on the Richelieu River, which was far superior, consisting of twenty-nine vessels in all. Arnold had taken up a position between Valcour Island and the mainland. The British wore around the southern end of the island in the face of a heavy wind and engaged first the "Royal Savage," Arnold's flagship, which had advanced to meet them. Finding the fire too heavy, Arnold attempted to return to the line, but his vessel grounded on Valcour Island and was abandoned. The remains of the hull are still to be seen, when the water is clear, but a short distance from the shore. The battle continued all day, the heavy wind from the northwest making it difficult for the English vessels to work within range. Under cover of darkness and storm Arnold [34] THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY slipped through their lines, which had been extended to hold him, and set sail for Crown Point. The next day, October 12th, he re- paired some of his vessels in the shelter of Schuyler Island, and it is a tradition of the lake that while lying there he dressed his masts with green boughs to escape detection. A number of his vessels had sunk or gone aground, but setting sail for Crown Point with those that were left he was overtaken by Captain Pringle on the 13th, and a running fight ensued, as a result of which Arnold finally ran the remainder of his fleet ashore in what is now Arnold Bay, and after setting the ships on fire retreated through the woods to Crown Point. The British, although victorious in this battle, were so discouraged at their losses that they retired to Montreal for the whiter. Thus Arnold by his bravery and skill set back the English invasion of the Champlain Valley for a full year. BATTLE OF WILTON. Following the expedition of Maj. Peter Schuyler in 1691 against the French settlement of La Prairie (q. v.), Count Frontenac determined to strike a blow in retaliation upon the Mohawk Indians who had assisted in the attack. '' Accord- ingly, in January, 1693, he sent a force of six hundred and twenty-five men, including Indians, who passed down over the old trail that led from Lake George to the bend of the Hudson above Glens Falls, and from thence through Wilton, Greenfield, and along the brow of the Kay-ad-ros-se-ra range to the Mohawk castles. On its return march over this trail, the war party was followed by Maj. Peter Schuyler and his forces, who overtook it in the town of Greenfield, or Wilton, Saratoga county. Near the old Indian Pass over the Palmerstown range, on the border of Wilton, almost, if not quite, in sight of Saratoga Springs, in the month of February, 1693, a battle was fought, or rather a series of engagements took place, in which the French loss amounted in all to thirty-three killed and twenty-six wounded. At the conclusion of the fight the French retreated towards the Hudson. It had been thawing and the ice was floating in the river. When the French arrived on its banks a large cake of ice had lodged in the bend of the stream. The French crossed over on this cake of ice in safety, but before their pursuers came up it had floated away, leaving them no means of crossing, and the chase was relinquished." Sylvester. BETTYS, JOSEPH, a native of Saratoga county, was among those taken prisoner by the British at the naval battle on Lake Champlain, October 13, 1776 (see Battle of Valcour), and joined [35] THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY the royal standard, becoming a spy. He was once saved from the gallows by Washington, who listened to the intercession of the spy's aged parents, on his promise to be loyal. But he rejoined the enemy, and for a long time his cold-blooded murders his plundering and his incendiarism made him a terror to the whole region about Albany, till, in 1782, he was caught and hanged in that city as a spy and a traitor. BLACK WATCH MEMORIAL is a Library and Historical Building in Ticonderoga Village, and is unique as a memorial in a Yankee village to a British Regiment. The Black Watch, "black" from its somber tartan, and "watch" because formed to keep- order in the Highlands, otherwise known as the 42d Royal Highlanders, is the oldest Highland Regiment in the British Army It was em- bodied in 1739 from independent companies, and no British Regiment has a more honorable record for distinguished service performed in every part of the globe. It sustained a loss of seven officers and three hundred and six rank and file killed, and seventeen officers and three hundred and sixteen rank and file wounded, out of a total strength of one thousand engaged in the desperate assault on the French lines at Fort Ticonderoga, July 8, 1758. (See Abercrombie's Expedition.) The extent of this casualty can be better comprehended when it is realized that it is twice as high a percentage as the loss of the Light Brigade at Balaklava, immortalized by Tennyson. The Black Watch assisted in the capture of Fort Ticonderoga by Amherst in 1759. A Bronze Tablet in the reading room of the Memorial Building was presented in 1906 by the officers of the regiment and unveiled by Maj. D. L. Wilson Farquharson, who came from Scotland to make the presentation. BLOODY MORNING SCOUT. Gen. Sir William Johnson, while in camp at the head of Lake George, close to the present site of Fort William Henry Hotel, learned that Dieskau had left Ticon- deroga and was advancing with a strong party to wards Fort Ed ward. He thereupon sent Col. Ephraim Williams with reinforcements towards the fort. They were ambushed en route by Dieskau and driven back. Fighting continued through the day, at the end of which the French were routed. Much of it occurred near a small pond south of Fort William Henry Hotel, from which it received its name of Bloody Pond, and the engagement in which Williams was killed that of the Bloody Morning Scout. (See Battle of Lake George.) [36] THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY /77; Road . when, to avenge the death of her son, killed in battle, she is charged with tomahawking fourteen persons, although Stone argues, chiefly from her reputed personality, that this could not be true. A rock near Wilkes-Barre is called Queen Esther's rock. [1031 THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY RANGERS were a corps of adventurous spirits raised by Robert Rogers during the French and Indian War, to perform scout duty, make raids against the French, and harass them in every way possible. The organization was continually on duty, both as a whole and in detachments, and rendered a service as efficient as it was spectacular. Among bis lieutenants Rogers numbered John Stark and Israel Putnam, two names which in after-years took foremost rank during the Revolution. RENSSELAER, formerly known as Greenbush, and by the Dutch as Het Greene Bosch, across the river from Albany, was in two wars the rendezvous for troops. It was here that both the unfortunate General Abercrombie and the extravagant General Amherst col- lected in 1758-59 their respective armies for the capture of the French forts on Lake Champlain. About a mile away from the ferry is the site of the barracks erected by the United States Govern- ment in 1812, with accommodations for 6,000 soldiers marshalled to defend the frontier, or invade Canada, as circumstances might require. General Dearborn, Senior Major-General of the United States Army, and in command of the Northern Department, had his headquarters here for some tune. Here, also, was the birthplace of Yankee Doodle (q. v.)- RIEDESEL, BARON AND MADAME, were both with Bur- goyne (see Burgoyne's Campaign) at the time of his surrender. The Baron was in command of the Hessian troops, which formed an important part of the expedition, and she, with her children, accom- panied her husband. For six days, during the active hostilities of the Battle of Saratoga, she and her companions remained in the cellar of what was afterwards called the Riedesel House, opposite the mouth of the Battenkill, on the Hudson. It was she who ten- derly nursed the mortally wounded British general, Fraser (q. v.), and recorded his last words and wishes. After the surrender, both she and her husband were hospitably entertained by General Schuyler, at the Schuyler Mansion in Albany, due acknowledgment of which is made in her letters, published in Berlin, in 1800, and translated by W. L. Stone. ROCK DUNDER lifts its bare surface above the level of Lake Champlain just southeast of Juniper Island. It is small in extent and at times of high water or storm is hidden from view. From a distance it is easily mistaken for a boat, and this has led to many amusing incidents which have become traditions of the locality. It [104] THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY is a continual object of interest to passengers on the steamers of the Champlain Transportation Company, which pass close by it on entering and leaving Burlington at the south. ROGERS, CAPT. ROBERT (1727-1800), a native of New Hampshire, raised and commanded Rogers's Rangers, which acquired a great reputation in the vicinity of Lake George during the French and Indian War. During 1756, with Fort William Henry as a base of operations, he made thirteen daring raids into the country around Ticonderoga. In January, 1757, his band of one hundred and seventy, while scouting north of that place, met with one hundred French and six hundred Indians, and lost one hundred men, though they killed one hundred and fifty of French and Indians. In August he repulsed an attack of the French, under Marin, near Fort Ann. In 1759 he was sent by Sir Jeffrey Amherst from Crown Point to destroy the village, near the St. Lawrence, of the Abenakis, or St. Francis Indians, who had long been the scourge of the frontier. This service he performed, killing two hundred Indians, although in getting back to the English outpost his force was almost annihilated. On one of his scouting expeditions, in March, 1758, he was pursued by Indians from Ticonderoga, and coming to the crest of a moun- tain at the lower end of Lake George, at a point where it sloped almost precipitately down to the ice, he took off his pack and allowed it to slide down through the snow. Then putting his snowshoes on backwards, he descended by another route. The Indians on coming up, believed he had been met by another on the summit, and that they had fought and rolled down the cliff together. Seeing Rogers unharmed on the ice below, they concluded that he was under the protection of the Great Spirit, and gave up the chase. The precipice has since been known as Rogers's Rock. His name is also perpetuated in an island in the Hudson, opposite Fort Edward, where a block- house once stood and troops were encamped. Rogers's latter career was badly clouded. As commandant of Michilimackinac, Mich., he was accused, although not convicted, of plotting to plunder his own fort and deliver it to the French. During the Revolution he was suspected by the Americans of being a British spy; and afterwards violated his parole, accepting a com- mission in the British Army. In 1778 he was proscribed and ban- ished, after which date his history is lost. He was a writer as well as fighter. His Journal has had different editors, one being Franklin B. Hough, of Albany (1883). [105] THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY RURAL CEMETERY, THE ALBANY, for which there is a special station on the Delaware and Hudson, is the resting place of many men eminent in their country's history. Among them are Gen. Philip Schuyler, Gen. Solomon Van Rensselaer, Gen. Peter Gansevoort, Col. John Mills, Pres. Chester A. Arthur, William L. Marcy, Daniel Manning, Thurlow Weed, and many heroes of the Civil War. OANDY HILL, probably originally named Kingsbury, was at O first so nicknamed from the long sandy hill on the main high- way leading north from the village. It was said to have been fas- tened to the beautiful village by Burgoyne's teamsters. It was incorporated in 1810 and the name changed to Hudson Falls in 1910. Sandy Hill in the first half of the last century was the most promi- nent village north of Troy and was noted for its distinguished men. Among many could be named Gov. Silas Wright, Gov. Nathaniel Pitcher, William L. Lee, Chief Justice and Lord High Chancellor of the Sandwich Islands, Gen. Orville Clark, Atty.-Gen. John H. Martindale, and Hon. Charles Rogers. SARATOGA BATTLE MONUMENT, erected to commemorate the surrender of Burgoyne (see Burgoyne's Campaign), is in the village of Schuylerville, which was formerly known as Old Saratoga. It stands within the lines of Burgoyne's intrenchments, on a bluff three hundred and fifty feet above the Hudson, and from a height of one hundred and fifty-five feet overlooks the grounds of the surrender. A staircase of bronze leads from the base to the top, where can be seen the entire region between Lake George, the Green Mountains and the Catskills. On each of three sides of the monu- ment is a niche containing heroic statues of Generals Gates, Schuyler and Morgan, while the fourth is left vacant, with the name of Arnold inscribed underneath. With the monument, and lining its two stories, are decorations in bronze representing historical and allegorical scenes connected with the campaign of Burgoyne. The corner-stone was laid on October 17, 1877, when poems and addresses were delivered by Horatio Seymour, George William Curtis, James Grant Wilson, Alfred B. Street and William L. Stone. (See Battle of Saratoga.) It was formally dedicated by the State of New York in October, 1912, with impressive civil and military ceremonies. SARATOGA LAKE is three and a half miles east of the village of Saratoga Springs. It is about five miles in length, with an average width of one mile. Here have taken place some of the most brilliant [106] THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY and exciting college regattas ever held in America. It was a favorite resort of the Indians, as it is now of summer vacationists and excur- sion parties. SARATOGA MASSACRE occurred on the morning of the 17th of November, 1745, at old Fort Saratoga, near the mouth of Fish Creek, where Schuylerville now stands. A horde of French and Indians, under the leadership of Marin, had come down from Montreal to raid the settlements in the Connecticut Valley. The approach of winter, however, and the lack of suitable provisions, led the Indians to refuse to go eastward of Crown Point. Accordingly, at the instance of Father Piquet, the French Prefect, Apostolique of Canada, the band turned southward towards Fort Orange. "The scowling portholes of the old Schuyler mansion seemed to laugh between the tendrils of the creeping vines. Suddenly, in the early morning, the scene of peace and prosperity was changed to slaughter, pillage and destruction. Philip Schuyler, the elder, uncle of Gen. Philip Schuyler, was offered immunity in the midst of the fray; but he scorned safety at the expense of his neighbors, and was shot to death in his own doorway. The houses and fort were burned to the ground, the cattle killed or burned in their stalls, and only one or two inhabitants escaped to tell the tale." Ellen Hardia Walworth, in Historic Towns. SARATOGA SPRINGS takes its name from Fort Saratoga, which stood beside the Hudson on the present site of Schuylerville. The derivation of the word Saratoga, however, is shrouded in obscurity. Many attempts have been made to establish its meaning, but all have been conjectures, most of which are without sound foundation in the Iroquois language. It has been asserted, for instance, that it comes from two Indian words meaning "Place of Salt, " whence the Salt Springs, and also that it means "Place of Sparkling Waters." These interpretations are erroneous, a fact especially evident since the original application of the word was to a point on the Hudson and not to the Springs at all. The changes of time, however, have caused Old Saratoga to be entirely forgotten, except by those who find interest in history and tradition, while to the modern world the name has become a synonym for Salt Springs and Sparkling Waters, and a designation for one of the best known health and pleasure resorts on the American continent. The develop- ment of this celebrated watering place began at the High Rock Springs, which was known to the Indians. As long ago as 1783, 1107] THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and Gov. George Clinton visited the Springs together. The list of distinguished personages who have since enjoyed its benefits and pleasures would more than fill this book of notes to overflowing. Next to the original Indian occupants, the ground on which the village of Saratoga stands, and through which the mineral waters of Saratoga percolate, belonged to Rip Van Dam, who received it by allotment in 1770, but is otherwise unknown to fame. The first hotel was built by Dirck Scoughten in 1771, near the High Rock Spring, and was occupied three years later by John Arnold of Rhode Island. The surroundings at that time included sixteen Indian cabins in plain sight. Wolves howled and panthers screamed by night, black bears were out for berries in the daytime, wild deer and moose drank from brook and lake, and overhead eagles soared and built their nests in the lofty pines. The first cottage owner was Gen. Philip Schuyler, who, in 1783, built a Bummer-house near the Springs. At the time Sir William Johnson visited the High Rock Spring, it is said that the waters had ceased to flow over the top, and there is a legend to the effect that it was because some squaws had washed themselves there that the offended waters shrank from their polluting touch into the bosom of the rock. It was not till 1866 that a little scientific tubing induced them to resume their original channel. Knowledge of the other springs, of which there are many, has come in some cases by careful searching, in others by chance. Congress Spring was discovered in 1792 by Gov. John Taylor Gilman, of New Hampshire, a Revo- lutionary soldier and member of the Continental Congress, in honor of which it was named. Columbian Spring was first tubed in 1805 by Gideon Putnam, who two years before had opened the Union Hotel, which was much larger than any that had preceded it, but small, indeed, compared with the magnificent structures of the present day. Saratoga has had many fires, each conflagration resulting in more commodious and palatial accommodations, till, like the health and pleasure attractions which surround them, they are without an equal in the United States. The erection of an adequate convention hall, in 1893, perfected arrangements by which the largest assemblages political, religious, or fraternal can be admirably housed, and many of the most important and inter- esting national gatherings are now regularly held at Saratoga. All of the important springs in Saratoga have been taken over by the State, and many of those that had failed have been brought [108] THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY back to their former liberal flow by scientific treatment. They are now controlled by the State for the benefit of all the people, with a conservatism which will forever maintain the supremacy of Saratoga among American watering places. SCALPING was practiced by both French and English through- out the Colonial wars. They took not only the scalps of Indians but those of white men as well, and at some of the more atrocious massa- cres it also appears that women and children were scalped in true Indian fashion. Some of the early writers justified the taking of scalps from Indians on the ground that it increased Indian respect for white men as fighters. The custom might better be attributed, however, to the thoroughness with which the first white invaders of the wilderness copied all of the methods of warfare of their savage opponents and allies. Rogers in his journal repeatedly tells of the scalps that he or his rangers took in their skirmishes with the French. With a fine sense of propriety, however, he adopted a different tone when explaining in England how the Indians waged war in America. "They always scalped their victims," he said, "for such is their barbar- ous custom." During Amherst's Campaign of 1759 against Ticon- deroga the scalping of women and children was expressly forbidden in General Orders of June 12th. "It is the General's orders that no scouting parties or others in the army under his command shall, whatsoever opportunity they have, scalp any women or children belonging to the enemy. They may bring them away if they can; but, if not, they are to leave them unhurted; and he is determined that, if they (the French) should murther or scalp any women or children who are subjects of the king of England, he will revenge it by the death of two men of the enemy, whenever he has occasion, for every man, woman, or child murthered by the enemy." SCHENECTADY MASSACRE. Schenectady stands on the site of the great Mohawk "castle" and capital of the Five Nations. It was settled by Arendt Van Curler, or Corlear, from whom Lake Champlain received one of its early names, Corlear's Lake. In February, 1690, a party of one hundred French and as many Indians, the latter under the leadership of Kryn, "The Great Mohawk," all being sent southward from Quebec by Frontenac, approached the town at midnight, on snowshoes, in the midst of a driving snow- storm, entered without being discovered, awoke the two hundred and fifty inhabitants with the war-whoop, killed sixty on the spot, captured ninety, and of the sixty-six houses burned all but six. [109] THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY The following "ballad" of the period, according to the expressed wish of the writer, supposed to have been a member of the garrison at Albany, has stayed on earth long after he is dead. "A Ballad, in which is set forth the horrid cruelties practiced by the French and Indians on the night of the 8th of the last February. The which I did compose last night in the space of one hour; and am now writing, the morning of Friday, June 12th, 1690." "God prosper long our king and queen, Our lives and safeties all; A sad misfortune once there did Schenectady befall. "From forth the woods of Canada The Frenchmen took their way, The people of Schenectady To captivate and slay. "They marched for two and twenty daiea All through the deepest snow; And on a dismal winter night. They strucke the cruel blow. "The lightsome sun that rules the day Had gone down in the west; And eke the drowsie villagers Had sought and found their reste. "They thought they were in saftie And dreampt not of the foe; But att midnight they all awoke In wonderment and woe. "For they were in their pleasant beddea And soundelie sleeping, when Each door was sudden open broke By six or seven men. "The men and women, younge and olde, And eke the girls and boys, All started up in great affright, Att the alarming noise. "They then were murther'd in their beddes Without shame or remorse; And sopne the floors and street were strewed With many a bleeding corse. "The village soon began to blaze, Which shew'd the horrid sight, But, O, I scarce can beare to tell The mis'ries of that night. "They threw the infants in the fire, The men they did not spare, But killed all which they could find Though aged or tho' fair. [110] THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY "O, Christe! In the still midnight air It sounded dismally, The women's prayers, and the loud screams Of their great agony. "Methinks as if I hear them now, All ringing in my ear, The shrieks and groans and woeful sighs They uttered in their fear. "But some run off to Albany And told the doleful tale, Yett though we gave our chearful aid It did not much avail. "And we were horribly afraid, And shook with terror, when They told us that the Frenchmen were More than a thousand men. "The news came on the Sabbath morn Just att the break of day, And with a companie of horse I galloped away. "But soon we found the French were gone With all then- great bootye, And then their trail we did pursue, As was our true dutye. "The Mohaques joyned our brave partye, And followed in the chase, Till we came up with the Frenchmen, Att a most likelye place. "Our soldiers fell upon their rear And killed twenty-five; Our young men were so much enrag'd They took scarce one alive. "D'Aillebout them did commando Which were but thievish rogues, Else why did they consent and goe With bloodye Indian dogges? "And here I end the long ballad The which you just have redde, I wish that it may stay on earth Long after I am dead." SCHUYLER FAMILY has, from the earliest times, held a most prominent place in the history of the country. Philip Pietersen Van Schuyler was the first of that name in the colony, and his son, Col. Peter Schuyler, was first mayor of Albany when it was incorporated in 1686. It was Peter who led an expedition against Fort La Prairie (q. v.) in 1691, following the one of his brother, John Schuyler, against the same place in 1690. Peter's son was Gen. Philip Schuyler, [ill] THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY born at Albany in 1733, and active in the French and Indian War and in the Revolution. In the latter he organized the expedition which was to proceed against Canada by way of Lake Champlain, but was forced by illness to turn over the command to General Mont- gomery. After the evacuation of Ticonderoga by St. Clair, he was accused of neglect of duty and himself demanded a full and complete trial by court-martial. He was finally acquitted of every charge with the highest honor, and this acquittal was confirmed by Congress. His daughter Elizabeth married Alexander Hamilton. The Schuyler mansion stood at the head of Schuyler Street in Albany, and it was in this house that Lafayette, Baron Steuben, Benjamin Franklin, and many other notable persona were enter- tained, among them being Burgoyne, who came there as a prisoner after the surrender at Saratoga. It was at this house, in the summer of 1781, that Canadians and Indians plotted to abduct Gen. Philip Schuyler and carry him from his home in Albany to Canada for ransom. The house was surrounded with armed men, but the General had been warned, and barring and fastening the doors, the family rushed upstairs, only to remember at the last moment that the infant daughter had been left sleeping in her cradle in the nursery. The mother was flying to its rescue, but the General held her back, as the doors were giving way. Thereupon her third daughter (after- wards wife of the last Patroon) rushed down-stairs, caught up the infant and bore it off in safety. As she ran, an Indian hurled his tomahawk, which cut her dress, within a few inches of the child's head, and struck the stair-rail at the lower turn, the cut being visible today. Frightened by the supposed approach of assistance from town, the marauders beat a retreat, carrying off nothing of greater value than the General's silver. SCHUYLER ISLAND, in Lake Champlain, on the northeastern side of Corlear or Douglas Bay, is in full view from the car windows as the train winds around the beautiful shores of the bay. It is believed to have derived its name from the fact that Gen. Philip Schuyler encamped there several days on an expedition to Canada. After Arnold's battle with the British fleet under Carleton (see Battle of Valcour), and when he had slipped away from Carleton in the darkness, he repaired some of his vessels, which were in sinking con- dition, in the shelter of this island. SOREL, CAPTAIN DE, was one of the officers of the Carignan- Salieres (q. v.) regiment sent by Marquis de Tracy in 1660 to build [112] Dillon, McLellan and Beadel, Architects Carl Augiutiu Hebcr, Sculptor CHAMPLAIN MEMORIAL AT PLATTSBURG THE DEEP CLEFT OF SPLIT ROCK SEPARATED IROQUOIS FROM ALGONQUINS AND THE COLONIES FROM CANADA THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY a chain of forts up the Richelieu River and on Lake Champlain. His memory is perpetuated by a name sometimes applied to the Richelieu River the Sorel. SPLIT ROCK. A short distance north of Westport, on the west side of Lake Champlain, is a remarkable rock, thirty feet high and half an acre in extent, which is separated from the mountain by a deep cleft twelve to fifteen feet wide. It was called Rock Regio by the Indi- ans, from an Indian chief who was drowned there, and who was be- lieved to have taken up his residence in the water under the rock. He had power over the winds and waves, and to propitiate him the Indians were accustomed to throw gifts to him as they passed in their canoes. Upon the return of De Courcelles's Expedition (q. v.) from the Mohawk in 1666, Arendt Van Corlear accompanied the party. When opposite Split Rock, so said the Indians, he made insulting gestures to the chief in the water, upon which the old Indian raised a sudden wind, upset the canoe, and drowned the celebrated Dutch- man for his lack of respect. Split Rock was the boundary between the Mohawks and the Algonquins, and in 1713 it was acknowledged by the Treaty of Utrecht as the limit of English dominions. In 1760 it was fixed as the boundary between New York and Canada. This limit was officially acknowledged as late as 1774, but in the following year the Americans passed it under arms, and won and still hold the territory for seventy-seven miles to the north. SPRUCE BEER. In describing the gathering of General Amherst's forces at the head of Lake George, in 1759, Parkman says: "A frequent employment was the cutting of spruce tops to make spruce beer. This innocent beverage was reputed sovereign against scurvy ; and such was the fame of its virtues that a copious supply of West India molasses used in concocting it was thought indispensable to every army or garrison in the wilderness. Throughout this cam- paign it is repeatedly mentioned in general orders, and the soldiers are promised that they shall have as much as they want, at half- penny a quart. " STARK, JOHN, was born at Londonderry, N. H., August27, 1728, and died at Manchester, N. H., May 8, 1822. He thus lived through the most strenuous period of the Colonial wars, the Revolution, and the War of 1812. In both the French and Indian and the Revolu- tionary struggles he was an active participant, and during the later years of his life the recipient of an homage and veneration as well earned on the field of battle as that of any soldier in American history. [1131 THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY Stark first saw active service when he became a lieutenant in Rogers's Rangers in 1755, though he had had much experience in the wilderness before this as a hunter, trapper and pioneer and as a captive for a short period among the St. Francis Indians on the St. Lawrence. Indeed, so quick had he been to exhibit those virtues most admired by the Indians that he was given considerable freedom by his captors, and was finally adopted into the tribe as one of its members. Throughout the records of the French and Indian War, from 1755 to 1759, Stark's name recurs with unusual frequency, both in the reports of scouting expeditions, and in the almost equally exciting accounts of the fortified camps. It is recorded that the attack of Vaudreuil on Fort William Henry (q. v.), in the early morning of March 18, 1757, was repulsed solely because of the vigilance of Stark. On the eve of St. Patrick's Day Stark had overheard members of an Irish regiment, with which the fort was garrisoned, planning their celebration for the following day. He thereupon issued orders to the sutler that no rum should be given to the Rangers under his command on St. Patrick's Day without his written order. Stark then retired, and instructed his orderly to say to all applicants that his hand was lame and he could issue no orders. The Rangers were thus reluctantly obliged to look on at the celebration of the Irish regiment, and incidentally to mount guard upon the walls of the fort. Anticipating just such a celebration, Vaudreuil had planned his attack for that night. He found the Rangers waiting at the first assault, and Stark among them, all lameness gone from his hand. On another occasion, in January, 1757, when a party of Rangers had retreated before a superior force of the French and had reached the ice on Lake George, about forty miles from Fort William Henry, Stark volunteered to proceed to the fort on snowshoes and return with sleighs for the wounded. All the preceding day and night he had undergone the most severe exertion, in action and during the retreat. Nevertheless he covered the forty miles to Fort William Henry by evening, and returned to his comrades with sleighs and a reinforcing party early the next morning. Stark's most memorable service in the Revolution was the defeat of a detachment of British and Hessians under Colonel Baum, which had been sent by Burgoyne from Saratoga to seize supplies located at Bennington. Stark rallied a strong force of volunteers and in a severe engagement defeated and captured the British and Hessian detachment. His defeat of Baum was largely responsible for the [114] THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY failure of Burgoyne's Campaign (q. v.). Stark was subsequently appointed a brigadier-general in the Colonial army and was placed in command of the Northern Department, which included Lake George and Lake Champlain, the scene of the memorable exploits of his earlier life. STEVENSON, ROBERT LOUIS (1850-94), "the best loved writer of his time," spent several months in 1887-88 at Saranac Lake, in the Adirondacks, making the brave fight for life which he kept up uncomplainingly till the end came in far-away Samoa. The close of one of his most powerful and characteristic novels, "The Master of Ballantrae" (1889), is laid in the country north of Albany . His ballad of Ticonderoga is one of the real literary products of that historic place. (See Campbell, Major Duncan.) STONE, WILLIAM L. (1792-1844), was a newspaper writer and historian who paid much attention to events and individuals con- nected with Colonial life and the Revolution; and to him the world is indebted for the truth in regard to many things about which there had been much misstatement. Among his works are: "Border Wars of the American Revolution," "Life of Joseph Brant," "Life of Red Jacket," "Poetry and History of Wyoming," "Uncas and Miantonomah." His only son and namesake (1835), who followed closely in his father's footsteps, delivered the historical address at the laying of the corner-stone of the Saratoga monument, and wrote "Life arid Times of Sir William Johnson," "Letters and Jour- nals of Mrs. General Riedesel," "Life and Military Journals of Major-General Riedesel," "Reminiscences of Saratoga and Ballston," and " Ballads of the Burgoyne Campaign." A tablet to his memory was unveiled by his family at the dedication ceremonies of the monument, in October, 1912. SULLIVAN'S EXPEDITION was dispatched in 1778 to chastise the Senecas and Tories of western New York for their atrocities in the Wyoming Valley. Gen. James Clinton, brother of Governor Clinton, and father of De Witt Clinton, who had been for some time in command at Albany, was ordered to join Sullivan at Tioga Point, on the Susquehanna River. He reached Lake Otsego July 17th, but, finding the outlet too shallow for his purpose, proceeded to dam the water, thereby raising the lake at least two feet. Meantime the brigade remained in Cooperstown till August 8th, when the boats were transferred to the stream, and the invalids, baggage and pro- visions loaded thereon. The remainder of the soldiers prepared to THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY march on both sides. The surplus water was cautiously drawn off, and with the overflow thus afforded the flotilla was carried over shoals and flats, reaching Tioga Point in time to co-operate with Sullivan and win the Battle of Newtown (now Elmira). The Indians were defeated with great loss, all resistance on their part was crushed, and their settlements were destroyed. SUSQUEHANNA TRAIL. "The trails which followed the Sus- quehanna and branches formed the great route to the south and west from central New York. Into the most distant regions the tribes of the Iroquois, from the earliest ages, have gone over this highway of their own building for purposes of war, plunder and pleasure. Along the banks of this stream trails had been deeply worn by red men's feet. In many cases the white men's roads were actually built by widening the trails, as was the case with the present road from Sidney to Unadilla, on the north side of the river, and the main thoroughfare to Oneonta. An Indian trail was from twelve to eighteen inches wide, and often worn to a depth of a foot where the soil yielded. In time of war, trained runners were employed to carry messages. One Indian could run one hundred miles a day." Halsey, in "Old New York Frontier." rpELEGRAPH, BIRTHPLACE OF THE. In the upper rooms J. of the Albany Academy, Joseph Henry, from 1826 to 1832 one of its teachers, first demonstrated the principle of the magnetic telegraph in transmitting intelligence by ringing a bell through a mile of wire strung around the room. Morse subsequently invented a code of signals and the machine for making them, and the thing was done. "The click heard from every joint of those mystic wires which now link together every city and village all over this continent is but the echo of that little bell which first sounded in the upper room of the Albany Academy." T TNADILLA was the place where the last attempt was made to LJ prevent the Six Nations from joining hands with the English against the Americans in the Revolution. A conference was held there in July, 1777, between General Herkimer, who came on with 380 militia, and Chief Joseph Brant, at the head of 130 warriors. After a long talk Brant refused to remain at peace. He declared that the Indians were in concert with the King, as then: fathers and grandfathers had been ; that the King's belts were yet lodged with [116] THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY them, and they could not falsify their pledge; that General Herkimer and the rest had joined the Boston people against the King; that Boston people were resolute, but the King would humble them; that the Indians had formerly made war on the whites all united, and now that they were divided, the Indians were not frightened. The Indians raised the war-whoop, but for the time were restrained by Brant. Just then the bright July sun was clouded, and a terrific storm of hail and rain compelled both sides to seek shelter, an omen, as it was thought, of the dire events that soon devastated that unfortunate frontier. Unadilla was a Tory settlement, and suffered from the other side. VALE OF TAWASENTHA is Longfellow's Indian name for the valley of the Normanskill, crossed by the Susquehanna Division of the Delaware and Hudson, in Albany county. It was the home of Nawadaha, the sweet singer. "In the vale of Tawasentha, In the green and silent valley, By the pleasant water courses Dwelt the singer Nawadaha. Round about the Indian village Spread the meadows and the cornfields, And beyond them stood the forest, Stood the groves of singing pine trees, Green in summer, white in winter, Ever sighing, ever singing. "And the pleasant water courses; You could trace them through the valley By the rushing in the springtime, By the alders in the summer, By the white fog in the autumn, By the black line in the winter; And beside them dwelt the singer, In the vale of Tawasentha. In the green and silent valley. There he sang of Hiawatha, Sang the song of Hiawatha." Longfellow. VAN CORLEAR OR CURLER, ARENDT, was a Holland pioneer of the Seventeenth Century, who founded Schenectady, made peace with the Indians, and for many years had jurisdiction from Beeren Island, in the Hudson, to the mouth of the Mohawk, controlling nearly a thousand square miles of fur-bearing territory. He waa accidentally drowned, at the age of sixty-seven, off Split [117] THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY Rock (q. v.), in Lake Champlain, afterward known to the Dutch as Corlear's Lake. VAN RENSSELAER, GEN. SOLOMON (1774-1852), who is buried in the Rural Cemetery (q. v.), was with "Mad" Anthony Wayne at the Battle of Maumee Rapids, August, 1794, and was shot through the lungs. He refused a litter. "You young dog," exclaimed Wayne, "how are you going?" "I am an officer of the cavalry," was the reply, "and I go on horseback." "You will drop by the road," said Wayne. "If I do, just cover me up, and let me die there." He had his way, rode six miles supported on either side by a dragoon, and lived to lead the attack at Queenston Heights, October 13, 1812, when he was again severely wounded. He was afterwards postmaster at Albany, and served in Congress. His brother Nicholas, a colonel in the Revolution, was despatched by General Gates to carry the news of the surrender of Burgoyne to Albany. VAN SCHAICK'S ISLAND is one of the three in the Hudson at the mouth of the Mohawk, where, in the summer of 1777, General Schuyler cast up fortifications to dispute with Burgoyne the passage of that river, should he ever get that far. The earthworks are visible from the car windows. (See Burgoyne's Campaign, and Hudson River.) VROOMAN, COL. PETER, commanded the Middle Fort in Schoharie county during Johnson's and Brant's invasion in October, 1780. He was prominent in all the border warfare of this section throughout the Revolution, and was largely responsible for the repulse of the Tory invaders. A monument to his memory was unveiled at the Old Stone Fort (q. v.) on October 17, 1913, by the Daughters of the American Revolution. WARNER, SETH, one of the leaders of the Green Mountain Boys, was born at Roxbury, Conn., May 17, 1743, and died there December 26, 1784. He was second in command at the capture of Ticonderoga by Ethan Allen, in May, 1775, and was subsequently a colonel of Vermont militia. He performed much valuable service in the Revolution, commanding the rear guard of St. Clair's retreating army at Hubbardton. He was a prominent factor in the Battle of Bennington, which had such disastrous effect upon the fortunes of Burgoyne at Saratoga. A statue of him now stands beside the Battle Monument in the village of Old Bennington. [H8J THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY WAR PATH OF THE NATIONS has been applied by latter-day historians to the old military road built by Gen. Sir William Johnson in 1755 (see Johnson's Expedition), and later in constant use for military purposes throughout the French and Indian and Revo- lutionary Wars. It led from Fort Edward to Fort William Henry, and its location practically follows the main streets of Hudson Falls, Glens Falls and Lake George. From Glens Falls to Lake George its course has been marked by the Glens Falls Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Over it have passed the armies of Johnson, Webb, Abercrombie and Amherst; the forces of Dieskau and the flying scouts of Montcalm; the British troops under Burgoyne and Riedesel; the American commands of Arnold, Schuyler, Stark and Gates; and, still later, the troops of Gen. George Izard hurrying to the support of Sackett's Harbor, in the War of 1812. "The Old Indian Road" old before written history began it contains the strategic heart of the continent; and while through its portals today there flow only the pulsing throngs of peace, so long as time endures it will rouse a just and martial pride in the breast of every patriotic American. WATERVLIET ARSENAL, where great guns are cast, is one of the chief ordnance factories of the United States Army. Twelve acres were purchased, and the first buildings erected in the first decade of the last century. They stand between the railroad and the river in Watervliet. WEBSTER'S TOAST, as given at the reception to General Lafayette in Albany, July 1, 1825, is as follows: "The ancient and honorable city of Albany, where General Lafayette found his head- quarters in 1778, and where men of his principles find good quarters at all times." WHITEHALL, formerly Skenesborough, was founded by Philip Skene, a major in the English Army, who, in 1759, was given a large grant of land on Lake Champlain, which he increased by purchase to about 60,000 acres. He was made governor of Crown Point and Ticonderoga, judge and postmaster, established sawmills and foun- dries, constructed and sailed vessels on the lake, and opened roads to Albany. His house, situated on William Street, was of stone, thirty by forty feet, two and one-half stories high; and his barn, also of stone, was one hundred and thirty feet long. The keystone of the arched doorway, bearing the letters " P. K. S." and the date " 1770, " is preserved in the walls of the Baptist Church. In the Revolution he [119] THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY and his son acted as guides to Burgoyne from Canada; but when the British evacuated Skenesborough, their commander, General Haldi- mand, fearing the settlement might be of service to the Americans, ordered it burned, and Colonel Skene saw an invested fortune and the fruits of many years ' labor destroyed by his own countrymen. Later he was attainted of treason by the State of New York, and his estate confiscated. So he returned to England where he was given twenty thousand pounds and a life pension. During the War of 1812, the fort and blockhouse at Whitehall were rebuilt by the Americans. WILKES-BARRE, in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, the southern terminus of the Delaware and Hudson, was named after John Wilkes and Col. Isaac Barre, advocates of the Colonists in the British Parliament during and preceding the Revolution. It was settled in 1769, but five years later, during the Pennamite- Yankee War, twenty-three out of twenty-six buildings were burned, and it was rather slow in again getting started. The Wyoming Monument, near-by, marks the site of one of the most sanguinary episodes of the Revolution. (See Wyoming Massacre.) WILLIAMS MONUMENT, a huge boulder near Lake George, was placed in position in 1854, by graduates of Williams College, to commemorate the founder of that institution, who was instantly killed while at the head of his command, September 8, 1777, in his forty-second year. (See Battle of Lake George.) It is said that, while on his way with twelve hundred New England soldiers to join General Johnson, he had, at Albany, a presentiment of early death, and then and there made a will leaving the most of his property to found a free school at Williamstown, Mass., the funds from which, after accumulation for thirty years, became the foundation of the college. WILLIAMS MONUMENT, THE DAVID, stands in the yard near the Old Stone Fort (q. v.), in Schoharie. It was erected in 1876, by the State of New York, to commemorate one of the captors of Maj. John Andr6, who was arrested as a spy, September 23, 1780, and hanged October 2 of the same year. So impressed was General Washington with the patriotism of these three men in refusing all bribes offered by AndrS for his release that, although they delivered up their prisoner without claiming any reward, or even leaving their names, Washington sought them out, and on his recommendation Congress presented each with a silver medal bearing on one side the word Fidelity and on the other the legend Vincet amor patriae. [120] THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY Williams also received a pension of $2,000 a year from the govern- ment. After the war he bought a farm in Albany county that had been the property of Daniel Shays, the leader of Shays's Rebellion. In December, 1830, he visited New York by invitation of the Mayor, who gave him a horse, harness and carriage, and the pupils of one of the public schools gave him a silver cup. He died near Livingston- ville, August 2, 1831, aged 77. WING'S FALLS was the original name of Glens Falls, the name being changed, it is said, as a result of a wine supper given by Col. John Glen of Schenectady, quartermaster during the French and Indian and also the Revolutionary Wars. WINTHROP'S EXPEDITION. Following the Schenectady Massacre (q. v.)i which occurred February 8, 1690, and brought the English colonists to a realization of the danger which threatened from the north, Governor Leisler, of the Province of New York, proposed a union of the New York and New England colonies, for the purpose of driving the French from Canada. In furtherance of this plan, he called in New York, in April, the first Colonial Congress that ever assembled in America. It was finally agreed that an army of about eight hundred should be raised, and the number of men to be provided were apportioned among New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Plymouth. Even Maryland to the south promised one hundred. The command was given to Fitz John Winthrop, who was commissioned a major-general for the purpose. He left Hartford, Connecticut, on July 14th, and in seven days (for the country was then almost impassable) arrived in Albany, where the balance of the troops were finally collected. On the 30th of July the advance was begun. The army was small and correspondingly mobile, yet the difficulties which it met in its march northward through the wilderness were well nigh insuperable. We have an accurate account of its progress, drawn from original sources, by Benjamin Clapp Butler, which is of much interest today as a contrast between modern transportation and the laborious progress of Winthrop's little com- mand. The trains of the Delaware and Hudson now leave the old Northeast Gate of Fort Orange (see Albany), and in less than three hours traverse mile by mile the same route that Winthrop's forces, going light, and inured to forest travel, covered so wearisomely in three times that number of days. "On the 30th the New England troops and the Indians moved up four miles, and encamped upon the flats (Watervliet). [1211 THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY "August 1. Quartered at Stillwater, 'so named because the water passes so slowly as not to be discovered ; while above and below it is disturbed and rageth, as in a great sea, occasioned by rocks and falls therein.' "August 2d. The General moved forward to Saraghtoga (Schuylerville), about fifty miles from Albany, where was a blockhouse and some Dutch soldiers. At this place, he was joined by Mr. Wessels, recorder of Albany, and a company of the principal gentlemen, volunteers from that city. He here got letters from Maj. Peter Schuyler, the mayor of Albany, who had preceded him with the Dutch troops, to the effect that he was up to the Second Carrying Place (Fort Miller), making canoes for the army. Thus _ far 'the way had been very good, only four great wading rivers, one of them (the Mohawk) dangerous for both horse and man.' "August 4th. Divided the provisions, thirty-five cakes of bread to each soldier, besides the pork, and moved up eight miles (to Fort Miller) ; the Dutch soldiers carrying up their supplies in their birch canoes and the Connecticut troops carrying them on horses. Here 'the water passeth so violently, by reason of the great falls and rocks, that canoes cannot pass, so they were forced to carry their provisions and canoes on their backs, a pretty ways to a passable part of the river.' "August 5th. The soldiers marched, with their provisions on horses, about eight miles, to the Great Carrying Place (Fort Edward), the Dutch having gone up in their canoes. "August 6th. The command marched over the Carrying Place twelve miles, to the forks on Wood Creek (Fort Ann). The way was up a continual swamp abounding with tall white pine. The New York companies excited the General's admira- tion at the vigorous manner in which, and without any repining, they carried their canoes and provisions across upon their backs. "August 7th. Having sent thirty horses back to Saraghtoga for more provisions, under command of Ensign Thomilson, the General passed down the creek with two files of musketeers, in bark canoes, flanked by the Indians marching by the river- side, commanded by Captain Stanton, totheHautkill (Whitehall), where he encamped with Major Schuyler and the Mohawk captains, on the north side of Wood Creek. "On the 9th of August, information came through Captain Johnson, who had been sent to Albany some days since to procure additional supplies of provisions, that the Senecas and other Indians, whom he expected to meet at the Isle La Motte, near the north end of Lake Champlain, had not left their country on account of the small-pox breaking out among them. The expression they used was 'that the Great God had stopt their way.' The small-pox had also broken out in the army, and seriously reduced the available force. "In the meantime Major Schuyler had sent forward Capt. Sanders Glen with a scouting party of twenty-eight men and [122] THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY five Indians (the same one who had been spared at the Schenec- tady Massacre), who had proceeded as far as ' Ticonderoga,' where he erected some stone breastworks, and had been since the fifth of August waiting for the expedition to come up. "It was now found that the time was so far spent, the bark would not peel, so no more canoes could be made. "The provisions were also giving out, and it was ascertained from the commissaries at Albany that no further considerable supply could be forwarded. It was, therefore, on the 15th, resolved in a council of war to return with the army." Though Winthrop's Expedition was a failure, a portion of his forces, under Captain John Schuyler, of that family which was always at the forefront in the Colonial wars (see Schuyler Family), proceeded on down Lake Champlain, as the army turned back, and delivered the first attack upon Fort La Prairie (q. v.). WOOD CREEK, which flows into South Bay, at the head of Lake Champlain, was an important portion of the water highway between the St. Lawrence and the Hudson. It was navigable for canoes to a point within eleven miles of the Hudson at Fort Ed- ward. The portage between these two places was known as the Great Carrying Place, and the route was often used by both French and English. Today it lies on the highway between Albany and Montreal, the tracks of the Delaware and Hudson Railroad following it mile for mile after leaving Fort Edward. The sluggish waters of the creek flow silently beside the car windows, giving never a hint to travelers and vacationists of the savage war parties and scarcely less relentless military expeditions that once plied its waters. WYOMING MASSACRE. The beautiful Wyoming Valley, about twenty-one miles long by three wide, through which runs the north branch of the Susquehanna River, was early claimed, under charter rights, by both Connecticut and Pennsylvania, although no attempt was made at settlement till 1763, when the Susquehanna Company, of Connecticut, which had purchased the lands from the Indians about ten years previous, sent out colonists. But in less than twelve months they were all massacred or driven away. In 1768 Pennsylvania also bought the land from the Indians, and established a settlement the year following. About the same time another party arrived from Connecticut, and there was continual strife between the two, till, in 1771, the king confirmed the claim of Connecticut. On the breaking out of the Revolution the eastern settlers, after expelling what few Tories there were in the neighborhood, resolved [123] THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY that they would "unanimously join our brethren of Connecticut in the common cause of defending our country." But in 1778 the expelled Tories and an additional white force, with seven hundred Indians, eleven hundred in all, led by John Butler, marched against the settlement. At first the settlers took refuge hi the " Forty Fort, " near the present Wilkes-Barre, but, on July 3, about all the males (400) sallied forth to attack the invaders, and were disastrously defeated, two-thirds of their number being killed, captured or massacred. The remainder took refuge in the fort, which the next day surrendered. Many prisoners were killed and tortured by Indian squaws, and the sufferings of those who sought to escape were terrible. "Shades of Death" is the name by which a swamp near Wilkes-Barre is known, and where a hundred women perished of fatigue and starvation following the massacre. "\7~ANKEE DOODLE. The tune itself is very old, and may have JL originated either in Holland, France or Spain. It was sung in England in the reign of Charles I, and words were set to it in ridicule of Cromwell: "Yankee Doodle came to town Upon a Kentish pony, He stuck a feather in his cap Upon a macaroni." In the summer of 1758, while the British Army, under the un- fortunate General Abercrombie, lay encamped in Greenbush, now Rensselaer, on the grounds belonging to Jeremiah Van Rennselaer, in anticipation of the march to Crown Point, which ended so disas- trously at FortTiconderoga, reinforcements, consisting of Continental Militia, arrived from the east. Their uniforms, and the lack thereof, their accoutrements and general appearance afforded much food for mirth among the regulars. Attached to the staff of the command- ing general was a musical wit named Dr. Richard Shuckburg, after- wards appointed Secretary of Indian Affairs by Sir William Johnson, and he, with an idea of teasing rather than pleasing, wrote down the notes of the old tune, changing the words slightly, and gave the composition to the chief musician of the Eastern troops as the latest martial music of England. Greatly to his surprise and amuse- ment, it was taken seriously, and the camp rang morning, noon and night with the strains of Yankee Doodle, which, then and there, was unanimously adopted as the favorite air of the Continental Militia, and served as such throughout the Revolution. [124] BIBLIOGRAPHY ALBANY HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS Historic Albany: A manual of Albany . Prepared by the American History Students of the Albany High School, for the New York State Teachers Association. Contains much valuable con- densed information and a further bibliography of Albany. APPLETON'S CYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY ARMSTRONG, JOHN Life of Gen. Richard Montgomery. In Sparks' 8 Library of American Biography. BANKS, A. BLEECKER Albany Bi-Centennial. BEAUCHAMP, WILLIAM M. History of the New York Iroquois. Publications of New York State Educational Department, Albany. Aboriginal Occupation of New York. Publications of New York State Educational Department, Albany. Aboriginal Place Names of New York. Publications of New York State Educational Department, Albany. BOSSOM, ALFRED C. The Restoration of Fort Ticonderoga. In Eighteenth Annual Report of the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society, 1913. BRANDOW, J. H. Story of Old Saratoga. BUTLER, BENJAMIN CLAPP Lake George and Lake Champlain, from their First Discovery to 1759. CAMPBELL, W. W. Annals of Tyron County COFFIN, R. B. The Home of Cooper. CONVERSE, HARRIET MAXWELL Myths and Legends of the New York State Iroquois. Publica- tions of New York State Educational Department, Albany. COOPER, J. F. Chronicles of Cooperstown. [125] THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY CREASY, SIR EDWARD SHEPHERD Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World. CROCKETT, WALTER HILL A History of Lake Champlain. CUTTER, WILLIAM Life of Israel Putnam. DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE COLONIAL HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK These are published by the State of New York, and constitute an invaluable collection for those whose interest takes them further than the narratives of secondary writers. EVERETT, EDWARD Life of John Stark. In Sparks' s Library of American Biography. GRAHAM, JAMES Life of Gen. Dan Morgan. HALL, HENRY Life of Ethan Allen. HALSEY Old New York Frontier. HILL, HENRY WAYLAND The Champlain Tercentenary: Report of the New York State Lake Champlain Tercentenary Commission. HOLDEN, JAMES AUSTIN New Historical Light on the Real Burial Place of George Augustus Lord Viscount Howe. In Transactions of New York State Historical Association, Vol. X, 1911. HUMPHREYS, COLONEL DAVID Life of Israel Putnam. LANDON, JUDSON S. Historic Towns of the Middle States. LOSSING, BENSON J. Cyclopaedia of U. S. History. The Empire State: A Compendious History of the Common- wealth of New York. The Hudson from the Wilderness to the Sea. Life of Gen. Philip Schuyler. LOUNSBURY Life of James Fenimore Cooper. [126] THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY PALMER, PETER S. History of Lake Champlain. PARKMAN, FRANCIS Pioneers of France in the New World. The Jesuits in North America. The Old Regime in Canada under Louis XIV. Count Frontenac and New France under Louis XIV. A Half Century of Conflict. Montcalm and Wolfe. Historic Handbook of the Northern Tour. A condensation of much of the material from the above volumes, referring to the struggles in the Champlain Valley. PELL, HOWLAND The Germain Redoubt at Ticonderoga. In Eighteenth Annual Report of the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society, 1913. REYNOLDS, CUYLER Albany Chronicles. ROOSEVELT, THEODORE Naval War of 1812. SILLIMAN, PROF. B. Tour Between Hartford and Quebec. SIMMS, JEPTHA R. History of Schoharie County. Border Wars. SPARKS, JARED Life of Ethan Allen. In Sparks' s Library of American Biography. STARK, CALEB Memoir and Official Correspondence of Gen. John Stark. STONE, WILLIAM L. Border Wars of the American Revolution. Life of Joseph Brant. Life of Red-Jacket. Poetry and History of Wyoming. Uncas and Miantonomah. STONE, WILLIAM L., JR. Life and Times of Sir William Johnson. Letters and Journals of Mrs. General Riedesel. Life and Military Journals of Major-General Riedesel. Reminiscences of Saratoga and Ballston. Ballads of the Burgoyne Campaign. [127] THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY SYLVESTER, NATHANIEL BARTLETT Historical Sketches of Northern New York and the Adirondack Wilderness. TARBOX, INCREASE N. Life of Israel Putnam. THOMPSON, DANIEL PIERCE The Green Mountain Boys. The Rangers; or the Tory's Daughter. WALWORTH, ELLEN HARDIN Historic Towns. WATSON, WINSLOW C. Pioneer History of the Champlain Valley. WEISE, ARTHUR JAMES History of the City of Albany. U28J University of California , rt ! ( ? J V THERN REGI NAL LIBRARY FACILITY 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1388 Return this material to the library from which it was borrowed. /oo fi ft'Dc.L.0 C20 A 000 548 752 5