Iroquois

French Attacks On Old Saratoga During King George’s War (1744-1748)

September 17, 2023 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

During King George’s War (1744-1748), the primary military encounters in the Saratoga area were focused on the Schuyler estate and associated settlements and Fort Saratoga/Fort Clinton.

The most significant event was the November 1745 First Battle of Saratoga in which a force of French and Indian allies from Fort St. Frederic (at Crown Point) attacked the village, burning 30 houses, several mills, and the fort as well as killing, scalping, and capturing soldiers and residents. (You can read about that here.) [Read more…] about French Attacks On Old Saratoga During King George’s War (1744-1748)

The American Revolution in the Finger Lakes

September 10, 2023 by Guest Contributor 3 Comments

Initially, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy (Iroquois) claimed neutrality during the conflict between Britain and the colonists, seeing the disagreement as a civil war and valuing loyalty to their families and to their lands above all else. When the political discontent erupted into the American Revolutionary War, the member nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy split their support between the British and newly formed American forces. [Read more…] about The American Revolution in the Finger Lakes

1745: The First Battle of Saratoga

September 7, 2023 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

The First Battle of Saratoga took place during King George’s War (1744-1748) in November 1745. A force of French and Native allies set out from Fort St. Frederic at Crown Point to attack English colonies in either New England or Albany.

When deep snow made travel into New England impractical, they turned toward Old Saratoga, now known as Schuylerville in Saratoga County, NY (near where the 1777 Battles of Saratoga would later take place during the American Revolution). [Read more…] about 1745: The First Battle of Saratoga

New Netherlanders’ Views of Indigenous People

September 5, 2023 by Peter Hess 3 Comments

By 1642, the number of inhabitants of Rensselaerwyck (spelled Rensselaerswijck in Dutch), at the time basically what is now Albany and Rensselaer Counties, had grown and Patroon Kiliaen Van Rensselaer willingly complied with a requirement of the Dutch West India Company to secure a clergyman for a Dutch Church to conduct services for the settlers. [Read more…] about New Netherlanders’ Views of Indigenous People

Euro-American Expansion Into The Finger Lakes Region

August 27, 2023 by Guest Contributor 7 Comments

The Treaty of Paris of 1783 officially ended hostilities between the British and Americans; however, the treaty did not include the allied Indian Nations, leaving their legacy treaties with the Europeans unresolved and their future to be resolved through separate treaties with the new American government. [Read more…] about Euro-American Expansion Into The Finger Lakes Region

Early Inhabitants of the Finger Lakes Region

August 14, 2023 by Guest Contributor 2 Comments

According to archeological records, groups of nomadic Paleo-Indians traveled through the Finger Lakes region approximately 8,000 to 9,000 years ago. Small bands of these hunters and gatherers followed large game during the last stages of the Ice Age when the glaciers that formed the area’s notable lakes were receding.

Somewhat more recent early archaic archeological sites scattered across Western New York reflect a culture that was highly mobile and left little in terms of an archeological record. [Read more…] about Early Inhabitants of the Finger Lakes Region

Schoharie Valley & New York’s Western Frontier, 1687-1702

July 24, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The Schoharie Valley is one of New York’s three great colonial valleys, its history closely connected to, but overshadowed by, the more famed Hudson and Mohawk Valleys. When the Palatines arrived there in 1712, the world they stepped into was a century in the making. Until now, this formative period of the valley’s history has never been fully told, nor has the true impact these rebellious German refugees had on New York’s western frontier. [Read more…] about Schoharie Valley & New York’s Western Frontier, 1687-1702

White Pines: Physically & Culturally Colossal

July 15, 2023 by Paul Hetzler 1 Comment

The eastern white pine (Pinus strobus) isn’t really a crop-bearing tree, but it has borne priceless fruit for American democracy. Physically as well as culturally massive, there are many accounts from the early 1800s of white pines over 200 feet tall being harvested. One credible report pegs a white pine at 247 feet, and unverified accounts have claimed that 300-foot-tall leviathans were cut back then. [Read more…] about White Pines: Physically & Culturally Colossal

Paul Smith’s Students Create the Akwesasne Mohawk Mobile Cultural Center

May 24, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Paul Smith’s College students have completed construction of the Akwesasne Mobile Cultural Center. This new cultural center is a result of a partnership between Paul Smith’s College and the Nia’s Little Library – a nonprofit that promotes literacy and preserve the Mohawk language. [Read more…] about Paul Smith’s Students Create the Akwesasne Mohawk Mobile Cultural Center

SUNY Albany Renames Pond in Honor of First Indigenous Students

May 10, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The New York State University at Albany’s University Council voted Friday, May 5th, to formally change the name of Indian Pond to Parker Pond, and Indian Pond Lane to Parker Pond Lane. The new names acknowledge and honor the contributions of the Parker family, of which three siblings — Caroline (Ga:hahno), Nicholson (Gye-wah-go-wa) and Isaac Newton (Gane-yo-squa-ga-oh) — were among the first nine Indigenous students to enroll at UAlbany around 1850. [Read more…] about SUNY Albany Renames Pond in Honor of First Indigenous Students