Military Tract

Revolutionary Veteran Land Bounties & Settling Warren County

March 8, 2026 by Guest Contributor 1 Comment

Payment and incentives for enlistment in the American Revolutionary War, both in the Continental Line regiments and local militia units, were a problem from the beginning.

The Continental Congress did not have a hard specie (gold or silver coinage) source to pay soldiers, instead relying on paper money. That paper money, without any source of backing, soon became worthless. A method of rewarding soldiers for service had to be found. [Read more…] about Revolutionary Veteran Land Bounties & Settling Warren County

Treaties Between the Six Nations and the United States

January 12, 2026 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Immediately following the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), states in the newly created United States competed for control and settlement of Indigenous lands. This included much of Western New York, which was within Indian lands designated by the 1768 Treaty of Fort Stanwix, which set the boundary line between the colonies and native nations.

The Treaty of Paris of 1783 did not include the allied Native nations, leaving their legacy treaties with different European parties unresolved and their future to be determined through separate treaties with the new American government. [Read more…] about Treaties Between the Six Nations and the United States

Pricing the Land: The Buying and Selling of Frontier New York

May 8, 2025 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Pricing the Land: The Buying and Selling of Frontier New York and Cayuga Reservation (Cornell University Press, 2024) reconstructs the complicated history of buying and selling land along the New York frontier after the American Revolution.

Scott W. Anderson focuses on the prices bid for lots in Central New York that had been set aside for veterans of the war (the New Military Tract) and within the Cayuga Reservation created by treaty in 1789, comprising a hundred square miles of land on both shores of the northern end of Cayuga Lake. [Read more…] about Pricing the Land: The Buying and Selling of Frontier New York

The Great Seneca Turnpike

May 7, 2025 by Richard Williams 3 Comments

Today’s State Route 5 crosses New York State from Buffalo to Albany and parallels state Route 20 and the New York State Thruway. The part of Route 5 between Utica and Canandaigua in Ontario County, some 105 miles, is still called the Seneca Turnpike.

Originally a Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) path, the route has been referred to in various accounts as the Great Genesee Road, the Great Genesee Trail, the Genesee Turnpike, the Great Seneca Turnpike or Seneca Road. Previously it had been known as the part of the Great Indian Trail or Iroquois Trail. [Read more…] about The Great Seneca Turnpike

Early Upstate New York Roads: Some History

February 5, 2025 by Richard Williams 2 Comments

What is now New York State saw multitudes of American settlers moving inland from the Atlantic seaboard, especially those “locusts of the east” from New England. Traveling long distances overland before the 20th century was however, difficult to say the least.

In the 1600s their movement was constrained by topography, and settlements were limited to areas in the Hudson and Mohawk valleys previously inhabited or improved by Indigenous People. Some Indigenous portage trails were described by the earliest settlers as wide paths that a capable ox team and wagon could manage. [Read more…] about Early Upstate New York Roads: Some History

The Great Genesee Road: A History Travel Guide

September 27, 2024 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

In 1794 the state legislature authorized the Great Genesee Road from Fort Schuyler (now Utica) to Canawaugus (once one of the most populous of the Seneca villages, now in Livingston County) to help settlers reach the New Military Tract in Central New York where nearly two million acres of land was set aside to compensate Revolutionary War veterans. Today we call most of it New York Route 5. [Read more…] about The Great Genesee Road: A History Travel Guide

James Kennedy State Forest: History & Recreation

November 20, 2023 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

There are many recreational resources at the 4,507-acre James Kennedy State Forest, including snowmobile trails, a portion of the Finger Lakes Trail, and a cross-country ski trail. The Forest, named in memory of the District Forester James D. Kennedy, is located in Harford, Lapeer and Virgil, in Cortland County, NY.

The towns of Virgil, Lapeer, and Harford, in which the James Kennedy State Forest is located, were developed under the Military Tract that was established in 1789. The Governor of New York, DeWitt Clinton, plotted land from Oswego to the southern border of present day Cortland County. This land was dedicated for the payment of New York’s Revolutionary War soldiers. [Read more…] about James Kennedy State Forest: History & Recreation

Military Tract

We Need Your Help Now More Than Ever

New York Almanack receives no public funds.

It’s supported only by readers like you.

Please give today (a monthly recurring gift is best)