History of Warren County [N.Y.] with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 2

Author: Smith, H. P. (Henry Perry), 1839-1925
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason & Co., publishers
Number of Pages: 762

USA > New York > Warren County > History of Warren County [N.Y.] with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 2

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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.

comes more continuous, and occupies about all the territory between Lake George and Lake Champlain, with the same general course, with scarcely any thing like a lateral valley, receiving different names in different localities, and finally terminates at Mount Defiance, where it proudly overlooks old Fort Ti- conderoga. This range is about fifty miles in length; from three to five miles in width, and extends through the towns of Luzerne and Queensbury in Warren county ; Fort Ann, Dresden, and Putnam in Washington county ; and a part of Ticonderoga in Essex county. The highest point is in Washington county, in Dresden, called Black Mountain, which is about 3,000 feet high. The sides of this range are steep and rocky, often precipitous; composed of primitive rock and but scantily covered with a thin, sandy soil. Viewed from the deck of a steamboat on either lake, this high ridge is the most attractive in the landscape.

The second or Kayaderosseras range, rises in Montgomery county, a little north of Amsterdam, and taking the same general northeast direction, is not broken by any lateral valley till it reaches the Sacandaga River a little west of the village of Luzerne. North of the Sacandaga, and west of the Hudson, is a single mass, where the continuity is again broken by the Hudson. From this point it again assumes the full character of a continuous range for several miles, only partially cleft by a little valley, through which the road runs from Caldwell to Warrensburgh. Still continuing in the same general direction in a high rocky ridge for about twenty miles, it spreads out in several spurs in the vicinity of Brant Lake, and one of them culminates in Mount Pharaoh, which has an estimated altitude of 4,500 feet. From this region the ridges, which are spread to about fifteen miles in width, gradually approach each other, and finally terminate on Lake Champlain in Bulwagga Mountain, which has a pre- cipitous face of about 1,200 feet.

This range is some twenty to thirty miles longer than the first, and is flanked on both sides with outlying spurs, or isolated peaks, sometimes attaining a width of seven to ten miles in the southwest portion; but between the Hudson River and Lake George it is not more than four; farther north it occupies all the territory between Schroon Lake and Lakes George and Champlain. This mountain range takes a great variety of forms-sharp, steep and rocky on one side, and quite gradual in its slope on the other ; is often precipitous, with bare and barren summits. In the southwest portion a very little arable land is found nestled in the coves and curves of either side, but as we proceed farther north the cultivated spots become less, and smaller, and finally die out altogether, until we reach the slope towards Lake Champlain, where the dairy- man again assumes sway, and a little farther on the soil is in a good state of cultivation well up on to the sides of the mountain slopes. This range occupies parts of the towns of Edinburgh, Day and Hadley in Saratoga county ; Luzerne, Caldwell, Bolton, Horicon and Hague in Warren county ; Schroon, Ticonderoga and Crown Point in Essex county.

NATURAL CHARACTERISTICS.

The third, or Schroon, range rises north of Johnstown, where it is called the Mayfield Mountain, and forms for a considerable distance a continuous ridge. The valley of the Sacandaga in the town of Hope, Hamilton county, completely dissevers it, but it soon assumes the full characteristics of a range, and for eight or ten miles lies nearly north and south, but finally bears off to the northeast again, and sends out a spur to the right, which is the culminating point of the range - Crane Mountain in Johnsburgh.

The most continuous ridge is farther west and passes Schroon Lake on the west and, some miles farther north, forms the divide between the waters of the Hudson and the Boquet, where it bends again more to the east and finally terminates in Split Rock Point on Lake Champlain. This range is about ninety miles in length, from three to five in width at the southern extremity, and about fifteen in width opposite Crane Mountain and quite narrow at its terminus. In the widest part the masses are not very high, with the exception of Crane Mountain, which is, barometrically, 3,289 feet, and the slopes are quite gentle in some places; but farther north in Essex county (a few miles north of Schroon), the masses are high, sharp and angular, with deep narrow valleys or gorges between them. This range occupies all the north part of Mayfield in Fulton county ; the east part of Hope and Wells in Hamilton county ; Thurman, Johnsburgh and Chester in Warren county ; Minerva, North Hudson, Moriah, a corner of Elizabethtown and a part of Westport in Essex county. The lat- eral valleys are very few, and the only ones are the Sacandaga before spoken of, and the northwest branch of the Hudson. In its broadest portion there is very little arable land, for where it might be cultivated so far as the surface of the soil is concerned, it is covered by such quantities of boulders - brought down from farther north-that it is unprofitable to attempt the raising of but very limited patches of grain.

The fourth, or Boquet, range rises at the Noses, on the east line of the town of Palatine, and pursues the same general northeast direction, through Palatine and Mohawk in Montgomery county ; Ephrata, Johnstown, Caroga and Bleeker in Fulton county ; Hope, Wells, Lake Pleasant and Indian Lake in Hamilton county; all the northwest part of Johnsburgh in Warren county; it enters Essex county in the southwest corner of Minerva, and, still continuing its course, it finally culminates in Dix's Peak, which is, barometrically, 4,916 feet above tide. This point is in the town of North Hudson, and from there it loses its continuity as a range, being completely broken up into spurs and isolated masses in Keene, Elizabethtown and Lewis; finally it ends in the town of Willsborough, Essex county, and is the only range that does not end abruptly in a precipice on the shore of Lake Champlain. The continuity of this range is broken in its southern portion, where it is crossed by the two lateral valleys of the western branches of the Sacandaga River in Hamilton county, and again by the Hudson in the town of Minerva. The borders of this range are not as

HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.

well defined as in some of the others; it is broad where the third range is nar- row, and narrow where the third range is broad. It is about one hundred and ten miles in length and from five to fifteen miles in width, its narrow portions being in the vicinity of Lake Pleasant, and near its culminating point, with three broad portions : one at the southern part, one in the vicinity of Indian Lake, and the third at the northern extremity. Piseco Lake, Lake Pleasant, and Indian Lake farther north, lie upon the west side.

In the vicinity of Dix's Peak are several remarkable mountains - high, sharp, conical peaks, with deep, narrow gorges between them ; or very narrow, sharp ridges, which, plainly visible when viewed from one direction, are not recognized when viewed from another but slightly altered direction. The clefts between them are very narrow, almost chasms, with nearly perpendicular sides, ragged in the extreme. This range has many outlying spurs, some of them rising into quite prominent peaks, that in any other portion of the State would be considered as objects of grandeur.

The fifth, or Adirondack, range rises fairly south of the Mohawk River and crosses that stream at Little Falls. From this point it pursues the same general course with all of the others, occupying a portion of Manheim and Salisbury in Herkimer county ; Morehouse, Arietta, Lake Pleasant and Indian Lake in Hamilton county ; all of Newcomb, Keene, Jay and Chesterfield, with parts of Elizabethtown and Lewis in Essex county ; and finally terminates at Trembleau Point on Lake Champlain, near Port Kent, at the mouth of the great Ausable River. The continuity of this whole range is only broken by two lateral valleys; the first, by the little branch of the Hudson, just west of Lake Sanford, in Newcomb, and again by the south branch of the Ausable in the town of Keene. This, principal of all the mountain ranges in the State, is one hundred and thirty miles in length from the Mohawk River to the lake at Trembleau Point, and from ten to twenty miles in width. It has many outly- ing spurs in its whole course, but around the highest portion are clustered a group of the most remarkable peaks in the United States east of the Missis- sippi River. Mount Marcy, the highest of all, is 5,344 feet above tide, and Mount McIntyre, a near neighbor, 5,112. In the immediate vicinity are sev- eral others that have an altitude of over 4,000 feet, and in the whole range there are perhaps fifty that have an altitude of over 3,000 feet. It has three outlying spurs to the north that culminate in three remarkable peaks: Emmons in Hamilton county ; Seward in Franklin county; and Whiteface in Essex county. Emmons (or Blue Mountain) 3,762, Seward 4,384, and Whiteface 4,871 feet above tide, respectively. In the southern portion of this range the sides of the hills where they are not properly called mountains are susceptible of some cultivation, and farther north the dairyman finds pasturage for his herds ; but after leaving the county of Herkimer, the soil is thin, sandy, and the entire absence of lime renders it unsusceptible of profitable cultivation. The sides

NATURAL CHARACTERISTICS.

of the mountains soon become steep and rocky, and the valleys filled with boulders, brought from the far north, which are too troublesome to contend with. In the middle portion of the range, in Hamilton county, it is the broad- est and to a great extent has not been explored in any scientific manner known to the writer; but in the northern part this has been done, and the mountain masses are between high, sharp, conical peaks, with deep, narrow defiles, gorges and chasms, in great variety. The flanking spurs on either side are great mountains, nearly equal to the principal ones of the range, and cover a vast ex- tent of territory, giving in this portion of the State the appellation of "The Switzerland of America." Northeast of the great group of mountains that gives this range its name, the "flankers " seem to withdraw from their skirm- ishing expeditions, the "pickets " are drawn in, and on approaching the lake the range modestly assumes the form of a respectable hill, and finally disap- pears in the rippling depths.

Still farther to the northwest of all these mountains is another great range, called the Ausable, or broken range. It occupies, with its spurs and isolated peaks, a territory of nearly a hundred miles in length, by from twenty to forty in width, embracing several hundred peaks of greater or less magnitude, a few of which only have been measured. The highest portion is the southeast bor- der, and some of the most prominent peaks are Mount St. Louis in Herkimer county, 2,295 ; Owl's Head in Hamilton, 2,825; Graves in St. Lawrence, 2,345 ; St. Regis in Franklin, 2,888; De Bar in Franklin, 3,011; and Lyon Mountain in Clinton county, 3,809.

From this elevated portion towards the northwest the whole country grad- ually sinks and loses its rough characteristics, and when within about twenty miles of the St. Lawrence River it entirely disappears, and a nearly level plain continues to the river. This is not properly a range, but in treating it as such it occupies all of the territory lying to the northwest of the Fulton chain of lakes in Herkimer, Raquette and Long Lakes in Hamilton, the Saranacs and the Saranac valley continued to Lake Champlain. This range is thickly inter- spersed with numerous lakes and ponds, besides those on the southeast side that define its boundaries and give to it that fascination and attraction to those who delight in visiting this region as a summer resort.

Originally all of these mountain ranges were covered with a forest, and far up the slopes a heavy growth of timber of many varieties formerly existed, and in some instances to the very summits; but generally for not more than 2,000 feet was the timber of any great value, as above that in most instances it was dwarfed and useless except to retain moisture to supply the little rills that formed the rivers of the whole region. Some of the highest peaks were bald and barren, and this baldness and barrenness has been terribly increased by the forest fires and the woodman's axe, and the wildness, rockyness and barren- ness revealed, where Nature, in her charity, has robed the deformity with a mantle of beauty.

HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.

Valleys. - To the lover of nature in winter, Essex stands pre-eminently first in the magnitude and magnificence of its mountains ; but in summer, Warren equally claims his admiration, in the verdant beauty of its valleys, and the love- liness of its lakes. The first valley (that is, the one between the first and second ranges of mountains), is occupied for at least three-fourths of its length by Lake George, while the valley continues on to the southwest to the great bend of the Hudson River, near Corinth in Saratoga county. The rise in this direction from the lake is quite gradual, and the valley has several little lakes in its length ; this is the most natural continuance of the valley, rather than the one leading to Glens Falls. It is bordered by an almost continuous chain of mountains on both sides, and the little lateral valleys are hardly noticeable on either side. The one through which the road leads to Glens Falls is the only one of importance.

The second valley extends from Luzerne northeasterly, and naturally fol- lows the Schroon branch of the Hudson River; it is narrow in the southern portion, but widens out in the vicinity of Warrensburgh to several miles, grad- ually contracting again in the vicinity of Schroon Lake. The bordering hills and mountains wind and curve gracefully in the whole course ; one little lateral valley only, on the east side, breaks the continuity, until the stream from Brant Lake is reached, which is so narrow as to be scarcely noticeable. On the west there are two or three breaks in the continuity of the mountain range before the valley of the northwest branch of the Hudson is attained, which is quite broad for some distance, and one other little break, where the stream comes in from Pottersville. These are the only continuous valleys in the county of any extent. The third valley, or the one between the third and fourth ranges of mountains, is simply a depression in the heights of the moun- tains, and is not occupied by any considerable stream. Its lowest depression is a little southeast of Gore Mountain, where North Creek falls into the Hud- son and extends in the same southwest direction, and in its southern portion is occupied by the east branch of the Sacandaga River.

The valley of the northwest branch of the Hudson cuts through the third range of mountains ; it is wild and picturesque, and the only one of any con- sequence in the western part of the county. The valleys of the smaller streams are narrow, crooked, deep, wild, and rocky ; and hardly one of them affords much opportunity for the cultivation of the soil. These hill and mountain sides are for the most part covered with the native forest, except where the fire has swept them bare, and even here they are gradually regaining their brightness and beauty. The broader valleys have but very little intervale land, but the slopes in many places are susceptible of cultivation. They are beautifully winding in their outlines, with an occasional rocky promontory, high, steep and covered with a great variety of foliage, which, in the autumn, cannot be surpassed for beauty in the wide world.

NATURAL CHARACTERISTICS.

Lakes, Streams, Drainage, etc. - Lake George is the largest lake that is directly associated with the great wilderness region of northern New York. It is thirty-six miles in length. and nearly all lying in Warren county. It varies in width from less than a quarter of a mile to about two miles and for a greater part of its entire length is beautified with many lovely islands. These are said to number three hundred and sixty-five, and vary in size from a few square feet, to several acres. A number of them are inhabited as summer resorts, having elegant residences ; some are barren and others are covered with the native forest, embracing a great variety of species both deciduous and conif- erous. It is flanked on both sides with high, rocky, and precipitous moun- tains, clothed with dark forests, and picturesque in the highest degree.

As seen from the deck of a steamboat in sailing its entire length, it gives the beholder a panorama of continual beauty, exciting always a lively interest, even to those who are familiar with its loveliness. Travelers often compare it with the famous lakes of the old world - Scottish, Swiss, Italian, and usually with no disparagement to Lake George. Than the beauty of the lake itself, without raising the eyes above their natural plane, there is nothing in the world more lovely. In the height of the snow-capped mountains that surround it, Lake Luzerne (Switzerland) may bear off the palm. Lakes Constance and Geneva have none of the beauty of its islands; Como and Maggiore in Italy, and Lomond in Scotland have nothing to compare with the variety of its verd- ure on the mountain sides, while in the purity of its waters all travelers ac- knowledge that it is no where equaled. It is three hundred and forty-three feet above tide, and discharges its water north into Lake Champlain.

A well known American writer 1 has thus beautifully pictured this lovely lake in language that has, no doubt, often been felt by other visitors without his poetic power of expression : -

I linger sadly, loth to say adieu To that which of me forms so sweet a part ; The crystal waters and the mountains blue, Are mirrored deeply in my heart of heart,

And lake and mountains, rocks and wooded streams,

Now pass from pleasant seeing to my world of dreams.

Upon the lofty wooded mount I stand, Where erst of old the simple huntsman stood, I see abont me far and wide expand The scene of lake and mountains, isles and wood ;

Like him I linger, loth to break the spell, .

That lives in one sad word, and vainly says, farewell.

Now like vast giants in their deep repose These mountains rest beneath the autumn day ;

From early morn until the evening's close The dreamy shadows on their summits play ; While in the distance dim they catch the hue Of heaven, and melt in cloudland's deepest tint of blue.

1 DONN PIATT.

HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.

I stood by lakes where peaks do pierce the sky, Snow-clad, and grand in rocky solitudes ; I saw the homes where round them living lie Tradition-haunted tales of love and feud ; Sweet human gossip chased the gloom so drear, And gave to what was grand, humanity more dear.

They had no beauty like to thine, Lake George, Where all that's grand, with all that's sweet, entwine;

I see thy fairy isles, while down each gorge The birch and maple tint the gloomy pine; The mountain sides are forests wide and deep,

Where song birds nestle, and the eagles scream and sweep.

And all is wild, as in that early day The nations found a highway on thy shore, And meeting, battled for a world's wide sway ; Thy mountains wakened to the monthing roar Of deadly cannon, while from each glen Came back the doubled thunder to the strife of men.

And all is wild, as when the solemn mind Of Cooper told its tale of savage war ;

One was not startled in the wood to find The sage Mohican, or wild Iroquois ; The dusky shadows of those shadowy things That will survive our life; in men's imaginings.

Ah ! lovely lake, how do I long to dwell In humble quiet on thy fairy shore, With rod and books, and those I love so well, Forgetting and forgot, live evermore. To float upon thy water's peaceful sheen Where love is life and life a poet's happy dream.

* * * * * * Now dies apace the golden autumn day. Now steal the ghostly shadows from the glen ;

The stars are gathering in their glad array, And stillness falls upon the haunts of men ; Earth parts from me, and closing on my view, Back to the busy world I go. Fair lake, adien !

The western part of the county is thickly interspersed with little lakes and ponds that lie in the notches of the hills and mountains, deep, pure, and clear as crystal, usually surrounded with the native forest; these are the natural home of the trout, and consequently the enticing resort of the angler. Some of these are mere specks, as depicted upon the maps of this region, but are really large enough to thrill the visitor with their quiet beauty, to enrapture the poet, and captivate the painter.

Thirteenth Pond, which is more properly a lake, lies in the extreme north- west corner of the county. Loon Lake and Friends' Lake are considerable bodies of water in the north part of the county, and are very picturesque in all their surroundings. Besides these, there are many little ponds, some with

NATURAL CHARACTERISTICS.

names, but more without, which add to the beauty of the scenery. Eleventh, Mill Creek, Round, Wolfe, Lizzard, Indian, Puffer, are the principal ones, but there are others that are equally as handsome, and in a piscatorial sense, quite as important.

In the extreme north part of the county is Schroon Lake, about half of which lies in this county ; it is one of the most attractive in the State. It re- sembles those in the central counties of the State more than any other in this region. Cultivated fields reach from the water's edge back to the hills, and the contour of the shores has just enough of variety to keep the observer continu- ously on the watch for new beauties. It is eight miles long, and varies con- siderably in width, but averaging about a mile. It is about eight hundred and thirty feet above tide.

Brant Lake, which lies between Schroon Lake and Lake George, is five miles in length, and averages about half a mile in width, lying high up in the second range of mountains. When first seen by the writer (1858) it was completely surrounded by an unbroken wilderness. The pale blue of the water, the deep blue of the sky, and the dark green of the forest between, brought to his mind the familiar lines-

" It was down by the dark tarn of Auber, In the ghoul-haunted woodland of Wier."

The drainage of the entire county, with a little exception, is through the Hudson River and its tributaries. Schroon Lake being considered as eight hundred and thirty feet above tide, there is a fall of two hundred and ninety-four feet between it and the mouth of the Sacandaga River. This gives a fall of about eight and a half feet per mile in the distance of thirty-five miles, which causes a strong and powerful current. The west or main branch of the Hudson must have a very much more rapid current, for the fall from Lake Sanford to the same place cannot be far from one thousand five hundred feet, and the dis- tance about seventy miles. There is nothing that can be called a cascade or a rapid in this whole distance, and consequently the descent must be very uni- form. The tributaries of the Hudson on the west are all small, rapid streams, rising high among the mountain peaks, and flowing in deep, narrow gorges. The watershed of Lake George is very limited, reaching scarcely more than a mile from the shore in any place; the brooks are short and small. The im- mense flow of water from the outlet, that hardly varies an inch in a year, has been computed as several times greater than is due to the rain-fall, and can only be accounted for on the theory of great springs. In proof of this theory the inhabitants say that the lake rarely freezes at the north end, and one of the inducements offered by the proprietors of the water privileges, at the falls of Ticonderoga, has ever been that the water is so warm in winter that the water- wheels are never troubled by the formation of ice.

Cascades. - A few rods below the junction of the Sacandaga River with the Hudson, at the village of Luzerne, their united waters plunge down a cascade

HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.

of considerable height, in a broken, foamy mass, rolling, boiling and tumbling in a most fantastic manner. This is locally known as Little Jessup's Falls, and were it not for the existence of one much larger in the immediate vicinity, would be considered one of the remarkable sights of this region.

Jessup's, or High Falls, on the Hudson, are situated just below the great bend towards the east, at the extreme south point of the town of Luzerne, near the village of Corinth, in Saratoga county. The water flows in a series of rap- ids for three-fourths of a mile over a declining rocky bottom, and is then com- pressed into a narrow gorge for eighty rods, at the bottom of which it shoots down a nearly perpendicular descent of sixty feet. The gneiss ledge over which it falls is convex in form, and the water is broken into perfect sheets of snow-white foam. A few rods above the last leap of the water, and where it is rushing with the greatest velocity, the river can be spanned with a single plank thirteen feet in length.

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History of Warren County [N.Y.] with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 2

Author: Smith, H. P. (Henry Perry), 1839-1925 Publication date: 1885 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason & Co., publishers Number of Pages: 762

Author: Smith, H. P. (Henry Perry), 1839-1925
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason & Co., publishers
Number of Pages: 762