USA > Vermont > The Lake Champlain and Lake George valleys, Vol II > Part 12
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In the charter, granted by Governor Chittenden in 1779, it was called Isle Mott. The first English settler was probably William Blanchard in 1788, while town government was organized in 1791. At that time there was a population on the island of only 47, while in 1 800 there were but 135. In 1802 the name was changed to Vineyard, which was very descriptive of the great productivity of both trees and vines; but finally in 1830 the ancient title of Isle LaMotte was sub- stituted. During the War of 1812, the British landed here and com- menced fortifications, yet they did not disturb the inhabitants to any serious extent. After hostilities ended, this township continued its development until it reached its zenith in 1860. In recent years its decline has been rapid, its population of 510 in 1910 having faded away to 352 in 1930. The inhabitants are primarily of English and Scotch ancestry. Today Isle LaMotte has the distinction of being the smallest township in Grand Isle County with respect to population, but this unhappy distinction subtracts nothing whatever from the charm of this community. Wearing her diadem of beauty regally, and resting peacefully upon her throne of historical traditions, the queen of old Champlain gazes into the future with faith and confidence.
The next town is North Hero, the shire town of Grand Isle County. Like Isle LaMotte it is made up of an entire island. It is long and narrow, and is almost a continuation of Grand Isle northward past the eastern side of the southern tip of Alburg. The narrowest part is near the center at what is known as the "carrying-place." When being chased by government officials, boats engaged in smug- gling have escaped by coming here, where the island is but a few rods wide, to be carried across to the other side, a maneuver that was impossible for the larger government craft. The entire island was included in the Contrecoeur grant already referred to, but no French
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settlement was made here. Its territory was also included in Two Heroes when that charter was granted by Governor Chittenden in 1779, but in 1788 it became separately organized with the first town meeting being held in 1789. The first settlers came in 1783. By 1791 there were 125 of them; by 1810 there were 552; while by 1850 a maximum of 730 was reached. The main occupation has always been agriculture, although there have been some mineral deposits. When the bridge was completed in 1886, connecting North Hero with Alburg, an old historian tells us that all the heroes were there. So were all the Heros. North Hero's association with warfare was very largely confined to the fact that Pringle and Carleton anchored between here and Grand Isle the night before the battle of Valcour, and also that the British maintained soldiers at Dutchman's Point thirteen years after the end of the Revolution. These Englishmen never molested the settlers, however. During recent years, the pop- ulation of North Hero has been relatively unchanged, the total for 1930 being 485, which was less than in 1810. The only village is that pleasing little settlement that is also called North Hero, but which has often been referred to as "Island City" or "North Island City." It was the home of that famous family of Rockwells, that captained so many of Champlain's finest steamers.
Last among the townships of Grand Isle County is that of South Hero. It is located directly south of the town of Grand Isle and comprises the southern end of the island of that name. As was the case with North Hero, no French settlement was made in this charm- ing township, although it was included in Contrecoeur's seigniory. From 1779 to 1788 it was a part of Two Heroes Township, while from then until 1798 it included Middle Hero (Grand Isle). It has the distinction of being the oldest town in the county if we base our comparison on the dates of organization and town meetings. Its first population data is inaccurate because at that time its boundaries were distended, but the arrival of settlers was apparently quite rapid here. The first inhabitant was Ebenezer Allen, a cousin of our beloved and tempestuous Ethan. It is said that he made his way here in 1783 on a raft. In the early years of South Hero's development, he was its most important citizen. In its later history, this town pursued very closely the same path followed by its neighbors in the north. Its com- munity life centered around the hamlets of South Hero and Keeler's Bay. In 1930 the town had a population of 641.
CHAPTER XI
Warren County
Last but not least of the eleven counties that today comprise our great resort area is Warren, New York. From 1683 to 1772 it consti- tuted a part of the huge original county of Albany; from 1772 to 1784 it belonged to Charlotte, one of the three divisions of Albany ; and from 1784 to 1813 it belonged to Washington County. On the latter date it was created as a separate political unit and named in honor of General Joseph Warren, an ardent advocate of Colonial opposition to Great Britain who was killed in June, 1775, at the battle of Bunker Hill.
Within its borders we find practically all of Lake George, for the boundary line between Warren and Washington counties follows reli- giously the sinuosities of the eastern shore. A very small part of this historical waterway is in Essex County, but all the rest, including the famed islands that constitute Lake George's chief distinction, is located in Warren. Truly, this last among our counties was singularly blessed by our Creator's handiwork in those distant ages when our hills and valleys were formed. One of Lake George's prominent characteristics is that on both sides of its narrow valley rise precipitous mountains, furnishing a wild and picturesque setting to the clear, pure water at their feet. Here and there we see a variety of beautiful little islands with green foliage reaching to the water's edge. Ever since white men first gazed upon its lovely panorama, Lake George has been the toast of its vast multitudes of admirers. Another body of water which is partly inside the boundaries of the county is Schroon Lake, and this has a reputation for beauty in its own right. The largest body of water entirely inside Warren County is Brant Lake, another interesting lake whose beauty differs from the other two. In addition we find here Thirteenth Pond, Loon Lake and Friends Lake. Warren's
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most important river is the Hudson, which forms a junction with the Schroon, near Warrensburg. While Lake George's waters move slowly northward into Lake Champlain, the waters of the Hudson, only a few miles to the west, flow toward the south. The valley of the Hudson then approximates the shape of a crescent as it circles past Luzerne, Corinth, and Glens Falls to Fort Edward. Between Lake George and Glens Falls there is only a lowland and it is hard to realize that the lake does not flow southward into the Hudson. It is easy to believe the geologist when he tells us that before the coming
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of the glaciers, the river that then occupied the lake's valley did flow south. As a whole, the surface of Warren County is mountainous, although the peaks do not possess the height and majesty of those belonging to Essex. Great quantities of timber covered the landscape, some mineral wealth lay under the soil, while the falls on the Hudson beckoned to the early settlers. Warren County is bounded on the north by Hamilton and Essex, on the west by Hamilton, on the south by Saratoga and on the east by Washington.
Lake George was destined from the beginning to play a very important part in the history of this region for it presented one of the two natural gateways connecting the Champlain Valley with the
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Hudson. As was the case with the Wood Creek route in Washing- ton County, possession of this watery avenue of conquest was vital to warring nations, white or red. At one time or another various Indian tribes controlled this western route (one of the more interesting being the Mohicans ), but at the time when France and England began their duel for Colonial empire in North America, Lake George belonged as completely to the Iroquois Confederacy as did the banks of the Mohawk. Back and forth over its clear waters sped their elm-bark canoes, as these noblest of the red men restlessly and untiringly searched for scalps and plunder. They probably used Lake George as often as the Wood Creek route. Each thoroughfare had its par- ticular attractions and its limitations. When white men appeared they followed the trails of the reds. Father Jogues, the great Jesuit missionary who discovered Lake George in 1646, was taken over the Wood Creek route in 1642, but advanced by the western avenue four years later. Sometimes white military forces went one way and some- times the other. In the great French and Indian War, the posts of Fort George and Fort William Henry at the head of Lake George, rivaled those at Ticonderoga and Crown Point as bones of contention among the dogs of war. In this conflict, the entire length of Lake George was literally bathed in blood while up and down the valley moved a number of really great men such as Montcalm, Rogers, Amherst and Saint-Luc de la Corne, to mention only a few. Between Fort William Henry and Ticonderoga occurred some of the major events of the war. During the Revolution, all this was changed, thanks in large measure to Burgoyne's choice of the Wood Creek route. As has been discussed in detail elsewhere, most historians feel that the British general erred in his selection of the eastern avenue and find that this choice was a major cause of his final downfall; but in my estimation this is not so. In any case, in the Revolution, Lake George played a part of distinctly minor importance.
Pioneers began to penetrate into Warren County soon after the French were driven northward by Amherst, but settlement was slow at first and later was retarded by the Revolution. The first land patent that included any section of Warren County was the Dellius grant of 1696 which, however, was based on fraud. Some of the county was also included in the Kayaderosseras Patent, most of which, however, was located in Saratoga County. As was indicated in
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Chapter VII, this grant was also based on fraud or, at least, misrepresentation. A third such patent was claimed by John Henry Lydius, an Indian trader located at Fort Edward. In 1759, after Amherst had driven the French northward, Lieutenant-Governor De Lancey issued a proclamation encouraging settlers to advance into the area, promising his assistance. As a result, in place of the dubious or fraudulent patents to which we have referred, new grants were applied for and obtained by more or less legal and honest methods. Chief among these was the Queensbury Patent, so named in honor of the Queen of England, Princess Charlotte of Mecklen- burg, according to Holden. Granted in 1762, it was the corner stone in the building of Warren County, as well as the direct antecedent of the city of Glens Falls.
The great amount of fine timber covering much of the surface of the county, combined with fine mill sites and the many waterways suited to the floating of logs, made lumbering by far the outstanding industry throughout much of Warren's history. Today all this is changed. Although this area is still covered in large measure by timber, much of the lumber comes from points far away, and the inhabitants are primarily concerned with the resort business, particu- larly in summer, but increasingly so in winter as well. Most of the county's industrial activity centers around Glens Falls. In 1850 it had only 2,717 inhabitants. Its greatest development came between 1880 and 1890, when its population increased 94.1 % to rise to 9,509. Since then its development has been consistent, and in 1930 its popu- lation was 18,531. Today Glens Falls is the largest city in the five New York counties of which I write, and in the entire eleven counties is exceeded only by Burlington. It is a clean, attractive, cosmopoli- tan, wealthy little city with a future. It is interesting to note that it contains more than half the population of the county, and that while it has increased over 9,000 since 1890 the entire county has increased only two-thirds as much. This would indicate that, outside of Glens Falls, Warren County has declined in population by 2,714 in the last forty years.
First in alphabetical order among the subdivisions of Warren County is the town of Bolton. Each township has an irregular shape and it is impossible in this county to indicate accurate boundaries by reference to the four major points of the compass. However, we can
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say that Bolton is located in the eastern tier of towns between Hague and Caldwell, facing Lake George along its eastern boundary and touching Horicon and Warrensburg in the northwest and west. Until 1799 it constituted a part of Thurman. On that date it was formed into a separate township, but included Hague until 1807, part of Caldwell until 1810, and part of Horicon until 1838. It contains more of the shoreline of Lake George than does any other town. It also includes the bulk of the islands. Each is beautiful, and nearly every one has its own historical traditions, At the risk of being charged with prejudice, for Bolton is my birthplace and home, it is my belief that although many other towns have exceeded this in military im- portance, few possess such a variety and wealth of traditions, and certainly none exceed it in beauty. If I may appear to chronicle Bolton's traditions, or those of Queensbury Township, to great length, let it be realized and recalled that all other historians of Lake George have done the same, particularly Stoddard.
The first settlers were New Englanders, who began arriving about 1792. Although lumbering was engaged in rather extensively, this town showed promise as a resort community from the very first. Here was built the first resort hotel on Lake George, the famous Mohican House, which opened its doors in 1800 and remained in operation until 1898. On the exact site, with the old foundation plan unaltered, we find today the charming Bixby mansion. The clos- ing of the Mohican House, however, did not bring an end to the resort business. Other hotels arose to take its place, notably the Sagamore, which was first opened in 1883. It is unique in that it is located on an island, which, by the way, was once sold for the incredi- ble sum of six hundred dollars. Today Bolton has 1,308 residents, many of whom are entirely dependent upon the resort business. The main settlement is Bolton Landing, but the oldest is the hamlet of Bolton, called the Huddle, a short distance to the south. Two dis- tinguishing resort features of this township are the beautiful summer estates along the lake shore and the swarms of campers among the islands. Bolton's place in the resort area of the future is secure. Perhaps the best known legend connected with this town concerns itself with a beautiful Indian girl who was brought as a captive to a village of Mohican Indians located near the site of the old Mohican House. This story has been preserved for us by that charming his-
1
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torian, S. R. Stoddard ("Lake George and Lake Champlain"), so we will let him tell it in his own words :
"Arrived at their village here, a young chief, the pride of the nation, gazed into the stranger's dark eyes and was made captive by her grace and beauty. He would have taken her to his wigwam in preference to any maiden of his own tribe, but the old women of the nation had chosen for him another bride, and when he again went on the warpath, and the cruel old men and women only were in posses- sion of the camp, it was decreed that the daughter of the northern tribe should die.
"They bound her to the stake, piled faggots high around her slight form and the fire was lighted, but as the crackling flames curled upward, a supernatural figure that shone like a blazing comet -stronger than a buffalo and swift as the wind-swept through the circle, scattered the blazing brands like playthings right and left, and seizing the willing captive, dashed out again before the awestruck crowd had recovered from their terror. Running through the grow- ing corn to the middle of the field at the west he sprang to the top of a large stone, and from it flew upward with his burden, over the hills. and the girl was never seen more.
"Curiously enough also the young brave came not back with his party. He had vanished out of their life. But thereafter, at everv coming of the tasseled corn, some warrior of the tribe was slain by a mysterious being who came out from dark Oulusca-'The Place of Shadows' west of the great peaks-a warrior who shone like the fox- fire of the lowlands and whose cunning and might were beyond the power of human brave. The body of his victim was always found lying across the stone from which the stranger sprang over the hills, and the blood-stains on it took the shape of picture-writing where the people read their fate; for the Great Spirit had decreed that for every fire-touched hair of the maiden's head a Mohican brave must die, until the tribe should be no more."
Perhaps the most perfectly formed island is Dome, so named from its appearance. It is said to be the highest island in the entire lake. while between it and the eastern shore we find the deepest waters. It was a favorite observation point for English rangers during the French wars. To the west of Dome is Recluse Island. It is said that
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a Jesuit missionary named Père St. Bernard, lived here alone for a considerable time, after escaping from Indians, hence the name. It has been told that his prayer-book was found, afterward, concealed in the hollow of a rock, covered over with a flat stone. On the fly- leaf of this book he left a record of his sufferings. The first private residence to be erected on any island in Lake George was built here soon after the Civil War. In 1868 it was the subject of an earth- quake hoax, New York newspapers reporting that it had sunk eighty feet below the level of the lake. Crown Island, situated directly east of the Sagamore or Green Island was at one time called by the dubious name of Hog Island because swine were kept on it to rid the place of rattlesnakes in the days before those reptiles became extinct there. Fourteen-Mile Island, close to the eastern shore, was the scene in 1779 of a sanguinary conflict between a party of twenty- six Americans and twenty-five Mohawks and English, the engagement ending disastrously for the patriots. On Phantom Island there once lived the so-called "Hermit of Lake George," an able artist named J. Henry Hill, who came here in 1870 and remained alone for six years. At the end of that period he had become insane and was taken away to an asylum. Near Tongue Mountain we find another island with the peculiar name of As You Were. It is said that an old hunter saw a deer on it one day and fired at him but missed. In his excitement the old man shouted a military command: "As you were!" This unusual shout startled the deer, causing him to halt until the hunter had time to reload and kill him.
Bolton was the home of two very interesting characters. One was a famous Indian preacher named Anthony Paul. He was devout, educated, equipped with a striking personality, and a fine speaker. This noble Mohican, however, possessed the terrible craving of his race for liquor. He tried in vain to cling to his religion, alternately sinning and repenting, all the while sinking more and more into the slavery of his appetite. His congregations loved him and on various occasions when he fell from grace they voted him forgiveness; but he never was able to rule his own life. Ultimately he is supposed to have built a hut on the shore of Tongue Mountain, subsisting by hunting and fishing until the end. His six children were all a dis- sipated, worthless lot. The other character mentioned above was John Thurman, founder and namesake of Thurman Township. He
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JOHN BROWN 1800 1859
(Courtesy of copyright owner, W. F. Kollecker, Saranac Lake) JOHN BROWN MONUMENT
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owned a farm in Bolton, and possessed a huge bull which he allowed to run around loose. The women were afraid of the animal and occasionally protested rather vigorously to Thurman. Matters finally reached a climax one day at the supper table. So much was said that Thurman left the table with a piece of johnnycake to demonstrate to the doubtful members of his family that the bull was harmless. Finding the animal nearby, Thurman teased him with the johnnycake. The bull evidently did not appreciate that variety of food for he finally became angry, charged at his master, and killed him before anyone could intervene.
In leaving Bolton, let us carry away in our minds the picture of Montcalm's visit in those small morning hours in August, 1757. Lévis and the Indians were already here in camp, having come from the north by land. Montcalm, with the bulk of the army, was slowly and silently feeling his way southward through the narrows. Finally the foremost boats emerged and passed the tip of Tongue Mountain. On his right, above Bolton, where his Indians were already dreaming of the massacre to take place south of Fort William Henry, the great Frenchman beheld the three signal fires in the shape of a triangle. Anyone who has seen a fire on a mountain at night can imagine the appearance of these three beacons. Their reflection tinted the water, as Montcalm and his hosts paddled straight toward the appointed rendezvous where breakfast awaited.
Caldwell Township is bounded on the north by Bolton, on the west by Warrensburg and Luzerne, on the south by Queensbury, and on the east by Queensbury and Lake George. It was organized in ISIO from territory belonging to Bolton, Queensbury, and Thurman, and named in honor of General James Caldwell, an Albany merchant who secured a large land patent in this area in 1787. Although set- tlers came here before the Revolution they did not remain, the first permanent occupation taking place after the war. Lumbering was, of course, an important occupation, but a tourist business also devel- oped at an early time. The main settlement was at Caldwell vil- lage, which later was renamed Lake George. When Warren County was created in 1813, this community became the seat of government, an honor which it has maintained ever since. In these early days the village was the economic center of the county as well, not giving way to Glens Falls until the construction of the feeder at that place. Lake
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George was incorporated finally in 1903 and today is the only village of that type in the county. Today, as in Bolton, practically all ecc- nomic activity is based on the resort business. Lake George village is located on the main entrance to the entire lake region. North- ward on the Bolton Road is celebrated "Millionaires' Row," consist- ing of beautiful and costly summer estates. At the very head of the lake we find famous Fort William Henry Hotel, which for years served exclusively the cream of society. The future of Caldwell Town- ship and the village of Lake George is completely assured if for no other reason than their location at the head of, and in the least remote section of, this famous lake. Recently we find considerable expansion taking place here. From 1920 to 1930, the population of the village increased from 630 to 848, while the township grew from 1,297 to 1,730.
One of the leading attractions of this village and township is their historical heritage, gained particularly in the last great French and Indian War. Here we find three fortifications. On the bluff between the railroad depot and the hotel, which was built in 1854-55, William Johnson erected Fort William Henry in 1755. It was burned by Montcalm after the French captured it in 1757. Fort George was begun in 1759 by Amherst on another bluff to the east around which the trains swing when approaching the Lake, but it was never com- pleted. The third fortification was Fort Gage on Element Hill, but this was of little importance, merely serving as a flank support for Fort George. During this war, the works at Lake George were as important as the French fort at Ticonderoga, and the main theatre of military operations was located between the two posts. It was the goal of the French and the base of operations for the English. The soil of the township, located along the old military highway in the direction of Bloody Pond, was at various times red with human blood. The important battles and military episodes have been chroni- cled elsewhere.
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