The Colonial Frontier of New York - H-Net

The Colonial
Frontier of New
York
Robert H. Jackson
1

In the second decade of the
seventeenth-century the
Dutch settled Fort Orange
(modern Albany). The Dutch
established New Amsterdam
(New York City) in the 1620s.
In 1664, forces sent by the
Duke of York (future King
James ll) expelled the Dutch
from their colony. By the mideighteenth
century the
English frontier in New York
had begun to expand
northward and westward
from Albany.
2

The two centers of
colonial New York
were Albany and
Manhattan-New York
City. The Hudson
River, the Mohawk
Valley, and the Lake
George-Lake
Champlain corridor
were the natural
highways through the
colony.
3

Dutch Manhattan.
4

Albany in the late 1750s.
5

Lake Champlain Region.
6

Lake George-Lake
Champlain Region.
7

The Lake Champlain-Lake George
Corridor was a contested borderland
between Albany and the French
settlements in Canada, shown in this
map.
8

In 1739, the French built Fort St. Frederick
at a strategic point on Lake Champlain, at
a site where the lake is only ¼ mile wide.
The new fort controlled all lake traffic
south or north. In 1759, the British
occupied the fort, and replaced it with a
larger fortification.
9

Fort St. Frederick in a
1740 Drawing
10

The dominant feature of Fort St.
Frederick was the bastion, built
alongside the lake. Shown here in an
18 th century illustration.
11

Architectural Reconstruction of the
bastion
12

Diagram of Fort St. Frederick
13

Ruins today of Fort St. Frederick
14

Ruins of the Bastion today
15

In the mid-1750s, the French
occupied the southern part of Lake
Champlain, and began the
construction of Fort Carrilon, shown
in an 18 th century map.
16

Ticonderoga/Carrilon in a 1759 map.
17

Fort Ticonderoga.
18

Fort Ticonderoga during
the American Revolution.
19

Following the American Revolution, the
army abandoned Fort Ticonderoga. The
buildings of the old fort gradually fell into
ruin, as shown in this c. 1900 photograph.
20

Ruins of Fort Ticonderoga c. 1900
21

Ruins of Fort Ticonderoga c. 1900
22

Ruins of Fort Ticonderoga c. 1900
23

Ruins of Fort Ticonderoga c. 1900
24

In the early part of the twentiethcentury
a member of the Pell family
that owned the site of the old fort
began reconstruction. The process
continues today.
25

Restored Structure at Fort
Carrilon/Ticonderoga
26

In 1755, at the beginning of the Seven
Years War (1755-1763), Sir William
Johnson defeated a French force at the
Battle of Lake George, fought at the
southern end of the lake. Johnson then
began construction of a fort he named
William Henry. Two years later, in 1757, a
French army under Montcalm attacked
Fort William Henry, and forced the British
garrison commanded by Col. Munro to
surrender. Despite the granting of terms
to the British force, Montcalm’s Indian
allies killed many of the British, including
the wounded in the hospital. The French
attack on Fort William Henry and the
massacre are depicted in the film “The
Last of the Mohicans.”
27

A Contemporary Map of Fort
William Henry.
28

Contemporary map of the French
campaign against Fort William
Henry.
29

Battle of Fort William
Henry-1757
30

Restored Structure at
Fort William Henry
31

In 1759, British forces occupied Fort
Carrilon and Fort St. Frederick. The
British renamed Carrilon Fort
Ticonderoga. Fort St. Frederick, left
in a damaged state by the retreating
French, did not suit the military
needs of the British. In the early
1760s, the British began
construction of His Majesty’s Fort at
Crown Point. The new fort was the
largest British military installation in
North America.
32

A Contemporary Map of Crown
Point.
33

Another contemporary map of
Crown Point.
34

A model showing Crown Point
35

The plan of Crown Point
36

c. 1900 Photograph of Crown Point
37

c. 1900 Photo of Crown Point
38

c. 1900 photo of Crown Point
39

c. 1900 photo of Crown Point
40

Moat and Defensive Walls at Crown
Point
41

Defensive walls at Crown Point
42

Soldiers Barracks
43

Officers Quarters
44

Ruins of building inside fort that
was never completed.
45

Crown Point was the largest British
fortification in North America, but
was only one among a number of
garrisons, shown in a 1765 map.
46

A 1766 map of British forces in
North America.
47

The Mohawk Valley was the natural
route to the western frontier of New
York.
48

Map of the Mohawk Valley.
49

At the western end of of English settlement in the Mohawk
Valley was Fort Stanwix, built in 1758. General Stanwix,
who directed the construction of the fort, wrote this
description to his superiors.
“…we have finished the foundation of the fort inside &
outside & tyed the work with retaining Logs & half way
round the second tier of logs, are pretty forward with a
Magazine in one of the Bastions & laid the foundations of
two of the Curtains for Casements for the Barracks, have
got 40000 Bricks ready to Burn for the Chimneys & propose
another Kiln of 100000, if the Weather will allow, in a weeks
time shall have a Saw Mill Completed which. will furnish us
plentiful with Boards & plank, and have got ready a great
quantity of shingles for Covering such huts & other
Buildings as we get back our men from Col. Bradstreet's
Enterprise in any time to make tolerable Cover for 400 men
for the winter & this Fort will take I view that number at
least to defend it as our Bastions are very large & when a
Ditch & Glacis is Completed will take up all the height of
this fine spot & as Oswego is by you in one of Your letters
proposed to be the principle Fortification this will I think
answer every purpose if we can in time make it Tenable, in
which all pains & industry shall be made upon it".
50

Plan of Fort Stanwix
51

Rebuilt Fort Stanwix
52

The Mable House in Rotterdam built
in 1670, the oldest European-style
structure in the Mohawk Valley .
53

Glen-Sanders House built in 1713 in
Scotia
54

The English established
Fort Hunter around 1710
for the Mohawk, and
within the fort built
Queen Anne’s church.
The church was
demolished to make way
for the Erie Canal in the
1820s, but the
parsonage built in 1712
still exists.
55

Queen Anne’s
Parsonage, now a
private home.
56

Fort Ehle was built in 1727 by
the Rev. Johannes Jacobus as a
mission station for the Mohawk
village Tarajorees. Being built of
stone, it was used as a place of
refuge from attack by hostile
Indians, and during the
American Revolution from
Tories and their Indian allies.
Fort Ehle no longer exists,
having been torn down.
57

A c. 1935 photograph of Fort
Ehle
58

English settlers often
built stone houses that
could be used for
defense in case of
attack. These houses
became known as
“Forts,” and might also
include a stockade
around the house.
59

Fort Johnson, built in 1749 by Sir William
Johnson, Indian Agent, Soldier, and important
Mohawk Valley Settler.
60

Fort Klock built in 1750
61

Johnson Hall built for Sir William Johnson in the
1760s
62

In the 1760s, Sir William Johnson had a
house built for his son-in-law Guy
Johnson, now called “Guy Park”.
63

English settlers brought their religion with them, and a
handful of colonial-era churches still exist in the Mohawk
Valley. This photograph shows the Fort Plain church.
64

Palatine church built in 1770
65

English settlers established several towns in and on the margins
of the Mohawk Valley. One such community was Cherry Valley,
established in 1740. During the American Revolution Mohawk
under Joseph Brandt and Butler’s Tory Rangers raided Cherry
Valley in November 1778, and a second time in 1779. This photo
shows Cherry Valley today, with houses dating from the early
republic.
66

The attack left 32 dead.
Cherry Valley lost 40
prisoners never
returned, but 30 were
returned. In the
aftermath of the attack,
182 settlers were left
homeless.
67

In the year following the
Cherry Valley attack, in
1779, George Washington
sent an expedition against
the Iroquois led by General
Sullivan. Sullivan’s army
destroyed many towns,
crops, and livestock, and
created considerable
hardship for the Iroquois.
68

Contemporary map of the
1779 Sullivan campaign.
69

In the early years of the
republic settlement
spread out from the
Mohawk Valley. One of
the new communities
was Milford, settled
around 1810.
70

Sayre House built in
1810
71

Early church built in
Milford around 1812
72

To the west, in the Niagara Falls
region, the French built a fort in
the 1720s at the point where the
Niagara River enters Lake
Ontario. Fort Niagara served
during three major wars, and was
an active military outpost into the
20 th century.
73

Overhead photograph of Fort
Niagara
74

French structure built of Stone at
Fort Niagara in the mid-1720s
75