The Greatest Highway in the World Part 7

Subsequently he became a devout churchman and settled at Canajoharie or Upper Mohawk castle, where he devoted himself to missionary work and translated the Prayer Book and St. Mark's Gospel into the Mohawk tongue. In the Revolutionary War he led the Mohawks and other Indians friendly to the British against the settlements on the N.Y. frontier, even taking part, despite his religion, in the Cherry Valley Ma.s.sacre. After the war he aided the U.S. in securing treaties of peace with the Miamis and other western tribes. Subsequently he went to Canada as a missionary, and in 1786 visited England, where he raised funds with which was erected the first Episcopal Church in Upper Canada. Brant sat for his picture several times in England, once in 1776, at the request of Boswell (the author of the "Life of Johnson"), and during the same visit for the Romney portrait, at Warwick's request. In 1786 he was painted for the Duke of Northumberland and for a miniature to present to his daughter.]

After 1763 the fort was occupied by his son Sir John, who, during the War of Independence organized a loyalist regiment known as the "Queen's Royal Greens," which he led at the battle of Oriskany, and in raids on Cherry Valley (1778-1780) and on the Mohawk Valley. The house, once used as a fort, is described by an early writer thus: "Col. Johnson's mansion is situated on the border of the north bank of the River Moack. It is three stories high (two with an attic) built of stone, with port-holes and a parapet, and flanked with four bastions on which are some small guns. In the yard, on both sides of the mansion, are two small houses; that on the right of the entrance is a store, and that on the left is designed for workmen, negroes and other domestics. The yard gate is a heavy swing-gate, well ironed; it is on the Moack River side; from this gate to the river is about two hundred paces of level ground. The high road pa.s.ses there." The place, now somewhat remodeled, is owned by the Montgomery County Historical Society and many curious historic relics are on exhibition here. It is open to the public daily.

181 M. TRIBES HILL, Pop. 900. (Train 51 pa.s.ses 12:21p; No. 3, 1:18p; No.

41, 5:27p; No. 25, 6:36p; No. 19, 10:00p. Eastbound: No. 6 pa.s.ses 5:00a; No. 26, 5:33a; No. 16, 11:00a; No. 22, 12:56p.)

Tribes Hill received its name from the fact that it was an old meeting place of the Indians. Across the river, in the estuary at the junction of Schoharie Creek with the Mohawk, once stood Ft. Hunter, which was the lower Mohawk castle, the upper castle being at Canajoharie.

A contemporary description says: "Ft. Hunter, known by the Indians as Ticonderoga, is one of the same form as that of Canajoharie except that it is twice as large. It likewise has a house at each corner. The cannon at each bastion are seven and nine pounders. The pickets of this fort are higher than those at Canajoharie There is a church or temple in the middle of the fort, while in its inclosure are also some thirty cabins of Mohawk Indians, which is their most considerable village. This fort, like that of Canajoharie, has no ditch and has a large swing-gate at the entrance. There are some houses outside, though under the protection of the fort, in which the country people seek shelter when an Indian or French war party is looked for."

About two miles farther at the little village of Auriesville on the left side of the Mohawk, where the river is joined by Auries Creek, there is a shrine (visible on the left from the train) marking the spot where Father Jogues, a Jesuit Priest, was killed in 1646.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Father Isaac Jogues

Isaac Jogues (1607-1646), a French missionary, came to this country to preach among the Hurons and Algonquins. In 1642 he was captured by the Mohawks, who tortured him and kept him as a slave until the following summer, when he escaped. Father Jogues returned in 1646 to establish a mission among his former tormentors. About this time a contagious disease broke out amongst the Indians, and to make matters worse their crops failed. For these misfortunes they blamed the French priest, tortured him as a sorcerer and finally put him to death.]

186 M. FONDA, Pop. 747. (Train 51 pa.s.ses 12:27p; No. 3, 1:25p; No. 41, 5:39p; No. 25, 6:42p; No. 19, 10:05p. Eastbound: No. 6 pa.s.ses 4:55a; No.

26, 5.28; No. 16, 10:55a; No. 22, 12:51p.)

The town of Fonda was named for Jelles Fonda, said to have been the first merchant west of Schenectady. Fonda established a prosperous store here about 1760, and his old accounts (still preserved) disclose that he had among his customers "Young Baron of the Hill," "Wide Mouth Jacob,"

"Young Moses," "Snuffers David," and the "Squinty Cayuga."

Following is a bill from Jelles Fonda's accounts:

Young Moses, Dr.

Sept. 20, 1762 s. d.

To one French blanket 0 16 0 " one small blanket 0 12 0 " 4 Ells White linnen 0 8 0 " 1 pair Indian stockings 0 6 0 " 1 hat 0 8 0 " 1 pt. of rum and one dram 0 1 4 " 1 qt. rum 0 2 0

I leave in pledge two silver wrist-bands.

(In other words, the wrist-bands were put up as security for the debt.)

Six miles north of Fonda is Johnstown (Pop. 10,908) where Sir William Johnson built his second residence (1762) now in the custody of the Johnstown Historical Society. It is a fine old baronial mansion.

Sir William called this residence Johnson Hall and lived here with all the state of an English country gentleman. He devoted himself to colonizing his extensive lands and is said to have been the first to introduce sheep and pedigreed horses into the province.

Sir William also built the Fulton County Court House with its jail (1772), used during the Revolutionary War as a civil and military prison. A free school, probably the first in N.Y. State, was established at Johnstown by Sir William Johnson in 1764 in his residence. In 1766 he organized a Masonic Lodge, one of the oldest in the U.S. In 1781, during the War of Independence, Col. Marinus Willett defeated here a force of British and Indians. The city is one of the princ.i.p.al glove making centers in the U.S. The total products are valued at about $3,000,000 annually. The manufacture of gloves in commercial quant.i.ties was introduced into the U.S. at Johnstown in 1809 by Talmadge Edwards, who was buried here in the Colonial Cemetery.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Old Ft. Van Rensselaer at Canajoharie (Built 1749)

This building had originally been the home of Martin Janse Van Alstyn, and was so well built that it had withstood the attacks of the Indians under Brant in 1780. It was therefore appropriated in 1781 by the American government, adopted as a fort, and placed under the control of Col. Marinus Willet, a competent officer chosen by Washington to handle the district in which Ft. Van Rensselaer and Ft. Plain were the military headquarters. (Still standing.)]

197 M. CANAJOHARIE (Palatine Bridge), Pop. 2,415. (Train 51 pa.s.ses 12:40p; No. 3, 1:39p; No. 41, 5:55p; No. 25, 7:43p; No. 19, 10:20p.

Eastbound: No. 6 pa.s.ses 4:42a; No. 26, 5:45a; No. 16, 10:44a; No. 22 12:36p.)

Pa.s.sing the villages of Yosts and Sprakers we arrive in the town of Canajoharie, which in early days was the site of the upper Mohawk castle.

The upper Mohawk castle, sometimes called Ft. Canajoharie, was described by an early writer as consisting of "a square of 4 bastions of upright pickets joined with lintels 15 ft. high and about 1 ft. square, with port-holes, and a stage all around to fire from. The fort was 100 paces on each side, had small cannon in its bastions, and houses to serve as a store and barracks.

Five or 6 families of Mohawks reside outside the pickets. From Ft. Canajoharie to Ft. Hunter (the lower Mohawk castle) is about twelve league, with a good carriage road along the bank of the river."

In 1749 a fortified dwelling was built here known as Ft. Rensselaer, which was utilized as a place of defence during the Revolutionary War.

Canajoharie was the home of the famous Indian leader, Joseph Brant.

On the left, a little beyond Palatine Bridge, can be seen the red brick Herkimer mansion, near which a monument has been erected to Nicholas Herkimer, who died in 1777 from wounds received at Oriskany. We pa.s.s the village of Ft. Plain, St. Johnsville and East Creek.

216 M. LITTLE FALLS, Pop. 13,029. (Train 51 pa.s.ses 12:58p; No. 6, 1:59p; No. 41, 6:17p; No. 25, 7:14p; No. 19, 10:39p. Eastbound: No. 6 pa.s.ses 4:22a; No. 26, 4:55a; No. 16, 10:22a; No. 22, 12:16p.)

Our route here lies through a ravine cut by the Mohawk River through a spur of the Adirondack Mts. The town is picturesquely situated on the sides of the gorge overlooking the rapids and falls. The Mohawk here descends 45 ft. in M.

In the gorge, there are crystalline rocks which are of interest as belonging to the Laurentian formation, the oldest rock formation on the face of the globe.

According to geological cla.s.sification, these rocks belong to the Archaean system. They represent formations of the very earliest period of the earth's history--probably before there was any animal or vegetable life whatsoever. The Archaean rocks have sometimes been spoken of as the original crust of the earth, but this is disputed by many geologists.

Little Falls dates from about 1750. In 1782 there was an influx of German settlers into the village, and almost immediately thereafter the town was destroyed by Indians and "Tories.". It was resettled in 1790.

Two and a half miles east of the town was the boyhood home of Gen.

Nicholas Herkimer.

Gen. Herkimer (1728-1777) was the son of John Jost Herkimer (d.

1775), one of the original group of German settlers in this section of the Mohawk Valley. Gen. Herkimer was colonel of the Tyrone County Militia in 1775, and was made brigadier general of the state militia in 1776. He was mortally wounded at the battle of Oriskany.

It is planned to establish an Historical Museum at the old Herkimer homestead. Near the city is the grave of Gen. Herkimer, to whom a monument was erected in 1896.

The water power derived from the falls has stimulated manufacturing in the city; its output includes cotton yarns, hosiery, knit goods, leather, etc., valued at $15,000,000 annually. The city is one of the largest cheese markets in the U.S.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fort Plain (1777)

(_From an old print in the N.Y. Public Library_)

This was built in place of another unsatisfactory fort by the American government early in the Revolution, and was designed by an experienced French engineer. "As a piece of architecture, it was well wrought and neatly finished and surpa.s.sed all the forts in that region."]

223 M. HERKIMER, Pop. 10,453. (Train 51 pa.s.ses 1:07p; No. 3, 2:06p; No.

41, 6:25p; No. 25, 7:22p; No. 19, 10:47p. Eastbound: No. 6 pa.s.ses 4:15a; No. 26, 4:49a; No. 16, 10:12a; No. 22, 12:08p.)

Herkimer was settled about 1725 by Palatine Germans, who bought from the Mohawk Indians a large tract of land, including the present site of the village. They established several settlements which became known collectively as "German Flats."

These settlers came from the Palatinate, a province of the kingdom of Bavaria, lying west of the Rhine. The district had been torn by a succession of wars, culminating in the carnage wrought by the French in 1707. In the following year, more than 13,000 Palatines emigrated to America, settling first on the Livingston Manor, and later along the Mohawk and elsewhere.

In 1756 a stone house (built in 1740 by John Jost Herkimer), a stone church, and other buildings, standing within what is now Herkimer Village, were enclosed in a stockade by Sir William Johnson. This post, at first known as Ft. Kouari (the Indian name), was subsequently called Ft. Herkimer. Another fort (Ft. Dayton) was built within the limits of the present village in 1776 by Col. Elias Dayton (1737-1807), who later became a brigadier-general and served in Congress in 1787-1788. During the French and Indian War the settlement was attacked (Nov. 12, 1757) and practically destroyed, many of the settlers being killed or taken prisoners; and it was again attacked on April 30, 1758. In the War of Independence, Gen. Herkimer a.s.sembled here the force which on Aug. 6th, 1777, was ambushed near Oriskany on its march from Ft. Dayton to the relief of Ft. Schuyler. The settlement was again attacked by Indians and "Tories" in Sept. 1778, and still again in June, 1782. The township of Herkimer was organized in 1788, and in 1807 the village was incorporated. Herkimer is situated in a rich dairying region and has manufactures with an output of $4,000,000 annually.

225 M. ILION, Pop. 10,169. (Train 51 pa.s.ses 1:10p; No. 3, 2:10p; No. 41, 6:29p; No. 25, 7:25p; No. 19, 10:51p. Eastbound: No. 6 pa.s.ses 4:12a; No.

26, 4:46a; No. 16, 10:07a; No. 22, 12:05p.)