What Happened to 7,000 People

The effect of the campaign was not completely shrugged off by the Iroquois. In November, almost 3,000 Indians were huddled around the gates of Fort Niagara seeking aid from the British.17 The winter of 1779/1780 was the worst possible time for the Indians to have lost their homes and crops. Five to six feet of snow covered the northeast for weeks. Many climatologists believe a “Little Ice Age” occurred in America from 1750 to 1850. One pointed out that the winter of 1779/80 was the extreme winter of the “cool hundred years”. Many contemporary people referred to it as the “The Hard Winter”. As a result, hundreds of Indians died of disease, exposure, or malnutrition.18

In 1780, the Iroquois resumed their raids on the New York frontier. Fueled by a desire for vengeance stemming from the Sullivan Campaign, the number of raids increased dramatically. In July, Joseph Brant destroyed the Oneida and Tuscarora villages around Oneida Castle. Some 150 Oneidas were forced to go to Fort Niagara, however, over 400 fled to Fort Stanwix. The refugees at Stanwix later migrated to Schenectady, where they were forced to live outside the walls. Like their brothers at Fort Niagara, they suffered greatly from exposure and malnutrition when winter arrived. Many moved north hoping to hunt and survive in the wilderness, but were forced to return when game proved scarce.

Thus, the Indians fared no better than other residents of the valley. Loss of homes and crops left the Indians suffering as much as their white neighbors. At the end of the war, they were to lose something of even greater value – their lands.

The devastation and suffering in the valley were shared by all who lived there. Loyalist, Patriot, Indian – all suffered. Of the estimated10,000 white population in 1777, approximately 1,000 were killed or taken prisoner. Some 2,500 to 3,000 Loyalists left the valley and about 3,000 Patriots abandoned their farms.

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via What Happened to 7,000 People.

 

What Happened to 7,000 People (cont.)

The Iroquois (or Six Nations) Confederacy, was a crucial source of fighting men for the raiding parties. Most historians believe the confederacy was formed in 1500 A.D.; however, new research suggests that it may have been formed as early as 1100 or 1200 A.D. Whatever the year of its inception, the confederacy had a long history. At the outset of the Revolutionary War, the Iroquois remained neutral. The Sachems (or Chiefs) saw no value in getting embroiled in a “family quarrel”. In 1777, the British persuaded a number of warriors, particularly the Seneca, to come and watch as they set off to defeat the Rebels at Fort Stanwix and march down the Mohawk Valley to Albany. Instead, the Indians found themselves in the Battle of Oriskany. They discovered they were fighting not only the militia, but also a number of their own brothers – the Oneidas and Tuscaroras. While four nations joined the British ranks, a majority of Oneidas and Tuscaroras joined the Patriots.

The great confederation was broken. With the Oneidas and Tuscaroras fighting their brothers, the Iroquois Confederacy was extinguished. Only individual Indian nations remained. The Battle of Oriskany was particularly devastating to the Seneca. Five of their Sachems were killed — by Seneca standards, a terrible loss. Nothing like this had happened in the entire history of the Seneca Nation.

via What Happened to 7,000 People.

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Very in-depth history of the Mohawk Valley and nearby areas.

– CAA

 

1763 Land Grant, John Pickerd

Land Grant – John Pickerd

To all Christian People to whom these present Writings shall come or whom it may in anywise concern, Greetings in our Lord God Everlasting, Know ye that George Klock and Conrad Matthys both of Conajohary in the County of Albany and Province of New York Yoemen for divers and good Causes and Considerations but more and especially for the sum of five shillings have remised released and forever quitclaimed and by these Presents for themselves and their heirs, do fully, freely, clearly and absolutely remise, release and forever quitclaim unto John Pickerd of the same place, yeoman, in his full and peaceable possession and seizin and to his heirs and Asigns forever all such Right, Estate, Title, Interest and Demand whatsoever, as they the said George Klock and Conrad Matthys, or either of them had or ought to have of, in, or to the aftermentioned four hundred Acres of Wood Land lying and being, in the County of Albany aforesaid on the south side of the Mohawks River by a certain Lake, called by the Indians Otseege within the Province of New York….

via 1763 Land Grant, John Pickerd.

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visit for more details.

– CAA

 

Seven Years War

The Seven Years War*

1754-1763

The “Seven Years War,” the “French and Indian War”, and the “Great War for Empire.” Variously named and defined, each of these terms refers to the same watershed event in early American History.

European superpowers France and Great Britain engaged in a century-long struggle for world domination that lasted from 1689 to 1815. Against an overall climate of hostility, a series of distinct wars were fought in Europe itself and in (and over) their worldwide colonial empires.

The New York theater of the last of these North American adjuncts began with the French and Indian raid and burning of Hoosick in August 1754. North American forces fought with each other over the next two years although war was not declared officially until 1756. Although for the most part, fighting ended in North America following the fall of Quebec in 1759, this conflict was not concluded officially until the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1763.

via Seven Years War.

 

King’s Highway

The King’s Highway

“The Kings Highway” is a legendary term that has been used to describe any of the country roads out of colonial Albany that may have been built by the British army during the French and Indian War. Albany to the VerberghHowever, it most often refers to the main route through the “Pine Bush” from Albany to Schenectady.

This overland thoroughfare connecting the Hudson and the Mohawk was in existence from the earliest days of the community and was first used by Native American hunters bringing their furs to Beverwyck and then Albany.

Until the mid-18th century, the Kings Highway was little more than a path through the woods. the Kings Highway But it was improved dramatically by British and provincial soldiers during the last of the colonial wars. After the war, many new settlers were travelling west from Albany over this road. By that time, the western parts of it were maintained under contract with the Albany city government.

On the Albany end, the Kings Highway began at the Schenectady gate of the stockade and continued uphill and into the pine barrens along the route of today’s Washington Avenue.

via King’s Highway.

 

Beverwyck

Beverwyck

The Eendracht at Beverwyck – 1656Beverwyck is the popular and mythical name given to the community of fur traders that first emerged along the river to the north of Fort Orange during the 1640s. The name came into official use in 1652 when the Dutch West India Company established a judicial jurisdiction for the land north of the trading post/fort. That act began a legacy of home rule for Albany that was primarily responsible for its development into a pre-urban center. Immediately following, the first houselots were parcelled out. By the end of the decade, a log palisade had enclosed the settlement.

via Beverwyck.

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Became Albany, New York.

– CAA