Come and join us this Thursday night at the Saratoga National Historical Park for an exciting presentation sponsored by the Old Saratoga Historical Association.
The presentation will be at the Visitor Center at Saratoga National Historical Park, beginning at 7:00 p.m. The Visitor Center is located at 648 Route 32 in Stillwater, NY. For directions, visit the park’s website.
The presentation is entitled: “The Uttermost Frontier”: The Saratoga-Stillwater Colonial Story and What it Means to You and is co-presented by Integrated Resource Manager, Chris Martin, and Park Curator, Chris Valosin.
Settled, in part, by a network of French traders with their families! A land subjected to the ravages of six wars over the period of one hundred years! Most local people are familiar with the history of the Revolutionary War conflict fought in this area in 1777, but what about the nationally significant story of the area’s colonial history?
This illustrated presentation will highlight little-known stories and unheard voices from the colonial borderlands of New York. A borderland is a region that is defined as a contested area between colonial domains, in this case: New France and New York.
This illustrated presentation will present in-depth some of the research findings of the past two years on borderland, conflicts, and settlements. Recent scholarship in New England has highlighted the role of the Williams family and the “Line of Forts” defending the northern borders.
This “line of forts” extended westward into New York, including our own area, and the Schuyler family had a significant role in supplying them. Events fueled by long-standing animosities between New Englanders and New Yorkers, Dutch and English, English and French, Protestant and Catholic, intertribal and racial conflicts all played out in the borderland that was Saratoga.
The British campaign in 1777 was neither the first nor the last military confrontation along this historic corridor. The lands of the Saratoga Patent, held by seven Dutch and English landholders from Albany, and stretching from Saratoga and Easton south to Stillwater was the site of long-term settlement by several French families beginning in the 1680s.
Stillwater would be an important supply depot and encampment area as British borders were defended in the 18th century. Saratoga was the setting of bloody confrontations which spanned over 100 years and six different wars. Geography, Imperial and economic rivalry as well as cultural and religious differences all played a part in the history of this area as a borderland.
The presenters are welcoming you to come and see and hear images and stories that resonate to this day, and learn what the next steps might be to bring these stories to life!