?-19th Century.
Native Americans utilize the passage through the impenetrable wilderness
for commerce and warfare.
c. 1642.
Iroquois war parties travel up the lake through the Narrows enroute to
French settlements along the Richelieu and St. Lawrence.
c. 1646.
Jesuit Missionary Isaac Jogues
travels the Narrows on his mission to the Mohawk. He is later martyred at their
hands and is later canonized a saint by the Church.
Spring/Fall 1666.
French raiding parties several hundred strong travel through the Narrows
to destroy Mohawk villages in territory claimed by the British.
July 1688.
Some 1300 Mohawk warriors paddle north through the passage. Their journey
will culminate in the LaChine Raid on French Canada.
February 1690.
210 French and Indian raiders pass through the Narrows. Their goal is the
surprise and destruction of Schenectady.
January 1693.
Yet another French force advances through the passage to raid
Schenectady.
October 1749.
Swedish naturalist Peter Kalm travels and writes of his trip through the
Narrows during his "Travels in North America."
1754-1759.
Rogers' Rangers, Continental Militia and British Regulars
regularly travel the Narrows on missions for His Britannic Majesty. At the same
time, French war parties, comprised of Regulars, Canadian volunteers, and
Natives allied with France pass through the Narrows intent upon the same.
March 1757.
1500 French and Indians advance through the passageway in a failed
attempt to evict the British from their new fortress- William Henry.
August 1757.
Some 8,000 French Regulars, Militia and Indians under the Marquis de
Montcalm travel pass through the narrow waterway. The undertaking will culminate
in the the defeat of the British at the storied
Battle
of Fort William Henry.
July 1758.
An expeditionary force of 15,000 British Regulars, Rangers and Continental
Militia under General James Abercromby advance on Ticonderoga through the
Narrows. Their object is the French Fortress at Ticonderoga. They suffer a
stunning defeat at the hands of a much smaller French force. Within days, the
humiliated army returns to William Henry.
July 1759.
Another enormous army advances north through the strait. General Jeffrey Amherst
will succeed where Abercrombie did not. The French will abandon their works at
Carillon and St. Frederic (Crown Point) and retreat into Canada.
April 1776.
After a period of relative peace in the region following the defeat of the
French, war has again come to the beautiful lakes. A delegation from the
Continental Congress composed of three distinguished statesmen- Benjamin
Franklin, Samuel Chase and Charles Carroll, travels up Lake George,
through the Narrows to Canada in an attempt to encourage Canadians to the side
of the American rebels.
1776-1783.
British forces and American Rebels regularly traveled up and down
the lake on missions in support of their respective sides during the American
Revolution.
July 1783.
George Washington visits Fort George at the southern end of the lake then
travels up through the Narrows to inspect the works at Ticonderoga and Crown
Point.
May 1791.
Thomas Jefferson travels up the lake to Lake Champlain. While advancing
all the way up Lake George, he only sees a small part of Champlain.
