HISTORICAL FIELD SCHOOLS IN UPSTATE NEW YORK
FORT EDWARD/ROGERS ISLAND--Major Robert Rogers and his Rangers, together
with 15,000 British and Provincial soldiers, used Ft. Edward and Rogers
Island as a main base of encampment during the French and Indian War. The
military installation, use between 1755 and 1766, included a Vauban-style
fort on the east bank of the Hudson River and huts, barracks, gardens,
storehouses, and hospitals on Rogers Island. Over the past four seasons we
have dug soldiers' huts, dumps, a storehouse, a smallpox hospital, and
part of a barracks building Rogers Island.
In 1995 the Field School will focus upon the Fort site, which began as a
series of storehouses and evolved into a prominent and important fort,
complete with barracks buildings, corner bastions, and a surrounding moat.
The fortifications expanded significantly after the 1757 massacre and
destruction at its sister fort, Fort William Henry. The remains of Fort
Edward lie underneath the lawns of a residential neighborhood, within
sight of our pervious excavations on Rogers Island.
Participants will be instructed in field and laboratory techniques,
mapping, conservation methods, and historical research. A full-time
laboratory will be run in conjunction with the field work. The Field
School carries two to four credits. Sessions meet on Monday-Friday, 9 am.
to 5 p.m., and sessions may be taken in two-week increments. VOLUNTEERS
ARE ALSO WELCOME. JULY 3-28, 1995.
WHITEHALL---"The Birthplace of the US Navy" is rich in American
Revolutionary and French and Indian War history. Settled in 1759 as the
colonial town of Skenesborough by British Army Captain Philip Skene, this
community became the first permanent settlement on Lake Champlain and an
important center of maritime trade. Whitehall is strategically located at
the head of Lake Champlain, and the ships used in the 1776 Battle of
Valcour Island were built in Whitehall's harbor.
This is the first season of field work at Whitehall. Various American and
British sites will be examined, with particular attention given to what we
presume to be the main house and outbuildings of Captain Skene. It is
expected that military as well as Native American artifacts will be found
on the site.
Participants will be instructed in field and laboratory techniques,
mapping, conservation methods, and historical research. A full-time
laboratory will be run in conjunction with the field work. The Field
School carries two to four credits. Sessions meet on Monday-Friday, 9 am.
to 5 p.m., and sessions may be taken in two-week increments. VOLUNTEERS
ARE ALSO WELCOME. JULY 31-AUGUST 25, 1995.
For further information, please contact ACC, Archaeology Field School, c/o
Dr. William Gehring, Bay Road, Queensbury, NY, 12804; phone: (518)
743-2236. VOLUNTEERS may contact directly: Dr. David Starbuck, P.O. Box
147, Fort Edward, NY 12828; phone (518) 747-2926.
Sincerely,
Susan Winchell-S.(aka)
address: [log in to unmask]
|