Over the many years since the French & Indian War (1755–1763), workers digging around Lake George occasionally have found historical treasures. One of those discoveries came in late September 1924, when a road crew employee unearthed an unusual iron object during construction of the state road from Glens Falls to Lake George., New York, now Route 9.
Parts of this 20th century-built roadway run along or next to what back in 1924 was called the “old military trail.”
In 1755, British troops from Fort Lyman, later called Fort Edward, cut a road along an early Indigenous people’s path that ran from the upper Hudson River to Lake George.
The 18th century “military road,” as it is more commonly referred to today, went 16 miles from Fort Edward northwest to the south end of Lake George. That thoroughfare was a crucial land link in the strategic passageway known as the Hudson River-Lake George-Lake Champlain corridor. (See a map here, a guide was published in 1927).
Cutting the route through the thick forests was certainly a daunting and dangerous task for British military engineers and laborers. Trees were felled and dragged away.
Road crews were constantly on the lookout, too, for possible attacks from their enemy, the French and their native allies that frequently made forays from the Champlain Valley.
During the new road construction in 1924, worker William Ogden of Glens Falls, reportedly unearthed an old 8-foot-long, hand-forged chain. The iron chain’s links were described as being 6 inches long and 3/8 inches wide.
The rust-encrusted relic had a swivel in the center and a hook at each end. Based upon its description, the wrought-iron artifact could have been a logging or wagon chain dating to the 18th century.
The discovery was made between Bloody Pond and Halfway House, an area a few miles south of Lake George. Ogden excavated the antique chain from a depth of 7 feet from the surface.
He reportedly found it about 200 feet from the “King Hendrick spring,” named after the Mohawk Chief Hendrick Theyanoguin, who was killed by the French and their Native allies during Bloody Morning Scout, one of the skirmishes during the Battle of Lake George.
That September 8, 1755 fighting was a victory for William Johnson’s British and provincial troops, one of the few military successes by Britain in the early part of the French & Indian War.
A 1924 newspaper account reported that local historians believed the artifact probably was “equipment carried by the English forces during the battle.”
It is not sure what happened to this unusual antiquity. Possibly one day the “old military road” chain will turn up in a local historical society repository or in a private collection. If so, it’ll be a notable reminder of the rich heritage of the Lake George and Queensbury area of Warren County, NY.
Editor Note: In 2011 a rusted military bayonet was unearthed on private property just east of Loon Lake in Warren County. It was French in design and probably dated between 1728 and the 1740s. Twenty thousand of those bayonets were made and sent to New France prior to the American Revolution.
A few decades ago a gun of the type that could have been at the Battle of Valcour Island in the American Revolution was found in Johnsburg, in northwest Warren County. You can read about both finds here.
Read more about the Battle of Lake George.
A version of this article first appeared on the Lake George Mirror, America’s oldest resort paper, covering Lake George and its surrounding environs. You can subscribe to the Mirror HERE.
Illustrations, from above: Bloody Morning Scout Memorial Monument to Ephraim Williams and King Hendrick on Route 9 south of Lake George; and a map showing Fort Anne, Fort Edward and its relation to Lake George and Fort William Henry, Fort George.
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