682 [Assembly 



their existence to the epooJi of the French ascendancy, if not to 

 a still more remote period. The allusions of ancient MSS cor- 

 roborate the traditions preserved in the reminiscences of aged 

 persons, that a population, ranging in the estimate from fifteen 

 hundred to three thousand persons, were gathered around the 

 fortress of St. Frederic, A very important trahc it is known ex- 

 isted between the French and English possessions as early as 

 1700, and that Lake Champlain was the medium of the intercourse. 

 Several years anterior to that period, Ciown Point, it will be re- 

 collected, was referred to, as a prominent land mark in the pub- 

 lic instructions of the municipal authorities of Albany. May it 

 not have been, previous to the French occupation, an important 

 mart of this commerce? We confidently assume the conclusion, 

 that Crown Point, at an early period, was a conspicuous and 

 flourishing trading post, where the commodities of France and 

 England were interchanged, and where the Indians congregated 

 from widely expanded hunting grounds, to traSc their peltries. 



We have already briefly sketched the peninsular position of 

 Crown Point — one side resting on Bulwagga bay, and the other 

 washed by the waters of the lake. The clearest evidences re- 

 main, of the ground, for many rods along the margin of the bay, 

 having been graded and formed into an artificial slope, inclining 

 to the water. Ruins of enclosures are still visible. %he frag- 

 ments of a forwer wall, in one kistance, distinctly mark its course. 

 Trees wWch have sprung up, along the line of the wall, kave 

 supported and preserved spaces of it almost entire. This enclo- 

 sure, embracing an area of about two acres, was evidently a fruit 

 yard or garden. Fruit trees were flourishing in it within the 

 recollection of the present owner. 



An avenue seems to have s^vept in a wide wirvatare along the 

 margin of the lake, in front of the enclosures, and approached a 

 landing place, adapted to the craft which at that time navigated 

 its waters. Still more distinct and palpable indications, are ex- 

 liibited parallel to this avenue, upon the crest of a slight emi- 

 nence, of the former residence of a dense and prosperous popvula- 

 tion. A street may be traced, reaching a long distance towards 



