Part III. 



GAZETTEER OF VERMONT. 



49 



LAKE CHAIMPLAIN. 



LAKE CHAMPIAIN. 



and its average width about one mile. 

 The distance from Whitehall to Ticonde- 

 roga is about 20 miles. The fortress of 

 tins name is now a heap of ruins.* It 

 was built by the French, in 175C, on a 

 point of land formed by the junction of 

 lake George creek with lake Chainplain, 

 and was two miles northwest from Mount 

 Independence, and opposite the north- 

 west corner of Orwell. Ticonderoga is 

 derived from the Indian and signifies 

 noisy. The French called the fort Caril- 

 lon. It was a place of great strength, 

 both by nature and art. On three sides 

 it was surrounded by water, and about 

 half the other was occujjied by a deep 

 Bwamp, while the line was completed by 

 the erection of "a breastwork nine feet 

 high on the only assailable ground. In 

 175S, Gen. Abercrombie, with a British 

 nrmy, was defeated in an attempt upon 

 this fortress with the loss of 1U41 men, 

 but it was the next year surrendered to 

 Gen. Amherst. t It was surprised by Col. 

 Allen, May JO, 177;"), at the commence- 

 ment of the revolution, and I'etained till 

 1777, when it was evacuated on the ap- 

 proach of Gen. Burgoyne. t Near this 

 place is one of the richest localities of 

 minerals in the United States, and is a 

 most interesting spot to the man of sci- 

 ence. " Within the limits of four or five 

 acres are found massive and crystalized- 

 garnet, several varieties of coccolite, 

 augite, white and green, crystalized and 

 massive, very beautiful adularia and com- 

 mon feldspar, tabular spar, hornblend, 

 calcareous spar containing bruoite, and 

 elegant crystals of silico calcareous o.^yde 

 of titanium." — HaU. From Ticonderoga 

 to Crown Point, a distance of 12 or 14 

 miles, the width of the lake continues 

 from one to two miles. Croion Puint 

 Fortress is now in ruins and is opposite to 

 the south part of Addison. || It was -built 

 by the French, in 1731, on a point of 

 land between West bay and the lake, and 

 was called Fort St. Frederick. In 1759, 

 it was surrendered to the British troops 

 under Gen. Amherst, and was held by the 

 British till May 10, 177.5, when it was 

 taken by Col. Seth Warner, on the same 

 day that Ticonderoga • surrendered to 

 Allen. It again fellinto the hands of the 

 British, in 1776, who kept possession of 

 it till after the capture of Burgoyne in 

 1777. This fortress is in lat. 44° 3' and 

 long. 73" 29' west from Greenwich. It 

 is nearly a regular pentagon, the longest 

 curtain being ninety, and the shortest 

 about seventy-five yards in length. The 

 ramparts are about twenty-five feet in 



* See part second, page 8. 

 i Page .33 and 41. || Pago 6. 



Ft. iij. 



t Page 9 and 1-!. 



thickness, and reveted with masonry 

 throughout. The ditch is blasted out of 

 the solid rock. There are two demilunes 

 and some small detached outworks. An 

 arched passage led from the interior of 

 the works to the lake, and a well about 

 ninety feet in depth was sunk in one of 

 the bastions. Tlie fort erected by the 

 Frencli in 1731, was a smaller work, and 

 nearer the water. The present fort was 

 commenced by the English, in 1759, and 

 according to • Dr. Dwight, (Travels II, 

 444,) cost about two millions of pounds 

 sterling. The whole peninsula being of 

 solid rock, covered with a thin layer of 

 earth, the works cannot be assailed by 

 regular approaches, and both in con- 

 struction and position, the fortress is 

 among the strongest in North America. 

 It has been long dismantled, and is now 

 quite dilapidated, but its form and dimen- 

 sions are still easily traced and measured. 

 From Crown Point to Split rock, a dis- 

 tance of about 19 miles, the width of the 

 lake will average about three miles and a 

 half. The width from Thompson's Point 

 to Split rock is only three quarters of 

 a mile. Split rock is a considerable cu- 

 riosity. A light house is erected here. 

 At McNeil s ferry between Charlotte and 

 Essex, N. Y., a few miles further north, 

 the width of the lake wants 20 rods of 

 three miles. From this place the lake 

 spreads as it flows north, and at Burling- 

 ton from the bottom of Burliiigton bay to 

 that of Douglas' bay is nine miles and 

 three quarters wide.* Upoii Juniper 

 island at the entrance of Burlington bay 

 from the south, a light house has been 

 erected, and a few miles to the northwest 



*In 1839, the (U-itance from the south wharf in 

 Burlington, to the light house on Juniper i.sland, 

 was measured upon the ice under the direction of 

 John Jolinson, Esq. and the bearing of various pla- 

 ces heing taken from the extremities of this line by 

 a good theodolite, the various distances were found 

 to be as follows : 



From the southwest corner of louth wharf 



m. rd.l m. rd. 



ToSharpshin P't. 1 217 To the light house 3 -18 

 To Appletree P't. 3 63 To Juniper island 3 28 

 To Port Kent 9 SOOiTo rock Dnnder 2 226 



To Donglas' bay 9 1931 To Pottier's Point 2 182 



From the light house 



m. rd.l m. rd. 



To Pottier's Point 1 1 19 To Sharpshin Point 2 310 

 To rock L'under 267|To Appletreo Point 3 109 

 In 1821, the distance from Burlington to Pouglas' 

 Buy on the o))posite, was measured on the ice, and 

 the following soundings taken, and the depth of the 

 lake was found to he feet. 



At half a mile from the wharf . . ■. 54 

 Between Sharpshin and Ked Rock . . 78 



Between Sharpshin and Pottier's Point ■ 6(i 



Between .Appletree Point and Jnniper Island 66 



Between Colchester Point and Slo<ip Island 282 



Betwcsn Providence Island and E. Brother 18'fi 



Relwoen Valcour Island and West Brother 69 



Due south o{ Schuyler's Islajid . . . Jfii) 



