136 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK, 



2ny lecture at Troy. Was very busy at this lime in 

 organ izfng for u\y lecture campaign between Schenec- 

 tady and Buffalo. There was rather a surprising an- 

 nouncement in the afternoon's Union to the effect that 

 I had left for Little Falls. I did not learn from what 

 source Comrade Hamlin of that paper received his in- 

 formation. Colonel Finley went on to Utica, where 

 he was joined by Mr. Farrington. 



During my stay here I became interested in the place 

 and found that Schenectady was as rich in legends and 

 story as her neighbors. She counts her birthday among 

 the historic dates of America, having begun hercareer in 

 1620, when the Mohawks were still holding their coun- 

 cils of war and spreading the terror of their name. Here 

 in their very haunts a band of courageous Dutchmen es- 

 tablished a trading-{)ost and began the work of civiliza- 

 tion. This brave colony did not find life as peaceful as 

 the innocent aspect of Nature would suggest, however, 

 for in the winter of 1690 the French and Indians began 

 their terrible work, burning the houses and massacre- 

 ing the inhabitants. It was only through a baptism 

 of blood that the small trading-post developed into a 

 city. Now it v^as one of the most flourishing and im- 

 portant towns in the valley; and the transformation was 

 so complete that it is almost impossible to realize that 

 this was the scene of so many struggles. The Schenec- 

 tady of to-day is a busy manufacturing town, with a 

 prosperous farming district about it, whose cornfields 

 and orchards attest the richness of the soil. It is the 

 seat of Union College, a well-known institution of 

 rich endowments and possessing a handsome library 

 of 15,000 volumes. The college was founded in 1795 

 by a union of several religious sects. Its buildings 



