NEW YORK STATE MUSEUI^I 



ments and off the main line of such travel as there was between the 

 valley of the Hudson and the valleys of Lake Champlain and the 

 St Lawrence. The colonists, naturally, established themselves first 

 in the valley of the Hudson and their earliest settlements in this 

 region were some ten miles to the east of Saratoga Springs. The 

 line of communication between the French villages in the valley 

 of the St Lawrence and the Dutch and English colonists in and 

 around Albany, whether used for peaceful or hostile purposes, also 

 followed this main waterway. The springs were in 'the heart of the 

 Mohawk hunting grounds and their salty waters undoubtedly 

 attracted the wild animals before they caught the eye of the Indian. 

 So far as we know, the High Rock spring was first discovered. Its 

 mound of calcareous tufa would naturally be more conspicuous 

 than the mere uprising of water and gas from a crevice in the rock. 

 The High Rock was in the midst of a depressed area, at the foot of 

 a rock escarpment and along the west side of a brook. While the 

 smaller features are disguised by the village improvements of today, 

 the rock bench is conspicuous, and the larger features can easily be 

 restored in one's imagination. About a century after its discovery 

 by the whites, a pit was sunk below the High Rock mound with the 

 hope of cleaning the conduit and increasing the flow. It is recorded 

 that the excavators found the mound itself resting upon two pairs 

 of crossed logs. The logs were supported by muck and tufa, the 

 whole forming a section of seven feet. Still lower were two feet 

 of tufa, then one foot of muck with another log, then three feet of 

 tufa, beneath which were charred sticks, the remains of a fire.^ 

 Evidence of this sort would suggest the presence of primitive man 

 some thousands- of years before the advent of the whites. 



Of the identity of the first white man who viewed the High Rock 

 spring we may not be assured. There is some reason to think that 

 a wounded French soldier was the pioneer. But the first one whose 

 visit attracted special attention was Sir William Johnson, the pic- 

 turesque character, whose life is intimately associated with the early 

 history of the Mohawk valley. Sir William afflicted with a bodily 

 ailment went to the High Rock spring in 1767. His stay benefited 

 him and he aided much in directing attention to the waters. Four 

 years later the first cabin was built near the spring itself and then 

 the long procession of distinguished visitors was well under way. 

 In 1783, Generals Washington, Schuyler and Hamilton with Gov- 



1 A sketch and cross section appears in a paper by Dr Charles F. 

 Chandler, in the American Chemist for December 1871, page 204. 



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