l68 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



CONTROL OF DEVELOPMENT AND HISTORY OF 

 SARATOGA REGION BY THE GEOLOGY 



BY R. RUEDEMANN 



Saratoga and Schuylerville (the original Saratoga) quadrangles 

 are historic ground. The battles of Bemis Heights and Saratoga 

 (present Schuylerville) which have been cited among the fifteen 

 decisive battles in the history of the world, were fought on this 

 ground, and these, more than any other events of the Revolutionary 

 War, the people of the United States have to thank for their 

 freedom. 



Any one who studies this region with an interest both for its 

 fascinating history and its geology, can not fail to be impressed 

 by the close relationship between the course of the historic events 

 and the geology of the region. In view of the especial interest 

 attaching to anything connected with the history of Saratoga, it 

 may therefore be well briefly to point out the influence of the 

 geology upon (i) the development of the region, and (2) the 

 course of the struggle between the American and British armies. 



The Hudson river formed the natural highway through this 

 country not only for the Indians but also throughout colonial his- 

 tory. The early Dutch settlers followed this stream into the northern 

 woods and first settled the fertile bottom lands and then the edge 

 of the rich land on top of the clay banks laid down in Lake Albany. 

 When Burgoyne pressed into the country he found only this thin 

 first line of settlements, while back of the river on both sides there 

 extended the primeval forests. Here the Dutch reached the 

 northern limit of their settlements and gave names to the Moses 

 kill, Snook kill, Batten kill and Fish kill. Later, New England 

 pioneers came from the east through the mountain passes provided 

 by the Batten kill. 



While the fertile clay plains and bottom lands along the river 

 attracted the first farming population, another geologic influence 

 created a second center of settlement in the western, less fertile, 

 sand region of these quadrangles. This was the mineral springs 

 that issued at the foot of the fault scarp at Saratoga and which 

 were already highly valued by the Indians for their healing quali- 

 ties. Because of them Saratoga Springs, in the middle of the 

 former century, became the foremost summer resort of the con- 

 tinent and the largest town on the two quadrangles, and on their 

 account the railroad trunk line from the Hudson river through 



