436 Agricultural Manual 



settled along the Hudson. Shortly afterward these people 

 removed to Schoharie and the Mohawk Valley and settled on lands 

 given them by the government. At about the same period a con- 

 siderable number of Holland Dutch from Schenectady and 

 vicinity found their way into the county and extended their 

 improvements up the valley. 



The first land grants in this county were made as early as 1703. 

 The principal ones, however, were made between 1730 and 1740. 



Sir William Johnson, who was sent to manage his uncle's estate 

 at the Junction of Schoharie Creek and the Mohawk River, was 

 one of the early settlers. He was expected to clear the land and 

 trade with the Indians. At times he lived with the natives and 

 wore their dress. In appreciation of his methods of dealing with 

 them, the Mohawks made him a chief and gave him a tract of 

 land of nearly 70,000 acres. Later he purchased in addition sev- 

 eral thousand acres from the Indians. He encouraged settlement 

 and imported horses, cattle, sheep, and swine. Through his 

 efforts a very considerable development of this section was made. 

 At his death his son, Sir John, whose attitude toward the colo- 

 nists was not entirely sympathetic, was given control of Indian 

 affairs. Through his influence, together with that of other tories, 

 and aided by Joseph Brandt, a distinguished Mohawk chief who 

 had been educated by Sir William Johnson, the Indians were 

 incited to active hostility during the Revolution. 



The settlement of Canajoharie was almost entirely destroyed 

 during one of the incursions led by Brandt. 



After the close of the war the surviving colonists returned to 

 their devastated homes and the processes of rebuilding progressed 

 rapidly. Other settlers came in and either took possession of the 

 confiscated lands of the tories, obtaining their title from the state, 

 or ventured further and brought new farms into cultivation. 



DEVELOPMENT OF INDUSTRY 

 Agriculture in Montgomery County was first carried on by the 

 Indians, who raised corn, beans, squashes, and pumpkins in the 

 neighborhood of their villages along the river. There were also 

 a few Indian apple orchards on the uplands. 



