Magnet for Tourism

Magnet for Tourism (Story #1)

As they toiled through the Hudson River Valley, most travelers were more intent upon reaching their destination than observing their surroundings. Not so Peter Kalm, a Swedish naturalist who journeyed here, working under the direction of Carl Linnaeus, with the intent of discovering all he could about North America's plants and animals. Peter Kalm trod the very ground you stand upon; his careful observations give us a window into the past when the Hudson River was home to multitudes of huge sturgeons; to the times when passenger pigeons flocked in their millions and American chestnut trees dominated the forests. Kalm's journals give us an entry to a lost world. It was not a paradise. Kalm noted the dangers of walking in the forests where branches and even entire trees could come crashing down without warning. He was equally fascinated and terrified by rattlesnakes. Kalm wrote that the mosquitoes in this region were worse than any he had encountered in his journeys.

Kalm also noted that humans could be a danger as well in these parts. The time of his journey, 1748, was a brief intermission of the vicious wars between England, France and their Native allies. On frontiers such as this, the decisions made in faraway European capitals often were ignored by one side or the other. Although he lived in a time where humans regarded the natural world as a limitless pantry, Kalm already recognized the danger of over exploitation: But since the arrival of great crowds of Europeans, things are greatly changed: the country is well peopled, and the woods are cut down; the people increasing in this country, they have in part extirpated the birds, in part scared them away: in spring the people still take both eggs, mothers and young indifferently, because no regulations are made to the contrary. And if any had been made, the spirit of freedom which prevails in the country would not suffer them to be obeyed."

As you enjoy the trails here at Hudson Crossing Park, watch for plantings of Mountain Laurel. This flowering shrub owes its scientific name "Kalmia Latifloria" to naturalist Peter Kalm.

Magnet for Tourism (Story #2)

“I have lately made a tour through the Lakes George and Champlain as far as Crown point; then returning to Schenectady, I proceeded up the Mohawk river to Fort Schuyler (formerly Fort Stanwix), and crossed over to the Wood Creek which empties into the Oneida Lake, and affords the water communication with Ontario.” George Washington

Although he loved his home in Virginia, George Washington was an inveterate traveler throughout his life. In the last, less active years of the Revolutionary War he journeyed north in 1783 to the battlefields that saw the American victory at Saratoga six years earlier. Washington was not just site seeing; his practiced eye was alert to the economic potentials of places through which he traveled. He noted the resources of timber, animal life, soils and waterways in hopes that they would provide livelihood and profits to those who could exploit them. Washington was foremost in the notion of making full use of these resources. Indeed, one regional attraction caught Washington’s eye, and he noted his interest in acquiring rights to them in a letter to New York Governor George Clinton.

“I should be much obliged to you for intimating to me, before I go, what will be necessary for me to do respecting our purchase of the Saratoga Springs. I have money now by me, and shall, at any time, be ready to answer your call for this purpose….” George Washington

Magnet for Tourism (Story #3)

As his life was ending, a man sat on a porch overlooking the Hudson Valley and composed his memoirs.

Wracked with throat cancer and under the threat of financial ruin, Civil War General and former President Ulysses S. Grant had fled the heat and crowds of New York City to complete his autobiography at Mount McGregor, just 7 miles to the northeast of this site. From his porch where he wrote, Grant could look out over a Hudson River Valley that had changed dramatically in the span of his lifetime. Grant and his family were among many thousands who had discovered the serenity and natural beauty of this region. The landscape was no longer pristine wilderness but it suited the notions of 19th century Americans. Dotted with farms and mills and more sparsely populated than America's urban centers, the scenery showed a well-ordered world where nature and humans appeared to harmonize.

For families like the Grants the region may have offered a "get away" from their usual routines, but life for them in the countryside was as formal as at home in the city. Besides social calls to each other, their activities included carriage rides and picnics, with gentlemen in frock coats and top hats, and ladies in long dresses over confining corsets. General Grant wrote his memoirs laboriously by hand, detailing his role during the terrible Civil War, dying a few days after completing the draft manuscript. The last photos show him top-hatted and reading a newspaper, perhaps noting the rapid changes occurring in the world he was leaving.

Magnet for Tourism (Story #4)

What stories would the Hudson River tell us if it could speak? Would it be the stories of Native People's lives as they hunted and farmed along its banks? Or would it be the European explorers' sense of stunned amazement to a land so different than the one they had left? Perhaps it might tell of the events of 1777 when the United States defeated and captured an entire British army, events that would change the course of world history. Maybe it would tell of the commercial enterprises that altered the landscape and sometimes damaged the fragile ecological systems. Or would the tales be told in the music of canal workers or songbirds?

With so many different stories and features, it is not surprising that tourism has become one of our region's most important industries. The unique natural and cultural histories attract people of all ages from near and far who travel to discover the scenic byways along the "Lakes to Locks Passage". The kayak launch, just a few steps west from here, provides one stop along the Hudson River "Blueway Trail - a water trail that begins in N.Y.C. far to our south and connects us to the water pathways of Lake Champlain, Vermont, and Canada. The Champlain Canalway Trail above you offers miles of opportunity for both cyclists and pedestrians to enjoy waterfront recreation. Avid birders have recorded close to a hundred species of birds along these Hudson Crossing Park trails - so watch closely and listen carefully as you explore.

Tourism is not new to the area, but it has provided stimulus to an economy that suffered when industries left. The stories of our region's cultural, natural and historical attractions are powerful, but often those attractions are fragile and irreplaceable. In the past, wealth was acquired by exploiting, often ruthlessly, any and all resources until they were exhausted. Unlike such outdated economic endeavors, modern tourism actively promotes the premise that human activity can - indeed must - coexist with nature.

At Hudson Crossing Park the stories that are preserved are our stories; the nature that is conserved is our children's inheritance. Their value is not measured simply in dollars and cents, but rather in the wonder that enriches our lives. It is ours to preserve, to protect and to promote. Please - visit the Park often and discover anew the treasures that await you. You can learn more about the Park at www.HudsonCrossingPark.org.