Natural Forces and Native People Stories

Natural Forces and Native People (Story #1)

The placid scenery of the present-day Hudson River Valley where you now stand, is the result of massive, sometimes violent forces of geology. In a far-distant past, continents collided creating tall mountain ranges that rivaled the Himalayas in Asia. Millions of years of erosion, and vast sheets of ice wore them down to the present state, and created the Hudson River's "ancestor".

We are not the first people to have experienced the Hudson River. For thousands of years before the founding of the United States of America, Native People traveled and lived along these waterways. They hunted, following the seasonal movements of wildlife, seeing the skies darkened by migrating birds. They traded flint and furs and made war along these same routes. They lived beside the waterways, giving names that remain with us today: Schaghticoke, Kayaderosseras and Saratoga. (Say: "Scat a coke" "Kay der oss er rus")

As you explore Hudson Crossing Park, be sure to pay attention to the signs of nature about you: bird calls, the rush of river water or a footprint in the earth. You might hear the echoes of melting glaciers or the soft footfall of a hunter from long ago.

Natural Forces and Native People (Story #2)

From this vantage point, if you look across the Hudson, remnants of the old confluence of the Battenkill River may be seen to this day. For Native People, this was a most important highway into the hills of Central Vermont. Looking above, at a rise to the south, you might imagine the strategic location of Fort Saratoga where the artful French staged well-planned trickery resulting in a brutal massacre during the French and Indian Wars.

With the British victory in 1763 ending those Wars, many people thought ejecting the French from North America would eliminate most problems that had bedeviled settlers for decades. However, it became very apparent that even without the French, there were many unresolved issues, both about control of the land and the running of an empire.

Almost immediately after the French and Indian Wars' end, more and more settlers encroached on the lands of the Native People, killing or driving off animals that had provided food and furs for generations. It didn't matter to the settlers that some of these People, notably the Iroquois, had fought alongside the English against their common enemy the French. The situation became more and more dangerous as England could not halt the expansion of her colonies nor protect colonist or Native from the other's violence.

Clashes between redcoats and rebels during the Revolutionary War might have been over the theories of taxation and running an empire, but along the frontiers, the causes for violence were far more personal and immediate.

Natural Forces and Native People (Story #3)

With the end of the American Revolutionary War in 1783, all obstacles to settlement in the region were removed. The threat of fierce and sudden raids by native war parties or hostile invading European armies was finally gone. The land's appearance quickly changed as forests were cut down for building material and fuel. Streams were harnessed for their power with dams and mills. What had been habitats for a variety of animals and birds was altered as the whole region was given over to farming and later, to industry. With habitat eliminated, wildlife populations declined dramatically, or disappeared entirely.

The native people who had long lived along the banks of these rivers and streams were soon distant and dim memories, occasionally recalled in the discovery of a flint arrowhead in a farmer's plowed field.

Natural Forces and Native People (Story #4)

The Hudson River has been a heavily used waterway for years beyond memory. Sadly, it became a waterway that was heavily abused as well. For many generations, human and agricultural wastes were unceremoniously dumped into the River. Later, as industries gained a footing along the Hudson a variety of toxic chemicals further polluted the water. Slowly, people came to realize - the resources that once seemed limitless were quite finite.

This stark realization focused national attention to the appalling situation and led to the environmental movement in the middle decades of the 20th century. Through the efforts of many individuals and organizations at the local, state and national levels, new standards for clean air and water were set and enforced. Polluters were fined and mitigation of damage and restoration of the environment was begun. The landscape before you has been witness to changes we can only imagine. From vast sheets of glacial ice, an astonishing 2 miles high, to the flooding meltwaters that created Lake Albany, the changes have been profound.

Today, the Hudson River is a far cry from its pristine condition of 500 years ago. Yet with increased awareness, greater sensitivity, and careful stewardship, the future of the River is once again bright. Please - join with Hudson Crossing Park volunteers or groups like Scenic Hudson, the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater and the Hudson River Foundation in supporting efforts both great and small to care for this amazing legacy of ours.