The Fort by the Village

The Fort by the Village. Schoharie Crossing. , Long before the Erie Canal was constructed, Schoharie Crossing was home to a Mohawk village called the Lower Castle, which consisted of 40-50 houses surrounded by a defensive palisade. Following a request for missionaries made by Mohawk chiefs during their 1710 visit to England, Queen Anne ordered the construction of a fort and a chapel (later named Fort Hunter) in Mohawk country. The fort was built in 1712 adjacent the Lower Castle. At the center of the 150-foot-square fort stood Queen Anne's chapel, and at each of its corners was a two-story blockhouse., Although the fortifications had deteriorated by 1720, the community on the western frontier survived. A "neat Stone Church" replaced the log chapel in 1741, and in 1756, new fortifications were completed at the direction of Sir William Johnson, British Superintendent of Indian Affairs. In 1750, 204 Indians lived in tthe Lower Castle. A letter written by Sir William six years later described a settlement that included 100 men capable of fighting, 70 in the Mohawk village and 30 in the fort., French and Indian Wars. , From 1689 to 1763 France France and England were in a struggle for dominance of North America. The Mohawks and other Native American groups were drawn into this struggle as each side tried to gain their allegiance., 1689-1697 King William's War, 1690 French and Indian allies burn Schenectady, 1703-1713 Queen Anne's War, 1710 Mohawk Chiefs travel to London, 1712 Fort Hunter and Queen Anne's Chapel constructed, 1744-1748 King George's War, 1748 Fort Johnson constructed, 1754-1763 French and Indian War, 1755 Battle of Lake George, 1775 American Revolution begins, Fort Hunter was located just southeast of the intersection of the Mohawk River and the Schoharie Creek, an important early crossing point. The fort played an important role in the settlement and trade of the Mohawk Valley for many years, The 1711 contract for construction of the fort specified that the 12-foot-high curtain walls, the chapel, and the four blockhouses be constructed of horizontally laid square logs., Queen Anne provided prayer books and a silver communion service for the chapel. The communion service is now in Ontario, Canada, where the Lower Castle Mohawks relocated after their British allies were defeated in the American Revolution.