Enlarged Erie Canal Lock 23 in Rotterdam, NY

			Historic New York
			
			    Mohawk Area

	The Mohawk Valley was a principal pass to the interior between the
Adirondack Mountains and the Allegheny Plateau.  Here dwelt the Mohawks,
one of the Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy who barred the white man's
advance westward.  In the seventeenth century they were visited by French
Catholic missionaries from Canada, some of whom suffered martyrdom.
In 1712, with the aid of Queen Ann, An Anglican Chapel for the Mohawks
was erected at Fort Hunter.

	Trade goods and furs were carried by river boats over the Mohawk
between Albany and the West.  The same route was followed by military
expeditions during the French and Indian War.

	From Fort Johnson, and after 1763 from Johnson Hall at Johnstown,
Sir William Johnson ably conducted Indian affairs for the British government.
During the Revolution, Tory and Indian raiders from Canada harassed the 
Mohawk Valley settlements.

	The completion of the Erie Canal in 1825 and the formation of the 
New York Central Railroad in 1853 introduced an era of rapid settlement
and industrial growth.  In the twentieth century improved highways follow
this historic route, long famed for its scenic beauty.