Fort Stanwix National Monument, a Revolutionary War Fort in upstate New York

Blogging, blogging. It's something that's kind of new to me or at least I don't feel that I have the hang of it, at least not yet.  So, let's introduce ourselves. My name is Peter Huston, I am a resident of upstate New York and have always had an interest in the local history, particularly that of the American Revolutionary War. You will see much on that here.  

Long ago, I developed an interest in other cultures and countries and it somehow became largely focused on the nations of east Asia and their histories and cultures. At one time, my goal was to become a professor of Chinese and related history, but I wound up with a master's degree instead of a Ph.D. The paper actually says East Asian Studies, not history, but the bulk of my studies, including the Master's Thesis, were focused on history.  If interested, you can find the thesis on line here: https://ecommons.cornell.edu/handle/1813/8399  Therefore, there will be much on that here.

I am also a miniature wargamer and have been enjoying this hobby since middle school. Therefore, there will be much on that hobby here as well. 

Use the tabs, search subjects, please feel free to explore. As I write this, on March 25, 2020, we are in the midst of a recommended lock down. and I hope to use some of this time to post things, finishing up the unfinished drafts and photos that have been sitting here forever. 

I hope you will consider subscribing to this blog or making a purchase through our links or leaving a comment or forwarding a link to an interesting post to others. Anything that shows interest and appreciation in this project would be much appreciated. In the meantime, please feel free to browse a bit. There's a lot here. Perhaps something will interest you. 

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Fort Stanwix

In the small city of Rome, New York, not too far from Utica and Syracuse, and just down the road from the Oriskany Battlefield and the retirement home of Von Steuben, lies Fort Stanwix National Historical Park. I visited their last winter one day and had an interesting visit and took lots of pictures. 

Remember what I said about blogging being new to me? This is one of those points where I am forced to make a choice and lack much experience. Should I, for instance, merely show the ten favorite pictures or so? The normal way for a publication aimed at the general public. Or should I dump every single picture of the place I have on the blog? My suspicion is that this would be preferred by the hardcore readers. Those who wish to really know how the fort was put together or might be interested in modelling a replica of the fort or one like it and perhaps one of these photos might prove useful when they model the nooks and crannies far away from the front entrance. Lacking feedback, I'm going to post all the photos. As mentioned, these photos have been sitting here since last winter waiting to be posted, and it seems about time to share them, even if it's not done perfectly. Again, feedback is appreciated. If you have a question about one of the photos, try leaving a question as a comment and I'll do what I can to answer it.

In the past I have tried to produce more in-depth pieces for my blog, and will do so again from time to time. Here's one from my trip to the fort. It focuses on the representation of the Indians in the visitor center exhibits. Because it's been covered before, I decided not to reshare the bulk of the photos that I used on this page.
https://history-for-fun-profit-and-insight.blogspot.com/2018/12/indians-in-american-revolution.html

The History of Fort Stanwix

Second question for a novice blogger. How much time should I spend offering the basic history of Fort Stanwix? Should I offer a well-written, popular history of the event? Or, by contrast, as I have some academic training, should I instead take the lofty academic approach, and find some question, some aspect of the events or context of what happened at Fort Stanwix in 1777 and research and explore it in depth, with the ultimate goal being to ad to mankind's collective understanding of the event? (This is what academics are encouraged to do when writing a master's thesis or PhD dissertation. You can see some of that in my MA thesis, linked to above. Be advised, it often produces interesting results but it does take a lot of time.) 

But this is a blog. And, to some extent, the goal is to produce interesting content quickly and regularly. And therefore I will take a third path and merely offer these links. If you wish to know the history of the fort, follow them. Why should I reinvent the wheel? 

1. Fort Stanwix National Monument official site
2.  Battlefields.org
3. A revolutionary day website

All look interesting and provide a good overview of the fort and its history.

Photos of the Outside of the Fort 

While I recommend that you contact the fort staff before visiting to learn hows of operation and access policies (the link is above in the history of the fort section), when I was there last year, the policy was that during warm months the fort's main gate was unlocked during daytime hours and more or less full access was provided to daytime visitors. During the winter, when I visited, there was an hourly tour given by a well informed ranger in costume. If one wished, you could obtain one of those recorded self-guided walking tour machines and it would give information about the important points on the small area immediately surrounding the fort. As the fort is now located inside an urban area, it does not have vast sweeping tracts of land.

I took both the self-guided and the guided tour as I arrive just a little too late to go with the ranger and had time to spare.'

Here are several photos that I took. I hope they answer at least some of any questions you might have about the fort and its construction.

Photos from Inside the Barracks and other 

Buildings inside the Fort 

The Visitors' Center

Outside the Fort

Finally, just a few shots of the outside of the fort and the monument. I like to include some of these so that people can get a sense of the site in its modern context and setting.

A very badly focused photo of the nearby "Colonial Laundromat," a funny name, I thought. If you wish, learn more here: https://www.eaglenewsonline.com/news/new/business/2018/07/22/a-cny-success-story/

Indians in the American Revolution and Depictions of Iroquois from Fort Stanwix and Oriskany

The American Revolution ( American War of Independence) produced many changes in North America. One of these was the end of the Iroquois Confederacy as an important political entity. 

An exhibit from the Fort Stanwix visitor center showing two Iroquois and a trader from the period.

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The war in the Mohawk River Valley, then a frontier region of New York, was a civil war. The Whites fought each other, loyalists against those favoring independence, and among the Iroquois Six Nation Confederacy, the nations split, some favoring the American cause, others preferring their traditional loyalties with the British, particularly as the British had promised to help them curb the spread of the aggressive, land-hungry American settlers, and others struggling to remain as neutral as possible in what they considered a White man's war. 

Many Iroquois, particularly the Mohawks, left their home region soon after the war. 

Many of these events focused on a fortification called Fort Stanwix. It is now a National Historical Park and located in Rome, New York, a small city located between Syracuse and Utica. ( see: the National Park Service Website for Fort Stanwix. ) 

The Oriskany Battlefield, perhaps the most important battle of this part of the war, is located a little bit to the East. 

I have a strong interest in the history of the American Revolution (War of Independence) and wargame the period. Among my current projects are a large number of half-painted 25mm Old Glory "woodland Indians with rifles" that I intend to use as Iroquois. I'll try to include some photos of them when they are finished, but here's what the looked like a couple weeks ago. Clearly, there's a great deal of detail and color left to be added. 

Therefore, for those with similiar interests, I offer the following photos from the Fort Stanwix visitors center. Apologies for the poor quality of some of the photos. I have come to the realization that if I wish this blog to be its best, I must improve my photography skills and hope to spend some time on that soon. 

Let's begin with some close ups of the above exhibit. After we will follow up with period and later depictions of some of the key Iroquois involved. 

The life size Iroquois models from the exhibit.
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Notice the bead work on the straps and the knife.
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Detail on the bag.
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This and the one below show the headdress detail on the models.

awful picture but does show some more detail from another angle
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Same poor quality but the other Iroquois model in the display.
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 Important Iroquois of the Time depicted in the Museum

This is a fuzzy photo (apologies) of the Seneca leader Cornplanter ( Gy-ant-wa-chia )
You can find a better image of this painting, plus a full biography at either of these two pages Cornplanter on Wikipedia or Indigenous People Net 

OH MY!! An even worse photo of the exhibit on Red Jacket. Although he reportedly fled the battle of Oriskany early in the fighting he went on to become an important Iroquois statesman. See these sites for better depictions and more details: wikipedia or Indigenous People Net