Mount Defiance and visiting American Revolutionary War sites in upstate New York

I spent Columbus Day weekend 2020 seeing American Revolutionary War related historical sites in the upstate NY Adirondack Mountains. Mount Defiance, the one shown here, was only one of them. For those interested in seeing such historical sites, ownership of such sites in the USA can be confusing and complex.

Fort Ticonderoga is owned by a private not-for-profit who also own Mount Defiance, the nearby hilltop from which Burgoyne menaced the fort in 1777.

Crown Point, well worth seeing, is about 25km north and owned and operated by the state of New York Parks department ( signage is bilingual French/ English due to proximity to Quebec. This is not common for NY government services)

Saratoga Battleground, about three hours to the south of Ticonderoga is part of the US National Park System and run by them. Johnson Hall, the home of Sir William Johnson, about an hour west of Saratoga is again a state run historic park but Fort Johnson, Johnson's earlier home about a half hour drive south of his later home, is owned and operated by the Montgomery County Historical Society. ( Technically not an American Revolutionary War site, of course, but well worth seeing if you visit his other home. )

Many close in the October or so for the winter and Covid-19 has complicated everything. Saratoga Park visitors center is closed but the grounds are open. Crown Point is closing early this season and closes this week, but when I arrived they had a policy of only one family at a time inside the museum at a time and I had to sit outside on a bench for 15 minutes waiting ( cool, museum though)

These are photos of Mount Defiance. In 1777, when Burgoyne's army headed south from Montreal in the campaign that culimnated in the Battle of Saratoga, one of the obstacles they faced was the American controlled Fort Ticonderoga. Burgoyne put the fort under siege and sought out good places to post cannons in order to menace the fort. One of these spots was nearby Mount Defiance. 

Today, Mount Defiance offers a beautiful view of the fort and Lake Champlain. It is private property, owned by the same not-for-profit foundation that owns Fort Ticonderoga. If one wishes to drive up to the observation spots, one needs to use a gated private road. Tickets are available for purchase at the fort. However, if one wishes and is in good health, you can easily park by the gate and walk up the raod to the picnic and viewing area, 

The view of the fort and the Lake Champlain from Fort Ticonderoga. 

A New York state historical marker  on the small town road
that leads to Mount Defiance and its private road. 

Another view of the fort from Mount Defiance.

At the top of Mount Defiance there is a flag pole and a fenced in area
that is part of the local power generation system.

As one heads up to Mount Defiance you pass a civil war monument. 

Donald Trump, Roy Cohn, and Early Life After College in Manhattan.

 Another excerpt from the cut biographical chapter of "Scams from the Great Beyond --The Presidential Edition." My upcoming book intended to explain the techniques Donald Trump uses to sway crowds and influence people. It should be helpful to people who wish to understand "the Donald Trump phenomena."

  

Donald Trump, Roy Cohn, and Early Life After College in Manhattan

Roy Cohn, an unethical lawyer, was one of Trump's most important mentors and influences.

Donald Trump and Roy Cohn, the aggressive and often unethical lawyer
who was his mentor in many ways. 

                After graduation in 1968, Trump went to work for his father, helping to manage his rental properties.

                In 1971, he fulfilled a dream and moved to Manhattan. He had always been ashamed to have come from Queens and sometimes lied about it, as his father had, telling people he was born in New Jersey.  Soon after, seeking both women and to be able to move in the chic, trendy Manhattan elite social circles, he applied to join “Le Club.” “Le Club was a then-popular night club located in Manhattan whose membership included many wealthy and powerful people.  Trump described it as “perhaps the most exclusive” members night club in New York City and said “its membership included some of the most successful men and the most beautiful women in the world,” ^[1] an interesting and notable illustration of how Trump views interactions and roles for the two sexes.

                Here he met many rich and important people, but the most important among them was undoubtedly Roy Cohn. Roy Cohn, 20 years older than Trump, was a New York City lawyer known for his aggressive and frequently bullying tactics. In many ways, Cohn became a mentor to young Trump. ^[2]

                Which is a shame as Cohn’s career showed a certain lack of adherence to moral principles that some would say he passed on to his de facto protégé. Cohn had at one time been Chief Attorney to Senator Joseph McCarthy during the Senator’s notorious anti-Communist witch hunts. He was known to pursue expensive lawsuits against people designed to intimidate and harass them with little thought of the justice or morality behind the suit. Trump took up this practice.  Cohn often bought expensive things and hired people to provide expensive services and then didn’t pay for them until taken to court at which point he tried to drag out the proceedings and ultimately settle the debt for a fraction of what it was worth. Trump also has made a career out of doing this. Cohn served as a “fixer” for many people, quietly fixing problems and hushing up consequences of poor choices for wealthy clients. Cohn is also the person who introduced Trump and Rupert Murdoch, former owner of Fox News. In 1986 Cohn was disbarred for unethical and unprofessional conduct. Much of these misconduct accusations stemmed from actions taken with Roger Stone, later Trump associate, on behalf of Ronald Reagan during his 1980 campaign.^[3]    

                Cohn was not known as a terribly ethical man or as someone who took ethical stances. He was gay, largely in the closet aside from bringing handsome young men to Le Club, of the belief that if people knew he was gay they’d think he was gay, and known for publicly opposing gay rights.  He died of AIDS in 1986. Like Trump, he loved to appear in the press and the New York City papers gossip columns.^[4]

 

Finally, my books . . . 

Yeah, I've written books. Please check them out and see if they interest you.

  

---

[1] Schwartz, Tony and Trump, Donald “The Art of the Deal” (1987. Warner Brothers, New York.)

[2] Pages 33-39, Johnston, David Cay. “The Making of Donald Trump.” ( 2016. 2017. Melville House. Brooklyn.)

[3] “Roy Cohn: The Toughest, Meanest, Most Brilliant Lawyer in New York,” by Peter Carlson. NO DATE Historynet.
https://www.historynet.com/roy-cohn-the-toughest-meanest-most-brilliant-lawyer-in-new-york.htm 

[4] “THE LIFE AND TIMES of Roy Cohn,” by Geoffrey C. Ward. July/August 1988. Volume 39 Issue 5 American Heritage.
https://www.americanheritage.com/roy-cohn#1

 

Donald Trump's Immigrant Roots -Scams from the Great Beyond --The Presidential Edition

Donald Trump's Immigrant Roots

The Trump Family in America 

 I am currently working on a book on Donald Trump. A sequel to my earlier, Scams from the Great Beyond books, this one will focus on the skills and techniques Donald Trump has used to sway crowds and achieve his amazing accomplishments. (Trump is the first US President ever elected without any public service experience.) While the original outline included a biographical chapter, the editor recommended it be cut (it was taking up a third of the book and still growing.) Therefore, these blog posts.

 

 

Family and TRUMP’S IMMIGRANT ROOTS

                

Trump with an immigrant from a sh*thole country to his left,
and the child of immigrants who came through chain migration on his right. 
In other words, his mother and father.

For a man who has a thing about immigrants, Trump sure seems to have a lot of them in his family. And for a man whose slogan is “Make America Great Again,” “again,” as in in the past, his family really hasn’t been here very long. And for a man who reframed and renamed “family based immigration” as “chain migration” and told his base it was a threat to everything good and pure in the USA, there’s a lot of that, too. Make of that what you will.

                 Donald Trump’s mother was an immigrant. She came, basically, through so-called “chain-migration,” and arrived in  New York City in 1930 at age 18 where she stayed with three sisters who came first. She arrived from a place that could easily be called a “sh*thole.” She was the youngest of ten children and from a desolate, impoverished, and Gaelic speaking section of Scotland where the first world war had killed a large number of the town’s men. She left, seeking a better life overseas.

She found work as a domestic servant. Six years later in 1936, she married Fred Trump, Jr., Donald Trump’s father.^[1] Six years after that, she became an American citizen. ^[2]  

Three generations of Trump men. 

                On Donald Trump’s father’s side of the family, both his grandparents were immigrants, too. Friedrich “Fred” Trump arrived from Germany, dodging the draft, in 1885. Another chain migration case, he stayed with his sister in New York City upon arrival. He soon moved out and did well for himself running restaurants and low-cost brothels in Washington state and the Yukon during the gold rush. ^[3]  He then attempted to resettle in his homeland, but the authorities would not forgive his draft dodging.

He returned to the USA and settled in New York City where he managed a barber shop, then a hotel. At the time in New York City, these businesses were often fronts for illegal activities. A German in New York City, during world war one, he undoubtedly experienced what it was like to be an immigrant  hated by bigots.^[4] He died of the Spanish flu during the epidemic of 1918. ^[5] Since this was before Trump was born perhaps it explains why he never seemed to have learned about either the evils of bigotry or the dangers of epidemics.

In “The Art of the Deal,” his ghost written bestselling biography, Trump claims on page 66 that his father came from Sweden. Trump’s father, Fred, start this lie about his own father, because it made it easier to sell and rent property to the New York City Jewish population.   

 

Donald Trump’s father, Frederick Trump, Junior,

               

Donald Trump’s father, Frederick Trump, Junior, made his fortune in real estate. His major project was low rent housing built with government subsidies. In the post world war two baby boom era, there was a great demand for such housing. ^[6] Although Born in the Bronx, he told people he was born in New Jersey. Despite being the son of immigrants, he was involved in the KKK and showed racist tendencies throughout his life. He was investigated for profiteering. [7]

 

Finally, my books . . . 

Yeah, I've written books. Please check them out and see if they interest you.

  

---

[1] Some sources say 1934. I’ve chosen 1936 as it matches more easily with other statements made regarding her marriage.

[2] Primary source: 20th May 2016

An inconvenient truth? Donald Trump's Scottish mother was a low-earning migrant

By Martin Hannan for The National (the newspaper that supports an independent Scotland)
https://www.thenational.scot/news/14903147.an-inconvenient-truth-donald-trumps-scottish-mother-was-a-low-earning-migrant/?fbclid=IwAR3hSYAtQadS9lx3LOubYouq8dhM9uj-xoAd1OKDtu6-B8bjPtA05cwzKgk

Secondary source: Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, from Wikipedia. Accessed on August 9, 2020

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Anne_MacLeod_Trump  

[3] Page 4. Johnston, David Kay. The Making of Donald Trump (2016, 2017. Melville House, Brooklyn) He cites a biography written by Gwenda Blair as his source.

[4] “Frederick Trump.” Wikipedia. Accessed on September 1, 2020

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Trump

[5] “Frederick Trump.” Wikipedia. Accessed on September 1, 2020

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Trump

[6] Page 75. Kranish, Michael and Fisher, Marc. “Trump Revealed” (2016, Simon and Schuster, New York) 

[7] Page 27-30,. Kranish, Michael and Fisher, Marc. “Trump Revealed” (2016, Simon and Schuster, New York) 

Melania, Trump Wife # 3. Oh how we love those grimacing scowls!

Melania, 

Trump Wife # 3

Another patented "TRUMPinfoDUMP" from the 

cut biographical chapter of the upcoming

"Scams from the Great Beyond --The Presidential Edition."

                Melania, is, of course, Donald Trump’s third and current wife. Of all the things about living under the Trump administration, watching Melania interact with her husband is my favorite. Melania is, of course, a former model from Eastern Europe who knowingly married a self-absorbed millionaire who she had to know had cheated on his two previous wives and divorced them with as much publicity as possible. She knew this. Put everything she does in that context.

                I know it’s evil, I know it’s wrong, and I promise I do feel guilty about it, but watching her is one of my favorite things about having Trump in the White House now. Those “don’t touch me” hand slaps in front of the airplane ramps, those “I hate being here and I hate this man too” expressions at public events when he’s not looking, the alleged plagiarism of Michelle Obama, a woman her husband can’t stand, in her 2016 speech,[1] and the same suspicion a few months later that she plagiarized Marla Maples, Trump’s second wife and another woman he can’t stand, in a later speech.[2]  And those choices, like choosing cyber bullying awareness and prevention as her cause she would promote when first lady despite her husband being a notorious cyber bully himself. Or the 2020 Republican National Convention where spoke about how America deserves an honest president and the importance of understanding our history in order to achieve racial harmony, two statements that made many listeners wonder which convention they were listening to and which presidential candidate she was really advocating for. Or those clothing choices. The “I don’t care. Do you?” jacket. The amazing “green screen” dress at the convention that enabled meme making in such an amazing way.[3]   

                The fact is that their marriage had troubles long before he won the presidency,[4] and I know she lies and doesn’t really speak all those languages she claims to, [5] or those weird claims she made about bathing Barron in caviar, [6] but that really seemed designed to promote a line of skin care products she was going to sell on QVC and did promote on The Apprentice. [7] I mean, she did wait six months to move into the White House which kind of hints at something going, (some argue she was renegotiating the pre-nuptial agreement before doing so), but, regardless, she’s there now, and, well, like I said I know it’s wrong, but it’s just so much fun to watch.    

                Melania, an immigrant in the family of our most anti-immigrant president, is from Slovenia in the former Yugoslavia. She gained the right to live in the USA through an EB-1 or “Einstein Visa” for people who show talent in a special field. If you’re wondering, she began the application process in 2000, when she was dating Donald Trump. Part of the process for applying for this is to demonstrate or show evidence of extraordinary talent in a field. Many have wondered how Melania demonstrated “extraordinary” talent as a model. Lacking demonstrable evidence of extraordinariness, this was probably done through endorsement letters from people in the modelling field. It is likely that her then boyfriend, now notoriously hard on immigration president, Donald Trump, a man with many connections and contacts in that field, pulled some strings and asked for some favors to get her such letters. [8]   She, like Ivana, is claimed to have done modelling work, working illegally in the USA, on the wrong visa, but, in fact, it appears that Melania did more of it while here on a tourist visa in 1996. Which, it has to be said, is a bit ironic considering that she’s the second wife of America’s most anti-immigrant, anti-undocumented illegal foreign worker president to, in fact, be an immigrant who worked here illegally. [9] And, as for that “chain migration” thing, well, she brought her parents here using it. [10]

                Melania and Donald Trump had a big fancy wedding with many celebrity guests. The guest list included Bill and Hillary Clinton, Chris Christie, politicians, billionaires, and countless celebrities including several of the Liberal Trump despising actors, actresses, and musical performers that now publicly criticize Trump. Some have commented that a large segment of the swamp he promised to drain has attended his three weddings over the years. [11]

Finally, my books . . . 

Yeah, I've written books. Please check them out and see if they interest you.

  

---

[1] “Melania Trump and Michelle Obama side-by-side comparison,” uploaded on July 18, 2016 by CNN

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcbiGsDMmCM

“Comparing Melania Trump’s Speech With Michelle Obama’s | The New York Times,” uploaded on July 19, 2016 by The New York Times

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tz375GoHaMk&list=LLPeXKAAiecwg3uHOU2a6Uvg&index=656

[2] “Melania Trump leaves the media scratching its head — again,” by Callum Borchers. November 3, 2016. The Washington Post

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/11/03/melania-trump-leaves-the-media-scratching-its-head-again/

[3] “Melania Trump's Green Dress At The RNC Became An Instant Meme -"Melania's fashion choices always send a message," by Stephanie K. Baer. August 28, 2020. BuzzFeed News.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/skbaer/melania-trump-green-screen-dress-rnc
“Melania Trump's Bright Green Dress On Final RNC Night Screams Meme,” by Andrew Limbong. NPR
https://www.npr.org/2020/08/28/906986560/melania-trumps-bright-green-dress-on-final-rnc-night-screams-meme
“HaHA! Melania Trumps Green Dress gets green screen madeover - Seeall the styles Trump RNC Convention,” uploaded on August 27, 2020 by Tony Dortie - 24/7 Eyes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCs6S7uWn2k

[4] “What's Really Going On With Donald Trump's Marriage,” uploaded on May 24, 2017 by Nicki Swift

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbUMTF8X3E8

[5] “Is Melania Trump really fluent in five languages?” uploaded on August 3, 2017 by John Aravosis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxbeaFgDS_o

[6]  

“Donald Trump's 7-Year-Old Son, Barron, Uses Caviar Moisturizer Every Night” April 11, 2013, Updated January 20, 2017. Huffington Post.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trumps-son-barron-caviar-moisturizer_n_3063299

[7] “The Real Story of Melania Trump's Defunct Skincare Line,” by Karen Bennett. May 1, 2018. The CheatSheet.

https://www.cheatsheet.com/money-career/the-real-story-of-melania-trumps-defunct-skincare-line.html/

[8] “What is the Einstein visa? And how did Melania Trump get one?” by Joel Gunter. March 2, 2018. 

BBC News
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43256318

[9] “Melania Trump modeled in US prior to getting work visa,” by Alicia A. Caldwell. November 4, 2016 AP News

https://apnews.com/37dc7aef0ce44077930b7436be7bfd0d/Melania-Trump-modeled-in-US-prior-to-getting-work-visa
“The huge questions about Melania Trump’s immigration history nobody will answer,” by Aaron Blake. February 21, 2018  The Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/02/21/the-huge-questions-about-melania-trumps-immigration-history-nobody-will-answer/

[10] “Melania Trump’s Parents Become U.S. Citizens, Using ‘Chain Migration’ Trump Hates,” by Annie Correal and Emily Cochrane August 9, 2018 The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/09/nyregion/melania-trumps-parents-become-us-citizens.html

[11] “Trump's wedding to Melania was 15 years ago. It explains so much about our cultural moment,” by Steve Krakauer January 22, 2020. NBC News.

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/trump-s-wedding-melania-was-15-years-ago-it-explains-ncna1120236