Crossroads of the French and Indian War: Reenactment at Bolton Landing

It is 1757 and the Marquis de Montcalm’s forces are pressing down Lac du Saint Sacrament, advancing in a campaign to take Fort William Henry.

At Bolton Landing, a Haudenosaunee man sits sage-like in quiet reflection on a knoll overlooking the lake. Nearby, a sinewy young Mohican warrior moves along the fringe of the encampment, restless and on edge.  Captain Terry’s Provincial’s inspect their weapons in the shade of a Scotch Pine; further up the sloop, a boisterous regiment of Highlanders tosses barbs at each other with thick Scottish brogues. In the encampment, a colonial woman stirs the embers of her cooking fire.

From the point of Green Island, a fleet of Bateaux bearing French White Flags emerge; the flat-bottomed vessels advance towards the shore. Muskets fire and smoke rise from the bay. A battle ensues.

Surrounding this world of French and Indian War reenactors are the twenty-first-century spectators, swarms of them, shooting with their digital cameras.

Bill Gates, author of numerous books on local history and narrator of the event, credits shop owner Kelly O’Neil-Teer with the idea of holding a French and Indian War Reenactment at Bolton Landing, “She has experience with reenactments from her work at Fort Ticonderoga – she has all the contacts.”

The Bolton Landing Chamber of Commerce and the community were supportive of the idea, according to Gates, so this past weekend, June 16-17, troops took over Rogers Park with an 18th-century encampment and a display of historic military maneuvers complete with booming cannons and dramatic deaths on the beach.

“The Reenactors take this seriously,18th century,” says O’Neil-Teer. They are meticulous about authenticity and must be familiar with all the safety issues – “That’s real black powder they’re using.” It can cost upward of $6,000 to participate – reenactors must purchase the clothing, weapons, cookware and gear; they must also carry liability insurance.

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The length reenactors will go 18th-centuryconditions may be best exemplified by The Big Row, a group that launched a bateau at Crown Point on Lake Champlain Tuesday, June 12, and sailed 17 miles to Ticonderoga where they camped overnight. The following morning they portaged (hauled their craft across land) two and half miles, re-launched into Lake George and rowed to Rogers Rock where they camped for a second night.

Thursday they sailed south on Lake George, camping overnight on an island, then arrived at Bolton Landing on Friday, June 16, having traveled a total of 44 miles without burning a drop of fossil fuel.

O’Neil-Teer and Gates both expressed the desire to see this event return next year. Although organizing the participants and cleaning up the battle-torn park afterwards is a lot of work, O’Neil-Teer says she is happy to do it.