Stevens County tribune. (Morris, Minn.) 1877-1880, 1879-07-31
REVOLUTIONARY TIMES.

Just before it enters the broad basin of
Haver straw and the Tappan sea below,
the Hudson has its course somewhat
rudely contracted, forty miles above New
YORK, by two of those rugged capes or
promontories which at intervals shoot out
from its already massive banks, as if still
more securedly to guard its passage
through the highlands. A noble scenery
surrounds them. You can take your
stand at either p )int, and turning in any
direction, delight the eye with all the
charms of varied county. Right above,
on the west side, rises old Dnnderberg,
the Thunder Peak-"thdt dangerous
mountain, the Donderberg," as General
James Clinton describes it-where in i'm
agination you may follow Irving's weird
hobgoblins as they Chamber up the tum-
bled rocks and hard ascent; or looking
across and beyond Peekskill, there stands
Anthony's nose, pointing straight no
200 feet, and brovlng its name, as being
in that vicinity the most prominent fea-
ture on natures face; or glancing north OF
south, you can take In long stretches of
attractive river view; or again, combi-
nation OF natural beauties, including
glimpses of land and water, Of village
and Wilderness, of slopes and sleeps, and
many and pleasant vistas remind the
sight-seeker that he has entered the famed
Highlands of the Hudson. The two pro-
jections from which he looks are Stony
Point On the v est side and Verplauck's
Point On the east.
The struggle of the Revolution in reali-
ty centered here. No strategic position
any where in the thirteen colonies was
more eagerly coveted On the one side or
more sleeplessly watched on the other
than these same Highlands. They formed
as it were, the covered way between the
| strong New Englad section and the rest
OF the state to the southwark, by which
they all kept their C ain OF commun1ca-
ION, sy mpathy, and mutual assistance
unbroken. 1t was to capture and occupy
this position that Burgoyne marched
down with his formidable expedition
from Canada in TIT and 1t was for the
same purpose that that infamous plot of
treachery and desertion was concocted
between Arnold and Sir Henry Clinton
in $780, Throughout the long struggle
the region was never for a moment barred
OF defenders. Here Notifications had been
commenced as early as 1775, here troops
marched and cOuntermarched in every
campaign, and here on the Hudson lay
the last cantOnment of the army of the
revolution, where the soldiers were dis
missed to their Lomes at the close of the
war.
Naturally such spot must have histor-
ical associations almost without number.
Hardly house, hamlet, road, or by-path
ON either side of the Hudson, from the
battery at New York to West Point, nor
hardly a mile of the river itself but what
had at that day some tale to tell of the
contest. Just off Castle Garden. in the
metropolis, in 1776, that persistent ge-
MUS, Bushnell, afterwards captain of sap
pers and miners, touched off his subma-
rine contrivance-pioneer of all torpe-
does-to damage all concerned except
the enemy. At Harlem Height the re-
mains of Fort Washington, with those of
Fort Lee on the opposite side, recall a
stunning blow the American cause first
received in the first campaign around
New York. To the tramp of how many
thousand soldiers passing to and fro for
eight years did that little wooden affair
of Kings bridge across the Spuyten
Duyvel creek resound? How much OF
Westchester county did not suffer from
the raids from one side or the other
There, near Yonkers, CORVALLIS crossed
unobserved one night, land all but captured
Greene at Fort Lee. For mi es along the
river above, Tories lived to carry ne S tc
the British, or secretly to enlist in the
enemy's service, and keep the provincial
congressI busy with ferreting out thei
Vaccinations. Here tenders and galIey
were burned, there British frigates an
chored, with no long-range parrot gun
to reach them. On that spot Andre wa
arrested. Down this road dashed tn
American arch traitor to reach the Wi
tGre and save his neck. Across are Fort
Clinton and Montgomery, and farther up
3 impregnable West Point. Ali along OF
both sides are camps and huts; land final
a ly, lower down, you will find Kings Fer