Part 27 (2/2)

=Saratoga=, thirty-eight miles north of Albany, one hundred and eighty-two miles from New York, is the greatest watering place of the continent. Its development has been wonderful, and puts, as it were, in large italics, the prosperity of our country. The first white man to visit the place was Sir William Johnson, who, in 1767, was conveyed there by his Mohawk friends, in the hope that the waters might afford relief from the serious effects of a gunshot wound in the thigh, received eight years before in the battle of Lake George, at which time his army defeated the French legions under Baron Dieskau. It was not until the year 1773, six years after Sir William Johnson's initial visit, that the first clearing was made and the first cabin erected by Derick Scowten. Owing, however, to misunderstandings with his red neighbors, he shortly afterwards left. A year later, George Arnold, from Rhode Island, took possession of the vacated Scowten House, and conducted it with some degree of success for about two years. Arnold was in turn followed by Samuel Norton, who failed to make the venture successful, owing to the outbreak of the Revolution. Norton was succeeded in 1783 by his son, who sold out in 1787 to Gideon Morgan, who, in the same year, made the property over to Alexander Bryan.

Bryan became the first permanent settler after the close of the war.

The prosperity of the village began in 1789, with the advent of Gideon Putnam, but the wooden inns and hotels of 1830, which seemed palatial in those days, would get lost even in one of the parlors of the mammoth hotels which now line the main street of the village. Chief among these hotels, we mention the--

=”United States,”= a grand and princely building of n.o.ble frontage with a bright and s.p.a.cious interior court, completed in June, 1874. It const.i.tutes one continuous line of buildings, six stories high, over fifteen hundred feet in length, containing nine hundred and seventeen rooms for guests, and is the largest hotel in the world.

=The American-Adelphi= near at hand, also fronting Broadway, always cheery and delightful under the management of its popular owner and proprietor, Mr. George A. Farnham, has one of the finest locations in Saratoga, combining comfort, good attention, a fine table, and every convenience of a first-cla.s.s house. One thing is sure, those who go to the ”American” return again and again.

=The Speedway, the Race Track, and Driveways.=--Saratoga can justly feel proud of her material growth and progress in many directions during the last decade, and prominent among her varied attractions are the Speedway and Race Track. Mr. W. C. Whitney and many other prominent men have contributed liberally in this direction. _The Electric Line_ to Saratoga Lake is also one of the features of the village, and furnishes a delightful forenoon or afternoon's outing.

And boyhood's love and fireside-listened tales Are rus.h.i.+ng on your memories, as ye breathe That valley's storied name,-- Field of the Grounded Arms.

_Fitz-Greene Halleck._

=The Springs.=--The most prominent springs in and about Saratoga are the Hathorn, the Patterson and the Congress. The popularity of the Hathorn is attested by the universal sale of its bottled waters throughout the United States. The Patterson has won a wide reputation which its excellence deserves.

=Historic Saratoga.=--But in the midst of this throbbing, gay and delightful Saratoga, we must not forget that it was here the fathers of the Republic achieved their most decisive victory. The battle was fought in the town of Stillwater, at Bemis Heights, two and a half miles from the Hudson. The defeat of St. Leger and the triumph of Stark at Bennington filled the American army with hope. Burgoyne's army advanced September 19, 1777. The battle was sharply contested. At night the Americans retired into their camp, and the British held the field. From September 20th to October 7th the armies looked each other in the face, each side satisfied from the first day's struggle that their opponents were worthy foemen. The Americans had retaken Ticonderoga and Lake George. Burgoyne had no place to retreat, and the lines were slowly but surely closing in around him. October 7th Burgoyne commenced the battle, but in half an hour his line was broken. He attempted to rally his troops in person, but they could not stand before the impetuous charge of the Americans. He was compelled to order a full retreat, and fell back on the heights above Schuylerville. The Americans surrounded him, and he surrendered. It was a decisive victory, and cheered the friends of freedom, not only in America, but in the English House of Commons.

The leaves were red with crimson And then brave Gates did cry, 'Tis diamond now cut diamond, We'll beat them boys or die.

_Ballads of the Revolution._

=Mount McGregor=, where General Grant died, a.s.sociates the Saratoga of the Revolution with the story of our Civil War. Near the monument to the old heroes at Schuylerville, where Burgoyne surrendered, a monument to the Boys in Blue was dedicated in 1904. It was the privilege of the writer to be the poet of the occasion, and in his lines ”The Flag They Bore,” to bind the n.o.ble memorials of those who made and those who saved the Republic.

Two monuments in triumph stand To catch with joy the morning sun, One chorus joins them hand in hand-- Heroes of Grant and Was.h.i.+ngton.

And wider yet the chorus leaps!

Two famous hills the song unites, As Mount MacGregor's anthem sweeps Across the plains to Bemis Heights.

In Nathaniel Bartlett Sylvester's book, ent.i.tled ”Historical Sketches of Northern New York and the Adirondack Wilderness,” we learn that the earliest date in which the word Saratoga appears in history is 1684, and was then the name of an old hunting ground on both sides of the Hudson. Its interpretations have been various. Some say ”The Hillside Country of the Great River;” others, the place of swift waters, while Morgan, in his ”League of the Iroquois,” says the signification of Saratoga is lost.

Whatever the origin of the name whether from the old High Rock spring or a ”reach of the river,” one thing is sure: Saratoga is the most attractive point in the country as a gathering place for conventions and large meetings, and, in response to the growing demand for adequate facilities, a splendid convention hall, with a seating capacity for five thousand people, has been erected by the town authorities. It is a striking architectural addition to Saratoga's attractions.

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