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Oneida Carry | |
|---|---|
 Map Depicting theSiege of Fort Stanwix and the Oneida Carry | |
| Nickname: Deo-Wain-Sta or "The Great Carrying Place" | |
  Oneida Carry Location within the state of New York | |
| Coordinates:43°13′N75°28′W / 43.217°N 75.467°W /43.217; -75.467 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | New York |
| County | Oneida |
| City | City of Rome |
| Elevation | 456 ft (139 m) |
TheOneida Carry was an important link in the main 18th centurytrade route between the Atlantic seaboard of North America and interior of the continent. FromSchenectady, nearAlbany, New York on theHudson River, cargo would be carried upstream along theMohawk River using boats known asbateaux. At the location at modern-dayRome, New York, the cargo and boats would beportaged one to four miles overland toWood Creek. This portage, which theHaudenosaunee calledDe-o-Wain-Sta, was known as theOneida Carry orThe Great Carrying Place inEnglish, and asTrow Plat inDutch.[1] After relaunching into Wood Creek (called Kah-ne-go-dick by the Haudenosaunee),[2] thebateaux would navigate downstream toOneida Lake, theOswego River, and ultimatelyLake Ontario atOswego. Lake Ontario was the gateway to all theGreat Lakes stretching another thousand miles inland.[3]
The only other significant waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the continental interior was theSaint Lawrence River, which flows northeast out of Lake Ontario toMontreal andQuebec City. Thus for nearly a hundred years movement of military goods, trade goods, and other supplies into and out of the continental interior required control over the Oneida Carry. The Carry was strategically important in the colonial wars between Great Britain and France, in the American Revolution, and in the War of 1812 between Great Britain and the United States, and the city ofRome, New York, was founded there in 1796. Its military importance declined with the completion of theErie Canal in 1825, after which it became just one of many "ports".
Interest in improving transportation across the Oneida Carry began as early as 1702 when native Americans petitioned GovernorCornbury to have improvements made to allow easier passage of boats.[4][5] At this time the Oneida Carry was nothing more than a path between the two bodies of water. Although important to trade it wasn't until the beginning of theFrench and Indian War in 1754 that the Oneida Carry was finally improved with fortifications, supplies, and dams.
Following the failure of British campaign plans in 1755, a chain of forts along theMohawk River and up toLake Ontario were garrisoned during the winter of 1755–1756 to protect the route from a French Invasion and provide a staging area for the invasion ofNew France. The largest garrison was left atFort Oswego, at the end of the chain, which depended on the others for its supplies. The two forts occupying either end of the Oneida Carry were a key element of this supply chain. Fort Williams, on the Mohawk, was the larger of the two, whileFort Bull, on Wood Creek, was little more than a palisade surrounding storehouses. In March 1756 this palisade, holding a large amount of supplies for Fort Oswego, would be the scene of the first battle, known to history, to take place on the Oneida Carry. TheBattle of Fort Bull lasted only one day, but saw the entire fortification, and the supplies within, destroyed when itspowder magazine exploded.[6]
Starting in May 1756 the British refortified the Oneida Carry by adding Fort Craven, Fort Newport, and Fort Wood Creek. However, these forts would only remain until August 1756, when they were destroyed by the British themselves in anticipation of a massive attack by the French Army and Marines after thecapture of Fort Oswego.Direct control of the Oneida Carry by the British would not be re-established until two years later with the construction ofFort Stanwix in August 1758.[7]
Between the end of theFrench and Indian War and the beginning of theAmerican Revolution the Oneida Carry transformed from a place of war to a place of peace. AfterPontiac's Rebellion the British slowly abandonedFort Stanwix; its believed the lastHalf Pay Officer left the Fort in June 1774 when GovernorWilliam Tryon declared the fort "dismantled". During the inter-war period the carry also became home to the Roof Family- who would establish a tavern, continued to be utilized by merchants to move trade goods into the interior of the continent, and in 1768 saw the signing of theTreaty of Fort Stanwix.
However, during theAmerican Revolutionary War the Oneida Carry once again became a battle ground. WithPatriot Forces occupying the carry in August 1776 the Army only had a year to reconstructFort Stanwix before the British arrived and laidsiege to Fort Stanwix (August 2, 1777 to August 22, 1777). After the successful defense of Fort Stanwix the Oneida Carry saw little military action. In the spring of 1779, as a part of theSullivan Expedition of 1779, the American Army used the fort as a staging ground for the destruction of Onondaga Castle. In 1780 the garrison was attacked by a large force of Natives led byJoseph Brant forcing a three-day standoff between the Patriot Troops in the well-defended Fort Stanwix and the poorly defendedLoyalist Natives. In general the most military action seen by the garrison was the occasional harassment by bands ofLoyalist Raiding Parties moving into the Mohawk Valley. Which is not to downplay the many lives lost by those soldiers who were unexpectedly attacked, but to re-enforce the idea that garrison duty on the carry became extremely boring. Finally, in the spring of 1781, when flood and fire (most likelyarson) destroyed most of the fort, the American Troops evacuated the post; only to return in 1784 to sign theSecond Treaty of Fort Stanwix, ending the American Revolution with those Native Americans who sided with the British.
After the war the Oneida Carry continued to be of economic importance. Established in 1792 theWestern Inland Lock Navigation Company constructed a canal between the Mohawk River and Wood Creek. With this canal boats no longer had to be removed from the River and carried over the portage. These canals would have continued use until 1817 when theErie Canal began construction within the newCity of Rome.
The carry also saw a continuation of its military importance throughout the 1800s and up to the 21st Century. Built in 1813 and used until 1873, theRome Arsenal was a three-acre fortification complex which included barracks, arsenal, magazine, workshops, and other buildings, built to support American forces waging theWar of 1812,Mexican–American War, and theAmerican Civil War. This post actually replaced an early armory, constructed and utilized in the late 1790s which was located on the site of, the then demolished, Fort Stanwix.
Starting on 3 April 1941, the War Department began looking for an area to construct an Air Depot in central New York and thus the Oneida Carry would once again become an important part of the Nations Defense. Opened in February 1942Griffiss Air Force Base would become home to theRome Labs, the416th Air Expeditionary Group andStrategic Air Command. Currently the now closed Air Force Base is the home for theNortheast Air Defense Sector facilities which provides detection and air defense for the entire eastern half of the United States.
Thecity of Rome, with a population of 33,725 at the 2010 census and the second largest city in the State of New York by area (75.7 square miles), now encompasses most of what was once the Oneida Carry.Rome Free Academy, the high school for the city of Rome, refers to their yearbook as the "De-O-Wain-Sta" in honor of the Oneida Carry.[8]
In July, 1702, representatives of the Five Nations located in Central New York appealed to Lord Cornbury, Captain General and Governor in Chief of New York, among other things concerning trade at Albany, and prayed that 'ye Path over ye Carrying Place may be marked upon ye Trees and ye old Trees taken out of ye Creek (Wood) which much injures ye Passage of Canoes, and will much facilitate their coming hither (to Albany).'Synopsis from a still earlier book.
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help). First published in 1884; see the book's article,Montcalm and Wolfe, for other editions.