" On the top of this point is a level spot of ground, of near an
acre, commanded by nothing but the high, inaccessible mountains,
at about twelve hundred yards distance; this spot, I think, should
by all means be fortified, as well for the annoyance of the enemy
in their approach up the river, as for the protection of the works
at Fort Montgomery. Indeed, this appears to me the most
proper place I have seen on the river to be made the grand post;
and, in my opinion, should be a regular strong work, capable of
resisting every kind of attack, and of containing a grand magazine
of all kinds of warlike stores. The whole would then command
the passage of the river with so formidable a cross fire as would
deter any attempt to approach with shipping." {American
Archives, ser. 4, vol. 6, p. 672.)

With the exception of appointing a committee on June 16, 1775,
to inquire into the depth of the water in the Hudson River, little
action appears to have been taken by the Provincial Congress to
meet the suggestion of the Continental Congress of May 25, 1775,
relative to obstructing the navigation of the Hudson River until
July 16, 1776, a few days after the Declaration of Independence.
On that day a secret committee was appointed to " devise and
carry into execution such measures as to them shall appear most
effectual for obstructing the channel of Hudson's river."

Four points were selected by this committee as places for obstruc-
tions. The first was at Fort Washington, the second at Fort
Montgomery, the third at Polopel's Island, and the fourth at
West Point. The obstructions at Fort Montgomery were con-
structed in the autimm of 1776 and the spring of 1777. The
work was done wholly under the direction of the secret committee.

Several plans for accomplishing the purpose were considered.
The plan finally adopted provided for the construction of a chain



BEAR MOUNTAIN 23

eighteen hundred feet long floated by spars or logs framed together,
in front of which were anchored frames of timber. Much difficulty
was experienced in placing the obstruction. After several failures
to anchor the chain and logs the work was finally completed in the
latter part of March, 1776; and remained intact until removed by
the British.

By September, 1777, Fort Clinton had been completed. Fort
Montgomery was still unfinished. The chain and boom were in
place. Above the chain had been stationed two frigates, two
galleys and an armed sloop. The forts, however, were weakly
garrisoned. Some of the troops had been sent to reinforce the
armies on the Delaware and in the North. Not a few had gone
home to harvest the summer crops.

George Clinton, who had been commissioned a Brigadier-
General in the Continental Army in March and chosen Governor
of New York in July, was in command of the Highlands on the
wset side of the river with headquarters at Fort Montgomery.
His brother. Colonel James Clinton, was in command at Fort
Clinton. The combined garrison at the two forts did not exceed
six hundred men, mainly militia. Across the river at Peekskill
General Putnam had only twelve hundred troops and four hundred
militia.

Such was the situation when, on September 29th, Governor
Clinton, then absent from his post in attendance at the sessions of
the State Legislature, received a communication from General
Putnam to the effect that :

"I have received intelligence on which I can fully depend, that
the enemy has received a reinforcement at New York last Thurs-
day, of about three thousand British and foreign troops; that
General Clinton has called in guides who belong about Croton
River; has ordered hard bread to be baked; that the troops are
called from Paulus Hook to King's Bridge, and the whole troops
are now under marching orders. I think it highly probable the
designs of the enemy are against the posts of the Highlands, or of
some part of the counties of Westchester or Dutchess. * * * *
The ships are drawn up in the river, and I believe nothing prevents
them from paying us an immediate visit, but a contrary wind."

The Governor immediately prorogued the Legislature and
hastened to Fort Montgomery. In the meantime Sir Henry
Clinton had proceeded up the river and had landed troops at Tarry-



24 G. A. BLAUVELT

town. This was evidently a feint to keep Putnam on his side of
the river for, after marching a few miles through the country, the
troops were re-embarked and, during the afternoon of October 5th,
were landed at Verplanck's Point.

Putnam, thinking that Clinton was going to attack him at
Peekskill, fell back in the rear of that village and called upon
Governor Clinton for reinforcements.

Having thus taken care of Putnam, Sir Henry, under cover of a
thick fog, crossed at King's Ferry with two thousand men to the
west side of the river, leaving four hundred men at Verplanck's
Point on the east side to thwart Putnam.

Sir Henry then, conducted by a Troy guide, set out in the direc-
tion of Forts Clinton and Montgomery. He followed the course
of a narrow road through the pass in the rear of Dunderberg,
coming out in sight of the river on the north side of this mountain
some little distance south of the junction of the Doodletown Road
with the state highway. Proceeding northerly to the junction of
these two roads, a few hundred yards south of this place, the main
body was divided into two colimms, — one under the command of
Sir John Vaughn with twelve hundred men, and the other under
the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell with five hundred
regulars and four hundred loyalist Americans, the latter being
commanded by Colonel Beverly Robinson. Colonel Campbell
made a detour around Bear Mountain so as to come in on the right
flank and in the rear of Fort Montgomery. Vaughn followed
the course of the present state highway in order to strike Fort
Clinton on the right flank and in the rear.

Governor Clinton kept himself fully advised as to the move-
ments of the enemy. He sent a messenger to Putnam asking for
reinforcements when it became apparent that Sir Henry Clinton's
real objective was an attack upon him and not upon Putnam.

On Saturday afternoon, October 5th, he sent one hundred men
under the command of Major Logan across the Dunderberg to
watch the British. After receiving a report that Sir Henry with
about forty boats filled with men had crossed the river a few miles
to the south, he sent the next morning a reconnoitering party of
twenty-eight men under the command of Lieutenant Jackson.
Two or three miles below they fell in with a concealed party of the
enemy who ordered them to surrender. Lieutenant Jackson



BEAR MOUNTAIN 25

made no answer, but fired on his foes and then hastily retreated
back to Fort CHnton without the loss of a man.

Sir Henry Clinton timed the departure of his two columns so
that both the forts should be attacked eimultaneously. General
Vaughn with his battalion met with persistent opposition on the
way to Fort Clinton. About where the southerly pavilion is
located, less than a hundred yards north of the Inn, the strip of
land between the river and Highland Lake, otherwise known as
Hessian Pond, then known as Lake Sinnipink, had been fortified
by an abatis. Throughout the afternoon a gallant resistance
was here made to Vaughn's advance by Colonel Brown with one
hundred men. About four o'clock, however, the American
troops were forced to retire to the Fort. The loss on both sides
was considerable.

Colonel Campbell found equal resistance to his effort to attack
Fort Montgomery in the rear. Coming out of the rugged defile
around Bear Mountain, he was met by the discharge of a field
piece which during the day had been stationed by Governor Clin-
ton on the knoll on the south side of the road leading to the Forest
of Dean mines, a short distance west of the fort. With it were
stationed one hundred and twenty American troops in two parties.
The field piece burst late in the afternoon and our men were forced
to retire within the breastworks, after having inflicted heavy losses
on the enemy.

About five o'clock in the afternoon Governor Clinton was
summoned to surrender within five minutes in order to prevent
further loss of life. Not knowing that the messenger he had sent
to General Putnam had turned traitor and deserted to the enemy,
and still hoping for reinforcements, George Clinton promptly
refused.

Almost immediately thereafter a general attack began upon the
forts. The British vessels moved up the river and opened fire on
both the forts and the vessels anchored above the chain. The
attack was resisted on every hand with obstinate spirit. Night
was fast approaching. In the growing darkness, midst the sharp
rattling of the musketry and the flash and roar of the heavy
cannonnade, echoing and re-echoing back and forth through the
mountains, the small body of patriots defended their positions like
heroes and with a valor unexcelled throughout the war. From



26 G. A. BLAUVELT

time to time they repulsed the enemy and drove them without
the breastworks with heavy slaughter. Colonel Campbell was
killed while leading his men in the attack upon Fort Montgomery.
Count Grabowski, the Polish aid-de-camp to Sir Henry Clinton,
received his death wound in the storming of Fort Clinton.

At least half of the American troops were killed, wounded or
missing. Some were slain, some taken prisoners. With nmnbers
steadily diminishing, exhausted from continual duty and unremit-
tent exertion, brave to the last, the survivors fought their way out
and away from the fort as best they could, for they would not
surrender.

James Clinton narrowly averted death from a bayonet thrust
which penetrated a garrison orderly book which he carried in his
pocket. Among the last to leave Fort Clinton, he ran down the
steep bank and made his escape across the Poplopen. The Gover-
nor, who was at Fort Montgomery, plunged over the breastworks
and down the bank to the river where he found a boat just pulling
out with a party of escaping soldiers. He was safely conducted
by them to the other side, and before midnight he was with
Putnam at Continental Village.

The frigates and galleys, which had been stationed above the
boom and chain, had gallantly returned the fire of the British
vessels throughout the engagement. With the evacuation of the
forts, however, they attempted to make their escape up the river ;
but when escape seemed no longer possible the crews set fire to the
vessels and hastened ashore. "As every sail was set, the vessels
were soon ' magnificent pyramids of fire ' ; the surrounding moun-
tains were lit up by the glare, and a train of ruddy Hght gleamed
along the river. They were in a part of the Highlands famous
for its echoes; as the flames gradually reached the loaded cannon,
their thundering reports were multiplied and prolonged along
the rocky shores. The vessels at length blew up with tremendous
explosions, and all again was darkness."

Timothy Dwight, then a chaplain in the army and later presi-
dent of Yale College, visited the forts the following spring in the
company of several officers from West Point. " The first object,"
he said, " which met our eyes, after we left our barge and ascended
the bank, was the remains of a fire kindled by the cottagers of
this solitude, for the purpose of consimiing the bones of some of



BEAR MOUNTAIN 27

the Americans who had fallen at this place, and had been left
unburied. Some of these bones were lying partially constimed
around the spot where the fire had been kindled; and some had
evidently been converted into ashes. As we went onward, we
were distressed by the odor of decayed human bodies. To me this
was a novelty ; and more overwhelming and dispiriting than I am
able to describe. As we were attempting to discover the source
from which it proceeded, we found, at a small distance from Fort
Montgomery, a pond of moderate size, in which we saw the bodies
of several men, who had been killed in the assault upon the fort.
They were thrown into this pond, the preceding autiunn, by the
British, when probably the water was sufficiently deep to cover
them. Some of them were covered at this time; but by a depth
so small, as to leave them distinctly visible. . . . The clothes
which they wore when they were killed, were still on them, and
proved that they were militia, being the ordinary dress of farmers.
Their faces were bloated and monstrous; and their postures
were uncouth, distorted and in the highest degree afflictive."

And again he said: " We proceeded to find the grave of Count
Grabowski, a Polish nobleman, who was killed in the assault, while
acting as aid-de-camp to the British commander. The spot was
pointed out to us by Lieutenant-Colonel Livingtson, who saw him
fall, and informed us that he was buried in the place where he was
killed. Here we found a grave — in all probability, that in which
he was buried — without a 'stone ' to ' tell where he lay,' and now
forgotten and undiscoverable ; a humiliating termination of a
resltess, vain, ambitious life."

Though Forts Clinton and Montgomery fell into the hands of
the enemy, their construction and defense were justified in the
light of contemporaneous events. Partly unfinished as they were,
and weakly garrisoned, they and the obstructions in the river
served long enough to keep Sir Henry Clinton in New York
awaiting reinforcements before attempting to join Burgoyne in the
north. Even the two or three days' delay attending his prepara-
tion for and attack upon the forts was sufficient; for Burgoyne,
to whom Clinton had pledged support, could wait no longer. The
battle of Saratoga was fought October seventh. Burgoyne
surrendered to Gates. Clinton returned to New York after reach-
ing Esopus, and a great crisis of the Revolution was over.



28 G. A. BLAUVELT

The Almighty was ever kind when He gave us the Highlands
of the Hudson, — when He made this beautiful valley, banking it
on either side by lofty mountains and covering it with a carpet of
rich colors. But how much more so was He when He opened the
gates and let in the waters of our majestic river! Wonderful as
was His hanidwork ,it seems to me that here at the gateway He
emphasized His power of creation, for in no other place are the
mountains so high ; in no other place are the colors so rich ; in no
other place do the waters of the river lap the banks so peacefully
in the sunshine of summer or so tempestuously during the storms
of winter. We think that this rural paradise is unequalled among
the wonders of the world.

Here Henry Hudson halted to wonder at the magnificence of
the creation. Here, so Diedrich Knickerbocker tells us, came
Peter Stuyvesant to feed on the products of the river and to WTite
indelibly on the face of the mountain across the river the name of
that trusty squire of his — Antony Van Corlaer. Here too have
come the nature lovers of the world to gaze with awe upon its
beauty and to sound its praises in every country and in every
clime.

Before the year 1775 the neighborhood basked in almost primi-
tive solitude interrupted only by the whoop of the Indians, the
crack of the gun of the solitary hunter, and the thunderous ven-
geance of the innumerable imps who inhabited the Dunderberg.
After the Revolution its primitiveness was restored for nearly a
century and a quarter. It was cut off from the march of civiliza-
tion by the almost impenetrable barriers which Nature had
provided. Its solitude was again undisturbed except for the
whistles of the boats on the river and the axes of the woodsmen
who had supplanted the Indians and made for themselves homes,
here and there in the mountain.

Its beauty remained unmarred down to the year 19U6, when the
State of New York decided to build a prison on the site of the play-
ground just in front of the Inn. Soon came prisoners in stripes
with axes and hammers to desecrate and destroy this handiwork of
the Almighty. So sacrilegious was it that even the dauntless
Peter Stuyvesant must have turned over in his grave. The nose
of Antony must have taken on a redder hue. Certain it is that
the inhabitants of the Dunderberg and the neighboring mountains



BEAR MOUNTAIN 29

voiced their protest so loudly up and down the river and over the
state that the Legislature was compelled to reverse itself, and in the
year 1910 the paradise was turned over to the care of George W.
Perkins.

Mr. Perkins was president of the Commissioners of the Palisades
Interstate Park. That Commission had been created in 1900 b}^
Chapter 170 of the laws of that year. A similar commission
had been created the same year in the State of New Jersey. Mr.
Perkins was a member of the New Jersey Commission as well as
that of New York. The two commissions were created as a result
of the activities of certain civic bodies, among others being the
American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society, to prevent
the defacement of the lower Palisades opposite New York where
a ntmiber of quarries were in operation.

In 1895 a commission, of which Mr. Andrew H. Green was
chairman, had been appointed by the New York Legislature to
inquire into and report upon the destruction of the Palisades.
The commission reported to the Legislatures of the two states
and recommended the creation of two commissions to act jointly
for the pvirpose of preventing the further destruction of the Pali-
sades in both states and thereby to preserve their scenic beauty.
Power was given to acquire land for the purpose and for the
further purpose of creating one single park in the two states for
the use and enjoyment of the people.

The jurisdiction of the New Jersey Commission extended from
Fort Lee northerly to the New York State Line. The jurisdiction
of the New York Commission extended from the dividing line
between the states as far north as Piermont Creek in Rockland
County. In 1906 its jurisdiction was extended as far north as
Stony Point in order to stop the blasting of the large quarries in
the Rockland Lake section. Its jurisdiction was again extended
in 1910 as far north as the City of Newburgh and westerly into
the Ramapos so as to include the Highland section.

There are in theory two commissions, one in New York and one
in New Jersey. Each is composed of ten members appointed
by the governor and confirmed by the senate of each of the respec-
tive states. Of the ten members of each commission five must be
residents and five may be non-residents of the state of appoint-
ment. In making the appointments the governor of each state



30 G. A. BLAUVELT

has recognized the interstate objective and has appointed as non-
resident members the resident-members of the Commission in the
other state. So, for all practical purposes, the two bodies consti-
tute one joint interstate commission.

From the very beginning until his death a few weeks ago the
creative mind of the joint commission was that of M:. Perkins,
though joined with him on the board were men of high attain-
ments. So intimately was he connected with its many activities
and so much was he a part of its very existence that one cannot
now think of the Palisades Interstate Park without feeling that in
its entirety there is typified the vigorous personality of Mr. Perkins.

With growing optimism, he begged munificent gifts for the
enterprise from private donors. He secured large appropriations
from State Legislatures for its extension and improvement. He
gave liberally of his own both in money and in time, and he lived
to see the completion of much of the work to which he had dedi-
cated himself.

He stopped the blasting on the lower Palisades by the acquisition
of its twelve mile face in New Jersey, from highwater mark to the
top of the steep cliffs, the title to which land is now held by the
New Jersey Commission in trust for the people of that state.

He carved miles and miles of trails along the face of the cliffs.
He built a road almost at the water's edge. He constructed
beaches, erected recreation pavilions and bath houses, laid out
picnic and camping sites, provided boats and secured ferries so that
the great metropoHtan population might find healthful recreation
and pleasure.

The difficulties attending the construction period were not
obstacles to him. If a road was needed from the water's edge
up the steep cliffs to the top — and two of them were so needed —
they were built almost as by magic. Acres and acres of land under
water were filled to make beaches and places for roads and pavil-
ions.

At an expense of nearly four millions of dollars, he acquired
the title to the river front from Upper Nyack to the Haverstraw
line, in order to stop blasting by the many quarries which had
seriously scarred the west bank of the river.

It was not, however, until the establishment of the Harriman
Park section in the Highlands that his genius found greatest play.



BEAR MOUNTAIN 31

In the year 1909 Mrs. Mary A. Harriman offered to give 10,000
acres of land in the Highlands adjacent to Bear Mountain and
$1,000,000 to establish a public park. Following closely after the
many protests against the construction of a state prison at Bear
Mountain, the magnificent offer of Mrs. Harriman was accepted.

Mr. Hughes was governor at the time. The problem which
confronted him and the Legislature was the creation of a state
agency to administer the trust. Mr. Perkins was consulted, with
the result that the jurisdiction of the Palisades Interstate Park was
extended so as to include the Highland section of the west bank of
the river. The gift of Mrs. Harriman was accepted by Chapter 362
of the laws of 1910, and the property was turned over to the Pal-
isades Interstate Park Conmmission. At the same time the prison
site was placed under the care of the Commission for park pur-
poses. Power was given to acquire additional land. With the
10,000 acres constituting the Harriman gift, the prison site, and
the subsequently acquired lands, the Commission now holds in
trust for the people of the State of New York approximately 35,000
acres.

Much money was needed for the creation of a park at this
place. Mr. Perkins offered to secure from private donors
$2,500,000 for the use of the Commission, provided the state would
contribute a like amount. The Legislature submitted the proposi-
tion to a vote of the people in 1910, and the people of this state
cheerfully gave an additional $2,500,000. A similar proposal
was made by Mr. Perkins in 1916. Again he raised $2,500,000
and again the people of the state voted a like amount.

During the years following 1910 the progress of the work was
rapid. Lands were acquired; lake after lake was built; miles
and miles of beautiful roads and trails were constructed; camp
sites were laid out; storehouses were erected and stocked; and
dead timber was removed and trees planted. Here were con-
structed the Inn and playgrounds. On the river a large dock
was built for the landing of boats. And these works which I have
recited are but a few of the many activities undertaken by the
Commission.

It is estimated that thus far this season more than 1,250,000
people have visited the Inn and the various sections of the Park.
Back in the mountains were thousands and thousands of campers.



32 G. A. BLAUVELT

Represented among them were organizations of the Boy Scouts,
Y. M. C. A., boys from parochial schools, and others too numerous
to mention. More than a million people have been served with
refreshments at the Inn.

All this and more was due to the masterful genius of Mr. Perkins.
Major Welch, the General Manager of the Park, with his matchless
engineering ability, carried on the work under the direction of
Mr. Perkins.

They labored and toiled winter and simimer, year in and year
out, to make the Palisades Interstate Park the greatest playground
in the world. Annually more people visit it than visit in the aggre-
gate all of the National Parks in the country.

During the last year of his hfe Mr. Perkins secured a large
donation for the purchase and reconstruction of the " Onteora "
and " Clermont ", night boats in the service of the Catskill
Evening Line, in order to make the Park more accessible to the
people of the City of New York. These boats were in service at
the time of his death, and it is estimated that they have carried
on the average two thousand people daily to and from Bear
Mountain.

Each time I visit the Park I seem to see something new sugges-
tive of the presence of Mr. Perkins. I came here on a bright
Sunday afternoon early in September. I was unusually impressed
with the serenity of the day and the joyousness of the people.
As I looked out from the Inn in the late afternoon, I could see