The Champlain tercentenary

by New York . Lake Champlain Tercentenary Commission; Henry Wayland Hill

The members of the Commission were among the invited guests of the Hudson-Fulton Commission during that memorable celebration.

All these were gratefully appreciated as well as all other things done and courtesies shown to the Commission by the people of the Champlain valley in their enthusiastic support of the project of suitably celebrating the discovery of the lake.

In concluding their work, the Commissioners take this occasion to express their appreciation of the generous support and wide publicity given to the Tercentenary project by the Press of this Country and of Canada, which contributed much to the popular interest shown in this commemorative celebration.

III. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TERCENTENARY CELEBRATION

If the Tercentenary Celebration has awakened a deeper popular interest in the history of the Champlain valley, and as a result of that a broader and more profound appreciation of the principles of civil and religious liberty underlying our American institutions, and of the heroic sacrifices made by the founders of this government to insure its perpetuity, then the members of the Commission and the people of the state may feel well repaid for all efforts put forth in its prosecution.

In the various papers and addresses of the celebration frequent allusion was made to the important events occurring in the several epochs of the history of Lake Champlain, and many of these were elaborated upon at some length. It was not possible, however, to do more.

The critical history of the Champlain valley is yet to be written. For three centuries it has been the arena wherein have occurred many crucial events affecting the evolution and the character of American institutions.

Ira Allen in his “Natural and Political History of the State of Vermont,” Francis Parkman in his various historical works, Hon. Lucius E. Chittenden in his addresses and public papers, Peter S. Palmer in his “History of Lake Champlain,” and in his “History of the Battle of Valcour on Lake Champlain,” Winslow C. Watson in his “History of Essex County,” his “Pioneer History of the Champlain Valley” and his “Men and Times of the Revolution,” Thomas Hawley Canfield in his “Discovery, Navigation and Navigators of Lake Champlain,” Zadock Thompson in his histories of the State of Vermont and in his “Northern Guide,” Hiland Hall in his “History of Vermont,” Winslow C. Watson in his “Military and Political History of Essex County,” [N. Y.] in the “History of Essex County,” [N. Y.] by H. P. Smith, in the papers entitled “The First Battle of Lake Champlain,” by George F. Bixby, Rev. Joseph Cook in his “Historical Address at the Centennial Anniversary of the Settlement of Ticonderoga,” and in other addresses and writings, Walter H. Crockett in his “History of Lake Champlain,” and others, have given much of the history of the successive periods, although the works of some of these are necessarily too limited to include a complete history of the region in all its amplitude and in all its details.

In the papers and proceedings of the Vermont Historical Society, as well as in the “Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York” and the “Documentary History of the State of New York,” and in other transcripts of documents in foreign and American archives, and in the Military Records of the United States, France, Great Britain and Canada may be found much material relating to the history of Lake Champlain. There will be found in such libraries as the State Library at Albany, the State Library at Montpelier, the library of the Ticonderoga Historical Society, the libraries at Port Henry and at Plattsburgh, as well as in the library at Middlebury College and in the library of the University of Vermont, at Burlington, Vt., in the Collections of the New York State Historical Association, the New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island and other State Historical Societies, and in the libraries of Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec, maps, charts, documents and other material relating to the region. The foreign material is confined principally to events occurring prior to 1783, except such British and Canadian documents as relate to the War of 1812.