Of course the Shawangunk Mountain range is always interesting to the geologist and historian. The pass through these mountains at Otisville is well worth visiting. It was the only break the Erie engineers could find when they laid out the railway, and they went over ten miles north of Port Jervis to utilize it.
The old Finch homestead at Finchville has long been an object of interest, although the old house itself was burned many years ago. It was here that the militia halted on their way to the fatal Minisink battlefield and took a hurried meal. Resuming their march over the mountains, it is said very few of the soldiers survived the terrible encounter and lived to recross those hills and again enjoy Mr. Finch's hospitality.
The huge bones of a noted mastodon, which awakened much popular interest at the time, were found deeply embedded in the soil on the old Allison farm, a short distance from Otisville, nearly fifty years ago. This remarkable find took the imagination back to the primitive era when these mammoth creatures roamed at will over this western continent.
INDUSTRIES.
Of course the primary and paramount interest of the people in this town from its early settlement even to the present day, has been agriculture. The cultivation of the land attracted the settlers thither and the raising of crops, together with lumbering, were the leading pursuits in which the residents engaged for over a hundred years. The sunny mountain slopes and the alluvial bottoms along the rivers were well adapted to plant growth, and the farmer obtained good results from his labor. Nearly all the ordinary crops to which the latitude and climate were suited could be grown with profit. The town had its full share in the production of the famous "Orange County butter," which was made in large quantities for a time. But for many years past, with the ample railway facilities afforded for prompt shipment, nearly all the milk produced has been shipped to New York direct and the butter-making branch of the dairy interest has been almost entirely discontinued. In fact, many of the farmers have been buying butter elsewhere for their own use, finding it more profitable to sell their milk, which of course has been produced to a far larger extent than ever before.
MILITARY HISTORY.
This town east of the mountain range was long regarded as a place of refuge for those fleeing from the frequent Indian attacks in the Mamakating Valley. Historic records contain many thrilling and pathetic incidents of this nature, and they are presented in much graphic detail, although doubtless based largely upon traditionary authority.
As to the history of Mount Hope during the Revolution, there is none, apart from the annals embraced in the records of the parent towns of Deer Park and Wallkill, from which Mount Hope was taken forty-five years after the settlement of that little dispute with a tyrannical nation over certain questions regarding human rights and personal liberty. Concerning the roll of honor, belonging to this territory in that war for independence the reader is referred to the records of Deer Park and Wallkill, found on other pages of this work.
In the War of 1812 the Wallkill Regiment was ordered out in full force, while the 128th Regiment of Sullivan was drafted into the service. This organization then included many men from this Mount Hope section. Those who served in that secondary struggle from here, mentioned in the records, are Joseph Stanton, Amzi Mapes, John Mulock, Zebulon Giffen, Frederick A. Seybolt, Richard Penny and Captain William Mulock.
During the war of the rebellion the town was of course an integral factor of the county, and it bore an honored share in that memorable struggle. The population being small the number who enlisted in the service of the government was not very large. Under the various calls of President Lincoln in 1862-1863-1864 some 330 men went forth from this town to serve their country. In addition to this, fifty-eight were drafted into the service.