The Peru Gazette

The Clinton County Historical Association invites you to attend an unveiling of four Wayside Exhibits/Interpretative Panels on the Museum lawn on Friday, 10 September at 3 p.m.  In case of inclement weather, unveiling will be canceled due to space limitations inside the Museum.  Speakers will be:  John Krueger, former City of Plattsburgh Historian who was instrumental in obtaining the Fort Brown, Crab Island and Lake Champlain panels and Helen Allen Nerska, CCHA Museum Director, for the Plattsburgh Idea panel which was created by Rich Frost and Penny Clute.  All panels are sponsored by the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership. 

These are the opening paragraphs on each of the panels that tell a small part of a much larger story.

Fort Brown:  Against All Odds

Imagine you’re here on September, 6, 1814.  Across the river an army of professional soldiers have marched into Plattsburgh.  You see their bright red coats move in columns through the small village.  Their numbers are staggering.

Making the Sacrifice

Two and a half hours of slaughter and destruction on a Sunday morning preserved the northern frontier from British conquest.  Following the September 11, 1814 Battle of Plattsburgh, British and American dead were buried in trenches on Crab Island.

Lake Champlain:  the Great Warpath

Lake Champlain shaped the course of empire in North America.  In a wilderness of mountains and forests, people could conduct commerce, or wage war, only by using the Champlain Valley’s natural water highways.  “The lakes and the rivers are the only outlets, the only open roads in this country,” wrote an experience French officer in 1758.

The Plattsburgh Idea

During the years before World War I, Americans feared tensions in Europe might impact the United States.  Leaders, including former President, Teddy Roosevelt and Army General Leonard Wood, voiced concerns about the country’s military preparedness.  One response was establishment of citizen’s military training camps (CMTC).

Plans are to install the Fort Brown panel across the road from the redoubt on Rt. 9/U.S. Avenue, the Crab Island and Lake Champlain panels along the Terry Gordon Bike Path and the Plattsburgh Idea on the Old Base Museum Campus Oval. After the unveiling, all are invited to visit the Museum to view the Aikin Rifle and speak to John Barton whose family made it possible for CCHA to have this treasure.  Museum visitors will receive a ticket for $1 off a pint of beer compliments of Oval Craft Brewing.