Otsego Lake, in central New York, possesses not only the charm of
romance due to the pen of Fenimore Cooper, but also an historical
interest. In the year 1779 an expedition was sent against the hostile
Indians around Lake Cayuga. A brigade under the command of Gen. James
Clinton, the brother of George Clinton and father of DeWitt Clinton
(each of whom held the office of governor of New York at one time), went
up the Mohawk and then cut across through the forest, to the head of the
Otsego, finally encamping at the foot of the lake.
The Susquehanna at its source is a very narrow stream and did not permit
the floating of the 220 boats brought along by the troops. An ingenious
plan was devised to overcome this difficulty. The small gorge through
which the river flows as it leaves the lake was dammed, thereby
collecting the waters. When a sufficient amount had been collected, the
troops embarked, the dam was knocked out, and the boats were carried by
the flood to a point near Tioga, where the brigade joined the forces
under General Sullivan. It is said that the Indians along the banks,
beholding the overflow of the river in summer, without any apparent
reason, thought that it was an interposition of the Great Spirit, and
fled in terror. The site of the dam has been suitably marked by the
Otsego Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.