Research

The Hudson Valley extends up into the hills and mountains that define the watershed. Over the past 13,000 years people have used the ridges in varied ways which archaeology is revealing to us.

Between 1886 and 1900, a Mohawk Valley art teacher named Rufus Grider, sketched and painted current scenes as well as historical reconstructions of the Mohawk Valley.  Some of his watercolors are delightful and many are fully realized works of great delicacy and charm.  Others are monotints.  His paintings and drawing usually have handwritten notes pointing out features and directions.  Grider interviewed old-timers to learn about details of landscape or of Revolutionary War-era structures no longer existing.  The art works not infrequently contain signed statements from his informants, often in a shaky hand, testifying to their faithfulness.