Two hundred and twenty-four years ago a party of some 300 Tories and Indians, led by the notorious Sir John Johnson, fighting their way through almost impenetrable virgin wilderness, passed within two miles of the upper end of Big Tupper Lake, in the vicinity of the present American Legion Mountain Camp property. They were fleeing from Johnstown, hotbed of Tory activities, to Canada, and they were in very much of a hurry. They had every reason to believe that a force of Colonists was pursuing them. Because two huge cannon that they had dragged up through the Adirondack’s wilds were impending their flight, they abandoned them. Nearly 40 years ago those same cannon were found, rusting away in the deep woods on the Barbour estate near the head of Big Tupper. The following interesting account of how they came to be there and what became of them this summer was turned over to the Free Press by John McCoy of this village. It is from the Sept. 21 issue of a Johnstown, N.Y., newspaper.
“Through the enterprise of J. Yates Van Antwerp, well known business man, the cooperation of a number of men familiar with Adirondack trails, two old cannon barrels, which are believed to be the ones abandoned by Sir John Johnson and his followers in their flight to Canada in 1776, have been brought back to this city.
“Mr. Van Antwerp, who is intensely interested in the history of this region, succeeded in securing the cannon as a representative of the Johnstown Historical Society after spending a great deal of time in research and in contacting guides and others who had spent their lives in the section in which the field pieces were found. All of the data he has obtained has been checked and rechecked as to authenticity.
By consulting topographical maps of the Adirondacks and making a thorough study of possible routes to Canada, Mr. Van Antwerp came to the conclusion that the trail pointed out by historians was not entirely correct. As a result of talking to guides and old Adirondack residents, Mr. Van Antwerp discovered that the trail was in a different location than that given in history books.
“The cannon were finally located at the summer home of John Edward Barbour of Paterson, N.J., of the Barbour Thread Company. His summer home is located at Follensby Pond, six miles from Tupper Lake.
Donates the Cannons
“Mr. Barbour graciously donated the cannon to the Johnstown Historical Society when proper details had been furnished him concerning their origin and history.
“After consulting with Mr. Barbour at his summer home, Mr. Van Antwerp mailed him a report showing why he believed these cannons to be the ones Sir John took with him in his flight to Canada.
“In the letter, Mr. Van Antwerp gave a brief resume of events leading up to Sir John’s hasty departure from Johnstown. he explained that Sir John Johnson, an over-zealous Royalist, at the outbreak of the Revolution was placed on parole but meantime was secretly drilling troops and hoarding ammunition in Johnstown.
“Colonial Dayton, in the early spring 1776, was directed to proceed to Johnstown from Albany with a large number of troops to arrest Sir John and to confiscate all war supplies in his possession. Johnson, being warned beforehand of Dayton’s approach, broke his parole and hurriedly left Johnstown. He took with him 300 Tories, a number of Indian guides and two pieces of light artillery.
“The trail Johnson followed was from Johnstown to the Sacandaga River, thence to Lake Pleasant, thence to Raquette Lake, by way of Raquette River to Long Lake. From the extreme end of Long Lake, now known as Anthony Pond clearing, Johnson and his followers marched in a north-westerly direction.
“This route passed within two miles south of Big Tupper Lake and continued to the Grass River. They followed the course of this river to the St. Lawrence. Then by means of boats they reached their destination, Montreal, nineteen days after leaving Johnstown.
“Records of that time indicated that the party discarded their snowshoes at Raquette Lake on account of spring thaw and for the same reason disposed of their cannon between Long Lake and Tupper Lake. (Note) Raquette is the French name for snowshoe. That translation and an Indian name meaning noise (racket) have been offered as possible alternative sources of the name for both lake and river. It is also spelled Racquette, a somewhat more stylish form and more French-appearing. There is also some feeling that the snowshoes were abandoned on an island of the river as it flows through Potsdam village and not Raquette Lake (Pilcher).
One historian (Leete) claims that as Scotsmen, Johnson and his followers would never have left perfectly good snowshoes, plus the date of his escape was in May. This historian finds the stories “forced.” He further added, “Have you heard the story of the Scotsman who left his change on the bar after buying a drink? You never will.” His conclusion was that “the only name that has a clear logical origin is the Indian name translated Racket.”
Mr. Van Antwerp concluded his findings in his report to Mr. Barbour with the following summary: the cannon are of English make and design, built previous to the American Revolution; they were discovered in the approximate location that the Johnson party disposed of them; history records no other expedition into the Adirondacks where cannon of their type were being transported; both cannon were spiked and abandoned, indicating that the Johnson party expected to be pursued, the guns being made useless against the probability of the Colonists recovering them.
“John T. Morrison, president of the Johnstown Historical Society, wrote to Mr. Barbour informing him that Mr. Antwerp had been delegated by the local historical group to ascertain if it were possible to secure the return of the old cannon.
“Mr. Barbour, in his reply to Mr. Morrison’s letter said in part:
“Mrs. Barbour and I will be very glad to five these to your society, believing they and their history will be much better preserved in Johnstown than here at our camp.
“When we received these cannon from my cousin William Barbour’s sons about fifteen years ago, they were both spiked but through rust and corrosion the spikes were comparatively loose and have since fallen out and been lost.
“Mrs. Barbour and I appreciate your courtesy in giving us credit for our gift, and if such card is inscribed would also appreciate a copy of same.”
“The gratitude of the historical society to Mr. Barbour for his donation of the cannon was expressed by President Morrison, who promised the donor that the cannon would be properly placed and a copy of the inscriptions sent to him.
Sabbattis Checks Trail
“At Long Lake Mr. Van Antwerp checked with Joe Sabbattis on the trail he believed that Johnson took and found that the trail did exist. His father, Mitchell Sabbattis, a full-blooded Indian, who is referred to in Donaldson’s History of the Adirondacks as “the last of the Mohicans,” had seen one of the cannon.
“Other Long Lake guides, Joseph Gokey, Alfred Lappel and James Derwood, men who have guided and trapped in that region all their lives, vouched for the truth of the statements made by Sabbattis.
“Mr. Van Antwerp received valuable information at Tupper Lake from Charles Goodman, a civil engineer, who has a summer home there. Ed Sabourin, who is a guide at Tupper Lake, notified the local historian that the guns had been discovered on the Barbour property and moved to their summer home at Paradise Point. (Now property Lowe and Rider families — stone house, south bay of Big Tupper Lake.)
“Painstakingly following every lead, Mr. Van Antwerp learned from Joseph Burns, superintendent of the American Legion Camp, that the cannon had been removed to Barbour’s present summer home at Follensby Lake. (Now McCormick property.)
“In talking to Mr. Sabourin, it was brought out that the cannon were found approximately five miles apart, one in a swamp and the other on a slight knoll. The gun carriages were all rotted away and one could just see the marks of them.
“One of the cannon wheels had fallen off and a beech tree had grown up within the circle of the wheel. In 1900 this tree measured more than two feet in diameter and, at that time, according to forestry experts, was more than 100 years old. In view of the fact that the wheel could not have fallen from the gun carriage until decay had set in and, the fact that the tree was more than 100 years old in 1900, it is reasonable to believe that these cannon were abandoned about the same time of the flight of Sir John Johnson.
“In corroboration of this, it is a well-established fact that two cannon identical with those found stood in front of Johnson Hall at the outbreak of the Revolution and disappeared at the time of Johnson’s flight.
“When found the cannon barrels were sunk deeply into the ground so just the top part was showing. They are made of cast iron, one gun weighing about 1,300 pounds and the other about 700 pounds. One is 54 inches in length and the other about five feet. They fired a fourteen-pound cannon ball.
“Mr. Van Antwerp and an assistant loaded the barrels on a truck yesterday morning (Oct. 6, 1937) and brought them to Johnstown. They were taken to the blockhouse at Johnson Hall that same night. The society plans to restore the cannon to their original position at the Hall.