Samuel de Champlain first recognized Lake Champlain as something more than just a big river, as he hugged the Beekmantown shoreline across from Isle La Motte, Vt., and rounded the bend at Point au Roche.
The largest single ground invasion that ever occurred in the U.S. was first engaged by a band of 250 regulars and 30-40 militia at Culver Hill after 11,000-12,000 British redcoats came streaming across the border from Canada in 1814.
Beekmantown’s full of history. It’s just that few people knew about it.
The enslavement of human beings was a soiled chapter in our nation’s history, so it should come as no surprise that slaves attempted to escape even in the early days. Being in a strange land thousands of miles from familiar territory made it difficult for a slave to plan an escape, and the penalties, if caught, were brutal and ranged from severe whipping to even more horrible forms of torture. But, regardless of the consequences, from the very beginning slaves regularly attempted to escape.
In 1834 the British abolished slavery throughout their far-flung empire. To American slaves in captivity this meant that there was a land called Canada way up north where they could live their lives like human beings, far from the sting of the lash. All they had to do was to follow the north star to freedom and figure out a way not to get caught. But Canada was many long miles from the slave states, and not only was escaping from bondage a crime, but the odious practice had sympathizers everywhere who helped with the arrest and capture of runaway slaves. Slave-catchers made a good living hunting down runaways and returning them for the bounty. Ironically, the State of New York had abolished slavery on July 4, 1827, but the rights of slave owners in states where slavery was legal were protected.
It was the summer of 1941 on a beautiful day around mid-afternoon. Ten-year-old Don Duso was coming back from his friend Alex Dreyfoos' cabin across the lake to the marina his family owned. He was in his little one and a half horse power motor boat coming down a narrow strip of Lower Saranac Lake into Lonesome Bay and he was watching 62-year-old Albert Einstein sail across the lake in his sail boat, as he often did.
Local History
Samuel de Champlain first recognized Lake Champlain as something more than just a big river, as he hugged the Beekmantown shoreline across from Isle La Motte, Vt., and rounded the bend at Point au Roche. 
The enslavement of human beings was a soiled chapter in our nation’s history, so it should come as no surprise that slaves attempted to escape even in the early days. Being in a strange land thousands of miles from familiar territory made it difficult for a slave to plan an escape, and the penalties, if caught, were brutal and ranged from severe whipping to even more horrible forms of torture. But, regardless of the consequences, from the very beginning slaves regularly attempted to escape.
This story originally appeared on APNMAG.com.