Boggles the mind how many people are vehemently opposed to investing in rail infrastructure

Also, the fact that this was sponsored by the New York State Archaeological Association suggests that the entire field is now compromised

I presented a paper about this at this year‘s Dublin Seminar, and will be publishing an essay on it in their forthcoming annual proceedings. Surprisingly, there’s still quite a lot to learn about this, including about Knox‘s trek itself, despite the limited primary source material.

Knox’s feat is now a famous part of Rev War history, but hardly was of interest before the 1920s. In that decade the markers that supposedly denote Knox’s route in New York and Massachusetts were put up by state-appointed commissions which created interest in Knox’s “noble train of artillery.”

Much of that artillery would be placed on Dorchester Heights beginning in early March 1776, leading to the famous British evacuation of Boston.

No, they didn’t have permitting in the 1830s, but they also didn’t have power tools.

Would have been amazing if it had had TV commentary like a horse race while the returns were being counted

I wonder if it was a project funded by the WPA…

The interaction is a bit of a haze now, but my takeaway was that he was not particularly interested in it or supportive of it, just happened to recognize the affiliation on my name tag and wanted to offer some opinions and argue. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Also, the next year Prince Edward came instead and he was very pleasant in a simple sort of way. Essentially like a golden retriever in human form.