Trappers Of New York

by Jeptha Root Simms

Trappers Of New Or, A Biography Of Nicholas Stoner & Nathaniel Foster; Together With Anecdotes Of Other Celebated Hunters, And Some Account Of Sir William Johnson, And His Style Of Living by Jeptha Root Simms. This work offers a vivid frontier chronicle of the northeastern New York wilderness, weaving biography, local history, and entertaining vignettes of the fur trade, colonial politics, and frontier life. Simms compiles the life stories of Nicholas Stoner and Nathaniel Foster, two famed 18th-century hunters who fought in the American Revolution and the subsequent frontier wars. The narrative is enriched with portraits of Sir William Johnson, Johnson Hall, and settlements around Johnstown, Fish House, Fonda’s Bush, and Sacondaga marsh. Interspersed are accounts of trapper culture, beaver and otter trapping, and episodes from later conflicts in Rhode Island and Lake Champlain. The Preface explains the author’s aim to preserve local antiquities and anecdotes for future historians, while the chapters trace youth, campaigns, exploits, and the hazards of life on the New York frontier, offering a vivid panorama of early American border life.

296 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1851

About the author

Jeptha Boot SIMMS (1807 - 1883) was a historian, who lived in New York. . During a period of seven years he traveled constantly with his horse and carriage through the central counties of New York, interviewing the early settlers and old persons, and recording any data of interest thus collected.

Reviews

[David Welch]

This book, published in 1850, recounts early settlement of the southern Adirondacks, especially focusing on two hunter/trappers, Nick Stoner and Nat Foster, both of whom figure in the lore or the region. But it's not the best history of this, which seems odd as the author actually spoke with Nick Stoner before his death in the 1840s. Probably 30% of the book is spent describing the area itself, and when it comes to Stoner and Foster, there seems to be a lack of stories and anecdotes for men who became part of the region's folklore.

Stoner is the better covered of the two, and the picture painted is one of a boisterous, adventurous man who might have been a little too eager for a fight. He served in the Revolution as a teenager, and was locally known for several fights with Indians afterwards. One such fight included getting revenge on the British-allied Indian who killed his father during the Revolution. Though most of these fights were over Indian hunters and trappers robbing his traps, considered a huge crime at the time. In other instances Stoner hunted with and even hired Indians during his trips into the wilderness. Stoner also, despite his age, served in the War of 1812 at the Battle of Plattsburg. Depsite all this, the book really doesn't seem to have that many stories about the man's long career, which is a shame.

Nat Foster gets more of the short-shrift. Basically all that is covered of this local legend was his shooting of an Indian he was feuding with (who tried to kill him), and the subsequent trial. There are literally court transcripts included from this. The rest of the man's adventurous life is absent, leaving a man with a long and adventurous career defined by one act.

Beyond that, there's a chapter about the less-known Jock Wright, another regional trapper. Two interesting points I found was that many of the area described in this book are now underwater due to the creation of the Sacandaga Reservoir, and that the author, even in 1850, was extremely regretful of the treatment of American Indians, even going so far as to encourage the recording of Indian place names so they wouldn't e forgotten by the history books. But on the whole the history just falls short, and gives neither of it's subjects the examination they deserve.