July 15, 2017 Saturday (con’t)
Saturday was a busy day, after leaving Little Falls we visited the Fort Stanwix National Monument in Rome, New York. Completed in 1762, Fort Stanwix, a colonial star fort, was built to guard the Oneida Carrying Place, the portage path between the Mohawk River and Wood Creek, during the French and Indian War. Today, Fort Stanwix National Monument occupies that same location. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed legislation for the creation of the national monument in 1935 but it did not become a reality until 1976, just in time for the United States Bicentennial celebration. A great place to learn more about the fort and the monument is at the National Parks website.
The American Flag was first authorized by Congress June 14, 1777 and according to local legend, on August 3, 1777, the first stars and stripes were created out of “a soldier’s white shirt, strips of fabric from a woman’s red petticoat and the blue straps from Captain Abraham Swartwout’s cloak.”
