French and Indian War is coming back to life

LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. — History lessons don't have to be confined to classrooms. This summer, they're being given outdoors by red coats and Rangers, American Indian warriors and frontier wives, accompanied by the roar of cannon and the rattle of muskets.

And the views aren't bad, either.

This year marks the 250th anniversary of the start of the French and Indian War in New York. The 18th-century conflict began in Pennsylvania in 1754 and ended in Canada in 1760, but in between, most of the key events of the war — from set-piece battles to bloody forest ambushes — took place in upstate New York.

Beginning this summer, historic sites from Fort Ticonderoga along the Vermont line to Old Fort Niagara in western New York are hosting a five-year series of events, including battle re-enactments and colonial military encampments. The living history events offer visitors a glimpse into what life was like in an 18th-century army campaigning in North America. The re-enactors portraying British, American and French soldiers, Indians, sutlers (peddlers who followed the troops, selling provisions) and their families welcome questions about their uniforms, weapons and camping methods.

"It takes it beyond a textbook," said state police Investigator Randy Patten of Schenectady, a re-enactor helping organize an event in Lake George this summer. "It's the closest thing you're going to get to walking back in time. You come away learning something, even if you don't like history."

Since much of the action during the war centered on control of New York's key waterways, this summer's events are being held at some of the most scenic locations the Empire State has to offer: Fort Niagara, where the Niagara River empties into Lake Ontario; Lake George, ringed by the Adirondack Mountains; and Ticonderoga, tucked between the Adirondacks and Vermont's Green Mountains.

Visitors will see "some of the loveliest scenery in North America while they travel some of the most historic landscapes in the world," said Vermont-based writer Howard Coffin, author of "Guns Over The Champlain Valley," a guide to military sites in the region.