Research Trip in Upstate New York...back to the 18th century with Pamela Clare

I just got home from the trip of a lifetime. I didn’t travel all that far, and I didn’t go anywhere exotic. In fact, I stayed right here in the good, old U.S. of A. After years of longing to see the places I’ve written about in my historical novels, I finally made a trip to New York on a pilgrimage to the sites in my MacKinnon’s Rangers series.

First stop was Fort Edward/Rogers Island, recognizable to readers of the series as Fort Elizabeth/Ranger Island, the place where MacKinnon’s Rangers — Iain, Morgan, Connor and their men — live between the dangerous scouting missions they make on behalf of the British army. The walls of the fort no longer stand, lost to the ravages of time. But the site of the fort, on the bank of the Hudson River, is well documented, as is the little island that still rests in the middle of the river. That island — Rogers Island — has been excavated, yielding artifacts that once belonged to real Rangers, who were the Special Forces of their days and are the direct ancestors of today’s U.S. Army Rangers.

The area we visited was full of monuments to heroes who died in a war most of us have forgotten.

I had to choke back tears when I arrived on the island, overwhelmed finally to be in a place that has been a part of my life for so many years. I’ve looked at historical maps of Rogers Island, read about it, researched it, looked at countless artists’ drawings. And at last I was standing in the place where my Rangers lived much of their lives.

Eileen Hannay, the manager of Rogers Island Visitor Center, gave me a tour of the island, showing me the sites that have been excavated, pointing out where the fort had stood in relation to the island, and letting me look at some of the artifacts being processed in their lab. I must have asked her a thousand questions, but she clearly loves this period of history and never lost her patience.

That night I slept, safe and snug, in a historic hotel that would have stood outside Fort Edward’s protective walls in 1758, a time when the New York frontier was one of the most dangerous places on earth.

While in New York, I walked on the Carillon Battlefield where my Rangers and their companions fought in the French and Indian War.

The next morning, I drove north to Fort Carillon/Fort Ticonderoga, where much of UNTAMED, which tells Morgan MacKinnon’s story, takes place. Christopher Fox, the curator of the Fort Ticonderoga Museum, gave me a tour of the fort, most of which is reconstructed. He pointed out the original French foundations, explaining a few points about the geography of the region that I didn’t understand and helping me to see the fort as it must have been back when Morgan, who was shot and taken captive by the French, was imprisoned here. I walked on the Carillon Battlefield, where so many British soldiers lost their lives trying to take the fort from the French, the past echoing through the silence of the forest. I was glad to see that the battlefield hadn’t become a parking lot, as has happened elsewhere.

On my last day in New York, I decided I wanted to see the frontier as my Rangers would have seen it. I contacted Mike Terenzetti of Pontour Tours of Lake George and asked him to take us out on the lake for the afternoon.

“What do you want to see?” he asked.

“Show me the 18th century,” I answered.

We headed north on Lake George into a chilly north wind that raised white caps on the water. All around us, the Adirondacks rose up, their slopes covered with the reds, oranges and yellows of autumn. For a time, we hugged the western shore, which is dotted with mansions and summer homes. After a while, we crossed to the eastern shore, exploring coves and inlets. Then Mike cut the engine.

“Look all around you,” he said. “From here, you can’t see anything manmade. Welcome to the 18th century.”

I stood and turned in slow circle, taking it all in. There was nothing — nothing — as far as the eye could see but lake, forest and sky.

It was a special moment for me, the kind of moment every author lives for, when she can place herself in the physical world of her characters and feel them around her. And standing there in the cold wind on Mike’s boat on the choppy waters of Lake George was about as close as I could ever hope to get to actually being with Iain, Morgan, Connor, Captain Joseph and the other Rangers.

This was frontier they knew. This was a horizon they would have recognized. This was the shoreline as it had been in their time.

I breathed the moment in, let it fill me, feeling the centuries fall away. We pulled into the shore, so that I could hike among the trees for a while. And then it was time to return to the marina and the 21st century.

The next day I flew home to Colorado, sad to leave New York behind but determined to return — soon.

But in the meantime, I’d like you to travel with me back to the year 1759 to the little hospital at Fort Carillon on the windy shores of Lake Champlain...

There, Morgan MacKinnon lies gravely injured, held captive by the French, who want to heal him so they can pry the secrets of the Rangers from his mind before turning him over to their Abenaki allies to be executed. Caring for him is a young French-Metís lass, Amalie Chauvenet, whose father was slain by a Ranger’s lead ball. Divided by war, trapped on an untamed frontier, the two of them have no idea that they’re about to test their own loyalties, challenge fate, and defy two empires by falling in love.

For more on my trip or for excerpts of UNTAMED, visit my blog and my website.