From collection Kosti Ruohomaa Collection
Plaque of 1777 Revolutionary War March in Herkimer
A bronze plaque set in stone describes a march led by Brigadier General Nicholas Herkimer (1728-1777) in 1777 during the Revolutionary War. A map illustrates the places involved. This photo was published in the November 12, 1945 issue of LIFE Magazine on page 106.
Herkimer fought and was fatally wounded at Oriskany, New York in 1777 in the Revolutionary War. Herkimer was the grandson of a German immigrant and grew up in the Mohawk River Valley. He fought in the French and Indian Wars, and spoke German, English, and Mohawk.
In 1945, Kosti Ruohomaa produced a photo essay for LIFE Magazine titled "Mohawk Valley." The accompanying article begins: "Along its 150-mile course from Rome, N.Y. to Cohoes, where it flows into the Hudson, the Mohawk River lies in a fertile rolling valley which, since before remembered history, has been a vital corridor through the eastern mountains” p. 103.
The article is a history lesson, touching on Mohawk Native Peoples, brutal 17th and 18th century wars, and the construction of the Eerie Canal. Kosti Ruohomaa took over 500 photographs for this assignment for LIFE Magazine. Ruohomaa's images include rolling farmland, historic structures, memorial monuments, and dramatic natural wonders. Over 20 of Kosti Ruohomaa’s photographs were published in the November 12, 1945 issue of LIFE Magazine on pages 103-111.
