Editing Mohawk Valley

{{other uses|Mohawk Valley (disambiguation)}}
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{{Infobox settlement
|name                     = Mohawk Valley region
|nickname                 = 
|settlement_type          = [[List of regions in the United States#New York|Six-county region]]
|image_skyline            = {{image array|perrow=1|width=250|height=175
 | image1 = Schenectady skyline.jpg|caption1=Schenectady
 | image2 = Utica 97 002.jpg|caption2=Utica
 }}
|image_map                = 
|mapsize                  = 
|map_caption              = 
|subdivision_type         = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
|subdivision_name         = [[United States]]
|subdivision_type1        = [[U.S. state|State]]
|subdivision_name1        = [[New York (state)|New York]]
|parts_type               = Major cities
|parts_style              = list
|p1 = [[Schenectady, New York|Schenectady]]|p2=[[Utica, New York|Utica]]|p3=[[Rome, New York|Rome]]|p4=[[Little Falls, New York|Little Falls]]|p5=[[Amsterdam, New York|Amsterdam]]|p6=[[Johnstown, New York|Johnstown]]|p7=[[Gloversville, New York|Gloversville]]|p8=[[Oneonta, New York|Oneonta]]|p9=[[Saratoga Springs, New York|Saratoga Springs]]|p10=[[Mechanicville, New York|Mechanicville]]|p11=[[Albany, New York|Albany]]|p12=[[Watervliet, New York|Watervliet]]|p13=[[Cohoes, New York|Cohoes]]
|area_metro_km2           = 18,088
|area_metro_sq_mi         = 6,984
| elevation_max_footnotes = <br/>at
| elevation_max_ft        = 4360
| elevation_min_footnotes = <br/>at 
| elevation_min_ft        = -10
| population_total        = 
| population_as_of        = July 1, 2014
| population_density_sq_mi= 1065
| population_blank1_title =
| population_blank1       = 
|timezone                 = [[Eastern Time Zone|Eastern]]
|utc_offset               = &minus;5
|timezone_DST             = [[Eastern Daylight Time|PDT]]
|utc_offset_DST           = &minus;4
}}
{{Regions of New York}}

[[File:New York Relief 1.jpg|thumb|Shaded [[Terrain cartography|relief map]] of New York. The Mohawk Valley is demarked by the green lowlands running east-west across the middle of the state.]]
[[File:Mohawk Hudson Valley from space.jpg|thumb|Image of the Mohawk and Hudson valleys from [[Space Shuttle Challenger]].]]
[[Image:Hudsonmap.png|thumb|The Mohawk Valley]]

The '''Mohawk Valley region''' of the [[U.S. state]] of [[New York (state)|New York]] is the area surrounding the '''[[Mohawk River]]''', sandwiched between the [[Adirondack Mountains]] and [[Catskill Mountains]], northwest of the [[Capital District, New York|Capital District]]. As of the 2010 [[United States Census]], the region's counties have a combined population of 622,133 people. In addition to the Mohawk River valley, the region contains portions of other major watersheds such as the [[Susquehanna River]].

The region is a suburban and rural area surrounding the industrialized cities of [[Schenectady, New York|Schenectady]], [[Utica, New York|Utica]] and [[Rome, New York|Rome]], along with other smaller commercial centers. The {{convert|5,882|sqmi|km2}} area is an important agricultural center and encompasses the heavily forested wilderness areas just to the north that are part of [[New York (state)|New York]]'s [[Adirondacks|Adirondack Park]].

The Mohawk Valley is part of a natural passageway connecting the [[Atlantic Ocean]], by way of the [[Hudson Valley]], with the interior of North America. Native American Nations of the [[Iroquois Confederacy]] lived in the region. In the 17th century, [[Netherlands|Dutch]], [[France|French]] and [[England|English]] immigrants  —and in the 18th century [[Germany|German]], [[Ireland|Irish]] and [[Scotland|Scottish]]—settled the area. Following the rapid industrialization of the mid-19th century, [[Italians]] and [[Welsh People]] settled in the valley.

During the 18th Century, the Mohawk Valley was a frontier of great political, military, and economic importance. Colonists— such as [[Phillip Schuyler]], [[Nicholas Herkimer]], [[Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet|William Johnson]]—trading with the Iroquois set the stage for commercial and military competition between European nations, leading to the [[French and Indian Wars]] and the [[American Revolution]]. Almost 100 battles of the American Revolution were fought in New York State, including the [[Battle of Oriskany]], [[Battle of Saratoga]] and defense of [[Fort Stanwix]]. During the war, a series of raids against valley residents took place led by [[Sir John Johnson, 2nd Baronet|John Johnson]]. These raids were collectively known as the "[[Burning of the Valleys (American Revolution)|Burning of the Valleys]]".

In 1825, the [[Erie Canal]] was completed as the first commercial connection between the American East and West.

==Strategic importance==

During the [[French and Indian War]], the Mohawk River Valley was of prime strategic importance; to the British, it provided a corridor to the [[Great Lakes]] from which to threaten [[New France]] directly, while to the French it provided a corridor to the [[Hudson Valley]] and on to the heart of [[British North America]].  In addition, many settlements of the [[Mohawk nation|Mohawk]], Britain's crucial Indian ally at the time of the war, were located in or near the valley.

At the beginning of the war, the major British stronghold in the Mohawk corridor was [[Fort Oswego]], located on [[Lake Ontario]].  The French captured and destroyed the fort after a short siege in 1756, and the Mohawk Valley lay open to French advance as a result.  Although the French did not directly exploit this avenue of attack, its impact swayed some of the Iroquois tribes to the French side.

==Mohawks of Mohawk Valley==

The original inhabitants of the Mohawk Valley can be traced back 10,000 plus years and included [[Algonquian peoples|Algonquian]] people that later relocated from the newly established [[Fort Orange]] Dutch trading post region as early as 1624, as the name implies, the inhabitants were and remained [[Mohawks]]. The name Mohawk Valley has its origins in the years 1614 and 1624-25 following the settlement by Dutch traders who established a trading post in the Valley, the Mohawk tribe became alliances and targets during the Indian Wars.
The Mohawks of Mohawk Valley call themselves ''Kanien'keha'ka'', and "People of the Flint" in part due to their creation story of a powerful flinted arrow. Among other things, the traditional use of Mohawk Valley flint as [[flint (tool)|Toolmaking Flint]] is only one attribution to the Mohawk Valley People of the Flint name.

==Counties==
*[[Schoharie County, New York|Schoharie]]
*[[Montgomery County, New York|Montgomery]]
*[[Fulton County, New York|Fulton]]
*[[Herkimer County, New York|Herkimer]]
*[[Oneida County, New York|Oneida]]
*[[Otsego County, New York|Otsego]]

[[Schoharie County, New York|Schoharie County]] is sometimes considered to be part of the Mohawk Valley because the [[Schoharie Creek]], primarily located in Schoharie County, is a major tributary that empties into the Mohawk River at [[Fort Hunter, New York|Fort Hunter]] in Montgomery County.  Furthermore, the northern border of Schoharie County with Montgomery County is very close to the Mohawk River.

[[Schenectady County, New York|Schenectady]], [[Albany County, New York|Albany]], and [[Saratoga County, New York|Saratoga]] counties are also sometimes considered to be part of the Mohawk Valley because the Mohawk River Flows through those 3 counties, the Mohawk River also ends at the [[Hudson River]] where Albany, Saratoga, and [[Rensselaer County, New York|Rensselaer]] counties meet as a [[River delta|delta]].

Schoharie, Montgomery, Fulton, Saratoga, Schenectady, and Albany counties are the only 6 counties within the Mohawk Valley to be part of the [[Capital District (New York)|Capital District]], Albany County is also considered part of the [[Hudson Valley]].

=== Major cities, towns, and villages ===

{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
;Montgomery County
*[[Amsterdam, New York|Amsterdam]]
*[[Canajoharie (village), New York|Canajoharie]]
*[[Fonda, New York|Fonda]]
*[[Fort Plain, New York|Fort Plain]]
*[[Fultonville, New York|Fultonville]]
*[[Nelliston, New York|Nelliston]]
*[[Palatine Bridge, New York|Palatine Bridge]]
*[[St. Johnsville, New York|St. Johnsville]]

;Fulton County
*[[Gloversville, New York|Gloversville]]
*[[Johnstown (city), New York|Johnstown]]

;Herkimer County
*[[Frankfort, New York|Frankfort]]
*[[Herkimer, New York|Herkimer]]
*[[Ilion, New York|Ilion]]
*[[Little Falls (city), New York|Little Falls]]
*[[Mohawk, Herkimer County, New York|Mohawk]]

;Oneida County
*[[Sherrill, New York|Sherrill]]
*[[Rome, New York|Rome]]
*[[Utica, New York|Utica]]
*[[New Hartford, New York|New Hartford]]

;Otsego County
*[[Cooperstown, New York|Cooperstown]]
*[[Oneonta, New York|Oneonta]]

;Schoharie County
*[[Middleburgh, New York|Middleburgh]]
*[[Schoharie, New York|Schoharie]]
*[[Cobleskill (town), New York|Cobleskill]]

;Schenectady County 
*[[Schenectady, New York|Schenectady]]
*[[Rotterdam, New York|Rotterdam]]
*[[Niskayuna, New York|Niskayuna]]
*[[Glenville, New York|Glenville]]
*[[Scotia, New York|Scotia]]

;Saratoga County
*[[Saratoga Springs, New York|Saratoga Springs]]
*[[Mechanicville, New York|Mechanicville]]
*[[Ballston Spa, New York|Ballston Spa]]
*[[Waterford, New York|Waterford]]
*[[Clifton Park, New York|Clifton Park]]
*[[Halfmoon, New York|Halfmoon]]
*[[Stillwater (village), New York|Stillwater]]
*[[Malta, New York|Malta]]
*[[Schuylerville, New York|Schuylerville]]
*[[Wilton, New York|Wilton]]
*[[South Glens Falls, New York|South Glens Falls]]
*[[Corinth (village), New York|Corinth]]

;Albany County
*[[Albany, New York|Albany]]
*[[Cohoes, New York|Cohoes]]
*[[Watervliet, New York|Watervliet]]
*[[Colonie, New York|Colonie]]
*[[Menands, New York|Menands]]
*[[Green Island, New York|Green Island]]
*[[Voorheesville, New York|Voorheesville]]
*[[Guilderland, New York|Guilderland]]
*[[Bethlehem, New York|Bethlehem]]
*[[Ravena, New York|Ravena]]

{{div col end}}

==Popular culture==

* ''[[Drums Along the Mohawk (novel)|Drums Along the Mohawk]]'' (1936), an historical novel written by Walter D. Edmonds, is set in the Mohawk Valley near Deerfield during the American Revolutionary War. It was very carefully researched and portrayed the complexity of the times. The [[Drums Along the Mohawk|1939 film of the same name]], directed by John Ford, has been criticized for “[abandoning] the historical complexity of the original for the mythic simplification of an all-American Western.” <ref>{{Cite journal|last=Countryman|first=E.|date=1980-10-01|title=John Ford's Drums Along the Mohawk: The Making of an American Myth|journal=Radical History Review|volume=1980|issue=24|pages=93–112|doi=10.1215/01636545-1980-24-93|issn=0163-6545}}</ref>
* The Mohawk Valley is an important site in the video game ''[[Assassin's Creed III]]'' published by Ubisoft. The game takes place during the Revolutionary War era and features an assassin tasked with playing a role in the history of early America.

==See also==
*[[Mohawk Valley formula]]
* [[Dean R. Snow]] — archeologist who has conducted numerous excavations along the valley, providing valuable historical information about indigenous peoples and colonial America.

==Sources==
{{Reflist}}

*[http://www.bvma.org ''Burning of the Valleys Military Association'']
*[http://www.oldfortjohnson.org ''Fort Johnson in the Mohawk Valley'']
*[http://www.mvhcc.org ''Mohawk Valley Heritage Corridor Commission'']

{{City of Utica, New York}}
{{New York}}
{{Authority control}}

{{Coord missing|New York (state)}}

[[Category:Valleys of New York (state)]]
[[Category:Regions of New York (state)]]
[[Category:Upstate New York]]
[[Category:River valleys of the United States]]
[[Category:Landforms of Saratoga County, New York]]
[[Category:Landforms of Albany County, New York]]
[[Category:Landforms of Schenectady County, New York]]
[[Category:Landforms of Montgomery County, New York]]
[[Category:Landforms of Fulton County, New York]]
[[Category:Landforms of Herkimer County, New York]]
[[Category:Landforms of Oneida County, New York]]
[[Category:Landforms of Otsego County, New York]]