Editing Utica, New York (section)

===Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) and colonial settlement===
{{stack|[[File:Uticain1802.tif|thumb|alt=A black-and-white map, depicting buildings and roads in simple, small black outlines. The text "Utica in 1802" is at bottom right.|An 1802 engraved map of Utica. The [[Mohawk River]] is at the top, and Bagg's Tavern is at the center right.]]
[[File:Utica index map.jpg|thumb|This 1883 index map shows the development around Utica and Bagg's Square, with the Erie Canal (now Oriskany Street) and Chenango Canal towards the upper-right.]]}}
Utica was established on the site of [[Old Fort Schuyler]], built by American colonists for defense in 1758 during the [[French and Indian War]], the North American front of the [[Seven Years' War]] against [[Kingdom of France|France]].<ref name="Cyclopedia 1879">{{cite wikisource |title=The American Cyclopædia |editor-first=George |editor-last=Ripley |editor2-last=Dana |editor2-first=Charles A. |editor2-link=Charles Anderson Dana |wslink=The American Cyclopædia (1879) |chapter=Utica (New York) |editor-link=George Ripley (transcendentalist) |plaintitle=[[New American Cyclopedia|The American Cyclopædia]] |year=1879 |publisher=[[D. Appleton & Company]] |edition=1879 |volume=16}}</ref>{{Sfn|Bagg|1892|p=3}}{{Sfn|Childs|1900|p=2}}{{Sfn|Bagg|1892|p=21}} Prior to construction of the fort, the [[Mohawk people|Mohawk]], [[Onondaga people|Onondaga]] and [[Oneida people|Oneida]] nations of the [[Iroquois|Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) Confederacy]] had controlled this area southeast of the [[Great Lakes]] region as early as 4000 BC.{{Sfn|Thomas|2003|p=15}} The Mohawk were the largest and most powerful nation in the eastern and lower Mohawk Valley. Colonists had a long-standing fur trade with the Mohawk, in exchange for firearms and rum. The Iroquois nations' dominating presence in the region prevented the [[Province of New York]] from expanding past the middle of the Mohawk Valley until after the American victory in the Revolutionary War. Following the war several Iroquois nations were forced to cede lands to New York: British allies due to defeat and American allies in exchange for post-war shelter and supplies which were necessary following the brutal fighting.{{Sfn|Thomas|2003|p=15}}

The land housing Old Fort Schuyler was part of a {{cvt|20000|acre|km2|sigfig=2|adj=on}} portion of [[marsh]]land granted by [[George II of Great Britain|King George II]] to New York governor [[William Cosby]] on January 2, 1734.{{Sfn|Bagg|1892|pp=19–20}} Since the fort was located near several trails (including the [[Great Indian Warpath]]), its position—on a bend at a shallow portion of the Mohawk River—made it an important [[Ford (crossing)|fording]] point.{{Sfn|Childs|1900|p=134}}<ref name="Czarnoa 2014, only p 77">{{Cite book |title=Native American & Pioneer Sites of Upstate New York: Westward Trails from Albany to Buffalo |publisher=The History Press |date=April 8, 2014 |isbn=978-1-6258-4776-8 |first=Lorna |last=Czarnota |chapter=Utica: Beer and Insanity |page=77}}</ref> The Mohawk call the bend ''Unundadages'' ("around the hill"), a name that now appears on the city's seal.{{Sfn|Thomas|2003|p=17}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hauptman |first=Laurence M. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/47017112 |title=Conspiracy of interests : Iroquois dispossession and the rise of New York State |date=2001 |publisher=Syracuse University Press |isbn=978-0-8156-0712-0 |edition=1st pbk |location=Syracuse, N.Y. |oclc=47017112 |page=28 |access-date=January 17, 2022 |archive-date=May 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220530204444/https://www.worldcat.org/title/conspiracy-of-interests-iroquois-dispossession-and-the-rise-of-new-york-state/oclc/47017112 |url-status=live}}</ref>

During the [[American Revolutionary War]], border raids from [[Kingdom of Great Britain|British]]-allied Iroquois tribes harried the settlers on the frontier. George Washington ordered [[Sullivan's Expedition]], [[United States Army Rangers|Rangers]], to enter [[Central New York]] and suppress the Iroquois threat. More than 40 Iroquois villages were destroyed along with their winter stores, causing starvation.{{Sfn|Thomas|2003|p=17}} In the aftermath of the war, numerous colonial settlers migrated into the region of New York from New England,{{Sfn|Childs|1900|p=1}} especially [[Connecticut]].{{Sfn|Thomas|2003|p=17}}

In 1794 a state road, [[New York State Route 5|Genesee Road]], was built from Utica west to the [[Genesee River]]. That year a contract was awarded to the Mohawk Turnpike and Bridge Company to extend the road northeast to Albany, and in 1798 it was extended.<ref name="Cyclopedia 1879" />{{Sfn|Childs|1900|p=52}} The [[New York State Route 5|Seneca Turnpike]] was key to Utica's development, replacing a worn footpath with a paved road.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Pioneer Roads and Experiences of Travelers |url=https://archive.org/details/pioneerroadsand01hallgoog |publisher=A. H. Clark Company |date=1904 |access-date=April 29, 2015 |first1=Archer Butler |last1=Hulbert |first2=James |last2=Hall |first3=Thomas |last3=Wallcut |first4=Timothy |last4=Bigelow |first5=Francis Whiting |last5=Halsey |first6=Charles |last6=Dickens |first7=Sir Charles Augustus |last7=Murray |pages=[https://archive.org/details/pioneerroadsand01hallgoog/page/n103 99]–108}}</ref> The village became a rest and supply area along the Mohawk River for goods and the many people moving through [[Western New York]] to and from the Great Lakes.{{Sfn|Childs|1900|p=7}}<ref>{{Cite book |title=Utica: A City Worth Saving. |last=Przybycien |first=F. E. |publisher=Dodge-Graphic Press, Inc. |year=1976}}</ref>