The land was cleared, roads, dams, and forges constructed, and the
work of manufacturing iron begun.
At this point a dam was built across the Hudson, the waters of which
flowed back into Lake Sandford, about five miles above. The lake
itself being some six miles song, tolerable navigation was thus
established for a distance of eleven miles, to the Upper Works, which
seem to have been the only works in operation. At the Lower Works,
besides the remains of the dam, the only vestige I saw was a long low
mound, overgrown with grass and weeds, that suggested a rude
earthwork. We were told that it was once a pile of wood containing
hundreds of cords, cut in regular lengths and corded up here for use
in the furnaces.
At the Upper Works, some twelve miles distant, quite a village had
been built, which was now entirely abandoned, with the exception of a
single family.
A march to this place was our next undertaking. The road for two or
three miles kept up from the river and led us by three or four rough
stumpy farms. It then approached the lake and kept along its shores.
It was here a dilapidated corduroy structure that compelled the
traveler to keep an eye on his feet.
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