This book is the culmination of an interest that began in childhood.

I offer thanks to MY PARENTS, WINIFRED AND DE VILLO SLOAN, JR., who nurtured my involvement in New York archaeology, starting at an early age, above and beyond the call of duty.

This book is also dedicated to the memory of MY GRANDMOTHER, RUTH WINCHESTER SLOAN, who first told me the old stories of ruined “French forts” in Onondaga County and thus opened a world for me.