They slept that night at the base of the towering cliff of the Indian Pass. The next day they reached the head of a beautiful lake, which they named " Henderson," and followed its outlet to the site of Adirondack village. There, in a deep-shaded valley, they beheld with wonder the "iron dam," or dyke of iron ore, stretched across a stream, which was afterward found to be one of the main branches of the Upper Hudson. They at once explored the vicinity, and discovered that this dyke was connected with vast deposits of ore, which formed rocky ledges on the sides of the narrow valley, and presented beds of metal adequate, apparently, to the supply of the world's demand for centuries. It is believed that the revealer of this wealth was Peter Sabattis, the father of our Indian guide.

The explorers perceived that all around that vast deposit of wealth in the earth was an abundant supply of hard wood, and other necessary

THE HUDSON.

ingredients for the manufacture of iron ; and, notwithstanding it was thirty miles from any highway on land or water, with an uninterrupted sweep of forest between, and more than a hundred miles from any market, the entire mineral region -- comprising more than a whole township -- was purchased, and preparations were soon made to develop its resources. A pnrtnei'ship Avas formed between Archibald M'lntyre, Archibald Eobert-

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Tin; inoN p\^[.

son, and David Henderson, all related by marriage ; and^Avith slight aid from the State, they constructed a road through the wilderness, from the Siarron [Schroon] Yalley, near Lake Champlain, to the foot of Sandford Lake, halfway between the head of which and the beautiful Henderson Lake Avas the " iron dam." There a settlement was commenced in 1834. A timber dam was constructed upon the iron one, to increase the fall of water, and an experimental furnace was built.