The Mohawk Valley region of the U.S. state of New York is the area surrounding the

Mohawk River The Mohawk River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 river in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is the largest tributary of the Hudson R ...

, sandwiched between the

Adirondack Mountains The Adirondack Mountains ( ) are a massif of mountains in Northeastern New York which form a circular dome approximately wide and covering about . The region contains more than 100 peaks, including Mount Marcy, which is the highest point in Ne ...

and

Catskill Mountains The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province and subrange of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined a ...

, northwest of the Capital District. As of the 2010

United States Census The United States census (plural censuses or census) is a census that is legally mandated by the Constitution of the United States. It takes place every ten years. The first census after the American Revolution was taken in 1790 United States ce ...

, 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 Susquehanna River ( ; Unami language, Lenape: ) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, crossing three lower Northeastern United States, Northeast states (New York, Pennsylvani ...

. The region is a suburban and rural area surrounding the industrialized cities of Schenectady, Utica and

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, along with other smaller commercial centers. The area is an important agricultural center and encompasses the heavily forested wilderness areas just to the north that are part of New York's

Adirondack Park The Adirondack Park is a park in northeastern New York (state), New York protecting the Adirondack Mountains. The park was established in 1892 for "the free use of all the people for their health and pleasure", and for watershed protection. At , ...

. The Mohawk Valley is part of a natural passageway connecting the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

, by way of the

Hudson Valley The Hudson Valley or Hudson River Valley comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The region stretches from the Capital District (New York), Capital District includi ...

, with the interior of North America. Native American Nations of the

Iroquois Confederacy The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...

lived in the region. In the 17th century, Dutch, French and English immigrants —and in the 18th century German, Irish and Scottish—settled the area. Following the rapid industrialization of the mid-19th century,

Italians Italians (, ) are a European peoples, European ethnic group native to the Italian geographical region. Italians share a common Italian culture, culture, History of Italy, history, Cultural heritage, ancestry and Italian language, language. ...

and

Welsh People The Welsh () are an ethnic group and nation native to Wales who share a common ancestry, History of Wales, history and Culture of Wales, culture. Wales is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. The majority of people living in Wa ...

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 Brigadier-General Nicholas Herkimer (also known as Nikolaus Herchheimer; – August 16, 1777) was an American military officer who fought during the French and Indian War and Revolutionary War. He died in 1777 from wounds suffered during the ...

, 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 The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

. Almost 100 battles of the American Revolution were fought in New York State, including the Battle of Oriskany,

Battle of Saratoga The Battles of Saratoga (September 19 and October 7, 1777) were two battles between the American Continental Army and the British Army fought near Saratoga, New York, concluding the Saratoga campaign in the American Revolutionary War. The Battle ...

and defense of Fort Stanwix. During the war, a series of raids against valley residents took place led by John Johnson. These raids were collectively known as the " Burning of the Valleys". In 1825, the

Erie Canal The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east–west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigability, navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, ...

was completed as the first commercial connection between the American East and West.

Strategic importance

During the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

, the Mohawk River Valley was of prime strategic importance; to the British, it provided a corridor to the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

from which to threaten

New France New France (, ) was the territory colonized by Kingdom of France, France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Kingdom of Great Br ...

directly, while to the French it provided a corridor to the

and on to the heart of

British North America British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland, then further south at Roanoke and Jamestown, ...

. In addition, many settlements of the 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 Fort Oswego was an 18th-century trading post in the Great Lakes region in North America, which became the site of a battle between French and British Army forces in 1756 during the North American phase of the Seven Years' War, known in the United ...

, located on

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The Canada–United Sta ...

. 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 people that later relocated from the newly established

Fort Orange Fort Orange () was the first permanent Dutch settlement in New Netherland; the present-day city and state capital Albany, New York developed near this site. It was built in 1624 as a replacement for Fort Nassau, which had been built on n ...

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 Toolmaking Flint is only one attribution to the Mohawk Valley People of the Flint name.

Counties

* Schoharie * Montgomery * Fulton * Herkimer * Oneida * Otsego 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 in Montgomery County. Furthermore, the northern border of Schoharie County with Montgomery County is very close to the Mohawk River. Schenectady, Albany, and 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 The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

where Albany, Saratoga, and Rensselaer counties meet as a

delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...

. Schoharie, Montgomery, Fulton, Saratoga, Schenectady, and Albany counties are the only 6 counties within the Mohawk Valley to be part of the Capital District, Albany County is also considered part of the

Major cities, towns, and villages

;Montgomery County *

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

* Canajoharie * Fonda * Fort Plain * Fultonville * Nelliston * Palatine Bridge * St. Johnsville ;Fulton County * Gloversville * Johnstown ;Herkimer County * Frankfort * Herkimer * Ilion * Little Falls * Mohawk ;Oneida County * Sherrill *

* Utica * New Hartford ;Otsego County * Cooperstown * Oneonta ;Schoharie County * Middleburgh * Schoharie * Cobleskill ;Schenectady County * Schenectady *

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

* Niskayuna * Glenville * Scotia ;Saratoga County * Saratoga Springs * Mechanicville * Ballston Spa *

Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...

* Clifton Park * Halfmoon * Stillwater *

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

* Schuylerville * Wilton * South Glens Falls *

Corinth Corinth ( ; , ) is a municipality in Corinthia in Greece. The successor to the ancient Corinth, ancient city of Corinth, it is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Sin ...

;Albany County * Albany * Cohoes * Watervliet * Colonie * Menands * Green Island * Voorheesville * Guilderland *

Bethlehem Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...

* Ravena

Popular culture

* '' 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 1939 film of the same name, directed by John Ford, has been criticized for “ bandoningthe historical complexity of the original for the mythic simplification of an all-American Western.” * 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.

Sources