Jim Millard has done it again! "The Secrets of Crab Island" is the latest addition to Jim's marvelous web site (it's a whole web ring!!!), "America's Historic Lakes". First and foremost, if you haven't visited the main site itself, you're really missing something terrific. Here's that URL: http://www.historiclakes.org/index.html Now then... Crab Island is a tiny island one mile off the NY shore. That's a hefty distance in these times even, but during the War of 1812 it was "a fur piece" indeed. It was during that time period that at least 149 men (both British and American soldiers and sailors) were buried there following their deaths during the Battle of Plattsburgh. And for those of you who are genealogists Jim even provides a list of the names and ranks of those presumed buried there! The War of 1812 wasn't the only occasion on which the island saw military action either. During the Seven Years' War the lake surrounding Crab Island was the scene of a naval battle between the French and the English. There were landings on the island, and perhaps even Lord Jeffrey Amherst himself trod the limestone of Crab Island. But I'll let Jim tell you the story... Jim has worked long and hard on this series... and I do mean SERIES. There are ten major parts to this work including the entire history of the island back to prehistoric times. Yes, indeedy, Jim goes back the fully 450 million years to discuss the geological history of this tiny island. He then goes on to chronicle the significant events that took place on this small rock in Lake Champlain (okay, well, it's forty acres in size, but that's tiny in geological terms). One thing that's especially nice about Jim's series is the photos. At each and every step along the way there are photos (and you can click on the thumbnail photos to enlarge them!) to help illustrate the particular subject... From the prehistoric rock formations to the dilapidated monument to photos of the Connolly family that lived on the island as its caretakers between 1908 and 1915, all can be seen and enjoyed. For the efforts to preserve Crab Island Jim gives due credit to Jim Bailey, Plattsburgh City Historian, James Dawson and an Ad Hoc Committee of area citizens. The Students at Broad Street School even got in on the action applying pressure to the State of New York to step up to the plate and take care of this hallowed ground where American and British dead lie in unmarked graves. Thanks are also due to Roger Harwood, who, out of the goodness of his heart, battles the poison ivy and other natural hazards to maintain the area around the monument on Crab Island. Enough of my prattling. You can tell I'm excited about Jim Millard's "Secrets of Crab Island". He's too modest to tell all of you about this himself, but it has to be told.... This is great work!! Go see it! Here's the URL for "The Secrets of Crab Island": http://www.historiclakes.org/crab/crab_intro.htm Enjoy! Susan