Area school children learn about
The Battle of Valcour

Fourth grade children from Peru Central School learn about the several different artifacts recently discovered on the bottom of Lake Champlain's Valcour Bay.

Educational Specialist and Underwater Archeologist, Erick Tichonuk, from the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, teaches the children a lesson on the importance of how new artifact discovery combined with thorough research particularly through the use of primary documentation, can further our understanding of past historical events.

Photo by Lorene Saunders

The artifacts were recently recovered as part of an ongoing underwater archeological study of a historic battle site known as the Battle of Valcour Island, an event that occurred on Lake Champlain, October 11, 1776 during the Revolutionary War.

The study, called the Valcour Bay Research Project, is perhaps revolutionary in its own right, as divers and historians explore the bottom of Lake Champlain incorporating the use of state-of-the-art technologies and cutting-edge methodologies in an attempt to piece together the past.

Erick Tichonuk relates to Peru Central School fourth graders his experiences as a diver and underwater archeologist involved in the Valcour Bay Research Project. Throughout the school year, children enrolled in the fourth grade learn about New York State history.

Photo by Lorene Saunders

Photo by Lorene Saunders

Volunteer re-enactor and Clinton County Historical Association trustee Craig Allen, demonstrates to Peru school children how some of the artifacts recovered may have been worn and used during the Revolutionary War battle at Valcour Island. Several personal items dating from the mid 18th century have been recovered by divers.

The Lake Champlain Maritime Museum and the Clinton County Historical Association have formed an alliance as institutional partners in the Maritime Museum's Valcour Bay Research Project.

The Valcour Bay Research Project Exhibit will be on display at the Clinton County Historical Museum until May 2004