The large territory of the county was long occupied by the
Mohawk Nation and, to the west, the other four tribes of the
Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) Confederacy (increased to six with the migration of the
Tuscarora). After European colonization of the Northeast started, the Mohawk had a lucrative
fur trade with the French coming down from Canada, as well as the early Dutch colonists, and later British and German colonists. Some
Palatine Germans, who worked in camps on the Hudson to pay off their passage in 1710, later settled in this county in the 1720s and 30s. In addition,
Scots-Irish immigrants settled in the present Schoharie County area before the
American Revolutionary War, especially near Cherry Creek.
Political organization After Great Britain defeated the Dutch in the
Second Anglo-Dutch War and received
New Netherland via the
Treaty of Breda, they began to establish counties in the New York territory in 1683. The present Schoharie County was first part of
Albany County. In theory, it extended westward to the
Pacific Ocean, as the colonists wanted to keep their options open. This county was reduced in size on July 3, 1766, by the creation of
Cumberland County, and further on March 16, 1770, by the creation of
Gloucester County, both containing territory now part of Vermont. On March 12, 1772, what was left of Albany County was split into three parts, one retaining the name Albany County.
Tryon County was formed from the western portion of the territory (and thus, since no western boundary was specified, theoretically still extended west to the Pacific). The eastern boundary of Tryon County was approximately five miles west of the present city of
Schenectady, and the county included the western part of the
Adirondack Mountains and the area west of the West Branch of the
Delaware River. The area then designated Tryon County was eventually organized into what are now 37 counties of New York State. The county was named for
William Tryon, colonial governor of New York. In the years preceding 1776, as social and political tensions rose in the colony, most of the Loyalists in Tryon County, then on the frontier, fled to
Canada. In 1784, after the peace treaty that ended the Revolutionary War and the establishment of states, the new government changed Tryon County's name to
Montgomery County to honor United States General
Richard Montgomery, who had captured several places in Canada and died trying to take the city of
Quebec. The state continued to organize new counties. In 1789, Montgomery County was reduced in size by the splitting off of
Ontario County. It was originally much larger than the present county, including present-day
Allegany,
Cattaraugus,
Chautauqua,
Erie,
Genesee,
Livingston,
Monroe,
Niagara,
Orleans,
Steuben,
Wyoming,
Yates, and part of
Schuyler and
Wayne counties. In 1791,
Otsego,
Herkimer and
Tioga Counties were split off from Montgomery. In 1795, Schoharie County was created by joining portions of Otsego and Albany counties.
Revolutionary War This was an area of fighting during the
American Revolutionary War. On the frontier, colonists were subject to raids by British and their Iroquois allies. Four of the six tribes allied with the British, hoping to repel the colonists from their territory. ==Geography==