In the depths of an Adirondack winter 267 years ago, a band of French soldiers and Native American forces jumped a scouting party of British-allied rangers west of today’s town of Ticonderoga.
With superior numbers and the element of surprise, the French should have made quick work of this skirmish. It was complicated, however, by four feet of snow. The rangers, under the direction of the colorful Robert Rogers, managed to fight to a draw thanks to footwear now a staple of winter hikes. They wore snowshoes.
This 1757 dustup became known as the first Battle on Snowshoes. A year later, Rogers cemented his
