Oriskany

Oriskany is a small town about 5 miles north of Whitesboro.  They have an interesting museum that we decided to visit a few weeks ago.  Oriskany was the site of a Revolutionary War battle in 1777 between the Indians who supported the British and the revolutionaries.  The revolutionaries won, but their General Herkimer died when the wound he received in his leg became gangrenous.  They amputated his leg, but he died anyway.  There were many items in the museum related to the Revolutionary War--soldiers uniforms, guns, a couple of manikins dressed in Indian costumes of the time.

There was an aircraft carrier named the USS Oriskany which was built after World War II and was used during the Korean and Viet Nam conflicts.  She was de-commissioned in 1976 and then sunk in 2004 to make an artificial reef off the coast of Florida in the Gulf of Mexico.  She is the largest vessel ever sunk to make an artificial reef.  Her anchor was donated to the town of Oriskany and is on display on the grounds of the museum.  There is also a fighter plane, an FA Phantom, beside the anchor, which was stationed on the USS Oriskany during her fighting days.  There are lots of memorabilia in the museum from the carrier--uniforms, personal letters, pictures of the sailors and airmen, pictures of all the captains who commanded the ship.

There are several mills located in Oriskany, only one of which is still a working mill.  The mills were located on the Erie Canal which provided the water needed for powering the mills.  The mills produced fabrics; the one still operating produces printers felt (neither of us knows what that is).  There were lots of things used in the mills in the museum from spindles to wheels.

All in all, we had a great time there.  Unfortunately, we discovered that our camera battery was dead when we got there, so we didn't get any pictures.  We drove out to the battle site, but it was closed for the winter.  We'll go back and get pictures when the battle ground is open to visitors.