Mexico Point, Spy Island

Silas Towne was a young patriot scout who, according to longstanding local tradition and some documented military movements, overheard the plans of British officer Barry St. Leger at Mexico Point in July 1777. Towne slipped away and traveled through the wilderness to Fort Stanwix, warning the garrison of British troop movements. The British did attack Fort Stanwix, but the siege collapsed after the Battle of Oriskany, preventing them from joining General John Burgoyne’s Hudson Valley campaign. After the war, Towne settled at Mexico Point, living on or near the very island where he had spied. He died in 1806 and is buried there. A monument now stands on Spy Island within Mexico Point, a 120-acre public park.