The Schuyler family, ever at the vanguard of colonial ambition, shaped Saratoga’s early destiny. Between 1709 and 1710, they lined the southern bank of Fish Creek with mills and sturdy buildings, constructing not just a settlement, but a statement—a declaration of permanence in a world still teetering on the edge of uncertainty. Yet permanence was an illusion, as fragile as the wooden beams that held these frontier homes aloft. On a cold November night in 1745, that illusion was shattered. The village fell to fire and blood, its quiet industry reduced to ruin as Native forces launched a devastating attack. Thirty families perished, their homes turned to embers, their legacies scattered in the wind. Captain Peter Schuyler met his end in the defense of his own house, cut down within the walls he had once believed would stand against time.