Will the real Gunboat Rock or Island please stand up?

Just this past year, my wife Lynne and I were out on my son’s boat on a delightful summer’s day. We left the marina and headed around the south end of Valcour Island. He pointed at Garden Island and called it “Gunboat Island”, repeating what I have heard many call it over the years. Of course, his “old man” then had to explain in great detail how the name came to be, but not for that location.

In the October 4, 2025, edition of The Sun newspaper in Helen Nerska’s Heritage Corner, was a wonderful article by Noel Stewart titled Valcour. In the opening paragraph, he wrote, “Traveling on NYS Route 9 as a child, I remember telling my  parents that the small island (Garden Island) south of Valcour Island reminded me of a ship. Their response was, “that is Gunboat Island ……”

Ever hear of the old game show called “To Tell The Truth” in which a panel of comics or celebrities tried to guess which of three people was the correct one? Three contestants would be produced, all claiming to be the person with an unusual job or claim to fame,  and only one was telling the truth. After fun questioning the host would eventually say, “Would the real person please stand up?” So it is with the “true” gunboat island or rock, as I have heard of at least three locations described as “The One”.

As a crotchety old local historian, I just had to attempt to “set the record straight” about it and pulled out my Lake Champlain chart of the Plattsburgh Quadrangle and there were my three contestants: the island at the south end of Valcour named Garden Island; almost directly east of Garden Island, toward Vermont, next to Providence Island is lake rock called Carleton’s Prize; and, in the north west corner of Cumberland Bay at the far end of what is labeled Municipal Beach (City Beach) is an outcropping named Gunboat Rock.

Contestant 1- Garden Island: Having spent at least the last 25 years studying, writing, attempting to get a book published, and telling the story to anyone who would listen about the 1776 Battle of Valcour, I believe I have a unique perspective. There is nothing that I have found in the historic record which mentioned Garden Island having been disguised as a vessel, having been fired upon at any time by the British or the  Americans, or been mistaken for a ship in fog or rain.

There is another intriguing yet murky story, possibly involving Garden Island. A French supply vessel was supposedly carrying a keg of gold coin from French Fort St. John on the Richelieu River to pay troops at Fort St. Frederick at Crown Point (Or the other way around) in the French and Indian War period of 1755-1763. According to local lore, the  British were chasing the French ship but before they could catch up to it, it put aground somewhere to store the keg for later recovery. The French ship either escaped or was sunk. Some think the gold hiding spot could have been Garden Island and it might have still been there. Don’t get excited, it has been thoroughly searched by a multitude of treasure hunters and nothing has ever been found, or perhaps they just aren’t admitting it?

Contestant 2- A small island in Vermont: At the Battle of Valcour, which started October 11th 1775, the British woke up early the 12th to discover Benedict Arnold’s fleet had disappeared. In a panic, Captain Pringle on board their command vessel with Guy Carleton, the Governor General of Canada, immediately sent out vessels in every direction in an attempt to locate them.

One British vessel, heading east, thought they saw one of Arnold’s fleet in the morning fog near what is now called Providence Island and opened cannon fire. As they got closer, they realized it was only a small rock island with a bare tree looking like a ship’s mast. This poor island surrendered to the British and forever more became known as  “Carleton’s Prize”. Cannonball markings were visible on its rocks for years after.

Contestant 3- Gunboat Rock: The War of 1812 records of the 1814 Battle of  Plattsburgh and local lore mention the British firing upon a rock in Cumberland Bay, perhaps from shore batteries to test their cannons' range. Other stories say that after the battle was over, an annoyed departing British gunboat fired one cannon shot at the citizens near the rock who were celebrating the American victory by banging on pots and pans and shouting at them from shore.

Cumberland Bay has its own lore about a cannon thrown off the Scomotion Creek Bridge and a buried British keg of gold but that’s for another time.

Gunboat Rock shows up on Lake charts and was visible for years. Unfortunately, continued winter and spring ice movements have lowered its profile and it is now no longer as visible. However, with the recently experienced low lake water, it may be poking out of the lake once again.

AND NOW…WILL THE REAL GUNBOAT ROCK PLEASE PRESENT ITSELF…Drum roll… GUNBOAT ROCK IN PLATTSBURGH BAY.

The audience cheers. Even the Lake map makers got that one right. But it will not be remembered for long as ice erosion continues and it disappears from view and memory.

It is not surprising to find people telling the story about other locations, particularly for young children. After all, as my mother used to say, “If you can’t make a good story even better, what kind of a storyteller are you?

A message to Noel Stewart and his family. When Lynne and I were driving along Route  9 a while back, we both looked out at Garden Island and said, “ DAMN, that sure does look like an old war ship headed north! “

‍