The Adirondack Mountains, spanning northeastern New York, cover roughly 5,000 square miles within the 6-million-acre Adirondack Park, the largest protected area in the contiguous U.S. Formed from ancient billion-year-old rocks shaped by recent glaciation, the region boasts over 100 peaks, including Mount Marcy at 5,344 feet, and features 2,000 miles of hiking trails, 3,000 lakes, and 1,200 miles of rivers. Its dense forests of hardwood, fir, and spruce, alongside extensive wetlands, support a biodiversity hosting 90% of the eastern U.S.’s animal species. Historically, the Adirondacks evolved from a Native American hunting ground to a logging and mining hub, a 19th-century tuberculosis treatment destination, and a modern conservation stronghold, anchored by the 1885 “Forever Wild” legislation that preserves its rugged, scenic beauty for recreation and ecological protection.

The Winne family held significant land patents in Herkimer County within the Adirondacks during the early colonial period, a time when New York sold vast tracts to settlers post-Revolutionary War. These patents, often encompassing thousands of acres, were used for farming, timber, or speculation. However, in the early 20th century, the state of New York, seeking to regulate water flow and prevent flooding in the Hudson River Valley, constructed the Sacandaga Reservoir, later known as Great Sacandaga Lake. Completed in 1930, this project flooded large swaths of land, including portions owned by the Winne family. Their holdings, likely fertile lowlands or forested tracts, were submerged, displacing communities and erasing homesteads, a poignant example of the state’s prioritization of infrastructure over private land rights in the Adirondacks.