New Lebanon Town Historian Kevin Fuerst (left) presents a traditionally tanned deer hide featuring the Mohican emblem he had made for the occasion to Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican Tribal Council Members Doug Huck and JoAnne Shedler during the rededication of the Indian Blessing Fountain in Lebanon Springs on Friday, September 27. The ceremony recognized the role of the Mohican people in introducing 18th century settlers to the spring’s healing waters, which they stipulated were to be free and accessible to all who wished to use them. The waters were the basis for the subsequent development of Lebanon Springs as the leading spa in the young American republic during the first half of the 19th century. The event was co-sponsored by the New Lebanon Garden Club, who originally commissioned renowned sculptor Henry Kitson to create the fountain in 1941, and the Lebanon Valley Historical Society. A large and enthusiastic group attended the ceremony and the Town Hall reception which followed and took advantage of the opportunity to talk with Huck and Shedler, who had traveled to New Lebanon from the Mohican reservation in Wisconsin. Photo courtesy of Steve Oberon.
