Oliver's War

Just as we learned last class, one of the most famous cases in the Adirondacks is the case of Rockefeller vs. Lamora. Just to recall the case, the town of Brandon used to be a lumbering center but as we all know these towns were meant to be temporary towns that would eventually be abandoned. Ducey, the owner of the town was no longer making a profit so he decided to sell his land to Rockefeller. Ducey did not own the village center but many residents were anxious to leave that they willingly sold their homes to William Rockefeller. Rockefeller set out to make a private park out of this land. However, there stood one man, Oliver Lamora, who did not want to sell his land. Thus began a series of problems. Lamora survived off of the land, so he fished at a river that was on Rockefeller’s property. Rockefeller tired of Lamora trespassing his land, decided to take him to court. The lawsuit dragged on for a decade until finally Rockefeller won and Lamora had to pay him $0.18 for damage costs and $790.31 in court costs. Lawrence P. Gooley set out to tell the story of the underdog Oliver Lamora against rich powerful Rockefeller in his book Oliver’s War: An Adirondack Rebel Battles the Rockefeller Fortune.

Gooley was originally conducting research for another book when he kept coming across stories of locals in the Adirondacks fighting against the trespassing of private land. Gooley was fascinated by this and he chose to write a story on the most famous case he found. The book goes into depth of Lamora’s life. Lamora was a Civil War veteran who was just trying to survive in the Adirondacks. Rockefeller made Lamora’s life impossible throughout the case. He used his government influence to close the post office so that Lamora would have to walk miles just to get his mail. Lamora began to fish along the railroad tracks and Rockefeller decided to buy the tracks so Lamora wouldn’t have access. Rockefeller was trying to push Lamora out of the land but was unsuccessful. Lamora survived the fight against very expensive lawyers from the support of people who were against private parks. Golley’s book won the Adirondack Literary Award for Best Book of Nonfiction and is an Adirondacker must read.

Jacoby, Karl. Crimes against Nature: Squatters, Poachers, Thieves, and the Hidden History of American Conservation. Berkeley: U of California, 2001. Print.

Cooley, Lawrence P. "Private Property:Oliver's War, Brandon Park and Paddling Rights." The Adirondack Almanack. N.p., 19 Nov. 2012. Web. 14 Apr. 2016.

Skidmore, C.E. "Little Guy Fights Back." Glens Falls Post-Star. N.p., 14 Mar. 2009. Web. 14 Apr. 2016.