Armstrong Mountain (Keene Valley, New York) Armstrong Mountain (Keene Valley, New York) Armstrong Mountain is a mountain located in Essex County, New York, named after Thomas Armstrong, a local pioneer. The mountain is part of the Great Range of the Adirondack Mountains. Armstrong Mtn. is flanked to the southwest by Gothics, and to the northeast by Upper Wolfjaw Mountain. Armstrong Mountain stands within the watershed of the East Branch of the Ausable River, which drains into Lake Champlain, thence into Canada's Richelieu River, the Saint Lawrence River, and into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. The east side of Armstrong Mtn. drains into the East Branch of
New York State Canal System Cayuga Lake to the Erie Canal; the Oswego Canal connects the Erie Canal to Lake Ontario; and the Champlain Canal connects the Hudson River to Lake Champlain. In 1903 New York State legislature authorized construction of the "New York State Barge Canal" as the "improvement of the Erie, the Oswego, the Champlain and the Cayuga and Seneca Canals". In 1905, construction of the Barge Canal began; it was completed in 1918, at a cost of $96.7 million. It opened to through traffic May 15, 1918. The Barge Canal's new route took advantage of rivers (such as the Mohawk River, Oswego