On Friday, June 4, historian, colonial-style blacksmith, and authentic artifact supplier Jack Vargo will present the exciting tale of “The Last Battle of the French and Indian War.” The final struggle to control the North American continent in 1760 was waged at Fort Levis on Chimney Island in the St. Lawrence River. The program begins at 6:30pm at the Great Lakes Seaway Trail Discovery Center at the corner of Ray and West Main Streets in Sackets Harbor, NY.

Vargo is co-owner and head artisan for the Beaver River Trading Company, a Croghan, NY, business that provides historically accurate museum-quality 17th and 18th century colonial artifact reproductions to historic sites and living history reenactors.

Vargo says, “My background in mechanical engineering, an interest in the early technologies of Native American and Colonial populations and knowledge gathered through archaeological studies and publication development support our efforts to preserve and interpret history, much of which occurred throughout the Great Lakes Seaway Trail shoreline region.”

In 2009, Seaway Trail, Inc. published “Waterways of War: The Struggle for Empire 1754-1763, A Traveler’s Guide to the French & Indian War Forts and Battlefields along America’s Byways in New York and Pennsylvania.”

The New York State Signature Event commemorating the 250th Anniversary of the French and Indian War is set for July 16-18 at Fort la Presentation as part of the Ogdensburg, NY, Founder’s Day celebration.

There is a $5 fee for the June 4 program at the Great Lakes Seaway Trail Discovery Center to benefit the Seaway Trail Foundation. For more information, call 315-646-1000.