Grey Riders: The Story of The New York State Troopers

by Frederic Van De Water, Graeme Newman (Introduction)

Across the rugged northern frontier of early America, where the forests of Vermont and New York dissolved into the uncertain boundary of British Canada, rode a breed of men as hard and shifting as the land they patrolled. In Grey Riders, Frederic F. Van de Water brings to life the Border Rangers—scouts, irregulars, vigilantes, smugglers, militiamen, and adventurers whose loyalties were as changeable as the wilderness itself.

Drawing on archival accounts, oral tradition, and long-neglected local histories, Van de Water reconstructs a world where law was fragile, justice improvised, and survival depended on cunning as much as courage. This is a gripping portrait of a frontier in transition, where national identity was still a disputed question and the line between hero and outlaw blurred with every raid, rescue, or private vendetta.

Part history, part narrative chronicle, Grey Riders captures the violence, uncertainty, and strange freedom of the northern borderlands during the Revolutionary era and the War of 1812. A century after its first publication, the book remains a vivid and indispensable account of a forgotten corner of American frontier life—an absorbing journey into the grey zones of loyalty, legality, and human character.

Perfect for readers of frontier history, military narrative, early American studies, and true-life adventure.

264 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 24, 2025