when chosen by croghan, the location was appealing as a good spot for a homestead rather than defensible ground for a fort. bearing this in mind, it must consider that the 1750s landscape may have been transformed by geomorphologic processes (i.e. flooding, erosion, and stream channel migration) as well as subsequent farming activity. before the excavation began, visual inspections of various air photo series, there are few (if any), to find apparent effects on the vegetation coverage from subsurface features. at first glance, the site appears to be a seemingly featureless cornfield; but by using clues from the written record and the maps, four localized areas are sought for additional investigation.