The Continental Congress appointed Washington
commander-in-chief of the American revolutionary forces in 1775. The following year, he forced the
British out of Boston,
lost New York City, and crossed the
Delaware River in New Jersey, defeating the surprised enemy units later that year. As a result of his strategy, Revolutionary forces captured the two main British combat armies at
Saratoga and
Yorktown. Negotiating with Congress, the colonial states, and
French allies, he held together a tenuous army and a fragile nation amid the threats of disintegration and failure. Following the end of the war in 1783, Washington retired to his plantation at
Mount Vernon, prompting an incredulous
King George III to state, "If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world."
Washington died in 1799, and in his funeral oration,
Henry Lee said that of all Americans, he was "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen."Washington has been consistently ranked by scholars as one of the
greatest U.S. Presidents.
(Information obtained from Wikipedia)
The pond is over 100 feet deep at it's deepest point.
For over a century admirers of Thoreau have added a stone to this pile as an ancient tradition to the lasting greatness of Thoreau's work.
These stones mark where the cabin that Thoreau built and lived in for two years and two months.
Henry David Thoreau wrote many books, "Walden" aka "Life in the Woods" is one of the best known non-fiction books written by an American. 
