In May of 1838,Reuben and Betsy Rist and some of their eighteen children moved onto a plot of land just over the Warren County,New York border with Hamilton County.Benjamin Cleveland and his two sons helped with the move,driving a team of oxen and a two-wheeled cart.They cut out the road for the cart,then cleared ten acres of land where Rist could farm and build a log cabin. (LaBar) These were the first non-Indian settlers of Indian Lake,New York.

    One cold day in 1839,an eighteen-year old boy by the name of Henry Crandall sought refuge in the Rist cabin.The boy,whose oxen had run away,was happy to find a fire and some food.  He went on his way,and in the years to come Henry Crandall made his fortune in the lumber business,and became a leading citizen of Glens Falls.By 1860,both Reuben and Betsy had been buried on a hilltop above the Indian River.Henry Crandall bought their tombstone,with the inscription " In Memory of Reuben Rist and his Wife - First Settlers in Township # 15."