History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people, Volume I, Part 1

Author: Downs, John Phillips, 1853- ed. [from old catalog]; Hedley, Fenwick, Y., joint ed. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Boston, New York [etc.] American historical society, inc.
Number of Pages: 649


USA > New York > Chautauqua County > History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people, Volume I > Part 1


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.


Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117


LIBRARY OF CONGRESS


00001259684


١


ـوج


.


HISTORY


OF


CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY


NEW YORK


AND ITS PEOPLE


JOHN P. DOWNS Editor-in-Charge


and


FENWICK Y. HEDLEY Editor-in-Chief


Assisted by a large corps of Sub-editors and Advisory Board


VOLUME I


AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY, INC. BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO


1921


FIZ7 07175


COPYRIGHT, 1921 AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY, INC.


301: 30 21 y


CLA617610


4


FOREWORD


N PRESENTING this "History of Chautauqua County, New York, and Its People," the publishers desire to express their grateful appreciation of the labor and other assistance of a large and highly capable corps of editors and advisors. It is primarily founded upon the life work of the late lamented Obed Edson, without a peer as a local historian, and who gave to it his hearty encouragement and assistance, and whose very last contri- bution to the annals of the region he loved so well is contained in the Political Chapter. I


The work is particularly rich in historical contributions specially written for it by mas- ters of their subjects. Among these writers are such capable authorities as Mr. Albert S. Price, Dr. Rovillus R. Rogers, Lieutenant-Commander W. H. Faust, U. S. N., Messrs. Fred- erick P. Hall, Edward L. Allen, Theodore A. Case, Gilden R. Broadberry, Clare A. Pickard, Richard H. Heppell, Arthur E. Bestor, Frederick R. Darling, William B. Blaisdell, Mayor Samuel A. Carlson, Messrs. Benjamin S. Dean, T. Henry Black, Jay T. Badgley, C. W. Her- rick, Dr. William E. Goucher, Messrs. Marvin L. Clapp, Lathrop L. Hanchett, C. W. Herrick, John W. Spencer, Dr. C. E. Welch, Messrs. Charles A. Okerlind, Ernest Cawcroft, W. H. Proudfit, W. A. Bradshaw, John B. Shaw, John C. Mason, Patrick S. Guinnane; Mesdames Lucy Norton Shankland, Lona D. Brown, Olive E. R. Schendler and Clara Watson, Misses Lucia Tiffany Henderson, Carlina M. Monchow, Jane C. Banks.


To all the above-named the publishers make grateful acknowledgments, as well as to a goodly array of authorities who afforded to Mr. John P. Downs, our staff writer in charge, valuable data and information. Among these are Major Edgar P. Putnam and Norman R. Thompson on Early Wars and the Civil War; Mr. V. A. Hatch on the Spanish War : Dr. William M. Bemus on Medical History : Mr. Arthur W. Swan on the Knights of Pythias : Mr. B. R. Barton on Steamboating; Miss Anna Crissey on the Y. W. C. A .; Mr. Francis B. Brewer on the Westfield Y. M C. A .; Mrs. J. W. Mason and other ladies on Women's Clubs; Mrs. Margaret Prather on the Political Equality Movement; Mr. A. A. Van Vleck on the Patrons of Husbandry ; Dr. John J. Mahoney on the Roman Catholic Church ; Miss Mary M. Woods, on Daughters of Isabella; Young Men's Christian Association, H. F. V. Porter: Revolutionary Soldiers, Mrs. Lucy N. Shankland ; Sons of Veterans, Mr. Mar- vin L. Clapp; Judge Arthur B. Ottaway and Mr. Frank H. Mott on the Bench and Bar : Mr. Frank H. Mott on Public Utilities; and Mr. F. W. Bullock on Electric Service.


THE PUBLISHERS.


CONTENTS


PAGE


Chapter I-Geography, Topography, Geology, Climatology


Chapter II-The Mound Builders; Ancient Remains


Chapter III-Origin of the Name Chautauqua


Chapter IV-The Destruction of the Eries


Chapter V-Brodhead's Expedition


Chapter VI-Later Indian Wars, Occupation and Treaties


Chapter VII-The Frontier Period, 1802-1805; Early Settlers; Foundation of Towns


Chapter VIII-The Pioneer Period; War with Great Britain; Customs of the People


Chapter IX-The Early Farming Period, 1825-1835; Development of the County ; Industries; Amusements Chapter X-The Early Farming Period, 1835-1851; the Holland Company; Under the New Constitution ; Progress of Education


Chapter XI-The Agricultural Period, 1851-1861; Early Railroads; Spiritualism and Mormonism; Discovery of Oil


Chapter XII-The Agricultural Period, 1861-1875; Development of Grape Culture


Chapter XIII-Close of Century, 1875-1902; First Use of Natural Gas; Jamestown Incorporated as a City ; Electricity introduced as a motive power ; the Prendergast Library ; New County Buildings; Lakeside Assembly; Improvement of Dunkirk Harbor; Soldiers of the Revolution ; Burning of Fredonia Normal School; Origin and Character of the People


Chapter XIV-Opening of the Twentieth Century ; the County Redistricted; New Court House; Military Reunions


Chapter XV-Opening of the Twentieth Century, continued; the County redistricted; Death of Obed Edson Chapter XVI-Towns : Arkwright, Busti, Carroll, Charlotte, Chautauqua, Cherry Creek, Clymer


Chapter XVII-The City of Dunkirk


Chapter XVIII-Towns: Ellery, Ellicott


Chapter XIX-The City of Jamestown


Chapter


XX-Towns: Ellington, French Creek, Gerry, Hanover, Harmony


Chapter XXI-Towns : Kiantone, Mina, Poland, Pomfret, Portland


225


Chapter XXII-Towns: Ripley, Sheridan, Sherman, Stockton, Villenova, Westfield


247


Chapter XXIII-Chautauqua County To-day; Statistics


MISCELLANEOUS


PAGE


The History of the Holland Land Purchase, Lieut .- Comdr. W. H. Faust, U. S. N.


252


The Press of Chautauqua County, Frederick P. Hall and Edward L. Allen .


271 Books, Libraries and Authors, Lucy Tiffany Hen- derson


281


Chautauqua County Libraries, Lucia Tiffany Hen- derson and Carlina M. Monchow


285


Some Men and Women Writers of Chautauqua County, Mrs. Olive R. Schlender


290


Conservation of Fish and Game, Richard H. Hep- pe11


The United States Food Administration in Chau- tauqua County, Clare A. Pickard


299


The Public Schools of Chautauqua County


310


Donald Mackenzie, King of the Northwest, Ernest Cawcroft


"The Indian War," Theodore A. Case


The Underground Railroad, Albert S. Price


Old Inns and Taverns


Merchants of the Olden Time, W. H. Proudfit


The Jamestown Board of Commerce


335


Centennial Celebration


Lily Dale Spiritualist Assembly, Mrs. Clara Wat- son


421 425


Bench and Bar


Religion and Religious


341


The Woman's Christian Temperance Union 349


429


The Political Equality Movement 351


The Young Women's Christian Association, Jane C. Banks


357


The American Red Cross


358


Women's Clubs


363


Patrons of Husbandry


364


Chautauqua County Banks, C. W. Herrick


367


Military History


(Also see reverse of this page).


447


Steamboats of Chautauqua Lake, T. Henry Black. 371


Political Chautauqua, Benjamin S. Dean 374


Municipal Activities, Mayor Samuel A. Carlson ..


Dental Surgery and Dentists, William E. Goucher, D. D. S.


384


Patriotic Societies; Mrs. Lucy Norton Shankland, Marvin L. Clapp, Mrs. Lona D. Brown, Lathrop L. Hanchett


386 392


Young Men's Christian Association. .


Retrospect of Music in and around Jamestown, Gilden R. Broadberry


395 398 400


Development of Agriculture, John W. Spencer ... Chautauqua Farm Bureau


Chautauqua County Agricultural Corporation


The Grape Industry, Dr. C. E. Welch


401 402 403


406 400 412 413 417 419


Dunkirk Chamber of Commerce, Jay T. Badgley Manufacturing


3.36 3.36 3,38


The Medical Profession


Chautauqua Lake and its Surroundings, W. A. Bradshaw


430


Iron and Steel


Jamestown Business College


431


Public Utilities


432 434


Population of Chautauqua County


Fraternal Orders, John B. Shaw, John C. Mason, Patrick S. Guinnane 435


Į 8 IO 12 16 23 26 34 42


50


56 65


70


91 105 115 143 154 162 170 201


PAGE 382


The Swedish People, Charles A. Okerlind


Schools of Jamestown, Rovillus R. Rogers 315 Dunkirk Public Schools, Frederick R. Darling 319 322 324


Public Schools of Fredonia, William B. Blaisdell. Chautauqua Institution, Arthur E. Bestor


DUNKIRK MEN WHO LOST THEIR LIVES IN SERVICE


Adamowicz, Peter Boorady, Nahim M.


Murray, John T. McAllister, Clarence W.


Davis, Wollis Edwin


Newell, Loren E.


Dobrynski, John F. Durrell, Lester H.


Przespolwski, Alexander


Grace, Theodore


Rahn, C. W. (Claude Herman)


Gustavson, Egnar


Resso, Alexander


Herd, Frederick Thomas


Surhan, Joseph D.


Kaltenbach, Winford George


Warren, Cassimer


Kay, George Kleine, Albert


Will, Fred D.


Kuebrick, John Michael


Yetto, Charles W.


Lugen, Nicholas Peter


Mahonsky, Joseph P.


Weglinski, Walter


Note-The above reached the publishers too late for proper place in Military History.


Young, John A. Ziemenski, Joseph


Pilorski, Martin


-


LANDING OF DE CELORON AT BARCELONA


CHAPTER I. Geography-Topography-Geology-Climatology.


Still, as I view each wellknown scene, Think what is now, and what hath been, Seems as to me, of all bereft, Sole friends thy woods and streams are left.


Besides its honorable history, Chautauqua has much in other respects to endear it to its people. Its physical characteristics, the beauty of its scenery, its size and its situation are such as to justify the pride of its citizens.


It is the extreme western county of New York. It is bounded on the south by Pennsyl- vania, on the forty-second parallel of latitude ; east by Cattaraugus, on the line between the ninth and tenth ranges of townships; north- east by Erie county at the Cattaraugus creek, and a line extending northwest from its mouth to a point in Lake Erie in the boundary line between the United States and the British Dominions; northerly by that line which ex- tends along the middle of Lake Erie; west by Pennsylvania, on a meridian drawn through the western extremity of Lake Ontario soutli to a monument erected by the States of New York and Pennsylvania in the forty-second parallel of north latitude. The western bound- ary extends on this meridian about 22 miles in Lake Erie, and 18 miles, 3493 feet southi thereof; its southern boundary extends 36 miles, 473 feet; its eastern, 3712 miles; its northeastern boundary along Cattaraugus creek four miles ; its shore line upon the lake extends about forty miles.


The area of the county, exclusive of Lake Erie, is about 1100 square miles, of which about twenty square miles are included int Chautauqua Lake, six hundred acres in the Cassadaga Lakes, three hundred in Bear Lake, five hundred in Findley Lake, and one thou- sand acres in the smaller lakes, ponds and streams. This county is larger than the State of Rhode Island, and greater in extent than many of the most famous of the ancient States of Greece, and the smaller of the German States. Although it forms a part of an eastern · State, the northern portion lies in the basin of the Great Lakes, and the southern in the valley of the Mississippi. It borders on Lake Erie, not far from the great Falls of Niagara. Politi- cally it belongs to the East, but lying partly in the basin of the Great Lakes and partly in the valley of the Mississippi, it partakes of the spirit of the West. Aside from those that have


great cities within their borders, it is the fore- most county of the Empire State. With the products of the dairy and the fruits of the vine, and a near market in a great metropolis, its future is assured. Since its organization as a county its boundaries have never been changed.


A wide belt of grass-covered hills extends from its eastern boundary southwesterly to Pennsylvania, forming the watershed which divides its waters that flow north into Lake Erie from those that flow south into the Mis- sissippi. The steepest side of this watershed is presented to the north towards Lake Erie, where the hills fall away in a rapid but not precipitous descent to the lower lands that border it. This side of the watershed extends in an irregular line northeasterly and south- westerly, from two to five miles from the shore. From the foot of these hills northward is an un- dulating region gradually descending towards the lake, where it terminates in a bluff of the average height of twenty feet above it.


Lake Erie is five hundred seventy-three feet above the sea level. No part of the county is less than that height, while the hills of the watershed rise generally from one thousand to fifteen hundred feet above the lake, sometimes over two thousand feet above the ocean. From these hills a fine and extended view is afforded. To the north lie the rich and cultivated lands that border the lake, and broad and well-trained vineyards form the principal feature of the landscape. In some parts these vineyards ex- tend from the shore southward across the lower lands, and nearly up the northern slope of the hills. Beyond this, is spread the wide expanse of Lake Erie, so distant that its waves fade from sight and it appears as smooth and blue as if painted on canvas. As seen from the hills in summer nothing relieves the monotonous blue of the lake but the long black lines of smoke from the steamers and the snow-white sails of the lake craft that thickly speck its sur- face. Beyond the lake, forty miles away, the Canadian dominions are dimly visible from Long Point to the historic ruins of Fort Erie.


The north face of the watershed, which ex- tends southwesterly through the northern part


Chau-1


2


CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE


of the county, parallel to Lake Erie, is deeply furrowed into a series of narrow gulfs which conduct the water from the high lands to Lake Erie. Corresponding depressions extend south- ward from the summit of the watershed through which the waters flow on that side to the Allegheny. Between these depressions on the south side of the watershed the land rises into elevations which the waters have seamed and scored transversely into chains of hills. These hills generally slightly decrease in alti- tude as they extend southward. The depres- sions or troughs in the south side of the water- shed are often deep and long ; they widen into valleys and form important features in the landscape in Southern Chautauqua. These valleys arc all about the same level and gen- erally about seven hundred feet above Lake Erie. They slightly descend as they extend towards the southeastern part of the county. There they merge together and form the broad valley of the Conewango. At the northern termination of each are one or more lakes and ponds. The principal streams of the county that flow southward to the Mississippi have their origin in these lakes. The lakes all lie very near the north face of the Ridge, and but little labor would be required to turn their waters northward into Lake Erie. The land that separates the waters that flow south into Chautauqua Lake from those that flow north into Lake Erie is but twelve feet higher than the surface of the former lake. The land be- tween the Cassadaga Lake and the head waters of the Canadaway has so little elevation that many years ago a few men in a short time cut a channel from the head of the lake a few rods long and sufficiently deep to permit its waters to flow into a tributary of the Canadaway. Had not these men been immediately restrained by an injunction, the waters of the Cassadaga would have been diverted from their course and what was intended for the Mississippi would have been given to the St. Lawrence.


The cvidence afforded by the science of geology proves that long before that era of time known as the Glacial Period, the streams that traverscd these valleys, instead of dis- charging southward into the Allegheny, flowed northward into Lake Erie; that an extensive area (comprising 4000 square miles), including most of Chautauqua, Cattaraugus and a part of Allegany counties in New York, and the greater portions of Warren, Mckean and Pot- ter counties in Pennsylvania, known to geolo- gists as the Chautauqua Basin, was drained into Lake Erie through what were once deep chasms or gorges, some of which are now


occupied by the valleys of the Conewango, Cassadaga, and Chautauqua Lake. When came the Ice Period, a great glacier spread over the eastern part of North America. It put forth immense tongues which increased in magni- tude and moved southward as the cold in- creased. During long eras of time, the cold grew more and more intense until its maxi- mum was reached, and then the glacier invaded regions further and still further south. No longer confined to river channels and moun- tain gorges, it scaled hills and ridges. A grand mer de glace filled Lake Erie and pushed against the base of the ridge bounding the basin of that lake on the south; it forced its way into the gorges at the mouths of the streams of Western New York and Pennsyl- vania and Northern Ohio, that discharged their waters northward into Lake Erie. As it ascended the chasms of the Cattaraugus, Sil- ver and Walnut creeks, and of the Cassadaga and Chautauqua lakes, it carried away their rough sides, deeply filling their channels witli an earthy mass. It scaled the dividing ridge and climbed to the tops of the highest hills of the county, paring away their summits, spread- ing deeply over highland and lowland an un- broken sheet of loose material called drift, moulding the surface of the county into its present shapes. Before the glaciers came to widen and partly fill the valleys, to carve the hills into their present graceful forms, the county had a bold and savage appearance, the hills were higher and more rugged, the valleys were deep chasms walled by steep and rocky sides.


During the Glacial Period there had been a continuous upward movement of the crust of this part of the earth, which contributed to produce the intense cold of the Ice Period. A period of depression now began which is called the Champlain Period. This movement of the earth's crust was accompanied by a raising of the temperature until the climate became far milder than it is now, and caused the great glacier that covered our county to disappear.


By reason of the melting of the glacier, and the falling of great rains and the lowering of the sources of the streams and rivers, retard- ing their flow, great lakes and crooked streams were formed in all parts of North America dur- ing the era that followed the Glacial Period, which geologists call the Champlain Period. The portals of the chasms through which the waters of Chautauqua County Basin were dis- charged northward through the Ridge towards Lake Erie, point where the highlands began their most precipitous northward descent, were


3


GEOGRAPHY, GEOLOGY, CLIMATOLOGY


choked with drift and clay brought by the glaciers, to a depth of hundreds of feet. The valleys that had been formed during the Ice Period were slightly tilted sonthward and their water currents reversed and caused to flow towards the Mississippi. The terminal moraine that fringed the border of the great glacier near the Pennsylvania line dammed the waters that had been turned southward, causing an extensive and irregular lake for a while to ex. tend like the fingers of a hand up the valleys of the Conewango, Cassadaga, Bear creek, and other valleys in Chautauqua county, the evi- dence of which exists in the fine assorted material, fresh water deposits and beds of marl that are found there. During this period the climate of Chautauqua county was far warmer than it is now. Tropical animals then existed here, but of species differing from those now living. The mastodon and the North Ameri- can elephant frequented the shores of the lakes that covered the larger valleys of our county and its bordering marshes. Their teeth have been found in the valley of the Cassadaga and in other principal valleys of the county. In August, 1871, portions of a gigantic mastodon were found one mile north of Jamestown, which have been preserved in the Museum of the Jamestown High School. During the Chautauqua County Centennial in 1902, the bones of many of these animals were exhumed in the village of Westfield.


During the Champlain Period, the county was fitted for the growth of the cypress, and semi-tropical vegetation also, relics of which still linger to some extent between the Ridge and Lake Erie, the peculiar conditions there, and its milder climate, favoring their perpetu- ation. These southern species are represented by magnolias, the cucumber, the white wood or tulip tree, and also by the honey locust and wild grape vine, and other growths natural to warmer climes. The trees that then formed the forests of our county were little like those that the first settlers found here. The twigs in the stomach of the Jamestown mastodon were found to belong to a species of spruce which? then, undoubtedly, grew here plentifully, but is now not known to exist.


Since then. there has been a succession of trees. The first settlers found a dense forest of evergreen, pine and hemlock in the whole of the four southeastern townships. The hem- locks also extended over the rocky ridges and along the stony sides of the ravines of the smaller streams. The hills and higher lands were heavily timbered with deciduous trees, principally beech, maple, chestnut and oak.


The early settlers found relics of an ancient and majestic pine forest that once had densely covered the hills, at last had yielded the ground to the maple and beech, and was now strug- gling with the hemlock and black ash in the valleys below.


In the era following the Champlain Period, this part of the continent became more ele- vated, which caused a more rapid flow of the waters. Slowly the outlet of the irregular lake that extended over the southern part of our county was worn away, the waters low- ered, and the basin covered with miry swamps and shallow ponds. At length it was fully drained, save a few little lakes that lay at its furthermost borders.


The processes of nature have gracefully 1 ounded the hills of our county, smoothed and shaped its valleys and clothed them with a forest of beautiful foliage. Now it would seem that the work of creation is complete, and our county finished and ready for man. But the work of creation is never complete; we see species of animal and vegetable life succeeding each other in a regular system of progress from the lower to the higher, commencing with the coral and simplest sea plants, rising until now we have man and the highest ranks of vegeta- ble life. The work of creation is ever going on.


It is, however, the present landscape of Chau- tauqua county that interests us now. In the wide valley that extends along the eastern bor- ders of the county, flows the Conewango, the principal stream of Chautauqua. The Indian whose trails once threaded its valley, pro- nounced it "Ga-no-wun-go," meaning "in the rapids." It empties into the Allegheny, and has its source in two lakes that lie close to the northern verge of the Ridge, called Mud and East Mud lakes. In the deep wide valley of the central part of the county flows the Cassa- daga, called by the Senecas Gus-da-go. This stream has its source in a cluster of little lakes that also sparkle near the northern declivity of the highlands. Upon their shores is situated Lily Dale, "City of Light," the famous sum- mer resort of the Spiritualists. Bear creek flows through another valley into the Cassa- daga. Its source is a pleasant sheet of water called Bear Lake, which also lies very near the northern verge of the Ridge.


In the valley next west of Bear and Cassa- daga valleys, and extending in the same direc- tion from the northern face of the Ridge, is that depression in which lies Chautauqua Lake, the largest body of water within the limits of the county, and one of the most beautiful in the State. In this notch, cut so deeply across


4


CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE


the hills, gleam its bright waters-a paradox among lakes. Poised in the crest of the high- land, where the sky is only reflected in its crys- tal depths, it is so near Lake Erie that we ex- pect to see its waters pour down the steep de- clivity to join it, and finally meet the sea upon the cold and barren coast of Labrador. In- stead of this, we find them running southward, and, after a long and sinuous journey of over twenty-five hundred miles, flowing consecu- tively through the Chadakoin, Cassadaga, Conewango, Allegheny, Ohio and Mississippi, to mingle at last with the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The Mississippi river seems to stretch forth an arm far beyond its own great valley to receive the pure water of this high- land lake.


The hills that rise to the westward of the valley in which lies Chautauqua Lake divide the waters flowing into this lake from those that flow into the Brokenstraw and French creeks. These are important tributaries of the Allegheny. Findley Lake, the second in size in the county, lies farther from the northern tace of the ridge, and at a higher altitude than the others, and discharges its waters into a tributary of French creek. Two islands adoril this lake and like the others it is filled with pure water and surrounded by pleasant shores. It is also, like Chautauqua and Cassadaga Lakes, the seat of a popular summer resort.


The streams in the northern part of the county are generally shorter and have less volume than those in the southern part. Among them are the Twenty Mile, Chautauqua and Canadaway creeks; Walnut creek, and Silver creek, called by the Indians Ga-a-nun- da-ta (a mountain leveled down), have their sources in opposite sides of the Conewango Valley and unite at the village of Silver creek. Cattaraugus, formerly pronounced Ga-da-ges- ga-go and also Ga-hun-da, from which word Gowanda is evidently derived (meaning fetid banks, or stinking waters), flows along the border of the county. It is much the largest stream that here empties into Lake Erie. It is also the longest water course of the county, being over fifty miles in length. No other stream in the county flows into Lake Erie from beyond the highlands that form the watershed. The Cattaraugus rises in Cattaraugus county, follows a deep depression among the hills, and passes beyond the Ridge into Lake Erie. At Gowanda, thirteen miles from Lake Erie, it is but four miles east of the headwaters of the Conewango, and yet according to the railroad survey, its surface is six hundred feet below




Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.