A Centennial Memorial History of Allegany county, New York, Part 4

Author: Minard, John Stearns, 1834-1920; Merrill, Georgia Drew
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: Alfred, N.Y., W. A. Fergusson & co.
Number of Pages: 1102

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HISTORY OF ALLEGANY COUNTY, N. Y.

ment usually attendant upon them, and became quite familiar with the rules governing them.

The Indian population of this region when compared with its present white population was never large, and immediately previous to the settle- ment of the county by the whites, was quite small. In 1819 an enumeration of all the Indians in the state was made under authority of the state govern- ment. From this it appears that the whole number on all the reservations of the Genesee river was only 456, and they never afterward numbered more. The Indians were generally well-disposed, quiet and orderly, and practiced to some extent, in a rude and primitive way, some of the arts of husbandry, some keeping a few horses, sheep, cattle and hogs.

Jellis Clute of Moscow was regarded by the Indians with a good deal of veneration. They respected his opinions, always looked to him for the settlement of matters of dispute arising from their relations with the whites, and in all such cases accepted his verdict as conclusive and carrying all the weight of a judicial decision. It was at his suggestion that they raised the price of venison, which they bartered with the whites for bread. A loaf of bread had always been the price of a ham, two loaves that of a saddle of venison. He taught them to drive better bargains, and they were quite apt in learning. So venison " went up," and afterward it took two loaves for a ham and four for a saddle of venison.

Whenever any difficulty arising out of their social or domestic relations could not be settled by the home or local authorities, a messenger or mes- sengers would be dispatched to O-wis-e-o-we (Buffalo), the residence of Sa- go-ya-wat-ha (Red Jacket), burdened with the whole subject in controversy, which was laid before the great chief. His decision was patiently awaited and generally faithfully carried out.

CHAPTER VII.

CANEADEA AND OIL SPRING INDIAN RESERVATIONS.

" Fair was the scene ! Before the gaze Lay verdant fields of twinkling maize Bared to the full bright blaze of day ; And meads to charm romantic eye, Whereon the grass was thick and high, Spread green their carpets far away."

IT was indeed most natural that at the treaty of Big Tree, when it was left 1 to the Indians to decide as to the number, size and location of their reservations, that the territory about Caneadea, the chief Seneca town of the upper Genesee region, should be selected as one. Its upper village was

CANEADEA AND OIL SPRING INDIAN RESERVATIONS.

the westermost town of that famous Iroquois Confederacy. It was the west- ern door of the "Long House," at which " Do-ne-ho-ga-weh," "open door," was required to reside, and was distinguished for its political and strategic importance. And so its territory was made to correspond with its import- ance and dignity. being laid off eight miles in length by two in width, the largest reservation on the Genesee.

It is very pleasant in this connection to be permitted to make excerpts from the "Life History of Horatio Jones," a work to which the lamented George H. Harris of Rochester devoted some fifteen years. It is still in manuscript. but. through the kindness of Mrs. Julia E. Harris, his widow, I am enabled to present them. It is expected that Mrs. Harris, an accom- plished lady, will soon complete and publish this work. Every reader will join the writer in thanking her for her kindness in allowing this advance publication.

"The . door ' of the Long House, or westernmost town of the Senecas, prior to the Revolution was located upon the present farm of A. O. Arnold, in Caneadea. The locative title of the place was Gah-ne-ya-de-o, 'where the heavens rest. (or lean) upon the earth,' now corrupted to Caneadea. In ac- cordance with national usage or law, Do-ne-ho-ga-weh, ' open door,' the hered- itary military sachem of the Iroquois league, had here his residence. The person bearing the title at the opening of the Revolution was an aged man who had become distinguished for his feats of war. In his young manhood he had assumed the name of a white friend named Hutson, commonly pro- nounced Hudson. It was the custom of the whites who did not know the Indian name of a chief. to call him John,* and the Seneca sachem was better known by his white name John Hudson, than by his title. Do-ne-ho-ga-weh. As he advanced in reputation as a military leader, he was called Captain Hudson. Probably no Indian of his day was more familiar with the Iroquois domain. for both in peace and in war he made numberless excursions to all parts of the country. It is said that he had knowledge of every hill, valley, and stream of the territory termed. Un-ah-e (June-yah-e) ' The interior,' the country lying between the Senecas on the Genesee and Allegany and the settlements of the whites on the Susquehanna and in Pennsylvania.

"Just prior to the French war Capt. Hudson took his eldest child to Pennsylvania and left him with a white family at Hah-nee-jo-ney. 'Red Banks,' on the Allegany river, twenty miles above Pittsburgh. The boy was educated in the way of the whites, and the family treated him as one of themselves. One day in the early spring of 1756, when the men were absent, the door was suddenly opened, and the head of an Indian appeared, be- daubed with paint and crowned with feathers. For an instant he cast his

* The knowledge of this fact has greatly assisted the writer in dispersing some of the shadows resting upon Indian genealogy. John Hudson, John Blacksmith, and John Luke each held the office of "Open door," and yet were almost totally unknown by the official name. In John Abeel (O'Bail) we find the great chieftain Cornplanter, and the latter-day Johnny John, was the distinguished "Slump Foot." Montour, Green Blanket, Tall Chief, Seneca, Mohawk, Gordon, Snow Banks, and a score of other Iroquois chiefs, were called John to designate their rank, and in time lost their native designation.

HISTORY OF ALLEGANY COUNTY, N. Y.

glittering eyes from one to another of the silent, terrified group, then closed the door, and turned away. The mother burst into tears. and informed the children that the Indian was a spy from some western band, not a Seneca, and would soon return with his friends and kill them all. She called Hud- son's little son and told him that all her family must die, but that he, being an Indian, might possibly escape. She dressed him in his best suit, and, after they had bade him goodbye with tears, covered him with some old rush mats in a corncrib. She bade him, no matter what happened them, not to make a noise or expose himself until after the departure of the Indi- ans; then to come out and watch for some one to rescue him.

"From where he lay the boy witnessed the return of the spy with a large number of savages. He could hear the shrieks of the victims as the tomahawks and scalping-knives did their murderous work; soon all was over. After plundering the premises the Indians set fire to the house. A strong wind drove sparks and smoke toward the corncrib, and cinders fell so close to its side as to ignite the grass. The lad thrust his hand through the slats and patted out the flame. The savages suddenly departed without firing the crib. After a time the boy ventured out. What a sight met his gaze! The home he had learned to love was gone, and the bones of his friends lay among the ashes that marked the spot. He looked for food but found none. Running hither and thither about the place, a day or two later he heard voices, and looking across the river saw Indians in canoes. Hearing words in the Seneca tongue he went up the bank and shouted. Instantly every gun of the party was aimed at him; one of the Indians recognized him, they lowered the guns and took young Hudson with them to the Genesee.

" When Hudson heard his son's story he swore to avenge the family, and, striking his war-post, enlisted a party to punish the guilty savages. Cross- ing from Ga-ne-ya-de-o to the nearest point on the Allegany, the party went down the river in canoes. On arriving at Red Banks, Hudson began sing- ing his warsong, which was heard by a party encamping there that recog- nized and hailed the Genesee chieftain. On learning his mission, the chiefs of the party, who were friends of the guilty savages, invited Hudson ashore, and showed him two white men, naked and fastened to stakes, surrounded with bundles of wood ready for torture. To appease Hudson's wrath they offered to give him the two men and one female prisoner to do with them as he wished. Hudson accepted the offer, placed the captives in his canoes, and paddling down the river camped on the opposite side. On questioning the captives he learned they had been captured in the interior of Pennsylvania. Supposing they were to be tortured, they begged this chief to spare their lives. The elder man, named Words* offered to give half he was worth at any time Hudson called on him, if he would save him from torture. Hudson, to test the truth of this statement, took two warriors, and, without revealing his purpose, conducted the prisoners up the Kissiminaritus river to where

* Geo. Words, Mrs. Gray and others were captured in Tuscarora Valley, June 13, 1756, and released by Hudson in July .- Day's Hist. Coll. of Pa. 384. Daniel E. Shongo, Salamanca.

CANEADEA AND OIL SPRING INDIAN RESERVATIONS.

the whites were captured. Words recognized the place and convinced Hud- son of his sincerity. Hudson conducted them back to the Allegany, and delivered them unharmed to the French at Fort Du Quesne. After the war Hudson went to Bedford, where Words was prominent, and he gave the Indian the deed of a house and lot in Bedford, made him other valuable presents, and always welcomed him and his friends when they visited Bed- ford.

" About 1770 Hudson's son who had escaped the massacre died, and the second son, Hah-yen-de-seh, variously interpreted, 'Dragging Wood ' and ' Hemlock Carrier.' was now the eldest of the family. He had become a leading warrior, and in the first campaigns of the Revolution won rank as a chieftain of merit. It is now impossible to separate the deeds of the old sachem during the early years of the war from those of his son. *

"The second chief at Caneadea in 1779 was Gah-nee-son-go, 'Man fond of nannyberries.' He and Hah-yen-de-seh had been warm friends from boy- hood, inseparable companions in peace and war, won their honors together, and now ranked equally as chiefs. Gah-nee-son-go was a dignified man of herculean frame and great strength. The British officers abbreviated his name to Shongo, and after the Revolution he was termed Col. Shongo."

Another extract from Mr. Harris' book has reference to the expedition that captured Horatio Jones. "It would seem that Hah-yen-de-seh had changed his residence to a town afterwards known as Ah-wes-coy, on the west side of the Genesee some seven miles below Caneadea, but the latter name was usually applied to all the valley lying between the two villages. In later days Shongo told Barker that John Hudson and himself were the leaders of the expedition, and, as it was organized at the lower town, Hah- yen-de-seh was probably the one Shongo referred to, though old Capt. Hud- son accompanied and guided the party."

In 1791 Col. Thomas Proctor went from Philadelphia to Buffalo Creek to attend an Indian council. He thus makes note of Caneadea:

The next day arrived at an Indian town called Canaseder situated on a high bluff of land overlooking the Genesee river. It consisted of about thirty houses, and some of them done in a way that showed some taste in the workmen. * *

* In this place was erected a wooden statue (or deity) fashioned like a fierce-looking sage. This form they worship by dancing before it on festive occasions or new moons, looking on it as through a veil or assistant, whereby they pay admiration to the supreme Spirit, as knowing it hath a form but not a substance.

Major Van Campen was at Caneadea early in 1782. He makes no men- tion of the statue of which Proctor speaks. As only nine years had passed it was undoubtedly there. but he had other matters which engaged his atten- tion. His gauntlet-running ordeal excluded minute observations or study of religious rites and ceremonies. While Van Campen was at Caneadea, having successfully run the guantlet and become somewhat of a "lion," he

* Unquestionably the younger Hudson, Hah-yen-de-seh, was the Hudson so well known to many of our pioneers. To his military reputation was added great fame as an orator ; indeed he was regarded by many as next in eloquence to the renowned Red Jacket. It was said that he was educated by Dr. Wheelock President of Dartmouth College.

HISTORY OF ALLEGANY COUNTY, N. Y.

was made the guest of Capt. Nellis, whose son, Lieut. Nellis, headed the party which made him a prisoner. Capt. Nellis was a tory renegade from the Mohawk country, who secured a commission, and came to Caneadea, where he spent his time in organizing bands of Indians and sending them out under command of his son to harass the border settlements of New York and Pennsylvania. His wife was a squaw, and he was probably the first white who ever lived at Caneadea.

The spelling of Caneadea on the oldest map we have yet discovered upon which any place in Allegany is put down with any reasonable degree of cer- tainty is Kar-a-ghi-ya-dir-ha. It has. when spoken rapidly, a sound quite like Caneadea. The map referred to is the Guy Johnson map of 1771, and the town is indicated as a chief town. There was another town, said to have existed about 1765 near Belvidere, named Kar-at-hy-a-di-ra. The place put down on the Johnson map as Gis-to-quat seems to me more likely to be the Belvidere town. Ga-o-ya-de-o, Gah-nee-ya-de-o and Gah-o-yah-de-o, were other of the early renderings. In the narrative of the Gilbert family, cap- tured in 1780, it is spelled Can-a-ca-de-ra, while Joseph Ellicott in 1797 wrote it Ka-oun-de-ou. Elisha Johnson (1807) made it Can-i-o-de-o. Capt. John Buck, who when a boy lived at the old village, pronounced the word much as we do, differing only in the decided accent he gave the third and fifth syllables, Can-e-ah-de-ah.

The meaning was "where the heavens rest or lean upon the earth." This appears to be the case anywhere, but it is said there was a place in which this appearance was so decidedly emphasized that an Indian who had heard the name would, as he first approached it, recognize the place. Some early settlers claimed to have it direct from the Indians that its meaning was "the place where isinglass is found." In support of this definition it may be stated that mica was found in considerable quantities in two places originally included in Caneadea, one near the O-wa-is-ki village and the other a mile or more above the upper Caneadea town.

The territory to which this beautiful and now historic name originally applied extended from three miles above Portageville, Wyoming county, to Caneadea creek. When the treaty of Big Tree was consummated, and its boundaries defined, it was found to be considerably abbreviated in length, while in some instances it was made to extend farther back from the river than its original limits. Its boundaries were run by Augustus Porter in September, 1798. At that time it presented as perfect a primitive wilder- ness as Western New York could offer. The valley of the Genesee has been termed " the terrestrial paradise of the Senecas. " having in mind it is thought the lower part of the river, but if ever there was a region fitted by nature with all the conditions for an ideal home which a people like the Senecas could desire it was the rectangle laid by Porter in 1798. It completely filled all the requirements of such a race.

The Senecas exercised undisputed dominion over the Caneadea Reser- vation until 1826, when negotiations were consummated, whereby the pur-

CANEADEA AND OIL SPRING INDIAN RESERVATIONS.

chase of the whole territory by a syndicate of capitalists and land specula- tors was effected. The treaty at which the purchase was made, was held at Buffalo Creek on the last days of August. 1826. For a consideration of $48,216 the Senecas conveyed, with other parcels of land, the Caneadea Res- ervation. To the deed of conveyance was appended the names of 47 sachems, chiefs and warriors. A few of them are here given. Sa-gu-ar-gar-luch-ta or Young King. Forh-ku-ga or Little Billy, John A. Beel (O'Bail) or Corn- planter, Ty-wan-e-ash or Black Snake, On-on-da-ka-i or Destroy Town, On-a- ju-ah-ka-i or Tall Peter. Kan-e-ac-go or Blue Eyes. Nat-wen-dy-ha or Green Blanket. Muk-ha-da-gen or White Boy, Ha-pan-guish or Henry Two Guns, Shi-can-a-du-ah-que or Little Beard. Sa-tu-gan-a-cre or Twenty Canoes, As- lan-a-sa-ish or Silver Heels. Kan-a-ja-u-a-ri or Big Kettle, Sa-way-doc or George Red Eye, Kan-ish-shon-go or Capt Shongo; Tal-a-gan-a-ta or Red Jacket. Sa-ga-in-a-shat-se-a or Stiff Knee. Robert Troup, Thomas L. Ogden and Benjamin W. Rogers, signed by their attorney. John Grieg.

Readers acquainted with Indian history will observe the difference in some of the names, Red Jacket is here Tal-a-gan-a-ta, while he is universally known as Sa-go-ya-wat-ha, though on the 1797 treaty paper he is Soo-goo-ya- waw-taw, and still it is certain there was only one Red Jacket.

The sale of the reservation having been made and Messrs. Wadsworth, Waddington, Depace, Campbell. Ogden. Bayard and Muncy taken in as pro- prietors, preparations for removal to Tonawanda. Allegany and Buffalo were soon commenced, and in the summer of 1827 Joseph Jones, the "Quaker Surveyor," appeared with compass, chain and jacobstaff, and a corps of assistants to subdivide the tract into lots. In his general remarks descript- ive of the tract, and preliminary to the survey, Mr. Jones says:

The bottomland is uniformly an alluvial soil of the first quality, and where it is not culti- vated, is covered with elm, butternut, sycamore, plum trees and a kind of timber which bears some resemblance to the balm-of-gilead, but is not the geniune. The table land is a sandy loam, and is timbered with large white pine, white oak, sugar maple and some birch. the high land with pine and oak, with some mixture of chestnut, white and soft maple, and the soil with few exceptions is a gravelly clay. The herbage on the first quality is May apple or mandrake, nettle, polypod balm, ginseng, leak, etc., that on the table land is fern, mandrake, spikenard and sarsaparilla, and on the highlands the sweet scomium, fern or brake, sarsaparilla, wintergreen, chequerberry, and prince of pine, in many places forms the principal shrubbery.

Mr. Jones began work at the northern extremity of the tract, boarding first with Esau Rich, who lived just north of the Wiscoy. Opposite, and a little below the "Lond Beard Riff." a lot of about 170 acres was laid out into village and pasture lots, with streets, public squares, cemetery, water lots, etc. The cemetery, was laid out adjoining, and on the north side of Holy Cross Cemetery. In no other particular has the dream of Joseph Jones's future metropolis of the upper Genesee been realized. Not even the splen- did waterpower, which was the controlling thing in his mind in locating this paper village, has been utilized, and the "Village Tract " is now the farm of Augustus H. Purdy. No mention is made in Mr. Jones's notes of any white

HISTORY OF ALLEGANY COUNTY, N. Y.

settlers or squatters occupying or improving any of the land he surveyed.

During the survey of the tract the Indians gazed with awe (I don't think we can say with admiration) upon the operations of the party, and sadly made preparations for leaving their old home, which they all did by 1830, some going to the Tonawanda, some to the Allegany, and others to the Buf- falo reservation. In the winter following the lands thus surveyed, subdivided and numbered, were properly delineated upon an engraved map, showing all the lots, numbered from 1 to 82 with the number of acres in each, copies of which were profusely scattered before the admiring eyes of land specu- lators and those in quest of homes, and thus was opened to the impatient forces of civilization the last reservation on the Gah-ah-yah-de-o of the older Indian tribes, the beautiful vale of the Senecas.

The sales of land were quite rapid at first and the entire tract along the river was soon disposed of. Some of the least desirable lots were not sold until 1855; the prices however were all the time advancing, so they " carried themselves " so to speak, and became no burden upon their owners. Im- provements were noticeable immediately upon the whites taking possession, and have continued to the present. The Western New York and Pennsyl- vania railroad runs the whole length of the reservation, following the line of the old Genesee Valley canal, and along its line, beginning at the north or lower end, are the villages of Rossburg. Fillmore and Houghton. Its agri- cultural lands, on the hills as well as the river flats, have been reclaimed, and the territory to-day embraces many excellent farms and comfortable and attractive homes. Save a single Indian apple-tree which marks the site of the lower town, and three or four others on the place of the upper village, not a vestige of outward sign or token of Indian occupancy remains.

OIL SPRING RESERVATION .* The famous oil spring near Cuba has been known to the whites for 200 years; how long known to the Indians, it is im- possible to tell. It was a muddy, circular pool of water 30 feet in diameter, the ground low and marshy immediately surrounding it, and the pool with- out apparent outlet or bottom. A tradition of the Senecas thus ascribes its origin. A very big, fat squaw was one day observing the pool, and becoming quite curious in her investigations, she ventured too near, fell in, and disappeared forever. Since this time, which, it is said, was many cent- uries ago, oil has risen from the spring. Curative properties of a high order have been ascribed to it, and the Indians made use of it " to appease all man- ner of pains."

Under date of Albany, Sept. 3, 1700, Lord Belmont, in his letter of instructions to Col. Romer, "His Majesty's Chief Engineer in America," used these words, "You are to go and visit the well, or spring, which is eight miles beyond the Seneca's further Castle, which it is said blazes up in a flame when a lighted coal is put into it." The Indians for years gathered

* The author acknowledges indebtedness to the " History of Chautauqua County, N. Y.," published by W. A. Fergusson & Co., Wm. H. Samson of the Rochester Post-Express, and Hon. E. D. Loveridge of Cuba, for valuable information concerning the Oil Spring Reservation.

CANEADEA AND OIL SPRING INDIAN RESERVATIONS.

the oil by spreading blankets over the surface. These readily absorbed the oil, as it floated on the top of the water. It was wrung out of the blankets, caught in a vessel, put up in vials, labelled "Seneca Oil." and sold to the trade or dispensed to individuals. The writer hes seen it upon the drug- gist's shelves, and it was once highly esteemed as a medicine. Wells have been drilled in the immediate vicinity. the "surface indications " showing that oil would be found in paying quantities, but no trade in petroleum has been the result. notwithstanding it is claimed by some that oil exists in quantity sufficient to warrant putting down more wells and fully developing the territory.

The writer is informed that some years since some parties made quite thorough exploration of the spring, and found it walled up like a cistern, in shape quite like a caldron kettle. Considering the great fame of the spring, and the miraculous healing properties ascribed by the Indians to its waters or oil. it was naturally expected that they would at the treaty of Big Tree make a reservation including it, and this was so understood by the Indians. We can well imagine their surprise when upon having read to them the deed of conveyance drawn up on the ground, and to which is reasonably surmised the names of their sachems, chiefs and warriors had already been appended, it was discovered that no mention was made of the oil spring reservation. The attention of Thomas Morris, who acted for his father, Robert Morris, was called to this omission. The Indians were very much excited over it, and it has been said that a " big drunk " followed, during which they declared their intention to annul the whole transaction unless the Oil Spring reserva- tion was re-conveyed to them. The account says "Thomas Morris with his own hand took a sheet of paper, and wrote thereon such a conveyance, signed and executed it, and then handed it to Handsome Lake, a leading Seneca chief, stating to him the purport of the instrument. Handsome Lake took the paper with him when he shortly afterward went to Onondaga, or some other place east, where he soon after died and the paper was never after seen. Having never been recorded, it had no validity, and the status was legally the same as when the discovery of the omission was made."

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A Centennial Memorial History of Allegany county, New York, Part 4

Author: Minard, John Stearns, 1834-1920; Merrill, Georgia Drew Publication date: 1896 Publisher: Alfred, N.Y., W. A. Fergusson & co. Number of Pages: 1102

Author: Minard, John Stearns, 1834-1920; Merrill, Georgia Drew
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: Alfred, N.Y., W. A. Fergusson & co.
Number of Pages: 1102