USA > New York > Franklin County > A history of St. Lawrence and Franklin counties, New York : from the earliest period to the present time > Part 13
USA > New York > St Lawrence County > A history of St. Lawrence and Franklin counties, New York : from the earliest period to the present time > Part 13
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In after years, when age had made him infirm, in relating this inci- dent, he would weep with emotion at this perilous adventure, and always ended with the heartfelt acknowledgment, "that God had always pro- tected him, and guarded him, from dangers seen and unseen, and from childhood to old age."
Isaac Weld, jr., published in Loudon, in 1799, in two octavo volumes, a journal of travels in the States of North America, and the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, in the years 1795-7, which describes among other interesting subjects, the condition and appearance of our frontier, and the fort at the mouth of the Oswegatchie, which we will quote. [Vol. ii, p. 38, et seq.] The voyage was undertaken in the month of Au- gust 1796.
"The Indians not only retain possession of the different islands, but likewise of the whole of the south-east shore of the St. Lawrence, situ- ated within the bounds of the United States; they likewise have consid- erable strips of land on the opposite shore, within the British Dominions, bordering upon the river; these they have reserved to themselves, for hunting. The Iroquois Indians have a village upon the Isle of St. Regis, and another also upon the main land, on the south-east shore ; as we passed, several of the inhabitants put off in canoes, and exchanged un- ripe heads of Indian corn with the men for bread; they also brought with them some very fine wild duck and fish, which they disposed of to us on very moderate terms.
On the fourth night of our voyage, we encamped as usual on the main land, opposite the Island of St. Regis, and the excellent viands which we had procured from the Indians having been cooked, we sat down to supper before a large fire, materials for which are never wanting in this woody country. The night was uncommonly serene, and we were in- duced to remain to a late hour in front of our tent talking of the various occurrences in the course of the day; but we had scarcely retired to rest when the sky became overcast, a dreadful storm arose, and by day- break the next morning we found ourselves, and every thing belonging to us, drenched with rain.
Our situation now was by no means agreeable. Torrents still came pouring down; neither our tent nor the woods afforded us any shelter, and, the wind being very strong and as averse as it could blow, there
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was no prospect of our being enabled speedily to get into better quarters. In this state, we had remained for a considerable time, when one of the party, who had been rambling about in order to discover what sort of a neighborhood we were in, returned with the pleasing intelligence, that there was a house at no great distance, and that the owner had politely invited us to it. It was the house of an old provincial officer, who had received a grant of land in this part of the country for his past services. We gladly proceeded to it, and met with a most cordial welcome from the captain and his fair daughters, who had provided a plenteous break- fast, and spared no pains to make their habitation during our stay, as pleasing to us as possible.
We felt great satisfaction at the idea, that it would be in our power to spend the remainder of the day with these worthy and hospitable peo- ple, but alas! we had all formed an erroneous opinion of the weather, the wind veered suddenly about; the sun broke through the thick clouds, the conductor gave the parting order, and in a few minutes we found ourselves once more seated in our bateau. From hence upwards, for a * distance of forty miles, the current of the river is exceedingly strong, and numberless rapids are to be encountered, which, though not so tremend- ous to appearance, as those at the Cascades, and Le Coteau du Lac, are, yet both more dangerous and more difficult to pass. The great danger consists however, in going down them; it arises from the shallowness of the water, and the great number of sharp rocks, in the midst of which the vessels are hurried along with such impetuosity, that if they unfor- tunately get into a wrong channel, nothing can save them from being dashed to pieces, but so intimately, are the people employed on this river, acquainted with the different channels, that an accident of the sort is scarcely ever heard of. " Le Long Saut," the Long Fall, or Rapid, situate about thirty miles above Lake St. Francis, is the most dangerous of any one on the river, and so difficult a matter is it to pass it, that it requires not less than six men on shore, to haul a single bateau against the current.
There is a third canal, with locks, at this place, in order to avoid a point, which it would be wholly impracticable to weather in the ordinary way. These different canals, and locks, have been made at the expense of government, and the profits arising from the tolls paid by each bateau that passes through them, are placed in the public treasury. At these rapids, and at several of the others, there are very extensive flour and saw mills.
On the fifth night, we arrived at a small farm house, at the top of the Long Saut, wetfrom head to foot, in consequence of having been obliged to walk past the rapids, through woods and bushes, still dripping after the heavy rain that had fallen in the morning. The woods in this neigh- borhood are far more majestic than on any other part of the St. Law- rence; the pines, in particular, are uncommonly tall, and seem to wave their tops in the very clouds. In Canada, pines grow on the richest soils, but in the United States, they grow mostly on poor ground; a tract of land covered with lofty pines, is there generally denominated "a pine barren," on account of its great poverty.
During a considerable part of the next day, we also proceeded on foot, in order to escape the tedious passage of the Rapide Plat, and some of the other dangerous rapids in this part of the river. As we passed along, we had an excellent diversion in shooting pigeons, several large flights of which we met with in the woods. The wild pigeons of Canada, are not unlike the common English wood pigeon, except that they are of a much smaller size; their flesh is very well flavored. Du-
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ring particular years these birds come down from the northern regions in flights that is marvelous to tell. A gentleman of the town of Niagara assured me, that once as he was embarking there on board a ship for Toronto, a flight of them was observed coming from that quarter, that as he sailed over Lake Ontario to Toronto, forty-five miles distant from Niagara, pigeons were seen flying over head the whole way, in a con- trary direction to that from which the ship was proceeding; and that on arriving at the place of his destination, the birds were still observed com- ing down from the north, in as large bodies as had been noticed at any one time during the whole voyage; supposing therefore that the pigeons moved no faster than the vessel, the flight according to this gentleman's account, must at least have extended eighty miles.
Many persons may think this story surpassing belief; for my own part, however, I do not hesitate to give credit to it, knowing, as I do, the respectability of the gentleman who related it, and the accuracy of his observation. When these birds appear in such great numbers, they often light on the borders of rivers and lakes, and in the neighborhood of farm houses, at which time they are so unwary, that a man with a short stick might easily knock them down by hundreds.
It is not oftener than once in seven or eight years, perhaps, that such large flocks of these birds are seen in the country. The years in which they appear, are denominated " pigeon years."
There are also " bear years," and "squirrel years." This was both a bear and a squirrel year. The former, like the pigeons, come down from the northern regions, and were most numerous in the neighborhoods of lakes Erie and Ontario, and along the upper part of the river St. Law- rence. On arriving at the borders of these lakes, or of the river, if the opposite shore were in sight, they generally took to the water, and endea- vored to reach it by swimming. Prodigious numbers of them are killed in crossing the St. Lawrence, by the Indians, who had hunting encamp- ments at short distances from each other, the whole way along the bank of the river, from the island of St. Regis to lake Ontario. One bear of very large size, boldly entered the river, in the face of our bateau, and was killed by one of our men, while swimming from the main land to one of the islands. * * *
The squirrels this year, contrary to the bears, migrated from the south, from the territory of the United States. Like the bears, they took to the water, on arriving at it, but, as if conscious of their inability to cross a very wide piece of water, they bent their course towards Niagara river, above the falls, and at its narrowest and most tranquil part, crossed over into the British territory. It was calculated that upwards of fifty thous- and of them crossed the river in the course of two or three days, and such great depredations did they commit, on arriving at the settlements on the opposite side, that in one part of the country, the farmers deemed themselves very fortunate where they got in as much as one-third of their crops of corn. These squirrels were all of the black kind, said to be pe- culiar to the continent of America.
* * * On the sixth evening of our voyage, we stopped nearly opposite to Point aux Iroquois, so named from a French family having been cruelly massacred there, by the Iroquois Indians, in the early ages of the colony. The ground being still extremely wet here, in conse- quence of the heavy rain of the preceding day, we did not much relish the thoughts of passing the night in our tent; yet there seemed to be no alternative, as the only house in sight was crowded with people, and not capable of affording us any accommodation. Luckily however, as we were searching about for the driest spot to pitch our tent upon, one
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of the party espied a barn, at a little distance, belonging to the man of the adjoining house, of whom we procured the key; it was well stored with straw, and having mounted to the top of the mow, we laid ourselves down to rest, and slept soundly there, till awakened in the morning, by the crowing of some cocks, that were perched on the beams over our heads.
At an early hour we pursued our voyage, and before noon passed the last rapid, about three miles below the mouth of the Oswegatchie River, the inost considerable of these within the limit of the United States, which fall into the St. Lawrence, it consists of three branches, that unite about fifteen miles above its mouth; the most western of which issues from a lake, twenty miles in length, and eight in breadth.
Another of the branches, issues from a small lake, or pond, only about four miles distant from the west branch of Hudson River, that flows past New York. Both the Hudson and the Oswegatchie, are said to be capable of being made navigable for light bateaux, as far as this spot, where they approach within so short a distance of each other, except only at a few places, so that the portages will be but very trifling. This however is a mere conjecture, for Oswegatchee River is but very im- perfectly known, the country it passes through being quite uninhabited ; but should it be found at a future period, that these rivers are indeed capable of being rendered navigable, so far up the country, it will pro- bably be through this channel that the greatest of the trade that there may happen to be between New York and the country bordering upon Lake Ontario, will be carried on."
The small lake referred to by the author, was doubtless Raquette lake, in Hamilton county, which is even nearer the head waters of the Hud- son, than above stated, but it lies at the source of the Raquette river, instead of the Oswegatchie.
"The trade is at present carried on between that city and the lake, by means of Hudson River, as far as Albany, and from thence by means of the Mohawks' River, Wood Creek, lake Oneida, and Oswego River, which falls into Lake Ontario. The harbor at the mouth of Oswego river, is very bad, on account of the sand banks, none but flat bottomed vessels can approach with safety nearer to it than two miles, nor is there any good harbor on the south side of lake Onatrio, in the neighborhood of any large rivers. Sharp built vessels, however, of a considerable size, can approach with safety to the mouth of Oswegatchee River. The Seneca, a British vessel of war, of twenty-six guns, used to ply constantly, formerly between Fort de la Galette, situated at the mouth of that river, and the fort at Niagara; and the British fur ships, on the lakes, used also at that time to discharge the cargoes there, brought down from the upper country.
As therefore the harbor at the mouth of Oswegatchee, is so much better than that at the mouth of the Oswego river, and as they are nearly an equal distance from New York, there is reason to suppose that if the river navigation should prove equally good, the trade between the lakes and New York, will be for the most part, if not wholly carried on by means of Oswegatchee River, rather than of Oswego River. With a fair wind the passage from Oswegatchee River to Niagara, is accom- plished in two days, a voyage only one day longer than from Oswego to Niagara, with a fair wind.
Fort de la Galette was erected by the French, and though not built till long after fort Frontenac, now Kingston, yet they esteemed it by far the
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most important military post on the St. Lawrence, in the upper country, as it was impossible for any boat, or vessel, to pass up or down that river without being observed, whereas they might easily escape unseen behind the many islands, opposite to Kingston. Since the close of the American war, Fort de la Galette has been dismantled, as it was within the territories of the United States, nor would any advantage have arisen from its retention, for it was never of any importance to us but as a trading post, and as such, Kingston, which is in our own territory, is far more elligibly situated, in every point of view, it has a more safe and commodi- ous harbor, the fur ships coming down from Niagara, by stopping there, are saved a voyage of sixty miles up and down the St. Lawrence, which was often found to be more tedious than the voyage from Niagara to Kingston. In the neighborhood of La Galette, on the Oswegatchee River, there is a village of the Oswegatchee Indians, whose numbers are estimat- ed at one hundred warriors.
The current of the St. Lawrence, from Oswegatchee upwards, is much more gentle than in any other part between Montreal and Lake Ontario, except only where the river is considerably dilated, as at lakes St. Louis and St. François; however, notwithstanding its being so gentle, we did not advance more than twenty-five miles in the course of the day, owing to the numerous stops that we made, more from motives of pleasure than necessity. The evening was uncommonly fine, and towards sunset a brisk gale springing up, the conductor judged it advisable to take advantage of it, and to continue the voyage all night, in order to make up for the time we had lost during the day. We accordingly proceeded, but towards midnight the wind died away; this circumstance, however, did not alter the determination of the conductor. The men were ordered to the oars, and notwithstanding that they had labored hard during the preceding day, and had had no rest, yet they were kept closely at work until day break, except for one hour, during which they were allowed to stop to cook their provisions. Where there is a gentle current, as in this part of the river, the Canadians will work at the oar for many hours without intermission; they seemed to think it no hardship to be kept employed in this instance the whole night; on the contrary, they plied as vigorously as if they had but just set out, singing merrily the whole time. The French Canadians have in general a good ear for music, and sing duets with tolerable accuracy. They have one very favorite duet amongst them, called the " rowing duet," which, as they sing, they mark time to, with each stroke of the oar; indeed, when rowing in smooth water, they mark time the most of the airs they sing in the same . manner.
About eight o'clock the next, and eighth morning of our voyage, we entered the last lake before you come to that of Ontario, called the Lake of a Thousand Islands, on account of the multiplicity of them which it contains. Many of these islands are scarcely larger than a bateau, and. none of them, except such as are situated at the upper and lower extre- mities of the lake, appeared to me to contain more than fifteen English acres each. They are all covered with wood, even to the very smallest The trees on these last are stunted in their growth, but the larger islands. produce as fine timber as is to be found on the main shores of the lake. Many of these islands are situated so closely together, that it would be easy to throw a pebble from one to the other, notwithstanding which circumstance, the passage between them is perfectly safe and commo- dious for bateaux, and between some of them that are even thus close to each other, is water sufficient for a frigate. The water is uncommonly clear, as it is in every part of the river, from Lake St. Francis upwards:
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between that lake and the Utawas river downwards, it is discolored, as I have before observed, by passing over beds of marl. The shores of all these islands under our notice are rocky; most of them rise very boldly, and some exhibit perpendicular masses of rock towards the water, upwards of twenty feet high. The scenery presented to view in sailing between these islands is beautiful in the highest degree. Sometimes, after passing through a narrow strait, you find yourself in a basin, land locked on every side, that appears to have no communication with the lake, except by the passage through which you entered; you are looking about, perhaps, for an outlet to enable you to proceed, thinking at last to see some little channel which will just admit your bateau, when on a sud- den an expanded sheet of water opens upon you, whose boundary is the horizon alone; again in a few minutes you find yourself land locked, and again a spacious passage as suddenly presents itself; at other times, when in the middle of one of these basins, between a cluster of islands, a dozen different channels, like so many noble rivers, meet the eye, perhaps equally unexpectedly, and on each side the islands appear regu- larly retiring till they sink from the sight in the distance. Every minute, during the passage of this lake, the prospect varies. The numerous Indian hunting encampments on the different islands, with the smoke of their fires rising up between the trees, added considerably to the beauty of the scenery as we passed it. The Lake of a Thousand Islands is twenty-five miles in length, and about six in breadth. From its upper end to Kingston, at which place we arrived early in the evening, the distance is fifteen miles.
The length of time required to ascend the River St. Lawrence, from Montreal to Kingston, is commonly found to be about seven days. If the wind should be strong and very favorable, the passage may be per- formed in a less time; but should it, on the contrary, be adverse, and blow very strong, the passage will be protracted somewhat longer; an adverse or favorable wind, however, seldom makes a difference of more than three days in the length of the passage upwards, as in each case it is necessary to work the bateaux along by means of poles for the greater part of the way. The passage downwards is performed in two or three days, according to the wind. The current is so strong, that a contrary wind seldom lengthens the passage in that direction more than a day."
The English are believed to have maintained the fort at Oswe- gatchie, as a protection to their fur trade; and this was made the cover of a pretension, to justify their retaining it after the peace which fol- lowed the revolution. The Oswegatchies, continued to reside in the vicinity after the English conquest, adopted the new allegiance, and as usual became corrupted in morals by their vicinity to the garrison. They are believed to have acted with the British in the war of the Revo- lution.
In the enumeration of Indian tribes made by Sir Wm. Johnson, in 1763,* the tribe is represented as numbering eighty warriors, at peace with the English. In the same enumeration, the Caughnawagas are reported at three hundred men, emigrants from the Mohawks, and with a colony at Aghquissasne, (St. Regis,) which was the seat of a mission. The latter had been founded but three years previously.
" Documentary History of New York, vol. i, page 27.
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A portion of the Mohawk emigration had settled at the mission of the Lake of Two Mountains.
The English were careful not to molest them in their religious observ- ances, which remain to this day, the same as when first established among them.
The Oswegatchies, at the time when the present class of settlers came on, were occupying a village of twenty-three houses, on Indian Point, in Lisbon, about three miles below Ogdensburgh. Spafford, in his Ga- zetteer, published in 1813, thus mentions them. "This village was built by the British government, after the Revolution, and when, of course, that government had no title to the land. The Indians remained here several years after the settlement of the country by the present proprie- tors, and were removed by order of the government of New York, on the complaint of the inhabitants. These Indians driven from New Johnstown, in Upper Canada, received this spot with improvements, in exchange from which driven by our government, they became destitute of a local habitation and a name, and the Oswegatchie tribe no longer exists, although a few individuals remain, scattered among the surround- ing tribes."
This dispersion took place about 1806, or 7, and the remnants of the tribe, or their descendants, are found at St. Regis, Onondaga, and else- where.
While in Lisbon, they were under the direction of one Joseph Reoam, a Frenchman, who spoke their dialect of the Iroquois language, and is said to have been a chief, and to have married an Indian woman. They planted corn on Galloo island, and elsewhere in the vicinity.
Their village is described by one who saw it in 1802, as consisting of a street, running parallel with the river, with the houses ranged in a regular manner on each side of it, all uniformly built, with their ends to the street, sharp roofed, shingled with pointed shingles, and with glass windows. Every house was built for two families, had two doors in front, and a double fire place, and single chimney in the centre, with a partition equally dividing the interior. In 1802 there were about 24 families.
These Indians were accustomed to spend most of their summers on Black lake, in hunting and fishing, returning to their cabins for the win- ter. They used bark canoes, which they carried around rapids, and across portages, with perfect ease.
As many as forty Indians at a time were often seen in the settlement when new.
Directly opposite to the site of the Indian village of the Oswegatchies, is the island that was fortified by the French, and taken by the English under Lord Amherst in 1760. The ruins of the fortress upon it, are still to be seen, although mostly obliterated, and have given it the name
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of Chimney island. This island is low, and in shape irregular. It is on the American side of the channel, and has an area of six acres. There are said to be still seen on an island, opposite this, under the Canada shore, the traces of works erected by the English, to assist in its reduction.
A great number of iron and other metalic relics, have been found on this island, and the adjoining shores, as tomahawks, hoes, axes, picks, the hangings of gates and other relics of the French and Indian occupa- tion of the place. These, like those found on the sites of the French establishments at Onondaga, and elsewhere, are rude and very coarse; scarcely appearing to be capable of being used for the purposes for which they were intended.
This island is three miles below the village of Ogdensburgh.
Like many other places having associations connected with the olden time, Chimney island has been the scene of money digging, on 'a some- what extensive scale, by those who were weak enough to be led astray by the pretended indications of the divining rod, or the impositions of fortune tellers. As uniformly happens, there has been money lost in- stead of gained in these operations, and if stories are to be believed, certain of these adventurers have lost somewhat of credit and standing in community, by these speculations .*
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