History of Cattaraugus County, New York, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 2

Author: Franklin Ellis and Eugene Arns Nash
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Publisher:
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Stemmebury

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Vandalis Switch

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HISTORY OF

CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, NEW YORK.

BY FRANKLIN ELLIS.

CHAPTER I. LOCATION AND FEATURES.

CATTARAUGUS is one of the southern tier of counties in New York, and the second from the western boundary of the State. It is joined on the west by the county of Chau- tauqua, on the north by Erie and Wyoming, and on the east by Allegany. Its southern boundary is the north line of the State of Pennsylvania.

The county is very regular in form, being rectangular, except on the northwestern border, and having a length of about thirty-nine miles from east to west, with an extreme width of about thirty-seven miles from north to south. The superficial area is thirteen hundred and thirty-four square miles, or more than eight hundred and fifty thousand acres.

The surface is in general hilly, but there is no part of the county which can properly be termed mountainous. By some writers it has been described as an elevated plateau or table-land, broken into separate hills by narrow intervening valleys and ravines; but this description gives a very erroneous idea of the relative areas of hill and vale, for although it is true that the hill-sides are generally steep, and often precipitous, and that in many parts the valleys are narrow and ravine-like, yet in others, and particularly towards the northern and northeastern parts of the county, they expand into broad and inviting intervales.

The highest elevations above the surrounding country are found in the southern and southwestern parts of the county, where the hills rise from five hundred to nine hun- dred feet above the valleys; in the southern central part (in the town of Great Valley), where they attain a height of about thirteen hundred feet above the neighboring low- lands, and more than twenty-six hundred feet above tide- water; and in the extreme northwestern part, where the heights of Perrysburg lie nearly a thousand feet above the harbor of Dunkirk. At several other points along the north- ern border of Cattaraugus are found elevations of from six hundred to nine hundred feet above Lake Erie, whose blue expanse is plainly discernible in the distance from their summits.

But the heights above mentioned, although the most noticeable, because lying adjacent to valleys and bottom- lands, are nevertheless exceeded in altitude by a high

dividing ridge, which, commencing near the west bend of the Genesee River, in Allegany County, enters Cattaraugus between twenty-five and thirty miles north of the Pennsyl- vania line, and extends thence in a general westerly direc- tion* across this county and Chautauqua to within a few miles of Lake Erie, where it trends away more towards the southwest and south, until it enters Pennsylvania.

This ridge or table-land may be said to vary from three to seven miles in width, though its extent in this direction is not precisely and clearly defined, and the descent of its sides is nowhere abrupt. Its most remarkable peculiarity is in the fact that it is watered by springs and interlocking streamlets which are often found flowing near each other, but in opposite directions, some towards the northern and others towards the southern slope of this dividing water- shed ; all receiving their waters from the same range of Cattaraugus hills, but delivering them into the sea at points more than four thousand miles apart, on the one hand through the lakes and the St. Lawrence, and on the other through the great rivers of the southwest.t

The principal stream of Cattaraugus is the Allegany River, which, flowing north from the State of Pennsylvania, enters the county about two miles from its southeast corner, and continuing in a circuitous course, first in a general north westerly direction and afterwards turning towards the southwest, reaches a point about five miles east of the Chautauqua boundary, where it recrosses the State line into Pennsylvania. A graceful writer,t then a citizen of Cat- taraugus County, once said of this noble stream and its valley : "There is not, perhaps, on the Continent of America, abounding as it does with mighty rivers and

* This dividing ridge or water-shed passes through the towns of Farmersville, Machias, Ellicottville, Mansfield, New Albion, and Dayton.

t In Turner's description of the topography of the Holland Pur- chase mention is made of a spot on this same dividing ridge, but in Allegany County, a little cast of the Cattaraugus boundary, " where the speckled trout passes from the waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence to those of the Gulf of Mexico, and vice versa. About six miles from Rushford, on the Olean road, in the town of New Hudson, the head- waters of the Canadea and Oil Creeks approach each other, and in freshets mingle, affording the facility for the trout to pass over the dividing ridge." It is not, however, established as a fact that any of these fish have ever availed themselves of this "facility" to perform the long journey from gulf to gulf.

# The late Hon. William Pitt Angel.

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HISTORY OF CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, NEW YORK.

their lovely valleys, more beautiful and picturesque scenery than is found upon the borders of our own Allegany. The broad and gentle stream-sparkling and pure as the ether above it-slowly and majestically winds its way among the everlasting hills that stretch along its shores on either side, covered to their summits with the evergreen pine and hen- lock. The valley between the hills is of uneven breadth, sometimes barely affording room for the passage of the waters, and then spreading out into broad, deep basins, or stretching along the course of the river in even tables, which rise one above another, until merged in the cliffs at a distance." In its course of forty-six miles through Cat- taraugus (which is the only county of New York through which it passes) it receives several tributaries of consider- able size, those joining it from the south being Four-Mile, Trout, Tunegawant,* Red House, Tunesassa (or Quaker Run), and Split Rock Creeks; and those flowing in from the north, the Oswayo, Dodge's, Haskel's, Olean, Five-Mile, Mill, Great Valley, Little Valley, Cold Spring, and Pierce's Creeks.

Next to the Allegany in importance, among the streams of the county, is Cattaraugus Creek, which takes its rise in Wyoming County, and, flowing in a west and northwest course, forms the boundary line between the counties of Cattaraugus and Erie. Its current is neither sluggish nor extremely rapid, but it is an excellent mill stream. In some parts of its course it flows through wide and fertile alluvial flats, but in other places (particularly in the western part of its course along the border of Cattarau- gus County) it passes between precipitous cliffs of from one hundred and fifty to three hundred and fifty feet in height. For a distance of several miles, as it passes between the towns of Otto, in Cattaraugus, and Collins, in Erie County, the creek flows through a gorge of this description, which, being peculiarly wild, steep, and contracted, is known by the local name of " The Narrows," or " Cattaraugus Breakers." Below this passage the banks continue bold and rugged, but above the Narrows are the " "Zoar Flats," which spread out from the stream, broad, fertile, and inviting. The creek enters Lake Eriet about twenty-four miles southwest from the city of Buffalo, and has at its mouth a small harbor which was considerably used in carlier times for vessels of light draught. Numerous tributaries, taking their rise in the county, enter Cattaraugus Creek from the south. Of these the principal are Connoirtoirauley Creek, which flows into the Cattaraugus, near the centre of the county (from cast to west), and the South Branch of Cattaraugus, which enters several miles farther down. The sinuosities of this stream are so numerous and varied that, between its sources and its mouth, it flows towards every point of the compass. Its banks, in many places, and particularly towards its mouth, are even more rugged and precipitous than those of the main stream.

A considerable portion of the county adjoining the west-

* In Seneca spelled Tunuanguante, the name of a Cherokee pris- oner who was executed there, as related by Mary Jemison.

t It is said that the name Cattaraugus, first given to this creek and afterwards to the county, is derived from the Indian word Ga-ta-ra- ke-ras, signifying a fetid shore or beach, and given to a locality near the mouth of this creek where there were springs which emitted large quantities of carburetted hydrogen gas.

ern border is drained by the Connewango Creek and its tributaries. The east branch of this creek rises in the northwestern part of Cattaraugus, and passes southwest- wardly into Chautauqua, where it unites with the main stream, and this then continues its course southeasterly, across the west line of Cattaraugus County, near its centre, into the town of Connewango. Here it meets the Little Connewango, flowing northwest, and the two creeks join their waters. Then the augmented stream changes its course to the southwest, and passes back into Chautauqua.

There are few streams which flow in channels as tortuous as that of the main Connewango, as is made apparent by the fact that although its course through Cattaraugus is nearly twenty-six miles in length, yet it leaves the county at a point only five miles distant from the place where it enters. After returning to Chautauqua it flows southerly by a ser- pentine course to the Pennsylvania line, and thence about twelve miles to the Allegany River, at Warren, Pa. " For seven miles above its mouth," says Gordon,t " it is a rapid stream, falling in that distance about sixty feet ; but thence upward it is deep and sluggish,-navigable for steamboats more than twenty-five miles. Keel-boats pass the rapids at full water without difficulty." A large portion of the lands bordering this stream are swampy and subject to overflow. These bottoms are believed to have been the bed of an ancient lake. The area of these Connewango flats, in all the course of the stream, has been estimated at about sixty-four thou- sand acres, and that of the territory drained by the creck (or river) and its numerous tributaries at more than four hundred square miles. Where the Connewango joins its waters with those of the Allegany, the two streams are about equal in volume.

With the exception of occasional openings, which had probably been burned over by the aborigines long before the coming of the white man, the surface of Cattaraugus County was originally covered by a dense growth of heavy timber. In the southern and southwestern parts, especially in the valleys of the Allegany and Connewango, there were vast forests of the choicest pine. These continued north wardly up the tributaries of the Allegany to about the centre of the county, and also along the east branch of the Conne- wango nearly up to the dividing ridge; but, in general, the timber covering the northern half of the county was oak, hickory, elm, ash, chestnut, beech, maple, and other hard woods, interspersed with hemlock upon the hill-sides and along the smaller valleys and ravines. Much of the old deciduous forest yet remains, but the more valuable pine has long since yielded to the axe, and has disappeared.

The rocks prevailing in the county are those of the Che- mung and Portage groups,-the latter appearing on the northern declivity of the water-shed and along Cattaraugus Creek, and the former through all the central and southern portions of the county. Compact sandstones and coarse slate-rock, in some places mixed with an argillaceous rock, imbedded with shells and vegetable matter, are found through the valley of the Allegany and the side-hills along the Great Valley Creek. Fossil shells appearing in the Chemung group are found at several points, notably the

# In his Gazetteer of the State of New York, 1836.

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HISTORY OF CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, NEW YORK.

Ambocoelia Gregaria, and the Crania Leoni; the latter occurring most frequently in the town of Leon. Lime- stone is nearly or quite unknown in the county.

The soil is a loam, clayey in many localities, and often found intermixed with sand, gravel, or disintegrated shale. Many of the valleys and bottom lands are overlaid with vegetable mould and deposits of alluvium.

Innumerable springs burst forth from the hill-sides, pure, copious, and unfailing ; and rills and clear streamlets are found in the ravines, hurrying on to join the creeks and runs which meander through all the valleys. There is no county in the State of New York which is more favored than Cattaraugus in the possession of a well-diffused and abundant supply of pure and wholesome water.

CHAPTER II.

THE WORKS OF AN EXTINCT PEOPLE.

IN Cuttaraugus County, as in nearly every part of West- crn New York, and in many localities farther towards the southwest, there exist evidences of a very ancient occupa- tion of these hills and valleys by a people other than the native Indians, who held possession at the time when the first white settlers came. These evidences are found chiefly in curious excavations, mounds, and other forms of carth- work ; some apparently having been devoted to purposes of sepulture alone, and others having the form and appearance of defenses against hostile attack. The great age of these structures was proved not only by their general appearance and antiquity, but more decidedly by the fact that, in many instances, trees of the largest size were found growing on the embankments.

Besides these ancient earthworks other evidences have been found, in the form of weapons and implements of stone; armlets and other ornaments of copper, and stone fireplaces or hearths sunk in the earth (often found covered with charcoal), which may have been at some time inclosed within dwellings or council-houses. The first settlers also found in the midst of the forest open glades, which had, at some day, been made clear by fire; which may have been done solely for purposes of cultivation, but it is more prob- able that these spaces were kept clear by annual burnings, in order to stimulate the growth of sweet and tender herbage, and thereby to entice the deer, the elk, and other beasts of game to come and feed upon the luxuriant pas- turage, where they might more easily be made the prey of the hunter. These openings, however, as well as the stone implements so frequently found, may have been the work of the last native occupants.

By the processes of agriculture, continued for more than half a century, and by various other means, many of the earthen mounds and parapets above mentioned have been so far leveled that their outlines are now barely discern- ible, and many have become wholly obliterated which, when the country was first opened for settlement, stood out bold, massive, and clearly defined. In the year 1799, Capt. Charles Williamson, an educated Scotchman, then residing at Bath as agent for Sir William Pultney, referred to these

mysterious works, and to the evidences of ancient cultiva- tion in this western part of the State, as follows :

"Through all this country there are not only signs of extensive cultivation having been made at some carly period, but there are found the remains of old forts, where the ditches and gates are still visible. They appear to be, in general, well chosen for defense. From the circumstance of swords being found in them with French inscriptions, it is concluded they are of French origin. I do not recollect that the French had ever so great a force in this part of America at so early a period ; for these forts, from very large decayed timbers lying in them, and large timber growing over those fallen down, must be at least two hun- dred years old. The forts are, besides, too numerous for mere stations, and great collections of human bodies are found in them, which shows they were occupied for many years. An accurate examination of this country, by men of observation and science, mnight throw light on the history of this part of America, now so little known." .

Robert Munro,-also a Scotchman,-in a descriptive account of this section of country, written in 1804, said : " There are many remains of ancient fortifications, a chain of which appears to extend from the lower end of Lake Ontario to the west of the Ohio River. These forts afford much speculation concerning their origin, but the most probable conclusion is that they were erected by the French upon their first sttlement in America, about two hundred years ago."

It will be observed that while both these writers mention the theory that these works were of French construction, Capt. Williamson clearly discredits it. If a blade of French manufacture was ever found in or about these works, it might perhaps be explained by the fact that one hundred and eighty years ago Chabert Joncaire was living with the Indians near Niagara, and continued with them for many years, and that he and other French adventurers doubtless roamed with them on their forays and hunting expeditions through all these forests, from Niagara to the Ohio. At all events, the reasons given by Capt. Williamson for his evident disbelief in the French construction of the works more than counterbalance the alleged finding of the French -weapons in or near them.

Another early writer mentions that "numerous pits were found along Oil Creek and the Allegany, cribbed with logs many years before discovery ; and in the centre of some of these pits trees were growing, centuries old."

In the thirteenth annual report of the Regents of the University of the State of New York is found an account of " Ancient Monuments in Western New York, Compris- ing the Results of Explorations by T. Apolcon Cheney, Civil Engineer, etc., 1859." This paper mentions, among numerous other works, certain curious excavations found near the western border of Cattaraugus County, the de. scription of which, being somewhat obscure, is given ver- batim : " In the township of Leon, lot 49, occur three remarkable excavations, rectangular in form. One of them has a circumference of a hundred and twelve rods, and an elevation from the interior surface of some twenty feet ; and nearly in the centre there is a well or reservoir, in form of a semicircle, ten feet across by about six in depth. Simi-

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HISTORY OF CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, NEW YORK.

lar depressions are elsewhere observed, and are believed to owe their peculiar formation to the drift. The principal fact which would indicate that these had been secondarily adopted by the Indians for security or defense is furnished by the numerous remains of ancient art and workmanship, traces of fireplaces, etc., which have been discovered here. Traces of ancient cultivation also yet remained." Pits of from four to six feet in breadth and three to five feet in depth have been observed in various places in the valley of the Connewango, and in other parts of the county.

Below is given a brief description of a number of pre- historic earthen works and other relics discovered in Catta- raugus; not embracing all which have been found in the county, but including, it is believed, all those most notice- able and interesting. The designating numbers set against each are in no way indicative of precedence in date of dis- covery, in dimensions, or other particulars.

1. A circular work, consisting of a trench and parapet, situated upon low ground on the bank of Elm Creek, in lot No. 2, in the southeast part of the town of Connewango, near Tuttle's mills. From measurements taken many years ago, the diameter of the work was found to be two hundred and eighty-seven feet, the height of embankment three feet, depth of ditch two and a half feet, and width of gate- way (opening towards the northcast) twelve feet. In the latter, trees of very old growth were standing within the memory of some yet living. If this was intended as a defensive work, the ancient engineers certainly showed great lack of judgment in its location. Within some sixty rods of this work is a spot where, on an area of less than one acre, nearly one hundred flint arrow-heads were found by Mr. David Huntington.

2. An earthen parapet, inclosing a circular arca, situated on the flat lands between Elm and Little Connewango Creeks, about one mile east of the village of Randolph, and within one-eighth of a mile of the residence of J. E. Weeden, Esq. From the earliest existing accounts of this work, its embankment seems to have been at that time about three feet in height, and surrounded by a ditch of about three and a half feet in depth. The diameter of the work was more than three hundred feet, and in the inclosing parapet were four gateways, opening towards the four card- inal points. Each of these was about twelve feet in width. Within the inclosure were stumps of pine-trees, which Dr. F. Larkin, of Randolph, believes to have been more than four hundred years old. Many years of cultivation have nearly effaced the works, but some vestiges still remain.

It does not appear probable that this work was erected for defense, as a worse location for such purpose could hardly have been selected. In the vicinity of this inclosure great numbers of arrow-heads have been found, and a few rods from it, in a northwesterly direction, there were found the remains of a cemented stone pavement, or hearth, about eight feet in diameter, sunk slightly below the surface, and showing evidence of the action of fire.

3. An carthwork, located in the town of Red House, between the Big and Little Red House Creeks, and about one and a half miles south from the Allegany River. This work-situated on the level summit of an eminence which rises precipitously from the lowland to a height of

more than one hundred and fifty feet-is circular, except on the north, where the swell of the circle is flattened to nearly a straight line for a distance of about six rods. The parapet, about three feet in height, was surrounded by a ditch about two feet deep. The circumference of all was found, by measurement, to be one thousand and sixty feet. Inside the inclosure, and near its centre, is a copious spring of pure water. Twenty years ago large trees were growing in the rampart and ditch, but whether they yet remain is not known.

4. A work similar to the last is situated on the east bank of the Allegany River in the town of South Valley. This has a somewhat higher wall and deeper ditch, but about the same circumference as the work near Red House Creek. Within this inclosure were found many interesting relics, and some which denoted a high degree of skill in their construction. Among these were spear-heads, some six inches in length, with double barbs upon each side, and formed from masses of native copper ; also copper arrow- heads of tolerably fine finish, and knives made of hard por- phyry, polished and ornamented. Bone needles and amulets of copper were also found here.

5. About two miles south of the village of Rutledge, in the town of Connewango, on lot No. 45, at a point about sixty rods cast of Connewango Creek and near the residence of Norman E. G. Cowen, there was discovered by the first pioneers of this section a sepulchral mound, nearly circular in form, and having an entire circumference of one hun- dred and seventy feet. The height of the mound was about twelve feet. Mr. Cheney spoke of this work as " having some appearance of being constructed with the ditch or vallum outside of the mound, as in the Druid Barrows, but perhaps more accurately belongs to the class composed of several stages, as the Trocalli of the valley of Anahuac." At the time of its discovery the site was sur- rounded by the primitive forest, and upon the tumulus there were growing several large trees, among them being a hemlock two feet in diameter, and a maple and beech each eighteen inches in diameter.

Within the mound there were discovered nine human skeletons, which had been buried in a sitting posture, and at regular intervals of space, in the form of a circle, and facing towards a common centre. There was some slight appearance that a frame-work had inclosed the dead at the time of their interment. The skeletons were so far decayed as to crumble upon exposure to the atmosphere, but were all of very large size. An os femur (the largest found here) was twenty-eight inches in length. The dimensions of a cranium were (as nearly as could be ascertained from the restored fragments) as follows: occipito-frontal arch, 19 inches ; longitudinal diameter, 9 inches ; parietal diameter, 8} inches ; facial angle, 73º. There were also found here several interesting relics of ancient art,-among these being very perfect arrow- and spcar-heads, a small triangular per- forated stone, of which the surface was painted and glazed, chisels, amulets, and other articles of quite elaborate work- manship,-thought by some to resemble the Mexican and Peruvian antiquities.

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History of Cattaraugus County, New York, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 2

Author: Franklin Ellis and Eugene Arns Nash Publication date: Publisher: Number of Pages:

Author: Franklin Ellis and Eugene Arns Nash
Publication date:
Publisher:
Number of Pages: