History of Livingston County, New York, from its earliest traditions to the present together with early town sketches, Part 98

Author: Doty, Lockwood R., 1858- [from old catalog] ed; Van Deusen, W. J., pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1905
Publisher: Jackson, Mich., W. J. Van Deusen
Number of Pages: 1422

USA > New York > Livingston County > History of Livingston County, New York, from its earliest traditions to the present together with early town sketches > Part 98

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I will not submit for your consideration an outline of a system, which, if carried into honest and thorough execution, will, it appears evident to mne, raise the Indian to the dignity of a civilized man. Set apart a tract of country, say forty or fifty miles square, at Green Bay, on the west shore of Lake Michigan. Grant this tract in fee simple to the Indians who still linger with the white popu- lation in the eastern and middle states. This is certainly but a small pittance for the mighty empire which the white man has obtained possession of, by what means this is not the place to inquire. Divide this territory into townships, and sub- divide the townships into lots of 100 acres each. Give to every family of Indians which remain with us, a modified or regulated title to one or two hundred acres ; the land to be jnalienable in trust, or in any other manner, to the white man, but inheritable at once, and alienable, after a certain number of years, to Indians. Give this people a territorial government, and a code of laws adapted to the first stages of civilization. Give them the power of making their own laws after a cer- tain period. Give them the right of sending immediately a delegate to congress -I beg you not to be startled at this proposition-there are many Indian chiefs who would not disgrace the floor of congress. I need not go further into the details of the form of government and code of laws suited to the rude character of an Indian population-a commissioner vested with ample powers would be necessary for many years. Provision ought to be made for monitorial schools and clergymen; the latter would no doubt be supported for many years by our chari- table societies. If it be asked, what more does your plan contemplate than what is done already for the Indians of the reservations? I answer, it removes the insuperable obstacle to improvement, the degradation of caste. It gives to the Indian the same incentives to exertion which lead the white man to incessant toil and effort, both bodily and mental. A taste of the comforts arising from industry and the possession of property, will lead the Indian, step by step, to the same exertions as are made by the white man .* I have not spoken, perhaps, sufficiently of the effects of education and knowledge on the human mind, and of the new sources of intellectual, moral, social, and religious enjoyment, which a new and

* "The pursuit of wealth, that is, the endeavor to accumulate the means of future subsistence and enjoyment, is to the mass of mankind the great source of moral improvement; when does a lahorer become sober and industrions, attentive to his health and to his character? as >0011 a > he begins to save," etc .- See Westminster Review, No. 15, for July, 1827, p. 186.

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improved state of society will gradually open to the Indian's mind. The desier of giving to his children the fruits of his industry, so intense in the white man, will immediately follow the power of accomplishing its object. May I heg of you to give your mind for a few hours to this subject. What we are doing now, and what our pions forefathers have been doing for two hundred years, is literally a waste of time and money. To persevere in this course is unbefitting to the intelligence of the age we live in, After examining this subject, it is impossible to doubt that the Indian can be civilized, possessing, as he does, native faculties of mind and body fully equal to the white man. The intellectual endowments of the human mind are not impaired in the savage state. I do not speak of the mongrel state of society on the reservations.

The outline which I have suggested may be very imperfect and defective; but if gentlemen at the seat of government will give their heart- and minds to this sub- jeet, I feel a perfect confidence in their conviction, that a grant in fee simple of a moderate tract of country, a territorial government, and a code of laws judicially framed, will lead immediately to an amelioration, and, in thirty or forty years, to the civilization of the red men of America.

I need not ask whether this return, so perfectly within our means, so insig- nificant to us, so all-important to the Indian, is not due from the white man?

I will add but a single remark. Imagine a territory, populated by Indians in the enjoyment of the rights and privileges of American citizens-speaking, writ- ing, and thinking in the English language-where will you look as readily as at this territory, for your future Homers, Miltons, and Shakespeares?

I am, sir, etc., J. W.

Hon. D. Webster.

Whatever may betide the experiments of the age for civilizing these interesting people, the duty which history owes them remains unfulfilled. In common with the other aboriginal nations, the Senecas have been belied. Neither they nor other tribes were the natural enemies of the whites. In this the early navigators and writers all concur. Before the era of systematic wrongs, they were hospitable and kind, and disposed to preserve the friendliest relations with the pale faces. Indeed history records how, during a hundred and fifty years, the Iroquois serup- ulously observed their engagements with the Dutch and English. But the Ameri- can people have permitted the Indian to be grossly defrauded. Not content to divide with him his ancient patrimony of a continent, pioneer traders have been allowed to wrest away his hunting-grounds and invade his burial-places; and, to crown injustice, a horde of subtle knaves, in the official guise of commissioners, superintendents and agents, have pursued the Indian into his far-western retreats, to cajole from him his paltry annuities and to wheedle away his newer reservations. No skilled advocate has appeared for him, no medium has offered through which lie could present in array to mankind the merciless impositions practiced upon him ; and for many a dark year, no friendly voice, save that of the orators of his own race, whose heathen speech fell upon deaf cars, was raised in his defence.

It was a dictate of policy, during the Revolution, to paint the Indian as black as possible in crimes and cruelty, and to hold him often responsible for deeds of

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which it might easily be shown the British were alone guilty. Since then the prejudice has been adroitly fostered, by those whose selfish ends it subserved. That the Indian committed excesses and barbarities, it would be vain either to tleny or to palliate. But how far lie was justified in waging the only system of warfare known to his race, as a measure of retaliation, it is for the moralist to say. If the whole story were told, it the Indian could tell his side, how then would stand the record? The lion in the fable disputes with the man as to which was the braver and stronger of the two. The latter exultingly points to a marble statue of a man strangling a lion, in proof of the superiority of his kind. "That," answered the lion, "is your version of the story ; let us be the sculptors, and we will reverse the positions ; the lion will then stand over the man." Is not the moral applicable here?

APPENDIX NO III.

THE VARIED ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD "GENESEE" AND AN EARLY ACCOUNT OF THE GENESEE RIVER AND CANASERAGA CREEK.

This is only one of a number of names by which the place was at various times known. It is also given Cenosio, Chinossia and Jenesio in Colonial Documents of New York ; Zon-ness-chii-o, Je-nis-hi-yuh, Jo-nis-hi-yuh, Jen-ess-hi-o, Chen- nu-as-si-o, Gen-isli-a-u, Gen-ne-se-o, Gen-ne-see, Chin-ne-see, Clien-ne-si-co, Cnhi-nos-hi-yooh and Gen-nis-he-yo were others. The name was varied according to the pronunciation of individuals or difference in tribal dialects, but the . signification of all variations was substantially the same, namely "Beautiful Valley," "Shining clear opening," or "Pleasant open valley." When the Moravian missionaries visited the Senecas in 1850, it was Oh-ha-di, which means "Trees burn." The Senecas were sometimes called Clienessios, Tsinusios, Tsinon- touans, or Sinnodowane.

In discussing the etymology of the word "Genesee," it may be observed that the name as applied to the river is a derivation from the original name of the valley. During the French dominion in Canada, their voyageurs were often upon thie Genesee and its connecting trails. The first description of the river ever publislied was that of good Father Charlevoix, who passed along the south shore of Lake Ontario in 1721. Writing from Fort Niagara, he says: "There is a little river which 1 would have visited, if I had been sooner informed of its singularity, and of what I have just now learnt on my arrival here. They call this river Gasconchiagon. It is very narrow, and of little depth at its entrance into the lake -Ontario. A little higher it is one hundred and forty yards wide and they say it is deep enough for the largest vessels. Two leagues (six miles) from the month we are stopped by a fall which appears to be sixty feet highi, and one hundred and forty yards wide. A musket shot higher we find a second of the same width, but not so high by two-thirds. Half a league farther a third fall, one hundred feet high, good measure, and two hundred yards wide. After this we meet several torrents ; and after having sailed fifty leagues farther, we perceive a fourth fall,

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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY

every way equal to the third. The course of this river is one hundred leagues ; and when we have gone up it about sixty leagues, we have but ten to go by, land taking to the right, to arrive at the Ohio, called la belle rivere. The place where we meet with it is called Ganos; where an officer worthy of credit, and the same from whom I learned what I have just now mentioned, a -- ured me that he had seen a fountain the water of which is like oil, and the taste like iron. He said also that a little farther there is another fountain exactly like it, and the savages make use of the waters to appease all manner of pains."

This was the first reliable account of the Genesee given by the old writers, and errs only in the exaggerated distances. The fountain- mentioned were the petro- leum oil spring near Cuba, New York and another in Venango county, Penn-y]- vania. The wonder expressed by Father Charlevoix, over one hundred and eighty years ago, is still felt by all who have a personal knowledge of the Genesee River. It is different from all other streams in New York in the particulars that, having its source in another state, it crosses New York from south to north; and from its fountain head on the grand platean up to its entrance into Lake Ontario at Char- lotte, its entire course is marked with wondrous changes wrought by the hand of nature. The river was known by several names, each applicable to a certain section of the stream. The native name first mentioned by Father Charlevoix is Gas-cou- chagon. The name by which the Mohawks and Onondagas distinguished the lower Genesee is Gas-con-sago, and means "At the fall." It is derived from Gasco, "something alive in the kettle :" as if the waters were agitated by some living animal, and referred to a peculiar feature of the water in the basiu at the foot of the lower fall in Rochester. The Seneca name of the lower Genesee is Gas-ko- sa-go. Angelica, the head of canoe navigation on the upper Genesee, was to the Indians literally "the head of the stream, " hence the name Ga-ne-o-well-ga-yat. What voyager up the lonely channel near Nunda could fail to notice the magnificent mural escarpment facing the former home of Mary Jemison! What better descrip- tion could be given of the abode of "The White Woman of the Genesee" than Ga-da-o, signifying "Bank in front :" anglicized into plain Gardow !

The confluence of the Canaseraga Creek and Genesee River was one of the most important geographical centers of the aboriginal Genesee country. It was the converging point of many ancient roads. The main Indian trails from the Hud- son, Lake Ontario Niagara River, Lake Erie, the Allegheny and Mississippi Rivers, the Atlantic coast and Virginia, all centered ou thie Genesee at, or near the Canaseraga. So well established were the natural routes leading to and from this point, that the Indian tribes successively owning the land had one or more of their towns located in the neighborhood of the two streams, until the last remnant of the red men resigned the ground to the whites. It is a difficult matter to fix upon the true aboriginal name of the Canaseraga. The orthography of the word is varied and anthorities differ greatly regarding its meaning. One hundred years ago it was spelled Shan-a-has-gwai-ko-ree-ki, and was thus pronounced in commeil. By the first permanent white settlers of the creek-valley it was termed Can-as-cra-ga. The established name is Cana-eraga ; and French says it- significa- tion is "among the slippery elms ;" yet he applies the name Canaseraga to a

APPENDIX

stream in Madison county and interprets it "Big Elkhorn." Seaver spells the word Ka-na-so-wa-ga, and explains its meaning as "several strings of beads with a string lying across. " Dr. Morgan applies this same signification to the Madison county Canaseraga, but tells us that the identical word, as connected with the Livingston county creek, signifies "among the milkweed," Ga-nus-ga-go; and also makes the signification applicable to the site of Dansville where a small Indian village was once located. Hosmer renders the word Ga-nose-ga-go, and makes it tle Seneca name of the Canaseraga creek and village. Ga-nose-ga-go, "among the milkweed," may have referred to a special feature of the forest ground where fair Dansville guards the passage through the hills, but it certainly was not applicable, in a descriptive sense, to Canaseraga creek as a stream. Other names have been applied to the creek, but none that express the former conse- quence of the stream, or that refer to the fact of its convergence with our beanti- ful river of the Genesee.

APPENDIX NO. IV.

COPIES OF TREATIES OF JUNE 30, 1802 ; SEPTEMBER 3, 1823, AND AUGUST 31, 1826.

At a treaty held under the authority of the United States, at Buffalo Creek, in the county of Ontario, and State of New York, between the sachems, chiefs and warriors of the Seneca nation of Indians, on behalf of said nation, and Oliver Phelps, esquire, of the county of Ontario, Isaac Bronson, esquire, of the city of New York, and Horatio Jones, of the -aid county of Ontario, in the presence of Jolın Taylor, esquire, commissioner appointed by the President of the United States, for holding said treaty.

Know all men by these presents, that the said sachems, chiefs, and warriors, for and in consideration of the sum ot twelve hundred dollars, lawful money of the United States, unto them in hand paid by the said Oliver Phelps, Isaac Bronson, and Horatio Jones, at or immediately before the sealing and delivery hereof, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, have and by the-e presents do grant, remise, release, and forever quit claim and confirm unto the said Oliver Phelps, Isaac Bronson, and Horatio Jones, and to their heir- and assigns, all that tract of land commonly called and known by the name of Little Beard's reservation, sitnate, lying and being, in the said county of Ontario, bounded on the east by tlie Genesee river and Little Beard's creek, on the south and west by other lands of said parties of the second part, and on the north by Big Tree reservation ; contain- ing two square miles, or twelve hundred and eighty acres, together with all and singular the hereditaments and appurtenances whatsoever thereunto belonging, or in anywise appertaining, to hold to them the said Oliver Phelps, Isaac Bronson, and Horatio Jones, their heirs and assigns forever.

In testimony whereof, the said commissioner and the said parties have hereunto, and to two other instruments of the saune tenor and date, one to remain with the United States, one to remain with the Seneka nation of Indians, and one to remain

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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY

with the said Oliver Phelps, Isaac Bronson, and Horatio Jones, interchangeably set their hands and seals. Dated the 30th day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight and two.

Commeatiu,

lis x mark. L. S.

Koeentwhka, or Corn Planter,

Wondongoolıkta,

Tekonnondu, Tekiaindan,

Sagooyes,

Tonyocauna, or Blue Sky,

Koyingquautah, or Young King,

Soogooyawautan, or Red Jacket,

Onayawo-, or Farmer's Brother,

Kaoundoowand, or l'ollard,

Auwennansa,

Sealed and delivered in the presence of Jolın Thomson, James W. Stevens,

Israel Chapin,

Jasper Parish, Interpreter.

At a treaty held under the authority of the United States at Moscow, in the county of Livingston, in the State of New York, between the Sachems, chiefs and warriors of the Seneka nation of Indians in behalf of said nation, and Jolin Greig and Henry B. Gibson of Canandaigua in the county of Ontario ; in the presence of Charles Carroll, esquire, commissioner appointed by the United States for holding said treaty, and of Nathaniel Gorliam, esquire, superintendent, in behalf of the State of Massachusetts.

Know all men by these presents, that the said sachems, chiefs and warriors, for and in consideration of the sum of four thousand two hundred and eighty-six dollars, lawful money of the United States, to them in hand paid by the said Jolın Greig and Henry B. Gibson, at or immediately before the ensealing and delivery of these presents, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, have granted, bargained, sold, aliened, released, quit claimed, and confirmed into the said John Greig and Henry B. Gibson, and by these presents do grant, bargain, sell, alien, release, quit claim, and confirm, unto the said John Greig and Henry B. Gibson, their heirs and assigns forever, all that tract, piece or parcel of land commonly called and known by the name of the Gardeau reservation, situate, lying and being in the counties of Livingston and Genesee, in the State of New York, bounded as follows, that is to say : Beginning at the mouth of Steep Hill creek, thence due east, until it strikes the Old Path, thence south until a due west line will intersect with certain steep rocks on the west side of the Genesee river, thence extending due west, due north, and dne east, until it strikes the first mentioned bound, enclosing as much land on the west side as on the east side of the river, and containing according to the survey and measurement made of the same by Augustus Porter, surveyor, seventeen thousand nine hundred and twenty. seven 137-160 acres, be the same more or less, excepting nevertheless, and always reserving out of this grant and conveyance twelve hundred and eighty acres of

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land, bounded as follows, that is to say : on the east by Genesee river, ou the south by a line running due west from the center of the Big Slide so called, on the north by a line parallel to the south line and two miles distant therefront, and on the west by a line running due north and south, and at such a distance from the river as to include the said quantity of twelve hundred and eighty acres and no more ; which said twelve hundred and eighty acres are fully and clearly understood, to remain the property of the said parties of the first part, and their nation, in as full and ample a manner, as if these presents had not been executed ; together with all and singular the rights, privileges, hereditaments, and appur- tenances, to the said hereby granted premises belonging or in anywise appertaining, and all the estate, right, title, and interest, whatsoever of them the said parties of the first part, and of their nation, of in, and to the said tract of land above des- cribed, except as is above excepted. To have and to hold all and singular the above granted premises with the appurtenances, unto the said John Greig and Henry B. Gibson, their heirs of the said assigns, to the sole and only proper use, benefit, and behoof, of the said Jolin Greig and Henry B. Gibson, their heirs and assigns forever.

In testimony whereof, the parties to these presents have herennto, and to three other instruments of the same tenor and date, one to remain with the United States, one to remain with the State of Massachusetts, one to remain with the Seneka nation of Indians, and one to remain with the said Jolin Greig and Heury B. Gibson, interchangeably set their hands and seals the third day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-three.

Saquiungarluchta, or Young King, his x mark, (L. S.) Karlundawana, or Pollard, his x mark, IL. S.)

Sagouata, or Red Jacket, his x mark, (L. S.)

Tishkaaga, or Little Billy, his x mark, (L. S.) Tywaneaslı, or Black Snake, his x mark, (L. S.) Kalıalsta, or Strong, his x mark, (L. S.) Chequinduchque, or Little Beard, his x mark, (L. S.) Tuyougo, or Seneka White, his x mark, (L. S.) Onondaki, or Destroy Town, his x mark, (L. S.) Lunuchshewa, or War Chief, his x mark, (L. S.) Genuclisckada, or Stevenson, his x mark, (L. S.) Mary Jamieson, her x mark, (L. S.)

Talwinalia, or Little Johnson, his x mark, (L. S.) Atachsagu, or John Big Tree, his x mark, (L. S.) Teskaiy, or John Pierce, his x mark, (L. S.)

Teaslaegee, or Charles Cornplanter, his x mark, (L. S.) Teoncukawell, or Bob Stevens, liis x mark, (L. S.) Checanadughtwo, or Little Beard, his x mark, (L. S.) Canada, his x mark, (L. S.)

Sealed and delivered in the presence of Nat. W. Howell, Jasper Parrislı, Ch. Carroll Horatio Jones.

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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY

Done at a treaty held with the sachen-, chief- and warriors of the Seneka nation of Indians at Mo-cow, in the County of Livingston and State of New York, on the third day of September, one thousand and eight hundred and twenty-three, under the authority of the United States. In testimony whercof. I have hereunto set iny hand and seal, the day and year aforesaid, by virtue of a commission is-ned under the seal of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, bearing date the 31st day of August, A. D., 1815, pursnant to a resolution of the legislature of the -aid N. Gorham, Superintendent. commonwealth, passed the eleventh day of March one thousand seven hundred and ninety-one.

I have attended a treaty of the Seneka nation of Indian- held at Moscow in the County of Livingstou and State of New York, on the third day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-three, when the within instrument was duly executed in my presence, by the sachems, chief- and warriors of the said nation being fairly and properly understood and transacted by all the parties of Indians concerned, and declared to be done to their full satis- faction. I do therefore certify and approve the same.

Ch. Carroll, Commissioner.

The Treaty of August 31, IS20 at Buffalo Creek appear- at the end of these ap- pendices.

APPENDIX NO. V.

GENERAL CLARK'S DESCRIPTION OF FOUR EARLY SENECA VILLAGES DESTROYED BY DE NONVILLE

When the Senecas were first known to the whites and from that time up to the French Expedition of DeNouville in 1687 they had four principal towns. In 1009 according to Galinee they were living in five villages two, of which contained one hundred cabins each, the others from twenty to thirty. At this time certainly two and probably three of the largest were enclosed by palisades. In 1677 when visited by Greenhalgh, an Albany trader, they were occupying four villages, none of which were palisaded. Frequent changes of location with the large towns was a necessity. Abbe Belmont, who accompanied DeNonville in 1687, say -: "They change their location every ten years, in order to bring them-elves near the woods." This was probably true of the larger villages, but the smaller ones might continue for twenty years or more.

During the time of the Jesuit Missions among the Senecas, and up to 1687 the four principal villages were: Gandagaro ; Gandongare ; Sonnontonan ; and Gand- achioragon. Of Gandagaro it is known certainly that in 1677 and 1687 it was on the great liill, known as Boughton Hill, a mile south of the village of Victor, in Ontario county. Greenhalgh says it contained one hundred and fifty houses lo- cated on the top of a great hill, and was not "stockaded." In 1669 Galinee des- cribe- it as in a large plain about two leagues in circumference, on the edge of a small hill and surrounded with pali-ades. No indications of a palisaded work of this character have been found on or in the vicinity of Boughton Hill. DeNonville found some kind of a work on the hill north of Victor, and some evidences of a minor Indian village have been found there, but the preponderance

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of evidence goes to show that Gandagan was south of the great hill on the farm of Mr. Chapin. In this vicinity in different locations have been found pipes, beads, iron hatchets, bra -- kettle- numerou- - keletons and all the usual accom- paniments of important Indian villages. This Gaudagan. alias Gandagaro, was the "St. James" of the missionaries, the capital and residence of the chief sachem who presided over the grand councils of the tribe.

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History of Livingston County, New York, from its earliest traditions to the present together with early town sketches, Part 98

Author: Doty, Lockwood R., 1858- [from old catalog] ed; Van Deusen, W. J., pub. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1905 Publisher: Jackson, Mich., W. J. Van Deusen Number of Pages: 1422

Author: Doty, Lockwood R., 1858- [from old catalog] ed; Van Deusen, W. J., pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1905
Publisher: Jackson, Mich., W. J. Van Deusen
Number of Pages: 1422