History of Ontario county, New York : with illustrations and family sketches of some of the prominent men and families, Part 3

Author: Aldrich, Lewis Cass, comp; Conover, George S. (George Stillwell), b. 1824, ed
Publication date: 1893
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., D. Mason & Co.
Number of Pages: 1002

USA > New York > Ontario County > History of Ontario county, New York : with illustrations and family sketches of some of the prominent men and families > Part 3

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Such is the tradition, a very nice story-for the Iroquois. Nothing, of course, can be learned from such a story regarding the merits of the war, except that it tends to show that the two great battles between the combatants were fought in the territory of original Ontario county, and the first of them in the very heart of the Seneca possessions, and within the borders of the county as it at present exists. It may be stated, however, that French accounts tend to show that the Kahquahs joined the Iroquois in warfare against the Hurons, but were neverthe- less unable to avert their own fate; that collisions occurred between them and their allies of the Five Nations in 1647, followed by open war in 1650, resulting in the speedy destruction of the Kahquahs. Also that the Iroquois then fell upon the Eries and exterminated them about the year 1653. Some accounts make the destruction of the Neuter Nation as early as 1642. Amid these conflicting statements we only know that between 1640 and 1655 the fierce confederates " put out the fires " of the Kahquahs and the Eries, and it is said that a few of the former were absorbed into the community of their con- querors.

After the overthrow of the Kahquahs and Eries, the Iroquois lords of Ontario county went forth conquering and to conquer. This was probably the day of their greatest glory. Stimulated, but not yet crushed by contact with the white man, they stayed the progress of the French into their territories, they negotiated on equal terms with the Dutch and English, and, having supplied themselves with the terrible arms of the pale-faces, they smote with direct vengeance whomsoever of their own race were so unfortunate as to provoke their wrath. On the Sus-

THE SENECAS.

quehanna, on the Alleghany, on the Ohio, even to the Mississippi in the west, and the Savannah in the south, the Iroquois bore their con- quering arms, filling with terror the dwellers alike on the plains of Illinois and in the glades of Carolina. They strode over the bones of the slaughtered Kahquahs to new conquests on the great lakes beyond, even to the foaming cascades of Michillimacinac, and the shores of the mighty Superior. They inflicted such terrible defeat upon the Hurons, despite the alliance of the latter with the French, that many of the conquered natives sought safety on the frozen borders of Hudson's Bay. In short, they triumphed on every side, save only where the white man came, and even he for a time was held at bay by these fierce con- federates.

The advent of the European nations on the American continent was the forerunner of the downfall of the Iroquois confederacy, and doubt- less the ultimate extinction of the Indian race. The French invasions, particularly those of 1693 and three years later, cost the confederacy half it warriors; their allegiance to the British crown (with the excep- tion of the Oneidas) in the Revolutionary War, proving to be an allegiance with a falling power-these causes, operating with the dread vengeance from the American colonist who had so frequently suffered at the hands of the savages, broke up the once powerful league and scattered its members to a large extent upon the friendly soil of Canada, or left them at the mercy of the State and general government, which consigned them to reservations.

CHAPTER III.

The Seneca Indians, the Original Occupants of Ontario County-Their Origin-The French first Visit the Senecas-Beginning of Hostilities-Seneca Villages and their Location-Missionaries among the Indians-Results of their Labors.

T T HE Seneca Indians, who are frequently mentioned in the preceding chapter, were, so far as we have any knowledge, the original own- ers and occupants of the soil of Ontario county. It is understood that their earliest possessions did not extend west of the Genesee, but with

HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.

the overthrow of other Indian nations by the Iroquois confederacy, about the middle of the seventeenth century, the domain of the Senecas was extended westward to the Niagara, or substantially including the terri- tory embraced within Ontario county as originally created. And inas- much as the preceding chapter has referred only in a general manner to the Senecas, and having special reference to the confederacy as a whole body, it is proposed in the present chapter to devote special yet brief attention to the Seneca Indians, their traditions, customs, villages and domestic life.

Little is known of the Senecas prior to the advent of the French, but from the first knowledge of them they were considered and in fact were the most powerful and warlike of the confederated tribes, and being stationed at the western extremity of the " Long House," they had to guard against invasion from that quarter ; for in the regions west and southwest of their domain dwelt the Eries, the Andastes, the Delawares and other powerful tribes, which nations were at emnity with the Iro- quois.

The Senecas called themselves " Nun-da- wa-o-no," which signifies " the great hill people," or "people of the great hill." This was the name of their oldest village, situated upon a hill near the head of Can- andaigua Lake, where according to Seneca tradition, the tribe originated by springing from the ground. According to the authority of Dr. Mor- gan, the locality of Seneca origin is in Middlesex, Yates county, and is known as " Bare Hill," being situated six or seven miles from the head of the lake. The hill rises with a gradual ascent to the height of about. 1000 feet. Indian tradition associates Bare Hill with much interest, and while the versions have been numerous, the story runs about the same in each account, and being merely a tradition, and having no pos- sible foundation in fact, it is omitted from these pages. However, it may be stated that on the top of Bare Hill the Senecas were wont to assemble annually and offer up their sacrifices, and, according to S. C. Cleveland, twenty years ago there were still discernible on the summit of the hill, " the traces of an ancient fort, covering about an acre and surrounded by a ditch, and formerly by a formidable wall." The same authority says, referring to the old structures, "they indicate defenses raised by Indian hands, or more probably belong to the labors of a race

THE SENECAS.

that preceded the Indian occupation." Seneca tradition has it that after the destruction of all their race (save two, a boy and a girl, who were spared by the serpent) the hill top was abandoned and the coming gen- erations of the tribe, who must have descended from the spared couple, built up their village on the west shore of Seneca Lake, where now stands the village of Geneva.

The origin and meaning of the name " Seneca," appears to be quite uncertain, while the word itself has no less than one hundred variations. The first Europeans who visited these Indians in their territory were the Franciscan and Jesuit missionaries, and their earliest knowledge of them came through the Huron Indians of Canada, and by the latter they were called " Sonontouerhonons ; " that is " people of Sonnontouan." Sonontowane is probably the most correct form of the name, although it is sometimes prefixed with the letter T which represents the lisping sound of S quite common among the Senecas. It means " great hill " or mountain, conveying the idea of people of the mountain or moun- taineers.

In August, 1669, La Salle, accompanied by two priests, De Casson and Galinee, made a visit to the principal Seneca village, which was situated about twenty miles southerly from the head of Irondequoit Bay. Galinee was the historian of this expedition, and his journal reports this as the first visit of La Salle to the Senecas. The visitors were very hospitably received. The village, like those of all the Indians, was a mere collection of cabins, surrounded with palisades about twelve or thirteen feet high, bound together at the top, and supported at the bot- tom by piles of wood. Of the Senecas, Galinee says that they were the most numerous and had four villages, two of which contained about one hundred cabins each, while the others had about thirty each, and the number of warriors was about 1,000 or 1,200. On the occasion of this visit La Salle and the priest, escorted by two Seneca Indians, made a visit to a certain burning spring, the location of which is at Bristol Cen- ter in this county.

During the spring and summer of 1677 Wentworth Greenhalgh, an Englishman, visited all the Five Nations and made very minute observ- ations, counting the houses of the Indians, as well as numbering the warriors of each tribe. He reported the Senecas as having 1000 war-

HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.

riors, while their villages were named Canagora, Tiotohatton, Canoe- nada, and Keint-he. "Canagora and Tiotohatton," says Greenhalgh, " lye within thirty miles of ye Lake Frontenacque [Lake Ontario], and ye other two lye about four or five miles apiece to ye southward of those. They have abundance of corne. None of their townes are stockadoed. Canagora lies on the top of a great hill, and in that, as well as in the bignesse, much like Onondago, contayning 150 houses.

" Tiotohatton lyes on the brincke or edge of a hill ; has not much cleared ground ; is near the river Tiotehatton, w'ch signifies bending. It lyes to westward of Canagorah about 30 miles, containing about 120 houses, being ye largest of all ye houses wee saw, ye ordinary be- ing 50 to 60 foot long with 12 and 13 fires in one house. They have a good store of corne growing about a mile to the northward of the towne."

Greenhalgh also states that he was at this place on the 17th of June, at which time about fifty prisoners were brought in from the south- westward, four of whom were put to death. On the eighteenth, as he journeyed towards Canagorah, he overtook the party with the prison- ers, and discovered that the captives had been slashed with knives, their fingers cut off, and on reaching Canagorah the tortures were con- tinued for about seven hours, four men, four women and one boy being burned at the stake. Of the other two villages Greenhalgh says :

" Canoenada lyes about four miles to ye southward of Canagorah ; conteynes about 30 houses, well furnished with Corne.

" Keint-he lyes about four or five miles to ye southward of Tiete- hatton ; contains about 24 houses, well furnished with Corne."

He also says that the French called Canagorah St. Jacques (St. James), and Tiotohatton is likewise called La Conception.

In 1654, when a peace wa's temporarily established between the French and the Five Nations, permission was granted to the Jesuits to found missions and build chapels in the Iroquois country. Between that time and 1769 there were twenty-four missionaries who labored among the Indians of New York, but all, whether Catholics or Prot- estants, were eventually forced to admit that their efforts as a whole were unsatisfactory and discouraging. Later religious and educational work among the Indians, even down to the present time, while yielding

THE SENECAS.

perhaps sufficient results to justify its prosecution, has constantly met with the most discouraging obstacles among the tribes themselves. Rev. Samuel Kirkland, who labored as a missionary among the Iroquois for a number of years and who resided at Kanadesaga during 1765 and 1766, says: "I cannot help being of the opinion that Indians never were intended to live in a state of civilized society. There never was, I believe, an instance of an Indian forsaking his habits and savage manners any more than a bear his ferocity." The Doc. Hist. of New York, referring to Mr. Kirkland's missionary labors, says : "He has taken all the pains that a man can take, but his whole flock are Indians still, and like the bear, which you can muffle and lead out to dance to the sound of music, becomes again a bear when his muffler is removed and the music ceases. The Indians will attend public worship and sing extremely well, following Mr. Kirkland's notes, but whenever the service is over they wrap themselves in their blank- ets and either stand like cattle on the sunny side of a house, or lie before a fire." In this connection we may state that Mr. Kirkland was one of the ablest and most self-sacrificing of the many missionaries who labored among the Senecas, and what he could not accomplish in his work it may safely be concluded others could not.

In the present connection, also, we may with propriety refer by name to the Jesuit fathers and missionaries who labored among the Senecas at an early day. Simeon Le Moyne, a veteran Huron missionary, la- bored among the Indians during a part of the year 1654, followed the next year by Joseph Chaumonot accompanied by Claude Dablon. Father Chaumonot did not remain long with the Senecas, and returning to Onondaga, was sent to the Oneidas. Early in 1657, a plot to ex- terminate the French colony and the missionaries being discovered, the latter were hastily called in, while the whole colony fled from the coun- try. A fierce war followed between the French and the Iroquois, last- ing two years, and it was not until the fall of 1668 that another mission was established among the Senecas, when Father James Fremin arrived. Of his experiences Father Fremin says : " When I arrived here at the close of the year 1668, I was well received ; but a fatal form of sickness breaking out at the time, desolated the entire region, so that I was wholly occupied in visiting the cabins to instruct, and baptize the sick who

HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.

were in extremity. I baptized more than 120 persons, nearly all adults, of whom more than ninety died soon after baptism. But as I was alone and could not leave the field, more than 150 died (without baptism) in districts far removed from here, while engaged in fishing or hunting." This induced Father Fremin to send for assistance, and Father Julian Garnier went to his aid ; but when the latter arrived the contagion had ended, whereupon Father Garnier assumed charge of the town named Gandachiragoue, where he soon built a commodious chapel. In rela- tion to his own work Father Fremin says : " On the 27th of September I entered the town called Gandougarae (St. Michael) and was received with every demonstration of public joy. The town is composed of rem- nants of three different nations, which, having been subdued by the Iro- qois, were forced to submit at the discretion of their conquerors, and to establish themselves in their territory." While a chapel was being built Father Fremin visited the people in their cabins. In August, 1669, the priest was called to Onondaga, and it was during his absence that La Salle, in company with the priests, of whom mention has already been made, visited the Senecas in furtherance of the expedition to pros- ecute his discoveries toward the Mississippi River. Later on Father Fremin assumed charge of the mission at Gandougarae, or St. Michael, and Father Garnier at Gandachiragoue, or St. John. However, toward the close of the year Father Fremin returned to Canada, leaving Father Garnier in sole charge of the Seneca missions at La Conception, St. James, and St. Michael, but in the spring of 1671 his labors were inter- · rupted at the latter place by the burning of the town, and the chapel was not replaced until the following year. In 1672 Father Peter Raf- feix took charge of the mission of the Conception, and in a year or two afterward Father Jean Pierron was assigned to the mission of St. James. In 1677 Father Pierron was recalled, and in 1680 Father Raffeix left, leaving Father Garnier alone, who continued among the Senecas until 1683, when, being secretly informed that the French intended to make war upon the Iroquois, he escaped in a bark which had been built by the French governor to trade on Lake Ontario.

The French occupation of the Niagara River in 1678, by La Salle, made it necessary to send a courier to the Senecas to quiet their suspi- cions, and avoid the probability of an attack upon La Salle and his com-

THE SENECAS.

pany, who were desirous of building a small vessel with which to navi- gate the lakes. This mission was confided to Sieur de La Motte and Father Hennepin, the latter a Flemish Recollect and the historian of the expedition. The party left Niagara on Christmas day, traveled a dis. tance of about eighty miles, and reached the Seneca village on the last day of the year. Father Hennepin conducted the business intrusted to him, but La Motte soon returned to Canada. After a grand council with the Senecas, La Salle's representatives succeeded in quieting the apprehensions of the savages regarding his intentions, and also gained consent to effect the lodgment on the banks of the Niagara River for the purpose of building a vessel. The work of construction was at once begun and carried on throughout the winter, two Indians of the Wolf clan of the Senecas being employed to hunt deer for the French party. In the following spring the vessel was launched, " after having been blessed according to the rites of our Church of Rome." The new ship was named Le Griffon (The Griffin) in compliment to Count de Fron- tenac, minister of the French colonies, whose coat of arms was orna- mented with representations of that mythical beast. The Griffin re- mained several months in the Niagara. Meanwhile Father Hennepin returned to Fort Frontenac (now Kingston) and obtained two priestly assistants.

The labors of the Jesuit fathers among the Senecas and other nations of the Iroquois were so contested at every step, and their lives so con- stantly endangered that it was enough to dishearten and discourage the most courageous missionary worker, as will be more fully mentioned in a subsequent chapter. The English, in 1664, conquered New Amster- dam and the Netherlands, and thereafter for a period of a hundred years were either covertly or openly scheming to work the overthrow of the French power in America. Knowing full well the hatred of the Iro- quois for the French and the Canada Indians, they neglected no oppor- tunity to incite the savages to deeds of violence against the French, as well as against the missionary laborers among the Iroquois. Indeed, after the English had set up a colonial government in America, and after the English and French had ceased secret opposition, and were openly contending for supremacy, the colonial legislature passed an act forbidding the presence of any missionary, of whatever denomination, 6

HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.

representing the French power among the Iroquois. It may be stated, however, that this legislative injunction was not fully respected among the western tribes of the confederacy, as the missionaries succeeded in ingratiating themselves in the affection of many of the Senecas, who welcomed and at times protected them, and it was only when the anger of the whole confederacy was aroused that the priests were compelled to vacate the field.

CHAPTER IV.

The Seneca Indians-Continuation of the Preceding Chapter-English Colonists In- cite the Iroquois against the French-The Latter Retaliate-Courcelle's Expedition- Denonville invades the Seneca Country and Destroys the Villages-Their Subsequent Building up-Names and New Locations.

N a preceding chapter mention has been made of the voyage of Cham- plain up the lake of the same name, and how on that occasion the adventurous Frenchman brought down upon himself the almost never- ending hatred of the Iroquois, by allowing himself to engage in a battle with the Mohawks in which a number of the latter were slain. Later on Champlain made another invasion into the Iroquois country, but with fruitless results. On both these occasions the Frenchmen were accompanied by the Canadian Indians, between whom and the Iroquois there was an old feud. From this time on until the final overthrow of French power in America, there was little peace between the French and the Iroquois, and the periods were brief and of little effect. As a consequence the whole of Northern and Western New York was the natural highway of various invading parties. At this time and during the next hundred years England and France were frequently at war, and with each outbreak in the mother countries there was consequent strife between their American colonies.

Samuel de Champlain died in 1635, and from that date down to 1665, there appears to have been no serious outbreak between the English and French colonies in America, but during that time the Iroquois made their grand conquest of other Indian nations east of the Mississippi.

THE SENECAS.

Among the tribes to feel their vengeance were those who dwelt in Can- ada, and all of whom were in friendship with the French. In 1665 the colonists of New France, alarmed by the increasing English settlements south of them, and knowing that the English were inciting the Iroquois against their Indian allies, resolved to avenge past injuries and put an end to future incursions To this end Lord de Courcelles, then gov- ernor-general of Canada, in January, 1666, started with less than 600 men upon an expedition against the Iroquois in general, and the Mo- hawks in particular.

This expedition, although it resulted in no disaster to the Iroquois, prompted them to sue for peace, and a treaty was concluded in May, June and July, 1666, by the Senecas, Oneidas and Mohawks, respective- ly. In 1667 was concluded the peace of Breda between England, Hol- land and France, but it was of short duration, and 1669 the French were again at war with the Iroquois. However, in April, 1672, Count de Frontenac was appointed governor and lieutenant-general of Canada, and under his administration peace was again established in 1673.

The Colonial History of New York, referring to Frontenac's admin- istration, makes the latter say : "In spite of the efforts of the Dutch to get the Iroquois to make war on the French, the Iroquois came last year on solemn embassy to Montreal, brought eight children belonging to the principal families of their village, and ratified the treaty made with them in 1673."

In 1684 another rupture occurred between the French and Iroquois. M. de la Barre was then governor of New France, and Colonel Dongan governor of New York. The Frenchman led an expedition against the Senecas, but hearing that the latter would be reinforced by Dongan with " 400 horse and 400 foot," he gave up his purpose. This preten- tious expedition, which ended so ingnominiously, subjected De la Barre to severe censure and in the following year he was superseded by Mar- quis Denonville, who came over instructed to preserve a strict neutral- ity. This he found to be impossible and so informed his sovereign. Reinforcements were sent him for a determined attack upon the Sene- cas, and in the summer of 1687 an expedition of two thousand French and Indians was organized and marched against the enemy. This large force impelled the Indians to adopt their customary tactics for self- pres-

HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.

ervation, and their villages were deserted, or nearly so. The invaders destroyed the principal settlements of the Senecas, one of them, the large eastern village, being called St. James, or Gannagaro, which was located on Boughton Hill, one mile south of Victor village, and the other the small village of St. Michael, or Gannogarae, distant a short league from the large village. The western village was located on a bend of Honeoye outlet, some two miles north of Honeoye Falls. This village was called " Totiakton, surnamed the great village of the Con- ception," and " the small village of Gannounata " was distant two leagues from Totiakton. The Abbe Belmont who accompanied the expedition, says : " The Tsonnontouans (Senecas) have four large villages which they change every ten years in order to bring themselves near the woods and permit them to grow up again. They call them (meaning the villages) Gaensera, Tohaiton, which are the two larger ; Onnutague and Onnennatu, which are the smaller."

The events of the battle between Denonville's forces and the Indians is briefly described. Arriving at Irondequoit Bay on the 10th of July, the necessary preparations were soon completed, and on the afternoon of the 12th the march into the interior was begun. After proceeding about three leagues the French encamped for the night, but resumed the march early the next morning. The large town of the Senecas toward which the French were proceeding was that which we have re- ferred to as situated on Boughton Hill, a mile south of Victor village. About one and one-half miles northwest of this Indian town, and a lit- tle northwest of the village of Victor, is another hill, on which at the time was a great thicket of beech trees, and here the Senecas arranged an ambuscade. Between these two hills is a small valley, through which passes the stream called Great Brook, the borders of the latter being planted with alders so thick that one could scarcely see. Here the In- dians concealed another ambuscade, it being their intention to allow the whole French army to pass the first ambuscade, and then by attacking them in the rear, force them to fall into the second trap, and so have them between two attacking parties. However, the second division of the French army happened to be quite distant from the first, and as the advance guard passed near the thicket of beech trees, the Indians, sup- posing the whole army had passed, with a terrible whoop began the at-

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History of Ontario county, New York : with illustrations and family sketches of some of the prominent men and families, Part 3

Author: Aldrich, Lewis Cass, comp; Conover, George S. (George Stillwell), b. 1824, ed Publication date: 1893 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., D. Mason & Co. Number of Pages: 1002

Author: Aldrich, Lewis Cass, comp; Conover, George S. (George Stillwell), b. 1824, ed
Publication date: 1893
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., D. Mason & Co.
Number of Pages: 1002