USA > New York > Warren County > History of Warren County [N.Y.] with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 3
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At Glens Falls the river flows over a shelving rock with a total descent of fifty feet. The fall is broken into three channels by natural piers of black lime- stone standing upon the brow of the precipice over which the water flows, forming a cascade of remarkable natural beauty.
GEOLOGY.
Primary Rock .- Of the geology of Warren county, the most that we know is obtained from the reports of Ebenezer Emmons, on the Second District of the State, and made in 1842. From this source we have condensed portions of the following, modified by the discoveries of the past forty years and a few personal observations of the writer : -
The principal portion of the county is composed of gneiss; granite, primi- tive limestone and serpentine appear as intruding rocks associated with the gneiss. The first range of mountains on the east is composed of gneiss; the second range is gneiss, with some granite and hornblende; the third range is gneiss and some decomposing granite near its culminating point in Johnsburgh. The fourth range is gneiss in its southern portion, and if hypersthene exists, as- Mr. Emmons supposed, it must be limited to the north extremity, on the bor- ders of Essex county.
There is no peculiar characteristic in this gneiss; it is all of the ordinary kind, with some intermixture of hornblende, that is common to other portions- of the State. The general dip of the strata is westerly, and the strike ob- liquely across the main axis of the different ranges, in a direction more easterly than the general direction of the main chain. In regard to imbedded minerals, there is, in fact, a lack of them, especially of the useful kinds. Iron ore of the magnetic kind is not infrequent; but it does not occur in considerable masses.
Granite. - This rock, the next of any importance in extent in the county, is nearly all located in the valley between the second and third ranges of
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NATURAL CHARACTERISTICS.
mountains. The most important mass is in the vicinity of Crane Mountain, in Johnsburgh. It is white, tolerably coarse and contains small particles of mica. The feldspar decomposing rapidly forms the important material called porcelain clay. The precise extent of this material has not been determined, but it is known to extend, with little interruption, for about twenty miles.
Primitive Limestone. - This rock is of more frequent occurrence than gran- ite; its beds, however, are generally quite limited in extent, but form quite a broad belt entirely across the county in the direction of the mountain ranges. It lies at their bases and forms low, inconspicuous hills, in the main valley. This belt, imperfect as it must be, passes through Stony Creek, Thurman, Johnsburgh, Warrensburgh, Chester and Horicon. It is one of the most important rocks in the county, as from it all the lime is obtained for building and agriculture. When the stone is properly selected it makes the strongest lime, a bushel be- ing worth as much as a bushel and a half of lime made from the transition limestone. This rock is not suitable for marble, in consequence of its liability to disintegrate.
Serpentine. - Associated with primitive limestone are extensive beds of serpentine, intermixed with carbonate of lime. This is usually called verde antique ; but this ancient and beautiful rock is composed of materials much harder and more valuable. It occurs in a great variety of colors, from a very dark green to a bright yellowish green. It has been discovered in a great many places, and for indoor work, mantels, table tops, etc., it would be very valuable.
Potsdam Sandstone. - This rock lies geologically next above the gneiss, or primary rocks, and is the first sedimentary rock in the New York sytem. At the High Falls on the Hudson at Corinth this rock appears about one hundred feet thick, the fall being occasioned by an uplift, and where the gneiss appears on one side of the river, and the sandstone on the other. Here the strata of sandstone appear very nearly in a horizontal position, and apparently showing that it was deposited in the bottom of the ocean and has not been disturbed by any upheaval since. North of Glens Falls about five miles it appears again, and with a dip to the south and southwest. It forms a good building material in almost all the localities where found. A fact of importance to the geological student is, that at the falls in Corinth, the sandstone can be seen perfectly in place at its juncture with the primitive rock.
Calciferous Sand Rock. - This rock lies next above the Potsdam sandstone and may be observed in many places in the county. Diamond Island in Lake George is a good example, and is the usual form in which it appears. There are many varieties, but they still possess many characteristics in common. About a mile northeasterly from Glens Falls it appears as an outcropping mass ; it occurs in many places, at some of which it was quarried for locks on the Champlain Canal, and for other purposes. The beds are thick and blocks
30
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
of large size can be obtained ; the stone is durable. This rock also appears at the falls, beneath the black marble, and is, we believe, the first rock that shows the remains of any living animal.
Black Marble, or Chazy Limestone. - The stratum of limestone that is quarried at Glens Falls, and sawed into marble, lies next above the calciferous. sand rock and corresponds with the marble of the Isle la Motte and the Chazy limestone. By means of an uplift at the falls and the action of the water, the three rocks have here been exposed and may be seen lying one above another, on the Warren county side; on the Saratoga side is an addi- tional stratum of slate above the Trenton limestone. The black marble of Glens Falls is ten feet thick, and has now been quarried and manufactured for about half a century.
Trenton Limestone. - This rock lies next above the black marble and is easily recognized by the geological student by its characteristic fossils. It oc- cupies but a very little of the county and can only be examined with any de- gree of success in the limited chasm of the Hudson River below the falls. The gorge between Glens Falls and Baker's Falls gives the student a rare oppor- tunity to study the different strata and obtain an exact knowledge of their sit- uation, their fossils, and their superposition on one another.
Utica Slate. - The succeeding rock is Utica slate. In pursuing the course of the river from Glens Falls either east or west for about a mile, this rock is seen resting on the Trenton limestone. It is a rock easily disintegrated by the frost, very fragile, and never firm enough to use as a roofing slate. Its disintegration makes a slaty soil that time changes to a clayey one. It is of no importance in this county except as being the highest rock, geologically.
In speculative geology, the student has an ample field in this county ; almost equal to that of Essex, and in some particulars, more than her equal. Although not so prolific in the mineral department, and not quite so interesting in her great masses of mountains, there is a greater variety of rocks which show in more places, with different characteristics and different associations, making up what is lacking in one direction by going farther in another. Among minor minerals, those of no particular importance in an economic or a commer- cial value, except magnetic iron ore, are pyroxene, hornblende, calcareous spar, zircon, pyritous iron, pyritous copper, crystals of quartz, graphite, labradorite, red oxide of titanium, tourmaline, sulphuret of iron, colophonite, scapolite and manganese. The localities of these different minerals are in various parts of the county, and since the geological survey was made their number has been greatly increased. While in 1840 when there were not, probably, fifty men in the State who were deeply interested in the geology of this or any other State, there are now probably five thousand who have made investigations in the Great Wilderness of Northern New York, and could their researches be brought to- gether at this day, and published, so that the knowledge that each has obtained.
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INDIAN OCCUPATION.
would be combined and made useful to each and all, the knowledge of our State would greatly increased, and the science of geology made more popular with the great mass of the people.
Soil. - Speaking in very general terms the soil of this county may be said to be composed mostly of thin, sandy loam. The declivities of the mountains particularly have a very thin soil and usually scant vegetation. In the valleys clay is mixed with the sand to some extent which, with the disintegrated rock, forms a deep and generally excellent soil. The level lands about Glens Falls are very sandy, and have been known as the "pine plains," from the fact of the locality having formerly been covered with a dense growth of heavy pine tim- ber. The soil of each town will be further described in the succeeding town histories.
Forests .- Most of the territory within this county was originally covered with a heavy growth of forest, much of which was valuable pine, such as we have mentioned as having covered the "pine plains." The cutting and market- ing of these forests gave employment for many years to the early inhabitants and caused the erection of almost innumerable saw-mills wherever there was available water-power. In some portions of the county the common varieties of hard timber were found - beech, maple, birch, oak, etc. A large propor- tion of the mountainous portion of the county, which is not adapted to successful cultivation and which has been cleared of the primitive forest, has become more or less overgrown with a second growth of yellow pine and other varieties of wood, which in later years has furnished a supply of fuel. Lumbering is still carried on in the northern and northwestern parts of the county, where there are still considerable areas of forest.
CHAPTER III.
INDIAN OCCUPATION.
Original Possessors of the Soil - Relative Positions of the Algonquins and Iroquois- A Great Battle-Field - Evidences of Prolonged and Bloody Conflict - The Eastern Indians - Traditionary Origin of the Iroquois Confederacy - Peculiarities of the League - Personal Characteristics - Jesuit Labors among the Indians - Names of the Missionaries - Their Unselfish but Fruitless Work - The St. Francis Indians - Indian Nomenclature.
T `HE territory of which this work treats was probably never permanently occupied to any great extent by nations or tribes of Indians; that it formed a part of their hunting-grounds and was especially used as a highway between hostile northern and western nations is well settled. At the time that
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
Samuel de Champlain made his memorable voyage up Lake Champlain and possibly penetrated to near the waters of Lake George (July, 1609), the terri- tory now embraced in the northern part of the State of New York formed the frontier, the debatable ground, between the Algonquin (or Adirondack) Indians on the north, and the Iroquois on the south. Champlain found a tradition among the Indians along the St. Lawrence that many years previously they possessed the territory far to the southward, but were driven out of it by the powerful Iroquois. The waters of Lake George, almost uniting with those of Lake Champlain, and extending almost from the doors of the "Long House " of the Iroquois to the St. Lawrence river, was doubtless the natural war-path between the northern Indians1 and their powerful southern neighbors.
To this latter-named nation (the Iroquois) belonged the territory now em- braced in Warren county, at the advent of the whites, more than to any other division of the aborigines; and more particularly to the Mohawk tribe, the easternmost of the five composing the great Iroquois League. This was their hunting-ground, and later their memorable battle-field. The waters of Lakes George and Champlain formed the natural war-path between the hostile savage elements north and south in their sanguinary incursions. Nature had given to much of the face of the country hereabouts a character so rugged and inacces- sible, that it could not in any event have formed a chosen spot for the Indians permanently to occupy; which fact, added to the other still more forcible one, that it was the frontier, the fighting ground, between the hostile nations, sufficiently justify the belief that no permanent Indian settlement was ever made within the present boundaries of the county. Almost the whole of northeastern New York is a labyrinth of mountains, lakes and streams, once covered by an unusually heavy forest growth. It abounded in game and fish of all kinds, and may well have been the resort of the red man in his grand hunts; but as far as can be known, it offered him no permanent abiding-place, and many of the conflicts which have left their impress upon the history of the county since its discovery and occupation by Europeans, found hereabouts
1 These northern Indians are known under the general national title of Algonquins ; also as Hurons. The name " Montagners " was applied, according to Dr. O'Callaghan, to all the St. Lawrence Indians, and was derived from a range of mountains extending northwesterly from near Quebec; but this must have been a local title. The name " Adirondack " is defined as meaning "wood, or tree, eaters." Its origin is ascribed to the Iroquois, who, after having conquered the former occupants of their territory and driven them northward, taunted them with no longer being brave and strong enough to kill game in the forests and they would, therefore, be compelled to "eat barks and trees." Mr. Lossing says, "the Algonquins were a large family occupying (at the advent of the Europeans) all Canada, New England, a part of New York and Pennsylvania ; all New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia ; eastern North Carolina above Cape Fear ; a large part of Kentucky and Tennesee and all north and west of those States and East of the Mississippi. They were the most powerful of the eight distinct Indian nations in possession of the country when discovered by the whites. Within the folds of this nation were the Huron-Iroquois, occupying a greater portion of Canada south of the Ottawa river and the region between Lake Ontario, Lakes Erie and Huron, nearly all of the State of New York and a part of Pennsylvania and Ohio, along the southern shore of Lake Erie."
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INDIAN OCCUPATION.
their bloody theatre, and opened the way to the eventual triumph of the pres- ent occupants of the soil.
" The evidences of these conflicts are found imbedded along the banks of every stream, and beneath the soil of every carrying-place from Albany to Montreal. Arrow and spear-heads, knives, hatchets, gouges, chisels, amulets, and calumets, are, even to this late day, often found in the furrow of the plow- man or the excavation of the laborer. Few localities have furnished a more abundant yield of these relics than the soil of Queensbury. While gun-flints and bullets, spear-heads and arrow-points are found broadcast and at large through the town, there are places abounding with them. Among the most noteworthy of these may be enumerated ' the Old Bill Harris's camp ground,' in Harrisena, the headlands around Van Wormer's, Harris's, and Dunham's Bays on Lake George, the Round Pond near the Oneida, the Ridge, the vicin- ity of the Long Pond, the banks of the Meadow Run and Carman's Neck at the opening of the Big Bend. This last was long noted as a runway for deer and traditions are handed down of grand hunting frolics at this point, where large quantities of game were hunted and driven within the bend, and while a small detachment of hunters served to prevent their retreat, the imprisoned game, reluctant to take the water down the precipitous bluffs, was captured or killed at their leisure. At this point, and also in the neighborhood of Long Pond, fragments of Indian pottery, and culinary utensils of stone, have been found in such profusion, as to give coloring to the conjecture that large num- bers of the natives may have resorted to these attractive spots, for a summer residence and camping-ground. The old wilderness trails, and military thor- oughfares, the neighborhood of block-houses, picket posts, garrison grounds, and battle-fields, in addition to their Indian antiquities have yielded many evi- dences of civilized warfare, in their harvests of bullets and bomb shells, buttons, buckles, bayonets, battered muskets and broken swords, axes and tomahawks of steel; chain and grape shot, coins, cob-money and broken crockery. Such relics are often valuable as the silent witnesses to the truth of tradition, and the verification of history.
"The eastern part of New York, at a period long anterior to the Iroquois ascendency, was occupied by a tribe variously known as the Ma-hick-an-ders, Muh-hea-kan-news, Mo-hea-cans, and Wa-ra-na-wan-kongs. The territory subject to their domination and occupancy, extended from the Connecticut to the Hudson as far north as the southern extremity of Lake George. Accord- ing to Schoolcraft, these Indians were among the tribes of the Algonquin stock. At the period of their greatest power, their national council fire was held on the ground now covered by the city of Albany, which was then known to them by the name of Pem-pot-a-wut-hut, signifying the fireplace of the nation. The word Muh-ha-a-kun-nuck, from which the word Mohican is derived, means a great water or sea that is constantly in motion, either flowing or ebb- 3
.-
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
ing. Their traditions state that they originally came from a country very far to the west, where they lived in towns by the side of a great sea. In consequence of a famine they were forced to leave their homes, and seek a new dwelling place far away to the east. They, with the cognate tribes of Manhattans, Pequots, Narragansetts and Nipmucks, occupied the whole peninsula of New England from the Penobscot to Long Island Sound. The Brotherton commu- nity, and the Stockbridge tribe, now constitute the sole remnant of this once numerous people. Previous to the establishment of the Dutch colonies in this State the Mohicans had been driven eastwardly by the Iroquois, and, at the time of their first intercourse with the whites, were found in a state of tributary alliance with that fierce people. The early attachment which was formed with the first English colonists of Connecticut by the politic Mohicans, no doubt contributed in a great measure to their preservation during the harassing wars which prevailed through the colonial peninsula for the first fifty years of its settlement.
" The Schaghticoke Indians received their name from the locality where they dwelt, derived, according to Spafford, from the Indian term Scaugh-wank, sig- nifying a sand slide. To this, the Dutch added the terminal, cook. The evi- dences of the early Dutch occupancy exist to-day in the current names of the tributaries of the Hudson as far up as Fort Edward Creek. The settlement of this tribe was seated on the Hoosick River not far from the town bearing the same name. The hunting grounds of this vicinity, as far north as Lake George, for many years after the first white man had erected his rude habitation within this disputed border, were occupied by the Schaghticokes, under permission of the Mohawks, who owned the lands, and with whom they were upon friendly terms." 1
As we have intimated, at the time of the French discovery and occupation of Canada, the Mohawks were in the ascendency in this region, and had, it is believed, extended their dominion to the St. Lawrence. They were the most powerful and warlike of the Five Nations (Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Ca- yuga and Senecas) composing the Iroquois Confederacy, which was located across the State from east to west in the order here named. The tradition of the origin of this remarkable confederation ascribes it to Hiawatha, who was the incarnation of wisdom, about the beginning of the fifteenth century. He came from his celestial home to dwell with the Onondagas, where he taught the related tribes all that was, desirable to promote their welfare. Under his immediate tutelage the Onondagas became the wisest counselors, the bravest warriors and the most successful hunters. While Hiawatha was thus quietly living, the tribes were attacked by a powerful enemy from the north, who laid waste their villages and slaughtered men, women and children indiscriminately ; utter destruction seemed inevitable. In this extremity they turned to Hiawa-
1 HOLDEN'S History of Queensbury.
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INDIAN OCCUPATION.
tha who, after thoughtful contemplation, advised a grand council of all that could be gathered of the tribes, saying, "our safety is not alone in the club and dart, but in wise counsels."1 The counsel was held on Onondaga Lake and the fires burned for three days awaiting the presence of Hiawatha. He was troubled with forebodings of ill-fortune and had resolved not to attend the council; but in response to the importunities of messengers, he set out with his beautiful daughter. Approaching the council he was welcomed by all, who then turned their eyes upward to behold a volume of cloudy darkness descending among them. All fled except Hiawatha and his daughter, who calmly awaited the impending calamity. Suddenly and with a mighty swoop a huge bird, with long and distended wings, descended upon the beautiful maiden and crushed her to death, itself perishing with the collision. For three days and nights Hiawatha gave himself up to exhibitions of the most poign- ant grief. At the end of that period he regained his wonted demeanor and took his seat in the council, which, after some deliberation, adjourned for one day. On the following day Hiawatha addressed the council, giving to each of the Five Nations its location and degree of importance, as we have already noted. The advice of the venerable sage was deliberated upon until the next day, when the celebrated league of the Iroquois was formed and its details per- fected.
Whether or not there is any foundation in fact for this traditionary source of the confederacy, it grew into one of the most remarkable and powerful com- binations known to history, a marvel to civilized nations and stamping the genius that gave it birth as of the highest order.
The tradition further relates that Hiawatha now considered his mission on earth as ended and delivered to his brothers a farewell address, which conclu- ded as follows : "Lastly, I have now assisted you to form an everlasting league and covenant of strength and friendship for your future safety and pro- tection. If you preserve it, without the admission of other people, you will always be free, numerous and mighty. If other nations are admitted to your councils they will sow jealousies among you and you will become enslaved, few and feeble. Remember these words; they are the last you will hear from the lips of Hiawatha. Listen, my friends, the Great Master of Breath calls me to go. I have patiently awaited his summons. I am ready; farewell." As his voice ceased the air was musical with sweet sounds, and while they listened to the melody, Hiawatha was seen seated in his white canoe, rising in mid air till the clouds shut out the sight, and the melody, gradually becoming fainter, finally ceased.2
1 RUTTENBER.
2 Both reason and tradition point to the conclusion that the Iroquois originally formed one undivided people. Sundered, like countless other tribes, by dissension, caprice, or the necessities of a hunter's life, they separated into five distinct nations .- PARKMAN'S Jesuits.
By the early French writers, the Mohawks and the Oneidas were styled the lower or inferior Iro-
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
Previous to the formation of the Iroquois confederacy each of the five na- tions composing it was divided into five tribes. When the union was estab- lished, each tribe transferred one-fifth of its numbers to every other nation than its own. The several tribes thus formed were named as follows: Tortoise, Wolf, Bear, Beaver, Deer, Potato, Snipe, Heron. The Snipe and Heron cor- respond with the great and little Plover, and the Hawk with the Eagle of the early French writers. Some authors of repute omit the name of the Potato tribe altogether. These tribes were formed into two divisions, the second sub- ordinate the first, which was composed of the four first named. Each tribe constituted what may be called a family and its members who were all consid- ered brothers and sisters, were also brothers and sisters of the members of all the other tribes having the same device. It will be seen that an indissoluble bond was thus formed by the ties of consanguinity, which was still further strengthened by the marriage relation. It was held to be an abomination for two persons of the same tribe to intermarry; every individual family must therefore contain members from at least two tribes. The child belonged to the tribe, or clan, of the mother, not to the father, and all rank, titles and posses- sions passed through the female line. The chief was almost invariably suc- ceeded by a near relative, and always on the female side; but if these were unfit, then a council of the tribe chose a successor from among remoter kin- dred, in which case he was nominated by the matron of the late chief's house- hold. The choice was never made adverse to popular will. Chiefs and sachems held their offices only through courteous, winning behavior and their general good qualities and conduct. There was another council of a popular charac- ter, in which any one took part whose age and experience qualified him to do so ; it was merely the gathered wisdom of the nation. The young warriors also had their councils; so, too, did the women. All the government of this " remarkable example of an almost pure democracy in government"1 was ex- ercised through councils, which were represented by deputies in the councils of the sachems. In this peculiar blending of individual, tribal, national and federal interests, lay the, secret of that immense power which for more than a century resisted the hostile efforts of the French ; which caused them for nearly a century to be alike courted and feared by the contending French and English colonies, and enabled them to exterminate or subdue their neighboring Indian nations, until they were substantially dictators of the continent,2 gaining them the title of " The Romans of the New World."
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