USA > New York > Genesee County > History of the Genesee country (western New York) comprising the counties of Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Chemung, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, Ontario, Orleans, Schuyler, Steuben, Wayne, Wyoming and Yates, Volume I > Part 19
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INDIAN FALLS, a village at the falls of the Tonawanda, was originally planned as the city of Tonawanda Falls. The land here, or at least 1,000 acres, was once owned by William Parker, father of Gen. Ely S. Parker, the "last grand sachem of the Sen- ecas." It had the name of Gah-hon-da-ska-no, "Strong Water" or "Strength in the stream."
KENTUCKY is probably an Algonkian name meaning "river head." If this were spelled Ken-teh-keh, it would be good Seneca for "meadow lands."
OATKA, as applied to the creek running through Le Roy, means "through the opening."
ROANOKE, a village in Stafford Township, is derived from a Virginia Algonkian word, probably from the Powhatan dialect, meaning "northern people."
TONAWANDA, as applied to the creek, means "swift water." ,.|
NAMES FROM OLD MAPS AND NAMES USED BY THE INDIANS. . :
BLACK CREEK was called Check-a-nan-go, is a corruption of a word meaning "pigeon village."
DEH-A-SEN-NO-GEH, "no name," is Alexander.
DYON-NO-ES-DO-WA was Indian Falls, in allusion to an old In- dian who lived there. The word means "dragon fly."
DE-O-ON-GO-WA, said to mean "great hearing place," is given by Beauchamp as the name for Batavia.
GA-A-YAN'-DUK-GEH, meaning "the place of the fort," is Le Roy. There was a conspicuous fortification not far from Le Roy.
GA-SWA-DUK, "cedar swamp," is the Seneca name for Ala- bama.
GAU-DAK, "by the plains," is Caryville.
GA-NE-UN-DAH-SA-IS-KA is another name for Batavia. The name has been translated "mosquito." Batavia had a number of names.
GWEH-TA-A-NE TE-GAH-NUN-DO-DEH, "Bloody-town," is given as a name for Attica. Morgan spells the Indian word and trans- lates a bit differently, calling it "red village."
JA-GO-O-GEH, perhaps from Tcak-o-wa-geh, means "pigeon place." It is the name for Black Creek.
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JO-A-I-KA (or JOI'-A-GAH) is the name applied by Kirkland for Batavia. It means "raccoon."
KE-TI-YEN-GOO-WAH, "big swamp," is the swampland near Tonawanda Indian village. David Cusick gave it as the name of a prehistoric fort of the Iroquois.
NA-TWAIS-HA SKAN-YA-DA, literally "Spirit lake," is the pond near Indian Falls now known as Divers Lake.
O-AT-KA Creek has its name from a Seneca word meaning "the opening."
0-AH-DEH-GOH, "on the road," is Pembroke. It was the stop- ping place in traveling to other trading centers.
OH-SOAN-GEH, "Turkey place," is Darien.
TE-CAR-DA-NA-DUK is an old name for Oakfield, meaning "trenched enclosure." There was a large enclosure near the vil- lage.
TE-CAR-NO-WUN-NA-DA-NE-O, "many rapids," is given for Le Roy.
TE-GA-TAIN-E-A-AGH-GWE, "double forts," "was a place near Batavia mentioned by the Rev. Samuel Kirkland, who visited the region in 1788 with some Seneca guides.
LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
Livingston County was long the home of the Seneca people, especially after their early Ontario County residence. Before they came there had been other branches of the Iroquoian people, perhaps, and before these, settlements of people influenced by the peculiar material culture of the mound building peoples. Be- fore that were three long periods of occupation by Algonkian hordes with an intrusion of Eskimo-like people.
CURRENT NAMES OF INDIAN ORIGIN.
BIG TREE is the literal interpretation of Gain-do-wa-neh, Big Tree, a celebrated Seneca chief. There was a large swamp cak in the valley known as "the big tree." One of the most important treaties was held at Big Tree.
CAN-A-SE-RE-GA, to the Seneca people known as Ga-nus-ga-goh, meant "among the milkweeds." The name is spelled in various ways. Kanuskago was used in early days.
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CA-NA-WAU-GUS, meaning "fetid waters," was spelled Ga-no- wau-ges by Morgan and this closely approximates the Seneca word. The location originally was at Avon Springs but came to be applied to the village and tract on the west side of the river opposite Avon where there is a village of Canawaugus.
CO-NE-SUS, the name of a creek and village, is derived from Ga-ne-o-sos or Ga-nyuh-sas, meaning "sheep berries." The orig- inal Conesus was destroyed by Sullivan. It was the home of Big Tree, the friend of the colonies. It was here that he endeavored to persuade his kinsmen to support the armies of Washington.
GAR-DOW or Gardeau is the Anglicized form of Ga-da-oh, "bank before it."
CON-NECT-XIO is shown on Pouchot's map as a village on the east side of the Genesee. It may be an attempt to spell Genesee.
DA-YO-IT-GA-O, or De-yu-it-ga-oh, "where the valley begins to widen," is the Seneca name for the Indian village once on Squawkie Hill. The name has several spellings.
DE-O-NE-GA-NO (Morgan), or Dyu-ne-ga-nooh (Doty), is the name for Caledonia and means "cold water." This was and still is a famous spring and there are several traditions clustering about it. One was that the water that flowed from it must not be obstructed.
DE-O-NUN-DA-GA-A, "where the hill is near," is Morgan's name and definition for Little Beard's Town, in Leicester.
DE-O-WES-TA is a neck of land below Portageville. There is an interesting fortification on a hill near this spot.
DYU-DO-O-SOT, "flowing spring," from de-o-dou-sot, is the vil- lage site in Avon Township north of Livonia station.
DYU-HAH-GAIH, "where the banks are eroded," was an Oneida town on the Genesee.
GA-HAH-DAE-ONT-HWAH, "where hemlock was spilled," was a village in Moscow.
GAH-NI-GAH-DOT, "standing pestle," was a village near East Avon.
GA-NE-O-DE-YA, "good lake," or "clear small lake," is Doty's name for the Caledonia spring.
GA-NOU-NA-TA was probably the Seneca village north of Lima. This place has been associated with Keinthe, "Meadowland," but whether the two were identical or separated has been a matter of
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dispute. Certain it is that Ga-nou-na-ta, if it is beneath the present site of Lima, left an abundance of remains, for under the streets and in the yard of the Presbyterian church many specimens have been found, but of late eighteenth century type.
GA-NON-DA-SEEH was a small place near Moscow. The name means "a new settlement."
GA-NUS-GA-GO, meaning "among the milkweeds," was a settle- ment on the present site of Dansville. There are several spelling's.
GA-ON-DO-WA-NUH, "Big Tree," was a settlement in Leicester. There were many large trees, elms and oaks, in the Genesee Valley.
KE-IN-HE, "meadowland," appears to have been a settlement near the present site of Lima. It is mentioned in the journal of Wentworth Greenhalgh in 1677.
NO-EHN-TA, from o-neh-dah, meaning "hemlock," is used in the Moravian journals as the name for Hemlock Lake.
O-HE-GECH-RAGE is also a Moravian designation and applied to Conesus Lake.
O-NEH-DA, "hemlock," is the Seneca name for Hemlock Lake.
GE-NE-SE-0, or Genesee, is from Gen-nis-he-yo, meaning "pleas- ant banks," or "beautiful valley." The original Indian town was one of the most famous and in it resided the most conservative of Seneca people. Those who fled to Buffalo were mostly from Geneseo and many of the non-christian Seneca Indians today who continue their old rites on the reservations keep as a precious inheritance their traditions of Geneseo.
KE-SHA-QUA, or Coshaqua, is from gah-she-gweh meaning "a spear." When the Seneca people came in their migration to this spot they found a spear stuck in the bank of the creek whereupon the stream was called Gah-she-gweh.
LIMA is a Peruvian word derived from Rimac. The soft "r" was changed to "l" by the Spanish.
NUN-DA is from Nun-da-o, or O-nun-da-o, meaning "hilly." The original Indian town was two miles nearer the river.
SON-YEA, from Son-yea-o-wa, the name of Captain Snow, is . the name for a village below Mount Morris.
SQUAWKIE, or Squakie, as applied to the hill near Mount Mor- ris is derived from the Seneca name Ha-di-squaw-ki-ha, mean- ing "they are (Mus) Squakie." The Squakie people were the
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Sauk. The Seneca had made war upon these people in early colonial days and captured many of them. These were settled at Newtown, near Elmira, and near Mount Morris. Squawkie Hill is a sightly place and the last high bank of the Genesee. It ends the line of cliffs and faces the broad, fertile valley to the north.
TUS-CA-RO-RA, a village in Mount Morris Township, was so named from a small settlement of Tuscarora Indians there in pre-Revolutionary times. Tuscarora comes from a native word meaning "shirt wearers."
NAMES FROM OLD MAPS AND NAMES USED BY INDIANS.
ADJUSTE, Adjutso, Adyutro, Adjulsa, Agusta, Adjutoa and Adjuton, are names given to Big Tree's village at Conesus. Some of these spellings will be found in Sullivan's journals. The word appears to mean "spear" in Onondaga, according to Beauchamp.
CHE-NON-DA-NAH, or Che-nan-do-a-nes, are the names of 1754 and 1774 respectively for Little Beard's Town. The name is from a Seneca word meaning "it is a great hill."
SHO-NO-JO-WAAH-GEH, meaning "the kettle is large," appears with Doty's spelling. Morgan differed somewhat. There was a Seneca chief having this name and it was also bestowed upon General Morris, after whom Mount Morris was named. Sho- no-jo-waah-geh was the Seneca settlement at Mount Morris.
SIN-NON-DO-WAE-NE appears as the name of a Seneca settle- ment in 1720. The word means "they of the great hill."
SKA-HASE-GA-O, "a long creek," appears as a name for a set- tlement near or at Lima.
TE-GA-RON-HI-ES appears on a map of 1756 as west of the river.
MONROE COUNTY.
CURRENT NAMES OF INDIAN ORIGIN.
CHI-LI, from the name of the South American country, is a Peruvian word meaning "land of snow." The word is one of those strange importations, seemingly inexcusable in a land where beautiful native names might be chosen.
GE-NE-SEE, as applied to the river, has been interpreted under this name in Genesee and Livingston counties.
HO-NE-O-YE, as applied to the falls, village and creek, comes 19-Vol. 1
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from a Seneca word meaning "finger lying." It was originally applied to the lake. See under Ontario County.
I-RON-DE-QUOIT, from O-nyuh-da-on-da-gwat, "a bay." The current form is a modification of the Mohawk name. Some authorities say that the word means "lake turning aside," in allusion to the bay, and the definition seems plausible.
O-AT-KA, "an opening," was the name for Scottsville.
ON-TAR-IO, from Kanyatario, "pleasant lake," is the present Lake Ontario.
TO-TI-AK-TON, "at the bend," is perhaps not a map name, but the name has achieved currency among archeologists and his- torians as the name for Rochester Junction, where the celebrated Seneca village site of the 1687 period is located. It is a name that might well be adopted for the locality and station.
OLD MAP NAMES AND INDIAN NAMES FROM RECORDS.
GA-DOKE-NA, "place of minnows," is given by Morgan as the name for Salmon Creek.
GAN-DACH-I-O-RA-GON is mentioned in the Jesuit Relations as an Indian village in this region, but it may have been over the county line and near Lima.
GA-NYE-O-DAT-HA, was a landing place on the Irondequoit where Marshall believes Denonville landed.
GA-SKO-SA-GA, "at the falls," is the Seneca name for Rochester. There are many references to the locality by this name with various spellings. Gaskonchiagon and Gaskonchiagou were names frequently used in early days and Charlevoix describing the lower end of the river says, "This river is called Casconchia- gon "
GI-NI-SA-GA, "in the valley," is the name for the lower end of Allen's Creek near Irondequoit Bay.
GWEH-TA-A-NE-TE-CAR-NUN-DO-TEH, "red village," is the name given by Morgan for Brockport.
O-NEH-CHI-GEH, "long ago," is given by Morgan for Sandy Creek.
SGO-SA-IST-HOH and Sgoh-sa-is-thah are Harris and Mar- shall's names respectively for the rifts on the Irondequoit.
SKO-SA-IS-TO, a name similar to the above, is translated by
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Morgan as "falls rebounding from an obstruction," and applied to Honeoye Falls.
TA-E-GA-RON-DI-ES is one of the early names of Totiacton, q.v., and LaHontan, called the village Thegarondies. It must be remembered that Huron and Mohawk speaking people pro- nounced Seneca words to suit their own tongues and that as a rule the Seneca people understood the dialectic change.
WAH-GAH-AH-YEH, "the old fort," is given by Beauchamp as the name for "an old earthwork at Hanford's landing in Roch- ester."
NIAGARA COUNTY.
There are few place names which have elicited more discus- sion than that of Niagara. It has been interpreted in many ways and with varying sentimental conjectures. Some poets would have us believe that it means "Thunder Water," but a critical analysis of the word shows that it has little reference to the falls. The word as we have it is probably, through French Jesuit sources, from the Huron or Neutral tongues. In 1641 the name is given as Onguiaahra, the "u" probably being a typographical error for "n," for Cruxius in 1660 spelled the word Ongiara. In Seneca this would be Ohniaga. The word means "the neck," according to good authority, but Hewitt in the Handbook of American Indians defines it as "bisected bottom lands." The name has reference to the Niagara plains between the two lakes through which the river runs. The Indian town of Niagara was, at Youngstown, according to Morgan.
CURRENT PLACE NAMES OF INDIAN ORIGIN.
CA-YU-GA, as applied to the creek and island above the falls is derived from the national name of the Cayuga people. The word means "drawn up from the water," according to some authorities, but it is probable that the native name Gwe-yu-gweh means "boat landing," in allusion to a spot where canoes were landed along the mucky shore.
HICKORY CORNERS derives its definitive name from an Algon- kian word for the hickory tree.
KI-EN-U-KA, "fine view," the site of the Neutral fort and vil- lage on the Niagara escarpment near Lewiston, while not a map
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name, is well known to historians and archeologists. This was the home of the Neutral chieftainess who ruled the destinies of the Attieandaronk people. Her lodge was the aboriginal peace court where the Five Nations went for advice.
NIAGARA has been defined under the county name.
SHAW-NEE comes from Shau-wa-no, meaning "southerners." It is now a town in Wheatfield.
TO-NA-WAN-DA is from a Seneca word meaning "swift water."
TUS-CA-RO-RA, as applied to the Tuscarora reservation, comes from an Iroquoian word meaning "shirt wearers." The Tus- carora people came from the Carolinas between 1714 and 1723, though there were other migrations up to about 1854.
OLD MAP NAMES AND CURRENT INDIAN NAMES.
A-JO-YOK-TA, "fishing creek," is given by Morgan for John- son's Creek. The word "creek" is not contained in the name.
A-QUA-RA-GE is one of the numerous names for Niagara and was used in 1687.
KA-NA-DE-SA-GA, from Ganundasaga, means "the settlement is new." The original town was west of the present Geneva and in 1755 it had attained considerable importance as an Indian trading post. It was here that Old Smoke or Old King lived. Some of the old spellings are Cunnesedago, Kennesdago, Kana- dasago and Kannadasegea.
KA-SHONG, a creek and early Indian village, now a local name, is interpreted "fallen limb."
NUN-DA-WA-0, "great hill," is applied to the hill near Naples. It was the name of a Seneca town in that locality.
SE-NE-CA, as applied to the lake and town, comes from the Algonkian word "assin" meaning "a stone." This was corrupted to Sinnekars from which Seneca was derived.
OLD MAP NAMES AND NAMES APPLIED BY INDIANS.
AH-TA-GWEH-DA-GA is the form employed by Morgan as the designation for Flint Creek. The word means "flint."
AX-O-QUEN-TA is a term for Flint Creek employed in Camer- hoff's journal.
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CA-NA-GO-RA, Ganagora, Gaensera, the great Seneca town on the present Boughton Hill, is derived from an Iroquoian word meaning "basswood bark." A spring at the west of the hill sup- plied the village with water conducted by a basswood trough and from it the name is thought to have been derived, but this is doubtful. In the metaphorical language of the League a mat of slippery bark was laid at the entrance of the metaphorical doorway of the "Long House" and strangers were told to "watch their step" that they might not fall upon entering the domain of the Iroquois. This explanation is more in keeping with the name of the Seneca capital. It became the Catholic mission of St. James but the Frenchmen afterward called it "that Babylon of the Senecas."
GA-NUN-DA-EH or Ganundaok was a village on the east side of Honeoye Creek where the Genesee turnpike crosses. (Morgan.)
GAN-DOU-GA-RA-E was a town of captives situated south of Boughton Hill. The name as used is the Mohawk form, as so many are derived through French channels.
GA-NECH-STA-GE was a village near Old Town (Geneva), and is mentioned in Camerhoff's journal.
O-NA-HE, Onaghe or Onnachee, are names applied to the Seneca village east of Canandaigua. The site is in the town of Hopewell where so many relics have been found. The name has been defined as "behind another."
O-NEH-DA and Nah-daeh are terms used for Hemlock Lake. The word means "hemlock."
O-TOCH-SHIA-CO is Camerhoff's name for a village and creek west of Ohahe. The spot is now Fall Brook.
SHE-NA-WA-GA appears in the Sullivan campaign journals as the name of the town burned at Kashong. The word may mean "name place."
SIN-NON-DO-WAE-NE appears for Sonnontouan in 1720 and probably refers to the land of the Seneca people.
THAU-GWE-TOOK is an odd name applied by David Cusick to a fort on the west side of Seneca Lake.
There are variants of all these names but for our purposes they need not be cited. Ontario County with its wealth of Indian history has all too few native names in current use.
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ORLEANS COUNTY.
All the names of Indian origin will be considered in one clas- sification since there are few distinctively Indian names in this county in current use.
A-JO-YOK-TA, "fishing place," is given for Johnson's Creek.
DE-GE-A-NO-GA-UNT, "two sticks coming together," is given by Morgan for Oak Orchard Creek.
DET-GEH-HO-SEH, "one stream across another," is given as the name of the aqueduct at Medina. (Morgan.)
DE-O-WUN-DAKE-NO, "boats burned," is the aboriginal name for Albion.
KEN-AH-KA-RENT and Keanauhausent are given by Cusick for Oak Orchard Creek and it may be applied to the ancient earthworks at Shelby. The name appears to be of Tuscarora form.
TO-NA-WAN-DA as applied to the swamp derives its name from the creek. It means "swift water."
DET-GAH-SKOH-SES, "high falls," is Marshall's name for Niagara.
DET-GE-A-DE-HA-NA-GEH, "parallel stream place," is applied to Eighteen Mile Creek.
DE-O-DO-SOT, "flowing spring," was the name of Lockport.
DE-O-NA-GA-NO, "cold spring," is a place north of Lockport.
DE-YO-WA-GEH, "among the reeds," is the west branch of Tus- carora Creek.
DUH-JIH-HEH-OH, "walking on all fours," is cited by Marshall as the name of the portage place at Lewiston Heights.
DYU-NO-WA-DA-SE, "current goes around," is the famous whirlpool.
DYUS-DA-NYAH-GOH, "cleft rocks," is the Seneca name for Devil's Hole and Bloody Run.
GA-A-NO-GEH, or Gai-a-no-ga, is sometimes rendered Kienuka and is the site on the Lewiston escarpment where the Neutral fort and village once stood.
GA-SKO-SA-DA-GEH, "place of the falls," is applied to the vicin- ity of Niagara Falls.
GA-O-WAH-GO-WA, "big canoe," was applied to Navy Island from the fact that the French built ships there.
GAU-STRAU-YEA, "bark laid down," is Cusick's name for the
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fortification at Kieneuka. It alluded to the idea that in this neutral refuge the insincere would slip upon the new bark which had been laid as a mat.
GA-WE-NOT, "island," is Grand Island.
HET-KEH-NIT-GA-ON-DA is given for Golden Hill Creek.
KAS-SKO-SO-WA-NAH, "great falls," is cited for Niagara.
NI-GA-WE-NAH-A-AH, "little island," is Tonawanda Island.
O-GE-A-WA-TE-KA-E, "butternut place," is cited by Morgan for Royalton Center.
ON-DI-A-RA, appears in the Relations of 1665 as a village at the mouth of the Niagara.
OUA-RO-RO-NON, or Wenrohronon, is given as the most east- erly town of the Neutral people in 1626. By some the name of this village has been applied to a tribe, but others think it only the separated villagers of the Canadian Neutral people, and Albert Cusick, the Tuscarora-Onondaga interpreter, defines the name as "separated people." The town may have been at Youngstown.
O-YONG-WONG-YEH (Oyonwayea and Ononwayea) is men- tioned in the Canandaigua treaty. It is Four Mile Creek. Cusick translated the word to mean "something sunk in the bottom."
SKA-NO-DA-RI-O is given by Morgan as the name of Lake Ontario. It means "beautiful lake," though usually translated "handsome lake."
TE-CAR-NA-GA-GE is the east branch of Tuscarora Creek, and is translated "black creek."
TE-KA-ON-DO-DUK, "signpost," is given to Middleport, in allu- sion to an old guide-post directing travelers.
ONTARIO COUNTY.
Ontario County originally bordered on Lake Ontario, whence its name. Ontario is a dialectic variation of the Seneca Skan- yadaio, which form we find in Skanyadario. The Seneca tongue did not have the rolling "r" but substituted a broad "a" or "ah" which approximates "a" soft "r." Some writers, including Lewis H. Morgan, frequently used the "r" in recording Seneca names. The word "Ontario" is derived from Iroquoian words meaning "lake" and "beautiful" or "good." It is thus trans- lated, "beautiful lake," but when used as a personal name it is given as "Handsome Lake."
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CURRENT NAMES OF INDIAN ORIGIN.
CA-NA-DICE from Skaneadice is interpreted "long lake." There are several variations of the name, one of them, Skanea- tice, being applied to the lake and Canadice to the town.
CA-NAN-DAI-GUA, from Ga-nun-da-gwa, "chosen village," from which both town and lake have their name. There are several variations of the term. In 1763 it is given as Canadara- gey and in the Sullivan journals the spellings are Kennendauque, Konondaqua, Kanandalaugua, etc. Canandaigua was an im- portant Seneca town and the lake one of their cherished possessions.
HON-E-O-YE comes from a Seneca term meaning "finger lying." The original Indian town was spelled in several ways as the recorders heard the name. It appears as Anayea, Hanyaye and Hanneyauyen, etc.
HO-NE-OYE, as applied to the lake and township, is derived from a word meaning "finger lying there." There is a legend that when the Seneca people come to Honeoye Lake they saw a finger upon a log and thereupon the leader exclaimed, "Hence- forth this place shall be called Honeoye."
SCHUYLER COUNTY.
CA-YU-TA, a name applied to a lake, village and township, is probably not a variant of Cayuga, which in sound it closely resembles. It may have been derived from an abbreviation of the word for "lake," Ka-nia-ta.
CHE-O-QUOCK, Queanettquaga, Shughquago, and Sheoquago are various spellings of the Indian name for Katherine's Town. It was the home of Catherine Montour, after whom Montour Falls were named. The word is so corrupted that it is difficult to make a translation.
CON-DAW-HAW was a settlement south of Kendaia in 1779. The word is probably derived from the Seneca for "meadow- land."
GA-NI-A-TA-REN-GE, meaning "at the lake," is given by Cam- erhoff in 1750 for Cayuta Lake. Cayuta may be a contraction of this.
LA-MO-KA, the name of one of the twin lakes in Tyrone
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Township. It appears to be a contraction of a Delaware word, Allumhammochwen, meaning, "set off by water." This probably refers to the lake as an obstruction on the trail to Keyuka.
SENECA, from assini-aki, means "place of the stone." (See Ontario County.)
TO-BE-HAN-NA, the stream which empties into Lamoka Lake, comes from a Delaware word meaning "alder stream." There is an unusually large prehistoric Algonkian site at the northeast end of Lamoka.
WA-NET-TA, the name sometimes applied to Little Lake in Tyrone, derives its names from an Iroquoian word meaning "hemlock."
STEUBEN COUNTY.
CA-NA-CA-DE-A, a creek near Hornell, is an old spelling. The "ca" in the third syllable is probably for "sa" and the word pro- nounced Ka-na-sa-de-ga. This means "burnt house." There are several words with similar sounds, making an accurate trans- lation difficult.
CA-NA-SE-RE-GA Creek has its source in Steuben County. The name appears in Livingston County, q.v.
CA-NIS-TE-O, "board on the water," or "floating board," is the name of a township, a lake and a river in the county.
CA-TAW-BA, from katapa, is a Choctaw word applied to an eastern Siouan tribe and meaning, "separated."
CHE-MUNG, a Delaware word, means "big horn" and it is alluded to in the story of the discovery of a mammoth tusk in the gravel of the river near the state line.
CON-HOC-TON as applied to the river which has its source in the county, is derived from Ga-naks-to, a Tuscarora word mean- ing "log in the water," according to Morgan.
CON-HOC-TON has had various fanciful and prolix transla- tions, but probably means "trees in the water."
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