Landmarks of Orleans County, New York, Part 3

Author: Signor, Isaac S., ed
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Syracuse : D. Mason
Number of Pages: 1084

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CHAPTER III.

Original Occupants of the Soil --- Cessions of Lands-Pre-Historic and Indian Re- mains-Review of Events Leading to Settlement by the White Men.

The first white man who penetrated the wilderness that once covered what is now the State of New York, found its northern and western part inhabited and dominated by nations of that remarkable race of copper- colored people whom we call Indians-in reality, the native Americans. The question whence they originated is shrouded in mystery, and so must remain ; but we well know whither they are going. Unnum- bered ages hence, their disappearance from the earth may be enveloped in the deep oblivion that now hides their origin.

The detailed history of this race cannot be followed in this volume, nor is it desirable that it should be; for it is writ upon the glowing records of the past by many gifted pens. As to the right or wrong of their conquest and rapidly approaching extinction, wise men differ. At the foundation of the question is the fact that in the world's history civilization must advance at whatever cost to the uncivilized; the ignorant must go down before the educated; the weak before the strong ; might, if not right, will triumph. If the Indians, their undis- , ciplined passions fired by the white man's rum, armed with the guns placed in their hands in exchange for valuable furs at a ten-fold profit, driven from their hunting grounds when no longer a source of gain to the invaders, finally retaliated and committed barbarities, the record of which fills the pages of history with horror, what else should have been expected ? The fact remains that there is not an instance on record where the natives did not receive the first visit of the white man with hospitality and kindness. We may well, therefore, give a thought to what it was that produced the great change in the attitude of the Indian towards his Caucasian superior. The former never desired to part with his lands; so the latter stole what he could not buy.1 The Indians retaliated by murdering the thieves.

1 As late as July, 1755, an Iroquis chief in addressing Sir William Johnson, said: "Brother- You desire us to unite and live together, and draw all our allies near us ; but we shall have no

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With Champlain shooting with his terrorizing gunpowder upon the guileless Iroquois in 1609 on the Lake that bears his name ; 1 with the Jesuits beguiling the natives to secure their allegiance-and their furs ; with the sagacious Dutch following Hendrick Hudson up the great river that bears his name, within a year or two after Champlain killed his first Indian a little farther north ; and with the English landing on the Atlantic shores a few years later to hoodwink the natives out of their lands-with all this going on, it is scarcely a marvel that the gradually aroused Indians became revengeful.

The Iroquois Indians, as they were called by the French, known as the Five Nations (subsequently the Six Nations) by the English, were established across the State of New York, beginning with the Mohawks on the east, with the Oneidas (with whom the Tuscaroras were subse- quently practically amalgamated), the Onondagas, the Cayugas, and and the Senecas next in the order here given.

Nothing is known of their history previous to the settlement of the country by the white men. According to their traditions they once occupied a region north from the St. Lawrence, where they were weak in numbers and subject to the Algonquins, who occupied the country still farther north. Having been vanquished in a war with the Adiron- dacks they fled from the country and came by way of the St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario to the Oswego River, through which they entered Central New York. As nearly as can be learned from their traditions, they lived together for a time near Seneca River. As they increased, however, they sought new territory. A portion went to the region of the Mohawk and became the Mohawk nation. They were termed

land left either for ourselves or them. for your people when they buy a small piece of land of us, by stealing they make it large. We desire such things may not be done and that your people may not be suffered to buy any more of our lands. Sometimes it is bought of two men who are not the proper owners of it. The land which reaches down from Oswego to Schanandowana (Wyoming) we beg may not be settled by Christians. The governor of Pennsylvania bought a whole tract and only paid for half, and we desire that you will let him know that we will not part with the other half, but keep it." This seems a reasonable speech for a savage regarding what he believed to be his own property ; and even an Indian is likely to fight when he is robbed.

1 The moment they saw me they halted, gazing at me and I at them. I raised my arquebus, and aiming directly at one of the three chiefs, two of them fell to the ground by this shot ; one of their companions received a wound of which he died afterwards. I had put four balls in my arquebus. The Iroquois were greatly astonished seeing two men killed so instantaneously .- From Champlain's Journal. He " put four balls in his arquebus," The artless old French writer -and murderer !

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Ga-ne-a-ga-o-no, or people who possessed the flint. Another portion migrated to the east and resided for a time, but subsequently separated into two bands, one of which occupied the region at the eastern extremity of Oneida Lake, and the other settled in what is now the Onondaga Valley. The former were known as the O-na yote-ka- o-no, or granite people (Oneidas), and the latter as O-nun- da-ga-o- no, or people of the hills (Onondagas). The remainder subsequently separated. A portion located on the eastern bank of Cayuga Lake. They were termed Gwe-ra gweh-o-no, or people at the mucky land (Cayugas). The other portion spread westward to the Genesee River and made their capital at the head of Canandaigua Lake. They were called Nun-da-wa-o-no (Senecas), or great hill people.

This appears to be the substance of their traditions concerning their migrations to the regions occupied by them, of a fanciful or poetic character.

The recollection of their common origin, and a wise prevision of what would conduce to their common welfare led to the establishment among them of the confederation or league, which insured harmony and prosperity among them, and rendered them a terror to surround- ing nations, and also in later time challenged the admiration of legisla- tors and statesmen. When this confederacy was established is not known. It has been surmised that it was early in the sixteenth cen- tury, and some fix the date at 1635 ; but probably it was long previous to that. This league was not simply an offensive and defensive alliance of the nations, liable to dissolution at any time. It resembled in many respects the union of the States in our government. When the confed- eracy was organized, fifty offices were created and names were given to each. They were distributed among the nations unequally. The Mo- hawks had nine, the Oneidas nine, the Onondagas fourteen, the Cay- ugas ten, and the Senecas eight. Although these offices were heredi- tary, no one could become a ruler or sachem till he was raised to that dignity by a council of the sachems of the confederacy, and when so raised he dropped his own name and assumed that of the sachemship. To some of these sachemships was attached greater dignity than to others, yet this was purely honorary, and each sachem had an equal voice in the affairs of the confederacy. These sachems, who, when in

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council, constituted the legislative body of the league, were also the rulers in their respective nations.

Each nation of the confederacy was entirely independent of every other in all matters of a purely local character, and each sachem was the peer of every other in council except so far as ability made him the superior of his fellows. Such was the law of descent among the Iroquois that a sachemship could never pass from the tribe and family to which it was originally assigned. An inferior class of officers came into existence during the later years of the confederacy, even after in- tercourse with the whites commenced. These were the chiefs who were elective, and their numbers were not limited. At first their func- tions were circumscribed and local, but their influence has gradually increased till, in some respects, it is equal to that of the sachems. The powers of both are of a purely civil character. A sachem or chief went on the war path as a common warrior. Indeed, the Iroquois had no class military chiefs or war leaders, though many of their war captains were elected chiefs to reward them for their valor. Their war methods were singular and difficult of comprehension and explanation. They had two military chieftaincies, the functions of which were to supervise and direct warlike matters when two or more nations were engaged in warlike undertakings, but the chieftains were not, by virtue of their offices, commanders in the field. Any individual might organize a war party and engage in hostilities against any nation with whom they were not positively in alliance. The two war chieftaincies, like the sachemships, were hereditary, and were assigned to the Seneca nation.

In their warlike operations, the policy of the Iroquois seems always to have been, not the extermination of their foes, but their subjugation and adoption, and it is said the Kahkwas and Eries were offered the alternative of extinction or adoption. The result of this policy was the extension of their power and influence until about 1700 they dominated a large portion of the territory now embraced in the United States. Tradition says that when the nations separated from the parent stock, a portion wandered away and settled on the Neuse River in North Carolina, and when, about 1712, they were expelled from their south- ern home they sought a habitation among the Ho-de-no-saunee, because of their common origin, and after their adoption the confederation was known as the Six Nations.

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In addition to the division of the Iroquois nations, a tribal division existed. Each nation was divided into eight tribes, named : Wolf, Bear, Beaver, Turtle, Deer, Snipe, Heron and Hawk. This division into tribes and the relation of members of these tribes to each other, regulated many of the institutions of the Iroquois.

All property rights and titles descended in the line of the female instead of the male. The son of a sachem, therefore, "could neither succeed his father as a sachem, nor inherit from him his medal or his tomahawk."

At the commencement of the Revolution, the council of the con- federacy could not agreee to make war against the States, and each na- tion was left free to act on its own responsibility.

Their councils were of three kinds : civil, for the transaction of busi- ness pertaining to the nations ; mourning, for lamenting the death of their sachems and the investiture of their successors: and religious, for religious observances.

The chief sources of enjoyment for the Iroquois appeared to be the chase, the war path and the council fire.

As has been seen, the Iroquois made themselves the dreaded masters of all their neighbors east of the Mississippi, and carried their victorious arms far to the north, the south and the east.

The original habitat of the Senecas was between Cayuga Lake and the Genesee River. They named themselves " Nun- da- wa-o-no," or people of the hill. They knew nothing of the name Seneca, except as applied to themselves by outsiders, as with other Indian proper names, the spelling for a long time varied; the nation for a long time being called " Sennikes," and also being called some sixty other names, mostly similar. The later classical form of the word is certainly an improvement.1

When the Senecas were first known to the white men, their villages were scattered from Seneca Lake half way to the Niagara. In 1669, when La Salle made his first visit to their country, their four principal villages were from ten to twenty miles south of the falls of the Genesee,

1 A tradition of the Senecas says that at the time of their greatest prosperity a census of the nation was taken "by placing a kernel of white flint corn in a husk basket which, from the description of its size, would hold ten or twelve quarts. Taking the smallest size and making the estimate accordingly will give the number of Senecas alone at 17,760."

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and to the eastward of that river. Mention is made of the cabins of the Senecas on the Niagara in 1678 and 1736. General Amherst, writing in 1763, mentions the "Kanadaseegy and Canadaraggo " castles, the former of which, more commonly spelled " Kanadareagy," stood on the site of Geneva. These are presumably the villages which Sir William Johnson, in his enumeration of the Indians in 1763, calls " Kanadasero " and "Kanadaragey," and mentions as being in the English interest, while the rest of the nation was hostile. There were in Sir William's time two castles of the tribe, at " Chennesio " (Geneseo), once their western outpost, and a village called "Chenondonah," stood on the west bank of the Genesee some fifteen miles from its mouth.

Previous to the settlement of this country by white men, the Indians passed from one point to another over trails. These consisted of paths sometimes from twelve to eighteen inches in width, and often they were worn to a depth of from six to twelve inches, according to the character of the soil. These trails connected village with village, and many of the main ones ran along the sides of the rivers, in or near the valleys of which these villages sprang up. The routes were determined, as were the locations of the villages, by a sort of natural selection, and the habits and customs of the Indians were not such as to effect changes that would in their turn require changes in these locations; and they very nearly coincided with the present main avenues of travel through the State. A main trail extended through the site of Albany to that of Buffalo, over almost the same route subsequently followed by the main turnpike, and later, generally, by the Central Railroad. From this the other trails branched, the traces and memory of many of which are now obliterated.

Along the southern shore of Lake Erie, west of the Senecas, dwelt the powerful " Eries, or cat nation," as the French, for an unknown reason, called them. About 1654, or 1655, they fell victims to the conquering Iroquois.

It is remarked in the life of Mary Jamison that perhaps no people were more exact observers of religious duties than those Indians among the Senecas who were denominated pagans, in contradistinction from those who, from having renounced some of their former superstitions have obtained the name of Christians. They had several yearly feasts 4

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or assemblings for thanksgiving and for soliciting a continuance of the favors of their deities.

As far as relates to the immediate territory of which this work treats, it almost wholly escaped the effects of the wars which at various times during more than one hundred and fifty years continued between the French, the English and the Indians. The territory of what is now Orleans county was, without a doubt, a part of the domain of the Senecas, who were the most intelligent as well as the most warlike of the Iroquois nations. Here they undoubtedly trod the deep forests in quest of game, or followed the trails to and from the great lakes; but as far as known, no conflict occurred in this immediate region. While the Mohawks and other easterly nations of the Iroquois were as a rule loyal to the English or neutral in their long struggle with France, the power of the French constantly increased among the Senecas. But in spite of this, the French never obtained a foothold in what is now New York State; the English arms, allied with the greater part of the Iro- quois, prevented such a result. With equal facility had France, Eng- land, and Spain as well, parceled out vast provinces in the new world. The French established a fortified trading post on the Niagara River in 1683-4, but it was captured for the English under Sir William Johnson in 1759, and surrendered to the United States in 1796, after the Revo- lution. In 1722 a trading house was built on the site of Oswego, under administration of the colonial government of New York, and five years later it was strengthened into a considerable fort. The place was cap- tured by the French in 1756 and destroyed. The works were rebuilt in 1758 by the English and continued in their possession until 1796. Bloody wars continued until the final extinction of the French power in 1763. There was strife from the beginning to gain the fealty of the Indians. They were not only extremely useful as fighters for either power, but their friendship was equally desirable for purposes of trade. Of course they were regularly swindled by either party toward which they leaned.

When the Revolutionary War broke out and England was to be taught that there were some small portions of the earth whose people would not submit to practical slavery, the provincials held a council with chiefs of the Six Nations at German Flats (now in Herkimer

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county), and secured from the Indians a promise to remain neutral through that struggle ; but through the influence of Sir John Johnson and other prominent tories, the Iroquois, with the exception of the Oneidas and the Tuscaroras, violated their pledge and adhered to the cause of England through the war. The barbarities of the tories and Indians in the Mohawk Valley and elsewhere in this State are too familiar to need attention here. To punish the Indians, and especially the Senecas, and to capture Fort Niagara, Sullivan's campaign was organized in 1779. Under that general, a large force met the enemy near Elmira and defeated them with great loss. Thence northward through the villages in Livingston county to Canandaigua, the victorious American army marched, destroying everything belong- ing to the Indians on the route. Although not many of the Senecas were killed after the battle mentioned, they were thoroughly humbled and frightened into submission to their white neighbors. Abandoning from that time their villages east of the Genesee River, they settled down near Genesee, Mount Morris and at other points in Western New York.

Relics of Indian life are found in many places in Orleans county, as they are throughout the western part of the State. The "ridge" which extends from Rochester to the Niagara River, and which, in a former geologic period, was the shore of the lake, passes through the middle tier of towns. This was a convenient and natural thor- oughfare between the east and west, over which war parties could pass on their hostile excursions, or bands of hunters on their hunting expeditions. Fortified camps and villages were a necessity, protecting them against the former, and temporary camping places, occupied on successive journeys during many years, were doubtless used by the latter.

There are no mounds here, such as are found in the Western States. The remains of only one ancient fortification are known to exist in this county. An imperfect description of this, by the late Hon. S. M. Burroughs, was published some years ago. It was also briefly described by the eminent archaeologist, Squier, in 1851.

The subjoined description was written in 1874, by F. H. Cushing, of the Smithsonian Institute, a native of the town of Barre, whose subsequent ethnological researches in the Southwest are well known :

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In the town of Shelby, Orleans county, N. Y., about three miles southwest from the village of Medina, are the remains of one of the most interesting earthworks in the State. This work is situated at the summit of a slight and not abrupt elevation. It consists of two mural embankments, which are now about two feet in height, parallel and twelve feet distant from each other. They describe an almost exact circle, having a diameter of four hundred and thirty feet, and an area of three and one third acres. Two fences on original lines, running one north and south, the other east and west, divide this enclosure into four nearly equal parts or quadrants. Those portions of the work included in the northeastern and southwestern quadrants have for many years been under cultivation, and the embankments are nearly obliterated. The northwestern and and southeastern portions are still covered with forest trees. In these portions the walls are interrupted only by two sally ports or openings for passage. These openings occur at nearly opposite points in the circle. The passage in the outer wall is not, in either, exactly opposite to that in the inner. In one they are sixteen and in the other thirty feet apart. To avoid two large boulders of Niagara limestone the inner wall at one point makes a slight deflection from the regular circular course.

Upon these embankments are standing trees, and the stumps of trees, that had commenced their growth long before the Jesuit fathers had explored the region now comprising Western New York. Traces of a moat which once encircled this work are still discernable at intervals. This moat is broad in proportion to its present depth, and in this respect is not regular. It was probably made by the removal of the earth for the construction of the walls, and perhaps it was not intended as an additional defense, though it must, to some extent have served as such.

Three features of this work add much to its interest : First, it is almost circu- lar in form; secondly, it consists of two parallel embankments; thirdly, the open- ings for passage are not opposite in the two walls: These three peculiarities dis- tinguish this from all other earthworks east of Ohio.

Ten rods south of this work lies a peat swamp two miles in length by one in breadth. This swamp is, or has been, covered by a heavy growth of black ash timber. A vertical section of seven feet in this swamp shows first the remains of trees to the depth of two feet, next below, the remains of marsh plants, gradually becom- ing peat, which, as the depth increases, changes in color from dark brown to light blue. At all depths in this peat are to be seen the remains of leaves, evidently brought by the winds from the forests of the surrounding land. Underlying the peat is a stratum, from three to four inches in thickness, composed entirely of fresh water shells, mostly univalves, some of which are apparently species of Pauludina. Beneath this stratum there occurs another composed of blue clay intermixed with sand, containing occasionally the remains of shells, among which have been found specimens of the fresh water clam (Urio).

These facts lead to the conclusion that this peat swamp was probably a shallow lake at the time when the works were constructed. This conclusion is also strengthened by the fact that there is no evidence of the existence of a permanent supply of water else- where within a mile of the works.

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It is proper to state that the supply of fish in this lake was abundant; replenished in the time of high water, in the spring of the year from Lake Ontario, thirteen miles distant, through Oak Orchard Creek, into which its outlet flowed.

West from the work, at a distance of half a mile, on the eastern slope of a sand hill, is a large bone pit where the bones of many hundreds have been deposited. It is said by old settlers that those portions of the work now included in the cultivated fields spoken of originally presented the same features now seen in those which the forest includes.

Of course exaggerated stories are told of the relics that have been plowed up in these fields. Without doubt many which would be of great interest to an ethnologist have been found, kept for a while, and then given to the children as playthings by those who knew nothing of their value as relics.

On making excavations in those portions still uncultivated many specimens of great interest are found. They are usually from six to eighteen inches beneath the surface, often embedded in charcoal and ashes. They consist of hammers, sinkers, stone orna- ments, pipes, pottery ; also implements and ornainents of bone, such as bone splinters, awls, needles. daggers or dirks, cylindrical ear ornaments, implements for the ornamen- tation of pottery, perforated metatarsals, and perforated teeth. These bone implements are found in all stages of manufacture, from the rude splinter to the ground or polished implement or ornament.

What was the original height of these works can now be only a matter of conjec- ture. It is probable, however, that the embankments were from four to five feet in height, and surrounded by palisades.

Vegetable mold has accumulated to the depth of six inches on the most exposed points, and beneath this stratum the relics occur to the depth of eighteen inches. The inference, therefore, is that since the work was abandoned time enough has elapsed for the accumulation of this six inches of soil by the slow process of growth and deposit on dry land. It was inhabited or used long enough for twelve inches to accumulate. It was probably abandoned when the lake was so nearly filled that it ceased to afford either fish or a permanent supply of water. Since the time when timber commenced to grow at the surface of the lake, two feet of soil has accumulated.

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Landmarks of Orleans County, New York, Part 3

Author: Signor, Isaac S., ed Publication date: 1894 Publisher: Syracuse : D. Mason Number of Pages: 1084

Author: Signor, Isaac S., ed
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Syracuse : D. Mason
Number of Pages: 1084