USA > New York > Onondaga County > Past and present of Syracuse and Onondaga County, New York : from prehistoric times to the beginning of 1908 > Part 6
USA > New York > Onondaga County > Syracuse > Past and present of Syracuse and Onondaga County, New York : from prehistoric times to the beginning of 1908 > Part 6
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The fish were good, too. "The eel of the Oneyda lake is equal to the best of the Holland market, and far surpasses every kind which I have ever tasted here. in size, in fatness, in tenderness of the flesh." Beside, the waters swarmed with life. "Never did I see yet a country where all kind of fish was so abundant and good. It may be equalled, it cannot be excelled. I tasted within a short time of more than a dozen different species, the one conteuding with the other for the pre-eminence, the least of these atfording a palatable food. Salmon, pike, pickerel, cat fish, if well prepared, boiled or stewed, re- sembling the taste of the delicious Turbot, Otzwego Bass, an Epicurean morsel, yellow pereh, sun fish, tziob (chub), three species of trout, river lobster, turtle, sword fish, and a green colored fish of an exquisite taste, white fish, etc." They saw a pike (piekerel ?) dead on the shore, which was three feet six inches long, and got a cat fish weighing twenty-four pounds, a delicious repast. They heard of those much larger.
At Oneida lake he said: "We observed here two sorts of Trout (Forellen) both known by the name of salmon trout, although incorrectly. We could not obtain a specimen of the white species. These were the yellow and the red colored, properly named salmon trout. The first is generally of a smaller size, its color a dark brown with a yellow tinge; the other is larger. the brown more lively, with reddish spots fringed with a color of gold, and sometimes between two and three feet long. The chub (tziob) is the usual bait, sometimes frogs."
They eneamped "about ten miles from Three Rivers point, opposite to a handsome island in the Oswego river. The pickerel often weigh here thirty pounds-pike is of a similar size. We took a catfish of four span and a half. perch too, of which we obtained a few, is here in abundance." At Little Salmon creek, Oswego county, they saw a fish still found in Onondaga waters. "We speared a few of these and cut off their heads, armed with swords-of five and six inches in length-without tasting the flesh. as some of our crew pretended that it was of a poisonous nature, which I would doubt. It might be so in the sword; it might be that this terrible weapon overawed the first examiners and roused their imagination to give birth to similar dreams. The meat certainly appears good, being solid, white and lined with a milky substance."
Fishermen are familiar with the way in which bass form and guard their nests. In the Oneida river he saw those of another fish. "I had now an oppor- tunity of examining and witnessing the truth of what the Baron had told me before, of the curious manner by which the chubs (tziobs) hide their eggs. They deposit these along the rivers of Oswego and Onondaga (now Oneida) on shallow spots, and cover these afterwards with small pebbles, heaped in a conieal form, somewhat below the surface of the water, while others were prominent above it."
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It was not, however, the best time for angling. "The lake was now covered as with a white cloak of hundred thousand millions of insects, which we call Ilaft in Holland, and which lay in some parts of the shore one and two inches deep. This insect appears hore annually at a stated period, although some- what earlier than in Holland. The eggs are hatched on the surface of the water. the winged inseet flutters a short time in the air, and is burried after its short life in a watery grave, to supply the finny tribe a rich repast, from which man reaps in his turn the advantages." It is the larva, not the egg, which reaches the surface, and this phenomenon is a striking feature of all our lakes.
One farther quotation only will now be made from this charming writer. They were in their camp on the shore. "We were, a little after sunset, sudden- ly surprised at a number of fires in a semi-circular form on the lake. They were made by the Oneyda Indians spearing eels. They are usually two or three in a canoe, one steersman, one who spears in the bow ; the third takes care of the fires, made from dry, easily flaming wood. in a hollow piece of bark, first covered with sand." Bartram mentioned this way of fishing when at Oswego Falls in 1743, describing the spear also. "They strike them with long slender shafts eighteen or twenty feet long, pointed at the end with iron. The two splints of wood spreading each side, direct the point into the fish, which at a great depth it would otherwise be difficult to hit. I saw upon one of their canoes in the morning a large piece of bark spread across. On this lay gravel and sand, and on these coals and ashes, which I supposed had been a fire, and the gravel placed there to save the bark. And I took it to be a design of both to allure and see to strike the fish." The bone harpoons of the Onondagas usually were perforated at one end, and had barbs on one side. Earlier forms were barbed on both sides and without perforations.
In a general account of Onondaga fishes some unimportant species aud nominal varieties may be passed over, giving brief notices of the more im- portant. Many have been introduced, accidentally or intentionally, while others have vanished from our waters. Thus the salmon, once so abundant in New York, is not found here now.
A few words may be added on the presence of salmon in our smaller streams. In 1874 Thurlow Weed said: "In the spring of 1810, with two other boys, I was walking of a pleasant evening in the vicinity of the Onondaga creek, a mile and a half south of the site of the present city of Syracuse, then a tangled swamp, inhabited mainly by frogs, water-snakes and owls. Upon the creek stood Wood's mill, below which for several rods were rifts. Our at- tention and surprise were excited by seeing bright lights moving, as we sup- posed, along the banks of the creek. On approaching, however, we discovered Onondaga Indians with pine knot torches and clubs, killing salmon, whose fins and backs were seen as they were ascending the creek in shallow water over the rifts. The Indians good naturedly lent us clubs and gave us the benefit of their torches, until each had captured a salmon, with which we departed for our homes in jubilant spirits. Most of the inhabitants of Syracuse will find it hard to believe that salmon were ever taken south of that city. And yet such is the fact, for which my friend, Philo D. Miekles, recently deceased, would
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PAST AND PRESENT OF ONONDAGA COUNTY
have vouched. as he was one of my companions on that occasion." This was near Mickles' furnace, before Weed became a printer.
Clark says that Bridgeport "was once a great place for taking salmon. It was not uneommon to take them from the nets weighing from twelve to twenty- five pounds. Before bridges were erected they were taken as high up as the Chittenango falls, twenty miles above the outlet." Of these fish at Manlius he said : "It was not unfrequent to run them into shoal water and dispatch them with elubs." and of this he gave several instances, with others on Skaneateles creek.
The yellow perch was onee fine and wonderfully abundant in Skaneateles lake, where in winter time they darkened the bottom of the shallower parts in dense shoals. The introduction of bass and pickerel has reduced them greatly. To Cazenovia lake they gave its Indian name. Early writers made several species of this. Thus DeKay said of the slender yellow perch: "This species was obtained from Skaneateles lake. Onondaga county, by Cuvier. It is doubt- less mixed with the true yellow pereh of which I have obtained specimens from that lake." The one in question seems merely a young fish, age making a great difference in the form, and this was but four inches long. DeKay said that in 1825 perch were taken from Skaneateles to Onondaga and Otiseo lakes, doing finely in the former. In the Seneea river they are small and of poor quality. being infested with parasites. The finest in size and quality are from Skaneate- les lake. 5
The silver bass of Seneca river is fifteen inches long and four deep ,and is a handsome gamy fish. The wall-eyed pike occurs mostly in that river and Oneida lake. It does not reach the reported size of early days, but three were taken in Baldwinsville in 1869, weighing eight and one half pounds each. Rock bass also seem confined to the rivers and canals, affording good sport but no valu- able results. The range of the black bass has been extended to Skaneateles lake, perhaps unwisely, but it is a fine fish there, abounding also in the rivers. The speeies and varieties of this family are somewhat confused, and a question might be raised on the abundance of the Oswego bass here. This is large and has an obscure longitudinal bar. De Kay made a species out of fish he had from the Onondaga outlet, which seems but nominal. lIe ealled it the obscure fresh water bass.
The pretty and common sunfish occurs in all the waters including and north of the eanal, and is taken in large numbers by those who are satisfied with any kind of fish. A local and introduced species oceurs in Cross lake. ealled there the black sunfish. A much finer kind, of large size and handsome markings, is strawberry bass of Seneea river and Cross lake, and perhaps of other connecting waters. It has been accidentally introduced, and is an acquisition.
One kind of stickleback was found east of Syracuse by Prof. L. M. Under- wood many years since, and may have been accidental. It was a western species. A lake sheepshead was caught at Baldwinsville, June 2, 1876, which weighed twenty-one and one-half pounds, but it is not common here, preferring Lake Ontario.
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PAST AND PRESENT OF ONONDAGA COUNTY
Among the soft-rayed fishes is the great lake catfish sometimes still caught in Seneea river of a large size. It closely resembles the small catfish, of which some nominal species have been made. This was once everywhere abundant, and it was a pretty sight to see the parents guarding the infant broods. It is highly esteemed as a food fish, and likes muddy bottoms and plenty of grass.
The chubsuckers may be passed over, as well as the horned daee, mod and common sucker. Of the latter De Kay made one local species, ealling it the Oneida sueker, common in that lake. The sneker brooks were once famous resorts in the spring, when suckers "ran" and large members were taken from the old bridge in Skaneateles with flat nets. As food, however, they were not in high esteem. The large-scaled sucker is finer and of better quality, and is locally called the red fin, sometimes the mullet. A favorite sport in Baldwins- ville is to drop hooks under them from the bridge, and catch them by jerking these up. They are often speared, but will take the hook. Though now abund- ant they have found their way here from waters farther south.
Several small and pretty fish are usually classed as minnows, and are often used for bait. They will not be described now, but the shining dace seem to exceed their usual dimensions in Seneea river, being caught fully a foot long.
Passing over some unimportant species we come to the pickerel, now wide spread here and often of large size. It has been placed in Skaneateles lake. but the only suitable ground for it there is at Glenhaven, and its introduction cannot be called a success. In Oneida, Otisco and Cross lakes it thrives, as well as in the rivers. In the spring it is found in Beaver lake, Lysander, reaching it by a long route from the Oswego river. In the summer none are found there. though the conditions are favorable. Its relative, the muscalonge, once fre- qnent, seems to have disappeared. Some are said to have been taken in the Erie canal near Fayetteville, February, 1890.
The native brook trout, onee abundant, has now but a small range, partly from too much fishing ; quite as much from lack of proper food. Some western speeies have been introduced with very moderate snecess. All our ereeks and rivers once swarmed with salmon in their season, and these often left their names behind. At Baldwinsville the Salmon Hole in the river is still well known; a deep spring hole where the great fish used to lie. On the bank near by was a hollow log, in which a leky fisherman would place his surplus catch. for the benefit of any one who came along. According to early writers the salmon tront, now restricted to Skaneateles lake, was found in other waters. The kind found there is not the lake trout of De Kay, but is said to be the true Namayeush or Mackinaw trout, and some taken there have weighed from six- teen to twenty pounds. It is said to be now almost or quite extinet, introduced and inferior varieties taking its place. John Mellish passed over the Skaneate- les bridge, November 9, 1811, and saw a boy with trout. "I inquired how long he had been catching them and he said 'about five minutes.' Just as he spoke he pulled out a large salmon tront, and I stopped about five minutes, during which he caught three or four more. It was the finest fishing I ever saw, and the trout were beautiful." Thirty years later they were still occasionally taken from the bridge, then very long.
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THE OLD TOLL GATE.
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PAST AND PRESENT OF ONONDAGA COUNTY
Fine white fish, of excellent flavor, were formerly caught in Onondaga Jake, but it is said they have left it now. They fed on a small crustacean living in the lake weeds, which have been destroyed. Of a small species, Professor T. II. Bean wrote to the Rev. W. M. Beauchamp, June 25, 1885: "Did I not write you about the white fish of Skaneateles lake? I thought I had long since done so. 1 described the species fully in proceedings, National Museum, 1882, pages 658-660. The species is Coregonus hoyi (gill) Jordan-the lake Mooneye or 'Ciseo' of Lake Michigan. It has been found in the deep waters of Lake Michigan, Lake Ontario and neighboring lakes. It is the smallest of the white fishes, and belongs to the group with projecting lower jaws; although in some of the books you will find it incorrectly placed in another group. Seneca lake contains the species also." In summer the dead fish floating on the water attract attention, and for this reason the above extract is given. In some lakes it takes the hook.
The river moon-eye, or herring, is found in Seneca river, and also the western mud-fish. This seems to have been first observed in 1880, but has rapidly increased.
The curious bony pike, an antique fish, still oceurs in Cross lake. This was described by Champlain in 1609. "Among the rest there is one called by the Indians of the country Chaousaron, of divers lengths. The largest, I was informed by the people, are of eight to ten feet. I saw one of five, as thick as a thigh, with a head as big as two fists, with jaws two feet and a half long, and a double set of very sharp and dangerous teeth. The form of the body resembles that of the pike, and it is armed with seales that a thrust. of a poniard can not pierce; and it is of a silver gray color. The point of the snout is like that of a hog. This fish makes war on all others in the lakes and rivers, and possesses, as those people assure me, a wonderful instinet, which is, that when it wants to eateh any birds, it goes among the rushes or reeds bordering the lake in many places, keeping the beak out of the water without budging, so that when the birds perch on the beak, imagining it a limb of a tree, it is so subtle that, closing the jaws, which it keeps half open, it draws the birds under water by the feet. The Indians gave me a head of it, which they prize highly, saying when they have a headache they let blood with the teeth of this fish at the seat of the pain, which immediately goes away."
As a distinction, DeKay ealled this the Buffalo bony pike, sometimes called the Alligator gar, and said it had been taken at Ogdensburg, three feet long.
The spotted burbot, or lawyer, is found in Seneca river, and more abund- antly in Oneida lake. It is very voracious, but is not a palatable food. Eels are still abundant in some places, and were taken in vast numbers in early days. The principal local fishery now is at Caughdenoy, where the weirs are a striking feature of the river scenery. The barge canal will destroy these. Vanderkemp grew eloquent over the merits of this fish. On the other hand, Pursh, the botanist. hated it. At Oswego, in 1807. he said: "I had to wait till nearly sunset before I could get anything to eat, and then it was nothing but eel, which I never could eat." On his way to Three River
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PAST AND PRESENT OF ONONDAGA COUNTY
point he had another trial. "Water snakes are very plenty in this river, and lay sometimes on the logs in the water in swarms; it is very disgusting to see them, and eat eel afterwards."
Sturgeons were once plentiful in Seneca river, and occur there yet. One was taken at Jack's Reefs, June 27, 1895, which weighed sixty-seven pounds. The usual length is about four feet. These belong to fishes which have no true skeleton, but are strengthened by large plates, a feature of carly fishes.
The sea lamprey ascends to Cayuga lake, and probably to others. One was taken at Baldwinsville, January 25, 1887, which was sixteen inches long. The greatest length is thirty inches. This adhered to a stick, and they fasten themselves to fishes in the same way, making them their food. De Kay says: "They ascend stream and construet conical heaps of stones, among which they deposit their spawn."
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Carp are now taken of a large size, one of nineteen and one-half pounds having been eaught at Camillus, May 30, 1907. They also thrive in Seneca river, but are not highly esteemed.
Owing to changes in the water, caused by various manfacturies, to the diminution of food. and wasteful and indiscriminate fishing, the fish supply is not to be compared with that of early days. By stocking streams and by protective laws something has been done to repair the waste, but conditions are so changed that primitive abundance is now impossible. Various associa- tions have done good work, and Onondaga has always been proud of Reuben Wood, whose fine portrait adorns the walls of the llistorical Association. Professor Ernst Held, now over 85 years old-young he would say-is still an enthusiastic angler, ascribing his vigor to his love of woods and waters.
The Anglers Association of Onondaga offers annual prizes for fine game fish, taken on a specified day in June, and the list of prize fishes in 1907 will give an idea of what may still be had. Small-mouth Black Bass: First, sixteen and three-quarters inches long (two of these), seeond size, sixteen and five- eighths inches. Large-mouth Black Bass: First, seventeen and one-quarter inches; second, fourteen and three-quarters. Pike: First, twenty-three and one-eighth inehes; second, twenty-one. Pickerel: First, twenty-seven inches; second, twenty-five and three-quarters. These are rather small sizes. Native Brook Trout: First, nine inches; second, seven and three-quarters. Brown trout: First, fifteen and three-quarters inches; seeond, fourteen and one- quarter. Lake Trout, twenty and one-quarter inches. Pereh: First, eleven and fifteen-sixteenth inches; second, eleven and five-eighths inches, with a number slightly differing in length. At that time about eighty fish were offered in competition. This association now numbers 1,150 members.
REPTILES.
The reptiles of Onondaga will be briefly treated, and in a popular way. The turtles appealed to the Indian as food, of which he was often in need; as rattles, to be used in his danees; and in a mythieal way, because when the woman fell from heaven she was received on the back of a great turtle,
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PAST AND PRESENT OF ONONDAGA COUNTY
and on this the world was formed. One of the three principal Iroquois clans, common to all the nations, was that of the Turtle. A soft-shelled turtle was taken in Seneca river, near Baldwinsville, in July, 1876, which weighed eight pounds, five ounces. The shell was nearly eleven inches long, while DeKay gives the length as five and three-tenths inches, so that this seems to have been unusually large. He also said that before the opening of the Erie canal it was strictly a southern species, and it certainly is rare here. Hle had heard of it in Cayuga lake and Lake Ontario. It makes a fine food.
The snapping turtle is better known, and is found in many streams. It attains a large size, and occasionally is found at a distance from water. Its food is fishes and frogs, and sometimes even ducks. The painted or common mud turtle is still abundant in favorable situations, but the drainage of swamps and ponds has much lessened its range. It is fond of sunning itself on logs, where quite a company may often be seen. This is our most common species. The spotted turtle is smaller and less common, but has similar habits. Muhlenberg's tortoise has also been doubtfully reported here. The musk turtle is a small and inflated species, occurring in ditches near Bald- winsville, and probably elsewhere. It has a strong odor, but easily escapes attention. The wood terrapin may still be found in woods, its moss-grown back suggesting a piece of coarse bark, and it might be seen, yet be unobserved. The box turtles have never been reported here, though this region is within their range.
Black snakes are still found. DeKay gives the length as three to seven feet. In 1876 three were killed by E. Shepard in the limestone rocks of Camil- Ins, which were said to be six and one-half to seven and one-half feet long. They are not poisonous. The milk snake is also a large and handsome snake. from two to five feet long, yet rarely over four feet. One seen a few days sinee was fully that length. Its habits are well known. The ring snake lurks under stones, rocks and decaying bark. and is rather pretty, having a white collar around the neck, and strong colors elsewhere. The grass snake is also a pretty species, of a bright green tint, and from one to two feet long. Beside other places, it frequents neglected cemeteries.
The water snake has an appropriate name, and is harmless, though not pleasant to view. The striped snake has several popular names, and is common, but on the decrease. The small brown snake seems rare, but was observed at Beaver lake in 1897. The ribbon snake is also found, but is con- sidered a southern species.
The rattlesnake, our only local poisonous speeies, was formerly abundant. and a few are said to still lurk in Cicero swamp. The French missionaries gave a graphic account of these: "There are encountered. in the same place. certain serpents which are not seen elsewhere, and which we call serpents with little bells (rattlesnakes), because they make a noise, when crawling similar to that of a little bell, or more like a grasshopper. At the end of their tails they bear certain round seales, joined one into the other, of such nature that in opening and contracting, they make this noise, which one can hear
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PAST AND PRESENT OF ONONDAGA COUNTY
for twenty paees. These little bells, or seales, eease not making a noise when one shakes them after the serpent's death, but it is not so great as that which they make when the serpent is alive. The natives of the land say that these scales are excellent against toothache, and that the flesh, which they find of as good taste as that of the eel, eures the fever; they eut off the tail and the head, which is entirely flattened and almost square, and eat the rest. Its body is about three feet long; it is larger than a man's wrist, and marked all over the back with black and yellow spots, except on the tail, which is nearly all black. It has four teeth, two above and two below, as long as, but sharper, than our little needles. It bites like a dog, and makes its venom triekle into the bite by a little black sting, which it draws out of a purse, where this poison is contained. When any one is bitten by them he immediately swells. and if he is not promptly helped he dies in a little time after, all covered with red pustules. As soon as these serpents see a man they hiss and beat the tail, making their little bells play, either to frighten their foe, or to ani- mate themselves to the combat, or more because God has given them this instinet in order that men may be on their guard at the approach of so dangerous an animal. I know not whether these serpents are attraeted by the salt, but I know well that the place where we have erected our dwelling, sur- rounded by beautiful springs of fresh water, is not infested by them, though it is on the shores of the same lake."
Bullfrogs are now rather rare, and their grand accompaniment is much missed in the frog concerts of spring and summer months. The spring and marsh frogs have suffered mneh of late from the growth of French tastes. frogs' legs being now choice morsels. The wood frog, garden and tree toad may be found, and perhaps other species. Among lizards are the yellow- bellied, violet-colored, red-backed, red and scarlet salamanders, and the erim- son-spotted Triton. The eurious banded Proteus, here ealled dogfish, is fre- quently found, either in eanals or rivers, or in marshy places, and has fringed gills, red in color. It is elsewhere ealled the big water lizard, and may be from one to two feet long.
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