USA > New York > Pioneer history of the Holland Purchase of western New York : embracing some account of the ancient remains > Part 69
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Page 597 .- The names of those, as far as recollected, who had resolved not to let Buf- falo be captured without some show of defence, were Seth Grosvenor, the early Buffalo merchant, now a resident of the city of New York; Elijah D. Efner, who became a citizen of Buffalo, in 1808; after serving as a United States soldier, in some of the carly north-western campaigns, under Gen. Harrison, during which he was engaged in the battle of the Thames, he returned, and has since remained, an enterprising and useful citizen; his fine residence, on the high grounds between the city and Black Rock, furnishing evidence of the success that has attended a life of activity and industry; James Sweeny, his early partner in business, a brother of Col. John Sweeny, of Ton- awanda; Robert Kaene, an early citizen of Buffalo, whose name, in other instances, is honorably associated with the war of 1812; Elisha Foster, now of Fredonia, and
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Messrs. Hull & Johnson, of whom the author has no recollections or memorandums They had taken the cannon from an old beached vessel, mounted it upon truck wheels, aud were contesting British conquest bravely, when one of the wheels broke, just as Col. Chapin went to meet the invaders with a flag of truce.
Page 539 .- Joncaire told Charlevoix that at a place the Iroquois called "Ganos," (the present Seneca name of Oil Spring Reservation is " Ganohs," differing, as will be seen, but slightly, ) there was a spring, the waters of which were like oil, and their taste like iron; and he also told him that at a little distance from it there was another of the same character, the waters of which were used by the savages to cure all manner of diseases. The spring is also described minutely in the Jesuit Relations for 1656 and '57. It is there said that the oil is used by the Indians to "anoint themselves, and to grease their heads aud bodies;" and in the same connection we recognise the fact that the Jesnits had a knowledge of the Sulphur Springs at Avon.
Page 616 .- A deserved tribute to the memory of Gen. Porter has been rendered by the late Secretary of War, Gov. Marcy, in bestowing the name "FORT PORTER," upon the U. S. fortification recently erected at Black Rock.
BRIEF APPENDIX TO SECOND EDITION.
PROJECTION OF THE ERIE CANAL. - The first suggestion of an overland navigable canal, such as the Erie Canal now is, connecting the waters of the Hudson and Lake Erie, was undoubtedly that made to Col. Mynderse, by Jesse Hawley, as noted on page 629. The first public essay upon the subject, was that published in the "Pittsburgh Commonwealth" of date, Jan. 14, 1807, which was written by Jesse Hawley. The following letter was writted by him in the July following, previous, as will be observed, to the first essay of " Hercules" in the Ontario Messenger. It has never before been published, as the anthor infers from observation and enquiry. It was found among the papers of Mr. Granger, and as it would seem, has hitherto been overlooked in the searches that have been made for the early historical reminiscences of the Erie Canal. Mr. Hawley, having zealously espoused the over land canal, was jealous of the propos- ed survey of the Oswego River, and the taking of the "elevation of the waters of Lake Erie, above those of Ontario," and interposed his letter to divert the attention of his friend Mr. Granger from the Lake route. - The author inserts the letter as one inti- mately connected with the history of our internal improvments, and deserving of pre- servation in an enduring form: -
" Greensburg, Pa., 12th July, 1807.
Erastus Granger, Esq.
Sir. - Gideon Granger, Esq. in passing through this place, on his late tour to New Connecticut, observed in a conversation with some gentlemen of this place, that the United States government were turning their attention to the subject of Canals - and that their first object was to open a course of inland navigation, which would most ex- tensively communicate with the Atlantic and its ports, and the great western waters and territory of the United States, and by extending the commercial connections of the east- ern and western sections of the American Empire, would cultivate and strengthen that of the social also, which would aid in preventing a dismemberment of them.
He observed that the government considered the route through the State of New York as best calculated for the purpose, and had employed engineers to examine the Mohawk, Wood Creek, Oswego River, &c. - and that you were to be employed to take the elc- vation of the waters of Lake Erie above those of Ontario, &c.
Sir, - Although I have no individual interest in the subject, yet I feel even a forward- ness to communicate the superficial information which I possess on the subject, and which I have acquired by a very partial attachment to it.
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The favorite idea of mine is to tap Lake Erie about your place, and Canal it to the Mohawk at or about Utica.
Ellicott's map of the Holland Purchase lays down the elevation of Erie above that of Ontario, 450 feet. Say, Utica is 50 feet above Ontario also, (and I think it large enough, ) leaves Erie 400 feet above Utica; - is equal to about 2 feet fall per mile, aver- aged on the whole distance. I think it is allowed that one foot fall in the mile gives a current of six miles per hour. If so, the 400 feet fall would require some Locks, and through that almost level country they could be thrown on almost any part of the route, to the best advantage. After pursuing a northerly course from its departure at your place, for the purpose of obtaining a fall to give it current, it could wind easterly, and probably have to cross the Tonewanta; thence directly east, and cross the Genesee, preb- ably below the junction of Allen's Creek. Thence fall near to, and probably into the bed of Mud Creek, and pursne its channel, with improvements, into and thence down the Seneca River, to about the head of Jack's Rifts. Thence leaving that to the left, run along the foot of the hills and high grounds of Onondaga county, &c. &c,, on to Utica.
This Canal would command the two grand desideratum of nature, viz. an inexhaust- able fountain of water, capable of being gauged to any dimensions required to preserve the navigation for ever in good order, except the interruptions of port, and absolute head and fall which could be pitched by the ingenuity of man almost to his wishes It would also improve the navigation of the Mohawk by the discharge of its surplus water - and could be made productive of some revenue by renting or selling the mill sites made at the places where it would be necessary to raise its bed, or channels, by banking; which would be very valuable through the most of that country, natural ones being scarce; and still more for their convenience of navigation.
To pursue the present water route, while it could, indeed, be much improved by art, still would be subject to insurmountable impediments, The upper streams of the Mo- hawk and Wood Creek afford to the Canal at Rome, and the passages west to Oneida Lake, and east to Utica in the drought of mid-summer, but a stinted supply of water, and a very tedious and laborious passage to boats even of seven and five tons burthen. The Mohawk even below Utica is embarrassed with stinted waters during a large part, (say several months of the season.) This is fully demonstrated by the charges of water transport being as dear as those of the land. To these add the tedious delay of the nu- merous Locks additional - the 450 feet fall from Erie to Ontario - say 50 fect descent of water without Locks - leaves 400 feet to be locked - say . 10 feet to each Lock - (about the average of those at Litlle Falls) -are 40 Locks; - to these add one at Oswego Falls, with one already at Rome, with its Canal - are 42 Locks.
The proposed Canal would not require, more than, say from 5 to 10 Locks -with its distance abridged, say 50 miles, and the sometines dangerous navigation of the Ontario rendered safe. Say the difference of number of Locks to be 30 - the expense of which would Canal almost as many miles of good level ground.
To obviate the objection of " incalculable expense," I will extract from Pinkerton's Geography, some partial data; - vol. 1, p. 199, speaking of the Canal of Languedoc, in France, says, this noble Canal begins in the bay of Languedoc. - At St. Ferrol is a reserveir of 595 acres of water," (on the highest ground to supply it.) "It enters the Garronne { mile below Tolouse; its breadth including the towing path is 144 feet; the depth, 6 feet; length 64 French leagues, or about 180 English miles; 15 years labor were employed, the expense more than £ 500,000 Sterling" - say equal to $ 2,500,000. Also, speaking of Denmark, vol. 1, p. 388. "The Canal of Keil is intended to unite the Baltic with the Eydor River, which flows into the German Sea. Its length is 20} English miles; breadth, 100 feet at top and 54 at bottom; the least depth about 10 feet, so as to admit vessels of about 120 tons; finished in abont twelve years."
Say the Reservoir of 595 acres is equal to expense, (which is very conjectural) of 20 miles Canal. This would make the Canal of Languedoc equal to 200 miles - about the distance from Buffalo to Utica, and to cost of $2,500,000. Say from the difference in the price of labor between this country and France, it should cost $5,000,000; or to average, $25,000 per mile or nearly $80 per rod. But the Canal of Languedoc must have passed over some very uneven ground and have required many more Locks than this would do; and Locks are the vortex of expense.
To point out all the advantages - the connections of interest and of Empire - the vast extension of internal commerce - a new and common channel of the Trade of Upper Canada -its aid in regulating the excess of markets between old and new sct- tlements -the rapid settlement of a new country by its facility to emigration - its facil-
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ity and consequent familier intercourse - its enhancement of tho value of property. probably, to once, twice, thrice, and eventually, four times the amount of its first cost; - and its deriving from these generative powers for other Canals, yet untold and uncon- ceived - are themes which might fill a volume. But the details of these items nume- rous items yet unknown, I must leave to the suggestions of your superior genius.
I presume the magnitude of the subject will form a sufficient apology for my intrusion of it upon your attention. While most of the subjects hinted at cannot but be imperfect: yet, sufficiently correct to establish the main question of POSSIBILITY.
I am Respectfully,
Yours &c.
P. S. - While with a letter in my hand, I will observe on the several letters I have written you on business, under the firm of " Hawley & Corl," of Geneva. If you have received any letters from Detroit, I hope you have been so obliging as to have forwarded them according to my last advice, viz., to Mr. Samuel Colt, of Geneva. If you should yet receive any I have to request the same attention.
The business of that firm has been unfortunate for me. I have been in exile for some months past, in consequence of its difficulties; but now expect to deposit myself in Canandaigua jail in a few weeks. That has caused some delay to this letter. Yours, " J. H."
ANCIENT FORTIFICATION ON BUFFALO CREEK. - The author was aware, when the first edition of this work went to press, that he had omitted notices of many localities within the limits of the Holland Purchase, where Ancient Remains were distinctly to be traced: but it was not until further examinations had been made, and more full information had been acquired, that he was aware of the great extent of these interesting subjects of in- vestigation and speculation. The whole field has as yet been but partially explored, but it is hoped that enough has been done to elicit further inquiry, and induce a survey of the whole region of Western New York, with reference to supplying that which should have been provided for in the munificent historical and scientific enterprise now prose- cuting by our State.
Upon the middle branch of Buffalo Creek, three and a half miles from the village of Aurora, on the Seneca Indian Reservation, there are the remains of one of the largest class of ancient fortifications. A raised work, or mound of earth, enclosed an area of two acres. It occupied a bluff point, overlooking a bend of the stream, its lo- cation evincing much of modern military science. In an early period of the settlement of the country the whole work could be distinctly traced. Upon the spot and in the im- mediate vicinity, almost as often as the plough or the spade is put into the ground, relics, clearly distinguishable from those that mark the later occupancy of ihe Indian race, are found
As in other instances, the spot had attractions for the successive Indian Nations that possessed this region of the Lakes - the Eries, the Neuter Nation, and the Iroquois; for there are palpable evidences of a continued occupancy, extending down to our own pe- riod. Second, and even third timber growths were apparent over a space of fifty or sixty acres. When the French Franciscan and Jesuit Missionaries, and Fur traders, came to this region, they undoubtedly found there a considerable settlement of the Iro- quois, and made it one of their principal stations. The author found in the possssion of Mr. John T. King, the present owner of the land, numerous relics he had ploughed up in his fields, and among them two large French padlocks; one of them, especially, in its rude construction, marking an early period of the science of lock making. It is of a size unparalelled in locks of modern construction, unique in shape, resembling the padlocks that we see in pictures, upon the doors of ancient castles, prisons, and monas- teries, Intelligent foreigners say that such locks are found now in France and Germa- ny, but are regarded there as those of primitive construction. The padlocks were both locked; from which circumstance we may well infer that the French made a hurried evacuation of the locality, during one of the periods of hostile demonstrations on the part of the Iroquois; and it is not likely that such articles would have been left behind in a peaceful or premeditated departure
ANCIENT RECORD, OR TABLET. - In the year 1809, a COPPER PLATE was ploughed up in a field belonging to Mr. Ephriam Woodruff, the early pioneer blacksmith, in Willink. now Aurora. ) Those who saw it differ in reference to its size; the average of their
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recollections would make it twelve by sixteen inches; in thickness not far from the 8th of an inch. It had engraved upon one side of it, in regular lines, extending the whole width of the plate, what would appear to have been some record, or as we may well im- agine seme brief code of laws, in manner and form, like the tablets of the early nations to which allusions are made in both sacred and profano history. The letters, hyroglyph- ics, or characters, are described as having a close resemblance to the "old fashioned printed music netcs." Upon the reverse side of the plate at each corner, there was an engraved image, resembling, (in the language of one of the author's informants, ) some of the pictures in Stevens' work on the ruins of Central America.
Unfortunately for those who take a deep interest in this branch of American history - who are eager to catch even glimpses of that which is involved in so much obscurity, the mysterious plate was a sacrifice te the exigencies of that early period of settlement :- After being looked upon with wonder, (as it would be now, ) those who possessed it, and were somewhat unmindful of its value, allowed it to be worked up - converted into kitchen utensils - a dipper and a skimmer. They were not Antiquarians, as must be inferred, and a sheet of copper in those primitive times, was a rarity that must have strongly inclined them to utilitarianism. A surviving son of the early blacksmith, whe worked up the plate, is quite confident that he did not hammer out the whole of the en- graved lines, All traces of the dipper are lost, but it is confidently believed that the skimmer has been preserved in a branch of the Woodruff family, now residing at the west. If so, and there are any portion of the engraved lines yet legible, it will be put into the hands of some one competent to the task of interpretation. But a partial un- derstanding of the character of the mysterious relic, can, however, be anticipated. But we may well infer, that the plate, had, it been preserved entire, would have furnished something more decisive than any thing that has yet been discovered; and perhaps, have determined what race or people it was that history, and even tradition has lost sight of; but of whose occupancy of this region, there are so numerous and palpable evidences.
Though it is travelling somewhat beyond his bounds, the author is constrained to notice two extraordinary relics that came under his observation during the last summer. A section of an oak tree is now in the possession of Gen. O. G. Barney of Newark, Wayne county, which contains an incision resembling the box made in the maple trees of our forest in the process of tapping, and of about the same dimensions. There is little to distinguish it from cuts made in trees, by our woodsmen, with the common mod- ern axe, The impressions made at each successive blow are about the same as made by the axemen of the present day. Over this incision there were four hundred and sixty concentric circles, or grains. Counting a year for each circle, as observation and the conclusions of naturalists enable us to do, and we are forced to the conclusion that this chopping was done with a sharp axe, about the year 1375: one hundred and twenty-two years before Cabot discovered the northern continent of America; and 159 years before Cartier entered and sailed up the St. Lawrence.
During the last summer, in extracting a pine stump upen the farm of Judge Ells- worth, on the banks of Crooked Lake, in Yates county, a small copper hatchet was taken out of the pit made by extracting the tap root. The tree was nearly five hundred years old.
HUMAN, AND ANIMAL SKELETONS. - In the the village of Pekin, Niagara county, du- ring the last summer, in the process of road making, a large number of human skele- tons were excavated from a depth of about 18 inches. There was a striking peculiarity In the position in which they were found. A large number of skulls dislocated from the under jaws were placed in a row, and over them, the under jaws, and the other bones of the human frame were promiscuously mingled.
A few rods from this deposit of human bones, on the slope of the Mountain Ridge, a large niche in the rock was filled with the benes of animals; most of which, especially the jaws and bones of the fore legs, resembled those of bears, of a large size.
PAGE 143. - Although is is to be inferred from netes that follow, it should have been directly stated, that the translation from which the account of De Nonville's expedition was derived, was made by O. H. Marshall, Esq. from the Paris documents, and commu- nicated to the New York Historical Society, by whom it was published in a pamphlet form. - Mr. M. accompanied his translation with a drawing of the battle ground be- tween De Nonville and the Senecas, and numerous proofs of the identity of the location.
PAGE 192. - In a lecture delivered before the Young Men's Association of Buffalo last winter, Mr. Marshall assumes that the earliest notice of Niagara Falls on record,
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is that of Father Ragueneau, in 1648. He says: - " South of the Neuter Nation is a great Lake, called Erie, almost 200 leagues in circumference, into which is discharged the Fresh Sea; or Lake Huron. This Lake Erie, is precipitated by a calaract of fright- ful height into a third Lake, called Ontario, and by us St. Louis."
PAGE 311. - The name of the early drover who was murdered on the Ridge Road, was Nehemiah Street.
PAGE 381. - At the suggestion of George Hosmer, Esq. of Avon, the author corrects an error which does great injustice to a worthy and reputable man. Peterson, the early tavern keeper, at Caledonia Springs, was never implicated as is stated. He was prece- ded by two foreigners, Moffat and Kane, who, under pretence of keeping a house of entertainment, were undoubtedly robbers. - They were possessed of much valuable property, unsuited to their condition in life, such as watches, jewelry, fine linen, and such articles of furniture as could only be expected in the houses of the wealthy. They left the country to escape the consequences of the probably just suspicions of the early set- tlers of that region.
PAGE 555. - In our necessarily brief notices of pioneer settlers in Orleans county, the name of Judge John Lee, should not have been overlooked. He settled in the town of Barre, in 1816, becoming the founder of what was called " Lee's Settlement." The town was named at his suggestion, after his native town, Barre, in Massachusetts. He was one of that numerous class of early settlers upon the Holland Purchase - (all of whom the author would have been glad to have noticed iu these pages, ) - whose me- mories are entitled to tributes of gratitude from those who are now enjoying the eminent blessings to which their exertions have so largely contributed. His house was open to those who were exploring the new country with reference to settlement; and when lo- cated in their wilderness homes, he was ever ready to render them those offices of kind- ness which none but those who have been settlers in a new country, know how to appre- ciate. He was the first P. M. in Barrc, and filled the office of a county Judge under the old county organization. He died in 1825, aged 60 years. He left a large family of sons and daughters, most of whom are now heads of families, and residents of Or Icans county
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