USA > New York > The natural, statistical, and civil history of the state of New-York, v. 1 > Part 22
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The waters of the creek have, within the memory of many persons now living, been known to flow very profusely in the ancient bed. ludeed, we saw the whole stream flow in it in the month of March 1822. This was occasioned by the sudden breaking up of the creek, and the stoping of the ice in the present bed, from the foot of the old bed,' up to near its head, but it continued to flow only four or five days. During this time the stream appeared very natural, so much so, that a stran- ger would not have supposed a change or shifting.
The oldest inhabitants now living in the neighbourhood say, that the Indians had a tradition of the waters opening a passage at the east end of the insulated ridge, and of their quiting the old bed ; but the time, cause and manner are enveloped in ob- livion.
We shall venture to make a few suggestions relative to the cause and manner which, although not conclusive, have at least some plausibility.
1. At an unknown period, and before the rupture, the stream near the commencement of the ancient bed, separated and form- ed an island, which occupied most of the space between its left bank and the ridge, including the creek's present bed, and some flats on the east side.
The branch which flowed on the east and south side of this island, can, at this distant time, be in part, traced along the north
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side of the projection and isolated ridge, to its termination in the ancient bed. Its width is eighteen or twenty paces.
2. The waters must have run in considerable quantities in this branch during freshets and floods, and must have worn down, undermined and demolished the ridge where the creek at present passes.
3. The deepest and swiftest water must have been on the side of the ridge, because the direction of the bed, and the elevation of the ridge, both tended to it.
4. As soon as the ridge was broken down, the whole stream rushed through and took this direction, and flowed where the present bed is.
Since then the creek has deepened its bed so much that the commencement of the old bed is about seven feet above the pre- sent at low water mark.
Before the breaches were made in the ridge, there must have been a small lake lying behind it of several miles extent.
We shall conclude with some explanatory remarks.
1. The ancient bed is about one thousand five hundred and fifty paces in length, and one hundred in breadth.
2. The chord is eight hundred and seven paces in length- this determines the extent of the new bed-three hundred and fifty paces are south of the ridge, fifty at its base, and four hun- dred and seven on the north.
3. The original length of the ridge did not vary much from one thousand paces. Of these the isolated portion now com- prises six hundred and ten paces, the gap at the west end one hundred, and that at the east end one hundred and forty, while the remainder is contained in the projection.
The base of the ridge is from fifty to one hundred and forty paces broad, and its altitude from twenty-five to about eighty feet. The eastern part, which is the lowest as well as narrowest, bears marks of having been lowered by waters.
4. The lateral hills, immediately along the valley, are not higher than the most elevated parts of the ridge, although they are at a short distance back.
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It will be observed that the lateral hills are terminated on the south by the hill lying on the north side of the valley of the Mohawk.
In ascending the creek as far as the foot of the rapids, below Trenton Falls, we see several traces of its ancient bed, seven, eight, nay, twenty-five feet higher than its present. These traces have banks, and are from eighty to one hundred yards broad. They begin and end at the creek. Some exceed six hundred yards in length. We shall instance one of these, which affords a fine example. It is on the right bank, about nine miles above the isolated ridge, and upwards of twenty feet higher than the surface of the present bed. It is bordered by alluvions, but they are very ancient, since we find little or no vegetable earth mixed with them. The present bed of the creek, opposite, above and below this place, is sandstone, con- taining some lime. The old bed is very crooked, but the new is straight. The bed above and below must have undergone a correspondent depression, or in other words, the bed since. the dereliction must have sunk by abrasion, or the wearing of the water, above twenty feet. The present affords more facilities for the rapid descension of the waters.
The bed of this stream must have been much higher before the Mohawk had sunk to its present level at the Little Falls. The ancient banks are in many places faintly marked out. In general, a strip of alluvion lies between these banks and the present. In composition it differs from rock alluvion, or such as has been formed on the spot, or by materials washed from the adjoining hills. The creek alluvion, with few exceptions, may be termed a sandy loam. The Germanflats are indebted to this sandy loam for their extreme fertility.
The ridge, as it is called, on which the village of Herkimer stands, is foreign, being composed of clay, argillaceous loam, sandy loam, sand and gravel, both coarse and fine, round stones, &c., sometimes separated, and at others jumbled to- gether. The whole appear to rest on blue clay and marl. The flats, or river and creek alluvions, environ it. The north- west and north sides of the ridge rise from ten to fourteen feet.
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The West Canada creek has, at different periods, flowed on both sides ; that is, it has run on the east side and northwest side, between the ridge and hill, southwestwardly ; on the east 'side several beds may be traced between the village and the present bed of the stream. On the northwest side an old bed is also to be seen stretching to the river in that direction. The water occasionally in floods flows in it. The ridge, properly speaking, is a plain. It is difficult to determine how it was form- ed, unless we suppose it to have been by an immense debacle or clearing up of the creek.
Change in Poultney River in 1783.
A similar change to that in West Canada creek, was made in Poultney river, which empties into East Bay, near White Hall. This river, for several miles before its entrance into the bay, forms the division line between the county of Washington and the State of Vermont. A little above its mouth a ridge of land crosses the valley in a northerly direction. Before the change, the river ran in a northwesterly course to the ridge, where it wheeled suddenly to the right, and flowed northeast- wardly half a mile, and then turned to the left, and pursued a westerly direction across the ridge, down a considerable ledge of rocks. For several years before the change the river had gradually worn away the bank on the side of the ridge, just in the bend where the stream turned to the northeast. In the month of May 1783, during a very great freshet, the river at this place broke down the ridge, and meeting with no rock, it wore a channel sixty feet deep, nearly to a level with the stream be- low, leaving the former channel and falls perfectly dry. . The bed of the river, for some distance above the rupture, was low- ered or sunk to a great depth, so that the low meadow lands along the stream, which before were inundated by every freshet, have now become dry plains. The earth removed from the bed by the overwhelming torrent, and transported into East Bay, was so considerable as to obstruct the navigation of the bay for some miles. 'These obstructions, however, have since been removed by the current, to such an extent, that vessels sail np the channel as usual.
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The preceding affords a well authenticated instance of a stream nearly equalling the West Canada creek in dimensions, breaking down a barrier, and shifting its bed for nearly or quite a mile. All the circumstances which attended the demolition and dereliction in this case, are known, but none of those which at- tended the rupture and change in West Canada creek have been transmitted to us. The event happened before the settlement of the country, and therefore the circumstances are buried in oblivion. They might have been similar ; probably they were. Time is busied in effacing the old bed of Poultney river, in the same manner that she has been, and still is, that of West Canada creek. A few centuries suffice in removing almost every vestige. Rocks of the softer kind decompose ; the banks are levelled by rains and other causes ; and alluvial matters are brought into them, and plants and trees take root and grow. Such are the destroying and renovating operations of nature.
In regard to the Agoneasean tradition, we have no reason, although it is not accompained with particulars to doubt its veracity. They could not have made it, had the event not happened; the persons who have given us the account could not have made it. They were illiterate people, and had lived all their lives near the spot. They obtained the account from the Agoneaseah, who formerly lived there, and had for aught we know, before the visiting of America- by Columbus.
We shall in this place mention the falling down of two or three acres of land, on the east side of West Canada creek, about half a mile below the last breach made by that creek in the ridge, which we have described as ruptured by that stream. It happened in the summer of 1816, during a very dry time. The east side of the creek, from the Mohawk alluvions, as far up as the projection opposite the isolated ridge, and farther, is skirted by a hill, generally exceeding ninety feet elevation On the west side it is bordered by flats as far up as the isolated ridge. From the summit of the bank or hill, on the east, the lands are flat or nearly so. The hill is composed of gravel, sand, loam and clay, and many small stones, sometimes in al- ternate layers, and at others somewhat jumbled, which appears
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to have been the case at this place. Along the creek there were several springs which issued from beneath the mass that fell. These, it is supposed, must have removed large portions of earth from beneath, and formed a hollow, which became so extended, that the incumbent mass could no longer support itself, and the whole settled down. At the break, in the rear, it sunk perpendicularly about forty feet. The trees were mostly prostrated.
The surface was cracked in many places, and left in fissures and ridges. The whole presented a perfect scene of disorder. Other sinkings have occurred below, but they were less.
Upper Valley of the Mohawk. 1
This valley begins at the head of Little Falls, and ends about three miles east of Utica, in the Oneida and Seneca vale. Be- fore the barrier at Little Falls was broken down, the lowest part of the valley must have been the bottom of a lake. We speak of it after it had become separated from the lake, which covered most of the Oneida and Seneca vale. This seems to be demonstrated by the soils which compose the flats along the river. These are alluvions, and were brought from the hills and rising grounds which adjoin them, by the streams, which formerly discharged themselves into the lake, and which now discharge themselves into the river. In these alluvions are found lake deposites, such as the trunks and branches of trees, &c. Some of the trunks are occasionally found buried at the depth of fifteen or twenty feet. Along the streams we find - logs covered three or four feet with soil. A stream hard by the village of Utica presents some good examples of this kind.
The alluvions, in some places, rest on blue clay, in others on marl or rounded stones, pebbles and gravel. Those along West Canada creek, and within the valley, in general come under the latter description. This has been sufficiently proved by excavations, such as wells, mill-races, &c. All the flats, ex- cept the Germanflats, are very low, and before cleared and ditched, were wet and swampy. Those which are still in their
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natural state, are the same as formerly. Before the bed of the river was freed from logs and drift wood, the inundations were frequent and extensive, and added to their wetness. In Schuyler and Deerfield, there is a plain ten or twelve miles in length, and from a quarter to one mile in breadth, which is bounded on the north by the foot of Hassenclever mountain, and on the south by the river alluvions. This plain is scarcely less level than the flats, and but little higher. The soils con- sist mostly of sandy loams, clayey loams and gravel, in which small rounded stones and pebbles are plentitully disseminated. The whole plain has evident marks of having been covered, for a long time, with water. Among the marks we would notice, drifts or heaps of sand and sandy loam, water-worn stones, peb- bles, &c. Most of this plain is in what we have denominated the Oneida and Seneca vale.
Ridge Road, or Ancient Beach of Lake Ontario.
The ridge road, as it is called, begins about three miles north of Rochester, at Genesee river, and ends at Lewistown, on Niagara river. It is generally from six to seven miles south of Lake Ontario, and from two to three miles north of the northern steep. Its length is about seventy miles. The canal (from Lock Port eastwardly to Rochester) run's near the foot of the steep.
On leaving Rochester, on Genesee river, seven miles south of Lake Ontario, and travelling northwardly, we approach the ridge road by a very easy descent, hardly perceptible to the eye. Where we first come upon it, a little west of the river, it is about seven rods broad, at its base possibly not quite so much, and about five or six feet high. Its summit is flat or nearly so. As we travel westwardly we find it broader and higher, being from seven to twenty or twenty-five rods in breadth, and from six to ten, nay eighteen feet in height. The north side, which drops to the level of the plain, is much more strongly marked than the south. A slope, or kind of steep, is almost every where to be seen. In some places this slope or steep has very much the ap-
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pearance of having been made by the falling down and level- ling of the ancient bank. The south side of the ridge or beach is not so long or steep as the north. In some instances it passes into the plin without any slope or steep whatever.
The breadth increases as we proceed westwardly. Between Genesee river and Sandy creek, we think it may be estimated at from seven to thirty rods, and in a few places more. After we have left Genesee, for a distance of two miles, it is rarely under eight rods.
The elevation fluctuates between six and eighteen feet. The elevation seems to depend on the surface of the plain on which it is raised. .
The slope on the south side is commonly very gentle, some- times, not visible to the eye.
The whole space between the ridge and the lake, is a flat, with an average descent of about fourteen or fifteen feet to the mile, exclusive of the drop or pitch at the shore, which may be computed at from twenty to twenty-five feet more, making in all from one hundred and twenty to one hundred and thirty feet. On the south the ascent is very easy, and does not sur- pass one hundred and thirty, or one hundred and forty feet. We see nothing of the mountain ridge ; we see no hills, no swells ; nothing but a plain, whose declination is so very gradu- al, that the eye can seldom take it in. Indeed, were we to give our opinion respecting the mountain ridge, we should say there was none ; and that what has been dignified by that pomp- ous name, is simply a steep or ledge of rocks, which crosses the plain from west to east.
Between Sandy creek and Oak Orchard creek, the ridge preserves nearly the same breadth and height which it does for a few miles east. The country exhibits nearly the same aspect, that is, an almost uninterrupted flat. On crossing Oak Orchard creek the ridge becomes much broader. We often see only one of its sides, usually that on the north.
The lands along the ridge are all cultivable, or may be easily rendered so. Swamps and marshes are very numerous along the southern margin of the ridge. They occupy a consider-
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able portion of its whole extent. In general they are narrow, and seem to be occasioned by the ridge, which acts as a kind of barrier or dike to the waters, and compels them to rise and spread at times over the surface.
The swamps are covered with a heavy growth of timber, but the marshes here, as well as every where else, are mostly bare. A little west of Sandy creek, there is a marsh which is two miles and three-quarters in length, and from an eighth to the one-fourth of a mile in breadth. It extends lengthwise along the south side of the ridge. Its surface is covered with marsh grass, here and there diversified with small coppices of bushes, indigenous to such situations. All the swamps and marshes may be drained by opening ditches across the ridge.
The ridge does not cross the ravines of the streams, as has been asserted. We presume, however, that it did originally, leaving ouly passages for the waters. An inspection of the banks thrown across the mouths of these ravines at the lake, at this day, illustrates this fact. There banks or ridges are stretched quite across, and have no avenues, except where the waters flow. So it must have been at the ridge. The streams, owing to the shifting of the beds, must have long since re- moved every part of the ridge within the ravines. Besides, it is probable that the beds of the ravines were once on a level with the base of the ridge. From the foregoing facts, it will be seen that the ridge stops on the brinks of the ravines, and that it lies in pieces.
All the streams, with the exception of Oak Orchard creek, which cross the ridge, are small, and have wide beds and broad ravines. These ravines are very sinuous, and deepen as they approach Lake Ontario. Red sandstone forms their beds and banks. The ridge or beach rests either upon or very near this rock, as may be seen in the banks and bottoms of the ra- vines. In some few places it breaks through the soil and shows itself.
This ridge, or more correctly speaking, beach, is composed of sandy loam, argillaceous loam, clay and gravel : that is, the exterior cover. Within this cover we find lake sand, both fine
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and coarse, lake gravel, lake pebbles and lake stones, water- worn stones. The loams are generally yellowish and reddish, differing in shades. The sands are gray and yellow. The colour of the latter is derived from a mixture of clay. Some of the loams and clays are coloured with red sandstone or the oxide of iron. In digging wells and cellars, all these materials are found in descending eight or ten feet. In some instances where wells have been sunk twelve or fifteen feet, shells, logs and other animal and vegetable remains have been discovered in tolerable preservation. The sandy and argillaceous loams abound most on the east side of Oak Orchard creek, while the clays are more prevalent on the west.
We call this ridge the ancient beach of Lake Ontario, because we suppose it to have been formed by the waves of that lake, at a time when its surface was one hundred and thirty feet higher than it now is. The materials which compose this beach were raised by the waves, at no great distance from where they are at present, and thrown up in the same manner that the ocean forms beaches at this day. All beaches are formed of materials taken up by the waves very near the spot.
The surface of this beach has a very different aspect now to what it had when the waves rolled in and beat against it. Then its surface was very much like the surface of those at the mouths of the streams.
The soil which forms the cover, is very old-we could dis- cover no difference between it and the soils in its vicinity.
The line of the ridge or beach is somewhat winding, resem- bling, in a measure, the present shore of the lake. There is but one bay, and that is nearly north of Lock Port-Eighteen Mile creek runs through it. Its breadth, at its mouth, is about four miles, but what its depth is we do not know, it however, is con- siderably less. The beach winds around it, and is every where elevated above it-the bay is swampy. In order to shorten the distance, a road has been made across the mouth of the bay. This is the only place, if we except the ravines of streams, where the ridge road quits the beach, in a distance of more than seven- ty miles.
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Portions of this ancient beach are to be seen eastwardly of Genesee river, as far as Oswego river, and westwardly of Nia- gara river. They lie in pieces, being sometimes interrupted for miles. The interruptions are probably occasioned by the unevenness of the surface, since it is pretty evident that the waves could only form them where the surface or bottom was smooth. Beaches are never formed unless the bottom is smooth and shoaling near and at the shore.
Were examinations made, we have no hesitation in saying, that sufficient portions of this beach might be found to point out nearly the whole extent of country covered by the lake, at the time its waves beat against the ridge we have been describing.
The waters of Lake Ontario, it is likely, decreased very gradually. The Baltic is said to subside at the rate of forty- two inches in a century. If we allow a decrease of half an inch to the year, which would be rather more than that of the Baltic, then three thousand years have elapsed ; but if we suppose this . too much, and admit only of a decrease of one-quarter of an inch per annum, then six thousand years have elapsed. In these estimates, the ridge is considered to be one hundred and twenty-five feet higher than the present surface of the lake .*
In a few years, the road constructed on this beach, will vie with the best roads in the state. Fifty miles may now be called excellent.
The levels around the eastern end of this lake are no less extraordinary than those on the south side. From Sacketts Harbour, to the village of Watertown, on the east, the country exhibits an almost uniform level. By a recent survey it has been found that the waters of Black river may be taken out a little be- low the latter village, and carried across the plain, to the former, at a very moderate expense. The same level extends without interruption, to the St. Lawrence.
* The philosophers of Sweden, say that the waters of the Baltic, annually sink in regular proportion, which they have estimated at half an inch every year. If such be the fact, the flat country around this sea, 2,000 years ago, must have been covered with water.
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The plain along the east end is from four to nine or ten miles in breadth, and on the St. Lawrence border, much more.
Some have alleged that they could trace the ancient beach in certain places. This we think very probable, because the waters, when they stood over this plain, must have brat against the shores in the same manner they do at present, and must have thrown up beaches in certain situations. There will be . no difficulty in tracing it from place to place, when the country around the lake is cleared and cultivated. Then the sandy loams, clayey loams and sands will be easily recognized.
: In the northwest part of the county of ( hatauque, there is another of these beaches-it commences a few miles southwest of the mouth of Cattaraugus creek, and extends into Pennsyl- vania. We are uninformed of its length, breadth, and height. They are, however, less than those of the beach on the south side of Lake Ontario. It occupies a line nearly midway be- tween the present lake shore, and the foot of the Chatauque ridge. It is divided by the ravines of such streams as pass it : into pieces. These extend from ravine to ravine, halting on the brinks of each.
There are also occasional interruptions which seem to have been caused by small elevations in the surface of the plain. We have before mentioned that a plain stretches along the southeast side of the lake, from a few miles south of Buffalo, to the Pennsylvania triangle, some over fifty miles in length, with a breadth of from three to eight miles. This beach, like that of Lake Ontario, has its slopes. That facing the lake is the longest, steepest, and best defined. The other is often hardly perceptible, the border consisting of swainps and marshes occa- sioned by the beach.
The country has a gradual declivity on the one hand, to the lake shore, and a gradual acclivity on the other, to the base of the Chatauque ridge. The whole has the appearance of a very moderately inclined plain, rising from the lake and termin- ating in the ridge.
The beach itself' consists of sandy loams, argillaceous loams,
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gravel, pebbles, and small stones, obviously heaped by the pris- tine waves of Lake Erie.
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