In considering the subject of American antiquities it may facilitate
the object, to erect separate eras of occupancy, to which the facts
may be referred. Such a division of the great and almost unknown
period, which preceded the arrival of Europeans, will at least serve
as convenient points to concentrate, arrange and compare the facts and
evidences brought forward; and may enable the observer, the better to
proceed in any future attempts to generalize.
There appear to have been three eras in the aboriginal occupancy of the
continent, or more strictly speaking, three conditions of occupancy,
which may be conveniently grouped as eras, although the precise limits
of them, may be matters of some uncertainty. To make this uncertainty
less than it now is, and to erect these eras on probable foundations,
the proofs drawn from monuments, mounds, fortifications, ditches,
earth-works, barrows, implements of art, and whatever other kind of
evidence antiquity affords, may, it is thought, be gathered together in
something like this shape, namely:
1. Vestiges and proofs of the original era of the aboriginal migration
from other parts of the globe. These, so far as arts or evidences of
a material character are denoted, must necessarily be exceedingly
limited, if any, of undoubted authenticity, shall indeed now be found.
The departments of physiology, and philology, which have heretofore
constituted the principal topics of research, are still an attractive,
and by no means a closed field.
2. Proofs and vestiges of their continental migrations, wars,
affinities and general ethnological characteristics, prior to the
discovery of the continent. Such are the grouping of languages; the
similarity, or dissimilarity of arts, modes of defence, and means of
subsistence.
3. Proofs and vestiges of occupancy, change, and progress, subsequent
to the Columbian period.
With regard to the first era, it is almost wholly the subject of
general and profound scientific and philosophical investigations, which
require a union of great advantages for successful study. The second
and third eras, fall within the compass of ordinary observation. Both
kinds of proof may exist at the very same localities. They do not
necessarily imply diverse or remote geographical positions. We know
that some of the leading tribes, the Cherokees, (till within a few
years,) and the Iroquois, for instance, have continued to live in the
very same positions in which they were found by the first explorers.
As their chiefs and warriors died, they carried to their places of
burial, (such was the result of ancient and general custom,) those
kinds of ornaments, arms and utensils, which were the distinguishing
tokens of art, of the several eras in which they lived.
The coming of European races among them introduced fabrics of metal,
earths, enamels, glass, and other materials more or less durable, and
capable of resisting decomposition. These would necessarily take the
place of the aboriginal articles of stone and shell, before employed.
If, then, places of sepulture were permanent, the inquirer at the
present day would find the various fabrics of the second and the third
era, in the same cemeteries and burial grounds, and sometimes in the
same barrows and mounds.
Modes of defence would also alter by the introduction of the second
period. The simple ring-fort, with palisades, crowning a hill, which
would serve as a place of excellent defence, against bows and arrows
and clubs, would prove utterly useless, as the Tuscaroras found at
Naharuke in 1712, after the introduction of artillery. A trench to
obtain water, from a spring or creek, leading from one of the works
of the older period, might have been so covered as to afford full
protection from the simple aboriginal missiles. Besides this, the
combination of several tribes, as the Iroquois, the Algonquins,
the Eries, Alleghans and others, might render these simple forts,
defended with ditches, mounds, and otherwise, no longer necessary,
in the interior of their territory, after the time of such general
combinations or confederacies. And in this case, these works would be
deserted and become ruins, long before the period of the discovery.
It is affirmed by their traditions, that, in the older periods of their
occupancy of this continent, they were even obliged, or their fears
suggested the measure, to build coverts and forts to protect themselves
and families from the inroads of monsters, giants and gigantic animals.
We are not at liberty to disregard this, be the recitals symbolic or
true. Such places would afford convenient shelters for their women and
children, at the particular times of such inroads, while the warriors
collected to make battle against the common enemy. Whether this enemy
carried a huge paw or a spear we need not determine. The one was quite
as much an object of aboriginal terror as the other. Whatever be the
character of the antiquarian object to be examined, it will be well to
bear in mind these ancient and changing conditions of the aboriginal
population. If no absolute historical light be elicited thereby,
we shall be the more likely to get rid of some of the confessed
darkness enveloping the subject, and thus narrow the unsatisfying and
historically hateful boundaries of mystery.
In applying these principles to the antiquarian remains of the area
of western New-York, which has been a theme of frequent allusion and
description, at least since the life time of De Witt Clinton, it is
merely proposed to offer a few contributions to the store of our
antiquities, in the hope that other and abler hands may proceed in the
investigation.
[_a._] Vestiges of an Ancient Fort or Place of Defence in Lenox,
Madison county.
Some years have elapsed since I visited this work,[56] and the plough
and spade may have further obliterated the lines, then more or less
fully apparent. But in the meantime no notice of it has been published.
The following outlines denote its extent and character.
[56] 1812.
[Illustration]
A. indicates the lines of a picketed work. B. is an extensive plain,
covered with wild grass and some shrubbery, which had once been in
cultivation. The northern edge of this plain is traversed by a stream,
which has worn its bed down in the unconsolidated strata, so as to
create quite a deep gorge, C. This stream is joined from the west, by a
small run, having its origin in a spring, D. Its channel, at the point
of junction, is as deep below the level of the plain as the other.[57]
The point of junction itself forms a natural hornwork, which covered
access to the water. The angle of the plain, thus marked, constituted
the point defended. The excavations E. may have once been square.
They are now indentations, disclosing carbonaceous matter, as if from
the decay of wood. No wood, or coal, however, existed. Their use in
this position is not apparent, connected with the designated lines of
palisades, unless it be supposed that they were of an older period than
the latter, and designate pits, such as the aborigines used in defence.
This idea is favored by the ground being a little raised at this
point, and so formed that it would have admitted the ancient circular
Indian palisade. If such were the case, however, it seems evident that
the spot had been selected by the French, at an early period, when,
as is known, they attempted to obtain a footing in the country of
the Oneidas. The distance is less than ten miles northwest of Oneida
Castle. It probably covered a mission. The site, which my informant,
living near, called the OLD FRENCH FIELD, may be supposed to
have been cultivated by servants or traders connected with it.
[57] Some few miles below this stream is the site of an iron cupola or
blast furnace, where the red or lenticular oxyd is reduced.
The oak and maple trees, which once covered it, as denoted by the
existing forest, F. F., are such, in size and number, as to have
required expert axmen to fell.
With the exception of two points, in the Oneida Creek valley, where
there are still vestiges of French occupation, supported by tradition,
this work is the most easterly of those known, which remain to testify
the adventurous spirit, zeal and perseverance which marked the attempt
of the French crown to plant the flag and the cross in western New-York.
The bold nature of this scheme to colonize the country, and bring
the Iroquois to acknowledge their dependence upon France, and the
importance of the experiment and the issue, cannot be well conceived
without reference to the history of those times. Pending the famous
expedition of the Chevalier de Vandreiul, 1696, into the Iroquois
country, it is known that the Jesuit Milet was stationed among the
Oneidas, over whom he had so much influence, that soon after the
termination of this vain display of power, thirty Oneidas deserted to
the French, and desired that Milet might be appointed their pastor.[58]
[58] Colden’s Five Nations, p. 193.
[_b._] Ancient site of the Onondagas in the valley of the Kasonda, or
Butternut creek of Jamesville.
The fact that the ruins of a square fort, with extensive sub-lines
in the nature of an enclosure, had existed on the elevated grounds
on the right banks of this stream, a mile or two from Jamesville, at
the period of its first settlement, led me to visit it. There was the
more interest imparted to this well attested tradition of the present
inhabitants, by the accounts of the Onondagas, that this valley, in its
extent above and below Jamesville, was one of their earliest points
of settlement, prior to the era of their establishing their council
fire at Onondaga Hollow. The subjoined sketch, although not plotted
from actual measurement, will convey an idea of the relative position
and former importance of the principal features, geographical and
artificial, denoted.
[Illustration]
A. indicates the site of the fort, which, at the time of my visit, was
covered with a luxuriant field of wheat, without a feature to denote
that it had ever been held under any other jurisdiction but that of
the plough. The farm which embraces it, is owned and occupied by Isaac
Keeler, who remarks that, at the time he came to settle here, the site
of the old fort was an extensive opening in the forest, bearing grass,
with some clumps of wild plumb trees, and a few forest trees. On this
opening, the first regiment of militia that ever paraded in Onondaga
county, met. It was commanded by MAJOR DE WITT, after whom the
township is now named.
About the year 1810, he felled an oak, near the site of the fort,
measuring two feet six inches in diameter. In recutting it for fire
wood, after it had been drawn to his door, a leaden bullet was found,
covered by one hundred and forty-three cortical layers. From its
position, embedded as it was in the compact wood, it was still some
distance to the heart of the tree. He thinks this tree may have been a
sapling when the bullet was fired. Whether this conjecture be true or
not, one hundred and forty-three years appear to have elapsed since the
bullet assumed its position. This would give A. D. 1667 as the era.
In 1666, the Governor of Canada concluded a treaty with the Onondaga
Iroquois, as is seen from the “Paris Documents” obtained by Mr.
Broadhead. Colden’s history of the Five Nations, which has been the
principal source of information heretofore, after a brief summary
of traditionary matter,[59] in the first chapter, opens with the
transactions in 1665. This matter is more fully and satisfactorily
stated by Charlevoix in his history of New France, from whom it is
presumable, Colden drew his information of the former power and
pre-eminence of the Adirondacks.
[59] The States General of Holland surrendered New-York to the English
crown in 1664.
During this year De Traci came out as viceroy of New-France, and
the same year Monsieur Coursel, who is notorious for his perfidy in
executing the Iroquois sachem, Agariata, arrived with the commission
of Governor-General of Canada. But there is little to be found bearing
directly on the subject before us.
It would appear from the journal of the Jesuit, Father Le Moyne, as
given in the missionary “Relacions,” that the country of the Onondagas
was not discovered and explored until the year 1653. Facts disclosed
by him in the same letter denote, however, prior negociations with
the French authorities, and we are probably to understand only that
as yet, no missionaries from his or any other order, had visited,
or been established amongst this tribe. In this view, and from the
incidental light which he throws on some other topics, such as the
new breaking out of the war with the Eries, the discovery of the salt
springs, and the existence of the buffalo in the country, this letter
is important to the early Iroquois history, and a translation of it is
hereto appended. It is certain that no mission or fort had then been
introduced. A footing may, however, have been gained by the French
within the next fourteen years, that is, at the time of the apparent
date of the existence of the old fort on the right banks of the
Kasonda.[60]
[60] Fire-arms began to be first introduced among the Iroquois in 1609,
the very year that Hudson explored the river now bearing his name. In
this year, Champlain, heading the Algonquins, with some regular troops,
in lake Corlear, (since called Champlain,) defeated the Mohawks by the
use of fire-arms.
Where history fails, we may appeal to tradition and to the proofs
drawn from antiquarian remains. Isaac Keeler, who is above mentioned,
exhibited to me one-half of the brass circle of a dial plate, three
inches (less two-tenths) in diameter, which had been ploughed up by
him on the site of the fort, or from that general area. This circle
had engraved, in good Roman characters, the numbers II, III, IV, V,
VI, VII, VIII. He likewise exhibited the box of a small brass pocket
compass, with a screw lid one inch and two-tenths in diameter. From
this instrument the needle had been removed and its place supplied by
vermillion, the highly prized war pigment of the Indians. When plowed
up and found at the bottom of a furrow, it was encrusted with oxide,
but restored by washing and friction to its original color and even
surface. On being opened, it was found to contain the pigment, of
which I examined a portion. It appeared to me to have been, not the
Chinese vermillion of the trade, but the duller red article, which is,
I believe, a peroxide of lead prepared by the Dutch.
Among the articles which he had preserved were the following:
1. A crucifix of brass of two inches in length, ornamented by a human
figure, and having a metallic loop for suspending it.
2. An octagonal medal, four-tenths of an inch, of the same material,
bearing a figure with the name “St. Agatha,” and the Latin word
“ora”—a part of the Gregorian chant.
3. A similar medal, five-tenths of an inch in length, with a figure,
inscribed “St. Lucia,” and the same fragment of a chant.
4. A rude medal of lead, an inch and four-tenths long, ovate, with the
figure of the Savior, as is supposed, being that of a person suspended
by the outstretched hands, however, and the figure of a serpent, as if
this form of temptation had been presented during his advent. On the
reverse, is a sitting figure, which bears most resemblance to a common
and characteristic position of one of the native priests or prophets.
Should this conjecture be correct, this figure may have been intended,
adopting the Indian method, to teach the office of the Savior by a
symbol. He is thus shown, however, to be merely the priest and prophet
of men—an idea which does not coincide with Catholic theology, and
which, if not enlarged and corrected by verbal teaching, would convey
no conception of his divine character and atonement, and thus leave
the Onondaga neophyte as essentially in the dark as before. To figure
the Savior as the great Jesukeed of men, as is done in this medal, is
indeed the most extraordinary and audacious act of which the history of
missions among rude nations affords any parallel. The novelty of this
feature in this apparently home-wrought model, gives it a claim to be
hereafter figured.
5. An iron horse-shoe, four and a half inches long nearly, and five
inches, lacking two-tenths, broad, with three elongated nail holes in
each side, and a clumsy steel cork, partially worn. The peculiar fabric
of this shoe, its clumsiness and spread, and the little mechanical
skill which it evinces in the hammering and general make, denote it to
be very clearly the workmanship of a Canadian blacksmith, such as a
rude Canadian blacksmith is still to be witnessed, in the lake country,
and to have been, at the same time, intended for the unfarriered hoofs
of the Canadian horse.
6. A pair of iron strap hinges, common and coarse. These my informant
had turned to account, by employing them to hang the little gate which
led, through a small flower plat, to his dwelling house. See figure F.
These articles have been selected for notice from many of more common
occurrence, such as beads of coarse paste, enamel and glass, of various
sizes and colors, which are evidently of European make. My informant
further stated that a blacksmith’s anvil, vice, horn, and almost every
other article of a smith’s shop, had been from time to time found on
the site or in the vicinity, but there was nothing of this kind in his
possession. On the south declivity of the hill, near the present road
leading east to Pompey hill, there is a spring still sheltered with
shrubbery, which he supposes furnished the fort with water.
This fort constitutes but a part of the very marked evidences of former
occupancy by man in a civilized state, and in a forgotten age, which
occur in this portion of Onondaga, chiefly in the present towns of
Pompey, Lafayette, Dewitt, Camillus and Manlius. For such of these
evidences as did not pass under my personal notice, reference is made
to letter C in the documentary appendix. Other observed localities and
facts derived from other witnesses, illustrating the character of this
fort, and of the ancient Indian settlements in the Kasonda valley, are
marked H in the annexed sketch.
In this plate B denotes the site of an ancient Onondaga town or
village, immediately on the banks of the stream, where water could be
readily obtained for all purposes. C is the locality of the cemetery
used at the period, on the ascending grounds on the north banks of the
stream. It constitutes a well marked transverse ridge. Immediately west
of it rises a natural mound, marked D, of large size, nearly conical
in its shape, and terminating in a flat surface or plain, of an ovate
border, some twelve by seventeen paces. James Gould, the proprietor
of the land, who, from his residence, guided me to the spot, remarks
that this conical hill, was formerly covered with a hard wood forest,
similar in its species to those of the surrounding country, with the
exception of a spot, some four or five paces diameter on its apex. This
spot was, however, completely veiled from sight by the overtopping
trees until the arcanum was entered. From the peculiar character of
this eminence, and its relative position to the village and burial
ground, it may be supposed to have been the site of the seer’s lodge,
from which he uttered his sacred responses.
Speaking of the old fort of Kasonda, this informant remarked, that when
he came into the country, its outlines could still be traced, that it
was a square fort, with bastions, and had streets within it. It had
been set round with cedar pickets, which had been burned to the ground.
Stumps of these ancient palisades were struck by the plough. It is on
this testimony, which at the same time, denotes a violent destruction
of the work, that the geometrical figure of it, represented in A, is
drawn. He had, I think, been in the revolutionary army, and drawn his
bounty lands, as many of the original settlers on the military tract
had done. He knew therefore, the import of the military terms he
employed.
In a collection of aboriginal antiquarian articles at his house, he
permitted me to make drawings of any taken from the fort grounds, or
disinterred from ancient Indian graves, which appeared to me to merit
it. Of these, but a few are pertinent to the present inquiry. These are
as follows:
Number 1, represents an antique collar or medal, [Nabikoágun,] wrought
out of sea shell. It is crossed with two parallel, and two horizontal
lines, ornamented with dots, and dividing the surface into four equal
parts. An orifice exists for introducing a string to suspend it about
the neck. This species of article, is found in Indian graves of the
period preceding the discovery of the continent, or not extending more
than one or two generations into the new period. It was probably an
elegant ornament when bright and new, and exhibiting the natural color
and nacre of the shell. Inhumation has so far served to decompose
the surface, as to coat it with a limy or chalky exterior, which
effervesces in mineral acids. By scraping deep into it, the shelly
structure is detected. This kind of ornament, varying much in size,
was probably soon replaced by the metallic gorget and medal introduced
by the trade, and has long been unknown both to Indians and traders.
I found it first in Indian cemeteries of the west, without, however,
for some time suspecting its real nature, supposing it some variety of
altered pottery, or enamel paste; but have since traced it over the
entire area of the ancient occupation of western New-York, and, so far
as examined, of Canada.
No. 2. A stone ring, one inch and two-tenths in diameter, made
of a dark species of somewhat hard steatite or slaty rock. Its
characteristic trait is found in its adaptation to the middle finger,
(of a male) and its having eleven distinct radiating lines.
No. 3. A globular bead or amulet, [Minace,] of sea shell one inch and a
half in diameter, solid and massy, having an orifice for suspending it.
It is slightly ovate. Its structure from shell, is distinctly marked.
Like the flat medal-shaped Nabikoágun (No. 1.) of the same material,
it has a limy coating from the effects of partial decomposition. In
the remaining features of the sketch, referred to, letters G. G.,
denote ancient remains of a European character in the contiguous part
of the town of Pompey, which are more particularly described in the
documentary appendix.
E. represents the Twin Mounds, two natural formations of fine gravel
and other diluvial strata, situated on the south side of the creek, on
the farm of Jeremiah Gould. These mounds are conspicuous features in
the landscape, from their regularity, and position on elevated grounds,
as well as from their connection with the ancient Indian history of
the valley. These pyramidal heaps of earth are connected, by a neck of
earth, in the manner represented. They exhibit the appearance of having
been cleared of the forest, almost entirely, at an ancient date. The
surface exhibits numerous pits or holes, which excite the idea of their
having served as a noted locality for the Indian Assenjigun, or pit for
hiding or putting _en cache_, corn or other articles, to preserve it
from enemies, or as a place of deposit during temporary absences from
the village. There can, I think, be little question that this was the
true use and relation these geological eminences bore to the ancient
town on the Kasonda, marked B. Such, too, is the general impression
derived from local tradition. Some years ago, a skeleton was exhumed
from one of these _caches_.
[_c._] Antiquities of Pompey and adjacent parts of Onondaga county.
No part of western New-York has furnished a larger number of
antiquarian remains, or been more often referred to, than the
geographical area which constituted the original town of Pompey. There
is, consequently, the less need of devoting elaborate attention to
the details of this particular locality. It was first visited and
described by De Witt Clinton, in 1810-11,[61] and the plough has since
rendered it a task less easy than it then was, to examine the lines of
its ancient works and its archæological remains. It is quite evident,
from the objects of art disclosed at and about these antique sites of
security and defence, that civilized man dwelt here in remote times,
and there must be assigned to this part of the State a period of
European occupancy prior to the commonly received historical era of
discovery and settlement, or, at least, if falling within it, as there
is now reason to believe, yet almost wholly unknown, or forgotten in
its annals. Sismondi has well remarked, that only the most important
events come down to posterity, and that fame, for a long flight,
prepares to forget every thing which she possibly can. That no accounts
should remain of obscure events, in a remote part of the country, at
an early date, is not surprising. As it is, we must infer both the
dates and the people, from such antiquarian remains of works of art and
historical comparisons as can be obtained.
[61] Trans. of Philo. and Lit. Society of New-York.
There appear to have been two or three nations, who supplied very early
visitors or residents to ancient Onondaga, namely, the Dutch, French
and Spanish, the latter as merely temporary visitors or explorers.
Both the Dutch and the French carried on an early trade here with the
Iroquois. It is most probable, that there are no remains of European
art, or have ever been any disclosed, in this part of the country,
one only excepted,[62] which are not due to the early attempts of the
Dutch and French, to establish the fur trade among these populous and
powerful tribes. To some extent, missionary operations were connected
with the efforts of both nations. But whatever was the stress laid
on this subject, by Protestants or Catholics, neither object could
be secured without the exhibition of firearms and certain military
defences, such as stockades and picketed works, with gates, afforded.
No trader could, in the 16th and 17th centuries, securely trust his
stock of goods, domestic animals, (if he had any,) or his own life, in
the midst of fierce and powerful tribes, who acknowledged no superior,
and who were, besides, subject to the temporary excitement created by
the limited use of alcohol. For we can assign absolutely no date to
the early European intercourse with these tribes, in which there was
no article of this kind, more or less, employed. Probably we should
not have been left, as we are, to mere conjectures, on this subject,
at least between the important dates of 1609 and 1664, had not the
directors of the State paper office in Holland decided, in 1820, to
sell the books and records of the Dutch West India company, as waste
paper.[63]
[62] Antique stone with an inscription, Albany Academy.
[63] Vide Mr. Brodhead’s report.
In examining the archæology of this part of New-York, we are,
therefore, to look for decisive proofs of the early existence of this
trade in the hands of the two powers named. The Dutch were an eminently
commercial people, at the epoch in question, and pursued the fur trade
to remote parts of the interior, at an early date. They had scarcely
any other object at the time but to make this trade profitable.
Settlements and cultivation was a business in the hands of patroons,
and was chiefly confined to the rich vallies and intervales of the
southern parts of the State. They were, at the same time, too sagacious
to let any thing interrupt their good understanding with the natives;
and on this account, probably, had less need of military defences
of a formidable kind than the French, who were a foreign power. It
was, besides, the policy of New-France,—a policy most perseveringly
pursued,—to wrest this trade, and the power of the Indians, from the
hands of the Dutch and their successors, the English. They sought
not only to obtain the trade, but they intrigued for the territory.
They also made the most strenuous endeavors to enlist the minds of
the Indians, by the ritual observances of the Romish church, and to
propagate among the Iroquois its peculiar doctrines. They united in
this early effort the sword, the cross, and the purse.
Were all the libraries of Europe and America burned and totally
destroyed, there would remain incontestible evidences of each of the
above named efforts, in the metallic implements, guns, sword-blades,
hatchets, locks, bells, horse-shoes, hammers, paste and glass beads,
medals, crucifixes and other remains, which are so frequently turned up
by the plough in the fertile wheat and cornfields of Onondaga.
Looking beyond this era, but still found in the same geographical area,
are the antiquities peculiar to the Ante-Columbian period, and the
age of intestine Indian wars. These are found in various parts of the
State, in the ancient ring forts, angular trenches, moats, barrows, or
lesser mounds, which constituted the ancient simple Indian system of
castrametation.
This era is not less strongly marked by the stone hatchets, pestles,
fleshing instruments, arrow-heads and javelins of chert and hornstone;
amulets of stone, bone and sea-shells, wrought and unwrought; needles
of bone, coarse pottery, pipes, and various other evidences of antique
Indian art. The practice of interring their favorite utensils,
ornaments and amulets with the dead, renders their ancient grave-yards,
barrows and mounds the principal repositories of these arts. They are,
in effect, so many museums of antiquity.
The field for this species of observation is so large and attractive to
the antiquarian, that far more time than was at my command, would be
required to cultivate it. Early in the present year, Mr. Joshua V. V.
Clark visited some of the principal scenes mentioned. Subsequently, at
my suggestion and solicitation, he re-visited the same localities and
extended his inquiries to others of an interesting character, in the
county of Onondaga, descriptions of which are presented under letter
[C] of the documentary appendix.
[_d._] Ancient fortification of Osco,[64] at Auburn, Cayuga County.
[64] This ancient name for the site of Auburn, was communicated to me
by the intelligent Onondaga Taht-kaht-ons, or Abraham Le Fort. It is
descriptive of the ford or crossing place, which anciently existed
above the falls, near the site of the present turnpike bridge. This
was crossed by stepping stones, &c. The barks, which made a part of a
rude Indian bridge, were, at the time the name was bestowed, nearly
overflowed; the crossing was very dangerous, as it was just above the
brink of the falls, and it was an act of daring to pass over. The name
bestowed at this time became perpetual, although there may have been
but little danger in crossing afterwards.
The eminence called “Fort Hill,” in the southwestern skirts of the
village of Auburn, has attracted notice from the earliest times. Its
height is such as to render it a very commanding spot, and crowned,
as it was, with a pentagessimal work, earthen ramparts and palisades
of entire efficacy against Indian missiles, it must have been an
impregnable stronghold during the periods of their early intestine
wars. The following diagram, drawn by James H. Bostwick, surveyor, and
obligingly furnished by S. A. Goodwin, Esq. exhibits its dimensions:
[Illustration]
The site of this work is the highest land in the vicinity, and a visit
to it affords one of the best and most varied views of the valley of
the Owasco, and the thriving and beautiful inland town of Auburn, with
its public buildings, prison,[65] and other noted public edifices. The
ellipsis enclosed by the embankments, with their intervening spaces,
has a circumference of 1200 feet. Its minor dimensions are as follows,
namely:
[65] One of the most striking evidences of that tendency of the surface
limestone stratification of western New-York to assume a fissured
character, marked by the cardinal points, is seen in the banks of the
Owasco, a short distance below the State prison.
From A. to M., 310 feet.
“ B. to L., 416 “
Opening at A., 166 “
“ B., 66 “
“ C., 78 “
“ D., 60 “
“ E., 50 “
Wall at F., 275 “
“ G., 145 “
“ H., 278 “
“ I., 52 “
“ K., 30 “
Viewed as a military work, the numerous breaks or openings in the wall,
marked from A. to C., constitute rather its characteristic trait. They
are of various and irregular widths, and it seems most difficult to
decide why they are so numerous. If designed for egress or regress,
they are destitute of the principle of security, unless they were
defended by other works of destructible material, which have wholly
disappeared. The widest opening [of 166 feet,] opens directly north,
the next in point of width [78 feet,] directly south; but in order to
give these or any of the other spaces the character of entry or sally
ports, and, indeed, to render the entire wall defensible, it must have
had palisadoes.
Immediately below the openings at E. D. C., and a part of the
embankment F., there are a series of deep ravines, separated by acute
ridges, which must have made this part of the work difficult of
approach. In front of the great (north) opening, the ground descends
gradually about seventy feet, when there is a perfect acclivity. The
hill has its natural extension towards the east, for several hundred
yards, in the course of which, a transverse depression in the surface
separates the eastern terminus of the ridge from its crown at the site
of the fort.
It is not known that excavations have been made for antiquarian
remains, so that there is no accessory light to be derived from this
source. The entire work conforms to the genius and character of the
red races who occupied the Ohio valley, and who appear to have waged
battle for the possession of this valuable part of the country, prior
to the era of the discovery of America, and ere the Iroquois tribes had
confederated and made themselves masters of the soil. That the art of
defence by field works was cultivated by the ancient American tribes,
is denoted by their traditions, as well as by the present state of our
antiquarian knowledge. This art did not aspire to the construction of
bastions, at the intersection of two right angled lines, by means of
which a length of wall might have been enfiladed with arrows. Even
where the works were a square or parallelogram, of which there are
one or two instances among the oldest class of forts, such an obvious
advantage in defence does not appear to have occurred. Fire, and the
coal chisel, or digger, were the ready means of felling trees and of
dividing the trunks into suitable lengths for palisades. To heap a pile
of earth _within and without_ such lines, was the mode adopted by the
Tuscaroras at the siege of Naharuke, in 1712, and it is probable that
this _then_ powerful and warlike nation had inherited much of the skill
in fort building possessed by their northern predecessors.
The chief point, in addition to its numerous breaks in the wall,
before noticed, in which this work differs from the generality of
antique native forts of the oldest period in this State, is its very
well preserved elliptical form. A circle is the usual form of the
antique forts of Indian origin in western New-York; and these works are
generally placed on the apex of a hill, covered by ravines as a natural
moat, or they occupy an eminence which commanded other advantages. For
the original communication and survey, above referred to, see letter
E., documentary appendix.
[_e._] Vestiges of an Ancient Elliptical Work at Canandaigua.
The Senecas deduce their descent from a noted eminence, bearing the
title of “Fort Hill” at the head of the sylvan expanse of Canandaigua
lake. The term of Fort Hill, is however, not confined to that spot,
but is, as in the work under consideration, one of common occurrence,
in sundry parts of the ancient and extended area of the Six Nations.
The subjoined sketch, denotes the vestiges of an ancient strong-hold
of the Senecas, of an elliptical form, on elevated lands about a mile
northerly from the village.
[Illustration]
This work has been nearly obliterated by the plough. The only portions
of the ancient wall yet remaining, are indicated by the letters B.
B. At A, a dwelling house has been erected, flanked by gardens. C,
is a turnpike or rectangular town road, passing over the apex of the
elevation. The dotted angular lines denote fields in cultivation,
and the dotted ellipses, through these grounds, are laid down from
tradition, rather than from any well defined vestiges in these fields
of the original wall yet visible. D,D, represents a native forest.
Judging from the curves of the portions of wall entire at B,B, in
connection with the era pointed out by the occupant, this work may have
had a circumference of one thousand feet. It occupied a commanding
site. The sections of the wall remaining, denote the labor of many
hands, and if this rampart was crowned with palisades, and secured in
the usual manner with gates, it must not only have furnished a garrison
to a large body of warriors, but have been a work of much strength.
In excavating the grounds for the road, in the approach to the village,
human bones were found, in considerable quantities, on the descent
of the hill, together with some of the usual vestiges of ancient
Indian art, as evinced in the manufacture of stone and clay pipes and
implements. Nothing of this kind had, however, been preserved, which
appeared worthy of particular description.
[_c._] Ancient entrenchments on Fort Hill, near Le Roy, Genesee county.
The following diagram of this work has been drawn from a pen-sketch,
forwarded by the Rev. Mr. Dewey, of Rochester.
[Illustration]
The work occurs on an elevated point of land formed by the junction of
a small stream, called Fordham’s brook, with Allen’s creek, a tributary
of the Genesee river. Its position is about three miles north of the
village of Le Roy, and some ten or twelve northeast of Batavia. The
best view of the hill, as one of the natural features of the country,
is obtained a short distance north of it, on the road from Bergen to Le
Roy.
To attain a proper conception of its susceptibilities and capacity,
as the site of a work of defence, it is essential to conceive the
country, for some distance, to have had the level of the extreme plain,
forming the highest part of the fort. The geological column of this
plain, after passing down through the unconsolidated strata, appears
to be composed of various strata of corniferous limestone, Onondaga or
hydraulic limestone, and perhaps Medina sandstone. Geological causes,
originating, so far as we can immediately perceive, in the two streams
named, have cut down this series of stratifications, on the north,
east and west, unequally, to the depth of some eighty or ninety feet,
isolating the original plain, on three sides, by the vallies of Allan’s
creek and Fordham brook. Availing themselves of this heavy amount of
natural excavation, the ancient occupants of it further strengthened
its position, by casting up a wall and ditch along the brow of the two
vallies, at the points of their junction, from A. to B., 60 rods; from
A. to D., 30 rods; and from B. to C. 15 rods. This is as much of the
embankment as now remains; but tradition adds, that, on the earliest
occupancy of the county, there were evidences that the work had been
continued south from the extreme points, C. and D., and connected by
an enclosure, parallel to A. B., which would have given it a regular
quadrangular shape. The encroachments of the respective vallies, at C.
and D., now terminate the trench. And if we concede that geological
changes of this kind must have required some time for their production,
by the present power of action possessed by the streams named, it is
an argument for the antiquity of the work. But, however antique, it
was still the effort of a rude, and at best half civilized people, at
an epoch when bows and arrows, clubs, spears and stones, and the stone
_casse-tete_,[66] were the principal weapons of defence. For these are
the chief objects of antiquarian interest dug from the ground. There
are also disclosed by the place or its vicinity, the amuletum archæus
and other amulets of sea shell, bone and fossil stone, which were
so much prized by the ancient red races of this continent, by whom
they were manufactured, and exclusively used before the era of the
discovery. That the spot continued, however, whether a ruin or not, to
be visited or occupied, after this era, is proved by some remains of
art, which were found here and described by Mr. Follet, in a letter,
which constitutes a valuable part of the materials employed in this
description. [See appendix.] But the most remarkable and distinctive
trait connected with its archæology is the discovery of human bones
denoting an uncommon stature and development, which are mentioned in
the same communication. A humerus or shoulder bone, which is preserved,
denotes a stature one-third larger than the present race, and there is
also a lower jaw bone, preserved by a physician at Batavia, from the
vicinity, which indicates the same gigantic measure of increase.
[66] I find the French word casse-tete more exactly descriptive of the
probable and exclusive uses of the antique stone tomahawk, than any
other which has been met with. The shape of this warlike instrument
resembled strongly the ancient crossbill. It presents the figure of
a crescent, tapering gradually to the ends, which are rounded, and
proceed to a sharp point. In the concave centre of the crescent is
an orifice for a helve. It is an instrument denoting skill, and the
possession of some mechanical tool for carving it harder than the
dark silecious slate, from which it is generally made. One of these
instruments, sent to me by Mr. Follet, of Batavia, and which, from an
inscription, was found “in that vicinity by Jerome A. Clark, Esq. on
the 16th May, 1844,” is worthy the chisel of a sculptor.
To supply the fort with water, a trench was continued about fifteen
rods, from B at the northeast angle to E, in order to reach a spring
below the declivity. In the isolated portion of the hill, marked F.
haiks of moderate sized round stones have been found, which were
probably one of the ancient means of defence. This spot, from the
remains found, appears also to have been an ancient place of burial.
Among the articles exhumed, were several curious pipes of stone and
earthenware. One of these was formed out of granular limestone; another
was of baked clay in the form of a man’s head and face, the nose, eyes
and other features being depicted in a style resembling some of the
figures in Mr. Stephens’ plates of the ruins of Central America. The
top of the head is surrounded by a fillet; on the occipital part are
also two fillets. The neck has a similar ornament, and there is another
on the breast. The orifices of the ears are denoted, and the whole
evinces no little degree of art. This is the most curious relic found.
Another pipe of reddish baked clay is ornamented with dots; two rows of
which extend round it, and another in festoons, like a chain looped up.
Other parts of the topography are denoted by the plot. Q, W, is Allen’s
creek. H, I, K, Fordham’s brook. L, P, M, a branch of Fordham’s brook.
R, N, V, denote the road, which passes through the centre of the work.
A former road led from U down the ravine to T. There was formerly a
bridge at N, to cross the ditch. This trench was estimated by early
observers at from eight to ten feet deep, and as many wide. The earth
in making it, had been thrown either way, but much of it inwards.
Forest trees were standing, both in the trench and on its sides. In
size and age they appeared to be equal to the general growth of the
forest. Prostrate upon the ground, there were found numerous trunks
of the heart-wood of black cherry trees of large size. These were
evidently the remains of a more antique forest, which had preceded
the existing growth of beech and maple. They were in such a state of
soundness as to be employed for timber by the first settlers.
There were no traditions among the Indians of the country respecting
the use and design of this work. It was to them, as to the first
settlers, an object of mystery. About half a mile below the hill,
Allen’s creek has a fall of some eighty feet. It is a perpendicular
fall of much beauty. At this place the hydraulic limestone is seen to
be the underlying rock. This rock had also been struck in excavating
the north line of the trench, on “Fort Hill,” and some portions of it
had been thrown out with the earth.
Such are the interesting facts communicated to me, by the gentlemen
whose names have been mentioned. The notice of the present altered
state of the site, and the following just reflections naturally
springing from the subject, may be stated in the exact words of Dr.
Dewey:
“The forest has been removed. Not a tree remains on the quadrangle, and
only a few on the edge of the ravine on the west. By cultivating the
land, the trench is nearly filled in some places, though the line of
it is clearly seen. On the north side the trench is considerable, and
where the road crosses it, is three or four feet deep at the sides of
the road. It will take only a few years more to obliterate it entirely,
as not even a stump remains to mark out its line.
“From this view it may be seen or inferred,
“1. That a real trench bounded three sides of the quadrangle. On the
south side there was not found any trace of trench, palisadoes, blocks,
&c.
“2. It was formed long before the whites came into the country. The
large trees on the ground and in the trench, carry us back to an early
era.
“3. The workers must have had some convenient tools for excavation.
“4. The direction of the sides may have had some reference to the four
cardinal points, though the situation of the ravines naturally marked
out the lines.
“5. It cannot have been designed merely to catch wild animals to be
driven into it from the south. The oblique line down to the spring is
opposed to this supposition, as well as the insufficiency of such a
trench to confine the animals of the forest.
“6. The same reasons render it improbable that the quadrangle was
designed to confine and protect domestic animals.
“7. It was probably a sort of fortified place. There might have been a
defence on the south side by a _stockade_, or some similar means, which
might have entirely disappeared.
“By what people was this work done?
“The articles found in the burying-ground at F, offer no certain reply.
The axes, chisels, &c. found on the Indian grounds in this part of the
State, were evidently made of the greenstone or trap, of New-England,
like those found on the Connecticut river in Massachusetts. The pipe
of limestone might be from that part of the country. The pipes seem to
belong to different eras.
“1. The limestone pipe indicates the work of the savage or aborigines.
“2. The third indicates the age of French influence over the Indians.
An intelligent French gentleman says such clay pipes are frequent among
the town population in parts of France.
“3. The second and most curious, seems to indicate an earlier age and
people.
“The beads found at Fort Hill are long and coarse, made of baked clay,
and may have had the same origin as the third pipe.
“Fort Hill cannot have been formed by the French as one of their posts
to aid in the destruction of the English colonies. In 1689, or 156
years ago, the French in Canada made serious attempts to destroy the
English colony of New-York. If the French had made Fort Hill a post as
early as 1660, or 185 years ago, and then deserted it, the trees could
not have grown to the size of the forest generally in 1810, or in 150
years afterwards. The white settlements had extended ‘only twelve miles
west of Avon’ in 1798, and some years after 1800, Fort Hill was covered
with a dense forest. A chestnut tree cut down in 1842, at Rochester,
showed 254 concentric circles of wood, and must have been more than 200
years old in 1800. So opposed is the notion that this was a deserted
French post.
“Must we not refer Fort Hill to that race, which peopled this country
before the Indians, who raised so many monuments greatly exceeding the
power of the Indians, and who lived at a remote era?”
[_g._] Antique rock citadel of Kienuka, in Lewiston, Niagara county.
In the preceding sketches, evidences have been presented of the
readiness and good judgment of the aboriginal fort builders of western
New-York,[67] in availing themselves of steeps, gulfs, defiles, and
other marked localities, in establishing works for security or defence.
This trait is, however, in no case more strikingly exemplified than in
the curious antique work before us, which is called, by the Tuscaroras,
KIENUKA. The term Kienuka is said to mean the stronghold or
fort, from which there is a sublime view. It is situated about three
and a half or four miles eastward of the outlet of the Niagara gorge at
Lewiston, on a natural escarpment of the ridge.
[67] It is not without something bordering on anachronism, that
this portion of the continent is called New-York, in reference to
transactions not only before the bestowal of the title, in 1664,
but long before the European race set foot on the continent. Still
more inappropriate, however, was the term of New-Netherland, i. e.
New-Lowland, which it bore from 1609 to 1664, many parts of the State
being characterized by lofty mountains, and all having an elevation
of many hundreds of feet above the sea. In speaking of these ancient
periods, a title drawn from the native vocabulary would better accord
with the period under discussion, if not with the laws of euphony. But
the native tribes were poor generalizers, and omitted to give generic
names to the land. The term of Haonao for the continent, or “island,”
as they call it, occurs, but this would have no more pertinence
applied to New-York, than to any other portion of it. The geographical
feature most characteristic of the State, is NIAGARA, and
next in prominence, ONTARIO, and either would have furnished
a better cognomen for the State, had they been thought of in season.
But it is too late now to make the change, and even for the remote era
alluded to, the name under which the country has grown great, is to be
preferred. It is already the talismanic word for every honorable and
social reminiscence.
This ridge, which rises in one massy, up-towering pile, almost
perpendicularly, on the brink of the river, developes itself, as we
follow its course eastward for a mile or two, in a second plateau,
which holds nearly a medium position in relation to the altitude of the
ridge. This plateau attains to a width of a thousand yards or more,
extending an unexplored distance, in the curving manner of the ridge,
towards Lockport. Geologically considered, its upper stratum is the
silurian limestone, which in the order of superposition, immediately
overlies the red shaly sandstone at the falls. Its edges are jagged and
broken, and heavy portions of it have been broken off, and slid down
the precipice of red shaly under grit, and thus assumed the character
of debris. Over its top, there has been a thin deposit of pebble drift,
of purely diluvial character, forming, in general, not a very rich
soil, and supporting a growth of oaks, maples, butternut, and other
species common to the country. From the ascent of the great ridge,
following the road from Lewiston to Tuscarora village, a middle road
leads over this broad escarpment, following, apparently, an ancient
Indian trail, and winding about with sylvan irregularity. Most of
the trees appear to be of second growth; they do not, at any rate,
bear the impress of antiquity, which marks the heavy forests of the
country. Occasionally there are small openings, where wigwams once
stood. These increase as we pass on, till they assume the character of
continuous open fields, at the site of the old burying ground, orchard
and play ground of the neighboring Tuscaroras. The soil in these
openings appears hard, compact and worn out, and bears short grass. The
burial ground is filled almost entirely with sumach, giving it a bushy
appearance, which serves to hide its ancient graves and small tumuli.
Among these are two considerable barrows, or small elliptic mounds,
the one larger than the other, formed of earth and angular stones. The
largest is not probably higher than five feet, but may have a diameter
of twenty feet, in the longest direction.
Directly east of this antique cemetery, commences the old orchard and
area for ball playing, on which, at the time of my visit, the stakes or
goals were standing, and thus denoted that the ancient games are kept
up on these deserted fields, by the youthful population of the adjacent
Tuscarora village. A small ravine succeeds, with a brook falling into a
gulf, or deep break in the escarpment, where once stood a saw mill, and
where may still be traced some vestiges of this early attempt of the
first settlers to obtain a water power from a vernal brook. Immediately
after crossing this little ravine, and rising to the general level
of the plain, we enter the old fields and rock fortress of Kienuka,
described in the following diagram.
[Illustration]
To obtain a proper conception of this plan, it is necessary to advert
to geological events, in this part of the country, whose effects are
very striking. The whole country takes an impress, in some degree, from
the great throe which worked out a passage for the Niagara, through
seven miles of solid rock, severing, at its outlet, the great coronal
ridge, at its highest point of elevation. Nothing, we think, is more
evident to the observer, in tracing out the Kienuka plateau, than the
evidences which exist of Lake Ontario having washed its northern edge,
and driven its waters against its crowning wall of limestone. The fury
of the waves, forced in to the line of junction, between the solid
limestone and fissile sandstone, has broken up and removed the latter,
till the overlying rock, pressed by its own gravity, has been split,
fissured or otherwise disrupted, and often slid in vast solid masses
down the ragged precipice. Kienuka offers one of the most striking
instances of this action. The fissures made in the rock, by the partial
withdrawal of its support, assume the size of cavern passages; they
penetrate, in some instances, under other and unbroken masses of the
superior stratum, and are, as a whole, curiously intersected, forming a
vast reticulated area, in which large numbers of men could seek shelter
and security.
A. denotes the apex of this citadel of nature. At this point, heavy
masses of the limestone, rest, in part, upon the fissures, and serve as
a covering. From these primary fissures, others, marked C. C. C. C. C.,
proceed. The distance from G. to H. is 227 paces. The cross fissure at
I., thirty-seven paces.
Most of these fissures which extend in the general parallel of the
brink appear to have been narrow, and are now covered with the sod, or
filled with earth and carbonaceous matter, which gives this portion
of them the aspect of ancient trenches. D. denotes a small mound or
barrow. E. F., a brook, dry at midsummer. B. the site of an abandoned
saw-mill, at the head of an ancient lake inlet or gorge. The arrow
head denotes the site of habitations, which are marked by remains of
pottery, pipes, and other evidences of the ancient, rude arts of the
occupants. The parallel dots at B. mark the road, which, at this point,
crosses the head of the gorge. Trees, of mature growth, occupy some
portions of the brink of the precipice, extending densely eastward,
and obscure the view, which would otherwise be commanding, and fully
justify the original name. Directly in front, looking north, at the
distance of seven or eight miles, extends the waters of Lake Ontario,
at a level of several hundred feet below. The intermediate space,
stretching away as far as the eye can trace it, east and west, is one
of the richest tracts of wheat land in the State, cultivated in the
best manner, and settled compactly, farm to farm. Yet such to the eye
is the effect of the reserved woodlands on each farm, seen at this
particular elevation, that the entire area, to the lake shore, has the
appearance of a rich, unbroken forest, whose green foliage contrasts
finely with the silvery whiteness of the lake beyond. It requires the
observer, however, at this time, to ascend the crown of the ridge, to
realize this view in all its beauty and magnificence.
[_h._] Site of an ancient battle-field, with vestiges of an
entrenchment and fortification on the banks of the Deoseowa, or Buffalo
creek.
The following sketch conveys an idea of the relative position of
the several objects alluded to. Taken together they constitute the
distinguishing feature in the archæology of the existing Indian
cemetery, mission station, and council-house on the Seneca reservation,
five or six miles south of the city of Buffalo. As such, the site
is one of much interest, and well worthy of further observation and
study. The time and means devoted to it, in the preparation of this
outline, were less than would be desirable, yet they were made use
of, under favorable circumstances, as the current periodical business
and deliberations of the tribe brought together a large part of them,
including the chief persons of education and intelligence, as well
as many aged persons who are regarded as the depositories of their
traditions and lore.
Tradition, in which all concur, points out this spot as the scene of
the last and decisive battle fought between the Senecas and their
fierce and inveterate enemies the KAH-KWAHS, a people who are
generally but erroneously supposed to be the same as the Eries.[68]
It is not proposed in this place, to consider the evidences on this
point, or to denote the origin and events of this war. It is mainly
alluded to as a historical incident connected with the site. It is a
site around which the Senecas have clung, as if it marked an era in
their national history; although the work itself was clearly erected
by their enemies. It has been the seat of their government or council
fire, from an early period of our acquaintance with them. It was here
that Red Jacket uttered some of his most eloquent harangues against
the steady encroachments of the white race, and in favor of retaining
this cherished portion of their lands, and transmitting them with
full title to their descendants. It was here that the noted captive,
Dehewamis, better known as Mary Jemison, came to live after a long
life of most extraordinary vicissitudes. And it is here that the bones
of the distinguished ORATOR, and the no less distinguished
CAPTIVE, rest side by side, with a multitude of warriors,
chiefs and sages. Nor can we, on natural principles of association,
call in question the truthfulness or force of the strenuous objections,
which, for so many years, the whole tribe has opposed to the general
policy of its sale. But these events are now history; the tribe has
come into arrangements to remove to reservations owned by their
brethren, in more westerly parts of the State, and there will soon be
no one left whose heart vibrates with the blood of a Seneca, to watch
the venerated resting places of their dead.
[68] This is a French pronunciation of a Wyandot or Huron term. Vide
Hennepin, Amsterdam, ed. 1698.
It was suitable, before the plough was put into these precincts,
and the last trench and mound of the tribe were obliterated, that
some memorial of the locality should be preserved, and I can only
regret that the labor itself has not been better or more successfully
accomplished.
[Illustration: ANCIENT WORK ON BUFFALO CREEK.]
A. denotes the site of the mission house; B, of the council house;
D, of the battle field, or that portion of it where the result was
consummated; F, the grave yard. At C, there are still the remains of a
mound, which tradition asserts was raised over the incinerated bodies
of victor and vanquished slain in battle. These bodies were piled
together, interspersed with the carcasses of deer and other game, which
had been hunted with the special view, that it might be offered as a
sacrifice with the bodies, or to appease their spirits in the land of
the dead. In making partial excavations into this mound, which has been
frequently plowed over in modern times, I procured several partially
charred or blackened bones, supposed to represent parts of the human
and brute species; a proof, it would seem, of the truth of this curious
part of the tradition.[69] Mixed in the funeral pile, there were set
vessels of pottery, with drinks offered as libations to the dead.
And it is certain, also, that pieces of reddish coarse pottery were
obtained at the same time, in making these partial examinations.
[69] The Indian name of Buffalo creek, which gives name to the city,
has been variously written. In the treaty of 1784, at Fort Stanwix, it
is called “Tehoseroron,” which is the Mohawk term, the final _n_ being
probably designed to convey a nasal sound. The word, as pronounced
to me by the late Mrs. Carr of Wellington square, Canada, who was a
daughter of the celebrated Brandt, I have written TEHOSERORO,
meaning Place of the Linden tree. The letters _d_ and _t_ are
interchangeable between the Mohawks and Senecas. The latter, who at the
same time do not use the letter _r_, and have some peculiarities in the
use of the vowels, pronounce it in a manner which I thought should be
written Deoseowa, as above. Mr. Wright, in his “Mental Elevator” and
“Seneca Spelling Book,” makes it a word of four syllables, and uses
the sound of _y_ as heard in “yonder,” for the vowel _e_ in his second
syllable. Every practised ear is acute to satisfy its own requisitions
of sound, which is not easy in unwritten languages; and there is
besides a marked difference in the pronunciation of Indians from
different localities, or uttered under different circumstances. Mr.
Ellicott, on his original plat of Buffalo, writes it “Tushuway.” Others
have spelt it still differently. The meaning of the word has excited
but little difference of opinion. It denotes a locality of the linden
or basswood tree, a species found upon the rich bottom lands of this
stream, whose bark was highly valuable to these tribes for covering
their lodges, and for the tough and fibrous inner coat, which at an
early time served them to make both twine and ropes.
Whence then, it may be asked, is the origin of the word Buffalo, since
it is not found in the Indian term? Tradition denotes that the range of
this animal once extended to the banks of the great lakes. There was
a current opinion among the early travellers along the shores of Lake
Erie, that the bison had been seen and killed on this creek. Whether
the impression arose from, or was traceable, in part or wholly, to a
deception of certain hunters in bringing in “other flesh,” under the
denomination of Buffalo meat, as has been said, it would be difficult
to determine. From whatever cause, it is certain that the stream
acquired the popular name it now bears at an early day, whilst the
aboriginal name was neglected.
The dotted lines are designed to show the probable figure and
extent of the work, from the accounts of the Indians. That it was a
circular work, appears to be denoted by the only parts of the wall
yet remaining, which are drawn in black. The site itself was elevated
moderately above the plain. There is no reason to suppose that this
elevation of the surface was artificial. The relative position of
the creek is denoted by G. H marks the position of a stone, which
is connected with the history of their domestic arts, before the
discovery of the country. It was not practicable to obtain accurate
admeasurements of distances; the design being merely to present a
pencil sketch.