tRN. ANTIQUITIES:
::C)MPRISING SKETCHES
3F EARLY BUFFALO AND
r- n-REAT LAKES, ALSO
xSolGHES OF ALASKA
IP
''" SEP 23 188b
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.
Cliapi.:.,..! Copyright No
Slielf...^5A?
•
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
Modern Antiquities:
Comprising
Sketches of Early Buffalo
and the Great Lakes
Also Sketches of Alaska
By Barton Atkins
The Courier Company, Printers and Binders
Buffalo, New York
i8g8
14316
EXPLANATION.
2
■^ /
A 9
This writing is in manner provincial.
Literary merit is not essayed, and for
its demerits no apology is offered.
0(^VRIGHTED, 1898,
2nCI '--/0»*T_ By Barton Atkins.
1896.
N^
MODERN ANTIQUITIES
CHAPTER I.
At the burning of Buffalo in 1813 its earlier rec-
ords were destroyed. From recollections of early res-
idents, and from letters of early travelers, written
hence, were constructed a history of the early trading-
post and the subsequent village of New Amsterdam.
The immediate ancestors of the writer were early
residents of the locality, and of its legendary lore he
was invested with a liberal share, which, together with
the- records of the reconstructed village of Buffalo,
form a basis for the claim that such history as is herein
presented is the truth of it.
About the year 1790 is the date when came the first
white settler, and who erected the first building where
now is the populous city of Buffalo. The historic
pioneer was a Hollander and an Indian trader, named
Cornelius Winne, from Fishkill on the Hudson. Thus,
in reality, it was the Hollander, Winne, and not Elli-
cott, the agent of Hollanders, who was the founder
of Buffalo.
b MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
The commercial importance of Winne's domain was
of slow growth during the remainder of the century.
In 1791 Col. Thomas Proctor, an emissary of the Sec-
retary of War, came to Western New York to treat
with the Seneca Indians, and at the trading-post he
found Winne, and a negro, called "Black Joe," the
only signs of civilization.
Four years later, in 1795, Capt. Daniel Dobbins
journeyed from the "Genesee Country" to Presque
Isle (Erie), and at the mouth of Buffalo Creek he
rested for a day with Winne and Black Joe, who were
then partners in trade with the Indians. Cajitain Dob-
bins found the population of Winne's colony doubled,
by the addition of Johnston, the British interpreter,
and the Dutchman, Middaugh. Capt. Daniel Dobbins
was not only an early pioneer among savage life, but
a fighting patriot as well. Prior to the war of 1812
he was sailing the waters of Lake Erie, master of the
schooner Scdina^ and when war came was prompt to
join the navy, and in the battle of Lake Erie was com-
mander of the Oliio^ one of Perry's fighting fleet. All
honor to the memory of Capt. Daniel Dobbins I
Three years subsequent to the visit of Captain Dob-
bins, in 1798, Albert Brisbane visited the trading-
post "Lake Erie," and found its population further
increased. " There were five or six log-houses. In one
John Palmer kept a tavern, in one lived Asa Ransom
and family, in another James Robbins, a blacksmith,
and in a double house lived Johnston, the interpreter,
SKETCHES OF EARLY BUFFALO. 7
and Middaugh, with liis son-in-law, a man named
Ezekiah Lane, who was a cooper." Middaugh had
squatted over the creek, about opposite the present
foot of Main street, where he lived an Indian trader
until his death, in 1825. Lane was a resident in
Buffalo until his death, in 1865 — a centenarian.
Mr. Brisbane found that Winne and Black Joe had
sought other pastures — Winne in Canada, and Joe on
the Cattaraugus reservation, where he lived many
years, dying at an advanced age. Joe Hodge had
lived among the Indians a long time, spoke their lan-
guage fluently, and had an Indian family. Was said
to have escaped from slavery when a boy, and took
refuge with the Senecas.
In the year 1800, dating from Fort Niagara, Rev.
Elkanah Holmes, a missionary from New York, wrote
to his principals as follows:
I then took leave of liim (Farmer's Brother) and went to a
village of white people at the mouth of the Buffaloe. While
there, where I made my home during- my visit to the Senecas, I
preached to the whites seven or eight times. They never had
but one sermon preached there before.
Historians date Mr. Holmes' first appearance in
Western New York in 1801, and to him they give
credit of preaching the first sermon in Buffalo, It
appears authoritively that he was there in 1800, and
preached seven or eight times, and that there was one
sermon preached there before his. Mr. Holmes did
not name the preacher of the first sermon, an omission
8 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
fatal to a complete record of the preaching of the
Gospel in Buffalo.
The letter here quoted, together with a speech made
to Mr. Holmes by Farmer's Brother, and another by
Red Jacket, the chief Sachems of the Seneca Nation,
were published in the Kew York Missionary Magazine
of December, 1800. Herein is the first republication
of the letter and speeches.*
At this time Mr. Holmes found five or six families
at the trading-post, but does not mention any names.
He went to New York in the fall of 1800, but re-
turned the following year a missionary to the Senecas,
remaining with them on the Buffalo Creek Reservation
until 1812.
In tlie meantime the title to the lands adjacent to
Lake Erie became vested in the Holland Land Com-
pany, and in 1799, their agent, Joseph Ellicott, ap-
peared on the scene with a corps of surveyors, and in
the following year he mapped a town site which he
named New Amsterdam. The elioible location of the
town site drew hither many prospectors, and the town
increased in population rapidly.
The first mechanics, other than jack-knife carpenters,
to ply their trades in the town, were James Robbins,
the blacksmith, and Ezekiel Lane, the cooper. The
first tavern was opened by one Skinner, in 1794. He
is spoken of by travelers before Palmer, who probably
* See Appendix.
SKETCHES OF EARLY BUFFALO. 9
succeeded Skinner. The first civil official was Asa
Ransom, who was appointed justice of the peace by
Governor George Clinton, in 1801.
And with the coming of a court of justice occurred
the first murder in the town. An Indian, called Stiff-
Arm George, stabbed to death John Hewett, in front
of Palmer's tavern. The murderer was arrested and
tried at Canandaigua. In his defense Red Jacket
addressed the jury, citing cases of white men killing
Indians and not punished therefor, as a reason for the
discharge of the prisoner. The culprit was convicted,
however, and subsequently pardoned by the Governor
on condition that he leave and remain without the
state, a condition faithfully complied with. The in-
dustry of hanging Indians in Buffalo was not ripe at
that early period.
In 1803, David Reese, a blacksmith, came to the
Senecas, making their knives and hoes, repairing their
guns, etc. For Red Jacket he made a tomahawk, which
was unsatisfactory to the big Indian, he casting it on
the ground with the utterance, "No good." Then
Reese was furnished with a pattern of a weapon desired
by Red Jacket, and, when making, Reepe was admon-
ished to strictly follow the model, which instruction
was rigidly observed, and the illustrious savage had a
tomahawk without a hole therein for a handle, and this
is why he ever after called Reese " Damfool." Reese's
shop stood on the northeast corner of Washington and
Seneca streets, a frame building painted red, one of
10 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
three not burned by the British, and where the bodies
of the slain villagers were gathered and prepared for
burial. The little red shop continued to adorn that
now picturesque corner until about 1820.
A school-house was erected in 1803 — a house of
hewed timber — on Cayuga street (Pearl), west side,
below Swan.
The first physician to locate in New Amsterdam was
Dr. Cyrenius Chapin, and there he continued to reside
until his death, in 1838. Dr. Chapin was active on
the frontier during the war of 1812, and valorous in
defense of Buffalo in troublous times. He is recalled
as a tall, spare and gray-visaged man, wrapped in a
long cloak of blue cloth.
As Indian Agent, Judge Erastus Granger called
Dr. Chapin to attend Red Jacket in his illness. The
original bill presented to Judge Granger for this ser-
vice is possessed by the writer, dated December, 1806.
The bill of Dr. Chapin reads as follows :
Erastus Granger, Esq., Dr.
To Cyrenius Chapin.
For medical attention, and for med. delivered to Red Jacket,
Nov. 5, 1806 :
Two Emetics, 4s.
Croton Oil Pills, 6s.
Sol, Tartar Emetic, 3s.
Spice and Opium Plaster, 4s.
Pills of Croton Oil, Is.
£0.18.0
SKETCHES OF EARLY BUFFALO. 11
Item Second.
19-Call, 2s.
Cathartic, 2s.
Sol. of Giauber-salts, 3s.
Emetic of Powdered Ipecac, 4s.
Pills of Croton Oil, 8s.
£0.19s.O
£l.lTs.O
Received Payment, Buffalo Creek,
Dec'r Uth, 1806. Signed duplicates,
Eben'r Walden. Cyrenius Chapin.
Some of the doses thus prescribed have been known
to kill a horse, but Red Jacket survived the treatment
twenty-four years, a pleasing assurance that his monu-
ment in Forest Lawn was not erected in vain.
The first regular mail came from Canandaigua on
horseback, in 1804. Then a post-office was established,
and Erastus Granger appointed postmaster.
The first lot devoted to burial purpose in the settle-
ment was the one now the northeast corner of Washing-
ton and Exchange streets. There interments were made
until the "Village Burial Ground" was established—
where now is the City and County Hall— in 1808. The
first interment in the village ground was the body of a
stranger, who died suddenly at Barker's tavern, formerly
Pomeroy's. No lots were sold in the village plot ; burial
permits were granted by the trustees.
12 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
In 1815, the famous Seneca chief, Farmer's Brother,
was buried there with military honors. In later life this
native warrior was friendly and loyal to the whites, and
to the Government of the United States. In earlier life
he led the war party which committed the ghastly
massacre of Britons at Devil's Hole, on the Niagara.
At the commencement of the war of ■ 1812, the
schooner Connecticut^ an American vessel, when an-
chored off the mouth of Buffalo Creek, was captured
by a British party from Fort Erie, the first hostile act
of the war on the frontier. Soon thereafter two Brit-
ish vessels were anchored near shore, under the guns
of Fort Erie. Lieutenant Elliott, of the navy, then at
Buffalo, organized an expedition to cut out the Brit-
ishers under cover of night, and his success was com-
plete, for which Congress voted that heroic officer a
sword. Subsequently Elliott admitted that the saga-
cious Farmer's Brother pointed out to him the feasi-
bility of his ex2)edition to capture the British vessels,
one of which had a valuable cargo of furs, brought
down from Lake Huron.
Interments continued in the village plot until 183 6 j
the wife of Judge Samuel Wilkeson being the last
one, excepting the body of Dr. Cyrenius Chapin, which
was buried there by special permit, in 1838. Dr. Cha-
pin's grave was directly beneath the present Church
street entrance to the city hall. The remains of those
interred in the old village ground were removed to an
inclosed plot in Forest Lawn, in 1850.
SKETCHES OF EARLY BUFFALO. 13
David Mather was a settler in New Amsterdam in
1806. Then the hamlet consisted of sixteen houses,
eight of which were on Main street, three on Seneca,
two on Pearl, and three on the Terrace. There were
two stores, one on the southeast corner of Main and
Seneca streets, kept by Vincent Grant, and the store
of Samuel Pratt, on Crow street (Exchange), which
then extended only from Main to Washington street.
In a wing of his dwelling, corner of Main and Crow
streets, Louis Le Couteulx had a drug store, the first
in Buffalo. Where now is the Mansion House, John
Crow kept a tavern.
The first lawyer to locate in New Amsterdam was
Ebenezer Walden, in 1806. And in 1811 Mrs. Wal-
den presided at the first piano sounded in Buffalo.
The first judge for Buffalo was Samuel Tupper,
appointed in 1805 by Gov. George Clinton. Judge
Tupper resided on the southwest corner of Main and
Tu^jper streets. His dwelling was destroyed in the
burning of the village in 1813. After the war he
erected a larger house on the site, where it remained
until removed to the west side of Main street, below
Allen, and where it still stands, a relic of village days.
The first street passenger line in Buffalo was estab-
lished by Moses Baker, in 1825 — a line of stages to
and from Black Rock.
14 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
CHAPTER IL
The preceding chapter relates to the coming of the
first white settler to "Buffalo Creek," and the estab-
lishment of the trading-post, "Lake Erie," and of the
subsequent village of " New Amsterdam," and of events
there occurring down to the year 1807. At that period
the settlers of the place persisted in calling it Buffalo,
in accord with the official name of its post-office and
the customs district. But not until 1826 were the
Dutch appellations of the streets officially renounced
and the present names substituted.
In 1808 an act of the legislature made Buffalo the
county seat of Niagara County, the Holland Company
donating lots, on which were erected a court-house and
jail. The court-house, a wooden structure, was located
on the present line of Washington street, directly
fronting the present Public Library building. The
jail was built of stone, and stood where now is the
old Darrow block, on Washington street, opposite
the Mooney-Brisbane building. These improvements
added prestige to the town; settlers came, and its
advance was rapid.
The first court of record was held in 1808, at Lan-
don's tavern, Augustus Porter, Judge, William Stew-
SKETCHES OF EARLY BUFFALO. 15
art, District Attorney, Louis Le Couteulx, Clerk, and
Asa Ransom, Sheriff. Upon this court were four at-
tendant lawyers, Ebenezer Walden, John Root and
Jonas Harrison, of Buffalo, and Bates Cook, of Lew-
iston. The records of the court went the way of all
other records of early Buffalo — up in smoke in the
conflagration of 1813, but in some manner it has been
preserved to history that at this s9ssion four men were
indicted and tried for stealing a cow !
The first brick building erected in the town of Buf-
falo was by William Hodge, Sen., in 1806, on the
lot now 1358 Main street. The bricks for the build-
ing were manufactured by Mr. Hodge on the lot now
occupied by the Bapst building, corner of Main street
and Glenwood avenue. The second brick structure
in the town was erected on the lot now the north-
east corner of Exchange and Washington streets,
in 1810, by Benjamin Caryl, Juba Storrs and Samuel
Pratt, Jr.
The first newspaper for Buffalo was the Gazette^
published by Smith H. and Hezekiah Salisbury, in
1811. Copies of this publication are preserved in the
Buffalo Library.
The first brewer known to Buffalo was Joseph
Webb. In 1811 he advertised his brewery in the col-
umns of the Gazette.
In 1811 the first church organization in Buffalo
was formed — " The First Congregational and Presby-
16
MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
terian Church" — numbering twenty -nine members,
as follows:
James B. Hyde,
Rusha Hyde,
Samuel Atkins,
Anna Atkins,
John J. Seeley,
Elizabeth Seeley,
Stephen Franklin,
Sarah Franklin,
Amos Callender,
Rebecca Callender,
Nathaniel Sill,
Keziah Sill,
Comfort Landon,
Esther Pratt,
Sarah Hoisington.
Jabez Goodell,
Nancy Hull,
Ruth Foster,
Keziah Cotton,
Nancy Mather,
Keziah Holt,
Sally Haddock,
Sopiiia Bull,
Henry Woodworth,
Sophia Gillett,
Betsy Atkins,
Mary Hoi brook,
Louis Curtiss,
Nancy Harvey,
For about four years the society retained its original
title, when it was changed to ''The First Presbyterian
Church Society," a name still retained. The vicissi-
tudes of war interrupted their meetings for fully three
years. The Rev. Thaddeus Osgood was their first
pastor. In Ma-y, 1816, in a building on the northeast
corner of Main and Huron streets, erected for a car^
penter shop, the Rev. Miles P. Squier was installed
pastor. Their old church, which gave place to the Erie
County Bank building, was erected in 1827. Its foun-
dation stones were dug when constructing the canal at
Porter avenue.
The first butcher to open a meat market in Buffalo
was Gilman Folsom, in 1808. His location was on
SKETCHES OF EARLY BUFFALO. 17
the lot since occupied for a like purpose for half a
century by Arnold Weppner, on Main street, below
Chippewa. Folsom's slaughter-house was in the rear,
on Pearl street.
In 1811 a war-cloud darkened the land. To frontier
communities remote from the centers of population it
was of much concern. When war came it brought
appalling disaster to the village of Buffalo, its inhabi-
tants being compelled to flee from the flames of their
burning homes in mid-winter to seek shelter in adja-
cent settlements. Their village, with the exception of
three buildings, was burned to ashes.
Recently was published in a local newspaper a con-
servative account of the burning and of the events
leading thereto, which is new reading. The article is
hereto appended :
The story of tlie burning of BufEalo eighty-three years ago
has been told many times, but ahnost always from the point of
view of the dwellers in the two villages where the city now
stands. The men of BufEalo and Black Rock were defending
their own firesides, and Buffalonians are apt to think of them
and their families as the only sufEerers. It will be interesting
to read the story as seen by those who rallied from the sur-
rounding country to aid in defense of Buffalo when its destruc-
tion was threatened.
When General Wilkinson retired in 1813 to lower Lake On-
tario, he left the force on the Niagara in command of General
McClure, who made his headquarters on the Canadian side, at
Fort George, where the doughty General issued flaming procla-
mations, and when abandoning that position committed the need-
less cruelty of burning the adjacent village, and turning helpless
families out into winter's cold and snow. The inhuman act
18 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
brouglit condign punishment on the American frontier. Then
McClure moved his headquarters to Buffalo. The British, fired
with the spirit of revenge, at once undertook reprisals. The
whole country-side, up to Tonawanda Creek, was swept by red-
coats and their savages. During the three weeks following the
burning of Newark, six American villages were burned, with all
the scattered homes the avengers could find. The whole country-
side was a waste. General McClure called upon the men of
Genesee, Niagara and Chautauqua counties to come to the defense
of Buffalo, and then went to Batavia, where he arrived on De-
cember 22d, and there he gave up the command to General Hall,
who hurried on all the troops he could to Buffalo, which he
reached December 25th, and did the best he could to repel the
invaders.
The tale has often been told how small detachments of Amer-
ican raw militia were one after another thrown against the enemy
in the darkness at Conjockety Creek, and were in turn demoral-
ized, many scattering through the wood in flight ; how the Brit-
ish succeeded in landing at Black Rock ; how the enemy marched
up from the Conjockety, dispersing such resistance as they met.
General Hall sounded a retreat, hoping to make a stand at Buf-
falo, but this was impossible. Only a few soldiers rallied for a
future defense. Then followed a scene which passes description.
The few roads were thronged with a motley crowd of soldiers
and citizens and Seneca Indians, all hurrying as fast as possible
from the British and their savage allies. For a day or two the
country roads resembled a general May-day moving, but with
terror blanching every face.
Such was the effect of the needless destruction of
the Canadian village by General McClure on his evac-
uation of Fort George, and who then and there dis-
graced the uniform of an American soldier by so
doing. What if the villagers were insulting to their
invaders ? They were belligerents in time of war, and
SKETCHES OF EARLY BUFFALO. 19
their indignities should have been overlooked, and in-
nocent women and children not subjected to inhuman
treatment in order to appease the wrath of an officer
in command. A true soldier would have shrunk from
such action.
Until the spring of 1814, but few of the fugitive
villagers returned to re-establish their homes, and most
of these with pluck only as a resource. The Gazette of
May 14 announced that activity prevailed in rebuild-
ing, and that the county clerk's office could be found
at the house of Major Miller, at Cold Spring, that the
post-office was at the house of Judge Granger, and that
the collector's office had returned from Batavia.
Samuel Wilkeson had returned from the army, and
on Niagara, near Main street, he erected a house, and
still another on Main, near Genesee street. The latter
was his family residence until the completion of his
mansion on Niagara Square, in 1825.
This house, since construction, has been occupied
continuously by the Wilkeson family. Miss Louise
Wilkeson, a granddaughter of Judge Samuel Wil-
keson, its present occupant, has there resided from
her birth. The house is of much historic interest.
Therein important meetings were held by prominent,
influential citizens, when ways were discussed and
means were provided to advance the interests of Buf-
falo. There Gov. Dewitt Clinton and Canal Commis-
sioner Myron Holly met in consultation with citizens
of Buffalo on matters important, and which, promoted
20 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
by the master mind of Judge Wilkeson, were consum-
mated to the advantage and glory of Buffalo. On the
opening of the Erie Canal, Judge Wilkeson was chair-
man of the celebration committee, and on their return
from their eastern trij) a grand reception was held at
the Wilkeson house, where the returned committee was
greeted and congratulated by the leading residents of
Buffalo, and of the country surrounding.
Robert Cameron Rogers, in his story, "Johnny
Wedderburn," locates a scene at the Wilkeson man-
sion, he naming it "Wedderburn House." The story
is not drawn from family history, but his description
of the house and grounds is perfect :
But the uproar never seems to break in upon or dispel the air
of complete repose \vhich surround the old mansion. The very
dust appears to settle with a certain deference over the garden
and through the branches of the elm trees, which stand like
drowsj sentinels just within the yard. The Wedderburn House
is like a half-hour stolen for meditation out of a busy day. It
is a little Mecca in the midst of the work-a-day world, into ^yhich
you may turn to meditate awhile on remote and quiet themes,
and even, as the moslem leaves his shoes without the mosque,
bid the questions and anxieties of life await you at the gate.
Within the house is the same atmosphere of rest, tinged, you
might say, with sadness. The shadow of some lingering sad-
ness, softened and mellowed by time, seems mingled with the
quiet of the dusky rooms. As you tread through the long hall,
the soft, odd-patterned rugs hush the footfall into silence. The
old-fashioned furniture meets your gaze, seeming to say softly,
"We have been long in the family, and have memories."
Together with its central location, and the historic
interest connected with the house and grounds, their
22 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
purchase and preservation by the city is a subject
worthy of consideration. The result would be a joy
to future generations, and a debt of honor canceled
which Buffalo owes to the memory of Samuel Wilke-
son, the father of the city — the founder of its com-
mercial greatness.
In the spring of 1813 the first execution in Buffalo
took place. Two soldiers were shot for desertion, at
the camp on Flint Hill. A like tragedy occurred the
following year, when five soldiers were placed in kneel-
ing posture to be shot for desertion, one of whom was
a young man under twenty years of age. The mus-
kets handed to the men ordered to fire at him were
charged with blank cartridge, and his life was his own.
This tragedy, overlooked by Generals Brown, Scott
and Ripley, took place where is now the junction of
Seventh and Carolina streets.
The first execution by civil authority in Buffalo was
in 1815, when James Peters and Charles Thompson
were hanged for the murder of James Burba. The
victim lived on the river-side, below Black Rock, and
because he objected to the trespass upon his premises
by Thompson and Peters, they shot him. On this
occasion the gallows was erected on the Terrace near
Swan street.
In December, 1819, for the second time a gallows
was erected in Buffalo. John Godfrey was hanged for
killing a soldier in the garrison at Fort Niagara. The
recruit was dilatory in obeying an order of Corporal
SKETCHES OF EARLY BUFFALO. 23
Godfrey, and thereupon he was promptly shot, and for
which the corporal was promptly hanged, and then the
scales of Justice balanced even.
The first three years of the reconstruction of the vil-
lage were uneventful, when important events stimulated
the villagers to greater activity. The construction of
the Erie Canal, then in progress, and the advent and
success of a steamboat on Lake Erie, were incentives
to emigration, and the ensuing decade was largely
eventful to Buffalo.
In 1813 an act incorporating the village was passed
by the legislature, but the exigencies of war prevented
organization. Another act of incorporation was passed
in 1816, when an organization was effected, with Oliver
Forward, Samuel Wilkeson, Charles Townsend, Eben-
ezer Walden, Heman B. Potter and Jonas Harrison
as trustees.
A paper written in 1847, by the late Judge George
W. Clinton, is an interesting chapter of village history,
from which the following is extracted :
On tlie 6tli day of May, 1816, the freeholders and inhabitants
met at the house of Gains Kibbe, innkeeper. Of the trustees,
Samuel Wilkeson, Oliver Forward, Charles Townsend and Jonas
Harrison were present. The meeting chose J. E. Chaplin,
Clerk, Josiah Trowbridge, Treasurer, Moses Baker, Collector,
and Reuben B. Heacock, John Haddock and Caleb Russell, Fire
Wardens. At a subsequent meeting, on the 11th of November,
1816, they voted the first tax ever imposed in Buffalo village — a
tax of $1,400, to be apportioned according to the assessment roll
of the town of Buffalo for that year.
24 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
On the 7th of March, 1817, the trustees organized
a fire company, and appointed the following named
to constitute it :
Sylvanus Marvin, Horatio L. Fobes,
Stephen K. Grosvenor, Joseph Lawton,
William Murray, Jonathan R. Brown,
Jonathan E. Chaplin, Azariah Fuller, Jr.,
Dan Bristol, William B. Goodrich,
Gorham Chapin, Nathaniel Goodrich,
John Fobes, William Dorrington,
John B. Hicks, Welcome Wood.
At this meeting the trustees passed a resolution,
rather arbitrarily, "that it be the duty of Vincent
Grant, Gilman Folsom and Amos Callender to jjrotect
property from plunder whenever a fire takes place in
this village."
In May, 1823, was passed the first ordinance forbid-
ing domestic animals the freedom of the town, bub the
cows and pigs refused to observe the law for many
years thereafter by roaming at will.
On the 6th of August, 1825, Lorin Pierce was ap-
pointed village sexton, an office he held persistently
for fifty years thereafter.
On December 16, 1824, the second fire company
was organized. Among the members were :
Guy H. Goodrich, Abner Bryant,
Thaddeus Weed, Martin Daley,
Ebenezer Johnson, John A. Lazelle,
George Coit, George B. Gleason,
John Scott, George B, Webster,
William HoUister, Robert Bush,
Nathaniel Wilgus, Joseph Dart,
Theodore Coburn, E. D. Efner,
Hiram Johnson.
SKETCHES OF EARLY BUFFALO. 25
111 August, 1831, a tax of |3,000 was imposed for
the purpose of constructing reservoirs and the pur-
chase of fire engines. Two thousand dollars was paid
for a fire engine and 200 feet of hose. Then a third
fire company was organized. Two engine houses were
built and a third one ordered, and another fire engine
contracted for. Such were the youthful days of
Buffalo's now unsurpassed fire department.
The police department was organized by a provis-
ion of the city charter ; the village trustees neglecting
such precaution further than to appoint a "watch," at
the request of the residents of the "Triangle," sit-
uated between Main and Canal streets and the canal.
John Benson, Michael Benson and William Cornwall
were appointed to guard that locality — Buffalo's first
police authorized by the corporation.
Not until near the close of the village era was Buf-
falo furnished with a sidewalk other than what Mother
Earth provided. An order to construct sidewalks on
Main street, from Crow to Swan street, was ordered in
1829, "with brick or smooth flagging," at the expense
of the owners of fronting property — the west side to
be sixteen feet in width, and but fourteen feet on
the east side, and both sides provided with a rail on
the outer edge.
Prior to 1845, the east side of Main street be-
low Seneca was of but little account. The east side,
called "Cheapside," was "in the swim." As late as
1846 the corner of Exchange and Main streets was
26 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
occupied by the residence of Louis Le Couteulx, upon
a hill ten feet above the present grade. The lot was
inclosed by a stone wall, eight feet high above the side-
walk. On the Main and Exchange street fronts there
were openings in the wall, where steps led up to a gate
at the top of the ground entrance to the house. From
the corner of Exchange street half-way to Seneca street
was vacant property. In 1843 William Garland came
from Boston. Adjoining the Le Couteulx lot on the
north he erected Gothic Hall, the building now occupied
by that combustible merchant, Salem LeValley. Mr.
Garland's enterprise was scoffed at by the merchants
of "Gheapside" — that his building would be out of
the line of business and travel. However, his fine
structure was the incentive to the immediate improve-
ment of that side of the street, above and below, when
at once it became what it has ever since remained — the
bustling side.
During the Presidential campaign of 1844 the Whigs,
in honor of their candidate, Henry Glay, erected on
the upper corner of Main and Exchange streets a mas-
sive ashen column, twenty feet high, surmounted by
a golden ball, in circumference equal to a flour barrel.
The first settlement of Buffalo was in the vicinity
of the Terrace Liberty Pole. The double log-house
of Middaugh and Lane, sold to Judge Barker in 1808,
was the first exclusive dwellino: erected. No contracts
for the sale of lands in New Amsterdam were entered
into by the Holland Gomi^any until November, 1804,
SKETCHES OF EARLY BUFFALO. 27
when six were made on the first day. One of these
was inner lot No. 1, to John Crow, who erected and
kept a tavern upon it, and a public house has been
maintained thereon continuously since, known as the
Mansion House. In 1810, this lot, with its improve-
ments, was sold to Joseph Landon for 1140. The
census of 1810 gave the village a population of 355
white inhabitants.
The year 1816 gave to Buffalo four brick build-
ings, two of which became famous — the court-house
for its noted lawyers, and for its many noted criminal
trials, among which were the convicted murderers,
John Godfrey, the three Thayers, Dibdell Holt, John
Davis, John Johnson, McEh'oy, Shorter, Knicker-
bocker, and the acute Gaffney — all hanged, from Davis
down, in the old jail yard. Holt was the victim of the
last public execution in Buffalo. A noted trial in
the old court-house was that of the illustrious forger,
Benjamin Rathbun, in 1838.
Once upon a time, Millard Fillmore, a respected
Buffalo lawyer, who, with the rest of mankind, did not
then suspect that he was destined to be President of
the United States, addressed the jury in an important
land case, tried before Judge Mullett in the old court-
house. The close of Mr. Fillmore's address was an
appeal to the jury, when he stated that "they all knew
him, and therefore were aware that statements he had
made to them were the facts of the case, else he would
not have made them." Then Mr. Fillmore took a seat
28 MODERN AXTIQ CITIES.
next to the late Judge Talcott, then a la\^Ter at the
bar. The opposing counsel, Gen. George P. Barker,
then arose to make his address. General Barker
opened his argument bj protesting against the emi-
nent counsel for the plaintiffs making his personal
character "the right bower of his argument."" Mr.
Fillmore was curious : " Right bower — right bower —
what's that?"" whispered the future President. '•Big-
gest knave in the pack," said Talcott, and without a
change of countenance.
The Eagle Tavern acquired fame for good cheer,
superior viands and entertainment. Among its guests,
from time to time, have been Presidents of the nation.
Governors, statesmen, and foreign potentates when
making pilgrimages to the Falls. When the Ameri-
can Hotel burned in 1865, the remaining portion of
the old Eagle Tavern was destroyed, and on its site
was erected the stores. 416 and 118 Main street.
The first landlord of the Eagle Tavern was its con-
structor. Gains Kibbe. In the early twenties Kibbe
was succeeded by Benjamin Rathbun, who there flour-
ished until the fall of 1836. Rathbun was succeeded
by E. A. Huntley, and he for a time by I. R. Harring-
ton, but its prestige had departed, overshadowed by
the adjoining American Hotel.
A third structure was the residence of Judge
AYalden, located on Main street, where now stands
the south end of J. N. Adam's line of stores, between
Eagle and Clinton streets. Mr. AValden disposed of
SKETCHES OF EARLY BUFFALO. 29
the property in 1823 to Bela D. Coe, the resident pro-
prietor of the Albany and Bnffalo line of stages, who
occupied the residence until about 1839, when W. A.
Moseley took possession, until sold to the McArthurs,
during the forties. The McArthurs added to the
premises by inclosing the then vacant space to Eagle
street. For many years thereafter it was "McAr-
thurs' Garden," having a building within the inclosure
for exhibitions, with stage and audience room. Here
Gen. Tom Thumb was first exhibited in Buffalo by
P. T. Barnum. Subsequently, in 1851, a panorama
presented scenes on the Sacramento River where gold
was being panned out ; the exhibitor spread the Cali-
fornia fever when pointing to a locality on the canvas,
and saying : " On that bar I worked six weeks, aver-
aging a little over two hundred dollars a day." The
corner below, where stands the Hotel Iroquois, was
then vacant. Usually, in summer, a circus tent was
pitched in this lot. It was here that Dan Rice, in
1858, exhibited his educated mules for the first time
in Buffalo. Then upon the corner was erected the
St. James Hotel, opened by E. L. Hodges, and then
the Young Men's Association purchased and occupied
the property about 1865, and then the fated Richmond
Hotel, and then — the big wigwam, the Iroquois.
30 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
CHAPTER III.
At this period, 1820, no water craft larger than a
bateau could enter Buffalo Creek from the lake, and
the construction of a harbor was the leading question
considered by the villagers. For the extension of the
Erie Canal to Buffalo a harbor was indispensable, and
a harbor its people were determined to have.
Application for a survey of the creek was made,
and an act j^assed authorizing such a survey. A sur-
vey was made, and then a public meeting appointed
Charles Townsend a delegate to Albany to obtain
legislative aid. The state would loan a sum of money
to be applied to building a harbor at Buffalo provided
security was furnished. Oliver Forward, Charles
Townsend, A. H. Tracy, H. B. Potter, E. F. Norton,
Ebenezer Johnson, Ebenezer Walden, Jonas Harrison
and John G. Camp associated and applied for a loan.
An act was passed authorizing a loan to above-named
citizens of Buffalo to the amount of #12,000, to be
secured by bond and mortgage in double the amount.
But the outcome was that all but Charles Townsend
and Oliver Forward declined to bond themselves.
Then the prospect of Buffalo village becoming a com-
mercial city was cast in gloom. The termination of
the canal at Black Rock was influentially advocated,
EARLY NAVIGATION. 31
and the practicability, even the possibility, of con-
structing a permanent structure at the mouth of
Buffalo Creek was seriously questioned. At this junc-
ture came forth a Moses, who opened the way through
the wilderness. The benefactor was Judge Samuel
Wilkeson, who, in connection with Judge Charles
Townsend, Judge Oliver Forward and George Coit,
gave the required security, each executing their indi-
vidual bond and mortgage in the sum of 'f 6,000. They
obtained -$12,000 from the state to be expended in
making a harbor at Buffalo, the state reserving the
right to take the work when completed and cancel the
bonds, all dependent upon its stability. The building
of a pier into the open lake was an experiment, — no
such work had been attempted. An engineer for
superintendent was imported from the sea-board, and
the work commenced during the summer of 1821.
Judge Wilkeson was prosecuting his private business.
Judge Forward was a senator at Albany, while Judge
Townsend, not in robust health, watched the action of
the superintendent, making himself acquainted with
his j^lans and management. After a time it became
manifest that the imported expert was improvident, if
not incompetent, that he was not an economist suf-
ficient to complete the work with the money available.
A consultation resulted in the discharge of the superin-
tendent, and obtaining the consent of Judge Wilkeson
to neglect his i3rivate affairs and assume the manage-
ment of the work.
32 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
The great energy of Judge Wilkeson was evinced
in the accomplishment of the first day of his manage-
ment, three cribs being constructed, placed and par-
tially filled with stone. For the want of adequate
means of excavation and other appliances the work
was prosecuted under many difficulties ; incessant rain
and rough water was a hindrance that could not be
obviated, and during the month of September, when
the cribs placed were filled with stone, the work was
suspended for the season.
In his writings Judge Wilkeson was generous with
praises of his faithful assistants in habor work. Of
Sloan and Olmstead, the stone boatmen, he writes
interestingly :
Those only who have experienced the clifRculties in making
improvements in a new country with inadequate facilities, can
appreciate the worth of such men. James Sloan was a salt boat-
man on the Niagara river in 1807. During the war he was a lake
sailor, was of the party who cut out the brig Adams from under
the guns of Fort Erie, and was commander of the ammunition boat
at the siege of that fort. He was industrious, faithful and honest.
In after life Capt. James Sloan resided at Black
Rock, engaged in boating on the Niagara, an honored
citizen, until his death, about 1857. Most old citizens
will recall his sturdy character and quiet demeanor.
In his writing of Olmstead and his achievements, a
heroic character and a thrilling incident are added to
local annals :
N. K. Olmstead was a man of unusual muscular power. The
severe" labor he performed on harbor work, perhaps no man in the
EARLY NAVIGATION. 33
country could equal. • He lived in Buffalo wlien the village was
burned by the British, and his home and property were destroyed.
When peace was declared he declined to be a party to the con-
tract, remaining alert to make reprisal while on the river. Man-
aging to obtain a load of military supplies to transport from
Chippewa to Fort Erie, which included two kegs of specie, he
landed on the American shore and hid the money. He then left
the frontier, but returned to Buffalo in 1819. When on harbor
work he at times went to the Canada shore for boat-loads of stone,
and on such an occasion was arrested and placed in a boat to be
taken to Chippewa. The boat had a small skiff in tow, in which
was a single paddle. When nearing Chippewa he leaped into the
skiff, cut its fastening, and took to the rapid current, where his
captors declined his pursuit. By extraordinary exertion he
landed on Grass Island. Observing a boat putting out from Chip-
pewa, he again braved the rapids, and managed to make Porter's
mill-race. A less active and powerful man would have been
swept over the falls. The next day he resumed harbor work.
The question of the terminus of the Erie Canal was
greatly agitating the community, when Oliver Forward
was selected as the master mind to represent the inter-
ests of Buffalo in the legislature, where he maintained
a conspicuous position and accomplished the great ob-
ject of his mission, favorable legislation for Buffalo.
Judge Charles Townsend was one of those pioneers
who will ever be remembered as identified with the
settlement and progress of Buffalo, and who in an
eminent degree contributed to create and advance its
business and commercial interests.
Judge Samuel Wilkeson is gratefully remembered
and more generally known from his identification with
the history and prosperity of Buffalo. He was an
34 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
extraordinary man, of strong mind, great energy and
perseverance, possessing great pnblic spirit and active
enterprise.
These men gave to Buffalo a harbor at a time oppor-
tune. No harbor, no canal ; no canal, no city. The
harbor of 1822 was the harbinger of commercial
greatness, fabulous in proportions, and, in view of the
grand results, the most important consummation in the
world of commerce.
The successful navigation of the Hudson and Dela-
ware rivers by steam, led to its application for the
navigation of Lake Erie. Early in the winter of 1817
the following named persons associated to construct a
steamboat for Lake Erie: Joseph B. Stuart, Nathan-
iel Davis, Asa H. Curtis, Kalph Pratt, James Durant
and John Meads, of Albany, and Robert McQueen,
Samuel McCoon, Alexander McMuir and Noah Brown,
of New York. Mr. McQueen, a machinist, built the
engine, and Mr. Brown, a shipwright, constructed the
hull. The engine was constructed in New York, and
from Albany conveyed in wagons to the bank of the
Niagara. The hull and boiler were built at Black
Rock. Early in 1818 Mr. Brown laid the keel on the
bank of the river, a short distance above the mouth of
Conjockety Creek, in a ship-yard made historic by the
building there of a portion of Commodore Perr^^'s
fleet five years previous, with which he fought and
won his historic victory on Lake Erie. There, on
May 28, 1818, was launched a boat with dimensions as
EARLY NAVIGATION. 35
follows: Length, 135 feet; width, 32 feet; depth,
8^ feet ; tonnage, 338 ; carrying mainsail, foresail and
foretopmast staysail. On the 25th day of Angnst
following, the steamboat Walk-'in-the- Water departed
from Black Rock on her first passage over the tnrbu-
lent waters of Lake Erie, bonnd for Erie, Grand
River, Cleveland, Sandnsky and Detroit. Over this
course the boat reached Detroit in 44 hours, develop-
ing a speed of seven and one-half miles per hour.
When the steamboat essayed to stem the current of
the Niagara, a scene picturesque and humiliating must
have been presented. Fancy a steamboat, in order to
make progress, calling to its aid a team of oxen, and
then struo'o^lino- at the end of a tow-line while the oxen
on the beach were alike struggling under the incentive
of an elongated ox-goad, and you have the picture !
Such was the inauguration of steam navigation on the
Great Lakes eighty years ago.
The elongated and hyphenated name of the original
lake steamboat met unfavorable criticism, and the ori-
gin thereof partakes of the romantic. In 1807, when
Robert Fulton first steamed the Clermont up the Hud-
son, an Indian, standing on the bank, gazing silently
at the boat stemming the current unaided by sails,
finally exclaimed, "Walks in the water ! " The den-
izen of the forest saw the boat ascend the stream
unaided by visible power — by none known to him.
He saw the paddle-wheel revolve, and conceived that
when a paddle struck the surface of the water a step
36 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
forward was taken. A grand conception of an untu-
tored mind I Of course the boat walked in the water ;
what else? This intuitive estimate of the original
steamboat sentimentally suggested a name for the first
steam vessel on the lakes. But the unwieldy name
met with adverse criticism, and was seldom applied —
the boat having no compeer — "The Steamboat" being-
considered quite significant, and which was her usual
appellation.
The steamboat continued to ply successfully between
Black Rock and Detroit until November, 1821, when
a violent storm of wind beached her a short distance
above the mouth of Buffalo Creek. To the PTowina*
lake commerce of the village the loss of the boat was
a serious matter, happening at its very doors, yet the
calamity received but slight consideration from the
local newspajjer. As an exhibit of the progress of
journalistic enterprise, the article devoted to the wreck-
ing is interesting. Evidently the fate of passengers
and crew was not considered of importance by the
local writer. The following is his contribution :
It is with regret tliat we liave to announce that "The Steam-
boat" was beached about .one hundred rods above the mouth of
Buffalo Creels, and is so badly damaged that she cannot be re-
paired. The boat was heavily laden, and on her last trip for the
season. We cannot learn whether she was insured or not.
But for a subsequent publication of the details fur-
nished by a passenger on board, posterity would have
been dejjrived of a thrilling romance, the last voj^age
EARLY NAVIGATION. 37
of the Walk-in-the- Water. The narrative is pathetic,
and unique in nautical description, reading as follows :
On Wednesday, October 31st, at 4 o'clock p. m., " Tlie Steam-
boat" left Black Rock on her regular trip to Detroit. The
weather, though somewhat rainy, did not appear threatening.
After proceeding a short distance up the lake she was struck by
a severe squall, which continued to blow through the night with
extreme severity. The lake became rough to a terrifying degree,
and every wave seemed to threaten destruction to the boat and
passengers. To proceed up the lake was impossible. To at-
tempt to return to Black Rock amid the darkness and howling
tempest would be certain destruction. She was then anchored,
and for a time held fast. The casings in her cabins moved at
every roll, and the creaking of her timbers was appalling. She
commenced leaking, and her engine was devoted to the pumps,
but the water increased to an alarming extent, and the wind in-
creased to an alarming degree. The wind blew more violent as
the night advanced, and it was discovered that she was dragging
her anchors. The passengers were numerous, and many of them
were ladies, whose fears and cries were truly heart-rending. In
this scene of distress and danger, all the passengers feel the
warmest gratitude to Captain Rogers for the prudence, coolness
and intelligence with which he performed his duty. The boat
was now at the mercy of the waves, until five o'clock in the
morning, when she beached, and we all debarked.
Buffalo, November 6, 1821.
The advent of the steamboat on Lake Erie was thus
announced by the local newspaper of Buffalo. Queer
does it read at this period :
The ladies and gentlemen of this village were yesterday grat-
ified with an excursion on board the new and elegant steamboat
Walk-in-the- Water, by the politeness of Dr. Stuart, one of the
promoters. The boat left the bay, off Buffalo Creek, at 3 o'clock
p. M., and proceeded off Point Abino, and returned at 7 o'clock.
It is with much pride that we can recommend this mode of travel
38 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
to all who desire celerity. We liope the owners will reap a full
harvest for their efforts to extend the usefulness of this inven-
tion, which ennobles American character.
The ennoblement of American character was all right,
but that the boat was the harbinger of a vast com-
merce for Lake Erie, and of essential importance to
local interests, evidently had not then dawned on Buf-
falo journalistic enterprise and "much pride."
The wreck of the hull of the steamboat was com-
plete, but her machinery remained intact, and as she
had been a financial success, it was determined to
replace her by the building of a new hull. Then the
citizens of Buffalo entered into correspondence with
the builders, urging such construction at Buffalo, re-
sulting in a promise to that eft'ect if assurance be
given that a channel would be provided for the boat
out onto the lake when completed.
Early in January, 1822, Mr. Noah Brown, ship-
wright and builder of the original boat, came from
New York to commence the construction, and first
appeared at Black Rock, Buffalo people not being-
aware of his arrival until it was announced that the
boat was to be built at Black Rock, and that the con-
tracts for material were to be executed at the Mansion
House that evening. Buffalonians were advised that
Brown was instructed to build at Buffalo, with condi-
tions equal, and were indignant at his hasty action in
not having conferred with them before concluding to
build at Black Rock. When evening came the lower
EARLY NAVIGATION. 39
rooms of the hotel were filled with indimiant villao-ers
to demand explanation from Mr. Brown, then in the
house, and determined, if possible, to obtain a reversal
of his decision in favor of Black Rock before contracts
for the delivery of material were signed. The gentle-
men from the river village were on hand to receive
their contracts, and whatever was done must be done
quickly. Judge Wilkeson was selected to first inter-
view Mr. Brown. The Judge was unacquainted with
the gentleman from New York, but there was no time
for formalities. " Get the boat built here and we will
sustain your action," were his instructions, and he then
sought out the seclusion of Mr. Brown and proceeded
to business.
In correspondence with the j^rincipals Judge Wil-
keson was advised that if a bond was given that a
channel would be constructed in time to meet the
wants of the boat, Mr. Brown was instructed to build
at Buffalo, and thereby was prepared for a pointed
dialogue. It opened thus :
" Mr. Brown, why do you not build your boat here,
pursuant to the promise of the company?" was the
direct question put. With dignified tone and manner
came the reply :
" Why, sir, I arrived in your village at an early
hour, and concluded to occupy the morning in consult-
ing the ship-carpenters at Black Rock, who worked for
me in building the Walh-in-tlie- Water. While there
I was told that your harbor project was a humbug,
40 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
and if built here the boat could not get out into the
lake. Besides, the timber contractors would not deliver
timber here as cheaply as there, and that is the reason
why I concluded to build at Black Rock."
Many older citizens will readily imagine the deter-
mined attitude of Judge Wilkeson at this critical
moment. As usual in emergencies, he was equal to
the occasion. His language was plain, and its direct-
ness sublime :
"Mr. Brown, our neighbors have done us injustice.
Sir, we are prepared to make you this proposition :
We will at once execute a bond to pay to your com-
pany il50 per day for each and every day the boat is
detained for the want of a channel into the lake after
the first day of May next. The bond will also stipulate
that all required timber for construction will be fur-
nished at a less cost than offered at Black Rock. We
will at once place in your hands a sum of money, the
same to be forfeited in case a sufficient bond is not
immediately executed and to you delivered."
It was known that the agent was predisposed in favor
of Black Rock, but the proposition squarely meeting
his instructions, together with its earnest delivery, sub-
dued the gentleman into meekness in his reply :
''Mr. Wilkeson, your proposition is quite satisfac-
tory, and therefore I have no alternative but to accept
it. My attorney, Mr. Moulton, will see that the doc-
uments are properly made out and executed."
The day following a bond was executed, receiving
EARLY NAVIGATION. 41
the signatures of nearly all responsible residents of
the village, and a contract to furnish all required tim-
ber was taken by William A. Carpenter, and by him
fulfilled. The boat was built on the bank of Buffalo
creek, where now is Indiana street, and when comple-
ted was taken out on the lake by Captain William T.
Miller, and returned without hindrance, and so con-
tinued to pass out and in for twelve years thereafter.
The passing of the steamboat out and in from the lake
doubled the value of all the landed property in the
village and its surroundings. With the villagers it
was a day of jubilee, and tradition says the majority
did not disturb their beds until the dawn of the next
day. The indomitable will and energy Judge Wilke-
son displayed in the construction of the channel for
the steamboat was the talk of the town for years after.
He had labored with the workmen, often in water, and
conformed to the rule governing the hours of labor,
from daylight to evening twilight. With him it was
a labor of love, he receiving no recompense for his
service other than benefits received in general. The
work performed was the excavation of a channel
through a point of sand and gravel twenty yards wide,
having an average height above water of seven feet,
to a depth of nine feet below the water level. A
modern dredge would make an easy and short job of
it, but then only improvised imi3lements for excavation
below the surface of water were to be obtained, and
of a nature most crude.
42 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
CHAPTER IV.
Public amusement for Buffalo villagers was first
provided in 1820, when Mr. Charles, a ventriloquist,
gave exhibitions in the court-house. Then a caravan,
comprising an elephant, camel, lion, tiger, zebra, and
a family of monkeys, were exhibited. Then came a
show of wax figures, representing notables of Colony
times. On Main below Clinton street was a theatre,
where " King Richard " first appeared in Buffalo in
the person of Mr. Maywood. And there Tom and
Jerry appeared before their advent in a liquid state.
In 1828 Mr. Lowell established a museum in the
building now 242 Main street, he leasing the premises
from Josiah Beardsley.
My earliest recollection of public entertainment was
that of '' Old Sickles' Show," which with me antedates
the circus. During the decade of the thirties, a benev-
olent-faced, bald-pated old Yankee from Connecticut,
named Sickles, made annual visits to Western New
York exhibiting his puppet show, an entertainment
designed to please the juveniles, who, with their grand-
mas, mammas and aunts, were his delighted audiences.
Usually the show was given in the ball-room of the
neighborhood tavern, where, from a wire stretched
across the upper end of the room, draw-curtains were
EARLY AMUSEMENTS. 43
suspended, which, when drawn, an assemblage of pup-
pets appeared, representing both sexes, and which,
through their connection with invisible wires, would
hold receptions, dance reels and minuets with precision,
taking steps in time to the notes of an invisible violin.
In addition to the puppets a series of tableaux were
presented, ending with that of the " Babes in the
Woods," a scene designed to bring sobs and tears
from the child audiences. There was represented a
lonely forest, the lost children lying on the ground in
death's embrace, when would appear a family of robins,
hopping and flitting about, gathering leaves, with which
they covered the dead babes. The effect of this scene
on sympathetic childhood is illustrated in a verse of
Eliza Cook's " Address to the Robin " :
How my tiny lieart throbbed with sorrowful heaves,
That kept choking my eyes and my breath,
When I heard of thee spreading- a shroud of green leaves
O'er the little ones lonely in death.
The original troupe of Negro Minstrels — '' burnt
cork artists " — was organized and first exhibited in
Buffalo in the latter thirties, by Edwin Christy, a dock
saloon-keeper. The industry was original with Christy,
he taking inspiration from the performance of Dick
Sliter and George Harrington, two town boys. Sliter
was precocious as a jig dancer, while Harrington could
beat time with his hands expertly. When about fif-
teen years of age, the boys v/ould repair to the steam-
boat wharves and display their peculiar talent to
44 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
admiring crowds, who would strew small coin around
the feet of the dancer. At first the beaten jig time
was a rapid patting on the fore thighs, called juba:
Juba up and juba down,
Juba all around the town, ad fi nit am.
Christy patronized the two boys, Harrington being
his step-son, usually called George Christy, who would
locate their exhibitions fronting or within his saloon.
Christy was a fine ballad singer and a violinist, and in
these accomplishments the step-son was his diligent
student. With Sliter and Harrington the nucleus, by
adding tambourine and banjo ])layers, and an additional
violinist, an exhibition troupe was constituted, and in
a room over -his saloon, Christy, as manager, gave
daily and nightly his " Darkey Minstrel Show " to
crowded houses, and from the first opening Christy's
fortune was secure. From time to time additional
talent was added, and "Christy's Minstrels" were
widely famous in their portrayal of negro character,
excentricity and extravaganza. Christy was progress-
ive in taking his troupe to New York City, where he
established them in permanent quarters, and where
they continuously performed to crowded audiences,
their manager eventually retiring with a fortune. Thus
originated the " burnt-cork artists," so numerous for
years thereafter.
Dick Sliter became the most diverse dancer in the
world. In a match exhibition against John Diamond,
OLD FERRY LANDING. 45
he danced his Rattlesnake Jig one honr and five min-
ntes without repeating* a step. During his exhibition
tour he traversed two continents. In London, in
private exhibition, he jigged before an audience of
royalty.
A ferry across to Fort Erie from the historic black
rock, near Bird Island, existed at an early date, there
being one reported by early voyagers in times of the
Revolution. In 1800 one O'Neil operated it, until
1806, when Major Frederick Miller took charge, and
in 1808 he gave over to Asa Stanard. In deference
to the war the ferry was suspended in 1812 for a time,
until 1814, when it was renewed by Lester Brace.
Until 1821 Brace operated the ferry, when Major
Donald Fraser became proprietor. The boats used
were scows, propelled by sweeps, wielded by the strong-
arms of four skilled watermen.
In 1825 Lester Brace and Major Fraser built the
horse-power boat, which they continued to operate
until steam-power was adopted for the ferry by James
Haggart, in 1840. In the construction of the Erie
Canal in 1825, the old rock, which so long served
as a ferry landing, was blasted away and the landing
removed to where it remains, at the foot of Ferry street.
The old-time horse-boat was a curiosity of the period,
it being the pioneer of its kind west of the Hudson
river. When first operated it received liberal patron-
age from many curious to inspect its working. The
machinery of the boat consisted of a horizontal tread-
HORSE-POAVER BOAT. 47
wheel the width of the deck and placed even therewith,
and having a system of cogs and gearing which turned
t?he shaft holding the paddle wheels. The horses trod
on either side, the driver between with whip in hand,
with which he flayed the poor beasts while the boat
was under way. When a boy, the writer often crossed
the Niagara river on the horse-boat, and, while pitying
the poor horses, detested the man with the whip.
Major Donald Fraser was a valiant soldier of the
war of 1812. He was on the staff of General Pike
when that brave officer was killed at Toronto ; was on
the staff of General Brown at Chippewa and Lundy's
Lane ; aide to General Porter at Fort Erie, and cap-
tain of the horse-boat when there were no battles to
fight. A brave man and a patriot was the Major, and
withal a Scotchman, and as a Scotchman I am proud
of him — as said Josh Billings of his ancestor who was
a "phiddler."
In March, 1824, the lone steamboat on Lake Erie
was thus advertised :
The steamboat Superior will sail from Buffalo on or about the
20th day of April, next, if the lake is then clear of ice, making
nine day trips during the season — the November trips dependent
on the state of the weather. Passengers will be landed at Grand
River, Cleveland and Sandusky, unless prevented by stress of
weather. If a trip should be made to the upper lakes during the
season, due notice will be given. All shipments of merchandise
on the boat will be at the risk of the owner or shipper thereof,
and that the captain of the boat is to receive no freight unless
shipped under such conditions. J. I. Ostrandek,
Albany, March 16, 1824. Secretary.
48 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
During the decade of the twenties, village news-
papers contained many unique advertisements, some
of which were spiced with humor.
A dealer in pottery desired those indebted to him
whose promises had matured, to make payment, " or
new promises."
An advertiser, with absurd honesty, called attention
of the owner to a green cotton umbrella left in his office.
H. S. Seymour dealt in lottery tickets. He gi-a-
ciously, by advertisement, notified " two young men,
living somewhere in the town of Clarence, that their
ticket purchased of him had drawn a prize of one
thousand dollars, and that the cash was awaiting the
rightful owners at his office."
An advertisement of Peter Colt makes the diversity
of the present department stores ancient history :
" Pork, whisky, cross-cut saws, buffalo robes, gin and
feathers."
In connection with a general store, Pratt and Meech
did a forwarding business. They were enabled to guar-
antee the delivery of goods from Albany " in the short
space of twelve days." They offered for sale, " drugs,
dye-stuffs, medicines, surgical instruments, leather, In-
dian blankets, rum, log-chains, groceries, salt, whisky
and whitefish."
" For Sale — A negro servant girl," was the adver-
tisement of Jonas Harrison.
In 1820 five young negro slaves were brought to
Buffalo from Kentucky, the property of Mrs. Gen.
UNIQUE ADVERTISEMENTS. 49
Peter B. Porter. After filing a bond that they would
be liberated at the age of twenty-one years, Mrs. Por-
ter was permitted to hold her chattels.
Samuel Edsall called attention to his tannery and
shoe-shop, situated " on the road to Black Rock, near
the village of Buffalo," now the corner of Niagara and
Mohawk streets.
For Sale — A lease of lot No. 4, Le Couteiilx Block, opposite
Cheapside. On tlie premises are two stores witli rooms in tlie
rear for dwellings, and space for family gardens. One dollar and
fifty cents per foot front per annum. Thomas Quigley.
The location is now 191 Main street.
A prominent hotel advertisement reads as follows :
E. Belden, proprietor of tlie Mansion House, respectfully in-
forms the public that he has taken the old-established stage
house at the south end of the village of Buffalo, long known as
the Landon stand. The house is large and in complete repair.
Its spacious piazzas furnish the most extensive, rich and varied
prospects of land and water, overlooking Buffalo harbor, Niagara
river. Fort Erie, the lake, and extensive landscapes on the Amer-
ican and Canadian shores. His extensive yards, gardens and
shrubbery will furnish pleasant and refreshing retreat to ladies
and gentlemen after the fatigues of travelling. Carriages with
safe drivers and moderate fare will be furnished to men of busi-
ness or parties of pleasure wishing to travel out of the usual
stage routes. His stables and pastures are large and convenient.
His house at all times will be supplied with the fruits of the
season, and the best liquors and provisions the country affords ;
and he trusts that approved experience and punctual attendance
and good servants will keep up the long-established character of
the house, and give general satisfaction to the public.
Buffalo, July, 1824.
50 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
CHAPTER V.
The year 1825 was largely eventful to the people of
Buffalo. The celebration of the opening of the Erie
Canal was an event of wide importance, reaching from
the sea-board to the confines of Western civilization,
with Buffalo the storm-center, as it were. Gov. Dewitt
Clinton and staff came to Buffalo and, with a local
committee, boarded the Seneca Chiefs a boa-t con-
structed for the purpose, and made the passage of the
canal to Albany. The departure of the boat was
announced by the discharge of a 32-pounder. Other
cannon were placed on the bank of the canal within
hearing distance all the way to Albany, which were
discharged in turn, and thus the departure of the
Seneca Chief ivom. Buffalo was announced at Albany
in one hour and forty minutes, then the fastest dis-
patch time on record.
The Black Rock dignitaries, not then reconstructed
from their civil war with Buffalonians, declined to join
Buffalo in celebrating, but chartered the new boat
Niagara^ built by the late Josiah Beardsley to run
as a packet to and from Lockport, which they had
painted and decorated profusely, carrying a large, live
eagle perched aloft on a standard, for their passage
down the canal. Intending to lead the Seneca Chief
OPENING OF ERIE CANAL. 51
through the state, they started from Black Rock two
hours in advance of that boat's scheduled time from
Buffalo, but such design was frustrated by an order of
Governor Clinton that no boat be passed through the
locks eastward in advance of the Seneca Chief. The
Black Rock party consisted of General Porter, Shel-
don Thompson, Lester Brace, and a Mr. Mason.
Eventually all became reconciled and were potent
factors in promoting the interests of Buffalo, Mr.
Thompson becoming mayor of the city in 1840, and
Mr. Brace for two terms was sheriff of the county.
The visit to Buffalo of General Lafayette the same
year was an event tending to arouse latent patriotic
enthusiasm. American gratitude to the liberty-pro-
moting foreigner was boundless, and his reception at
Buffalo was most enthusiastic. The communities of
Western New York gathered in mass to greet him.
On a platform, erected at the corner of Court and
Main streets, he was introduced to the mass of people
by General Porter, and the address of welcome there
made to him by Oliver Forward was considered the
most dignified and eloquent presented to the General
while in the country. Red Jacket, also, improved his
opportunity to have a " big talk." When the cere-
mony was ended, the General was escorted by the
military and citizens to the residence of General Por-
ter, at Black Rock, where he was entertained for a
day, and then, in like manner, was escorted to the
Falls.
52 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
By far the most sensational event of the year was
the hanging of the three Thayers in open view on
Niagara Sqnare. Sufficiently sensational to stir up a
much larger community — sufficient to cause the inva-
sion of the town by full twenty thousand visitors, a
number sufficient to overwhelm a struooiino- village of
two thousand inhabitants.
Lafayette Park, now classic ground, was, in village
times, an open space, with here and there a tree
of indigenous growth. On the Main street edge,
fronting the site of the monument, a spring of water
bubbled out of the earth and ran a rivulet across the
street and down Court street, finally mingling with a
larger stream crossing Niagara at Mohawk street. At
the spring the side-path was continued over a wide
oaken plank spanning the outlet. Here Farmer's
Brother, Red Jacket and other lords of the soil were
wont to quench their thirst, drinking from a tin cup
taken from the to]^ of a buttonwood stump near by ;
here the village boys played two -old -cat, tag and
leap-frog, and on the Fourth of July exploded fire-
crackers and gorged themselves with gingerbread and
small-beer ; here village orators waxed eloquent advo-
cating the construction of the Erie Canal, and a har-
bor for Buffalo ; here General McComb, when head
of the army, patriotically addressed the peo^jle, and
Henry Clay, Daniel Webster and the patriot Kossuth
orated in like manner. The beautiful Soldiers' Monu-
ment stands on the direct line of march of the three
LAFAYETTE PARK. 53
Thayers down Court street to their execution on Niag-
ara square ; and six years later, Holt, the wife-killer,
marched in procession to his open-air exhibition.
In 1932 Buffalo will celebrate its centennial — just one
hundred years a city. From the base of the monument
the orator of the day will glorify the deeds of the heroes
it commemorates and boast of the progress of Buffalo,
quoting from the address of Mayor Grover Cleveland
delivered from the same place fifty years before.
The little park came nigh unto being the scene of a
hand-to-hand conflict between village neighbors on
election day in 1828. The voting place was at the
corner of Clinton and Washington streets. On the
eve of the election the partisans of General Jackson
erected a hickory flag-staff on the opposite corner and
from its top they proposed to fly a flag on the day of
the election bearing a likeness of their candidate for
President. The Adams men objected to the flaunting
of the, to them, offensive emblem so near to the polls,
and resolutely declared that if the flag was raised they
would pull it down, forcibly if they must. The Jack-
sonians asserted their right to fly the flag and their
determination to raise it and to defend it when raised.
Such was the situation on the eve of the election.
On Buffalo Plains were resident a band of stalwart
men noted for their prowess and of their proneness to
assert it when occasion offered. Of these were in-
cluded Elijah and William Holt, John and eTosiah
Hosford, Rowland and Daniel Cotton, John and Jacob
54 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
Scott, Luman Smith and Nelson Adams, a Spartan
band of Jacksonians, loaded to the muzzle with cam-
paign enthusiasm.
To the " Plains Eangers," as they were called, the
village partisans of " Old Hickory " applied for aid to
defend their flag. On the morning of the election the
flag was hoisted to the pole-top. Then the Adams
men gathered in numbers at the Park House, corner
of Main and Clinton streets, where an assaulting force
was organized, who proceeded in a body to demand
the lowering of the flag. When they approached the
flag-staff and discovered the Plains contingent among
those whom they were to encounter, a halt was called,
a consultation, and then a dispersion of the attacking
force. No demand was made and the flag waved, and
General Jackson was elected President without blood-
shed in Buffalo. Thus was exemplified the maxim :
To promote peace prepare for war — and the folly of
partisan rancor.
Preserved in frame -by the Historical Society is an
old ball ticket of the village era, unique in print, and
rural in that the assemblage is requested to meet at
two o'clock P. M. Evidently the small hours of the
morning were devoted to rest and sleep by the dancers
of the period. However, they danced with both feet
while the fiddler voiced in a manner thus :
Riglit hand across, left hand back,
Keep your steps in time.
Take hold of your partner's hand
And balance in a line.
BUFFALO PLAINS. 55
CHAPTER VL
During the village era an adjacent community to
Buffalo villagers were the settlers of Buffalo Plains,
with whom they lived in the same township, met at the
polls, socially and at church, virtually one community.
The Plains were originally settled by a colony of far-
mers from the lake region of Central New York. First
to come on a tour of inspection was Samuel Atkins, in
1806, from Cayuga, on horseback, traversing Indian
trails through a dense forest to Buffalo — not to specu-
late in village lots, but to purchase farm lands for
himself and others who desired to settle near unto the
site of the great city that was to arise at the foot of
Lake Erie.
Mr. Atkins remained at Buffalo through the sum-
mer, returning to Cayuga in the fall of that year.
Before his return he engaged for himself and others
tracts of land lying on the "Main Road" from four
to six miles from the hamlet at the foot of the lake, in
a northeast direction ; selecting for himself about three
hundred acres on the east side and midway of the
tract, on which, while at Buffalo in 1806, he erected
a house of logs wherein to place his family the fol-
lowing year.
56 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
In the spring of 1807, there left Cayuga with their
families, Samuel Atkins, Ephraim Brown, Ezekiel
Smith, Rowland Cotton, Roswell Ilosford, William
and Elijah Holt, Caleb and Joseph Fairchild ; all on
horseback, with such household effects as could be so
transported. The year following they were joined by
the families of Zachary Griffin and Dr. Daniel Chapin.
All of these took up lands and formed the old com-
munnity of farmers who were the original settlers of
Buffalo Plains. Nearly all were soldiers of the Revo-
lution and drew pensions from the Government, and
had grown-up sons and daughters skilled in husbandry.
Mr. Atkins' family consisted of five sons and two
daughters ; three of the sons and both daughters were
approaching maturity — a formidable force to make a
new home in a new country. With the exception of
Mr. Cotton and the Holts, the heads of all these fam-
ilies occupied their new-made homes during the remain-
der of their lives. In 1826 Mr. Cotton sold his farm
to Washington A. Russell and settled in the town of
Lancaster ; and subsequently the Holts sold theirs to
Elisha Ensign and removed to Ohio.
The frontage of the Griffin farm is now divided by
the Belt Line railroad as it approaches Main street
from the south. The Chapin farm now comprises
beautiful Willow Lawn, the home of Mrs. Elam R.
Jewett, and the southerly half of Park Meadow, in-
cluding the magnificent groves, lawns and terraces
fringing the north bank of Park Lake. The frontage
BUFFALO PLAINS. 57
of the Cotton farm continues in occupation by the son
and daughters of Mr. Russell, while the remainder
comprises the site of modern dwellings on Parkside,
together with the northerly half of Park Meadow and
picturesque Park Forest. The Holt and Smith farms
are now the place of extensive stone quarries and water-
lime works ; and the Brown farm, lying opposite the
County Almshouse, is mostly an unoccupied waste;
and so is the Fairchild property, situated on the west
side of the road just north of the Lackawanna Rail-
road crossing.
The old domain of Samuel Atkins is now a desolate
and neglected ruin. Where once were fields of golden
grain, orchards and gardens of luxuriant production,
is now covered with a riotous growth of weed, brier
and thistle. The engines of two railroads toot and
hoot over the waste, consonant with its presentment,
an owl's abiding-place.
For several years past this realty has been the sub-
ject of continued and costly litigation. When a young
man, it was to the writer a barren inheritance, and
ever since a plague spot in memory.
On this property, in 1807, Mr. Atkins erected a
majestic structure of logs, consisting of three separate
buildings, made so by two dividing passages through
the lower story, while the upper story and roof re-
mained intact. The building entire was eighteen by
eighty feet on the ground, with sides thirteen feet high
— quite an imposing frontier establishment. Here Mr.
58
MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
Atkins kei3t a tavern, a house of entertainment for
travelers and pilgrims journeying to the new West.
Many veterans of the war of the Revolution had set-
tled on the Niagara frontier, and the old log tavern
was their headquarters — was where they held their
camp-fires and fought their battles anew. To a man
they sustained the policy of President Madison to
maintain the majesty of the starry flag on the high
seas. In possession of the writer is a printed poster,
dated April 16, 1811, calling a meeting for such pur-
pose at the old tavern. The time-bleached paper and
quaint type chai^acterizes it a veritable spirit of liberty
and independence.
BUFFALO PLAINS. 59
The old tavern was the refuge of many fleeing
families from torch and tomahawk on that fatal day
and night of 1813, from burning Buffalo. The
house survived until 1823, when it was replaced
by the large frame structure long known as the
" Old Homestead."
The house erected by Mr. Atkins in 1806 was sub-
sequently the district school-house, in which, during
the decade of the thirties, the writer attended school.
His education was there hastened to completion by the
pungent rawhide, wielded by the strong arms of sun-
dry esteemed pedagogues, the most severe of whom
posed as an orthodox Christian. But he died one day,
and the conviction that he was thereafter kept warm
amidst the glare of the Calvinistic process, gave con-
solation to his victims. Woodward ! thou are not lost
to memory dear — thy fame is here perpetuated. The
site of the old school-house is now buried beneath the
embankment of the D., L. & W. Railroad at its Main
street crossing.
Of the original settlers of Buffalo Plains, first and
second generations alike have vanished —
" Gone like tenants who quit witliout warning,
Down the back entry of time."
With two exceptions all the old buildings erected
by the pioneers of Buffalo Plains have disappeared.
The residence of Zachary Griffin, erected in 1809, and
a house erected in 1817 by Anna Atkins, widow of
60 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
Samuel, are still in evidence just east of tlie Belt Line
crossing. Ephraim Brown was the eldest of these old
settlers, reaching the age of eighty years at his death
sixty years ago. The old war-worn veteran with cane
in hand would limp among the school children, who
would flock around to hear him recite the story of his
battles, and to hear him chant the army rhymes of the
good old Colony times. The old man was stalwart of
frame, but quite lame, the effect of a musket ball
penetrating his knee at the battle of Trenton. With
children grouped around him " Old Mr. Brown " would
sing thus :
A haughty ship o'er the ocean came,
All loaded deep with fire and flame,
And other things I need not name.
To have a "dash at Stonington."
The old razee, with hot ball,
Did make a farmer's barrack fall,
And a codfish fleet did sadly mavil,
About one mile from Stonington.
Now some assert on certain grounds,
Beside the damage and the wounds,
It cost King George ten thousand pounds
To have a " dash at Stonington."
Buffalo Plains has a war record. In the fall of
1812 the Army of the Frontier went into winter quar-
ters on Flint Hill. The camp extended on Main street
frorri the present Humboldt parkway northerly to the
62 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
lands of Dr. Daniel Chapin, now the Jewett prop-
erty, and westerly to the head of Park Lake, on lands
belonging to Erastus Granger, then Collector of Cus-
toms and Postmaster of Buffalo. On the Main street
front of this old camp-ground stand several venerable
oaks, relicts of the old camp. The one directly oppo-
site the Deaf and Dumb Asylum is distinguished as
the one under which a row of soldiers kneeled when
shot for desertion in the springs of 1813. The vener-
able oaks are still vigorous, but their lives are in dan-
ger. The land boomer and builder covet the space
they occupy and they may soon disappear from view.
Boomer, spare those trees, let the old oaks stand !
THE GREAT LAKES. 63
CHAPTER VII.
At the advent of the steamboat in 1818, Lake Erie
was navigated by a fleet of small sail craft, fully ade-
quate for the commerce then existing between points
on the lake. An early enrollment reads :
Sell. Experiment, 30 tons. Samuel Wilkeson and James Hale,
owners. Samuel Wilkeson, master.
Captain Wilkeson lost his nautical title when Judge
on the bench, and Mayor of Buffalo. A clearance
dated November, 1819, reads :
Cleared, Sch. Nautilus, 26 tons, Atkins, master, for Cleveland
and Sandusky, with passengers and household goods.
Eager to emigrate to the new West in 1819, families
would pack themselves with their goods on board a
diminutive sail craft, and brave the perils of turbulent
Lake Erie in the tempestuous month of November.
Yet there are people who discount the valor of our
forefathers.
Guy el. Atkins, master of the Nautilus^ was a val-
iant defender of Buffalo and the frontier during the
war of 1812, an associate of Dr. Cyrenius Chapin in
his several raids for reprisals during the conflict.
The sailing fleet tributary to Buffalo when assuming
the dignity of a city, comprised about fifty small
64 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
schooners and sloops, three or four of which had
smelled powder in the battle of Lake Erie. Notably
among them was the schooner Queen Charlotte^ a 200-
ton vessel. Having been naturalized amid the roar of
artillery, she sailed the lake a merchantman several
years thereafter. Prior to 1836 she was under the
command of Capt. Lester H. Cotton, a life resident of
Buffalo— one of the " old folks."
The first sail-vessel to clear from Buffalo, bound for
Chicago, was the brig Illinois^ Capt. James Shook, in
1834. An historic vessel was the schooner John
Kinsie^ she bringing the first cargo of wheat to Buf-
falo out of Lake Michigan, 3,000 bushels from Grand
River. Regular shipments of grain from Lake Michi-
gan commenced in 1840. That year Chicago shipped
10,000 bushels of wheat to Buffalo. In 1836 the
lakes were sailed by two full-rigged ships, the Julia
Pahne)\ Capt. Robt. Wagstaff, and the Milwaukie^
Capt. William Dickson. Captains Wagstaff' and
Dickson were old Neptunes of the lakes, and long resi-
dents of Buffalo. The old homestead of Captain
Dickson is still in existence on Barker street, but not
as secluded as when occupied by him fifty years ago.
Notably among the vessels that were in commission
on the lakes in 1840, were three brigs, the Illinois^
Capt. James Shook, No7'th Carolina^ Capt. Gus. Mc-
Kinstry, and Indiana^ Cajit. Aaron Root. Asaph S.
Bemis was then mate of the Indiana. These men
were web-footed, and sailed the Great Lakes with
66 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
audacity and impunity. Many acquaintances of A. S.
Bemis in his later life were not aware of the fact that
he was an experienced navigator. He had many com-
mands, his last being the steamboat Star^ in 1841-42.
Private interests caused his retirement from a profes-
sion he loved and honored.
The sailing fleet of 1835-36 included the following
vessels and masters :
BRIGS, CAPTAINS.
Illinois, Robert Wagstaff.
Indiana, Augustus McKinstry.
Nortli Carolina, .... Aaron Root.
SCHOONERS. CAPTAINS.
Nucleus, Thomas P. Folger.
President, Benjamin Sweet.
Globe, Zeph Perkins.
Hercules, Benjamin Boomer,
Michigan, William Dickson.
Telegraph, Peter Smith.
Bolivar, C. H. Ludlow.
Queen Charlotte, . . . L. H, Cotton.
Buffalo, Robert Hart.
Henry Norton, .... Jerry Oliver.
Warren, George Montieth.
Nancy Dousman, .... James Shook.
Marie Antoinette. . . . Edward Macy.
Panama, . . ,' . . . Richard Meeks.
Thomas Hart, Thomas Melville.
Daniel Webster, , . , . J. D, Moon.
John Grant, John Nelson.
Florida, N. K. Randall.
Young Amaranth, ... J. W. Ransom.
THE GREAT LAKES. 67
SCHOONERS. CAPTAINS.
Alabama, Abner Smith.
Commerce, Reuben Smith.
Hiram, Ezra Rathbim.
John Adams, J. A. Barker.
Cincinnati, William Dorrit.
Post Boy, Morgan Edgecomb.
John Richards, . . . . R. Ferguson.
L. Jenkins, Daniel Fuller.
Ware, John Garnsey.
Comet, Seth Green.
Benjamin Rusk, .... Augustus Todd.
Marshal Ney, Lyman Harvey.
La Porte, Benjamin Owen.
Constitution, ... . A. H. Squier.
Columbus, David Clark.
Dewitt Clinton, .... William Christian.
Agnes Barton, . . . . J. G. Ludlow.
Ben Franklin, .... Samuel Blackley.
United States, .... Edward Burke.
Eclipse, . . . , . . John Berg.
Wyandotte, B. Black.
Alert, Walter Atwell.
Farmer, Hugh Soper.
Navigator, James Thorpe.
Enterprise, W. S. Thorpe.
John C. Spencer, . . , Stephen Walker,
Lewis Goler, John Warren.
Thomas Hart, .... David White.
Col. Crockett, .... John Whitney.
Philipps, Charles Howe.
New Connecticut, . . . William Kennedy.
Duke of Wellington, . . John Medler.
After the loss of the original boat, and during the
village era, eleven steamboats were constructed for the
68
MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
navigation of the lake, ten of which were in commis-
sion when the city was inaugurated. Appended are
their names, and the names of their commanders :
STEAMBOATS.
Superior, .
Niagara, No. 1,
Henry Clay,
Sheldon Thompson,
William Penn,
William Peacock,
Pioneer,
Ohio, ....
Enterprise,
Caroline,
CAPTAINS.
William T. Pease.
Charles C. Stanard.
Walter Norton.
Augustus Walker.
David Wight.
Thomas Wilkins.
Charles Burnett.
Morris Tyler.
George Niles.
James Pettey.
The Peacock made tri-weekly trips to Conneaut,
calling at Erie, Dunkirk and Barcelona. The Caro-
line ran Niagara River to Chippewa and Schlosser dock.
The remainder ran to Sandusky and Detroit. At first
some one of the boats would extend one trip to Mack-
inaw and Green Bay each season. In 1834 the
Pioneer was wrecked on Lake Michigan when on such
a trip. The Michigan came out during the summer of
1832, commanded by Capt. Chesley Blake. Her first
service was a trip to Green Bay, conveying General
Scott, with a body of troops, for service in the Black
Hawk War. During the passage cholera broke out
on board, causing many deaths, principally among the
troops.
At this period there were four Canadian steam-
boats in commission, mostly confined to home waters.
70 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
one of which, the Thames^ commanded by Captain
Van Allen, carried on trade with Buffalo. Mr. Van
Allen, subsequently, was proprietor of the Claren-
don Hotel in Buffalo. Excepting the William Penn^
owned by Rufus Reed, of Erie, all the American
fleet were controlled at Buffalo, and their crews
resided there. Such was the steam fleet of Lake Erie
sixty-six years ago. Their combined tonnage was less
than 2,000 tons. Recently a lake steamer was launched
from a Buffalo ship-yard, not of the larger class, yet
double the tonnage of the ten pioneer boats combined.
The first steamboat to run the Niao^ara in reo'ular
route, was the Caroline^ brought from Albany through
the canal for the purpose, by shipping her guards. In
1834 the Victory, eighty-seven tons, was built for the
river route. She was commanded by Capt. John
Hebard. In 1840 Capt. C. L. Gager built the Red
Jacket for the route, but she was soon taken to the
St. Clair River. Then on the river appeared in turn
the Siun, Star and Waterloo, and finally the Emerald,
a Canadian vessel, which plied the river for a number
of years. After the Emercdd came the Arrow, a
good boat, and after her the Clifton, the best of all.
But the railroad to the Falls forced them to seek traffic
on the upper rivers.
Apparently the founding of a city on the shore o^
Lake Erie in 1832, was an incentive to ship-building,
as the next year twelve new steamboats were added to
the fleet. Seven others came in 1834, and a like num-
THE GREAT LAKES. 71
ber in 1835. With one exception the new boats were
a slight improvement upon the old fleet. The excep-
tion was the Washington, bnilt in 1833, the largest
and best found boat so far appearing on the lake. But
her career was limited to three trips. Encountering a
The Thomas Jefferson — 1834.
violent tempest on her third passage up the lake, she was
wrecked on Long Point, a total loss. Then another
steamboat appeared named the Washington, which
was soon after burned on the lake, and since then the
name Washington, for a lake vessel, has been neglected
by ship-owners. Later there was a lake boat named
Lady Washington, which escaped serious disaster.
72
MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
In Black Rock harbor, a short distance above the
shij)-lock, when the water is clear, may be seen on the
bottom the wrecks of the early steamboats Henry
Clay^ North America and Daniel Webster^ there
moored as cast-aways, in 1842, to relieve crowded Buf-
falo Creek. These boats were not over-aged when
retired, but their primitive construction rendered them
useless to compete with the more modern boats then in
commission.
The following named steamboats were navigating
the lakes in 1835-36 :
STEAMBOATS.
Michigan, .
Thomas Jefferson,
Sandusky, .
Daniel Webster, .
General Porter, .
United States,
Charles Townsend,
Pennsylvania,
Monroe,
Commodore Perry,
Oliver Newberry,
William Penn,
William Peacock,
North America
Ohio, .
Detroit,
Delaware,
Victory,
Caroline,
Governor Marc}
Osweffo,
CAPTAINS.
Chesley Blake.
Thomas Wilkins.
T. J. Titus.
Morris Tyler.
Walter Norton.
A. E. Hart.
Simeon Fox.
Levi Allen.
Harry Whittaker.
David Wilkinson.
A. Edwards.
David Wright.
E. W. Pratt.
Gilman Appleby.
Charles Burnett.
R. Gillett.
Captain Cobb.
John Hebard.
James Pettey.
Samuel Chase.
James Homaus.
THE GREAT LAKES. 73
As a class the lake navigators of the period were
men of striking individuality. Dobbins, Pease, Stan-
ard, Norton, Allen, Blake, Wilkeson, Burnett, Cham-
berlain, Lundy, Cotton, Wilkins, Wilkinson, Titus,
Shainholdts, Walker, Ludlow, Goldsmith, Brundage,
Fox, Folger, Pratt, Hart, Floyd, Squier, Randall,
Whittaker, Wagstaff, Dickson, Caverly, Hinton, Wil-
son, Shook, Hazard, Nickerson, Stewart, Sweet, Per-
kins, Pheatt, Traverse, Bemis, Peter Smith, McBride,
Averill, Gager, Appleby, Webster, Dorr, Wheeler,
Atwood, Vary, Stone, Snow, Arthur, Watts, Hatha-
way, Huff, Howland, and others of like caliber, were a
class who, seemingly, arose for the requirements of the
time ; bold and intrepid navigators, marking their
courses without artificial aid — no charts, no buoys nor
harbors of refuge, a paucity of lights, no guides other
than the compass, the eye, the watch and the lead, the
lakes not being navigated at that time by governmental
appliances.
During this era of flush steam-boating there was a
world of emigration to the West — to Michigan, Wis-
consin Indiana and Illinois, mostly from the farming
communities of the Eastern States and the State of
New York. The wharves at Buffalo, from the opening
to the close of navigation, were crowded with these
people, packing their household goods, farm imple-
ments, farm animals and themselves on board steam-
boats, bound for new homes in the productive West.
Such congregations of people caused Buffalo to be the
74 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
Mecca for hordes of snide operators, fakirs, nostrum
venders, the pestiferous watch-stuffer, and other birds
of prey, who flocked there to impose on the simplicity
of the credulous emigrants. Notwithstanding that
steamboat officers and others were diligent in warning
unsuspecting strangers to beware of these inhuman
sharks, they found victims in abundance.
Then the era of illustrious steam-boating on Lake
Erie was at its zenith. A fleet of magnificent passen-
ger boats, luxurious in appointments, officered by
skilled navigators, picturesque in ruffled linen and
affability, no dearth of patronage, a world of travel,
fair women and brave men, bands of music galore —
hurrah, boys ! from the commencement to the close of
each season, until that autocrat of the rail — the loco-
motive — relegated the passenger steamer to inactivity
during the decade of the fifties.
The steamboat officers were active in prosecuting
the boom, all partaking of the spirit of the times.
Among those resident at Buffalo were the following-
captains :
L. H. Cotton, Henry Randall, C. M. Averill,
Levi Allen, Harry Whittaker, George Willougliby,
T. J. Titus, Oilman Appleby, C. E. Roby.
C. H. Ludlow, Morris Hazard, Cliarles Brundage,
John Hebard, Luther Chamberlain, Ira Davis,
W. T. Pease, C. C. Stanard, H. Van Allen,
A. S. Bemis, Simeon Fox, F. N. Jones,
John Shook, A. H. Squier, A. D. Perkins,
Augustus Walker, Heber Squier, F. S. Wheeler,
76
MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
Benjamin Stanard,
James N. Lundy,
George W. Floyd,
Charles Burnett,
A. E. Hart,
Archibald Allen,
Robert Wagstaff,
Walter Norton,
James Shook,
Samuel Vary,
Peter Shainholdts,
Thomas P. Folger,
Amos Pratt,
A. T. Kingman,
William Caverly,
William Davenport,
F. S. Miller,
Captain Robertson,
W. P. Stone,
C. L. Grager,
J. L. Edmunds,
Captain Pierce,
Clinton Goldsmith, Jacob Imson.
the
Among
following :
Albert Harris,
Alfred Harris,
John Leonard,
Charles Radcliff,
resident steamboat engineers were the
Austin Ripley,
Almar Johnson,
Gardner Williams,
Asa Whittemore,
Frank Peugeot,
William McGee,
James McGee.
Of the pursers were :
M. W. Dayton, O. H. P. Champlin, Charles Addington,
Ralph Courter, C. B. Rice, Peter Hoyt,
John J. Hollister, Joseph Barton, Edward Hallenbeck.
The most active officers of the boats were the stew-
ards, among whom were many residents of Buffalo :
W. G. Corbett,
John Fleming,
Frank Jackson,
Jacob Bellinger,
Charles Baylis,
Bartley Losfan.
James Delano,
Patrick Healey,
A. B. Catlin,
Harrison Chase,
George Ayers,
Jerome Chase,
T. T. Bloomer,
George Gillispie,
George Blanchard,
E, K. Bruce,
B. F. Bruce,
J. Bunker.
All whose names are here recorded were well known
in Buffalo, and who, with but few exceptions, have
passed away. Captain Imson and Mr. Champlin still
remain, old and venerated citizens of Buffalo.
THE GREAT LAKES. 77
At this period winter was the dull season in Buffalo.
With the close of navigation, travel other than by
stage lines was suspended. With resident lake navi-
gators it was a season of social enjoyment, and with
their round of pleasures, sleighing and dancing, they
made things lively. Their motto was " Melancholy
must go." With them it was :
" To some ball, to some play,
With some party every day,
Drinking wine with.
Some gentlemen or other."
Of this festive squadron Capt. Fred Wheeler was
the admiral. His associates were kept on the alert
lest they became victims of his jokes and surprises.
On the southeast corner of Main and Swan streets
was Deacon Stocking's hat and fur store. Next below
was the ribbon and bonnet store of John F. Williams,
usually called '^ Bonnet Williams," and by Captain
Wheeler, " The He Milliner " — a man noted for his
quiet humor, and for his close friendship with Capt.
Fred. Wheeler.
It was a sunny morning in the month of April, when
Captain Wheeler, awaiting the opening of navigation,
came strolling up the street. Williams was having his
store cellar renovated. The refuse was thrown up on
the sidewalk. Capt. Wheeler protested to having the
walk so obstructed. Williams replied that the wheel-
barrow and shovel there standing was awaiting a man
out of a job, and advised the Captain of his oppor-
78 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
tunity to work and earn something, offering him ten
cents for each load of dirt that he wonld wheel and
dump in the rear. This proposition Captain Wheeler
accepted, and at once plied the shovel in loading the
barrow. When returning from the dump, he took
fright at a buffalo-skin which Deacon Stocking was
displaying on his awning frame and ran away with the
wheel-barrow. Starting rapidly, he carromed on a
gaily-dressed dummy standing at the front of Wil-
liams's store, capsizing and decapitating the fair one.
Wildly on he ran, down the street, into the Terrace,
where, in collision with the Liberty Pole, the wheel-
barrow was shattered into many parts and the runaway
captured by Asa D. Wood and A. J. Tiffany, who led
him into the Mansion House, where in time he became
quieted. No lives lost ; damage, about twenty dollars.
Once upon a time a dance-house flourished on the
Lower Terrace, facing the canal. The upper story of
the structure was even with the ground at its rear,
where there was a lone window. Capt. Fred Wheeler,
with companions, were passing by one evening, when
they observed through the rear window a party of
dancers skipping the light fantastic in high glee. On
the ground near by lay an unmounted grindstone, some
four feet in diameter. The grindstone was raised and
taken to the bank in the rear of the dance-house, to
which the down grade was about forty degrees. When
the stone was started it rolled accurately, passing
through the window and speeding on through the maze
THE GREAT LAKES.
79
of dancers and through the front of the building into
the canal, where, perhaps, it remains imbedded in the
mud bottom. The consternation of the dancers at the
sudden invasion of the grindstone may be imagined.
A description would be difficult to write and do justice
to the subject. I have ever more than suspected that
my old friend and ex-
County Treasurer,
Charles R. Durkee,
was an actor in that
comedy.
My first steamboat
ride was in the sum-
mer of 1837. In com-
pany with my mother
and young sister, we
went to the foot of
Main street and
boarded the steam-
boat William Penn^
bound for Dunkirk,
to visit relatives.
Being a youth of eleven years I was in affluence in
having in my pocket a silver half-dollar, pocket money
for the journey. To those who first go to sea in ships,
seasickness is a dreaded anticij^ation. Prior to the
departure of the boat there appeared to the passengers
a long-haired, lop-eared, lantern-jawed, lank and limp
specimen of humanity, soliciting them to purchase his
The William Penn— 1826.
80 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
panacea for seasickness — vials filled with a pink-colored
solution of aqua, cinnamon essence and rose-water.
Through his superlative assurance, aided by simplicity,
he caught me. O, he " played it that day upon me
in a way I despise " — relieved me of one-half of my
capital at the outset of my journey. The picturesque
perpetrator of the commodity, designed to cure all
diseases of mind, body and estate, could not have per-
fected it, for the boat had not proceeded more than a
mile seaward from the lighthouse, before the dreaded
malady had marked me for its own.
The appropriation of a locomotive, and run off
successfully, is an event of recent date, but the theft
of a steamboat, successfully consummated, was an
enterprise of a former era. During the latter thir-
ties was built the steamboat MihoauMe^ a vessel de-
signed more for speed than a bearer of burdens. In
1841 she was owned jointly by parties of Buffalo and
Milwaukee, between whom arose a legal controversy
relative to their several interests in the steamboat.
When the steamer was at the port of Buffalo she was
laid up in ordinary in charge of a shipkeeper, on the
principle that possession was points in the game. In
the meantime the Milwaukee owners were reticent
while hatching a scheme to obtain possession of the
property in dispute by strategy. To manage the en-
terprise they employed Capt. L. H. Cotton, who organ-
ized a trusty crew and rendezvoused at Buffalo. On
an August night of 1841, the boat was boarded, the
82 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
shipkeeper seized, gagged and confined, steam raised,
the moorings cast off, when the boat cautiously passed
out onto the lake, and away she went, too speedy to be
overtaken by any craft on the lakes.
Buffalo owners were compelled to accept the situa-
tion, there being no means to head off the fugitive,
telegraph poles not then standing in line over the
country. The following day Buffalo newspapers an-
nounced thus :
Lost, Strayed or Stolen — The low-pressure steamboat Mil-
wavkie was last seen before day-break this morning rounding the
lighthouse and skipping over the waters of Lake Erie. A liberal
reward awaits whoever effects her arrest before reaching Lake
Michigan.
Their first landing was at Silver Creek pier, where
they liberated their prisoner, and helped themselves to
a few cords of wood there convenient, and then made
a straight wake to Put-in-Bay Island, where more fuel
was obtained. They then rapidly passed through the
rivers to Lake Huron and on to Milwaukee, where she
was run hard aground inside the mouth of the river,
there to remain until sold to Oliver Newberry, of
Detroit, who placed her engine and boilers in his new
steamboat JVile.
On May 12, 1844, the steamboat liochester left the
foot of Main street, Buffalo, bound for Chicago, offi-
cered as follows : Thomas P. Folger, master ; Harry
Weishuen, mate ; William McGee, engineer ; O. H.
P. Champlin, clerk; Bartley Logan, steward.
THE GREAT LAKES. 83
During his mechanical work engineer McGee had
constructed a small steam-whistle, patterned from
plans published in the Scientific Americcm^ which he
attached to the boiler of the Rocheste7\ more for its
novelty than for its utility. Before the boat left the
wharf the whistle was sounded, the first to give voice
in the region of the Great Lakes. Prior to the whis-
tle, loud-sounding bells were hung above decks on all
lake vessels, which supplied the needs of the present
steam-whistle.
During the winter jireceding, Capt. C. L. Gager had
made a propeller out of the old steamboat General
Porter. Between Gager and McGee an old feud
existed. A few miles below Mackinaw the Rochester
overhauled the Porter^ and when passing her McGee
blew his whistle persistently and defiantly. The steam-
boat landed at Mackinaw, as also did the proj^eller.
Being unaware that McGee was engiueer of the Pocli-
ester, Gager appeared at the steamboat dock and loudly
demanded to be shown the man who " squawked that
thing at him." McGee was prompt in leaping on the
wharf and shouting, " Take a look at me ! " Then
came a resolute intervention of mutual friends pre-
venting war between two stalwart men. And thus
was demonstrated the utility of the steam-whistle and
its inauguration on the Great Lakes without bloodshed.
In general, early lake steamboats were officered by
sailors who gained their experience on the fleet of sailing-
vessels navigating Lake Erie prior to the advent of the
84 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
steamboat. A notable exception occurred at the out-
set, when Captain Fish was imported from the North
River to command the Walk-in-the- Water. When
navigating Lake Erie, Captain Fish encountered, to
him, a novel experience. During a storm on the lake.
Captain Fish became seasick — utterly demoralized —
when passengers and crew insisted that mate Davis
should assume command of the vessel. This being-
done, the steamboat was safely navigated through the
storm ; and for the remainder of the season it was
Captain Davis, while Captain Fish returned to swim
in the more placid waters surrounding Manhattan
Island. Thereafter, as a rule, lake steamboats were
commanded by lake sailors.
Later, however, a more flagrant case occurred which
aroused the indignation of lake shipmasters. About
1846, Capt. Henry Randall sold the steamboat Wis-
consin to William Chard, a gentleman largely engaged
in canal transportation. Mr. Chard was an expert in
canal navigation, but in no sense a lake navigator.
Mr. Chard, firstly, changed the orthography of the
name of the boat to Wishonsan^ and then, as a busi-
ness proposition, assumed the command, and then the
trouble commenced. A '' canaler " master of a lake
steamboat, was an absurdity intolerable, and war was
declared against Mr. Chard and his steamboat Wis-
konsan. An emblematic war — a war of ridicule was
diligently waged. In addition to the blowing of
horns and shouting ''low bridge," canal harness and
THE GREAT LAKES. 85
wliiffletrees were run aloft on other boats when meet-
ing the Wishoiisan. Steamboat agents were diligent
in advising travelers that the master of the Wiskonsan
was a landsman, a factor most potent in diverting
patronage, and Mr. Chard concluded that business
demanded a lake navigator for the master of his steam-
boat, and the demand being supplied, hostilities ended
and peace was restored. Mr. Chard was energetic in
business and social in intercourse with all whom he met,
and subsequently was popular in navigation circles.
In 1852 the General Government assumed jurisdic-
tion of the Great Lakes, when knowledge and experi-
ence became indispensable for a commission to com-
mand a lake vessel.
The serious disasters occurring during the era of
side-wheel steam-boating, in the main consisted of the
burning of the Washington^ Erie and G. P. Griffith
on Lake Erie and the Niagara and Sea Bird on Lake
Michigan; the sinking by collision of the Atlantic and
Chesapeake on Lake Erie, and the Lady Elgin on
Lake Michigan ; the foundering of the Sunbeam on
Lake Superior, and the Keystone State on Lake
Huron. All of these casualties were attended with the
loss of human life in a degree horrifying, unless that
of the Chesapeake be the exception.
The Washington^ in 1838, and the Erie^ in 1841,
were burned when on an upward passage, both at the
same point on the lake, off Silver Creek, thirty-five
miles out of Buffalo. The steamboat Griffith was
86 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
burned off Fairport, on an upward trip, her passengers
and crew being driven overboard by the rapid spread-
ing of the flames. Captain Roby and wife, clasped in
each other's arms, thus met their death. In 1860 the
steamboat Lady Elgiii^ in command of Capt. John
Wilson, was running between the ports of Lake Michi-
gan and Lake Superior. At Milwaukee she gave an
evening excursion to the firemen of that city. The
boat was crowded with men, women and children. The
night was dark and misty, and the water was rough ;
without warning a sailing vessel crashed into the
steamer, then glanced off and was seen no more, while
the boat, loaded with humanity, sank beneath the
waters. When the boat sunk the hurricane deck
floated in two sections, upon which officers of the
sunken steamer placed many passengers. The shore
was distant a mile or more, with the wind blowing on,
towards which the rafts drifted. The one carrying-
Captain Wilson reached the shore intact, but the other
broke up in the breakers. To assist the women and
children struggling in the angry surf. Captain Wilson
rushed in, but the frantic sufferers seized hold of him
in numbers, and he was drowned with them. Thus
heroically perished Captain Jack Wilson, a brave and
popular lake sailor. Three days later the steamboat
North S,tai\ Capt. Ben Sweet, arrived at the Soo,
bringing the sad news of the loss of the Lady Elgin.
The veteran Captain Lundy was standing on the
wharf. Captain Sweet locked arms with him, and the
THE GREAT LAKES. 87
two elderly men walked slowly in the direction of the
hotel, where boarded the wife of Capt. Jack Wilson.
Arm in arm they ascended the hotel stairs. At the
top Captain Lundy halted, while Captain Sweet pro-
ceeded to the door of Mrs. Wilson's apartment. The
old sailor raised his arm to knock at the door, hesi-
tated, and then withdrew, and said, " Lundy, I can't ! "
Then the other old sailor essayed to perform the
mournful errand, but also returned and said, " Sweet,
I can't ! " Then the veterans of many battles with the
elements slowly descended the stairs, while brushing
aside watery particles, drops which would not have
appeared in their eyes had they met grim Death face
to face. These sturdy men could face a tempest of
wind, hail and snow without wincing, but yielded when
encountering a storm of misery about to engulf the
wife of a brother sailor. They could brave the majes-
tic power of the Great Lakes, but shrank from a con-
test with human sorrow. Cherished by old friends
are memories of Captains Wilson, Lundy and Sweet —
their contemporaries who linger often recall their
sterling character.
But the mystery remained: What vessel collided
with the Lady Elgin f
After a time it was discovered that the schooner
Augusta had disappeared from the lakes, no one knew
where. After a further time, some six years there-
after, came from the sea-board a strange vessel named
Col. Cook, and engaged in carrying iron ore from
88 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
Marquette to Cleveland. On one occasion, at Cleve-
land, the Col. Cook was at Lafrinier's ship-yard for
repairs. While undergoing such rei3airs the foreman
of the yard discovered that the construction of the
supposed foreign-built vessel was his own work ; and,
furthermore, that she was no other than the missing
schooner Augusta^ which ran down the steamboat
Lady Elgin. But her inhuman absconding crew were
not accounted for.
The Col. Cooh had made six voyages across the
Atlantic in the lumber trade. Her hulk is now a tow-
barge on the Great Lakes in the lumber trade. Dur-
ing the vigils of the night out on the waters, let her
crew keep a sharp lookout for the ghostly specters,
some two hundred in number, that hover over the craft
of ghastly memory.
On the night of the 17th of August, 1864, the
large hotel at Ontonagon, Lake Superior, was illumi-
nated throuo^hout its three stories. Amono' the o'uests
were a number of men from the sea-board cities,
interested in the rich copper mines in that vicinity.
Associated with them were mining experts and busi-
ness men of the Lake Superior region — in all, a party
of about thirty bright men. Their business at Ontona-
gon for the time was closed. The steamboat Sunbeam
was expected to arrive during the night, on which the
party was to take passage down the lake. All were
in good spirits, for the viands furnished at the hotel
were noted for their excellence, and this was one of
THE GREAT LAKES. 89
the gala nights of the booming era of Ontonagon.
During the night the lights of the Sunbeam were
sighted, the prepared bonfire on the beach was lighted,
and soon after the steamboat was anchored off shore.
At daybreak all passengers were on board, and the
boat started on her passage down the lake, and six
hours later the steamboat Sunheain^ and every soul on
board, were at the bottom of Lake Superior, entombed
under one hundred fathoms of the coldest lake water
on the globe, and where each and every victim yet
remains. There is no resurrection there — the water
of Lake Superior never gives up its dead.
On that fatal day an immense vacuous space must
have suddenly occurred in the southeast. Never before
or since has the air been known to move over Lake
Superior with equal velocity. The frail steamboat
Sunheam was wholly unequal to the contest. To
safely encounter such a tempest her unfortunate pas-
sengers and crew might as well have taken passage on
a hoop-skirt.
To counteract the solemnity of melancholy reading,
a humorous incident of the navigation of Lake Supe-
rior is here related.
Prior to the opening of the Soo Canal the propellers
Manhattan and Monticello were conveyed overland to
Lake Superior. On a day when no other boats were
on the lake, in day-time and clear weather, when four
miles off shore, where the lake is one hundred and
fifty miles wide, they met and collided. Both boats
90
MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
were compelled to make for the shore, where their
wrecks still remain buried in the sand. This rare feat
was a consolation to canal boatmen — that they were
not classed as mariners.
In 1841, the first propeller steamer known to the
lakes, was, under the auspices of the inventor of the
The Propeller Vandalia — 1842.
First Propeller on the Lakes.
screw-wheel. Captain Ericsson, built at Oswego, by
Capt. James Van Cleve. Prior to the Oswego boat, a
propeller had been built at New York, and when ex-
amining that vessel. Captain Van Cleve entered into
an arrangement with the inventor to build a propeller
for the lakes, and to exhibit her at the principal lake
ports — hence the Vandalia^ the original lake propeller.
THE GREAT LAKES. 91
Under the command of Capt. Rufus Hawkins, the
Vandalia made a trial trip on Lake Ontario, Novem-
ber, 1841, and the working of the screw-wheel was
pronounced a success.
In May, 1842, the Vandalia made the passage of
the Welland Canal to Lake Erie, and at Buffalo was
inspected with curiosity and interest by lake trans-
porters and navigators, her advantages being explained
by Captain Ericsson in person. Then, by the Hollis-
ters, owners of the steamboats St. Louis and San-
dusTcy^ an arrangement was made to build two pro-
pellers, and the next season appeared in commission
the propeller Hercules^ Capt. F. S. Wheeler, and
the Sampson^ Capt. Amos Pratt, and both were placed
as freighters in trade with Lake Michigan ports.
In 1844 appeared another propeller, constructed by
the Hollisters — the upper cabin passenger propeller
Princeton., commanded by Capt. Amos Pratt. Com-
paratively, the Princeton was a modern constructed
vessel, and a success. But, as a rule, lake navigators
did not readily take to the propeller, and not until the
middle fifties, when the railroads had paralleled the
shores of the lakes, and relegated into inactivity the
side-wheel passenger steamer, did the propeller come
into universal use on the lakes.
The prejudice against the propeller was well illus-
trated when Capt. Fred S. Miller refused one as a
gift. For several seasons F. S. Miller had sailed as
mate with Capt. Levi Allen, while nursing the hope
92 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
that his thrifty brother, Capt. W. T. Miller, would
acquire the requisite interest in some side-wheeler to
make him the master thereof. About 1846, Capt. W.
T. Miller became possessed of a propeller, when he
said to his brother Fred, that he could take and run
her on his own account. But the generous offer was
promptly declined, and in a manner emphatic. " I
want to say to you. Captain Miller, that I am mate of
the steamboat Niagara^ and don't propose to abandon
that position to be master of a thing like that." For
several years thereafter, "I want to say to you, Cap-
tain Miller," was an expression frequent among lake
men, until worn out. However, the marked superiority
of the propeller for deep water navigation was soon
acknowledged throughout the civilized world.
Fleets of grain and lumber-laden sail vessels began
to make the passage of the straits, connecting Lakes
Huron and Erie, in the early forties. The delays in-
cident to such passages, caused by adverse winds, sug-
gested a system of towing between the lakes, and for
such purpose the small side-wheel steamboats, then
plentiful, were utilized for towing through the rivers
Detroit and St. Clair.
In the meantime the screw-v/heel had demonstrated
its superior power, and the more wieldy boat, with
power applied under the stern, hence the screw-wheel
tug-boat — now universal in waters of civilization.
Harbor towing, as an industry, was not inaugurated
under favorable auspices, as at first its progress was
THE GREAT LAKES. \)6
slow. When in port vessel men were chary of a tug,
fearing damage to themselves, or of causing it to
others when moving about with their lines aboard.
When becalmed on the lake, they were glad to be
towed to the entrance of the harbor, where they would
drop the tug, run their lines and warp the vessel to
the dock or elevator. The first lake harbor towing
was in Buffalo Creek, in 1852. During the winter of
1851-2, four screw-wheel tug-boats were under con-
struction at Buffalo, all of which were placed in com-
mission during the season of 1852. First to appear
was the George W. Tifft, in June, owned by Elias
and Thomas Simms, the latter her navigator. Length,
75 feet ; beam, 16 feet ; depth, 7 feet.
However, the Tifft was not the original screw-wheel
tug-boat of the lakes. In 1851, the propeller tug
Franklin was built at Albany, and upon the opening
of the Erie Canal, in the spring of 1852, she made the
passage of the canal to Buffalo, arriving there prior to
the first of June, and at once commenced towing in
Buffalo Creek, two weeks prior to the appearance of
the George W. Tifft.
To skillfully manage a tug-boat in close quarters
requires the hand and brain of an expert. Prompt
action and a level head alone will often prevent dis-
aster. The law makes the operator liable in cases of
malpractice.
The tug-boat is distinguished as a life and property
saver. Often has it given timely aid in places diffi-
94 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
cult and dangerous — when a life was rescued, or prop-
erty saved from loss. The tug-boat captain is honored
by the supposition that he and his boat are equal to
any emergency, and visually they fill the bill.
An Episode.
In 1866, the tug-boat Joe D. Dudley was stationed
at Marquette. When November came, the Soo River
tugs, in order to share a rush of business on the river
St. Clair, abandoned the late fleet of Lake Superior.
Vessels had to make their way to Lake Huron the best
they could. The ore shippers at Marquette gave in-
ducement for the Dudley to go to the Soo and tow the
abandoned vessels through the river to Lake Huron.
December came when all but two of the fleet had
passed down — the schooners Reindeer and William
Shupe being still above the canal. On the third day
of December the Dudley passed up the river to the
canal in the midst of a violent storm of wind and
snow, continuous for forty-eight hours. On the early
morning of the fifth the Dudley left the canal in
search of the belated vessels, with migivings as to their
fate. However, when rounding Point Aux Pins, the
schooners were sighted, rolling at their anchors below
Point Iroquois. The tug went alongside of the Shupe
and found her crew heaving up anchors while treading
a coating of ice overspreading the deck of the vessel
— in fact, all above water-line was ice-bound. Then
the tug pointed for the lleindeer^ with a view of tail-
THE GREAT LAKES. 95
ing her to the Shupe. The little schooner presented
a weird scene of frigid desolation. There she hung to
her cables, responding to the roll of a heavy sea, and
without a sail lowered — all hanging in frozen tatters.
All in sight was ice-bound, and not a human soul in
evidence, and the sounding of the whistle for a time
failed to produce life. The roll of the vessel made
the boarding thereof extremely difficult. Finally a
man was placed aboard, just as a human head peered
above the cabin hatchway — the most unkempt head
imaginable— the head of Capt. Redmond Rider, and
which gave voice inquisitively, "What do you want?"
Darkness covered the waters when the schooners were
towed into the canal, a well-remembered day of toil-
some work for the crews of vessels and tug. On De-
cember 6th the Shiq^e was towed to Lake Huron,
while the Reindeer remained at the Soo, presumably
for the winter. There new sails were made, when the
vessel was sailed to Detroit, directed by an intrepid
man who knew not fear.
Five years later, Redmond Rider, with his command,
the propeller R. G. Cohurn^ went to the bottom of
Lake Huron, there to join his brother, who had pre-
ceeded him a couple of years to a watery sepulcher in
the same section of the lake, and where they are to-
gether entombed under forty fathoms of water. The
Rider brothers were widely known among lake sailors,
were considered typical seamen, noted for their intre-
pidity and unostentatious demeanor.
96 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
CHAPTER VIII.
During the concluding year of the village era, Dib-
dell Holt was publicly executed, November, 1831, for
killing his wife, and his was the last public execution
in Buffalo. On this occasion the gallows was erected
at the junction of Genesee street and the Terrace. In
Holt's case the fact was noted that he first came to
Buffalo from a distance with the throng who came to
witness the hanging of the three Thayers. Six years
later he was the star performer in a like tragedy, pre-
sented on the same stage, and to many who were of
the same audience, marching in procession over the
identical ground traversed by the famous culprits
whose execution his curiosity to witness was the pre-
cursor of his own doom.
While in Buffalo, in 1825, Holt became impressed
with the glowing prospects of the town, remaining there
several days prospecting for a location. He returned
to his home, married, and at once settled in Buffalo.
Being possessed of a sum of money, he purchased a
lot and store thereon, on the west side of Main, a few
doors above Court street, in which he established a
grocery, his residence being in the story above. During
the first three years of his residence in Buffalo, Holt
was considered a model husband, living happily with
SKETCHES. 97
his wife, but, contracting intemperate habits, he became
sullen and morose, then cross and abusive to his wife.
Her reproaches for his increasing intemperance often
produced ruptures between them, when he would assure
her that her days were numbered ; that she would
never attend his funeral, and like assertions. The day
before the murder he dismissed his clerk, and closed
his store. His confession after conviction discloses
that he went into the room where she was sitting; with
their child in her arms, and while driving a nail in the
wall near the ceiling, a miss-stroke caught his thumb,
and at his outcry, caused by pain, she snickered,
whereupon he struck her three blows on the head
with the hammer, intending to kill her, which he did
almost instantly. Holt then fled, meeting the ser-
vant girl on the stairs, who gave alarm, and the fugi-
tive was pursued to the outskirts of the village, where
he was found secreted in a log and brush heap, where
now is Day's Park, and placed in jail. When con-
fronted with his victim, he said that the inquest was
useless ceremony, that he killed his wife, and that she
deserved killing. For committing the ghastly deed.
Holt deserved greater punishment than he received.
The locomotive first appeared in Buffalo in 1836,
running to and from Niagara Falls. The next railroad
to enter the town was the Buffalo and Attica, in 1842.
Prior to the railroads, the four-horse stage coach ran
out of the city on all routes. An old time advertise-
ment reads thus :
98 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
COACH LINES.
The Pilot Mail Coach.
Leaves Buffalo every evening, arriving at Geneva the first
day, Utica the second, and Albany the third.
The Diligence Coach.
Leaves Buffalo every morning at 8 o'clock, arrives at Avon
the first night, Auburn the second, Utica the third, and Albany
the fourth.
The Lewiston Coach.
Via the Falls. Leaves Buffalo every morning at 6 o'clock,
arriving at Lewiston 7.30 p. m.
The Canada Coach.
For the Falls. Leaves every morning at 8 o'clock, arriving
at the Falls at Noon. Extras furnished on either side of the
river at any hour.
The Western Mail Coach.
For Fredonia, Erie and Cleveland. Leaves Buffalo every
morning at 5 o'clock. Baggage at risk of the owners.
Bela D. Coe, and others.
Buffalo, March, 1828. E. L. Stevenson, Agent.
Such were the conveniences of travel out of Buffalo
sixty years ago — four days in a stage to Albany, now
six hours in a luxurious car, and many passengers are
impatient if there be a half-hour's detention. And
such is favored human nature.
SKETCHES. 99
Here is an advertisement published in a local news-
paper of 1828:
For Sale. — A farm in the immediate vicinity, one-lialf mile
from tlie court-house, situated between two public roads, one of
which will unquestionably be adopted as the Great National Road
between Buffalo and Washington. Of the premises there are
about fifty-three acres, clear and stumpless, and producing good
crops. Thereon is a good house and barn, and as good a spring
of water as any in the country, and also |700 worth of good post
and rail fence. john G. Camp.
Buffalo, Sept., 1828.
The " farm " now comprises the realty bounded by
Main, North, Delaware and Virginia streets. The
spring of water referred to was located on the south-
west corner of the tract, and is yet in evidence in the
rear of the line of dwellings on Delaware avenue and
Virginia street, covered by a dilapidated old frame-
work. Around this spring, under the shade of
majestic elms, were wont to camp the Indians of the
vicinity, even unto the time of the advent of the city.
In 1828 there appeared at New York City a con-
spicuous character named Sam Patch, who subse-
quently became notorious in Buffalo and throughout
Western New York. Sam possessed an inordinate
desire for public notoriety, and, to gain such distinc-
tion, he risked life and limb in jumping from the mast-
heads of anchored ships into the waters of the North
River. Such exploits of Sam Patch aroused the covet-
iveness of public purveyors who profit by the assem-
100 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
blage of people en masse,, prominently the hotel and
shop-keepers at Niagara Falls.
In September, 1829, it was announced far and wide
that Sam Patch would jump the Niagara Falls, and
then throughout the surrounding country the scheme
was the general topic of conversation, the many incred-
ulous scoffing at its absurdity. That Sam Patch had
jumped from a height into the still waters of the
North River was admitted, but that he would attempt
a dive into the maelstrom of Niagara was considered
an absurdity. This pronounced skepticism brought
forth from the illustrious scapegrace his historic utter-
ence: "Some things can be done as well as others."
This homely speech became proverbial and was quoted
universally for years thereafter. However, on October
6, 1829, Sam Patch, from a staging projecting from
the Biddle staircase, leaped into the comparatively still
waters below. After a drop of 125 feet through the
air he disappeared from view, but in due time appeared
at the surface and was picked up uninjured, the hero
of the hour and occasion.
On the platform, before making the leap, Sam mani-
fested his frivolous egotism by hilariously singing a
ribald verse :
"I wish I were in Buffalo,
Good friends along Avith me,
I'd call for liquors plenty —
Have flowing bowls on ever side ;
Hard fortune never grieved me —
I am young and the world is wide."
SKETCHES. 101
Then placing to his lips a flask of rum he took a
deep draught, and then added a couplet to his singing :
"Good liquor in a poor man's house
Is a pleasing thing to view."
And then he jumped, maintaining good posture
while in descent.
There is a legend that Sam Patch repeated his
jump at the Falls, drawing a larger crowd of witnesses
than on the first occasion. However, adhering to his
pronunciamento that " some things can be done as
well as others," it was soon after announced that Sam
would jump the Genesee Falls at Rochester, which he
did, and at the same time jumped into eternity. From
a platform elevated thirty feet above the brink of the
cataract he leaped into the waters below, never again
to rise in life. He was hilariously drunk, and in his
descent he swung his arms wildly. When his body
was found it was noted that both shoulder-joints were
dislocated, the effect of striking the water with arms
extended. Such was the rise and fall of the original
of the present race of Steve Brodies.
At the close of 1831 Buffalo was a thriving village
of nine thousand inhabitants, with the rapidly increas-
ing commerce of Lake Erie promoting its growth.
That a community of pioneers, impoverished by war
and burdened with debt, contracted in re-establishing
their homes despoiled in the conflict — the situation in
1820 — should within the decade develop a frontier
102 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
hamlet into an important commercial city was an
achievement without a parallel — a consummation made
possible through the perseverance, spirit and energy of
its citizens. Granger, Forward, Townsend, Wilkeson,
Coit, Allen, Tracy, Johnson, Walden, Pratt, Chapin,
Marshall, Trowbridge, Austin, Potter, Miller, Barton,
Barker, Bennett and Heacock, were an irresistible
force in promoting public enterprise. In April, 1832,
the important village became an ambitious young city.
1815.
"Here, on these ashes," the forefathers cried,
"We'll now build a temple of trade ; "
"Bravo !" cried Lake Erie, swelling with pride,
"I'll cheerily join the parade."
1832.
The Pioneers wrought, their work was done.
Their temple was wondrous fair ;
The City entered and stood on the pedestal stone.
And waved her cap high in the air.
From the beginning Buffalonians have ever been
confidently enthusiastic in their predictions of an im-
portant future for their village and city. By its
founders the infant city was christened with sublime
confidence that wealth and importance awaited its
early future. The predictions then made were, at the
time, considered illusionary, born of unwonted enthu-
siasm, by other communities. At this advanced period
they read like the profound statements of one who had.
SKETCHES. 103
by Divine power, been entrusted with a foresight of
the future. Appended is the writing of one of the
founders of the city:
The "go-ahead" of the brave and eccentric Crockett, has be-
come the watchword of the age. In every department of
civilized life, in literature, in science, in mechanical arts, in the
labors of the field, all seem to listen with delight to this spirit-
stirring talisman, and rush onward, with redoubled energy, to
wealth and greatness. The march of mind is onward ; our means
of education are enlarging and extending their enlightening
influences over the land ; new discoveries are daily adding to the
legacy of former times ; the power of machinery is applied to
almost every purpose of public utility or private enterprise in
which speed is attained or labor performed — steamboats capable
of contending with winds and tide, railroads which will soon
enable the home-bred farmer to make the tour of the state in
almost the time it takes to traverse his own domain.
Within the past fifty years mighty changes have been wrought
in the relative importance and geographical extent of these
United States — New England, once the nucleus around which
gathered the hopes of our infant country — the center of strength
and power, to whose arm the feeble branches of this family of
republics looked for protection . But the scene is changed. The
western world has been explored, new states have arisen as if by
magic, and every year adds thousands to the throngs who have
left their fatherland to rear their altars amidst the charms of the
western wilderness.
The great channel of communication between the Eastern and
Western States is fixed by Nature through the chain of lakes
forming the division between the United States and the British
possessions on the north. The Erie Canal affords a safe, easy,
expeditious and cheap mode of travel, and for conveying heavy
merchandise, and which forever must remain the principal thor-
oughfare. While goods can be shipped in New York and safely
landed in Chicago in twelve days with only two re-shipments, it
104 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
is not to be considered that merchants will seek other channels.
With these advantages and prospects in view, the people of Buf-
falo may well be proud of their home, proud of the fame already
acquired of their infant city. It has no rival — it can have none.
Cities west of us may arise to wealth and importance, but they
will be our tributaries ; their growth our growth, their greatness
our greatness — all combined furnish a fit epitome of the materials
which are to make Buffalo one of the grandest cities in the
Union. In the west lies a country destined to be a land of cities
— a country of lakes and rivers, whose navigable waters traverse
half the continent, and teeming with every agricultural produc-
tion. The abundance of these must pass through our hands on
its way to the sea- board, while the luxuries of the Old World
will center here, thus rendering Buffalo what it may ever claim
to be — the Great National Exchange.
But few of the present people of Buffalo are aware
that a massive monument to Commodore Perry came
very near being erected on the Terrace, where now
stands the Liberty Pole. In 1832 the elated citizens
of the newly incorporated city, organized a Monu-
ment Association, and a committee was appointed to
erect in Buffalo a monument to Commodore Perry,
the expense thereof to be supplied by popular sub-
scription. The promises to pay were numerous and
ample for the completion of the work, and the com-
mittee contracted for its construction in 1836; but
the financial ruin of 1837 prevented the consummation
of the enterprise, and in lieu thereof the Liberty Pole
of 1838 was erected. The memorial was decorated
with a representation of the proi30sed structure, and
read as follows:
SKETCHES. 105
This monument, to be erected by the citizens of Buffalo in
honor of the late Com. Oliver Hazard Perry, is to be one hundred
feet high, surmounted by a colossal statue of Perry fifteen feet in
height. On the sides of the pedestal, which is thirty-four feet
square, are to be sculptured relieves, representing the battle of
Lake Erie, and other prominent events in the life of the hero.
The whole structure will be of American white marble, and cost
$75,000. Its style will be Grecian. Its builders are Frazee and
Launits, of the City of New York.
The committee comprised the following citizens :
Stephen Champlin, U. S. N., Chairman.
Reuben B. Heacock, Benjamin Caryl,
Samuel Wilkeson, John W. Clark,
Jacob A. Barker, Pierre A. Barker,
Roswell W. Haskins, Benjamin Rathbun,
James T. Homans, U, S. N., Alanson Palmer.
Henry R. Stagg,
The original Eagle Street Theatre was erected in
1835, and opened to the public July 20th of that year.
It stood midway of the block between Main and Wash-
ington streets, its front entrance being where now
is the Eagle street entrance to the Hotel Iroquois.
The side spaces, running to Main and Washington
streets, were inclosed with a high-board fence. The
inclosure on the Washington street side was occupied
by the gas factory, where gas for the illumination of
the house was manufactured — the first in Buffalo.
When opened, the Buffalo theatre, in construction
and appointment, was unsurpassed by any like in-
stitution in the country. Appended is its original
announcement :
106 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
EAGLE STREET THEATRE.
A. Brisbane, Proprietor.
Dean & McKinney, Lessees and Managers.
This splendid house will be opened July 20, 1835. The
capacity of the building is exceeded by few in the L^nion. There
are four tiers of boxes and a spacious pit, all furnished with com-
fortable seats ; the three lower tiers with backs to the seats. The
scenery and embellishments are of a style not surpassed by any
theatre in the world. The whole is lighted by olefiant gas, man-
ufactured on the premises. The managers are well known in
Buffalo, and their efforts will be exerted to retain the kindness
they have always experienced at the hands of the public. Per-
formances every week-day night during the season.
The " season " was during the months of lake navi-
gation. When navigation closed the theatre did
likewise for the winter months.
The pit was consigned by the managers to the town
boys — not the bad boys, but the good boys, who didn't
die young — as their exclusive domain, and where they
congregated nightly, at twenty-five cents per head, to
witness Dan Marble in his masterly presentation of the
" Game Cock in the Wilderness," and other specialties,
not forgetting occasions when Edwin Forrest, supported
by Josephine Clifton, was enacting Shakespearian
tragedies. Mr. Dean was quite popular with the
young people, with whom he maintained a genial famil-
iarity. During a week of Forrest and Miss Clifton,
the swells in the boxes leveled opera-glasses upon the
stage, a proceeding novel to the boys in the pit, they
considering the application of a spy-glass at such short
range too silly for anything.
The Original Eagle Street Theatre — 1835.
108 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
On Franklin above Chippewa street there lived a
Dutch family named Snyder, in whose garden were a
growth of seed cucumbers, sizeable and yellow, which,
by boring lengthwise and connecting a pair of them,
contrived a fair imitation of an opera-glass — good
enough for four boys who entered the pit with such
imitations concealed under their coats.
During a scene when the glasses were focused upon
the stage from the lower tier, the imitations were pro-
duced and focused in burlesque. Strange enough, this
quietly-conducted proceeding aroused a violent disturb-
ance among the hoodlums in the gallery — continuous
until it caused the premature dropping of the curtain.
Whereupon, Mr. Dean appeared at the foot-lights, his
appearance receiving the clapping of hands from the
pit. But the usual smile did not beam on the counte-
nance of Mr. Dean, it having an earnest cast. Mr.
Dean began talking to the pit as a whole, reminding
the boys of his friendly action in providing for their
amusement and comfort, and then, fixing his eyes on
the culprits sitting in a row, requested them to lay
aside the disturbing elements that the performance
might proceed without interruption. The kindly man-
ner of Mr. Dean subdued the boys unto contrition,
whereupon the guilty cucumbers were cast aside and
order was resumed.
Performance at the theatre was suspended during
the close of lake navigation, when the pit would be
floored over, and which, with the stage, formed a com-
SKETCHES. 109
modious dancing arena. Here public balls were held
during the winter season. On Franklin street resided
a family named Postle, whose daughters were noted
for their comeliness, and also as expert dancers, and
who were frequent in attendance at the balls. The
late Judge Talcott, then active, was usual in attend-
ance — fond of the recreation.
At the time was clandestinely published The, Old
Corporal^ a weekly journal, 7 by 9 in size, which on
the street met with ready sale, its columns giving high-
wrought reports of scenes at the balls, and which, on
an occasion, included the verse :
"What Tall-cuts he made when attempting to wing,
And an Apostle coukl waltz as if Fanny had lent her —
Her heels for the evening to whirl in the ring."
The Old Corporal was the sensation of the town,
until its publishers were smoked out — a brace of prin-
ters engaged on the Express. The veteran dispenser
of billiards, Darwin A. Slaght, was then an expert typo,
and a co-perpetrator. His present sedate presentment
denies the impeachment. Perish the thought!
In the fall of 1839, a full year prior to the election,
a Whig National Convention assembled at Harrisburg,
Pa., and nominated presidential candidates: William
Henry Harrison, for President, and John Tyler, for
Vice-President. In May, 1840, a Democratic National
Convention convened at Baltimore, Md., where Martin
Van Buren was nominated for re-election as President.
Subsequently the Democratic National Committee
110 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
placed Richard M. Johnson on their ticket for Vice-
President, and then the tronble commenced — the log-
cabin, hard-cider, coon-skin campaign for Tippecanoe
and Tyler too — and the fur flew and the liquid flowed
until the closing of the polls in November.
It was really a picnic campaign, a season of festivity,
revelry and song, whereby General Harrison was virtu-
ally sung into the White House. Apparently, the
chief issue involved was the oft-repeated inquiry :
"' What has caused this great commotion — motion —
motion — the country through ? " and which the singers
themselves invariably answered in another line : " It is
the ball a rolling on for Tippecanoe and Tyler too ; "
and to which in gracious assurance to their opponents
they added : " And with them we'll beat little Van —
Van, Van is a used-up man." The song was universal,
like marching through Georgia, sung by marching
thousands of men, women and children. The center of
gravity for the Whig campaigners of Buffalo was the
" Log Cabin," located for the time on the then vacant
lot on the northeast corner of Main and Eagle streets.
The cabin was a typical back-woods structure, the ex-
terior decorated with grub-hoes, brush-hooks, ox-yokes,
hanging scythes, gourds, crooked-necked squashes,
bunches of corn-in-the-ear, coon-skins nailed on flesh-
side out, and other articles traditional to pioneer in-
dustry. At the Log Cabin open house to all comers
was maintained during the canvass — barrels of cider
constantly on tap, and open barrels of apples, gratis to
112 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
all who would join the chorus. We boys would gather
at the cabin to hear the great crowd of men there
assembled sing:
"The beautiful girls, God bless their souls —
Souls — souls — the country through ;
They will to a man do all they can
For Tippecanoe and Tyler too."
The incongruity in the third line impressed the
verse upon my youthful simplicity, permanent in mem-
ory for the half century and more intervening.
The Buffalo Historical Society preserves a faithful
presentment of the historic Log Cabin.
In point of numbers in attendance, and in its varied
and unique features, the Whig Mass Meeting at Buf-
falo, November 7, 1840, was the most notable political
gathering that ever before assembled in Western New
York. The celebration of the " Battle of the Thames,"
with their candidate the alleged hero, brought to
Buffalo nearly all the adult male jjopulation of the
surrounding country. Thousands came in steamboat-
loads from the southern borders of Lake Erie. Buffalo,
then a presumptive little city, tripled its population in
a day, and its territory was not sufficient to contain the
long processions marching behind bands of music,
extending into the adjoining towns of Black Rock and
Cheektowaga. The common rendezvous and rostrums
for the meeting were on the commons south of High
street, where now are rows of residences on upper Oak,
Elm and Michigan streets. Thomas C. Love was
SKETCHES. 113
president of the day, assisted by numerous vice-presi-
dents, among- whom were Seth C. Hawley, Edwin
Hurlbut, Daniel Bowen, Clark Robinson, C. C. Had-
dock and Warren Granger. Dr. Haddock was ap-
pointed Postmaster of Buffalo the following year.
In 1849, when performing his duty as chairman of the
Board of Health, he was stricken with cholera, then
epidemic in Buffalo, and died. Dr. Haddock was an
estimable citizen, public-spirited and enterprising, and
his untimely death was universally regretted.
At daybreak, on a Fourth of July morning in the
early forties, the writer, with other boys, was hasten-
ing down-town, to Court House Square (Lafayette
Park), there to celebrate by extracting all the noise
possible from the festive firecracker. When passing
through Mohawk street to Washington street, on the
sidewalk in front of the Congregational Church, we
saw two negroes engaged in a loud quarrel. As we
approached one of them stabbed the other with a
dirk-knife, the blade penetrating his heart. The victim
dropped to the sidewalk, over which his blood streamed
to the gutter. This was the murder of James Massey
by John Davis, for which Davis was hanged in the
yard of the old jail, a stone's throw from the scene of
his crime, and simultaneously from the scaffold with
McElroy, who murdered Rapp, the German farmer, in
the town of Boston.
The first cross-walk laid in Buffalo was across Main
street, midway between the Terrace and Seneca, in
114 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
1828, by Josiah Beardsley. The first pavement was
laid in 18 86, on Main corner of Erie street, Benjamin
Ratlibun ordering it laid as a sample. It consisted of
wooden blocks, nine inches square, which extended
up about half-way across Erie street and half-way
across Main street. This block of pavement was for
several years thereafter an oasis in a sea of mud, prev-
alent during spring and fall.
Older citizens of Buffalo will recall the municipal
sun-dial, erected on Main street, west side, between
Church and Niagara streets. It was a structure diffi-
cult to describe, looking more like a huge inverted
plow than anything else, and not much like that.
The thing was daubed over with hieroglyphics, as
if of Egyptian origin, lined with marks and counter-
marks, to allow the sun to cast shades and reveal the
hour of day to the astronomically educated. It was
of but little use to them, and of no use whatever to
anyone else. However, it was the source of amuse-
ment to many, being subjected to the jests of the fun-
makers of the town at the expense of the Board of
Aldermen, who ordered its construction at the cost of
the tax-payers to the amount of several hundred dol-
lars. It had not been in place a week before the
all-around wag, Fred Emmons, had a farmer's load of
ha}^ alongside to be weighed at a reduced price. Fred
made application to be appointed Keeper of the Sun
Dial, unrolling before the aldermen in session a " uni-
versal petition," both sides filled with names, consisting
SKETCHES. 115
of the city directory, the leaves cut out and connected
lengthwise. His memorial promised that over the dial
would be erected a shed to protect it from the sun!
Finally, under the darkness of night, the " what-was-it "
escaped, probably, aided by its projectors. The His-
torical Society should endeavor to discover its hiding-
place. It has nothing more facetiously or curiously
historic.
" Not since the flood," was an expression often used
by Buffalonians when citing a time remote. Not to
the down-pour of Scripture did they refer, but to the
disastrous inflow of the waters of Lake Erie upon the
lower lands of Buffalo, October 18, 1844. To those
participating in these historic events, the local flood
was the less considerate, giving no warning to its vic-
tims, but instead an unheralded avalanche of waters
came upon a sleeping community, the howling tempest
arousing them from their slumbers like the sound of a
fire-bell at night. For three days previous to the
flood of waters, a northeast wind had been continuous,
driving the waters of the lake upwards, when the wind
suddenly shifted to the opposite direction with tre-
mendous force, bringing with it a flood of waters to
the foot of the lake, greater than ever before or since
known, inundating the lower districts of Buft'alo, de-
molishing scores of dwellings and other buildings,
spreading ruin along the harbor front, playing havoc
with the shipping, and causing great destruction of life.
Not until the night of the 19th did the gale abate its
116 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
velocity, and the waters recede. The rise of water can
be imao-ined from the fact that before the blow the
steamboat Columhus was aground in the river at the
foot of Indiana street, and when the waters receded
the steamboat was left behind on Ohio street.
The adult male population of the city were active
in the rescue of the imperiled and providing relief for
the suffering during the early morning and through
the day. The municipal hall over the Terrace Market
was thronged with agonized people scanning bodies
of the drowned as they were brought in, fearfully
expectant of discovering missing friends whom they
hoped might be somewhere in life. A like scene was
at the court-house, where the bodies of the dead lay
in rows awaiting identification. There strong men
were moaning over the inanimate bodies of wives
and children, while mothers and children were weep-
ino' over the dead bodies of male members of their
families.
In the memory of the writer the arrival of that ter-
rific first blast of wind remains vivid. He was sleeping
in the upper room of a house then and now standing
on North Main street, in a room comprising the length
and breadth of the front portion of the house. The
first blast carried the sash of the west end window
bodily against the east wall of the room near the head
of the bed, shattering the glass into a thousand frag-
ments. He has ever since been unable to recall his
sensation on being thus violently awakened, other than
SKETCHES. 117
a vague realization of kingdom come — something of
that import.
Men who saw the initial wave invade lower Main
and Commercial streets, stated that it rolled up and
poured into the canal with roaring sound. At the
corner of Main and Ohio streets there was a depth of
six feet of water, and of four feet at Exchange and
Michigan streets. All territory on the level of outer
Exchange street was alike inundated. Many harbor
craft were left distant from their element when the
waters receded. The flat lands southeast of the city
were strewn with wreckage. For the second time
the steamboats Columbus and Chcmtauqua required
launching into the waters of the lake. Published
details told of many providential escapes and timely
rescues. Over the river near the ship-yard were two
families, each consisting of parents and one child, liv-
ing in houses adjoining. To escape the rising waters,
both families took refuge on the roof of the stancher
building, where they saw the other crumble and float
away with all it contained. Soon after the house on
which they were perched collapsed and floated off with
the flood, the six human souls clinging to the floating
roof. Not until seven o'clock that morning were they
taken off their raft by i-escuers in yawl-boats, and after
floating more than a mile away on a frail float amid
the rush of waters and howling tempest.
M. W. Dayton, brother of the ex-mayor, with his
family, resided in a cottage on South Division street,
118 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
his house standing alongside of a new three-story brick
structure then under construction. Becoming alarmed
at the rattling of falling deb7ns upon the roof of his
house, Mr. Dayton aroused his family to take them
to a place of safety. Just as they passed out the
front gate, the brick wall fell upon and crushed the
cottage.
A. S. Carpenter and family were taken into a boat
from the garret window of their dwelling on Jackson
street in the early morning, just in time to save them
from a collapsed building and floating wreckage. The
evening before the great blow, the steamboats Saint
Louis, Robert Fulton, Juliet Palmer, Chautauqua,
and Indian Queen, left Buffalo with their usual com-
plement of passengers. The Saint Louis encountered
the tempest abreast of Dunkirk, and when essaying
to breast it, broke her shaft, and, paying into the
troughs of the sea, four men were washed overboard
and lost. Aided by a stay-sail and jib, the steamer
drifted before the wind and was carried down Niagara
River, when Captain Haggart, with his ferry boat,
came and assisted the disabled steamer to a landing at
the foot of Ferry street.
After having three people washed overboard, the
steamboat Rohert Fulton was piled upon the beach
above Stony Point. The Chautauqua was driven
high and dry on the sand beach at the foot of
Hudson street.
SKETCHES. 119
The Indian Queen, a bonnie little steamboat, was
the only one of the outgoing fleet that succeeded in
making Buffalo harbor on their return. Like a hog
in a mire, she came wallowing in the huge seas directly
to its entrance.
The Julia Palmer, with her three hundred passen-
gers, was blown helplessly down the lake to a point in
the bay opposite the foot of Main street, where her
anchors held, and where she pitched and rolled all the
live-long day in a manner fearful to behold. On the
morning of the 20th, a relief boat assisted her into
the harbor, greatly to the relief of her terrorized pas-
sengers and worn-out crew.
The steamboat Julia Palmer, a historic vessel, built
by a historic citizen, at a historic period, and named
for a historic Buffalo matron, lies imbedded in the
sands of a Lake Superior beach. Peace to her ashes !
120 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
CHAPTER IX.
It was an August day in 1849 ; Buffalo was over-
sjiread with gloom, owing to the ravage of Asiatic
cholera. An alarm of fire came from the First Ward.
A factory building was burning away out Perry street.
In good time Fulton Fire Company No. 3 came out of
West Seneca street, wheeling downward into Main
street, just in time to encounter Red Jacket No. 6, and
then the trouble commenced — a run to the fire. All
old volunteers will recall the wild clamor attendant
upon such a contest between old-time fire companies ;
even more exciting and picturesque than the galloping
of horses through the streets of the present. On that
occasion, it was a victory for No. 3 over their most
active rivals in the department, and to them a cause
for hilarious congratulation.
When No. 3 reached the fire. Mayor Hiram Barton
was there standing in an open carriage, having been
on a visit to the locality on sanitary inspection. The
rear yard was inclosed with a high board fence.
The mayor shouted : " Foreman Reed, can your boys
jump over that fence ? " " My boys can jump over
anywhere, Mr. Mayor ! " was the reply of as good a
fireman as was ever known to Buffalo.
SKETCHES.
121
Then the pipemen were lifted to where they could
grasp the top, and over the fence they went, and soon
two streams were penetrating the rear openings of the
burning building, while with the rest of the company
it was, "shake her up, boys," until the little piano
engine rocked like a jolly-boat in the surf.
On the home march, it was evening twilight when
No. 3 wheeled out of Perry into Main street, where,
in full company, they " spread out," and all gave voice
to the song of the marching firemen. On that occa-
sion the verses wore chorused thus:
" We are the boys who can run to the front,
And jump over anywhere !
It's our delight, any sort of a night,
All seasons of the year."
The hilarious march up the desolate street dispelled
the gloom for the time, the singing bringing the people
out on to the sidewalks in goodly numbers.
It was often remarked that among the residents of
early Buffalo there were a number whose characteristics
were remarkably peculiar. A score of such— now of
the past— could be named. Among this class was John
K. Tucker, the whilom proprietor of Tucker's Hotel,
on Exchange street. Mr. Tucker was a rare combina-
tion of assumption and vocal energy. Mr. Tucker
had other characteristics, among which was a conceit
that he excelled in horsemanship. That he was a mas-
ter of arts and parts of which the animal is often the
subject, was generally conceded. Early during the
122 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
civil war, Mr. Tucker was a contractor to supply army
horses, and to him I sold a pair designed for artillery
service. When paying for them, Mr. Tucker said to
me, " By the way — I want to show you a good horse
for you to buy." At his stables a serviceable appear-
ing animal was led out. Mr. Tucker remarked, "This
horse we bought of a farmer in Hamburg, but the
inspector rejected him, because of this wind-gall on
his ankle, which you know don't hurt him. We paid
a hundred for him ; he is in our way ; take him along
at eighty." After close inspection, I said to Mr.
Tucker, that if the horse was a good worker I would
take him. " He is all right ; we have tried him," said
Mr. Tucker. I then paid Mr. Tucker eighty dollars,
and the horse was transferred to my stable. The
next morning, when a harness was thrown upon him,
he kicked viciously with both feet, and so continued to
vibrate until the menial appliance was removed from
his lordly presence, thus evincing that he had more gall
than was contained in the puff on his ankle. Being
aware that his late owner was well supplied with the
bitter commodity, redress was deemed hopeless.
A few days thereafter an agent of Mr. Tucker,
named Peters, arrived from Canada with a car load of
horses. Mr. Peters was then assigned to canvass the
home market, with rolls of greenbacks in his pockets.
It was thought a good scheme to intercept Mr. Peters.
Acting on the inspiration, I was soon in his wake, and
in good time sighted the buyer at the Cold Spring
SKETCHES. 123
tavern " Hardfinish " Clark was the landlord, and
with him I had a private interview, and then hastened
homeward. In good time " Hardfinish " informed Mr.
Peters that he knew where there was a horse for sale
that wonld make a good mount for an army officer.
Mr. Peters was interested. " Hardfinish " wonld locate
the animal under conditions. These being arranged
the worthies drove to my stable, where the horse w,th
a wind-oall on his ankle was inspected. Mr. Peters
seemed pleased, and suggested a saddle. He was m-
formed that a saddle was not available, but that Mr.
Tucker knew me, and that I would guarantee the horse
a bold actor-a veritable war-horse. Mr. Peters was
desirous to obtain the horse for ten dollars less than
„ p,ice-one hundred dollars. Finally, Mr. Peters
paid me ninety dollars and led the horse away covertly
handing "Hardfinish" a ten-dollar note. The next
morning Mr. Peters returned, leading the horse with
a wind-gall on his ankle. Mr. Peters stated that
Mr Tucker didn't want that horse. Mr. Peters further
remarked that he did want me to return to hmi nmety
dollars paid to me the day before. Mr. Peters was
advised that his petition would be placed on file, tie
was requested to present my compliments to M^^
Tucker, and say that when having a horse he didn t
want, the proper thing was to sell him-if he could,
but that I did not desire to purchase— not that day.
When again meeting Mr. Tucker he was agitated
His language was plain, but undignified. He seemed
124 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
hurt. He had fired his battery with complacency, but
the recoil disconcerted him. Mr. Tucker was reminded
that man was made to mourn.
The late John Pierce, ex-Deputy Sheriff, Alderman,
and Police Commissioner, possessed peculiar charac-
teristics. To a great degree quiet and unobstrusive in
manner, yet obtrusive in perpetrating jokes upon his
friends, of whom there were many. Between Pierce
and George B. Efner a close friendship ever existed.
Both were passionately fond of animals — the horse
occupying the seat of honor, and both were ever on
the lookout for promising young animals at a low
price, that they might develop and sell for a high price,
and of this industry both were experts, skilled opera-
tors and rivals.
One day when George was alone in his stable office,
John drove up, that being his horse-boarding stable.
Stepping into the office and giving George a slap on
the shoulder, he remarked : " George, my boy, I know
where there is a slick one ; he'll make your eye shine
when you see him. I'm going to gather him in, too."
In the team of a farmer on the hay market John
discovered a young horse that filled his eye, and at
once proceeded to interview the farmer. Pointing to
the mate of the fancied animal, he said : " You've a
good horse there?"
" Yes," said the farmer, " she's a good old mare.
Do you want to buy a horse ? "
" No," said John, " but I like to look at 'em."
SKETCHES. 125
" Take a look at the one on the other side," said
the farmer.
Tho more John looked at him the better he liked
him. '' He looks fairly well," said John.
" Yes, he's an extra good colt, and if a man wants
to buy, I'll sell cheap, for I must raise some money,"
said the farmer.
"What do you hold him at?" said John.
"One hundred and forty dollars will buy him,"
said the farmer.
John answered this with a significant whistle. In
a manner unconcerned, John stepped aside, but soon
after casually offered one hundred dollars for the colt,
which offer the farmer declined to accept, and then this
acute interview ended. After finding out from another
farmer where " that man lived," John drove to Efner's,
when the scene before related occurred.
That night the farmer's colt haunted John's sleep,
and the next day he thought of some business he dichit
have in the town of Alden, where lived the farmer who
had a horse whose owner John considered failed
to appreciate his full value. The next morning a
couple of hours' drive brought John Pierce to a farm
house in Alden, where he halted, ostensibly to make
an inquiry. There John was surprised to find the
owner of the young horse that he had "no use for,
but liked to look at." After some irrelevant talk,
the farmer brought the colt out to show Mr. Pierce
his action when turned loose in a paddock. The ex-
126 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
liibition increased John's admiration for the animal.
Finally he renewed his offer of one hundred dollars
for him.
" Can't sell him for that, but I want money, and jou
can take him for f 125," said Mr. Brown.
John shook his head, as he walked slowly to where
his horse stood, but faced about and offered to split
the difference.
" Can't hardly do that," said Mr. Brown.
Then John entered his buggy and started off slowly,
feeling assured that he would be called back; but the
call came not, and John drove home feeling sorry that
he was not leading the coveted colt which he had de-
termined to buy in any event.
At Efner's stable, the next morning, John said to
George : " George, my boy, I am going to Lockport
to-day, but to-morrow I'm going for the horse I told
you about. My mare is a little lame, and the road
is rather heav}^ You have a pair hooked up for me
early in the morning, and when I return will show you
something that will please you."
Soon after a load of hay was dri^^en to Efner's
stable to be unloaded. The man with the hay said
to Efner:
"Who was that man talking to you when I drove
up?"
" Why, that was John Pierce, the deputy sheriff,
don't you know him ? "
" No ; but I saw him out our way yesterday trying
SKETCHES.
127
to buy a horse of my neighbor, Mr. Brown, but they
couldn't make a trade."
Then George was interested.
"What sort of a horse is it?"
"Mighty good colt, I tell you, best one in our
town."
This information was nuts and wine for Efner, and
soon after he was on his way to Alden, and that even-
ing he placed a young horse that formerly belonged to
farmer Brown, in a stall of his stable— his property.
The next morning John promptly appeared, the team
was ready, and off he went after Mr. Brown's colt.
On his arrival Mr. Brown was in front of his house.
" Good morning," said John.
" Good morning. Sheriff," said Mr. Brown.
" Mr. Brown, I've concluded to take the colt at your
figure. Here's your money, and here's a leading-bridle
to put on him," said Mr. Pierce.
"What are you driving at?" said the farmer.
" Why, you've got the horse there, on the off side. Mr.
Efner was out here yesterday and bought him."
For the moment John Pierce was stunned, and when
he regained his breath he ejaculated, "Holy Ghost! "
then applying the whip, the horses shot out as if
answering a fire-alarm. On the way home John was
unable to solve a conundrum by himself propounded :
" How in hades did George Efner learn of that horse?"
When John reached the city it occurred to him that
his business down-town was not pressing, so he gave
128 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
the team to a policeman to drive to Efner's stable.
When the friends next met George asked :
"John, didn't you get the horse? "
"No," said John. "I discovered a nice little spavin
growing on his hind leg, and made up my mind that
John Pierce didn't want him."
" Ah, ha I smarty. You had better get that spavin
out of your eye, it might lame you," replied George.
Many old Buffalonians will recall a quiet, cross-
eyed little sport named Isaiah Smith, who was wont
to parade the streets, twirling his cane. Occasionally
Isaiah would drop into the saloon on West Huron
street, kept by George Sherwood, the well-known singer,
police constable and horseman. On the end of the
counter stood a glass globe, nearly filled with water,
the home of two little gold-fish. The door stood
open one day, when Isaiah softly stepped in and
peeked into the glass globe. Taking the tail of a fish
between his thumb and finger, he raised and deftly
dropped the tiny creature into his mouth, and down his
throat it went. Observing the disappearance of his
pet fish, Sherwood said, angrily : " You had better
swallow the other one." No sooner said than done,
when Isaiah coolly lit a cigar and passed out, twirling
his cane as he went. Sherwood was mad as a wet hen,
but said nothing more to Isaiah, he being quite handy
with the pistol when attacked. In partaking of the
free lunch not a word was uttered by the luncher.
SKETCHES. 129
During the decade of the thirties, before telegraph
lines were known, horse-stealing was reduced to a
science in Western New York. Appropriating and
running animals over the Niagara into Canada, was an
industry successfully prosecuted by bold operators,
whose frequent depredations were such a burden and
annoyance to the citizens, that protective associations
were organized in the several communities, consisting
of troops of mounted men, to pursue and recover
stolen horses, and capture the thieves. These com-
panies held themselves in readiness for duty at the call
of their commander, in the manner of the historic
*' minute men," all superbly mounted, and otherwise
well found for continuous pursuit. However, these
troopers were often unsuccessful in their pursuits, in
coping with the cunning thieves, who, fox-like, had
convenient holes of refuge by day, then to flee the
country by night. The pursued held the advantage
of their pursuers in being familiar with the routes
taken, thus enabling a flight unobserved by sleeping
communities; in being well mounted, as superior ani-
mals only were by them appropriated, all of which
facilitated escape. Thus trails were lost and captures
prevented.
The local troop was a superior organization, excep-
tionally well mounted, and otherwise equipped for
efficient service. The following were among the num-
ber: Samuel R. Atkins, of Buffalo Plains, com-
mander: William C. Brown, William Holt and Sam-
130 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
uel Eley, of Buffalo Plains ; John S. King, Adam
Rinewalt and T. S. Hopkins, of Amherst; William
Wire and Jacob Schell, of Tonawanda ; Michael
Shultz, Vincent Rogers and James Saddler, of Clarence.
The writer recalls a dress parade of this troop on
Buffalo Plains and the admiration he had for the
array of cavaliers, their equipment and evolutions.
A short time after the parade, a paradoxical event
occurred, the theft of a valuable pair of mares from
the commander of the troop, which were not recovered,
notwithstanding the country was traversed far and
wide in their pursuit. Not a trace was obtained of
horses or thieves beyond LeRoy, where they break-
fasted the morning after the theft. The perpetrators
of the bold venture were a brace of experts named
Ambrose and Joe Bois. When at home the Bois
brothers were at the house of their mother in Buffalo,
on the north side of Court street, between Main and
Pearl streets.
Five years later, January, 1840, the sheriff was
advised that Ambrose Bois was secretly visiting his
mother and measures were taken for his arrest. He
was known to be a desperate character when at bay,
and due precaution was observed. A watch was placed
on the house, and when night came a raid was
made and the culprit captured and j^laced in jail. At
the March Term of Oyer and Terminer he was con-
victed of the theft and sentenced to five years at
Auburn. Joe Bois evaded arrest for this crime, but
SKETCHES. 131
in gracious compensation ended his life in the Ohio
penitentiary.
Speeding horses on the snow-path was an old-time
winter amusement in Buffalo. The scenes attendant
on early occasions, first on Main and then on Delaware
street, are now repeated on Richmond Avenue. New
Year's Day in ye olden time was celebrated in social
reunions — out sleighing in huge sleighs drawn by four
and six horses, decorated with plumes and flags, which,
too-ether with hundreds of smaller tarn-outs, constituted
a carnival of good cheer — a day of jubilee. But the
actors in the old comedies have in the main disap-
peared. Modern actors may be interested in the
rehearsal of a scene presented on Delaware avenue
forty-live years ago :
Time, January 1, 1854.
The writer, with horse and sleigh at Main and
Seneca streets, espies an acquaintance on the walk, a
resident of an adjacent village, hurrying up-town.
"Hello, George! Whither are you drifting?"
" Going up to Stevenson's to get a rig — want to see
the trotters."
"Just so. Get in here under this robe, I'll show
3^ou the circus."
" All right. Here I am ; now proceed. But we'll
need some cigars. Pull up at Boas's and I'll skip in
and get some."
The cio-ars were lighted and the drive was to Niagara
132 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
Square, where we found Delaware avenue filled with
turn-outs.
" Here we are in the midst of them. Now we'll join
the procession and see how people enjoy cold feet and
blue noses."
My companion was all observant.
'' That's a nice old gentleman with that big chestnut,
who's he?"
" That's Jacob S. Miller and ' Old Captain ' — man
and horse — both are captains."
'"• Jerush ! That's a nobby establishment, horses and
sleigh, with colored plumes."
" Yes ; that's A. D. Patchin, the banker. The large
man on the rear seat is Asa B. Meech. Both have the
horse distemper."
" Here's a fine horse. Who's the driver with fur
cap, collar and gloves ? "
*' That's Chandler Wells ; he, too, has the disease."
" That's a fine pair — that sorrel and black, hooked
up light. Who's the airy chai3 driving?"
" Oh, that's West India Mills. But the horses are
all right — ' William T. Porter' and ' Belle of Saratoga.'
They can road a thirty clip. The man in furs with the
brown mare is Frederick Gridley, the broker. The
man and wife in the Portland are Mr. and Mrs. Arthur
Fox. The lady is the daughter of a horseman and
inherits admiration for the animal."
" Who are those larks ? "
SKETCHES. 133
" Walter Harris and George Coburn, and the mare
is the trotter ' Knownothing.' Wait till you see them
pass through with the gang. It will make you hold
your cap on."
" That gray pacer is a dandy. And so are the two
sports in the cutter, I should say."
"You've guessed it. That's Cart Sawin and Ed.
Blancan. Their gray pony can melt the snow when
set going. The man in the plain cutter is Jay Petti-
bone, the distiller. His horse is liable to be speedy.
That tandem? Why, that's Doctor Gary, and he
enjoys it."
"Who's the fat old chap on the rear seat of that
hack sleigh?"
"That's Gharles Norton, Buffalo's Jack Falstaff."
"He looks as if he loved sack."
"You bet."
" That yellow bay is a good stepper, and I reckon
the driver is another."
" Yes, yes, right you are. That's Lanse Thomas
and ' Ganary Bird.' When she sings he jigs."
" Gan he dance?"
" Dance ! It would make you shed tears to see him
sing and dance ' Uncle Snow' : "
"My name is Uncle Snow, I have you all to know,
I's de slickest wid de brush in all creation ;
I's gwine down to Washington to take a little job,
To whitewash all de free nigs in de nation."
134 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
" Who's the Russian turn-out?"
" That's Goodenough, the Exchange-street broker ;
and the man alongside is Tom Smith, the bonnet
dealer. Smith loves his horse, but can't hear him
cough when he has a cold. There comes O. W. Dim-
ock with 'Jack Rositer,' the champion two-miler. Otis
won't speed him in the street. Has brought him out
for an airing. He's a trotter that can burn the track
from the half to the wire. And there comes George
Hosley with ' Tib Hinman.' George won't speed with
the brigade. The little mare is too sweet to take such
chances. Yes, she's a trotter. Got a record on the
ice at Ogdensburg of 2.22."
''That gray is moving nicely. Who's the driver?"
" That's Judge Masten, with ' Recorder.' He has
two or three good ones in his stable. Now, we have
made the circuit. The brigade are congregating at
Virginia street for the down drive, and we'll soon see
some fun."
" Yes ; and here come three of them. Look out I "
"They are moving well. The leader is Lyman B.
Smith, with his trotter ' Fred,' and on his quarter is
Harvey Peek, with his Arabian spike, and George
Malcom, close up."
" Malcom ! Is he the Cold Spring distiller ? "
" Yes ; and he's a trotter, too. Thinks more of
them than of getting a wife."
" And here they come ! Jehu ! See the snow fly."
" Yes, yes ; they are the boys to stir up the snow.
SKETCHES. 135
The leader is W. W. Huff, the horse doctor, with the
trotter 'Mayflower.' Next, and close up, is Edwin
Hurlbut, with the ' Hurlbut Mare,' and right up with
them is Peter Young driving the ' Patrick Pony,' now
called ' Acorn '. Next to Peter is Lauren Burton,
with ' Black Maria,' and lapped onto Burton is George
Efner, driving ' Mary Blane ' — no better roadster any-
where, and she can trot, too, as you observe."
" Here comes another bunch of them."
" Yes ; the rest of the gang : Pop Horter,
George Harris, Eli Boyington, William Lockwood,
Fordyce Cowing, Forman Mount, Wooster Burton,
and in the rear, his usual place, is George Metzger
with •■ Missouri '. And there comes John Steven-
son with the six-horse sleigh and a full cargo of
web-footers. There are Captains Fred Wheeler, Peter
Smith, Bill Stone, Jim Snow, T. J. Titus, Bill Arthur,
Fred Miller, Bob Wagstaff, Jim Beckwith, Jim Hath-
away, Amasa Kingman, Luther Chamberlain and
Harry Watts, all lake captains, and with them are
their two landsmen chums. Deacon Alvord and Gust.
Tiffany. That party will paint the town before
midnight."
" And there's another six-horse turn-out."
"Yes; that's the American Express Company's
sleigh. Let us see who compose the party. There is
W. G. Fargo, W. B. Peck, A. G. C. Cochrane, Jacob
Dygert and Ham. Best, all of the company, and their
guests are Judge Verplanck, Charles Ensign, George
136 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
W. Holt, Charles E. Peck, Captain E. P. Dorr, A. S.
Bemis, William Kasson, George W. Bull, George P.
Stevenson and T. T. Bloomer, a good lot and a fine
team. See how nicely Sherman curves the leaders up
Niagara street."
Now the shades of evening appeared. My compan-
ion was silent and contemplative. He recuperated in
good shape :
" Say ! How would a hot-scotch sit on our stomachs? "
" Soothingly."
" Well, where can we get 'em in good strength?"
'' At McDougal's, on Seneca street."
" Jerush ! That's a good ways. But hurry up, let
the horse travel, I'm suffering."
Soon after the animal was warmly blanketed on
Seneca street — x x x — three of a kind.
In the fall of 1859 a social association was organized
in Buffalo, named the B. B. B. D., having a large
membership, which held nightly meetings in an apart-
ment of St. elames Hall. C. C. Bristol was its presi-
dent, and his onerous duties were shared by a galaxy
of vice-presidents and secretaries. For the election of
new members frequent executive sessions were held,
when the caliber of the candidate would be volumin-
ously discussed by the lawyers, doctors and steamboat
captains, who were numerous in attendance. The
initiation fee for a member, was a half bushel of pret-
zels (in the twist) and a keg of beer — with a renewal
payment at stated intervals. The qualification for a
SKETCHES. 137
desirable member was involved in his disposition to
purchase supplies on festive occasions. The orator-
ical capacity, ethics and lung power concentrated
in the association, was to a degree stupendous, and the
complex conundrums given to the chairman to solve,
were handled by President Bristol with masterly art.
The owl-like wisdom displayed by him on such occasions
was convulsively amusing.
The application of citizen Charles Norton for
membership, caused animated discussion. Those
opposed held that the applicant would be a greater
consumer than a provider of viands ; on the other hand
it was contended that his capacity to consume would
be beneficial, inasmuch as a fresh supply for each ban-
quet would be assured in lieu of stale goods. Then a
member arose and stated that he knew the applicant
well, that his disposition to purchase was profound —
on credit — whereupon a magnanimous brewer arose
and stated that he would accord a line of credit to the
applicant, when, amid applause, Mr. Norton was unan-
imously elected a member of the association.
During the winter the local press made frequent
appeals for aid for the needy poor, when the associa-
tion resolved itself into a relief organization for needy
families of the city, to solicit, collect and distribute
donations from the citizens at large. Wagons trav-
ersed the streets, attended by committees, who would
receive donations of any character — food, clothing or
furniture — and soon the commodious basement of St.
138 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
James Hall was filled with commodities, and was the
base of supplies for the distributing committees. On
February 9, 1860, the association held a festival at
St. James Hall, which was an immense success, the
building and street being inadequate to hold the people
who responded to the thousands of invitations distrib-
uted by the Grand Secretary, Henry W. Faxon. The
circular distributed by that versatile journalist com-
prised, besides the invitation to attend, an invitation
to donate, naming many varieties of articles which
would be received, and the program for an exhibition
from the stage, ending with a series of tableaux of
local nature and interest. The following is the Faxon
circular :
BUFFALO GRAND BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION.
To
Sir — You are respectfully invited to attend the Annual Fes-
tival of this Association, to be held at St. James Hall, on Thurs-
day, February 9, 1860.
Admit the Bearer.
H. W. Faxon, Chairman Committee of Arrangements.
Prelude.
Gentlemen and ladies desirous of contributing to the needy
poor will find in the list herein enumerated abundant aggrava-
tion for the vacation of their pockets, the decimation of their
personal property in stocks, bonds and bank notes, and other
calamities. But no gentleman, it is hoped, will be so carried
away by the excitement of the occasion as to donate anything
that may militate against the claims of his own widows and
orphans, which should be paramount to all else.
SKETCHES. 139
Articles Peculiarly Acceptable.
Victuals and Things.
Charlotte Russe in packages, or Charlottes without ruse. Fresh
Dutchwomen's hens' eggs. Ducks on foot, in the pond, or in the
quack, if not donated by medical students. Pigs, roasted or
broiled, in the pen, or in the tenderloin. Flour, in sacks and
barrels, or in doughnuts. Buckwheat, with the scratch extracted.
Indian and oatmeal, shorts and middlings, by the ton. Beer, in
quarters, halves and wholes, by the dray load — or in the Courier
office. Sausages, in the hog or dog, in the smooth or in the rough.
No. 1 mackeral ; to feed country editors, a few kits of No. 10 in
the rust, will be tolerated. Ice cream, froze tight. Sugar and
molasses in hogsheads. Codfish, in crates or quintals. All kinds
of fish, comprehending suckers, sardines, turtle, Rochester mulr
let and Tonawanda bullheads. Native fruit, such as apples and
protested notes of hand, by the bushel or barrel. Chickens and
oysters, in the shell or on foot, in the feather or the keg, or on
commission. Butter, by special contract — none strong enough to
donate itself will be tolerated. Corned beef will be accepted,
drunk or sober. Milk, from the cow, pump or distillery. Young
and old farmers' veal, when accompanied with affidavits. Geese,
with squawks and liver complaint extracted. Porter-house steaks,
with the tenderloin in. In fact, any kind of victuals that can
make the palate enthusiastic and the stomach Jubilant."
GrARMENTS.
Pea jackets, monkey jackets and water jackets. Pantaloons,
with pockets mortised in. Undershirts, in muslin de laine or
buckskin, or in moire antique. Drawers, of wool, cotton, slippery
elm or tin foil. The variety trimmed with Brussels lace not
wanted. Neckties, in silk, welting-cord or hemp. Stockings
( darned ), long or short. Capes, cloaks and muffs in Russian
sable, seal or ermine. BufPalo-skins and balmoral skirts. Dam-
ask and other curtain goods. In fact, everything made of any
kind of fibre, except the Buffalo Express.
140 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
Luxuries.
After the solids, as above enumerated, the following luxuries
will be especially acceptable : Gold, in bullion, bushels, bags or
half bushels. Silver, in limited quantities. Gold bricks not
accepted. Bills of exchange, in large amounts — on London pre-
ferred. Farmers' Joint Stock Bank notes and false teeth. Turtle
shell combs and rubber overshoes. Confessions of recent mur-
derers, and hangman's ropes, with the knot in. Counterfeit coin,
by sample. Gold-rimmed eye-glasses and Pittsburg Railroad
stock — the latter in limited quantities. Opera-glasses and glass
eyes. Cod-liver oil and bids for city printing. Corn plasters,
quinine pills and dried beef. Mathews' hair dye and salt-rheum
ointment. Messenger colts and Jersey heifers, and rock and rye
in large quantities.
Objects of Virtu.
Defeated candidates for mayor, and wood by the cord. Demo-
cratic majorities at the last election — if hermetically sealed. Dis-
appointed office seekers and Powers' Greek Slaves. Sugar plums
and kisses, of the tu-lip variety. Sugar-cured hams and Palmer's
marbles. Members of Assembly and silk muffiers, or anything
else woven pliably by hand or loom. Liquors and cigars, by dray
loads. Donors in this department have a wide field to operate in,
and it is hoped that they will commence early and persevere in
the good work, as there are many applicants for relief who have
a refined taste for these goods. If there be anything you have
not in the above list, why, send it in at once, and not mind the
expense or consequences.
Note.
Although there is no resolution strictly forbidding the presence
of ladies at the festival, the committee are of the opinion that
it would be as well for them to stay at home and take care of
the children.*
* But they didn't stay away worth a cent— they came in flocks.
SKETCHES. 141
Of the village boys, who were to the manor born,
but few snrvive to close the centnry. Of the number
resident in the city, Oscar F. Crary is the eldest, born
in 1816. Next in point of age is Pascal P. Pratt,
born in 1819. In 1823 appeared George B. Efner
and Alvin D. Gilbert. Of the births of 1826, Hiram
C. Day and the writer hereof remain. Washington
Russell was born in 1828, and David F. Day in 1829.
John E. McManus was in evidence at the close of the
villaoe era. There are resident in Buffalo a number
of elderly ladies who, it is believed, were village girls,
but, owing to an impediment in their memory as to
their exact age, such belief cannot be verified. An
exception is Miss Sabrina Hosford, of Main street,
who confesses to her birth in Buff'alo in 1815. Miss
Hosford has witnessed Buffalo's evolution from a
hamlet to a metropolis — from Red Jacket to
Mayor Diehl.
With this chapter ends the sketches of early Buffalo.
And it is well. Reflection recalls the admonition :
" Is not your voice broken'/ your wind short? your wit single?
and every part of you blurred with antiquity ? "
Just so, Mr. Shakespeare.
142 MODERN ANTIQUITIES.
BUFFALO.
Where liaming swords were in anger drew.
Where Red Jacket paddled his canoe,
And three Thayers hanged in open view —
Was Old-time Buffalo.
Where savage life in the main prevailed,
Where approach was by Indian trail,
Then rail-trains met the gliding sail —
Was Progressive Buffalo.
Where Great Lakes lay their tribute down.
Where miles of handsome homes abound.
And where its people own the town —
Is Domestic Buffalo.
Where are rural parks and cosy drives,
Where shaded lawns in beauty thrive,
And massive structures point the skies —
Is Picturesque Buffalo.
Where Niagara tlows a rapid stream.
Where Nature's power replaces steam,
And bustling streets are smooth and clean-
Is Excelsior Buffalo.
Let zephyrs blow, high or low —
"Put me off at Buffalo."
APPENDIX.
From the New York Missionary Magazine of December, 1800.
Fort Niagara, October 29, 1800.
Reverend and Dear Brother : Through the kind provi-
dence of God, I arrived the 14th of this month at the Seneca
Castle, five miles above where the Buffaloe empties into Lake Erie.
I waited on the chief sachem (called Farmer's Brother) with
Cusoc, my interpreter, and made known to him my business, and
asked his favor, and for the chiefs of the nation to meet me in
council. He informed me that he had heard of me before, and
that he would consult with the chiefs, and as soon as they could
be ready he would let me know it. I then took my leave of him,
leaving Cusoc to tarry in the village, and went to a village of
white people, consisting of five or six families, at the mouth of
the Buffaloe.
On Friday 'following Cusoc came and informed me that the
chiefs would meet in council that afternoon and that they desired
me to attend. I proceeded to the Castle, and on arrival found the
sachems and chiefs, with about one hundred Indians, assembled
in the Council House. Soon after I was seated. Red Jacket, the
second sachem, addressed me in a short speech, complimenting
me upon my arrival among them and saying that they were ready
to hear what I had to say. I then arose and addressed them as I
thought proper, and delivered the talk (as they style it) from the
directors of the missionary society.
I left Buffaloe on Monday and reached here yesterday — in hopes
of seeing my friend Major Rivardi before he left, but was two
hours too late. He is removed from the command of this post.
One Major Porter now commands here. I propose to be with the
Tuscaroras until next month and then return to the Senecas.
■X- * * * *
ELKANAH HOLMES.
Rev. J. M. Mason,
Secretary of the Missionary Society, New York.
144 APPENDIX.
From the New York Missionary Magazine of December, ISOO.
The following address was made to me by Red Jacket, Second
Sachem of the Senecas, at the Council House, Seneca Castle, on
the 15th day of October, 1800.
ELKANAH HOLMES.
" Father : We are happy that the Great Spirit has permitted
us to meet together this day. We heard what you spoke to us.
We thank the Great Spirit for putting into the minds of the good
society of friendship in New York to send you to visit us. On
your way to visit us you called on our brothers, the Oneidas,
Muhhecomuks, and the Tuscaroras. We thank them for sending
this good talk with wampum (holding the wampum up). We
believe that you mean to do good to us, that there is no cheat in
your talk, or in the society that sent you to us."
He then spoke to his people, charging them to make no noise
and pay attention to what I had to say. I then proceeded to
preach to them of Jesus Christ. When I had concluded Red
Jacket arose and again addressed me as follows :
"Father: We thank the Great Spirit for what you have
spoken to us and hope he will always keep your heart in this
good work.
" Father : We believe there is a Great Spirit above who made
all things, has made the whites as well as the Indians, and we
believe there is something good after death ; and we believe what
you say, that the Great Spirit knows all we do.
"Father : We are astonished at you whites that when Jesus
Christ was among you doing good that you white people did not
pay attention to him, and believe him, and that you put him to
death.
"Father : We Indians did not do this. The Great Spirit has
given white people their ways to serve him and to get your living,
and he has given Indians their ways to serve him and to get their
jiving by hunting the game he gives to us.
"Father: You and your people know that the whites are
getting our lands from us for almost nothing. If such good
APPENDIX. 145
people as you and your society had advised us Indians, we and
our forefathers would not have been cheated by the white people
who have taken our hunting-grounds.
"Father : You do not come with maps under your arms that
we have found deceit in. You come a father to advise us for our
good, and not to cheat us out of our lands."
He then took strings of wampum in his hand and continued :
"Father: You and your society know that when learning
was given to the Indians they became small in numbers, and
some nations are extinct, and we do not know what has become
of them. Our brothers, the Mohawks and the Oneidas, they were
driven away from their lands.
" Father : We think learning would do us no good. We are
astonished that you white people who have the good book, the
Bible, and can read it and can understand it, that they are so bad
and do many wicked things.
"Father: We (pointing to Farmer's Brother) cannot see that
learning would do our people any good. We will leave it to those
who come after us to judge for themselves. If learning was
given to us, cheating would creep in among us and we would
share the fate of our brothers, the Mohawks and the Oneidas,
and we would not know where to go."
He then presented me with seven strings of wampum, saying :
"We want you to give these to the good society that sent you
here."
We, the undersigned, were the interpreters of the above speech
of Red Jacket, and assisted in committing it to writing. We
hereby certify that it is as near to the ideas and phraseology
expressed by him as we can write it.
Signed : William Johnston.
Nicholas Cusoc.
BuPFALOE Creek, October 25, 1800.
ELKANAH HOLMES.
146 APPENDIX.
From the Neic York Missionary Magazine of December, 1800.
SPEECH OF FARMER'S BROTHER.
The following speech was made to me on the 21st day of Octo-
ber, 1800, by Farmer's Brother, Chief Sachem of the Seneca
Nation, at the house of John Palmer, near the mouth of Buffaloe
Creek, it being the third public talk I had with them.
ELKANAH HOLMES.
" Father : We thank the Great Spirit for allowing us to meet
together this day. We have something more to say to you.
When we heard your good talk we had no time to speak all we
wanted to say to you.
" Father : We will now talk to you and to your good society.
"Father: The United States and the Quakers wanted some
of our boys sent to them to get learning.
"Father: I gave the United States one of my grandsons to
get learning.
"Father: We hoped when he got learning he would be of
some good to our nation — to tell us of the good ways of the
white people. Two years after he went to Philadelphia I went
there on business for our nation. When there I saw my grand-
son, and was sorry when I saw him. He was in a tavern with
some bad people — men and women — and he a boy yet. Then my
thoughts that he would be of service to our nation was gone.
We have no such things among us of boys having bad ways.
"Father: Some time ago I went to Geneseo and saw my
grandson there in soldier clothes. He wanted me to give him
two miles square to support him in going about the country.
"Father : By your good talk I would have your good society
take one of our boys and take care of him and give him learning
of good ways.
" Father : We hope the Great Spirit will have his eyes on this
boy that we give up to your good society. We hope they will
plant good things in him.
" Father : We now give to you these strings of wampum to
take with our talk to your good society in New York that sent
you to visit us." William Johnston, ) i^^terpreters
Attest : Nicholas Cusoc, )
ELKANAH HOLMES.
SKETCHES OF ALASKA.
SKETCHES OF ALASKA.
CHAPTER I.
SCENERY.
On the 21st day of July, 1885, I was commissioned,
by President Grover Cleveland, Marshal of the United
States in and for the District of Alaska.
On the 8th of September following, together with
the newly appointed Governor, Judge and District
Attorney for the district, we embarked at Port
Townsend, Wash., on the steamship Idaho^ bound
for Sitka, Alaska.
After a run of three hours across the strait of San
Juan del Fuca, the ship was entering a cosy bay of
the large Island of Vancouver, British Columbia,
where is picturesquely situated the pleasant city of
Victoria. The town has a population of twelve thou-
sand inhabitants, and is noted for its genial climate,
line scenery, and, at that period, for its American
Consul. To an American, the aspect at Victoria is
decidedly colonial, unless it be its hackmen, who, evi-
dently, were educated at Niagara Falls.
150 SKETCHES OB^ ALASKA.
Upon reaching the wharf, the ship was boarded by
a fussy old man, inquiring if the Alaska officials were
on board. When intercepting us, he said he was the
United States Consul ; that he was 66 years old, with
faculties unimpaired ; that his wife was the daughter
of the lamented Col. Baker, of Oregon, and that in
war times he was clerk of a United States Senate com-
mittee ; that President Hayes appointed him to his
present position, and that he came to greet and invite
us to call at the consulate. For all of which we
thanked him, of course. During our stay at Victoria
he was persistently officious, assuming to advise us
how to conduct ourselves in order to maintain the dig-
nity of our official position in due form. To our party
he was a compound nuisance, and we were glad when
rid of him. Josh Billings remarked that he had un-
successfully struggled with the conundrum : "At
what time of life is a man the biggest fool ? " Had
Josh been of our party he would have concluded that
it was when consul at Victoria.
On leaving Victoria the ship makes the passage of
the Gulf of Georgia, a body of salt water dividing
the Island of Vancouver from the main shore of Brit-
ish Columbia. The passengers crowded the deck while
the ship ran through narrow passages between ever-
green islets, made difficult and exciting by the rapid
flowing of the tide. When passing the north point of
Vancouver the open sea is encountered for a distance
of thirty miles, when the ship enters the world's won-
SCENERY. 151
derland — the inland passage up the north Pacific coast.
The Alexandria Archipelago, so named by Vancouver,
comprises hundreds of islands, which, for eight hun-
dred miles, fringe the coast of British Columbia and
Alaska. Many of the islands and channels retain
names given them by that intrepid navigator.
Able descriptive writers have essayed to portray the
grandeur of these waters, one of whom writes : " The
stillness of air, land and water in the early morning
made it seem like the dawn of creation on some new
paradise." Another writer says : "I could scarcely
realize that I was in the same world left behind me."
Another relates an incident. " I wish I could remem-
ber the beautiful words with which the Rev. Dr.
Tiffany likened it to the glorious portal of future life.
I do remember a gentleman standing near me re-
marked : ' I did not believe that God ever made
anything so beautiful as this.' To which I involun-
tarily replied, but not irreverently, ' I did not believe
that he could.' "
During my stay in Alaska much of my time was
spent in traversing these channels, and my observation
could not detect wherein the above descriptions were
overdrawn. No pen can faithfully describe the gran-
deur there presented. The observer meets with many
surprises — new scenery constantly appearing as the
steamer pursues its winding course among the islands.
Many whales are seen projecting their sable backs
above the surface of water, and at near approach dive
152 SKETCHES OF aIaSKA.
into its depths, flaunting their tails in defiance as they
longitudinally disappear from view. In ludicrous con-
trast to the majesty of the scene, was a dude on the
upper deck firing at a huge whale with No. 6 shot.
Prominent among these passages is Glenville chan-
nel. It is about forty miles long, a half-mile wide,
and mostly straight as an arrow. Lined on either
side by mountain walls, clothed with evergreen up to
the timber line, thence is presented a region of rock,
vast in extent, all of which is surmounted by a region
of snow and ice — these aerial glaciers glistening in the
sunlight with " more than silvery whiteness."
An approaching steamer, when in this channel, so
near the mountain walls, loses the majesty it presents
in open water, appearing as insignificant as a house-fly
crawling on a billiard table. Occasionally, a local
snow-storm can be seen dancing a H ighland fling on a
mountain-top, while a genial atmosphere of sixty de-
grees prevails on the deck of the steamer. Numerous
tiny cataracts leap down hundreds of feet perpendic-
ularly. They look, as I heard a lady remark, " like
huge satin ribbons, hanging down the mountain walls."
Throughout the archipelego hundreds of evergreen
islets decorate the waters, "like gems on a coronet."
The beholder of this sublime scenery is struck with
wonder and awe at its more than earthly grandeur.
We called at Douglas Island, where there is a pro-
ducing gold mine, and a large stamp-mill in full opera-
tion. It was then the property of Senator Jones, of
SCENERY. 153
Nevada, and other mining capitalists. The Senator
was a passenger on the ship from Victoria. He is an
agreeable, level-headed man of the world, enthusiastic
in the future of Alaska as a gold-producing region.
The Senator was accompanied by his wife, whose
superior personality, and kindly greetings accorded to
strangers on shij^board, is a pleasant memory.
154 SKETCHES OF ALASKA.
CHAPTER 11.
SITKA.
After a pleasant and interesting passage of seven
days, the ship landed at Sitka, the Alaskan capital.
The town is situated on the west shore of Baranoff
Island, at the head of a deep bay, twenty miles from
the outer capes. The capes are about fifteen miles
apart, the shores of the bay approaching to within a
distance of five miles at the head of the bay, where
is located the town. Baranoff is an outer island of the
group, its east shore being about fifty miles from the
main-land. It is eighty miles long from north to south,
maintaining a width of thirty miles, in latitude 57.2,
and longitude 135 degrees west from Greenwich.
The town of Sitka is built on a level plateau, con-
taining about three hundred acres, fifteen feet above
high tide. This area is washed on two sides by the
waters of the bay, and otherwise walled in by high
mountains, whose snow region is three thousand feet
above the tide. Fronting the town, one thousand feet
distant, are a cordon of islands across the bay, clothed
with evergreen, the channels between affording ample
entrance to a connnodious harbor, thus forming a cosy
amphitheatre, where nestles the quaint little town of
hewn logs and whitewashed walls. With its primitive
architecture, its grassy courts and graveled walks, its
SITKA.
155
waters and islets, its traders and their shops, its In-
dians and their canoes, Sitka is much like the old town
of Mackinaw, at the head of Lake Huron.
Included in the population of Sitka, at that period,
were about one hundred Russian Creoles, quiet and
industrious people. Of Americans proper there were
about a like number, including- civil officials, naval
officers and their families. The adjoining Indian vil-
lage, or ''ranche," as there called, contained about one
thousand natives, men, women and children. At the
front, facing the waters of the bay, is an open space of
about three acres, called " The Green," appropriately
so, as the grass thereon remains fresh and green
throughout the year. Here are mounted two Dahlgren
guns, with a number of ancient Russian cannon keep-
ing them company, altogether an imposing battery to
repel a fleet of canoes. The Government buildings
face the Green, and, like the old cannon, are relics of
the Russian nobles, who in days of yore held high
carnival at Sitka.
Out seaward, on the north shore of the bay, stands
majestic Mt. Edgecomb, a subdued volcano. When
Captain Cook was there in 1796, it was in an angry
mood, belching out smoke, cinders, fire and brimstone,
but now it is an orderly and conservative volcano.
There is a large mission establishment at Sitka, in-
cluding an Industrial School, where little Indians are
taught to read and write, the boys blacksmithing, shoe-*
making and carpenter work, and the girls to cook, sew
156 SKETCHES OF ALASKA.
and knit. The day following our arrival the newly
arrived Governor and Marshal were invited to dine at
the mission. When standing- in line awaitino- intro-
duction to the ladies there resident, the hostess advanced
and offered her hand to the Marshal, saying : " You
are very welcome to Sitka, Governor." Her greeting-
was cordially reciprocated, when she was advised of
her mistaken identity, and assured that it was quite
justified when contrasting our personal appearance.
The incident gave zest to our introductions, and has-
tened our acquaintance with the people there assembled,
and caused the constant watching of the Governor for
an opportunity to get even, until he succeeded in so
doing. We were shown through the work-shops,
where I noticed a ten-year-old boy, with freckled
face and sandy hair. The novelty of a red-haired
Indian prompted the inquiry, " What's your name ? "
Promptly came the answer, " Mike Murphy." Eureka !
An Irish Indian ! Who'd a thunk it?
Shortly after our arrival occurred an incident novel
and interesting to a "tenderfoot." A native holding a
coil of line, waded out from the beach and hove its
hook end far out into the water, and then returned to
shore. He soon began to haul in, hand over hand,
and soon with greater exertion, as if he had a bite from
something having at least two rows of teeth ; and sure
enough, for there appeared in the surf a lusty halibut,
•making the water boil by the handy wielding of his
tail. Mr. Indian again waded out and gave the fish a
SITKA. 157
smart rap on the head with a club, and then, aided by
a helper, dragged his captive to the beach amid the
applause of Governor, Marshal, squaws, mugwumps
and hoodlums.
In Sitka bear-skins are a legal tender, and a house-
hold article in all well-regulated families. No sleeping
room is complete without a bear-skin spread in front
of the bed to receive your feet when in a bare state.
Their market price was $5.00 each. Governor Swine-
ford paid an octogenarian squaw -16.00 for one. When
asked why the extra dollar was demanded, she coolly
replied, " Big Chief pay much."
Sitka is a naval station, and a vessel of war is sta-
tioned there, with its company of marines quartered
on shore, where they beat and blow '' taps," early and
late, and drill on the Green.
In Sitka there is an old Greek Church, with a tower
containing a chime of six bells, which supply the town
with music galore. There, also, is a colony of ravens,
the identical "ominous birds of yore," occupying an
adjacent mountain-side. They make daily visits, and
hold dress parade on the Green. Their gyrations are
in fair imitation of the marines in their morning drill ;
the birds coming immediately after. Seals and sea-lions
sun themselves on the outer rocks, while the festive
dolphin and porpoise perform their gymnastic exercises
within the inner bay. The weather clerk flew his scien-
tific kites from the top of the " Castle," the most pre-
tentious structure made by human hands in all Alaska.
158 SKETCHES OF ALASKA.
THE GREEK CHURCH.
The most interesting relic of the Eussian era in
Alaska is the Russo-Greek Church of St. Michael at
Sitka. It is designed and constructed in the form of a
Greek cross, like similar edifices in the mother coun-
try, and is the only one of similar consti-uction on the
western continent. It is prominently situated, facing
the sea at the head of the street running up from the
landing. The front entrance is through the square
base of the tower, in the second story of which is the
chime of bells. From the tower rises a tall, symmetri-
cal spire, topped by a golden cross, comprising four
distinct crosses. Back of the tower, surmounting the
main portion of the structure, is a massive metal-
covered oriental dome. From the cupola above the
dome, rises a spire, supporting a large golden ball, and
above the ball is a compound Greek cross nine feet
high. The church was erected ninety years ago, and
now, while its exterior is an old, weather-worn concern,
the interior has its original presentment of an oriental
paradise. One wing is used as a chapel, and therein,
beside an unique font, is a large painting of the Vir-
gin and Child, a counterpart of the celebrated painting
at Moscow. All the drapery is of silver and the halo
of gold. The chancel is elevated, and approached by
three broad steps up to two golden bronzed doors,
ornamented by solid silver images of the patron saints.
All the panels are decorated by fine oil paintings.
THE GREEK CHURCH. 159
which good judges say must have been executed by a
master hand. Above the chancel is a painting of the
Last Supper, covered, like the Madonna, with silver,
as are two others, one each side of the altar. Across
the threshold of these doors no woman is allowed to
step, and through the inner one none but the priest
and his superiors are allowed to enter. The walls are
hung with portraits in oil, and the general effect is
rich in the extreme. The bishop's crown is covered
with pearls and amethysts. The floors are strewn with
rich oriental rugs, and around stand huge candelabra
of solid silver, bearing colored waxen candles six inches
in diameter and six feet high. The incongruity of
such splendor in a remote wilderness is not the least
considered among the curious things connected with
this strange edifice.
From the tower of the church the mountain scenery
is extremely picturesque. A notable scene is Cross
Mountain. Near its towering summit is a perpetual
glacier, which in form is a perfect imitation of the
Holy Cross, symmetrically real to the view. Probably
no other body of ice is as reverentially considered as is
the glacier on Cross Mountain.
The adherents of the Greek Church at Sitka have
a unique annual ceremony. Headed by their priest,
who is flanked on either side by men bearing a large,
open book, from which he reads in a loud voice, they
march in procession about the town, to *' drive the
dev il out " from all places in which he may have become
160 SKETCHES OF ALASKA.
installed during the year past. This ceremony has an
air of solemnity about it that commands the respectful
attention of spectators. To an American it presents a
scene decidedly quaint and foreign.
Governor A. P. Swineford was a citizen of Mar-
quette, Mich., where, as legislator, mayor, and editor
of the Mining Journal., he had developed sufficient
gall to become a territorial governor. While en route
to his dominion he conceived the audacity of intro-
ducing a printer's outfit into the peaceful solitude of
Alaska. At Portland, Oregon, the conspiracy was
promoted by his purchase of a hand press and other
material to print a newspaper, which was shipped to
Sitka, where, for a time, the disturbing element was
closely confined.
The official labors of the Alaskan executive are not
to a great degree exhaustive, consisting, chiefly, in
conversing emotionally with the natives (making mo-
tions to Indians), gathering curios and looking for
his interpreter. Therefore Governor Swineford had
abundant leisure to indulge his propensity to print and
edit a newspaper without interfering with his official
labors.
At a meeting of citizens and officials, a publication
company was formed with a paid-up capital of six
hundred dollars — the cost of the printing outfit — and
it was then resolved to publish a newspaper at Sitka.
In the person of the Governor the association had
available a practical publisher, printer and editor.
THE ALASKAN. 161
whose reputation justified the belief that their contem-
plated newspaper would be published in form, and
edited, if need be, with audacity. With the aid of a
typo discovered among the marines, the Governor set
up the press in a vacant Russian hut, and in due time
appeared a full-fledged newspaper— TAe Alaskan.
Most new enterprises boast of a specialty, and that
of The Alaskan was of being the most westerly, most
northerly and most remote publication on the Ameri-
can continent. Three of its four pages were filled with
solid matter, descriptive of Alaska, its climate, re-
sources and needs in the way of congressional legisla-
tion, written by the master hand of the Governor.
The remaining columns were diversely illumined with
local paragraphs contributed by a minor official, whose
service in that direction was demanded by the manag-
ing editor, notwithstanding his genius had never been
thus directed—'' which will make the newspaper inter-
esting," said the Governor.
Following are samj^le locals in the initial number of
The Alaskan :
To a Sitkan the pleasures of life are blended with uncertainty
as to the struggle between a monthly mail and the deep sea. All
else is serene.
A charital)le lady placed on our desk a dish filled with cookies.
Early in our career we learned to admire the toothsome concrete,
and the good lady has our thanks. Later— While momentarily
absent, the managing editor clandestinely entered our sanctum
and cooked thera all.
162 SKETCHES OF ALASKA.
The next mail will bring newspapers dated to November first,
all antedating the elections now decided. A cold-potato diet is
the reading of campaign literature after election is past. But we
antipodes must endure the affliction as we do our old debts — with
Christian resignation.
A custom of Alaska Indians, incident to their superstition, is
that of not removing their dead out the doorway of a house, but
through the smokehole in the roof, in order, perhaps, to make a
scoop on the evil spirit. Calls for the service of this tenderfoot
as pall-bearer on such occasions are declined in advance. The
spectacle of we, us, leading a funeral procession down the roof
of a house must ever be lost to science.
It is recorded that this is the season of the greatest rainfall at
Sitka. But the present feature is alternate rain and sunshine,
and unless one of the contestants weakens, there will be a dead
heat for first money. Such is the force of habit, even on a strong
mind. Though we sold our trotter before starting for Alaska,
our pen, unless under a strong pull, will break and perpetrate a
turf item. However, this being a weather item, the digression
may escape the scrutiny of the managing editor, and as well as
any answer his call for copy.- If not, why not ?
Such commodity did the Governor of Alaska con-
sider " made a newspaj^er interesting."
A favorite prerogative of Alaska's executive is to
coddle the Indians, to preside at their pow-wows and
referee their domestic troubles, which duties Governor
Swineford discharged with infinite zest. A native of
Mormon proclivities, whose dual wives had prosecuted
a scratch-fight, appeared with the combatants before
the executive tribunal to have the matter adjudicated.
Whereupon the Governor promulgated a code of di-
THE GOVERNOR.
163
vorce — arbitrarily separated the untutored native from
his best-looking wife. The decree was respected for a
time, but finally the women became reconciled and
again the trio appeared at court, praying that the
divorced wife be restored to her former marital rela-
tions. The court explained how this "couldn't be
done," and lectured the applicants on the enormity of
a good Indian having two wives. And then, with
Solomonic wisdom, decided that the husband could
choose between the two which he would take for his
wife, and that must settle the matter for all time. That
was a " decision as was a decision," one with decided
effect, creating a lively conflict between the women,
from which the court made good escape, taking refuge
in a convenient billiard saloon. The case went over
the term.
On another occasion the Governor displayed wise
judicial function. A vagabond Indian doctor had im-
posed his legerdemain upon an invalid sexagenarian
squaw, until his fees had exacted her last blanket.
The patient, not convalescent, applied to the executive
for redress. The complainant was attended by two
stalwart natives, who were by the court invested with
official authority — tying a ribbon, taken from a bunch
of cigars, around the wrist of each — and ordering them
to arrest and bring the offender into court forthwith.
The royal insignia of an Indian doctor is a superfluity
of hair, in the manner of a foot-ball lunatic, the mass-
164 SKETCHES OF ALASKA.
ive quantity of which supplies his healing power, and
by which he set much store. With the offender, and
about a dozen blankets in evidence, the court opened,
and after a decree restoring the blankets to their
proper owner, practical punishment was inflicted upon
the culprit, the court barber shaving his head as hair-
less as a billiard ball. After the shave a coat of red
paint was applied to his scalp, after which the court
kicked him out of his office, as fine a looking fellow
as ever broke open a smoke-house.
On the arrival of the civil officials in Alaska, the
commander of the naval vessel stationed there denied
social recognition to the plebian representatives of the
Government, removing his vessel to Juneau in con-
tempt of their presence at Sitka, a proceeding privately
condemned by other officers of the ship. In his re-
port to the department, the lieutenant-commander, as
reported in the Army and Navy JotirnaJ, gave as the
reason of such removal : " In order to secure a better
harbor during an anticipated equinoctial storm," a
reason absurd, owing to the fact that Sitka harbor is
exceptionally secure, while that of Juneau is to a
degree insecure.
In recognition of the courteous treatment accorded
them by the naval officer, writers on The Alaskan
kept him stirred up with compliments in the way of
pointed paragraphs pertinent to his quibbling. Speci-
mens thereof are here appended :
THE ALASKAN.
165
Fears are entertained for the safety of the equinoctial storm,
now overdue. The arrival of the Army and Navy Journal is
anxiously awaited. It may have tidings from it.
Hoop-e-la ! The mail steamer is due I There's going to be a
wedding, and the gunboat is safe at Juneau ! Arise and sing !
" An anchorage I've found,
Where's good holding ground.
To dwell I'm determined
At this mining town."
Such was The Alaskan in 1885-86. A copy of the
initial number was sent to all prominent journals in
the country, and the complimentary notices it received
were greater in number and emphasis than ever before
accorded to a country newspaper — the New York
Herald devoting a column to quotations therefrom.
166 SKETCHES OF ALASKA.
CHAPTER III.
GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS.
The historic structures at Sitka, known as the Gov-
ernment Buiklings, consisted of Baranoff Castle,
recently destroyed by fire, the Barracks, so called by
the Russians, and the Customs House. These build-
ings are massive, and of much solidity in their con-
struction. The outer walls and hall partitions are of
timbers twenty-four inches square throughout, other
timbers, joists and posts are twelve inches square.
When laid, each wall timber had its top hollowed to
receive the rounded bottom of its rider. Before re-
ceiving its rider, each timber was secured in its place
by copper bolts, one and one-half inches in diameter,
driven through into the second lower one. These
buildings were intended to be earthquake-proof, their
predecessors having been tumbled down by such dis-
turbances in 1827.
The Barracks in size is eighty by ninety feet on the
ground, and three stories high, each story divided by a
hall ten feet in width. The outer walls are covered
with siding painted a dingy yellow. This building was
the military headquarters of the Russians, but Uncle
Sam has accorded to it a more peaceable existence.
The lower story is the territorial prison. In the sec-
ond story are the offices of the civil officials and their
GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS. 167
sleeping apartments, rent free. The upper story is
devoted to the court rooms of the United States
District Court.
The reason these buildings were bolted with copper,
when iron would have answered as well, was explained
by an old resident of Sitka. When the Russians were
trading with the Sandwich Islands from Sitka, there
was a ship-yard at the latter place where many vessels
were built. When the buildings were commenced,
the work was delayed by the non-arrival of the vessel
from Russia having on board the iron for the new
buildings. Baranoff, learning that the vessel had
been wrecked, ordered work on the buildings to pro-
ceed, using a quantity of copper bolts then on hand
at the ship-yard. Some of the timbers next to the
ground have decayed, where the copper bolts are
plainly visible.
Like the island on which it stood, the Castle took its
name from the Russian Governor Baranoff, who was
educated a tyrant in the Siberian school of horrors,
and his reign at Sitka attested the high grade of that
institution. There he ruled ''with a tyranny that
beo-an with the knout, and ended with the axe."
Prior to the advent of Baranoff, two attempts to
found a settlement on the island were made by the
Russians under protection of the Archangel Gabriel,
but in both cases, the protection failed to protect the
colony from massacre by the natives.
168 SKETCHES OF ALASKA.
In 1801 Baranoff came, bringing guns and gun-
powder, to which the Indians paid more deference than
to the Muscovite religion. Baranoff rebuilt and forti-
fied the town. A line of stockade and two block-
houses of his fortification are still in evidence at Sitka.
The famous Baranoff Castle, recently burned, was con-
structed similar to the Barracks, in size 75 by 125,
with two stories and dome. It was situated on a rocky
eminence, rising sixty feet perpendicular from the level,
having a top surface of about one-fourth of an acre in
extent. Baranoif fortified the elevation with batteries
of cannon — the historic guns being still at Sitka — the
property of Uncle Sam.
An interesting sketch of history concerning the
Castle, is given by Mrs. General Collis, of which the
following is an extract :
"It will be difficult to work the imagination up to the jjoint of
believing that this now desolate old place was once the home of
nobility — the scene of festivities, given with imperial sanction
and ceremony, but such is the fact. Here princes and princesses
of the blood royal have eaten their caviare, quaffed their vodhka,
and measured a minuet, surrounded by a court, fresh from the
palaces of Moscow and St. Petersburg It was in this very house
that Lady Franklin spent several weeks of her aged life in the
hope that she might find some trace — dead or alive — of her ad-
venturous husband, Sir John. It was here that Secretary Seward
resided for a time, when on his trip to see with his own eyes the
vast territory peacefully acquired for his country, by the sagacity
of himself and Senator Sumner, at a cost of two cents per acre."
Until recently, the martial force of Alaska was
wholly naval. One vessel is stationed at Sitka, where
NATIVE INDIANS. 169
she is idle nine months of the year. In summer a tour
of the archipelago is usually made. A naval store-
house is established at Sitka, and other naval vessels
are frequent in the harbor. Some of the officers have
their families at Sitka, housed on shore, their assign-
ment to that station meaning three years absence from
a distant home. They are pleasant and joyous people,
who, toofether with the civil officials and their families,
constitute a social community cemented with a sym-
pathy born of mutual deprivation of the society of
relatives and friends while resident on that distant
evergreen shore. Life at Sitka is usually agreeable,
the climate is genial, the surroundings novel and
picturesque, living facilities are good, and with
more frequent communication with the inside world,
Sitka would be far from an undesirable place for
residence.
NATIVE INDIANS.
Adjoining the town of Sitka on the north is the
Indian Ranch, containing about seven or eight hun-
dred swarthy natives. The Indians of Southeastern
Alaska are a race distinct from those of the Western
tribes in America. Their race name is Klingets.
Their outward characteristic are coarse hair, black
and straight, large black eyes, thick lips and flat
faces; generally of medium stature, and well-devel-
oped chests, arms and shoulders, while their lower
170 SKETCHES OF ALASKA.
limbs are shrunken and crooked. Much of their life
is spent in their canoes, squatting on their feet and
ankles for a seat, hence their deformity, while their
constant paddling develops their breast, arms and
shoulders. They have no tribal relations, but flock in
families, so called, on separate islands, which they
claim as their exclusive domain. The members of
each family, the Sitkans for instance, assume blood
relationship ; all are parents uncles, cousins and aunts,
and they do not intermarry. When a man wants a
wife he goes to another island and buys one, paying
therefor an agreed number of blankets, which, with
them, are a legal tender to the amount of two silver
dollars. If the suitor is rejected, his lacerated affec-
tions are soothed to a normal state by a payment of
blankets to him. His enterprise fails not of reward —
either a wife or a bundle of blankets. When com-
pelled to take gold coin in trade, they go directly to a
trader and get it changed to silver. They detect spuri-
ous silver readily, but are suspicious of gold, nursing
a legend that long ago a trading vessel visited the
islands and imposed upon their ancestors a quantity of
spurious gold coin.
Unlike other Indians, the men perform the drudgery.
The women are the bosses and untie the purse-strings.
Nothing is bought or sold without their consent. With
them this system has the best results, as it undoubt-
edly would have in many civilized communities. They
NATIVE INDIANS. 171
are sharp traders, getting more for what they sell and
paying less for what they buy, whisky excepted, than
any other people I ever heard of. Put a score or more
of them into Chatham street and within a few years
they would own the street.
The Klingets obtain their subsistence mostly from
the sea. They eat the flesh of animals but sparingly.
All kinds of fish and other sea life are their main food
supplies. They have two annual festivals — the salmon
and the berry festivals. These are celebrated by a
procession of canoes decorated with green twigs and
small flags daubed with images of the raven, fish, bear
and other animals. The salmon festival is for the lib-
eral run of salmon, and the berry festival for the
abundant yield of wild berries the season brought
forth. A long procession "of canoes filled with
dusky natives, who paddle about the harbor singing
a wild refrain the live-long day, with a feast and
carousal at night, are the salmon and berry festivals
at Sitka.
Among the wild berries of Alaska, the salmon
berry, so called from its vermilion color, like the meat
of a salmon, is pre-eminent. Conical in shape, and,
when ripe, the size of a large horse-chestnut, they
are in appearance inviting and of delicious flavor.
When leaving the country a keen regret was the
parting with the salmon berry.
172 SKETCHES OF ALASKA.
NATIVE HANDIWORK.
The canoes paddled over Alaskan waters are com-
plete dug-outs, from what must have been, in some
cases, monarchs of the forest. Their shells range from
one to three inches in thickness, and in length they
range from nine to seventy feet, and with proportionate
width and depth. A war canoe at Sitka is sixty feet
in length, six feet in width, and twenty-eight inches
deep, with a projecting prow at either end, five feet
long. Its bottom and sides, inboard and outboard,
are as smooth as planed marble, and in its entire length
does not present a flaw. The model of this mammoth
canoe is as symmetrical as a pleasure yacht in waters
of civilization. The natives navigate their canoes
expertly, wielding paddles as dexterously as a cowboy
manages a mustang.
The Klingets are a festive race, paying much atten-
tion to their amusements — potlaching, dancing, gam-
bling and canoe-racing — and have a keen relish for the
fantastic. The stock of masks of a family are num-
bered by hundreds, presenting faces old, young, weird
and horrid — mostly horrid — and all of home manufac-
ture. Seemingly, by nature, they are endowed with a
faculty for carving on wood, stone, slate, and on the
softer metals. Their work in silver — rings, bracelets
and like trinkets, which they sell to the whites — is of
extraordinary merit. Their working tool for carving
NATIVE HANDIWORK. 173
is usually an old jack-knife, ground to a point. They
carve images of animals and birds, from which is as-
sumed their respective families sprung — the bear, the
raven, and so on. Sculptured totem poles, some of
which are thirty feet high, stand in their ranches,
to which they pay homage. They daub images on
their canoes, paddles and masks with a brush made of
goat hair, and obtain colors from the juices of roots.
The basket work of the women is superior to a great
degree, some of which is so firmly constructed as to
hold water. Their horn spoons are a superior article.
They take the horn of the mountain goat, saw it
lengthwise, and soak in hot water until pliable, then
press on a wooden model into spoon shape, and
then the handles are carved with surprising excellence.
With the spoons they feast out of bowls made of horn
or wood, elaborately carved. The Chilkat blankets,
made by the family of that name in former times, but
now a lost art, probably, are the most unique article
of savage manufacture. They are woven from the long
hair of the mountain sheep and goat, and are used for
decoration when dancing and masquerading. They are
in color a combination of black, white, blue and yellow,
and figured emblematical of family genealogy and her-
aldry. They are held as heirlooms by the more opu-
lent families, and at times are sold to tourists for from
one hundred to three hundred dollars each, according
to their condition and quality of make.
174 SKETCHES OF ALASKA.
SUPERSTITIONS.
When an Alaska Indian dies in a house, his body is
not taken out through the doorway, but out the smoke-
hole in the roof. This in order — to borrow a journal-
istic phrase — to make a scoop on the evil spirit. When
charged with witchcraft, they cremate the body of the
dead. I witnessed the ceremonies on such an occasion
at Sitka. First, I inspected the crematory. It was
a crib structure of green balsam logs, in size about six
feet long, two feet wide and five feet deep, half filled
with dry kindlings, saturated with coal oil. When
entering the house I saw the corpse sitting bolt
upright in a corner, on the floor, and from feet to
armpits sewed up in a dirty blanket, leaving head,
shoulders and arms bare. It was a withered, dried-up
old man, weighing about seventy pounds. He looked
like a witch, and I half believe he had been one — at
least I justified the supposition. A mourner raised
the body and poked it through the smoke-hole, and
another, on the roof, seized it and carried it down
and dumped it into the crib. With the deceased
was deposited his personal property, consisting of an
ancient shot-gun, a butcher knife, a couple of blankets,
and sundry trinkets. Then the crib was filled up and
covered with dry wood, when more coal oil was poured
on and the thing set on fire. Then a dozen of the
mourners joined hands and circled around the burning-
pile, howling doleful lamentations, joined by a chorus
COMPENSATION. 175
of wolf dogs in concert, until the fire burned out.
Then they put the roasted carcass into a wooden box
about three feet square, having a gable roof, placing it
with a congregation of the like in their cemetery, above
ground. They looked like a village of dog-houses.
The original traders to the Pacific coast came in
ships from Boston, hence all whites are called "Bos-
ton men" by the natives. When a mining company
imported Mexican burros for packing to the mine, in
deference to their elongated ears the natives called
them " Boston rabbits."
COMPENSATION.
When employed by or in company of whites, an
Indian is killed or injured, his family demand compen-
sation therefor, either in money or blankets. At Sitka
an Indian in jail stabbed himself to death with a pair
of pointed scissors, snatched from a fellow-prisoner,
who was mending his clothing. A hundred or more
Indians then proceeded to the Marshal's office and
demanded three hundred blankets for the death of their
brother.
A miner employed a native to pack some drills to
his claim, and before starting gave him a drink of
whisky from a bottle taken from a cupboard. The
Indian's squaw entered the door in time to see the
bottle replaced, and she subsequently returned, broke
into the cabin, and drank two bottles of the miner's
SKETCHES OF ALASKA. 176
whisky. The next day she was found dead on the
floor of the cabin. Her family demanded one hundred
blankets of the miner, which he paid, in order to
exempt himself from a parlous state. The barbarous
demand of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is
their creed, and, unless pacified, someone may be found
dead — a life taken in compensation ; be he guilty or
innocent, there is no distinction in that respect.
No sense of gratitude abides with these natives,
other than a seeming acknowledgment of the benefi-
cence of the Great Spirit, evinced in their salmon and
berry festivals. A fishing schooner was scudding
before a furious gale of wind out at sea, when two
Indians in a canoe were espied, who had been blown
off the coast. The Indians were rescued, but owing
to the severity of the tempest their canoe was lost.
The master of the schooner landed the rescued men at
their village, where a demand for pay for the lost
canoe was made, joined by the men whose lives he had
saved. Apparently a heart is not included in their
anatomy, but in lieu thereof they have a gizzard.
When aged sixteen the children in the Industrial
School usually return to the ranches, but exist differ-
ently. They eat off tables and crockery, use knives
and forks, sit on chairs, wear store clothes, play poker,
and whip their wives, like other half-civilized people.
JUNEAU. 177
CHAPTER IV.
JUNEAU.
The Amei'icaii-built town of Alaska is Juneau,
named for Joseph Juneau, a descendant of the Mack-
inaw, Green Bay and Milwaukee family of that name,
who, in 1880, first discovered its adjacent gold deposits.
The town is situated on Gasteneau Channel, a passage
of deep salt water nearly a mile wide, dividing Douglas
Island from the main shore. By the channels among
and around islands Juneau is about one hundred and
eighty miles northeast of Sitka. Together with Doug-
las City and the extensive gold mine on the island
opposite — virtually one community — there now is a
population of about live thousand. The town is
located at the mouth of Gold Creek, a small stream
tumbling down a gorge between mountains 3,000 feet
high, which wall the town on three sides, where it is
picturesquely nestled. Following up a winding and
ascending gulch for three miles, you come to Silver
Bow Basin, a large area encircled by mountain-tops.
Here are the famous placer diggings, where many thou-
sands of dollars of gold-dust and nuggets have been
gathered by the sturdy miners who founded and built
up Juneau.
The miners and traders of Juneau are of the better
class of American pioneers, who in early manhood left
178 SKETCHES OF ALASKA.
their homes to march over the plains and mountains to
the Pacific Slope, and there grew up with the sage-
brush, and since have prospected the gravel beds of
the mountain streams from Mexico to Alaska, men
whose general characteristics are generosity, fidelity
and honor, and who live in full confidence of the
integrity of each other. Should one prove unfaithful,
his case is duly considered, and, when adjudged guilty,
he is warned to leave the country, and, for prudential
reasons, such warnings are promptly obeyed.
CLIMATE AND VEGETATION.
The climate of Alaska is as varied as that of the
country extending from Hudson Bay to the Gulf of
Mexico. The Pacific Coast and the Aleutian Islands
receive the warm breath of the Japan current, provi-
ding those portions with a winter climate of the temper-
ature of the States of Maryland and Tennessee. The
island of Attou, an American, lying in the waters of
the Eastern Hemisphere, has a climate as genial as
that of Italy. The annual rain-fall on Southern Alaska
is eighty inches, about double that of the Middle States.
Usually it is a continuous drizzle for a week or more,
facetiously called a dry rain, as clothes hung under a
shed will dry during a down-pour. Shoes do not mould
nor clothing become musty in the dampest weather.
Up north, in the valley of the Yukon, where frost pen-
etrates the earth twenty feet, the mercury often marks
ninety degrees in July and August. About seventy-
FISHES, FURS, FORESTS, ETC. 179
two is as high as I experienced while four years in
Alaska, and never at zero.
Alaska is not a grain country. The cereals run to
stalks, and do not head and ripen — too much rain and
not sufficient sunshine. Garden truck grows luxuri-
antly and yields abundantly. Many species of wild
berries ripen in great abundance.
FISHES, FURS, FORESTS AND ANIMALS.
Practically, to an unlimited extent, food fishes
abound in Alaskan waters. Cod, salmon, mackerel,
halibut and herring, the chief fishes of commerce, are
more abundant than in other waters of the globe.
When aboard ship, and passing out of a narrow en-
trance to a bay, where emptied a mountain stream, the
;aptain told me to look over forward and see the fish.
The ship was plowing through a run of salmon, cast-
ing them out of the water from either side of the stem.*
So eager were the salmon to reach fresh water, that
the narrow entrance to the bay was massed with fish.
In Alaska furs are a staple commodity. The value
of the pelts annually secured is counted by millions.
Sea and land otter, seal and sea-lion, sable-martin,
beaver, and the several species of fox, are the most
valuable. The most precious of furs is the sea-otter,
and Alaskan waters supply the majority of pelts
marketed. For a prime one its captor receives 1150,
and Russian nobility are his best customers. Next in
value are the black, blue, white and silver fox, the
c
180 SKETCHES OF ALASKA. i
i
most valuable bringing from thirty to one hundred
dollars for green pelts. A group of islands, called ;
Fox Islands, abound with foxes. An enterprising ■
hunter leased a smaller one from Uncle Sam, and has
it stocked with these rare animals, which he feeds and j
domesticates. Only the males are killed. A fortune i
awaits the foxy genius who has established a fox-farm !
under the shadow of the Arctic Circle. Alaska is the ;
sportsman's paradise. Myriads of wild fowl darken \
the waters of channels, inlets, bays and rivers. Moun- \
tain-sides are alive with grouse. The black and brown i
bear are plentiful —the white species adheres to the !
frozen region. The brown and black bear are expert '
fishermen. When salmon invest the mountain streams
bruin wades in, and with his paw deftly lands them, !
and then his bearship banquets on fresh salmon. ;
MINES AND MINERALS. 181
CHAPTER V.
MINES AND MINERALS.
Almost every known mineral is found in Alaska.
Gold, silver, copper, mica, iron, coal, marble and slate
are most connnon. Coal is abundant, cropping out in
many sections. At Cook's Inlet the crew of the
U. S. Cutter Corwin took from a bank facing the
water seventy tons of cannel coal to the vessel in small
boats within eighteen hours. Their mining tools were
crowbars. The engineer of the cutter stated that the
coal was high grade for steam purposes.
On Douglas Island is the largest producing gold
mine and plant in the world — an enlarged out-cropping,
2,000 feet long, 600 feet wide and of unknown depth ;
an elevated ridge of free milling decomposed quartz,
with the largest stamp-mill in the world at its base.
The mill has forty-eight batteries, with five head of
stamps to each battery — in all 240 stamps — all under
one roof, all pounding at once, and all operated by
single power. The mineral is reduced to gold bullion
at a cost of less than one dollar per ton of rock. The
mill crushes 600 tons of rock each twenty-four hours.
The rock averages four dollars per ton, gold. The
mine and mill are situated within 200 yards of deep-
water navigation to all seaports. In Alaska there are
182 SKETCHES OF ALASKA.
other producing- mines, but none, as yet, as extensive
as the wonderful mine on Douglas Island
Placer mining is extensively prosecuted on the Yu-
kon and its branches and in the vicinity of Juneau.
The annual increase of j^roduction is large. This
often characterized barren and frozen region is the
only unorganized territory Uncle Sam ever possessed
that paid a net revenue. Its original cost has been
returned to the treasury by the seal fisheries alone.
The annual outj^ut of its mines and fisheries for the
past three years has been -fG, 000, 000. So says the
Interior Department. The greater development to
come, probably, will not be over-estimated.
YUKON RIVER.
The majestic Yukon rises somewhere in the unex-
plored region of British America, entering Alaska
near the fifty-ninth parallel, thence it courses north-
westerly to the Arctic Circle ; thence southwesterly to
the Behring Sea. Steamboats drawing four feet of
water ascend the river 2,000 miles from its mouth.
Some of its numerous branches are alike navigable for
300 miles. When flowing southwest in Alaska its
usual width is about five miles, interspersed with
numerous islands. It empties into the sea through
four separate channels, having a distance of 100 miles
across its mouths and deltas. In the interior at times
it widens to twenty miles, forming a chain of lakes
YUKON RIVER. 183
navigable throughout their area. The mountain por-
tions of the Yukon and its branches abound in pre-
cious metals, and that remote region is at the present
writing the objective point of many adventurous spirits
seeking the yellow metal.
The above account of the Yukon was written in
1889, and now, that gold in abundant quantities has
been found in the region, the world will soon know
more of that distant and resourceful country.
When at Juneau in October, 1886, a party of thirty
miners arrived there fresh from the Yukon country,
coming out over the Chilcoot trail, headed by the
brothers Dinsmore, of California. They went in by
the same route the previous month of March. At the
time, a monthly steamer was the only conveyance out of
Alaska to civilization, and which the miners missed by
three days. Then they went to the supply store of W.
F. Reed, a well-known old miner, to deposit their gold,
which, in deer-skin bags, they unrolled from their packs
of blankets. Reed removed from his safe books and
shelves and then proceeded to stow therein the weighty
little sacks, in the manner of placing brick in a cart.
When all were stowed the door refused to close suffi-
cient fco be locked, but Reed vigorously flung his num-
ber eleven boot against the bags for a time, and finally
succeeded in locking the safe door. The party had
about '^^33,000, obtained from the gravel beds of Lewis
River, a branch of the Yukon.
184 SKETCHES OF ALASKA.
VOLCANOES AND GLACIERS.
In 1887 naval officers reported officially that there
were then seven active volcanoes on the Aleutian
Islands. Recent reports represent a more general
awakening of these subterranean fires, there now being
more than twenty of heretofore extinct craters, belch-
ing out fire and cinders. The show of such force now
in action in Alaska is the greatest known to the conti-
nent. Bogaslow, and an adjacent island, recently
separated by two miles of deep water, are now one
island. The newly appearing terra firma is as smooth
and black as if just from a molten state. Of the
majestic scenery of Alaska, these burning mountains
are an important portion.
Our pen is unable to fully describe the grandeur of
the huge glaciers that come down to the sea from the
mountains of Alaska. Prof. John Muir, the explorer
of the o'lacier named for him, oives its face dimensions
thus :
The front is about three miles wide. The height of the wall
of ice is about three hundred feet, but soundings show that seven
hundred feet of the glacier is under water, while still a third
portion is buried in moraine material. Were the water and rocky
detritus away, a wall of solid ice would be presented more than
one thousand feet high. Five miles back of its face the ice is
ten miles wide. This one glacier contains more ice than the 1,100
glaciers of the Alps combined.
When considered that this world of ice is crowded
down to the sea between mountain walls forty feet per
VOLCANOES AND GLACIERS. 185
day, human imagination may estimate the vohime of
rumble and roar attendant upon its tumble from a
height into the sea. Imagine a huge iceberg of the
bulk of the Ellicott Square building — many are larger
— tumbling from a height into deep water. When on
ship-board, anchored two miles away, on such an
occasion, the first to come is a tremendous crash, fol-
lowed, as Prof. Muir faithfully describes, by a deep,
deliberate, long drawn out, thundering roar. Then
rolling comes a monster wave, causing the ship to roll
as if struggling with the like in an ocean tempest.
The Muir glacier comes down to the sea from a
range of lofty mountains, where stand in line the three
majesties, Mt. Crillon, Mt. Fairweather and Mt.
La Perouse, the lowest of which penetrates 15,000 feet
skyward.
Taku glacier, occasionally witnessed by tourists, is
as high as the Muir, but not more than a mile wide.
In the sunlight, when from its face is reflected the
varied and radiant colors of the rainbow, it is mag-
nificently beautiful to behold.
The mammoth glacier that comes down to the sea
from Mount St. Elias, presents on its front a wall of
blue-tinged ice four hundred feet high and thirty miles
wide. The ice falling from this monster into the sea
would duplicate the glaciers of Switzerland each
month in the year. The thundering sounds made by
icebergs, falling daily from this huge glacier, would
drown the roars of Niagara made in a thousand years.
186 SKETCHES OF ALASKA.
In ancient times the great wonders of the world were
attributed to the work of human hands, among which
were the Pyramids of Egypt and the Colossus of
Rhodes. Could the sages who conferred such distinc-
tion witness the movement of an Alaskan glacier,
methinks a revision of judgment would transfer such
honors to Nature's wonders in the New World. The
Muir glacier alone has greater majesty than the mooted
seven wonders of the world of ancient times — more
than all the creation of human hands combined.
Yet Americans flock to Europe and climb the rugged
steeps of the Alps to look upon wonderfid glaciers.
They gaze with amazement upon the majesty of Mt.
Blanc, the only European peer of an Alaskan moun-
tain. They traverse the Old World seeking natural
scenery of a grandeur incomparable to that left behind
at home, and by them unseen. The great European
mountain is not of surpassing interest, and once a
Yankee told him so :
"How-de-do, Mt. Blanc V I vow I'm glad to meet ye !
A thundering grist of miles I've come to greet ye.
I'm from America, wliere we've got a fountain —
Niagara it is called — wliere you might lave
Your mighty phiz ; then you could shirt and shave
In old Kentuck — in our Mammoth Cave ;
Or take a snooze, when in want of rest,
On our big prairies — away out West ;
Or when you're dry, might cool your heated liver,
In sipping up our Mississippi River.
Come over, Blanc — don't make the least ado.
Bring Switzerland with you — and the Swiss girls, too ! "
VOLCANOES AND GLACIERS. 187
During the past decade Alaskan scenery has been
witnessed by naturalists from many lands, all of whom
proclaim wonder and astonishment at its magnificent
grandeur. Through the summer months twilight re-
mains to the exclusion of darkness, when the enchanted
traveler, foregoing the pleasures of sleep, remains on
the deck of the ship, there to inhale the blended fra-
grance of air, land and water, to look upon the ever-
green isles and islets as the passing ship glides o'er the
surface of the placid waters, to gaze uj^on the recurring-
wonders of Nature, to view the wild emotions and the
flowing of the tide. Such is Alaska — our Land of
the Midnight Sun !
188 THE FORESTER.
THE FORESTER.
LINES SUGGESTED BY A VISIT TO A LONELY DWELLER
IN THE FOREST OF ALASKA.
A sojourn in Alaska, without a compeer,
Hunting and trapping and chasing the deer ;
Sheltered with comfort and plenty in store.
In a snug little cabin with ground for its floor.
On a bed of dry leaves my limbs find repose,
Proudly I wear my forest-made clothes ;
A wealth of warm furs — pelts of my store —
Abound in the cabin with ground for its floor.
Smoke from my wigwam curls high in the air,
A pot of rich venison is steaming in there ;
The latch-string hangs outside on the door
Of the neat little cabin with ground for its floor.
Welcome, ye nimrods — when the river you ford
Come to my shelter and feast at my board ;
Three-legged stools stand "forninst" the door.
In the snug little cabin with ground for its floor.
Ye adorers of Nature, ye praising divines.
Come to the forest where your goddess reclines ;
Here gaze upon scenes of grandeur in store,
Akin to that awaiting on the evergreen shore.
Alaska ! imperial of mountain, glacier and braes.
All peerless in grandeur creation displays ;
A land rescued from imperious reign,
A grand accession to Freedom's domain.
REUNION. 189
REUNION.
Come, old friends, join in a social day,
Father Time presses onward — we are old and gray ;
In reunion we'll recall incidents of yore,
Revive old tales and rhymes — have greetings galore.
The recitations of youth — we'll repeat them anew,
As " fond recollection presents them to view " ;
We'll confirm early readings memory hath in store.
From " quaint and curious volumes of forgotton lore."
We'll open in meetly form with " Holy Willie's Prayer,"
Then Ichabod will Crane his neck to " Tam O'Shanter's mare " ;
That "Caesar had his Brutus" — how "Wallace bled" we'll tell,
And that "Freedom shrieked when Kosciusko fell."
We will " swim the Hellespont " and cross the " Bridge of Sighs,"
And dive "in the bosom of the deep where Holland lies" ;
We'll visit the cosy cottage whose smoke " so gracefully curls,"
And solve the knotty problem, "what to do with our girls."
" Auld Lang Syne " we'll sing, on " Sweet Home " we'll dwell.
And seize " the moss-covered bucket that hung in the well" ;
For the woodman to " spare that tree " we will implore,
And invoke that " hard times comes again no more."
In common " we hold these truths to be self-evident,"
That it is better to "be right than President " ;
That industrious habits should "in each bosom reign,"
And that "Truth crushed to earth shall rise again."
190 REUNION.
Bequeatlied by Washington to endless fame,
Was the Starry Flag on land and ocean main ;
A flag flaunting Liberty in repellent seas,
Proudly unfurled, "braves the battle and the breeze."
Bounteously are we allowed to " behold this joyous day,"
From " ignoble strife keep the noiseless tenor of your way" ;
The " cannon's opening roar" is frightful to be borne,
0, " Ye Ancient Mariners," " man was made to mourn,"
" As we go marching on," " hand in hand we'll go,"
" We hear their gentle yoices calling, our heads are bending low
" Hold the fort I for we are coming," on the " Swiftsure Line,'
To dAvell with him once liyiug at " Bingen on the Rhine."
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FINIS, t
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