T9 E NIAGARA FRONTIER
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THE NIAGARA. FRO
TIER.
E:\IBRACI
G SKETCHES OF ITS EARLY HISTORY, A
D INDIAN,
FRENCH AND ENGLISIl LOCAL N A)IES. 1
r.. "' ,. A
lES CARTIER, whilë exploring the Gulf of
i
1.! St. Lawrcnce in 1535, was informed by the
l
savage::;, living on its bordcr
, that a mighty
river, which they called IIochclaga., flowed into the sea
near by, frOln a vast distancc in the interior. 2 Having
discovered its mouth, he explored the stream as far as the
site of the present city of
Iolltrcal. lIe in.
He built no monuments and has left no records, frOln
which we may learn the story of his origin, his Inigration
,
his bloody wars and fruitless conqueHt
. The only light
which slJÍnes upon its annals, iH, at best, a diIn and shad-
owy tradition. Scarce a Inelnorial of his fonner occupancy
rClnains, save the names he has be:-;towed upon the lakes,
riverH and prominent landmark
of the country. The
Iroquuis dialects HtiU live in thcir melodious geographical
tern1H, suggl.sting a Had contrast between their former
proud and extensive dominion and their present feeble
and reduced conditioll.
There is no satisfactory evidence of the exi
tence, in
this vicinity, of a race preceding the India.nH. The
4
THE NIAGARA FRONTIER.
'"mound-builders," that mysterious people who once spread
in countless ll1ultitude
over the valleys of the Ohio, the
Mi
si
sippi, and their tributaries, never, so far as diligent
research has been able to discover, dwelt in this locality.
The ancient fortifications, tumuli, and artificial structures
that abound in 'V estern New York, can all be referred to a
later date and a more modern race. But at what precise
period, and by wha.t particular people they were con-
structcd, are questions which have hitherto eluded the
Blost diligent historical research. The Senecas are
equally ignorant on this subject. The venerable Seneca
White, a distingui
hed Iroquois chief residing on the Cat-
taraUO'UH Reservation now eio'ht y -one Y ears old 1 ex-
1:) , b ,
pressed his curiosity on the subject, in a recent inter-
view with the writer; and desired to know when, why
and by whom those structures had beell built. l\Iany of
them lnay yet be sep.n within a few n1Ïles of our city,
and are certainly objects of historical interest and specula-
tion.
Omitting, therefore, frOln necessity, any notice of the
race, uf whom those rernains are the only n1emorial, we
find that the fir:;t in this locality, of whom history Inakcs
Incntion, were the Attiouandaronk, or Neutral Nation,
callcd Kah-kwas by the Senecas. 2 They had their coun-
1 lIe died since the above W3,S written, on tbe 19th
Iay, 1873.-
ED.
2 It ha.s been a
f'umed by many writers that the KaJj-kwas and
Eries were identical. This is not so. The latter, according to tbe
most reliahh.' authol'itiefo;, lived south of the western extremity of
THE NIAGARA FnO]..rTIER.
5
cil-fires along the Niagara, but principally on its we
Üern
side. Their hunting grounds extended from the Gene
ee
nearly to the eastern shores of Lake Huron, embracing a
wide and important territory. In this region. now teenl-
ing with Anglo-Saxon life, they reared their rude wig-
'wams, pursued their game, and preserved a rigid and sing-
ular neutrality between the fierce tribps that waged their
bloody wars on all side8 around thCln. They are fir:-;t
mentioned by Champlain during his winter visit to the
IIurons in 1615, before alluded to, but he was unable to
vi:-;it their territory. According to the e,trly Jesuits, they
excelled the 1Iurons in stature, strength and symn1etry,
and wore their dress with a superior grace. They rc-
garded their dead with peculiar veneration. Once in evcry
ten yeari' the survivor:-; of each family gathered the remains
of their deceased ancestors frOll1 the platform:;; on which
they had been deposited, and buried them in heaps, with
many superstitious ceremoniPH. This was called the
" Feast of the Deaù."
Iany of the nlounds thu:;; rai
ed
may still be seen in this vicinity. A conspicuous one on
Tonawanda Island, is affirmed by the old
enecaH to have
had such an origin. The land of thp Neutral Nation is
described by the Jesuits as producing an abundance of
corn, beans, and other vegetable:;; their rivers as abollnd-
Lake Erie until they were dCHtroyed by the Iroqnoi
, in 1655. TIll'
Kah-kwO
Ulllt'lIh, Illtlcx V UIUIIll', p,
465.
10
TIIE NIA GARA FRONTIER.
find its gernl in the On gui-aah-ra of the Neutral Nation,
as given by Father L' Allelnan t, in a letter dated in 1641,
at the mi
F:ioll-station of Saiute Marie, on Lake Huron.
In describing his visit to that people, he Rays: "From
their first village, which is abou t forty leagues southerly
from Sainte ]vIarie, it is four days travel in a south-east-
erly direction, to where the celebrated river of the Neu-
tral Nation empties into Lake Ontario. On the west and
not on the eastern Ride of said river, are the principal
vil1ages of that nation. There are three or four on the
eastern side, extending frOln east to west toward the Eries
or Cat Nation. This river," he adds, " is that by which
our great lake of the Hurons is discharged, after having
emptied into Lake Erie, or Lake of the Cat Nation, and
it takes the name of On-gui-aah-ra, until it empties into
Ontario or St. Louis Lake. 1
The Harne of the river next occurs on Sanson's map of
Canada
published in Paris in 1656, where it is Bpelled
"Ongiara." Its first appearance as Niagara, is on Cora-
nelli's nlap, publiHhed in Paris in 1688. From that time
to the present, the .French have beell conRistel1Ì in their
orthogr
tphy, the nunlerous variations alluded to, occur-
ing only among English writers. The word was probably
derived from the Mohawk:.;, through whom the French
had their first intercourse with the Iroquois. The Mo-
hawks pronounce it Nyah'-ga-ralt', with the primary
c-
cent on the firRt syllable, and the secondary on the last.
Some controverf;y has existed concerning its signification.
J Relation, 1641, p. 71.
THE NIAGARA FRONTIER.
11
It is probably the same both in the Neutral and
Io_
hawk languages, as they were kindred dialects of one
generic tongue. The
Iohawks affirm it to mean neck, in
allusion to its connecting the two lakes. The correspond-
ing Seneca name, Nya/"-gaalt,1 was always confined by
the Il'mp1t>is to the section of the river below the Falls,
au,l to Lake Ontario. That portion of the river auove the
Fulls 2 being
ometimeH called Gai-gwããh-gell,-olle of their
names for La.ke Erie.
The name Niagnra was sometimes applied, by the early
hi
torian
, not only to the river, but to a defensive work
awl gronp of Indian cabin
, whidl stood at or near the
site of the present village of Lewiston. L
Salle con-
structed, at. this point, a cabin of palisades to serve as at
Inagazine or storehouse. In order to allay the jealou
ies
which the work excited among the Senecas, be sent an
emba
sy to Tl
garondiCf
, the principal village of the con-
federacy, then located on what is now known as Boughton
Hill, near Victor. in O,ltario CIHlnty. They reache,l it
in five ùaJ
, after a Inarch ill mid-winter of th irty-two
leagues on snow:5hoe:o;. during which they subsistf'd only
on parched corn. There they found the .Jesuits, Garnier
and Raftcix, who hall ueen resident mis
ionaries since 1669.
A council wa
held with the Senecas, and presents inter-
changed, but without favul'a,blc re:-iult. The French re-
trac(\d their steps to their canlp on the river, worll out
1 The' I'ignification of this
elleca word i
lost. It is prohaùly de-
ri \'ed frorr. the llalTIe cOllferrcù hy the N cntral Nation.
N. Y. Colonial Docnments, Vol. \., p. ROO, aIHI I À., p. 990.
12
THE NI
lGARA jlRONTIER.
with the hard::)hips of the way, and glad to ex.(
ha.nge their
meagre diet for the delicious white-fish just then in season. 1
No regular defensive work was constructed in the vicin-
ity, until the .i\Iarquið De Nonville, on his return from the
expedition before alluded to, fol't.ifieù the tongue of land
which lies between the lake and river, and thus founded
the preHent fort. The French General describes the posi-
tion as "the most beautiful, pleasing and advantageous
on the whole lake." As early as 1686,. he had proposed
to hi
Government to erect a
tone structure at this point,
sufficient fur a garrison of five hundred men, but received
no favorable response. .ðlany difficulties were en-
countered in the erection of the new fortress. As the
place was barren of suitable wood, palisades were cut at a
di:;tance, floated to the adjacent beach, and dra\vn up,
with great labor, to the top of the ba.nk. 'rhe work was
finally completed, aud ciLlled, after its founder, Fort De
NOllville. It subsequently appears on 80Ine of the maps
as Fort Conty, after a prince of that naIne, who was a
patron of 'fonti, one of La Sa.lle's com pauioll!:!; but Niag-
ara soon beca.me its ex clusiye and 1110re appropriate desig-
natiun. De Nonville left in the fort a gst of which was 1769. He purchased
the entire group from the State in 1816, and during the
followihg year, built the first bridge which connected them
with the main land. Stedman had cleared a small field
1 Tour to the l
ake
, p. 32.
2 Tho
e who yi
it Niagara in Hummer only, see but half its beRutie
.
In wintC'r, the spray, congealed by frost on every tree, bush and rock,
glitters with diamond luster in the Runlight; whiJe, in the gulf
helow, coneR, pyramids and towerH, immense stalactites and fro
t-
work in every variety of f<>rm, are produced by the falling waters.
TIIE NIAGARA FRON1 1 IER.
19
near the upper cnd of the large
t, and colonized it with a
few :tnÌlnals, including a venerable goat. The latter was
the only survivor of the severe winter of 1779-80, in con1-
Jnclnoration of which the island received its present name.
The Bùundary Comlni
sioners under the Treaty of Ghent,
gave to it the rllore poetic title, Iris Island, but the earlier
one was destined to prevail.
Judge Porter was one of the earliest settlers at the Falls,
having ercctcd his first ù welling there in 1800-10. lIe
fore:-!:tw the unrivaled (lclva!ltages of the po:-:ition, and se-
cured, at an early da.y, the fee of a large tract of land in
the yicinity. In addition to his dwelling, he erected mills
on the
ite wher
Lieutenant DePeyster uuilt a saw-mill
in 1767, aud which Stedman sllbF-:equcntly occupied for
the
ame purpose. lIe also constructed a rope-walk for
the manufacture of rigging, for Porter, Barton & Co.,t who
were then the principal carriers over the portage, and
owned or COll trolled nearly all the trading vessels on the
two lakes and riyer. A.ll kinds of rigging, and cables
of the largest size required, were here Inanufactured.
)Iucll of the hemp then u
ed, was raised by the 'Vads-
wort hH all the Gt'nesee HatH. Such war-; the scarcity of
men in the then new country, that the Judge was in-
debted to Capt:lÏn ...\.rmist.cad of Fort
Ìagara, for a COlll-
pany of one hUlHlred men, to assist hirn in raising the
heavy fl'tlHle of his mill. It l)l'oved to be expensive aid,
tor thc soldicrs stripped his garden of all its fruit, then
1 Thi
\\"1'11 h.llUWn firm was composed of Augustu,", Porter, Peter
B. Punt'r, nl'"j:lIlJiu B.lrtolJ ami .J oscl'h .\ulliu.
20
TIIE NIAGARA FRONTIER.
very fine and abundant. All his building
, embracing
dwelling, n1Ïlls and rope walk, shared in the general con-
flagration on the frontier in 1813.
The village on the American side of the Falls, has been
known as Grand Nia
ara and Manchester, and is now in-
corporated under the nalne of Niagara Falls.
Fort Schlosser was named after Capt. Joseph Schlosser,
a nati,'e of Germany, who served in the British army in
tIle campaign against Fort Niagara in 1759. 1 Sir "\Villiam
Johllbon founù him at Schlosser in 17G1. lIe ll1ust have
relnained until the autulnn of 176;
; for it is stated by
Loskiel 2 and Heckewelder, that he arrived at Philadelphia
in January, 1764, having just returned fr0111 Niagara with
a detachment from General Gage's army. Heckewelder
pays a high tribute to his hmnanity and manly qualities. s
The earlier BaIneS of the pO:3t were, FOl,t du Portage,
Little Fort and Little Niagara.' It was not built until
] 750. In the summer of that year, the younger Chabert
J ollcaire, informed the Senecas that the French govern-
ment intended to build a fort at the south end of the
portage above Niagara Falls. The project was carried
into pffect the
ame season, and we find that J oncail.e
ClaUZ0l111C, brother of Chab
rt, was appointed its CQIIl-
IN. Y. Co1. Duc., Vol. X, p. 731, IJ. 5.
2 J.Joskicl's l\Iissions, p. 222.
s Heckcwc1ilcr's Narrative, p. 83.
( N. Y. Co1. Doc., Vol. VII, p. 621.
TIIE NIAG..JR.l FROl.;rTIER.
1
mandant. 1 In 1755, it was called Fi
her's llattery.2
When Sir 'Villiam Johnson invested Fort Niagara in I7;)!),
Chabcrt Joncaire seems to have been in cOIlllnand at Fort
Schlosser, his brother Clauzonne being then with him. On
the fall of the former fortress, Fort Schlos
er was burnt,
and its garrison was withdrawn to the Chippewa river, on
the opposi te side. It ßlust have been speedily rebuilt by
the British, for we find Captain Schlos:ser stationed there
oon after in cOInmand of a garrison. The fort then con-
sisted of an enclosure of upright palisades, prot
cting a few
store-houses and barracks. Alexander Henry, who visited
it in 17 j4, calls it a "stockaded post." 3 '"rhe plough has
oblit8rated all traces of its existence, sa.ve some ineq unlities
in the surface where it stood, plainly visible from the
neighùoring railroad. The tall, antique chimney which
rises from the adjacent buildin
s, is not, as genel'aJIy
suppo
eù
a relic of the fort, but of barracks, constructed
by the French, and rlestroyed by J oncaire, on hili retreat
in 1759. The saIne chimney was subsequently used by
the English when they re-establishell the post. The dwell-
ing they erected was afterwarùs occupied by Stedman, who
was a contractor at the portage from 1760 until after the
peace of 1783. He probably remained until after Fort
Nio.O'ara was delivered to the United StateH hy the Briti
h
b .
authorities in 1796, when he removcd to the Canadian
siJe. lIe left his "improvements" ill charge of a man
I I..ewis Evans' mal"
:l N. Y. Cot Doc., VoJ. VI, p. GOB, 70ü
I Tra vela, p. 183.
22
THE lYIAG
lR.Ll FRONTIER.
known as Jesse 'V are. They are described by a yisi tor
at thfl.t early day, as con
isting oî seventf'en hundred acre:;,
about one-tenth partially cleared, an indif:lerent dwelling,
a fine barn, saw-lnil1, awl a well fenced apple orchard con-
taining twel ve hundred trces. 1
There appear to have been three brothers by the name
of Stedm
tn-John, Philip and WilliaJll. 'fhe traveler
Iaude found John at Schlosser in 1800. 'Vhile ma
ter
of the portage, he accompanied the wagons and their
escort, a.t the time of the massacre at the Devil's Hole in
September, 1763, before aUuded to. It was a return train,
embracing about ninety persolls. under the command of
Lieutenant Don Campbell of the Roya I American Begi-
lnent, which had been transporting supplies frOln Fort
Niagara for the use of the garrlf-:on at Detroit. Only
three persons eRcaped; a drulnnler-boy, by the naIne of
Matthews,2 who lodged in a tree as he fell over the preci-
pice; a wounded. dri vel', who lay concealed ill some ever-
greens ne
r by; and Stedman himself, who being well
mounted: forced his wa.y through the Indians and fled
amid a shower of bullets, to Fort SchIosf:er. Two com-
panies of troopR that were stationed at Lewiston, hearing
the firing, hastened to their relief. The wily Senecas,
anticipating the reinforcement, lay in alnbuRh, and all but
eight of the party fell by the rifle or tomahawk. The
entire garrison of Fort Niagara were then despatched to
the scene, but arrived only to find the ghastly and mangled
1 Voyage par Hector St. J ohn, Vol. II, p. 153.
2 l\btthew8 died in Canada, near Niagara, in 1821, aged '14.
THE NIAGARA FRONTIE"R.
23
remains of their slaughtered comrades. The attack was
made on the train while it was crossing the small bridge
over Bloody Run, so caned after the tragedy.
The Seneca S lchem, John Blacksmith, informed the
writer that the party which made the attack, were young
warriors frOIn the Genesee, who, instigated by the French
traders, secretly organized the expedition under the leader-
ship of Farmer's Brother, without the knowledge of their
chiefs. Eighty scalps, including those of six officers, were
their bloody trophies.
The Senecas, attributing the preservation of Stedlnan to
some miraculous interpo:-;itioll, and believing that he wore
a charmed life, conferred upon him the name of Ga-na
.
squalt, signifying stone giunt. The story that they gave
hin1 all the land lying between th
river and the line of
his flight, embracing about five thousand acres, is undoubt-
eùly a fiction. The pretenùed grant was the founùation
of the "Stedman claim," which wa
subsequently urged
upon the State authorities with roue-It pertinacity. If
really made, it seems never to have been ratified by the
Senecas, for at a formal treaty Inaùe with theIn by Sir
'Villiam Johnson at Johnson Hall, in April of the follow-
ing year, signed by Farmer's Brother and Old Smoke, it
was not only not alluded to; but on the eontrary, a strip
of land four miles wide on the east siùe of tlle ri ver, com-
Inencing at Lake Ontario and extenùing l:Ioutherly to Gill
Creek, embracing the entire Stedman claiIn, was ceded in
perpetuity to hi
Britannic
Iajesty.l Stedman peti-
1
. Y. Col. Doc., Vol. VII, p. 621.
38
.
24
THE NIAGARA FRONTIER.
tioned the Legislature in 1800, to confirIn the pretended
grant, but without success. He recites in his memorial,
that he took po
session of the premises in 1760, and soon
after met with a great loss from the Indians; that as a
compensation therefor, the chiefs gave hin1 a deed of the
tra0t containing 4,983 acres, which he had continued to
improve for forty years; that the deed had peri
hed with
the papers of Sir 'Villiam Johnson, which had been buried
in an iron chest at Johnson Hall. A bill passed the
Assembly, giving him the land he had actually improved,
but it failed in the Senate. The buildings on the premises
had suffered much from decay as early as 1800, and the
adjacent fort was in ruins. The old orchard was still pro-
ductive, the overplus 'yield bringing five hundred dollars
in a single season; but the boys crossing from tbe Canada
side, plundered most of the fruit. 1
The portage road cmnmenced at the Lewiston landing,
and followed the river until it reached the small depression
just north of the present suspension bridge. Diverging
from this, it intersected the rÍ\'er above the Falls, a short
distance east of the Stedman house, and followed its bank
for about forty rods to the fort above. Midway between
the house and fort, were a dock, a warehouse, and a group
of square-tilnbered, whitewashed log-cabins, used by the
teamsters, boatmen and engagees connected with the
portage. 2
1 l'tlaude's Niagara, p. 146.
2 l\fanuQcript lettcr of Hon. A. S. Porter.
.
THE ]:{IA GARA FROl'{TIER.
25
About half a nlÍle below the Stedman house, near the
head of the present hydraulic canal, is the old French
landing, wlwre goods were tra.nshipped when only canoes
were used, and where the portage road terminated before
Fort Schlosser was built. Along the road, between the
fort and Lewiston, block houses w
re erected about. twelve
hundred yards apart, to protect the teams from disasters
such as had occurred at the Devil's Hole. The remains
of some of these were quite recently in exi
tence.
Judge Porter leased the Stedlnan farm from the State
in 1805, the agent 'Vare, being still in possession. II
was ejected with some difficulty. Legal steps were taken,
hut owing to the unsettled state of the country, and the
difficulty of executing process in a region so remote fron1
civiliza tion, recourse was had to " Judge Lynch," bsfore
possession was finally ohtained. 1 Judge Porter occupied
the dwelling during the years 1806-7 and 8, when he re-
moved to the Falls. lIe was succeeded by Enos Boughton,
one of the first pioneers on the Holla.nd Purchase, who
opened a tavern for the accomlnodation of early visitors to
t he Falls, and traveler::; en J'onte for the great we::;t. It
hecame the headq Ual'Ìers in all that region, for nÚlitary
Blusters, general trainings and Fourth of July celebrations.
The buildings were destroyed by the British in DecCluber,
1813; but the old chill1ney was suffered to remain, COll-
:;;;picuous among the surrounding ruins, a weather beaten
Inenlorial of the ruthless desolation of war.
1 )[anuscript letter of Hon. ....\. S. Porter.
26
THE NIAGARA FRONTIER.
Gill Creek, so named from its diminutive size, and called
also Cayuga Creek,t and Stedman's Creek, deriveR its only
importance from being named as a boundary in some of
the early Indian treaties.
Chippewa Creek, nearly opposite Fort Schlosser, is called
by the Senecas, J 0'. no-dak, signifying shallow 'Water,. prob-
ably referring to an old fording-place at the mouth of the
creek. Pouchot, in his narrative of the siege of Fort
Niagara, calls it Chenondac, evidently the same name,
and describes its banks as abounding in fine tÌInber,
suit-
able for ship-building. s It 'vas named Chippewa, after the
Ojibway-otherwise called Mississauga-Indians, who for-
merly lived on its banks. The Canadian government by
proclamation in 1792, gave it the name of 'Velland River,
but it did not pass into general use. The earliest notice
of the strealn is found in the narrative of Father Hennepin,
who, while seeking a site suitable for building the Griffon,
encamped on its banks in the winter of 1678-9. lIe says,
"it runs from the west, and empties into the Niagara
within a league above the great fall.') He found the snow
a foot deep, and was obliged to remove it before building
his camp-fire. The narrative incidentally mentions the
abundance of deer and ,vild turkeys that were found in
the vicinity.4
1 Savary's Journal, p. 360.
Treaty at Canandaigua in 1794.
3 Pouchot, VoL III, p. 174.
· Hennepin, p. 75. Edition of 1693.
THE NIAGARA FRONTIER.
27
The Seneca name for Navy Island, Ga-o'-go-walt-waah,
signifies Tile big canoe i81and. This is in allusion to the
vessels built there by the French at an early day, for Uf'e
on the lakes. Ilence the French nmne Isle-la-:\Iarine, and
the I
ngJish name. Navy Island. It contains about three
hundred acres. A tradition still exists among the Senecas
that a bra
s cantlon was Inounted on one of the vessels.!
It was there the French reinforcementR arrived from Ve-
n:tngo for the relief of Fort Niagara, during its siege by
Sir William Johnson. The English built two vessels on
the island, in 17G.!. one of which was accidentally burned
there in 1767. The island has since become celebrated,
as the rendezvous of the Patriot forces during the Canadian
rebe]]ioll of 1838.
Grand Island is called by the SenecaR, Ga-we'-not, Higui-
fying Tlw Great [sland. It is mentioned by Hennepin
under its present name. 2 At its northern extremity, in a
sheltered bay, the relnain
of two vessels may now be seen
at low water, which, trarlition Rays, belonged to the French,
and were burnt at the time Fort Niagara capitulated, to
prevcnt their falling into the hands of the Engligh. This
has given origin to the name Burnt Ship Bay. I have
been unable, however, to finù any hiRtorical verification of
this tradition. . Sir 'Villialll Johm
on, while on his way
west, in August, 1761, encamped for the night on the
west side of thiH island, at the mouth of a creek now called
1 A hrass six-ponnfler wa
placed on one of the British vc
selR
in 1764. Governor Simcoe's manuscript lettcr to Colonel EngIallll.
2 Hennepin, p. 49. Edition of 16!}6.
28
THE NIAGARA FRONTIER.
Six Mile Creek, which he describes as a fine position,
affording an eligible situation for a house, and a good har-
bor for boats. He called it Point Pleasant,-a name, the
origin of which certainly entitles it to perpetuation. The
Baronet makes special mcntion of the fine oaks with which
the island aboullded. 1
Cayuga Creek was so nalned by the Senecas. In
January, 1679, La Salle and his companions constructed
a dock at its nlouth, and laid the keel of the GrffJòn-the
first vessel built on our western waters, The site chosen
was just above the creek, close to the river bank. 2
In comlnemoration of the enterprise, the name of " La
Salle" has been conferred upon the Slliall village and post-
office at this locality. The same site was selected by the
United States government about the year 1804, for the
construction of a small sloop of fifty tons burden, called
the Niagara, which was used for conveying supplies to the
western posts. The vessel was sub
cquently purchased by
Porter, Barton & Co., re-built at Black Rock, and named
the Nancy, after the wifè of the late Benjami n Barton, one
of the partners. 3 While bearing the latter nanle she was
connnanded by Captain Richard O'Neil, and went out of
commi:;sion just before the war of 1812.
1 Stone's J obn80n, Vol. II., p. 45.
.
2 A full account of tbe building of the Gri.1J"on, identifying tbe
site, will be found ante p. 73.
3 )1r
. 13arton was usually called Nancy, but hel' baptismal name
was Agnes.
THE NIAGARA FRONTIER.
29
Tonawanda Creek was so called by the Senecas, after
. the rapids at their village a few miles above its mouth,
the nalne Ta-no'-wan-delt signifying literally, a rongh stream
or Clt1"rent. The French cal1ed it, "La rivière aux bois
blanc," or " whitewood river." On the early nlaps it is
called ThIaskinongez, that being the Chippewa name for
the muskelunge, a fish once abundant in the streaIn.
The Senecas have a different name for Tonawanda Is-
land. They call it Ni-ga'-we-nalt--a-ah, signifying The
Small Isla'lid. It contains less than one hundred acres.
Its upper end having a fine elevation above the surfa.ce of
the river, was an occasional camping ground of the Senecas,
before their final settlement in this region. Philip Ken-
jockety (hereafter lllOre particularly noticed), claims to
have been b,)rn there, while his father's family, then resid.
ing on the Genesee, were on one of their annual hunting
expedi tions.
Two negro brothers lived at an early day, at the lllonth
of Cornelius Creek, just below Lower Black Rock. They
were su pposed to be runaway shl.veR. The elder was called
by the Senecas, O-ga/l'-gwtiull, signifying Sun Fish, on ac-
count of a red spot in one of his eyes, reserubling that in
the eye of the fish. Hence they called the creek, O.gall,'-
gwãtih'-geh, tlte residence of Sun Fish. He was shrewd and
intelligent; becmne a trader in cattle with parties in Can-
ada and at Fort Niagara; chose a wife among the Seneca
maidens, and acquired considerable property. The notori-
ous Ebenezer Allen married one of his daughters, and
added her to his extensive harem on the Genesee. The
"
30
THE NIAGARA FRONTIER.
younger negro was called So-wak, or Duck. Both died
more than half a century ago, leaving numerous descend--
ants, some now living on the Tonawanda Re::;ervation. 1
Kenjockety Creek was not RO nmned by the Senecas.
They callcd it Ga-noh'-gwa/tt-geh, after a peculiar kind of
wild grass, that grew near its border
. "The n:une Ken-
jockety," written in Seneca, Sgã-dyuh-gwa-dih, wa
given
by the whites, after an Indian family they found living on
its banks. Its literal signification is Beyu}l' I tlte multitude.
John Kenjockety, the head of the family, was the son of a.
Kah-kwa, or Neutral Indian, whose father had been taken
prisoner by the Senecas in the war which resulted in the
extennination of his people. This occurred a.t the capture
of one of the Kah-kwa villages, located on a branch of
Eighteen l\lile Creek, near White's Corners in this county.
His family wigwalns were on the north bank of I{enjock-
ety Creek, a little east of the present Niagara street.
They obtained their water for dOlnestic use from the river,
then fordable at low water to Squaw Island. The creek
still retains among the whites the name they first gave it-
the Senecas adhering to the more ancient designation.
The old chief 111ust have been a man of Inore than ordi-
nary con::;ideration among his people. The Rev. .:\11'.
Kirkland mentions him in the journal of his tour to Buf-
falo Creek in 1788. fIe writes his nalue "Skendyough-
gwatti," and styles him" the second Inan of influence and
1 Life of Mary Jemison, pp. 124-129. Turner'8 Phelps & Gor-
ham's Purchase, p. 406.
THE NIAGARA FRONTIER.
31
cbaracter among the Senecas at Buffalloe." l His name is
appended to a letter addressed to Governor George Clinton
in 1789, remonstrating again
t some unauthorized sale;:; of
Indian lallds. 2 The Hon. Augustus Porter, who surveyed
the boundary line' of the" Gore," between the Seneca Reser-
vation and Lake Erie, stated to the writer that he was a<.'-
companied dnring the survey" hy an old Indian nauwd
Scaugh-juh-quatty," who had been appointed by the Sen-
ecas to act with Red Jacket for that purpose. They indi-
cated the edge of the swamp a
the line for Judge Porter
to follow, by preceding him froBl tree to tree, thereby
carcfully excluding what is called "the Tifft farIn,"
and the remainder of tbe "Flats," as comparatively of no
value. This will account for the zigza
course of the line
in question.
Kenjockety continued to re;-;ide nn the creek, until about
the comlnenceulCnt of the present century, cultivating his
corn-field on Squaw Islanu, and d.rawing abundant f;ubsist-
ence for hilnself and family from the river and the forest.
The survey of "l\Iile-strip" by the .state authorities, and
the arrival of the pioneers of Buffalo, di:-:turbeù his tranquil
honlC, and cOlnpelled him to remove to the Reservation,
where he finally settled on the bank of Buffalo Creek. near
the preEent iron bridge. RecOIning di
:-\ipated in his old
age, he perished miserably b) the roadside, tì'OlIl the cffects
1 Kirkland's 1\18. Journal in K. Y. Statc Library.
\I Hough's Indian Treatic!', Vol. II., p. 33 I.
39
32
THE' NIAGARA FROlVTIER.
of intoxication, while on his way home from Buffalo in
October, 1808.
Squaw Island was called by the Senecas De-dyo'-we-no'-
guh-doh, signifying a di'cidu1 island, referring to its division
by the marshy creek known as "Smuggler's Run."l It
was pre
ented by the Nation to Captain Parish, their fa.v-
orite agent and interpreter, as an acknowledgment, says
the record, of his tuany services in their behalf. The gift
was ratified by the Legisläture, in 1816, though the Captain
was required to pay the State at the rate of two dollars per
acre before he obtained his patent. He sold the island to
Henry F. Penfield, Esq., in 1823. Captain Parish and his
colleague, Captain Jones, had each previously obtained a
donation of a nlÍle square on the river, now known as
the Jones and Parish Tracts, and lying within the present
bounds of our city. The Legis]ature was induced to make
this grant, by that touching and effèctive petition dictated
by Fa-rmer's Brother, which has so often been cited as a
specimen of Indian eloquence. 2
Bird Island was originally several feet above the river
level; rocky at its lower end, and partially covered with
tall trees. Corn was cultivated on its upper end by Ken-
jockety's father. The Island has entirely disappeared, the
rock which composed it having been used in the construc-
tion of the Black Rock pier. Its Seneca nanle, Dyos-da-o-
1 Philip Kenjockety stated to tbe writer that he has often passed
througb this creek in hil5 canoe, on his way to Canada.
\I Copied in Turner's Holland Laud Company Purchase, I). 291.
'THE NIAGARA
FRONTIFR.
33
doh, signifies Rocl:y Island. J t was called" Bird Island "
by the whites because of the Inllititnde of gulls and other
aquatic birds that frequented it at certain seasons. 1
Black Rock being a convenient crossing place on the
Niagara, became an ÏInportant locality at an early day.
Its history has I J een fully illustrated in an able and inter.
esting paper entitled "The Old Ferry," read before the
Buffalo I-listoricaI Society by Charles D. Norton, Esq.:2
Its Seneca nlìIne, Dyos-dããlt-ga-elt, signifying rocl
y l)((711
)
is a compound word, embracing al
o the idea of a place
where the lake rests upon or against a rocky bank. Its
English name comes from the dark corniferous limestone
which outcrops at this locality, and, underlying the hed
of the river, composes the dangerous reef at the head of
the rapids.
Prior to the commencement of the pre
ent century, tbe
usual route between Buffalo Creek and the Falls was on
the Canada side, crvssillg at Black Rock The Rev. S
tm.
liel Kirkland traveled it in 1788, anù the Dake of Lian.
court in 1795.
Fort Erie was originally built by Colonel Bradstreet, as
a dépot for proyision
, while 011 his exvedition against the
'Vestern Indians in the summer of 1764. It was located
some distance below the InodcrIl fort. The part facing the
river was built of stone, surmoullted by
q uared pickets.
The rest was stockaded. Bradstreet sta tes in a letter to
1 Campbell's IJi fe of Clinton, p. 128.
See Vol. I., p. 91.
34
THE NIAGARA FRONTIER.
General Amherst, still unpublished,t that" when he ar-
rived at thc locality he found no harbor. That vessels were
compelled to lie at anchor in the open lake, exposed to
every storm, and liable to be lost.. In addition to this,
they were obliged to senù rnore than twenty miles for their
loading; that on examining the north shore, he found a
suitable place to secure the vessels by the help of a wharf
just above the rapids." "A Post," he adds, "is now build-
ing there, and all that can will be done toward finishing it
this season." He further says, that ,; to avoid giving
offence to the Senecas savages, to wholn the land belongs,
I have desired Sir 'VilJiam Johnson to ask it of them, and
they have granted it." This letter is dated August 4,
1764. The teeaty between Sir '\Villialn and the Senecas
bears date two days after, (tt Fort Niagara, and cedes to
His Thlajesty all the land, four miles wide, on each side of
the river, between Fort Schlosser and the rapids of Lake
Erie. The islands in the river were excepted by the
Indians, and bestowed upon Sir 'Villiam " as proof," says
the record, ,. of their regard, and of thcir knowledge of the
trouble he has had with then} from tiine to time." Sir
William accepted the gift, but, like a good subject, humbly
laId it as an offering at the feet of his sovereign,2
The foundations of the present fort were laid in 1791. 3
It nlust have been a rude fortification, as originally con-
1 Braùstreet't:; Manuscripts, N. Y. State Library,
2
. Y. CoL Doc., Vol. VI!., p. 617.
:! IlHlian
tate Papm's, Vol. I., p. 160.
THE NIAG
lRA FRONTIER.
35
structed, for the Duke of Liancourt describes it in 1795,
as a cluster of buildings surrounded with rough, crazy
pali:;ade
, de
titute of l':tlllparts, covered ways, or earth-
works. Outside of the furt were a few Jog hOllses for the
shelter of the officers, Holdiers and workmen. There was
also a ttrge govcrnn1ent warehouse, with an ovcrhanging
story piercell with loop-holes for the use of nlusketry.l
The stone portion, the ruins of which Htill remain, was
built in 1806, in the fOrIn of a quadrangle, and subse-
quently enlarged to more fonnidable diu1ensions. The
Indian nallie of the locality, Gai-gwããlt-gelt, signifie., The
place of lntfs. Seneca tradition relates, as its origin, that
in olden time, soon after the first visit of the white man,
a battle occurred on the lake between a party of French
in batteaux and Inùians in cånoes. The latter were
victorious, and the French boats were sunk and the crews
drowned. Their hats floated ashore where the fort was
suh-;equently built, and attracting the attention of the
Indians from their novelty, the) called the locality" the
place of hat8."
In the sununer of IG87, the Baron La lIon tan ascended,
in his birchen canoe, the rapids of the Niagara into Lake
Erie, OJ) his way to the far 'Ve;:;t. 2 Appreciating with
military eye, this cOi.nmalldill ó lùc
lity, lu rccJmmended
it to the .French Government as suitable for a fort, and
Ina.rked it ,. Fort
uppo:;(
" on the Inap which illustrates
his juurnal. Thi:; is the earliest hi
torical notice of the
1 V o)":1ge par LialH'ourt., Vol. II., p. 4.
J La lIontan, English edition, Vol. I, p. R
.
36
THE NIAGARA FRONTIER.
site of Buffalo. No attention nppears to hav(\ becn paid
to the recomnlendatiou, and for nlore than a century it
remained ill undisturbed repose, its
olitudes unbroken by
the axe of the woodlnan, or the tread of advancing ci vil-
ization. Voyageurs, traders and nlissionaries passed and re-
passed on the riycr, but Inake no mcntion of even an Indian
encampment. Nor does Sir 'Villiam Johnson, who ascended
the outlet into the lake on his way west in August, and
returned ill October, 1761. 1
It has already been Incntioncd that the Senecas Heel to
Fort Niagara in 1779 before the invading forces of General
Sullivan, alld
ettled the following year OIl the banks of
the Buffalo Creek. A single survivor of that fugitive band
is now livin
on the Càttaraugus Reservation, in the perSOll
of the venerable Philip Kcnjockety, a son of the John
Kenjockety previously mentioned. When the writer saw
him in June, 1864, he appeared strong and vigorous, being
employed at the time in piling hemlock Dark. His entire
dress was a loose cotton shirt., and the customary Indian
leggings. He presented a fine specimen of the native Indian
of the old school, a class now ahnost extinct. He claimed to
be one hundred years old, and a little cxamination into his
personal history furni
hed proof of his correctness. It
appeared that he was about fiftecn at thc tilne of Sullivan's
expedition. and resided at N unda, on the Genesee. fIe
well rmnembered the flight of the Senecas on that occasion,
when he drove a horse to Fort Niagara. The fugitives
arrived there in tIle 1110nth of September, and remained
1 Journal in Stone's Johnson, Vol. II., pp. 451 and 470.
THE NIAGARA FRONTIER.
37
in its neighborhood and under its protection during the
folIowing winter. The season was the most inclement
known for many years; so much so that the river opposite
the fort was frozen frotn the seventh of January until the
following l\larch,t and Inauy of the
ellecas perished früln
exposure and starvatioll belore the en:.ming spring. Brant
made strenuous efforts during the winter to induce the
Seneca::; to settle in Canada under the protection of the
British Government. 'l'he
Iohawks, anù a few from the
other tribes, yielded to his solicitations; but Kenjockety's
father. who was intimately acquainted with the superior
advantages of 'Vestern New Y ork, succe
sfully opposed
the l\Iohawk chieftain, and prevailed upon the reumillder
to settle in the region watered by the Buffalo, Cattaraugus
and Tonawanda creeks.
While listening to the eventful narrative of the aged
Seneca, the writer could scarcely rea.lize that the nlan was
still living, wllo not only resided. in this locality at the
first advent of the white luan, but who came here, with
the Senecas themselves, to reap, by a permanent occupancy,
the substantial lruits of their ancient conquest::;.2
At the time of the arrival of the Senecas, the striking
feature of this locality was the predOlninance of the linden
or basswood over all the other trees of the forest. They
fri uged both borders of the creek, and spread their broad
foliage over its fertile bottoms. Seneca tradition teU:; us,
1 ::\lerritt's ::\IS.
S Kenjockety died April 1, 1866, aged over one hundred ycar
.
38
THE NIAGARA FRONTIER.
that in the season when the tree was in flo,ver, the hunt-
ing parties frOln the Genesee could hear, ere they reached
the creek, the 11l1l1l of the bee, as it gathered, in countless
swarms, its winter stores fr01ll the abundant blossoms.
lichaux, the French naturalist, who trayclcd through
this region in 1807, states as a peculiarity of this locality,
in his great work on the forest trees of AInerica. tbat the
basswood constituted two-thirds, and, in SOllle localities,
the whole of the forest between Batavia and Xew AU1-
sterdam. 1 Early- settlers say, tbat the peninsula bounùed
by
Iain street, Buffalo Creek and the canal, embracing
what is now intersected by Prime, Lloyd and Hanover
streets.. was almost exclusively covered with this tree.
It was occasionally found more than eighty feet high and
four feet in diameter. Its giant trunks furnished at that
convenient locality, a light and f'oft wood from which to
fashion the Indian canoe, and a. bark easily converted into
various uteuHils u
eful in
avage life. This bark formed
the exclusive covering of the tpmporary huts, erected for
the shelter of the hunting and fishing parties that fre-
quented this region. The Senecas, in conformity with
their well-known custOll1, séized upon this marked pecu-
liarity of the place, and called it DO'-syo-wã, a name
strikingly euphonious in their tongue, n1eaning, The place
of basswoods.
The origin of the name, Buffalo, has alreaùy been so
thoroughly discussed in and out of this Society, that no
1 N. American Sylva, Vol. TII., p. 131
THE NIAGARA FRONTIEll.
39
attempt win be made to throw additional light upon th
subject. The earliest occurrence of the lUtnle which I
have been able to discover, is on a manuscript map in the
British J\Iuseum, found in a collection called I-Gng George's
Maps, formerly in his
Iajesty's library. It is dated in
1764, and embraces both banks of the Niagara River from
Lake Erie to Black Rock. rrhe American shore is repre-
sented as entirely unsettled, covered with forest and bor-
dered with sand hillH. Buffitlo Creek is laid down, bearing
its present name. Its next occurrence is in the narrative
of the captivity and residence of the Gilbert family among
the Seneca
in 1780-81, which W;..lS published in 1784.
'Ve next find it in the treaty of Fort Stanwix before
alluded to. The Rev. l\Ir. Kirkland, in his journal of a
visit to the Senecas in 1788/ speaks of their" village on
the Buffaloe," and froTH that time the Harne appears to
have passed into general use. TiH' IIolland Company en-
deavored to supplant it with the term" New Amsterdam,"
but our village fathers, with great gooù sense, rejected the
substitute, together with the foreign nanlCS which the
ame
company had imposed upon our streets.
The Senecas, with a few kinùrpd Onondagas and Cayugas,
on their arrival here, ill 1780, ('stabli
hed themselves on
the banks of the Buffalo Creek. The form
r cho
e the
south side, and the level bottoms b
'yOlld the present iron
bridge, east of what is now known as " l\lartin's Corners."
The Onondagas ,vent higher up, as far as the elevated
1
IS. Journal in N. Y. State J...ibrary.
40
40
TIIE NIAGARA FRONTIER.
table land, near where the southern Ebenezer village was
subsequently located. The Cayugas settled north of the
Onondagas, along that branch of the creek which bear
their name.
In these localities the tribes were found, when imlnigra-
tion reached thmu; and here they reInained, dividing their
time between hunting, fishing and the cultivation of the
soil, until the encroachlnents of the white man dilninished
their game, and created a demand for their lands too eager
and powerful to be re::5isted. '\Ve have seen, within a few
years, the last of the Senecas abandon their ancient seats,
on the confines of our city, some to locate on the adjacent
Reservations, and other::5 to seek" a wider hunting-ground"
beyond the l\1ississippi.
They left the graves of their fathers in the possession
of the white man, and how has he fulfilled the trus
? A
visit to their rude and neglected cemetcry will furnish the
answer. The grave in which Red Jacket was laid by
his mourning people, is eInpty.l The headstone of the
captive" \Vhite 'V Olnan," carried away by piecemeal, for
relic:;, by the curious, no longer tells the simple story of
her remarkable life. Pollard and Young King and "\Vhite
Seneca, and many others, whose namcs were once as house-
hold words among Ufo;, all rp::5t ill nnmarkl
d graves. They
were the friends of the founders of our city, when the
Indian::5 were strong and the white man weak. 'J'hose con-
1 His remainE:! "ere stolcn Ly a Chippewa. They were recovered
by his family and removed to the Cattaraugus Reservation.
THE .LVIAGARA r710.LVTIER.
41
òitions are now re\.ersed. Having crowùed the living frOlll
their ancient seat
and pleasant hunting-groundH, let u!'; re-
spect the graves and protect the ashC'H of their fathers. One
of their eloquent chief.", De-jil
'-non-da-weh-hoh, 'll,e Rtcifi-
rato1", known to the whites as Dr. Peter 'Vilson/ ha:'3 feel-
. ingly and reproachfully told us that "the bones of his
people lie in exile in their own country." 'V auld it not be
an appropriate work for thiR Society, to initinte measures
for the pennanent preservation of their dead? The re-
mains of such (If their di
tinguished chiefs as can now be
identified, should be removed, with the consent of their
Nation, to our new cemetery. There, on the quiet banks
of the Ga-nol/-gwalLt-geh,2 in the
hadow of the native
forest, beneath the old oaks, where, within
e memory of
the Ii ving, their council fires burned, and their war-whoop
rang,3 under the sallIe protection that guarùs the white
lIlan's grave, they would rest in security, and the dust of
our antagonistic raceR cOlnlnil1gle unùiRturued.
I Ho died in March, 1872.
2 The Seneca name of Kenjockety Creek.
:I Forest I.Jawn was owned, during the war of 1812, hy Erastus
Granger, then U. :::;. Indian agent. His r('
iacJl('e was Ilol"th of the
tall pop1ar
, not far from the .Main street entrance to the cemetery.
The oak grove Ilear by, was used by the ::;ellceas for theil" councils
at that period. The)' wore our faithful allies, and rellllerl..a ns
valuable assi
tance in the contest with Grea.t Britain.
42
THE NIAGARA FRONTIER.
APPEKDIX TO THE FOREGOING ARTICLE.
The following list I'mbraces many of the early names that have
been applied to some of our great lakes and rivel's, and to a few
pl'OmiIwnt localities along their borders. Several of inferior note
though of more lûcal interest, are ahlO given. rrhe great diversity
that has existed in the mode of spelling the geographical terms of .
the Iroquois, has gi\Ten rise to much confusion and uncertainty.
rrhis has indnced the writer to adopt, in reducing the Seneca names
to English orthography, the atlmirable system invented by the Hev.
Asher \V right, of the Cattaraugus )Iission. That able missionary
bas published in the Seneca language. which he
peaks and writes
fluently, several works of mnch interest to the }Jhilologist, the fruit
of his many yeal's of successful labor among that people. The ac-
knowledgments of tbe wI'Ïter are justly due to him fOl' his assistance
in determining the orthography and signification of many of the
names t.hat occur in these pages; also, to DI', Peter 'Vilson, N ath-
aniel T. Strong; and Nicholas H. Parker, all hig-hly intelligent and
cultivated members of the Iroquois family.
The following is snhstantially the key to l\lr. \Vright's system.
If the l:ionnds of tl -. letters and accents are strictly observed, a close
approximation to the cOlTed pronunciation wiII be reached:
a sounrled like a ill fall. 0 sounded like 0 in note.
ã sOl1lHletl like a in Ilat. u soun(led like u in push.
e sOl1ll
