\L
THE NIAGARA FRONTIER.
EMBRACING SKETCHES OF ITS EARLY HISTORY, AND INDIAN,
FRENCH AND ENGLISH LOCAL NAMES. 1
[AMES CARTIER, while exploring the Gulf of
St. Lawrence in 1535, was informed by the
_ _ savages, living on its borders, that a mighty
river, which they called Hochelaga, flowed into the sea
near by, from a vast distance in the interior. 2 Having
discovered its mouth, he explored the stream as far as the
site of the present city of Montreal. He inquired of the
Indians whom he met on the way, touching the source of
that great river and the country through which it flowed.
He was told, that after ascending many leagues among
rapids and water-Mis he would reach a lake, one hundred
arid fifty leagues long and forty or fifty broad, at the
western extremity of which the waters were wholesome
and the winters mild ; that a river emptied into it from
the south, which had its source in the country of the
Iroquois ; that beyond this lake he would find a cataract
Read before the Buffalo Historical Society, Ft-l.ruary - 7, 1H65.
* Lescarbot, p. 300.
2 THE NIA GAEA FE ONTIJEE.
and portage; then another lake about equal to the former,
which they had never explored: and, still further on, a
sea, the western shores of which they had never seen, nor
had they heard of any one who had.
This is the earliest historical notice of our great lake
region. 1
Cartier was followed, after a long interval, by French
traders, adventurers and missionaries ; who, stimulated by
love of adventure or the attractions of the fur trade, or
inspired by religious zeal, were the first to penetrate the
Canadian wilderness, and encounter the privations and
dangers incident to the exploration of the vast interior
of North America.
Before the Pilgrims landed in New England, Champlain
had wintered among the savages on the eastern shore of
Lake Huron, and had crossed Lake Ontario with an expe
dition against the Iroquois in the central part of our
State. 2
As one after another of the principal lakes and rivers
of the New World were discovered, they were called in
honor of some tutelary saint or patron, some king or
noble. The early travelers not only rejected their abor
iginal names, but, in many instances, failed even to
mention them. The series of lakes on our northern bor
der, were originally considered as expansions of one
continuous river, called by the old geographers Saint
1 Lescarbot, p. 381.
a Voyages de Champlain, Part i, p. 251. Edition of 1632.
THE NIAGARA FRONTIER, 3
Lawrence, in honor of the martyr, on the day of whose
festival the noble gulf at its outlet was discovered.
During the three centuries which have elapsed since
that event took place, two distinct races have successively
occupied and disappeared from this locality, now in the
undisputable possession of a third.
The traveler in the classic regions of the Old World,
encounters, at every step, venerable monuments and
crumbling ruins ; silent but elegant memorials of those
who have risen, nourished, and disappeared in the revo
lutions of time. The Indian, once lord of this New World,
now a tenant at the will of the white man, was skilled in
none but the rudest arts. He roamed, a child of nature,
over the forest and prairie, absorbed in his ceaseless strug
gle for a precarious subsistence on the fruits of the cha
He built no monuments and has left no records, from
which we may learn the story of his origin, his migrations,
his blood} wars and fruitless conquests. The only light
which shines upon its annals, is, at best, a dim and shad
owy tradition. Scarce a memorial of his former occupancy
remains, save the names he has bestowed upon the lakes,
rivers and prominent landmarks of the country. The
Iroquois dialects still live in their melodious geographical
terms, suggesting a sad contrast between their former
proud and extensive dominion and their present feeble
and reduced condition.
There is no satisfactory evidence of the existence, in
this vicinity, of a race preceding the Indians. The
4 THE NIA GAR A FR ON TIER.
mound-builders," that mysterious people who once spread
in countless multitudes over the valleys of the Ohio, the
Mississippi, 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 Western New York, can all be referred to a
later date and a more modern race. But at what precise
period, and by what particular people they were con
structed, are questions which have hitherto eluded the
most diligent historical research. The Senecas are
equally ignorant on this subject. The venerable Seneca
White, a distinguished Iroquois chief residing on the Cat-
taraugus Reservation, now eighty-one years old, 1 ex
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 been built. Many of
them may yet be seen within a few miles of our city,
and are certainly objects of historical interest and specula
tion.
Omitting, therefore, from necessity, any notice of the
race, of whom those remains are the only memorial, we
find that the first in this locality, of whom history makes
mention, were the Attiouandaronk, or Neutral Nation,
called Kah-kwas by the Senecas. 2 They had their coun-
He died since the above was written, on the 19th May, 1873.
ED.
2 It has been assumed by many writers that the Kah-kwas and
Eries were identical. This is not so. The latter, according to the
most reliable authorities, lived south of the western extremity of
THE NIAGARA FRONTIER. 5
cil-fires along the Niagara, but principally on its western
side. Their hunting grounds extended from the Genesee
nearly to the eastern shores of Lake Huron, embracing a
wide and important territory. In this region, now teem
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 tribes that waged their
bloody wars on all sides around them. They are first
mentioned by Champlain during his winter visit to the
Hurons in 1615, before alluded to, but he was unable to
visit their territory. According to the early Jesuits, they
excelled the Hurons in stature, strength and symmetry,
and wore their dress with a superior grace. They re
garded their dead with peculiar veneration. Once in every
ten years the survivors of each family gathered the remains
of their deceased ancestors from the platforms on which
they had been deposited, and buried them in heaps, with
many superstitious ceremonies. This was called the
" Feast of the Dead." Many of the mounds thus raised
may still be seen in this vicinity. A conspicuous one on
Tonawanda Island, is affirmed by the old Senecas to have
had such an origin. The land of the Neutral Nation is
described by the Jesuits as producing an abundance of
corn, beans, and other vegetables ; their rivers as abound-
Lake Erie until they were destroyed by the Iroquois, in 1
Kah-kwas were exterminated by them sis early a-* ir.r>l. On Goto-
nelli sraap, published in 1688, one of the villages of the latti-r.
called " Kakouagoga, a destroyed nation," is located at ..r n.-ar the
site of Buffalo.
6 THE NIA GAR A FR ONTIER.
ing in fish of endless variety, and their forests as filled
with a profusion of game, yielding the richest furs.
The peace which this peculiar people had so long main
tained with the Iroquois was destined to be broken. Some
jealousies and collisions occurred in 1647, which culmi
nated in open war in 1650. One of the villages of the
Neutral Nation, nearest the Senecas and not far from the
site of our city, was captured in the autumn of the latter
year, and another the ensuing spring. 1 So well directed
and energetic were the blows of the Iroquois, that the
total destruction of the Neutral Nation was speedily ac
complished. All the old men and children who were un
able to follow their captors, were put to death ; but the
women were reserved to supply the waste occasioned by
the war. The survivors were adopted by their conquer
ors ; and, as late as 1669, a small remnant was found by
the Jesuit, Father Fremin, living within the limits of the
present county of Ontario.
Such were the predecessors of the Senecas. A little
more than two centuries have elapsed since they lived and
nourished in this locality, and no evidence of their occu
pancy now exists, save the rude mounds which mark their
final resting places. Scarce a trace of their language re
mains, and we know only that they spoke a dialect
kindred to that of the Senecas. Blotted out from among
the nations, they have left one conspicuous and enduring
1 Relation des Jesuites, 1651, p. 4.
THE NIA GAR A FR ONTIER. 7
memorial of their existence, in the name of the beautiful
and noble river that divides their ancient domain. 1
A long period intervened between the destruction of
the Neutral Nation and the permanent occupation of their
country by the Senecas. For more than a century, this
beautiful region was abandoned to the undisturbed domin
ion of nature, save when traversed by the warrior on his
predatory errand or the hunter in pursuit of game. A
dense and unexplored wilderness extended from the Gene-
see to the Niagara ; with but here and there an interval,
where the oak openings let in the sunlight, or the prairie
lured the deer and the elk to crop its luxuriant herbage.
The Senecas continued to live east of the Genesee, in
four principal villages, until the year 1687, when the Mar
quis De Nonville, then Governor of Canada, invaded their
country with a powerful tinny ; and, after defeating them
near the site of Victor, in Ontario County, drove them
from their burning villages and laid waste their territo
ries. 2 The humbled Senecas, influenced by superstition,
never built a solitary cabin. Their abandoned homes
long bore witness to that most disastrous era in the history
of the confederacy. We next find them in scattered vil
lages on the banks of th.eir favorite Je-nis -hi-yuh ; :1 in the
1 See " Last of the Kah-Kwas," Vol. I, p. 43. ED.
Q N. Y. Historical Collections, second series, Vol. II, p. 180.
3 Or Genesee, signifying beautiful, pleasant valley. The key to
the pronunciation of the Seneca names will be found in the Appen-
36
8 THE NIA GAR A FR ON TIER.
fertile valley of which they resumed the cultivation of
the maize, and recovered, in some degree, their former
power and influence.
During the Revolutionary war they espoused the Brit
ish cause. The atrocities they committed in their savage
mode of warfare, culminated in!778 in the memorable mas
sacre at Wyoming ; and induced General Washington, in
imitation of De Nonville, to send an army for their
chastisement. The famous expedition under General Sul
livan was organized for this purpose in 1779 ; which, pene
trating the heart of the Seneca country, resulted, for the
time being, in their overthrow and complete dispersion.
The proud and formidable nation fled, panic-stricken, from
their " pleasant valley," abandoned their villages, and
sought British protection under the guns of Fort Niagara.
They never, as a nation, resumed their ancient seats along
the Genesee, but sought and found a new home on the
secluded banks and among the basswood forests of the
Do -syo-wa, or Buffalo Creek, whence they had driven the
Neutral Nation one hundred and thirty years before.
I have thus, with as much brevity as the nature of my
subject would admit, noticed the aboriginal races that
preceded us in the occupancy of this region. I consider
this as an appropriate introduction to a historical sketch of
the most prominent localities on the Niagara frontier,
and of the various names by which they have been
known.
On the sixth day of December, 1678, a brigantine of ten
tons, doubled the point where Fort Niagara now stands,
THE NIA GA RA FR ONTIER. 9
and anchored in the sheltered waters of the river. 1 It had
been sent at that inclement season from Fort Frontenac,
now Kingston, by the Sieur De la Salle, in prosecution of
the bold enterprises conceived by the intrepid discoverer,
involving the exploration of a vast and unknown country,
in vessels built on the way. The crew consisted of six
teen persons, under the command of the Sieur De la Mott.
" Te Deum laudamns ! arose from the deck of the vessel,
as it entered the noble river. The strains of that ancient
hymn of the church as they echoed from shore and forest,
must have startled the watchful Senecas as they gazed
upon their strange visitors. Never before ht;d white man,
so far as history tells us ascended the river. Oa its borders,
the roving Indian still contended for supremacy with the
scarce wilder beasts of the forest. All was yet primitive
and unexplored. Dense woods overhung the banks, except
at the site of the present fort, or at the Indian village oppo
site, where a few temporary cabins sheltered some fishing-
parties of the Senecas. The stream in which the French
were now anchored, they called by its Indian name,
Niagara. It is the oldest of all the local geographical terms
which have come down to us from the aborigines. It was
not at first thus written by the English ; for with them it
passed through almost every possible alphabetical varia
tion before its present orthography was established, 2 We
1 Hennepin, p. 74, Edition of 1098.
2 Thirty-nine different modes of spelling Nia^.ira are enumerated
by Dr. O Callaghan, N. Y. Colonial Document.-, Index Volume, p,
465.
10 THE NIA GAR A FRONTIER.
find its germ in the On gui-aah-ra of the Neutral Nation,
as given by Father L Allemant, in a letter dated in 1641,
at the mission-station of Sainte Marie, on Lake Huron.
In describing his visit to that people, he says : " From
their first village, which is about forty leagues southerly
from Sainte Marie, 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 side of said river, are the principal
villages of that nation. There are three or four on the
eastern side, extending from east to west toward the Eries
or Cat Nation. This river," he adds, " is that by which
our great lake of the Huron s 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 name of the river next occurs on Sanson s map of
Canada, published in Paris in 1656, where it is spelled
"Ongiara." Its first appearance as Niagara, is on Coro-
nelli s map, published in Paris in 1688. From that time
to the present, the French have been consistent in their
orthography, the numerous variations alluded to, occur-
ing only among English writers. The word was probably
derived from the Mohawks, through whom the French
had their first intercourse with the Iroquois. The Mo
hawks pronounce it Nyah -ga-ra/i , with the primary ac
cent on the first syllable, and the secondary on the last.
Some controversy has existed concerning its signification.
1 Relation, 1641, p. 71.
THE NIA GAR A FR ONTIER. \ \
It is probably the same both in the Neutral and Mo.
hawk languages, as they were kindred dialects of one
generic tongue. The Mohawks affirm it to mean neck, in
allusion to its connecting the two lakes. The correspond
ing Seneca name, NyaA -gaa/t, 1 was always confined by
the Iroquois to the section of the river below the Falls,
and to Lake Ontario. That portion of the river above the
Falls 2 being sometimes called Gai-gw&SA-gSA, one of their
names for Lake Erie.
The name Niagara was sometimes applied, by the early
historians, not only to the river, but to a defensive work
and group of Indian cabins, which stood at or near the
site of the present village of Lewiston. La Salle con
structed, at this point, a cabin of palisades to serve as a
magazine or storehouse. In order to allay the jealousies
which the work excited among the Senecas, he sent an
embassy to Tegarondies, the principal village of the con
federacy, then located on what is now known as Boughton
Hill, near Victor, in Ontario County. They reached it
in five days, after a march in mid-winter of thirty-two
leagues on snowshoes, during which they subsisted only
on parched corn. There they found the Jesuits, Gamier
and Raffcix, who had been resident missionaries since 1669.
A council was held with the Senecas, and presents inter
changed, but without favorable result. The French re
traced their steps to their camp on the river, worn out
1 The signification of this Seneca word is lost. It is probably de
rived from the name conferred by the Neutral Nation.
8 N. Y. Colonial Documents, Vol. V., p. 800, and IX., p. 999.
1 2 THE NIA OA RA FR ONTIER.
with the hardships of the way, and glad to exchange 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 Marquis De Nonville, on his return from the
expedition before alluded to, fortified the tongue of land
which lies between the lake and river, and thus founded
the present 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 his Government to erect a stone structure at this point,
sufficient for a garrison of five hundred men, but received
no favorable response. Many difficulties were en
countered in the erection of the new fortress. As the
place was barren of suitable wood, palisades were cut at a
distance, floated to the adjacent beach, and drawn up,
with great labor, to the top of the bank. The work was
finally completed, and culled, afcer its founder, Fort De
Nonville. It subsequently appears on some of the maps
as Fort Conty, after a prince of that name, who was a
patron of Tonti, one of La Salle s companions ; but Niag
ara soon became its exclusive and more appropriate desig
nation. De Nonville left in the fort a garrison of one
hundred men, who were compelled by sickness to abandon
it the following season, after having partially destroyed it.
They left many of its buildings in a habitable condition,
as may be learned from a curious inventory and statement
1 For a detailed account of this expedition, by the same author,
see Vol. I., p. 260. ED.
THE NIA GAR A FR ONTIEE. \ 3
drawn up at the time of the evacuation. 1 No measures ap
pear to have been taken for its reconstruction until 1725 ;
when, by consent of the Iroquois, it was commenced in
stone, and finished the following year. The " old mess-
house " is a relic of that year.
The French having, through the influence of Joncaire,
obtained the consent of the Senecas, rebuilt their store
house at Lewiston, in 1719-20. It formed a block-house
forty feet long, by thirty wide, enclosed with palisades,
musket proof, and pierced with port-holes. Around this
nucleus gathered a cluster of ten Seneca cabins ; and
patches of corn, beans, squashes and melons were soon
under cultivation. Father Charlevoix visited the spot in
1721, while on his extensive tour along the lakes ; and
has left quite an exaggerated description of the ridge at
Lewiston, which he calls "a frightful mountain, that hides
itself in the clouds, on which the Titans might attempt to
scale the heavens ! " 2
The block-house must have soon fallen to decay, for \ve
find Louis XV. proposing to rebuild it in 1727, 3 but the
project was abandoned the next year.
This locality was always considered an important point
in the early history of the Niagara frontier. Here was
the commencement of the portage around the Falls, where
all the goods in process of transportation between the lakes
1 N. Y. Colonial Documents, Vol. IX , p. 386.
3 Charlcvoix s Journal, Vol. II., p. 345.
1 N. Y. Colonial Documents, Vol. IX., p. 9C4.
14 THE NIA GARA FR ONTIER.
underwent transhipment. The traveled road pursued, as
now, a zig-zag course up the mountain ridge ; but the
heavy goods were raised or lowered in a sliding car or
cradle, moved on an inclined plane by a windlass. The
remains of the old tram-way were visible at a late period,
and, possibly, may still be seen. The ascent of the ledge
at this point was so difficult, that long before the railway
was constructed, the Senecas called it Du/i-jih-he/t -oh,
which signifies, literally, walking on all fours-, in allusion
to the postures assumed by the French and Indians while
climbing the steep acclivity under their heavy burdens.
Hennepin calls it " the three mountains," trois montagnes 1
referring to the high river-bank and the two terraces
above it, which form the mountain ridge. When Kalm
arrived there in 1750, he found one of the Joncaires still
a resident. Over two hundred Senecas were then em
ployed in carrying furs over the portage, at the rate of
twenty pence a pack for the entire distance. 2 There were
three warehouses at the foot of the ridge in 1759, and
one at its summit ; all used for storing the goods in
transitu.
Opposite Fort Niagara, on the Canada side of the river,
is Mississauga Point, so called after one of the Algonkin
tribes that formerly resided in the vicinity. 3 The present
1 Hennepin, p. 113. Edition 1698.
a Kalm s letter in Annual Register, Vol. II., p. 389.
3 An Indian village existed here at the time of La Salle s first visit
in 1679.
THE NIA GA RA FR ONTIER. \ 5
village of Niagara was known in 1780, by the name of
Butlersbury, after Colonel Butler, of Wyoming notoriety, 1
It was afterward called Newark, after the place of that
name in New Jersey, and West Niagara and British
Niagara. In 1792, it became the residence of the Lieu
tenant-Governor of Canada, and in the autumn of that
year, the first session of the Parliament of the Upper Pro
vince was held there. It is an older settlement than any
on the eastern side of the river, and boasted a weekly
newspaper as early as 1793. 2 About one mile above
Newark, a defensive work was built by the British, at
the close of the last century, called Fort George. Be
tween this and the river was a storehouse, bearing the
high sounding name of Navy Hall ; and near the latter
stood the residence of Lieutenant- Governor Simcoe.
Queenston, so called in honor of Queen Charlotte,
had no earlier name, though the locality was frequently
noticed by the first explorers. Hennepin speaks of it as
" the great rock," la grosse roche? referring to an immense
mass, which, becoming detached from the brow of the
mountain, had fallen into the river below. It is now
plainly visible under the western end of the lower suspen
sion bridge.
1 Gilbert s narrative, p. 52. Col. Butler died in 1796. Merritt s
MS.
2 Called the Upper Canada Gazette, or, American Oracle. The
first number appeared April 18, 1793.
3 Hennepin, p. 113. Edition 1098.
37
16 THE NIA GAR A FR ON TIER.
The Devil s Hole and the Whirlpool are not noticed by
any of the early travelers- The former is more partic
ularly celebrated as the scene of a well known bloody
tragedy, in 1763. Its Seneca name, Dyus-da -nya/i-goh.
signifies, the deft rocks. 1 The Bloody Run, which falls
over the precipice at this point, derives its present name
from the same tragic occurrence, though the Indians have
no term to distinguish it from the Devil s Hole. Their
name for the whirlpool, Dyu-no -wa-da-se , means, literally,
the current goes round.
It has already been stated, that the Indians, whom
Cartier met in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in 1535, alluded,
in their description of the interior of the continent, to a
" cataract and portage," at the western extremity of Lake
Ontario. This is the first historical notice of Niagara
Falls. Seventy-eight years afterward, Charnplain pub
lished an account of his voyages in Canada, illustrated by
a map of the country, on which the several lakes, as far
west as Lake Huron, are laid down, though in very er
roneous outline. 2 It distinctly shows the river Niagara,
interrupted by a waterfall, and intersected by an elevation
of land, answering to the mountain ridge at Lewistoii.
It contains no specific name for the cataract, but calls it
saut deau, or waterfall. Charnplain describes it as " so
very high that many kinds of fish are stunned in its de
scent ! "
1 The river-bank is cleft by the action of the Bloody Run.
2 Edition of 1632.
THE NIA GAR A FR ONTIER. \ 7
The next notice of the cataract is by the Jesuit, Father
Ragueneau. who, in a letter to the Superior of the Mis
sions at Paris, dated in 1648, says, " North of the Eries
is a great lake, about two hundred leagues in circumfer
ence, called Erie, formed by the discharge of the mer-douce,
or Lake Huron, and which falls into a third lake, called
Ontario, over a cataract of frightful height." 1
Hennepin is the first who published a detailed descrip
tion of this remarkable waterfall. He first saw it in the
winter of 1678-9, and accompanies his description by an
engraved sketch, 2 evidently drawn from memory, as it em
braces a bird s-eye view of the whole river, as far as Lake
Erie, with the Griffon in the distance. The two falls, with
Goat Island between, and Table Rock, are very well de
lineated, though the height is much exaggerated. A
group of Frenchmen, viewing the cataract from the Ame
rican side, are represented as stopping their ears to shut
out the deafening sound.
No doubt the Falls were visited at an earlier date by
numerous traders and voyageurs, but no record of the fact
exists. The Niagara was not a favorite route to the far
west, the Ottawa being shorter and safer for a canoe
voyage ; an easy portage connecting its head-waters with
Lake Huron. The fatiguing transit around the Falls, and
the hostility of the warlike Iroquois, were formidable
obstacles to the more southern course.
1 Jesuit Relations, 1048, p. 46.
2 Hennepin, p. ] 16. Edition of 1G98.
18 THE NIAGARA FRONTIER.
The Senecas call the cataract, Det-ga/i-skoh-ses, signify
ing the place of the high fall. They never call it Niagara,
nor by any similar term ; neither does that word signify
in their language thunder of waters, as affirmed by School-
craft. 1 Such a meaning would be eminently poetic, but
truth is of higher importance.
The picturesque Islands which add so much to the
beauty and unrivaled scenery of the Falls, must have
challenged the admiration and stimulated the curiosity of
the early visitor. Equally attractive at all seasons,
whether arrayed in summer verdure, autumnal tints or
winter dress, 2 they reposed like fairy creations, amid the
turmoil of the impetuous rapids, isolated and apparently
secure from human intrusion or profanation. Traditions
exist of early Indian visits to the larger one, which are
confirmed by a deposit of human bones discovered near its
head. The access was from the river above, through the
still water between the divided currents. Judge Porter
first landed there in 1806, and found several dates carved
on a beech, the earliest of which was 1769. He purchased
the entire group from the State in 1816, and during the
following year, built the first bridge which connected them
with the main land. Stedinan had cleared a small field
1 Tour to the Lakes, p. 82.
Those who visit Niagara in summer only, see but half its beauties.
In winter, the spray, congealed by frost on every tree, bush and rock,
glitters with diamond lus.ter in the sunlight ; while, in the gulf
below, cones, pyramids and towers, immense stalactites and frost
work in every variety of form, are produced by the falling waters.
THE NIAGARA FRONTIER. 19
near the upper end of the largest, and colonized it with a
few animals, including a venerable goat. The latter was
the only survivor of the severe winter of 1779-80, in com
memoration of which the island received its present name.
The Boundary Commissioners under the Treaty of Ghent,
gave to it the more poetic title, Iris Island, but the earlier
one was destined to prevail.
Judge Porter was one of the earliest settlers at the Falls,
having erected his first dwelling there in 1809-10. He
foresaw the unrivaled advantages of the position, and se
cured, at an early day, the fee of a large tract of land in
the vicinity. In addition to his dwelling, he erected mills
on the site where Lieutenant DePeyster built a saw-mill
in 1767, and which Stedman subsequently occupied for
the same purpose. He also constructed a rope-walk for
the manufacture of rigging, for Porter, Barton & Co., 1 who
were then the principal carriers over the portage, and
owned or controlled nearly all the trading vessels on the
two lakes and river. All kinds of rigging, and cables
of the largest size required, were here manufactured.
Much of the .hemp then used, was raised by the Wads-
worths on the Genesee flats. Such was the scarcity of
men in the then new country, that the Judge was in
debted to Captain Armistead of Fort Niagara, for a com
pany of one hundred men, to assist him in raising the
heavy frame of his mill. It proved to be expensive aid,
for the soldiers stripped his garden of all its fruit, then
1 This well known firm was c<>mjn>st <l >f Augustus Porter, Peter
1). Porter, Denjamin Uartou anil -Joseph Annin.
20 THE NIAGARA FRONTIER.
very fine and abundant. All his buildings, embracing
dwelling, mills 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 Niagara and Manchester, and is now in
corporated under the name of Niagara Falls.
Fort Schlosser was named after Capt. Joseph Schlosser,
a native of Germany, who served in the British army in
the campaign against Fort Niagara in 1759. 1 Sir William
Johnson found him at Schlosser in 1761. He must have
remained until the autumn of 1763; for it is stated by
Loskiel 2 and Heckewelder, that he arrived at Philadelphia
in January, 1764, having just returned from Niagara with
a detachment from General Gage s army. Heckewelder
pays a high tribute to his humanity and manly qualities. 3
The earlier names of the post were, Fort du Portage,
Little Fort and Little Niagara. 4 It was not built until
1750. In the summer of that year, the younger Chabert
Joncaire, 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 effect the same season, and we find that Joncaire
Clauzonne, brother of Chabert, was appointed its com-
1 N. Y. Col. Doc., Vol. X, p. 731, n. 5.
a Loskicl s Missions, p. 222.
8 Heckewelder s Narrative, p. 83.
4 N. Y. Col. Doc., Vol. VII, p. 621.
THE NIA GAR A FR ON TIER. s> 1
mandant. 1 In 1755, it was called Fisher s Battery. 2
When Sir William Johnson invested Fort Niagara in 1709,
Chabert Joncaire seems to have been in command at Fort
Schlosser, his brother Clauzonne being then with him. On
the fall of the former fortress, Fort Schlosser was burnt,
and its garrison was withdrawn to the Chippevva river, on
the opposite side. It must have been speedily rebuilt by
the British, for we find Captain Schlosser stationed there
soon after in command of a garrison. The fort then con
sisted of an enclosure of upright palisades, protecting a few
store-houses and barracks. Alexander Henry, who visited
it in 17 J4, calls it a " stockaded post." The plough has
obliterated all traces of its existence, save some inequalities
in the surface where it stood, plainly visible from the
neighboring railroad. The tall, antique chimney which
rises from the adjacent buildings, is not, as generally
supposed, a relic of the fort, but of barracks, constructed
by the French, and destroyed by Joncaire, on his retreat
in 1759. The same chimney was subsequently used by
the English when they re-established the post. The dwell
ing they erected was afterwards occupied by Stedman, who
was a contractor at the portage from 1760 until after the
peace of 1783. He probably remained until after Fort
Niagara was delivered to the United States by the British
authorities in 1796, when he removed to the Canadian
side. He left his "improvements" in charge of a man
1 Lewis Evans map
* N. Y. Col. Doc., Vol. VI, p. 608, 700.
8 Travels, p. 183.
22 THE NIA GAR A FR ONTIER.
known as Jesse Ware. They are described by a visitor
at that earl} 7 day, as consisting of seventeen hundred acres,
about one-tenth partially cleared, an indifferent dwelling,
a fine barn, saw-mill, and a well fenced apple orchard con
taining twelve hundred trees. 1
There appear to have been three brothers by the name
of Stedman John, Philip and William. The traveler
Maude found John at Schlosser in 1800. While master
of the portage, he accompanied the wagons and their
escort, at the time of the massacre at the Devil s Hole in
September, 1763, before alluded to. It was a return train,
embracing about ninety persons, under the command of
Lieutenant Don Campbell of the Royal American Regi
ment, which had been transporting supplies from Fort
Niagara for the use of the garrison at Detroit. Only
three persons escaped ; a drummer-boy, by the name of
Matthews, 2 who lodged in a tree as he fell over the preci
pice ; a wounded driver, who lay concealed in some ever
greens near by ; and Stedman himself, who being well
mounted, forced his way through the Indians and fled
amid a shower of bullets, to Fort Schlosser. Two com
panies of troops that were stationed at Lewiston, hearing
the firing, hastened to their relief. The wily Senecas,
anticipating the reinforcement, lay in ambush, 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. John, Vol. II, p. 153.
2 Matthews died in Canada, near Niagara, in 1821, aged 74.
THE NIAGARA FRONTIER. 23
remains of their slaughtered comrades. The attack was
made on the train while it was crossing the small bridge
over Bloody Run, so called after the tragedy.
The Seneca S ichein, John Blacksmith, informed the
writer that the party which made the attack, were young
warriors from the Genesee, who, instigated by the French
traders, secretly organized the expedition under the leader
ship of Fanner 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 Stedman to
some miraculous interposition, and believing that he wore
a charmed life, conferred upon him the name of Ga-nas-
squa/i, signifying stone giant. The story that they gave
him all the land lying between the river and the line of
his flight, embracing about five thousand acres, is undoubt
edly a fiction. The pretended grant was the foundation
of the " Stedman claim," which was subsequently urged
upon the State authorities with much pertinacity. If
really made, it seems never to have been ratified by the
Senecas, for at a formal treaty made with them by Sir
William 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 contrary, a strip
of land four miles wide on the east side of the river, com
mencing at Lake Ontario and extending southerly to Gill
Creek, embracing the entire Stedman claim, was ceded in
perpetuity to his Britannic Majesty. 1 Stedman peti-
1 N. Y. Col. Doc., Vol. VII, p. 621.
38
24 THE NIA GAR A FR ONTIER.
tioned the Legislature in 1800, to confirm the pretended
grant, but without success. He recites in his memorial,
that he took possession of the premises in 1760, and soon
after met with a great loss from the Indians ; that as a
compensation therefor, the chiefs gave him a deed of the
tract containing 4,983 acres, which he had continued to
improve for forty years ; that the deed had perished with
the papers of Sir William 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 the Canada
side, plundered most of the fruit. 1
The portage road commenced 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 river 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-timbered, whitewashed log-cabins, used by the
teamsters, boatmen and engagees connected with the
portage. 2
1 Maude s Niagara, p. 146.
1 Manuscript letter of Hon. A. S. Porter.
THE NIA GA JKA FE ON TIER. 25
About half a mile below the Stedman house, near the
head of the present hydraulic canal, is the old French
landing, where goods were transhipped 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 were 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 existence.
Judge Porter leased the Stedman farm from the State
in 1805, the agent Ware, being still in possession. He
was ejected with some difficulty. Legal steps were taken,
but owing to the unsettled state of the country, and the
difficulty of executing process in a region so remote from
civilization, recourse was had to " Judge Lynch," before
possession was finally obtained. 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 Bo ugh ton,
one of the first pioneers on the Holland Purchase, who
opened a tavern for the accommodation of early visitors to
the Falls, and travelers en route for the great west. It
became the headquarters in all that region, for military
musters, general trainings and Fourth of July celebrations.
The buildings were destroyed by the British in December,
1813; but the old chimney was suffered to remain, con
spicuous among the surrounding ruins, a weather beaten
memorial of the ruthless desolation of war.
1 Manuscript letter of Hon. A. S. Porter.
26 THE NIA a Alt A FR ONTIER.
Gill Creek, so named from its diminutive size, and called
also Cayuga Creek, 1 and Stedman s Creek, derives its only
importance from being named as a boundary in some of
the early Indian treaties. 3
Chippewa Creek, nearly opposite Fort Schlosser, is called
by the Senecas, Jo - 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 timber, suit
able for ship-building. 8 It was 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 Welland River,
but it did not pass into general use. The earliest notice
of the stream 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. He 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 wild turkeys that were found in
the vicinity. 4
1 Savary s Journal, p. 360.
8 Treaty at Canandaigua in 1794.
3 Pouchot, Vol. Ill, p. 174.
* Hennepin, p. 75. Edition of 1693.
THE NIA GAEA FR ONTIER. 27
The Seneca name for Navy Island, Ga-o -go-wa/i-waa^,
signifies The big canoe island. This is in allusion to the
vessels built there by the French at an early day, for use
on the lakes. Hence the French name Isle-la-Marine, and
the English name. Navy Island. It contains about three
hundred acres. A tradition still exists among the Senecas
that a brass cannon was mounted on one of the vessels. 1
It was there the French reinforcements arrived from Ve-
nango for the relief of Fort Niagara, during its siege by
Sir William Johnson. The English built two vessels on
the island, in 1764, 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
rebellion of 1838.
Grand Island is called by the Senecas, Ga-we -not, signi
fying The Great Island. It is mentioned by Hennepin
under its present name. 2 At its northern extremity, in a
sheltered bay, the remains of two vessels may now be seen
at low water, which, tradition says, belonged to the French,
and were burnt at the time Fort Niagara capitulated, to
prevent their falling into the hands of the English. This
has given origin to the name Burnt Ship Bay, I have
been unable, however, to find any historical verification of
this tradition. Sir William Johnson, while on his way
west, in August, 1761, encamped for the night on the
west side of this island, at the mouth of a creek now called
1 A brass six-pounder was placed on one of the British vessels
in 1764. Governor Siincoe s manuscript letter to Colonel England.
3 Hennepin, p. 49. Edition of 1696.
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 mention of the fine oaks with which
the island abounded. 1
Cayuga Creek was so named by the Senecas. In
January, 1679, La Salle and his companions constructed
a dock at its mouth, and laid the keel of the Griffon the
first vessel built on our western waters. The site chosen
was just above the creek, close to the river bank. 2
In commemoration of the enterprise, the name of " La
Salle " has been conferred upon the small 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 subsequently purchased by
Porter, Barton & Co., re-built at Black Rock, and named
the Nancy, after the wife of the late Benjamin Barton, one
of the partners. 3 While bearing the latter name she was
commanded by Captain Richard O Neil, and went out of
commission just before the war of 1812.
1 Stone s Johnson, Vol. II., p. 45. ^
s A full account of the building of the Griffon, identifying the
site, will be found ante p. 73.
3 Mrs. Barton was usually called Nancy, but her baptismal name
was Agnes.
THE NIA GAR A FR ONTIER.
Tonawanda Creek was so called by the Senecas, after
.the rapids at their village a few miles above its mouth,
the name Ta-no -wan-de/* signifying literally, a rough stream
or current. The French called it, "La riviere aux bois
blanc," or " whitewood river." On the early maps it is
called Maskinongez, that being the Chippewa name for
the muskelunge, a fish once abundant in the stream.
The Senecas have a different name for Tonawanda Is
land. They call it Ni-ga -we-na/i--a-ah, signifying The
Small Island. It contains less than one hundred acres.
Its upper end having a fine elevation above the surface of
the river, was an occasional camping ground of the Senecas,
before their final settlement in this region. Philip Ken-
jockety (hereafter more particularly noticed), claims to
have been born there, while his father s family, then resid
ing on the Genesee, were on one of their annual hunting
expeditions.
Two negro brothers lived at an early day, at the mouth
of Cornelius Creek, just below Lower Black Rock. They
were supposed to be runaway slaves. The elder was called
by the Senecas, O-ga/i -gwafi/i, signifying Sun Fish, on ac
count of a red spot in one of his eyes, resembling that in
the eye of the fish. Hence they called the creek, 0-ga/* -
gwaaA -geh, the residence of Sun Fish. He was shrewd and
intelligent; became 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 Reservation. 1
Kenjockety Creek was not so named by the Senecas.
They called it Ga-noh -gwa/tt-geh, after a peculiar kind of
wild grass, that grew near its borders. " The name Ken
jockety," written in Seneca, Sga-dyuh-gwa-dih, was given
by the whites, after an Indian family they found living on
its banks. Its literal signification is Beyond the 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
extermination of his people. This occurred at the capture
of one of the Kah-kwa villages, located on a branch of
Eighteen Mile Creek, near White s Corners in this county.
His family wigwams were on the north bank of Kenjock
ety Creek, a little east of the present Niagara street.
They obtained their water for domestic 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 must have been a man of more than ordi
nary consideration among his people. The Rev. Mr.
Kirkland mentions him in the journal of his tour to Buf
falo Creek in 1788. He writes his name "Skendyough-
gwatti," and styles him " the second man of influence and
1 Life of Mary Jemison, pp. 124-129. Turner s Phelps & Gor-
ham s Purchase, p. 406.
THE NIAGARA FRONTIER. 31
character among the Senecas at BufFalloe." 1 His name is
appended to a letter addressed to Governor George Clinton
in 1789, remonstrating against some unauthorized sales of
Indian lands. 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 ac
companied during the survey <; by an old Indian named
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 as the Hue for Judge Porter
to follow, by preceding him from tree to tree, thereby
carefully excluding what is called " the Tifft farm, "
and the remainder of the " Flats," as comparatively of no
value. This will account for the zigzag course of the line
in question.
Kenjockety continued to reside on the creek, until about
the commencement of the present century, cultivating his
corn-field on Squaw Island, and drawing abundant subsist
ence for himself and family from the river and the forest.
The survey of "Mile-strip" by the State authorities, and
the arrival of the pioneers of Buffalo, disturbed his tranquil
home, and compelled him to remove to the Reservation,
where he finally settled on the bank of Buffalo Creek, near
the present iron bridge. Becoming dissipated in his old
age, he perished miserably by the roadside, from the effects
Kirkland s MS. Journal in N. Y. State Library.
Hough s Indian Treaties, Vol. II., p. 331.
39
32 THE NIA GA RA FR ON TIER.
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 divided island, referring to its division
by the marshy creek known as " Smuggler s Run." 1 It
was presented by the Nation to Captain Parish, their fav
orite agent and interpreter, as an acknowledgment, says
the record, of his many services in their behalf. The gift
was ratified by the Legislature, 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 mile square on the river, now known as
the Jones and Parish Tracts, and lying within the present
bounds of our city. The Legislature was induced to make
this grant, by that touching and effective petition dictated
by Fa-rmer s Brother, which has so often been cited as a
specimen of Indian eloquence. 3
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 name, Dyos-do-o-
1 Philip Kenjockety stated to the writer that he has often passed
through this creek in his canoe, on his way to Canada.
9 Copied in Turner s Holland Land Company Purchase, p. 291.
THE NIAGARA FRONTIER. 33
doh, signifies Rocky Island. It was called " Bird Island "
by the whites because of the multitude of galls and other
aquatic birds that frequented it at certain seasons. 1
Black Rock being a convenient crossing place on the
Niagara, became an important locality at an early day.
Its history has been fully illustrated in an able and inter
esting paper entitled " The Old Ferry," read before the
Buffalo Historical Society by Charles D. Norton, Esq. 2
Its Seneca name, Dyos-daa/i -ga-e/*, signifying rocky banlc,
is a compound word, embracing also 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 bed
of the river, composes the dangerous reef at the head of
the rapids.
Prior to the commencement of the present century, the
usual route between Buffalo Creek and the Falls was on
the Canada side, crossing at Black Rock The Rev. Sam
uel Kirkland traveled it in 1788, and the Duke of Lian-
court in 1795.
Fort Erie was originally built by Colonel Bradstreet. as
a dpot for provisions, while on his expedition against the
Western Indians in the summer of 1764. It was located
some distance below the modern fort. The part facing the
river was built of stone, surmounted by squared pickets.
The rest was stockaded. Bradstreet states in a letter to
1 Campbell s Life of Clinton, p. 128.
3 See Vol. I., p. 91.
34 THE NIA GAR A FE ONTIEE.
General Amherst, still unpublished, 1 that " when he ar
rived at the 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 send more 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 whom the land belongs,
I have desired Sir William Johnson to ask it of them, and
they have granted it." This letter is dated August 4,
1764. The treaty between Sir William and the Senecas
bears date two days after, at Fort Niagara, and cedes to
His Majesty 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 William " as proof," says
the record, u of their regard, and of their knowledge of the
trouble he has had with them from time 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 179 1. 3
It must have been a rude fortification, as originally con-
1 Bradstreet s Manuscripts, N. Y. State Library.
2 N. Y. Col. Doc., Vol. VII., p. 647.
3 Indian State Papers, Vol. I., p. 160,
THE NIAGARA FRONTIER. 35
structed, for the Duke of Liancourt describes it in 1795,
as a cluster of buildings surrounded with rough, crazy
palisades, destitute of ramparts, covered ways, or earth
works. Outside of the fort were a few log houses for the
shelter of the officers, soldiers and workmen. There was
also a large government warehouse, with an overhanging
story pierced with loop-holes for the use of musketry. 1
The stone portion, the ruins of which still remain, was
built in 1806, in the form of a quadrangle, and subse
quently enlarged to more formidable dimensions. The
Indian name of the locality, Gai-gwaa/i-ge/i, signifies The
place, of hats. 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 battcaux and Indians in canoes. The latter were
victorious, and the French boats were sunk and the crews
drowned. Their hats floated ashore where the fort was
subsequently built, and attracting the attention of the
Indians from their novelty, they called the locality " t he
place of hats."
In the summer of 1687, the Baron La Hontan ascended,
in his birchen canoe, the rapids of the Niagara into Lake
Erie, on his way to the far West. 2 Appreciating with
military eye, this commanding locality, Ii3 recommended
it to the French Government as suitable for a fort, and
marked it " Fort Suppose " on the map which illustrates
his journal. This is the earliest historical notice of the
1 Voyage par Liancourt., Vol. II., p. 4.
3 La Hontan, English edition, Vol. I, p. 82.
36 THE NIAGARA FRONTIER.
site of Buffalo. No attention appears to have been paid
to the recommendation, and for more than a century it
remained in undisturbed repose, its solitudes unbroken by
the axe of the woodman, or the tread of advancing civil
ization. Voyageurs, traders and missionaries passed and re-
passed on the river, but make no mention of even an Indian
encampment. Nor does Sir William Johnson, who ascended
the outlet into the lake on his way west in August, and
returned in October, 1761. 1
It has already been mentioned that the Senecas fled to
Fort Niagara in 1779 before the invading forces of General
Sullivan, and settled the following year on the banks of
the Buffalo Creek. A single survivor of that fugitive band
is now living on the Cattaraugus Reservation, in the person
of the venerable Philip Kenjockety, 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 bark. 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 almost extinct. He claimed to
be one hundred years old, and a little examination into his
personal history furnished proof of his correctness. It
appeared that he was about fifteen at the time of Sullivan s
expedition, and resided at Nunda, on the Genesee. He
well remembered the flight of the Senecas on that occasion,
when he drove a horse to Fort Niagara. The fugitives
arrived there in the month of September, and remained
1 Journal in Stone s Johnson, Vol. II., pp. 451 and 470.
THE NIA GAR A FR ONTIER. 3 7
in its neighborhood and under its protection during the
following winter. The season was the most inclement
known for many years ; so much so that the river opposite
the fort was frozen from the seventh of January until the
following March, 1 and many of the Senecas perished from
exposure and starvation before the ensuing spring. Brant
made strenuous efforts during the winter to induce the
Senecas to settle in Canada under the protection of the
British Government. The Mohawks, and a few from the
other tribes, yielded to his solicitations ; but Kenjockety s
father, who was intimately acquainted with the superior
advantages of Western New York, successfully opposed
the Mohawk chieftain, and prevailed upon the remainder
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 realize that the man was
still living, who not only resided in this locality at the
first advent of the white man, but who came here, with
the Senecas themselves, to reap, by a permanent occupancy,
the substantial fruits of their ancient conquests. 2
At the time of the arrival of the Senecas, the striking
feature of this locality was the predominance of the linden
or basswood over all the other trees of the forest. They
fringed both borders of the creek, and spread their broad
foliage over its fertile bottoms. Seneca tradition tells us,
1 Merritt s MS.
1 Kenjockety died April 1, 1866, aged over one hundred years.
38 THE NIA GAR A FR ONTIER.
that in the season when the tree was in flower, the hunt
ing parties from the Genesee could hear, ere they reached
the creek, the hum of the bee, as it gathered, in countless
swarms, its winter stores from the abundant blossoms.
Michaux, the French naturalist, who traveled through
this region in 1807, states as a peculiarity of this locality,
in his great work on the forest trees of America, that the
basswood constituted two-thirds, and, in some localities,
the whole of the forest between Batavia and New Am
sterdam. 1 Early- settlers say, that the peninsula bounded
by Main 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 soft wood from which to
fashion the Indian canoe, and a bark easily converted into
*/
various utensils useful in savage life. This bark formed
the exclusive covering of the temporary huts, erected for
the shelter of the hunting and fishing parties that fre
quented this region. The Senecas, in conformity with
their well-known custom, seized upon this marked pecu
liarity of the place, and called it Do -syo-wa, a name
strikingly euphonious in their tongue, meaning, The place
of basswoods.
The origin of the name, Buffalo, has already been so
thoroughly discussed in and out of this Society, that no
1 N. American Sylva, Vol. III., p. 131
THE NIA GAR A Fit ONTIEll. 39
attempt will be made to throw additional light upon the
subject. The earliest occurrence of the name which I
have been able to discover, is on a manuscript map in the
British Museum, found in a collection called King George s
Maps, formerly in his Majesty s library. It is dated in
1764, and embraces both banks of the Niagara River from
Lake Erie to Black Rock. The American shore is repre
sented as entirely unsettled, covered with forest and bor
dered with sand hills. Buffalo 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 Senecas in 1780-81, which w#s published in 1784.
We next find it in the treatv of Fort Stanwix before
/
alluded to. The Rev. Mr. Kirkland, in his journal of a
visit to the Senecas in 1788, 1 speaks of their "village on
the Buffaloe," and from that time the name appears to
have passed into general u.^e. The Holland Company en
deavored to supplant it with the term " New Amsterdam,"
but our village fathers, with great good sense, rejected the
substitute, together with the foreign names which the same
company had imposed upon our streets.
The Senecas, with a few kindred Onondagas and Cayugas,
on their arrival here, in 1780, established themselves on
the banks of the Buffalo Creek. The former chose the
south side, and the level bottoms beyond the present iron
bridge, east of what is now known as " Martin s Corners."
The Onondagas went higher up, as far as the elevated
1 MS. Journal in N. Y. State Library.
40
4 THE NIA GAR A FR ONTIER.
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 bears
their name.
In these localities the tribes were found, when immigra
tion reached them ; and here they remained, dividing their
time between hunting, fishing and the cultivation of the
soil, until the encroachments of the white man diminished
their game, and created a demand for their lands too eager
and powerful to be resisted. We 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 others to seek " a wider hunting-ground "
beyond the Mississippi.
They left the graves of their fathers in the possession
of the white man, and how has he fulfilled the trust ? A
visit to their rude and neglected cemetery will furnish the
answer. The grave in which Red Jacket was laid by
his mourning people, is empty. 1 The headstone of the
captive " White Woman," carried away by piecemeal, for
relics, by the curious, no longer tells the simple story of
her remarkable life. Pollard and Young King and White
Seneca, and many others, whose names were once as house
hold words among us, all rest in unmarked graves. They
were the friends of the founders of our city, when the
Indians were strong and the white man weak. Those con-
1 His remains were stolen by a Chippewa. They were recovered
by his family and removed to the Cattaraugus Reservation.
THE NIAGARA FRONTIER. 41
ditions are now reversed. Having crowded the living from
their ancient seats and pleasant hunting-grounds, let us re
spect the graves and protect the ashes of their fathers. One
of their eloquent chiefs, De-jiA -non-da-weh-hoh, Vie Pacifi
cator, known to the whites as Dr. Peter Wilson, 1 has feel
ingly and reproachfully told us that " the bones of his
people lie in exile in their own country." Would it not be
an appropriate work for this Society, to initiate measures
for the permanent preservation of their dead ? The re
mains of such of their distinguished 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-no//-gwaM-geh, 2 in the shadow of the native
forest, beneath the old oaks, where, within j^e memory of
the living, their council fires burned, and their war-whoop
rang, 3 under the same protection that guards the white
man s grave, they would rest in security, and the dust of
our antagonistic races commingle undisturbed.
1 He died in March, 1872.
2 The Seneca name of Kenjockety Creek.
s Forest Lawn was owned, during the war of 1812, by Erastus
Granger, then U. S. Indian agent. His residence was north of the
tall poplars, not far from the Main street entrance to the cemetery.
The oak grove near by, was used by the Senecas for their councils
at that period. They were our faithful allies, and rendered us
valuable assistance in the contest with Great Britain.
42 THE NIA GARA FE ONTIER.
APPENDIX TO THE FOREGOING ARTICLE.
The* following list embraces many of the early names that have
been applied to some of our great lakes and rivers, and to a few
prominent localities along their borders. Several of inferior note
though of more local interest, are also given. The great diversity
that has existed in the mode of spelling the geographical terms of
the Iroquois, has given rise to much confusion and uncertainty.
This has induced the writer to adopt, in reducing the Seneca names
to English orthography, the admirable system invented by the Rev.
Asher Wright, of the Cattaraugus Mission. That able missionary
has published in the Seneca language, which he speaks and writes
fluently, several works of much interest to the philologist, the fruit
of his many years of successful labor among that people. The ac
knowledgments of the writer are justly due to him for his assistance
in determining the orthography and signification of many of the
names that occur in these pages ; also, to Dr. Peter Wilson, Nath
aniel T. Strong, 1 and Nicholas H. Parker, all highly intelligent and
cultivated members of the Iroquois family.
The following is substantially the key to Mr. Wright s system.
If the sounds of th^ letters and accents are strictly observed, a close
approximation to the correct pronunciation will be reached :
a sounded like a in fall. o sounded like o in note.
a sounded like a in hat. u sounded like u in push.
e sounded like e in they. ai sounded like i in pine.
e sounded like e in bet. iu sounded like u in pure.
i sounded like i in machine. eh always soft as in chin.
Italic h sounded like the h in the interjection oh ! when impa
tiently uttered ; approaching the sound of k, though not quite
reaching it.
When h comes after t or s it is separately sounded.
Italic a and o represent nasal sounds.
There are no silent letters.
A repeated vowel only lengthens the sound.
1 N. T. Strong died January 4, 1872 ; Dr. Wilson, in March of the same year,
and Mr. Wright, April 13, 1875.
THE NIA GAR A FR ONTIER. 4 3
SENECA NAMES WITH SIGNIFICATIONS.
GaA-daA geh. " Fish ing -place with a scoop-basket" Cayuga
Creek, or north fork of Buffalo Creek.
HaA-dc/-neh. " The place of June berries." Seneca Creek, or
south fork of Buffalo Creek.
Ga-e-na-dah -daaA. " Slate rock bottom" Cazenovia Creek, or
south fork of Buffalo Creek.
Tga-is -da-ni-yont. " The place of the suspended bell." The
Seneca Mission House.
Tga/i-sgoh -sa-deA. " The place of the falls ." Falls above Jack
Berrytown.
JiiAk -do-waaA -geh. " The place of the crab-apple." Cheek-
towaga.
De-as -gwaA-da-ga -neh. " The place of lamper-eel." Lancaster
village, after a person of that name who resided there.
Ga-yttA-gaawh -doh. The Indian name of Old Smoke, who lived
and died on the bank of Smoke s Creek. He led the Senecas at
Wyoming. The name is now also applied to Smoke s Creek, and
signifies " The smoke has disappeared."
De-dyo -deA-neh -sak-do. " A gravel bend" Lake shore above
Smoke s Creek.
Jo-nya -dih. " The other side of the flats." Tifft s farm.
De-yeh -ho-ga-da-ses. " The oblique ford." The old ford at the
present iron bridge.
De-yoh -ho-gaA. " The forks oftheriver." Junction of the Cayuga
and Cazenovia Creeks.
Tga -non-da-ga -yos-haA. " The old village." The flats embracing
Twitchell s farm. This is the site of the first village the Senecas
built on Buffalo Creek.
Ni-dyio -nyaA-a -ah. " Narrow point" Farmer s Brother s Point.
Ga-noh -hoA-geh. " The place filled up." Long Point in Canada,
44 THE NIAGARA FRONTIER.
and sometimes applied to Erie. In allusion to the Indian tradition,
that The Great Beaver built a dam across Lake Erie, of which
Presque Isle and Long Point are the remains.
Gah-gwah-ge -g-aaA. " The residence of the Kah-kwa^"
Eighteen Mile Creek. Sometimes called Gah-gwaA -geA.
Yo-da -nyuh-gwaA . " A fishing -place icith hook-and-line"
Sandytown, the old name for the beach above Black Rock.
TgaA -si-ya-deA. " Rope ferry." Old ferry over Buffalo Creek.
Tga-noh -so-doA. u The place of houses" Old village in the
forks of Smoke s Creek.
Dyo-ge -oA-ja-eA. " Wet grass" Red Bridge.
Dyos -hoA. " The sulpher spring." Sulpher Springs.
De-dyo -na-wo -b. " The ripple." Middle Ebenezer village.
Dyo-naA -da-eeA. " Hemlock elevation" Upper Ebenezer village,
formerly Jack Berrytown.
Tga-des . " Long prairie" Meadows above Upper Ebenezer.
Onon -daA-ge -gaA geh. " The place of the Onondagas" West
end of Lower Ebenezer.
Sha-ga-naA -gaA-geh. " The place of the Stockbridges." East
end of Lower Ebenezer.
He-yont-gat-hwat haA. " The picturesque location." Cazenovia
Bluff, east of Lower Ebenezer.
Dyo-e -oh-gwes. " r l all grass or flag island." Rattlesnake Island.
Dyu -ne-ga-nooh . " Cold Water." Cold Spring.
GaAda -ya-deA. " A place of misery" Williamsville. In allu
sion to the open meadows at this place, which were very bleak in
winter. Blacksmith says the name refers to the " open sky," where
the path crossed the creek.
THE NIA GAR A FR ONTIER. 4 5
EARLY NAMES APPLIED TO THE GREAT LAKES AND
RIVERS AND TO SOME OF THE PROMINENT
LOCALITIES ON THEIR BORDERS.
LAKE ONTARIO.
Lac des Entouhonorons. Champlain, i, ed. 1632, p. 336. So
called after a nation living south of the lake.
St. Louis. Champlain, ed. 1632. Rel., 1640-41, p. 49.
Lac Des Iroquois. Relation des Jesuites, 1635, p. 121.
La Mer Douce. " The Fresh Sea." Relation, 1639-40, p. 130.
Ontario. " Beautiful Lake." Hennepin, p. 31. Rel., 1640-41,
p. 49.
Skanadario. " Beautiful Lake" Hennepin, p. 42.
Cadarackui. Colden, xvi.
Frontenac. Hennepin, p. 40.
LAKE ERIE.
Erie. Relation, 1641, p. 71.
Lac Du Chat. " Cat Lake" Sanson s Map of 1651.
Lac De Conty. Coronelli s Map of 1688.
Oswego. N. Y. Colonial Documents, v, p. 694.
LAKE HURON.
La Mer Douce. " The Fresh Sea." Chaniplain, appendix, p. 8.
Attigouantan. Champhiin, i, p. 324.
Kuregnondi. Sanson s Map of 1657.
Lac Des Hurons. Relation, 1670-71, map.
Lac D Orleans. Coronelli s Map of 1688.
Quatoghe. Colden, xvi.
Caniatare. Colden, xvi.
46 THE tfIA GARA FE ONTIER.
LAKE MICHIGAN.
Lac Des Puants. Champlain, 1632.
Lac Des Illinois. Relation, 1669-70. Marquette s Map, 1674.
St. Joseph. Father Allouez in 1675.
Dauphin. Coronelli s Map of 1688.
Michigonong. Hennepin, p. 53.
LAKE SUPERIOR.
Le Grand Lac. " The Great Lake." Champlain, 1632.
Lac Superieur. " Upper Lake" Relation, 1660, p. 9.
Lac De Tracy. Relation, 1667, p. 4.
Lac De Conde. Le Clercq., p. 137.
NIAGARA FALLS.
Saut d eau. " Waterfall." Charaplain s Map, 1613.
Onguiaahra. Relation, 1640-41, p. 65. Applied to river only.
Ongiara. Sanson s Map of 1651. Ducreux, 1660.
Unghiara. Bancroft s U. S., vol. iii, p. 128.
Och-ni-a-gara. Evans Map, 1755.
lagara. Colden s Five Nations, appendix, p. 15.
O-ni-a-ga-rah. Colden s Five Nations, p. 79.
O-ny-a-kar-rah. Macauley s N. Y., vol. ii, p. 177.
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