Part 19

The present proprietor of the farm comprising the Oneida stone, spring, butternut grove, &c. is Job Francis. He first hired the land of Hendrick’s widow; afterwards he and Gregg were confirmed by the State.

The white stone at the spring, a carbonate of lime, is not the _true_ Oneida stone.

The Oneida stone is a _syenite_—a boulder.

ONONDAGA CASTLE.

Abraham Le Fort says, that Ondiaka was the great chronicler of his tribe. He had often heard him speak of the traditions of his father. On his last journey to Oneida he accompanied him. As they passed south by Jamesville and Pompey, Ondiaka told him that in ancient times, and before they fixed down at Onondaga, they lived at these spots. That it was before the Five Nations had confederated; but while they kept up a separate existence, and fought with each other. They kept fighting and moving their villages often. This reduced their numbers, and kept them poor and in fear. When they had experienced much sickness in a place, they thought it best to quit it and seek some new spot where it was hoped they should have better luck. At length they confederated, and then the fortifications were no longer necessary, and fell into disuse. This is the origin, he believes, of these old works, which are not of foreign origin.

Ondiaka told Le Fort that the Onondagas were created by Ha-wä-ne-o, in the country where they lived. That he made this entire “island” HA-WHO-NAO, for the red race, and meant it for them alone. He did not allude to, or acknowledge any migrations from foreign lands.

Their plan, after the confederation was to adopt prisoners and captives, that fragments of tribes who were parted amongst them and thus lost. They used the term We-hait-wa-tsha, in a figurative sense, in relation to such tribes. This term means a body cut and quartered and scattered around. So they aimed to scatter their prisoners among the other nations. There is still blood of the Cherokees in Onondaga. A boy of this nation became a chief among the Cherokees.

I called Le Fort’s attention to the residence of the Moravian missionary, Zœisberger. He said there was no tradition of such residence—that the oldest men remembered no such mission; that they were ever strongly opposed to all missionaries after the expulsion of the Jesuits, and he felt confident no such person, or any person in the character of a preacher, had lived at Onondaga Castle; that there must be some mistake in the matter.

ONONDAGA. [Jackson’s.]

Ondiaka told Le Fort that the Onondagas formerly wandered about, without being long fixed at a place, frequently changing their villages from slight causes, such as sickness, &c. They were at war with the other Iroquois bands. They were also at war with other tribes. Hence forts were necessary, but after they confederated, such defensive works fell into disuse. They lived in the present areas of De Witt, Lafayette, Pompey and Manlius, along Butternut creek, &c. Here the French visited them, and built a fort, after their confederation.

Ephraim Webster stated that the Indians were never as numerous as appearances led men to think. This appearance of a heavy population happened from their frequent removals, leaving their old villages, which soon assumed the appearance of ancient populous settlements.

He told Jas. Gould, that being once on a visit to Canada, he became acquainted with a very aged Indian, who, one day, beginning to talk of the Onondaga country, told him that he was born near the old church, near Jamesville, where there was a very populous village. One evening, he said, he stepped out of his lodge, and immediately sank in the earth, and found himself in a large room, surrounded by three hundred witches and wizzards. Next morning he went to the council, and told the chiefs of this extraordinary fact. They asked him whether he could not identify them. He said he could. They then accompanied him on a visit to all the lodges, when he pointed out this and that one, who were immediately killed. Before this inquiry ended, and the delusion was stayed, he says that three hundred persons were killed.

Nothing is more distinct or better settled in the existing traditions of the Iroquois, than their wars with the Cherokees. I found this alluded to at Oneida, Onondaga, &c., in the course of their traditions, but have not been able to trace _a cause_ for the war. They seemed to have been deeply and mutually exasperated by perfidy and horrid treachery in the course of these wars, such as the breaking of a peace pledge, and murder of deputies, &c. Their great object was, as soon as young men grew up, to go war against the Cherokees. This long journey was performed without provisions, or any other preparation than bows, clubs, spears and arrows. They relied on the forest for food. Thousands of miles were not sufficient to dampen their ardor, and no time could blot out their hatred. The Oneidas call them _We au dah_.

Jeremiah Gould went with me to view the twin mounds. They exhibit numerous pits or holes, which made me at once think of the Assenjigun, or hiding pit of the western Indians. Gould, in answer to my inquiry, said that it was a tradition which he did not know how much value it was worth, that the Tuscaroras were brought from the south by the Oneidas, and first settled in this county. They warred against the Onondagas. The latter, to save their corn, buried it in these mounds or hills, then hid by the forest. In one of these excavations, dug into forty years ago, they found a human skull and other bones belonging to the human frame.

James Gould went with me over the stream (Butternut) to show me a mound. It is apparently of geological formation, and not artificial. Its sides were covered with large trees, the stumps of which remain. There was a level space at the top, some four or five paces in diameter, trees and bushes around. The apex, as paced, measures one way 17, the other 12 paces; is elongated. It seemed to have been the site of the prophet’s lodge. Near it is the old burying ground, on an elongated ridge, where the graves were ranged in lines.

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_Pottery._—Webster gives the Indian tradition of this ancient art thus. The women made the kettles. They took clay and tempered it with some siliceous or coarse stone. This they first burnt thoroughly, so as to make it friable, (probably they plunged it while hot into water,) and then pounded it, and mixed it with blood.

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_Charred corn, &c._—In Ellisburgh is found much charred corn beneath the soil, and numerous remains of occupancy by the natives. Is this the evidence of Col. Van Schaack’s expedition into the Onondaga country during the revolutionary war? His battle with the Indians, tradition here says, took place near Syracuse. Bones, supposed to be of this era, were discovered, in ditching the swamp near Cortland House.

KASONDA.

Mr. I. Keeler says that he cut a large oak tree, near the site of the old fort, two and a half feet through. In re-cutting it, at his door, a bullet was found, covered by 143 cortical layers. It was still some distance to the centre. If this tree was cut in 1810, the bullet was fired in 1667. Consult “Paris Documents,” 1666, treaty with the Onondaga Iroquois.

The Goulds say that the fort was a square, with bastions, and had streets within it. It was set round with cedar pickets, which had been burnt down to the ground. Stumps of them were found by the plough.

Nearly every article belonging to the iron tools of a blacksmith shop have been ploughed up at various times—an anvil, horn, vice screw, &c.; Indian axes, a horse shoe, hinges, the strap hinge. A pair of these hangs the wicket gate to his house.

A radius of five to six miles around the old fort would cover all the striking remains of ancient occupancy in the towns of De Witt, Lafayette and Pompey.

Webster told the Goulds that the French who occupied this fort, and had the nucleus of a colony around it, excited the jealousy and ire of the Onondagas by the hostility of some western tribes in their influence. Against these the Onondaga warriors marched. The French then attacked the red men, &c. This led to their expulsion and massacre. All were killed but a priest who lived between the present towns of Salina and Liverpool. He refused to quit peaceably. They then put a chain around a ploughshare, and heating it, hung it about his neck; he was thus, with the symbol of agriculture, tortured to death. His hut was standing when the county was settled.

The attempt to settle western New-York by the French was in the age of chivalry, (the 16th century,) and was truly Quixotic.

TRADITION.

Pompey and its precincts were regarded by the Indians as the ground of blood, and it brought up to their minds many dark reminiscences, as they passed it. Some twenty years ago, there lived an aged Onondaga, who said that many moons before his father’s days, there came a party of white men from the east in search of silver. From the heights of the Onondaga hills, they descried the white foam of Onondaga lake, and this was all the semblance they ever found of silver. One of the men died, and was buried on Pompey hill, and his grave was marked by a stone.[109] The others built a fort on the noted ground, about a mile east of Jamesville, where they cultivated the land; but at length the Indians came in the night, and put them all to death. But there was a fearful and bloody strife, in which the Indians fell like leaves before the autumn wind. This spot is the field of blood.

[109] QUERY.—Is not this the inscription stone now deposited in the Albany Academy?

_L. Birdseye._

AURORA: August. See Rev. Mr. Mattoon.

Vestiges of the Cayugas—villages—orchards—old forts. Get a vocabulary of their language from Canada. Get diagram of forts.

Karistagea, or Steeltrap, thought to have been unfairly dealt with at his death. Buried in the road.

Fish Carrier’s Reserve at the bridge. Four miles square.

Red Jacket born on the opposite banks of the lake at Canoga.

Historical reminiscences of Mr. Burnham. Letter stating the first settlements on the Military Tract at Aurora.

Address before the G. O. I. Folly of keeping the society secret.

Horticultural meeting. Dr. Thompson. Mr. Thomas.

Anniversary of Academy. Salem Town.

Intelligence, moral tone, hospitality of the place.

Cars at Cayuga bridge.

Logan was the son of a Cayuga.

Did the Cayugas conquer the Tutelos of Virginia, and adopt the remnant?

Cayugas scattered among the Senecas, in Canada and west of the Mississippi. How many left? What annuities.

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GENEVA: Ancient site of the Senecas. Origin of the word Seneca. Is it Indian or not Indian?

Examine old forts said to exist in this area. Are there any vestiges of Indian occupancy at the “Old Castle”—at Cashong—Painted-Post—Catherinestown—Appletown?

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CANANDAIGUA: In visiting Fort-hill on the lake, see what vestiges. Another site bearing this name, exists to the north of Blossom’s. What antiquities? What traditions? Ask old residents. Enquire of Senecas west.

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ROCHESTER: Nothing left here of the footprints of the race—all covered deep and high with brick and stone. Whole valley of the Genesee worthy examination, in all its length and branches. Wants the means of an antiquarian society to do this.

Truly the Iroquois have had visited upon them the fate with which they visited others. They destroyed and scattered, and have, in turn, been destroyed and scattered. But their crime was the least. They destroyed as _heathens_, but _we_ as _Christians_. In any view, the antiquarian interest is the same—the moral interest, the same.

The Iroquois had noble hearts. They sighed for fame. They took hold of the tomahawk as the only mode of distinction. They brought up their young men to the war dance. They carefully taught them the arts of war. We have other avenues to distinction. Let us now direct their manly energies to other channels. The hand that drew a bow, can be taught to guide a plough. Civilization has a thousand attractions. The hunter state had but one. The same skill once devoted to war would enable them to shine in the arts of peace.

Why can not their bright men be made sachems of the pen, of the press, of the pulpit, of the lyre?

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BATAVIA, _July_.—There are still traces of a mound on Knowlton’s farm, a mile from Batavia, up the Tonewanda. Bones and glass beads, have been ploughed out of it. Other traces of former aboriginal occupancy exist in the vicinity, a stone pestle, axes, &c. having been found.

The Indian name of Batavia is Ge-ne-un-dah-sais-ka, meaning musquito. This was the name by which they knew the late Mr. Ellicott.

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The Tonewanda falls 40 feet at a single place, within the Indian reservation. It heads on high ground about 40 miles above Batavia. On the theory of the former elevation of lake Erie, Buffalo itself would be the highest ground, between Batavia and the lake, in a direct line. Attica, is perhaps more elevated in that direction.

TONEWANDA RES. [Winsor & Richards.]

NAME OF SENECAS.

The Senecas call themselves NUN-DO-WAW-GAW, or people of the hill. The term Seneca is taken from the lake, on the banks of which they formerly lived, and had their castle. It is _not_ a name of Indian origin. They are called NUN-DO-WAW-GAW, from the eminence called Fort-Hill, near Canandaguia lake. [Ho-ho-ee-yuh, or J. A. Sanford.]

CHEROKEES.

They call the Cherokees O-YAU-DAH, which means a people who live in caves. Their enmity against this people, the tradition of which is so strong and clear, is stated to have originated from the contact of war and hunting parties, in the plains of the southwest. The Senecas affirm that the Cherokees robbed and plundered a Seneca party and took away their skins. Retaliation ensued. Tragic scenes of treachery and surprise followed. The Five Nations took up the matter in all their strength, and raised large and strong war parties, who marched through the country to the Cherokee borders, and fought and plundered the villages, and brought away scalps and prisoners. There are now, (1845) descendants of Cherokees in the third degree, living on the Tonewanda reservation. [Ho-ho-ee-yuh.] Some years ago, a chief of this blood, pure by father and mother, lived among them, who had been carried off captive when a boy. The fact being revealed to him, after he had obtained the chieftaincy, he went south to seek his relations and live and die among them, but he was unable to find them. He came back to the Senecas, and died among them. [Le Fort.]

TONEWANDA.

The most curious trait, of which we know but little, is that respecting TOTEMS.

Asked the chief called Blacksmith, his name in Seneca. He replied, De-o-ne-hoh-gah-wah, that is, a door perforated, or violently broken through, not opened. Says he was born on the Tonewonda reservation, and wishes to die there; will be 60 years old, if he lives till next winter, 1846.

Says the Senecas call the Fort Stanwix or Rome summit, De-o-wain-sta, meaning the place where canoes are carried across the land from stream to stream; that is, a carrying place.

Says, Te-to-yoah, or Wm. Jones of Cattaraugus, can relate valuable Seneca traditions.

He says there are eight Seneca clans; they are the Wolf, Bear, Turtle, Deer, Plover, Beaver, Hawk and Crane. He is of the Wolf clan. This was also Red Jacket’s clan.

These clans may be supposed to have arisen from persons who had greatly distinguished themselves at an early period as founders, or benefactors, or they may have held some such relation to the original nation, as the Curiatii and Horatii, in Roman history. It is not only the Iroquois, who ascribed this honor to the clans of the Bear, the Turtle and the Wolf. They are equally honored among most of the Algonquin tribes.

OSTEOLOGICAL REMAINS.

In the town of Cambria, six miles west of Lockport, (1824,) a Mr. Hammon, who was employed with his boy in hoeing corn, observed some bones of a child, exhumed. No farther thought was bestowed upon the subject for some time, for the plain on the ridge was supposed to have been the site of an Indian village, and this was supposed the remains of some child, who had been buried there. Eli Bruce, hearing of the circumstance, proposed to Mr. H. that they should repair to the spot, with suitable instruments, and endeavor to find some relics. The soil was a light loam, which would be dry and preserve bones for centuries without decay. A search enabled them to come to a pit, but a slight distance from the surface. The top of the pit was covered with small slabs of the Medina sandstone, and was twenty-four feet square, by four and a half in depth—the planes agreeing with the four cardinal points. It was filled with human bones of both sexes and all ages. They dug down at one extremity and found the same layers to extend to the bottom, which was the same dry loam, and from their calculations, they deduced that at least four thousand souls had perished in one great massacre. In one skull, two flint arrow heads were found, and many had the appearance of having been fractured and cleft open, by a sudden blow. They were piled in regular layers, but with no regard to size or sex. Pieces of pottery were picked up in the pit, and had also been ploughed up in the field adjacent. Traces of a log council house were plainly discernable. For, in an oblong square, the soil was poor, as if it had never been cultivated, till the whites broke it up; and where the logs of the house had decayed, was a strip of rich mould. A maple tree, over the pit, being cut down, two hundred and fifty concentric circles were counted, making the mound to be anterior to as many years. It has been supposed by the villagers that the bones were deposited there before the discovery of America, but the finding of some metal tools with a French stamp, places the date within our period. One hundred and fifty persons a day visited this spot the first season, and carried off the bones. They are now nearly all gone, and the pit ploughed over. Will any antiquarian inform us, if possible, why these bones were placed here? To what tribe do they belong? When did such a massacre occur?

None of the bones of the men were below middle size, but some of them were very large. The teeth were in a perfectly sound state.

PRESENT MEANS OF LIVING ON THE RESERVATION.

1. Rent of land from twelve shillings to three dollars per acre.

2. Sale of timber, fire wood, hemlock bark, staves, saw-logs.

3. Fishing and hunting. Very little now.

4. Raise corn, cattle, horses, hogs, some wheat, &c. &c., cut hay. Young men hire themselves out in harvest time.

BONES.

At Barnegat is an ancient ridge, or narrow raised path, leading from the river some miles, through low grounds; it is an ancient burial ground, on an island, in a swamp.

Bones of the human frame, bone needles, and other ancient remains, are ploughed up at an ancient station, fort or line, in Shelby.

A human head, petrified, was ploughed up by Carrington, sen., in a field in Alabama, Genesee county, and is now in the possession of Mr. Grant, at Barnegat.

Petrified tortoises are said to be ploughed up in many places.

OPINION OF A CHIEF OF THE WORD SENECA.

De-o-ne-ho-ga-wa is the most influential chief of the Tonewandas. He is of the Wolf tribe—born on the forks of the Tonewanda, and is 59 years old. Being interrogated as to the Seneca history, he says, that the tradition of the tribe is clear—that they lived on the banks of the Seneca and Canandaigua lakes. They were called Nun-do-wau-onuh, or People of the Hill, from an eminence now called Fort Hill, at the head of Canandaigua lake. They are now called, or, rather, call themselves, Nun-do-wau-gau. The inflection onuh, in former times, denoted residence, at a hill; the particle agau, in the latter, is a more enlarged term for locality, corresponding to their present dispersed condition.

The word Seneca, he affirms, is not of Indian origin. While they lived in Ontario, there was a white man called Seneca, who lived on the banks of the lake of that name. Who he was, where he came from, and to what nation he belonged, he does not know. But wherever he originated, he was noted for his bravery, wisdom and strength. He became so proverbial for these noble qualities, that it was usual to say of such, and such a one, among themselves, he is as brave as Seneca, as wise as Seneca, as noble as Seneca. Whether the lake was called after him, or he took his name from the lake, is not known. But the name itself is of European origin. The tribe were eventually called Senecas from their local residence. The idea, he says, was pleasing to them, for they thought themselves the most brave and indomitable of men. Of all the races of the Ongwe-Hon-we, they esteemed themselves the most superior in courage, endurance and enterprize.

He refers to Te-to-yoah of Cattaraugus for further information.

On reference to Te-to-yoah, some time afterwards, he had no tradition on this particular subject. The probability is, that Blacksmith meant only to say, that the name was not Seneca. So far is true. What he says of a great man living on Seneca lake, &c., in older times, is probably a reproduction, in his mind, of an account of Seneca, the moralist, which has been told him, or some Indian from whom he had it, in days by-gone.

As the name of Seneca is one of the earliest we hear, after 1609, it was probably a Mohawk term for that people. It is spelt with a _k_ in old French authors.

LEWISTON. [Frontier House.]

The Tuscarora clans are the following:

The Turtle.

The Wolf.

The Bear.

The Beaver.

The Snipe, or Plover.

The Eel. This is not an Iroquois totem.

The Land Tortoise.

They have lost the Falcon, Deer and Crane, perhaps in their disastrous wars of 1713. By this it appears they have lost one clan entirely—probably in their defeat on the Taw river, in N. Carolina. Two others of the clans are changed, namely, the Falcon and Deer, for which they have substituted the Land Tortoise and Eel.

Descent is by the chief’s mother and her clan, her daughter or nearest kin, to be settled in council. The adoption of chiefs was allowed, where there was failure of descent.

Curious barrow, or mound, on Dr. Scovill’s place—to be examined. Two others, near the old mill and orchard.

Old fort of KIENUKA, to be visited.

Get vocabulary of Tuscarora, to compare.

This tribe has gone through a severe ordeal, their history is full of incident. The following list shews their number in North Carolina, and all other Indians of that colony in 1708.

Tuscaroras, living in 15 towns, 1,200 men. Waccons, in 2 towns, 120 Maramiskeets, 30 Bear Rivers, 50 Hatteras, 16 Neuse, in 2 towns, 15 Pamlico, 15 Meherrin, 50 Chowan, 15 Paspatank, 10 Poteskeets of Carrituk, 30 Nottoways, 30 Connamox, in 2 towns, 25 Jaupim, 2 ——- 1,608 =====

Visited James Cusick, the brother of DAVID, the Indian archæologist, preacher to the Tusks, pictures in the house, old deeds from Carolina.

Sunday. Attended Mr. Rockwood’s meeting, admirable behavior of all, dress well, good singing. W. Chew interprets.

Females, however, adhere to their ancient costume.

Women more pertinacious in their social habits and customs than men.

Tuscaroras raise much wheat, cattle, horses, quite in advance of the other tribes in agriculture.