,0 '-. ^^. -^ V" f ' • °' c ■.y. ■a? ^ *■^ The Legend of the Finder Lakes With Something of Their Indian Lore, Traditions And Present Day Charms By FRED TELLER, HISTORIAN Seneca County Historical Society SENECA PRESS PUBLISHING CO. Seneca Falls, N. Y. Coyprighted 1920 By FRED TELLER Mi I I I9^U ©CU573355 INDRODUCTORY GLANCE at the map of the State of New York will disclose that it has been prodigally endowed wth many natural physical characteristics. At its southeast corner lies a strip of ocean frontage, yet it is sufficient to contain one of .the largest and mose secure of harbors. Within it and along the Hudson River all the navies of the world could ride at anchor. Taking advantage of what nature has provided, the world's metropolis spreads out and over this environment. The stability, development and wealth of the city of New York staggers the imagination. Along the northern boundary of this state flows the river St. Lawrence. A river of a thousand isles. Borne upon its breast, the waters of Lake Ontario, itself an inland sea, forgathers with a chain of allied lakes the flood-tide of an ocean. As though nature had not already been profuse enough in the interior of this same state, are the Finger Lakes. They are situated in a country that was fashioned by the hand of the Great Spirit. He created it after the pattern of the Happy Hunting Grounds, the red man's future Heaven. None but a God of the Chase could have created such a country. In it and under the sunshine of his smile his people grew up symmet- rical, sunbronzed Titans. I nindian summer, the time of the harvest and corn dance, their lands turned into pure gold. Though seeming wild people and barbarians, they formed a confederation that was singularly effective. With crude nature's v.'capons they conquered and held in subjection a territory greater in extent than Rome had ruled in her palmiest days. To-day these Finger Lakes seera like an artist's dream.. Spread out side by side, each in its emerald setting, .iust as a jeweler would arrange them, these gems of the red man's God, sparkling and glis- tening, span with radiance the diadem that crowns the Empire State. (F ;^>iiyiiiiiiiii[iwiMM fP- f ^B ni P^ ^ B^ I^B f M m" i LgJ \^Mi H HH^wKjTfJH^I ^^^^^i^H^ W^^^^sttF^^S^ ^^a:\- i q^HpBJB^ rmiki"' tfl^^^jTJHj pps^i ? 1 To that Big Sachem of the Senecas Who sits at the Great Council Fire at Washington and so fully represents a goodly porton of the Finger Lakes Country, The Hon. Norman J. Gould, this work is most respectfully inscribed. The Legend of the Finger Lakes By Fred Teller. (Copyrighted 1920.) The Water Trail. If a hundred and fifty odd years ago you were under the necessity of jour- neying- into the interior of the central l)art o^ the State of New York your easiest method of doing so would have l>een by water. The Indians embarking in their birch- cn canoes near the site of the present city of Schenectady, the Tndian mean- ing of which is "the river valley be- j'ond or through the pine trees," pad- dled wcstwaid in comparatively good t hough shallow water up the Mohawk river against a sluggish current. The course lay around many twists and bends and through and over a con- .siderable numljer of rifts and rapids. The most noteworthy drop in the river was at vv'hat was called "The Falls," now "Little Falls." Hero the water of ihe Mohawk fell a distance of forty feet. The cniry from the landing at the loot of the falls to the landing at the lir;)(l of the falls was a distance cf t 111 cc (iiiaiters of a mile. Tlicre would have been encountered »"" <^ course of this trip mnnv shallow I . o-"'' toids where there were loose p'^ , r gravel on the bottom where i .jjCnt rnn gently. Here the water he vG" filt.'icd murmured softlv a;-; it rippled almost imperceptably upon its way, humming a monitone amid the hush of nature's solitude. It was at these crossing places where by devious paths you could manage to get from one side of the river to the other with difliculty that the deer and otlier animals came down from their (lens and lairs in the neighboring for- ests and putting their muzzles into the depressions in the gravelly bed of the river quenched their thirst. At other places the beaver had felled timber across some tributary or the streain itself and dammed the water so that it spread out into great wide stretches of wet and marshy land. The voyagers at many of these places liad to disembark and either float over or carry their loads around the ob- structions. Always it was against the ciinent. Always the grade ascended atid ran more or less uphill. It re- quired constant push and endeavor all of the way. In this manner quite leisurely and deliberately as was the custom, and in- tl;'( d the alisolute necessity because of conditions ns they existed in those days \"ou eventually arrived at the headquar- ters of the Mohawk. tt was at this place that "Old Fort .Scthuyler" v.-as afterward built. It wns a place of considerable stragetical im- portance. The different forts that were erected at or near there are woven into the history of the French and In- dian, Colonial and Revolutionary wars. The enterprising city of Rome and its environs are spread out at and around this very interesting and his- toric locality. It was at this place that the first stage of the journey ended. The voy- agers had arrived at "The Portage" as this place was known in those days. It was a little over one hundred and twen- ty miles out from the starting point near Schenectady. It was the ridge of the watershed that fed the streams that flowed on its ••astern slope down into the Mohawk valley and upon its western side began the tributaries that flowed in an op- posite direction down into what was known as "The Land of Many Lakes." now better known as "The Finger Lake Region" of central New York. Singularly enough the early survey- ors in running their levels found that the source of the Mohawk at this point was some two feet and a fraction higher than an adjacent stream to the west, then and still known as Wood Creek, which flowed by easy descent into the Oneida lake. A bend in this latter stream brought these two places close together here so that The Carry or Portage was but a scant mile. Here it was everybody out. So with many a grunt and guttural exclamation the contents of the canoes wore un- loaded and distributed. Then the boats titemselves were withdrawn from the water. Then in a long Indian file as the rcdmen were accustomed to tiavcl they trailed away to the west. First came the leading men of the party. They were not by any moans overly laden, as they simply bore their arms and accoutcrments. Next came the squaws, staggering under the weight of the overturned canoes. These were fastened by a deerskin throng or head strap passing around the fore- head. Behind these came the strag- s glers, children, papooses and camp-fol- I lowers generally. The rear end was I usually safeguarded by a few trusted f warriors, who traveled a short distance Ijehind. Each one carried a burden of some kind, their allotment of supplies, ^ utensils or camp equipment. Time is comparative. A century is as scientists tell us as scarce a move- ^ ment of the second hand upon the great cycle of time. While as regards eternity it is as but imperceptability. Therefore, let us suppose that as the last straggler having gathered together A his allotment to have paused that im- I perceptible second before swinging into I the end of the line and like Lot's wife « looked back upon his trail. As he indifferently parted the under brush and turned to look backward to the place where they had pulled their boats out of the water, let us imagine ^ aLso that the calculations of the scien- tists to have suffered an exceedingly slight miscalculation. As a consequence *■ time slips forward an inconsequential century or so. ^ What a change ensues before the eyes of the 4)eering red man. He can not realize it. Quickly he raises his * four fingers and closing them together i places them against his forehead. Thus J shielding the sun from his eyes he looks keenly and intentlj'. All of his faculties of woodcraft are brought to - bear that he may in some way solve this mystery. An unbelievable transformation has taken place before his eyes. He is peer- ing across the intervening years, and ' his eyes are beholding the ceasless in- dustrial action that is occurring to-day in this twentieth century. Gone are the waving verdure of the quiet peaceful tapestried greenwood.' Before him he sees and hears a strange head-throbbing bedlam. His eyes ^>e- hold the turmoil and activities that occuriing in the present enterpris city of Rome. The wonders of mof achievement are pursuing their e day round of the white man's burden j-before his vision. Amongr other marvels he sees sweep- ing by like a flash is a massive snort- '\\ng terrifying geni. It is the modern type of the powerful locomotive draw- ing its long train of Pullman drawing i^room coaches as with a final shriek of the whistle, ringing of bells and grind- ing of the brakes it pulls in at the Rome railroad station. It discharges passengers that have made the same trip that his party has u taken days of hard toil to make in as many hours. Had he chanced to have .^raised his gaze upward to the heavens he would have seen a greater monstros- ity still. He would have seen the -birdman as he swept gracefully thro' the air who would have counted the same trip as a matter of minutes. Bewildered and astounded, had he assumed to have spoken of these things ^, to his fellows as they sat around the camp fire that evening, how quickly they would have stalked his breath to the windward to see if he had been drinking of the firewater of the pale- faces. If they had not found this to have been the cause of his strange delusions, how sadly they would have shaken their heads. How quickly and how J summarily they would have hustled him over to the medicine man's wig- wam. What powerful and drastic treat- ' ment of counter magic they would have givon him to drive out of his system ^ those rvil devils that were the cause without question of such strange hal- lucinations; It was customary after making the carry at The Portage to go into camp ,tor a few days somewhere along Wood Creek. This was for the purpose of going over the canoes and equipment, 'to rest up after completement of the strenuous part of the journey and per- chance to hobnob with the other camp- ' -i-S parties that might for a similar njrpose be sojourning along the creek. <' You must remember that this was I the great natural water highway in those days. The route that led east and west through the state. Where the voyagers were now stopping was also, figuratively speaking, the thresh- old over which one passed into the entryway that at the other end opened into the country of the Finger Lakes. The nomadic habits of the aboriginal people inhabiting this region at this time was such that you were almost sure of finding one or more of these restless, roving tribal parties making camp along its banks. The embers of many former campflres were strewn along the borders of this stream. It made no difference whether the parties were traveling east or west, it was but natural to stop here as long as they had to disembark anyway. So as they were in the habit of following the lines of least resistance and time was not a very valuable asset, it had be- come a matter of custom to tarry here for a more or less extended period. Here they were liable to meet fishing, hunting and parties of various kinds that were going into the interior coun- try or beyond, some even going as far west as the Ohio country. Then there were Sachems, Sagamores and their followers on their way either to or from the councils at the Great Council House of the Six Nations at Onondaga. Then there were warriors, braves, In- dian runners and war parties, prison- ers, captives, Jesuit missionaries and a motley procession who all made use of this route which nature had so hand- ily and conveniently fashioned for their u.se. As you can imagine, this was a great rendezvous, for where so many converging lines from so many differ- ent directions came together, this was a favorite gathering place. How many smoke signals, wigwams and swift moving moccasined feet of the Indian runner has gathered here an army up- on the occasion of a foray upon an enemy's territories. One notable occasion many may re- call. It happened but a very few years later than the time of which we are hi writing. It was when General St. Leger, some British and Canadian regi- ments and "The Royal Greens" joined forces here with the Butlers, Brandts, Johnsons and Mohawk Valley tories and their Indian allies, a portion of which were of the Six Nations. There was gathered here also vast quantities of supplies and army stores that had been polled and floated up the Wood Creek on batteaux in prepa- ration for descending upon and laying desolate the Mohawk Valley and form- ing a junction with General Burgoyne. Happily however there resided in that valley men of brave and sturdy frames and stout hearts. This fron- tier militia hastily gathered, and against great odds fought and won a short distance east of here the bloody and decisive battle of Oriskany. It was one of the most decisive battles in its results in American history. After the carry had been made by our travelers a camp site was selected somewhere along Wood Creek. By the time that camp had been made the day was pretty well spent. The odors of cooking venison, game and fish that the squaws were preparing met the nostrils of those with good healthy out of doors appetites. As the violet deepened into purple a satiety of appetite a relaxation from care and a period of rest and freedom ensued. Then as the evening shadows further deepened and the phantom shades of night were drawn, the lurid flame of the campfire blazed up. It threw out a cheering, mellow glow. Brightly it shown upon the faces and forms of those that were lounging or were seat- rd in the circle of its light. Some by the aid of its light were busy mending their traps, nets or spears. Adjacent stood the upright flg- uie of the story teller. His figure cast vl;rotesnue shadows against the gloom jing as he gesticulates in relating some (.fVainting adventure or tradition. His ijiistf ners nod approvingly as he relates some interesting detail or makes some particularly happy hit. The shrill voice of the squaws and those at their various duties carry a pleasant and agreeable sound as they call back and forth to each other. So also the laughter of the younger ones as intently at play they romp, yell and chase each other. Softly and at inter- vals upon the still night air the sad note of the Indian lover's lute is borne to us as he plaintively serenades his rfdskined enamorata. There rests over all the camp a feel- ing of sweet content and happy antici- pation, for upon a near morrow the canoes newly seemed and mended will lake the water again. Then will be- gin the further journey into the be- yonds. It will naturally be very much easier. The cuiient will be with us, and we will diiCt easily and smoothly along upon our way. It will require but little effort to manage our craft, simply that required to guide its course .ns we piorotd fuither upon our voy- age of exploration. Where the waters of Wood Creek t:iiiiL'li' Willi ilif \'(M->' much larger liody of woter known as the Oneida lake our bark upon an even keel will, by long reaches and over its wide waters, glidi- .nvay a.« smoothly and as grace- fully as does the snow-white brest of the wild swan to where its waters wash its further shore. At this same farther shore we will drift onward with the current into a broad river, a river of exceeding pleas- rntnosr; and of great extent. As we journey along this river we will find Hint there are many other streams, branches, inlets and waterways that empty into it. Most of these connect- ing streams we will find come into it from the south and many of them aie the outlakes from lakes. There are many of these lakes in that direction that feed these outlets They are of many sizes, some quite ' small and some much larger bodies ot water. They stretch a goodly distance across the state of New York. Alto gether they drain the watershed of a very large area of country. In shape several of the larger ones are long and narrow. They resemble very much in form the outstretched fingers of a gigantic hand. Because of this resemblance they have accord- ingly been given the name of "The Finger Lakes." It was about this same period of time that our travelers were toUowing up these watertrails into the interior of the present state of New York that his excellency, Governor Tryon of this provence, caused to be prepared a map of the territories which it now com- prises. This state at that time was still a colony of Great Britain. It was the first map ever attempted, having for its object the plotting out of the present entire confines of New York State. This map is now known and care- fully preserved in the state archives as the Guy Johnson map of 1771. It was prepared by the close relative and assistant of Sir William Johnson, whose name it bears. Certainly there were no persons better qualified to prepare a work of this character than this great friend of the most promi- nent man of his time, Sir William John- son. This Baronet, Sir William John- son, was the trusted Indian agent of the crown, the true friend of the load- ers of the Six Nations and the most widely known man in this connection in the American colonies. To show how little the lake region was known at that time, there is very ingeniously printed in the neighl)or- hood of where the lakes are situated a paragraph which reads "there are more lakes hereabouts, but they cannot be laid down with certainty." This expression holds good even to- day, for there are many of these lakes. They are of all shapes, sizes and kinds. Each of them has an individuality and certain distinct physical features char- acteristic of their own. What wonder then that in that happy feeling that pervaded the camp that evening that as into the arms of Mor- pheus their tired frames sank that their fancies ranged over and beyond the boundaries that lay to the west and miraged their anticipations into a Kingdom of Dreams. We question very much, however, whether any of the shapings of their fancy or any vision of even the Happy Hunting Ground itself very far ex- ceeded the actuality of the scenes that they afterward really encountered and became familiar with. Perhaps if we anticipate a little and go forward to a time when our travel- ers were cruising about among the Finger Lakes, we may get an inkling of some of the things that they saw. At one time we may see them in camp along the margin of a tiny inlet that they have discovered far up among the hills. How like a crystal gem it seemed hid away in this crevice. Nay, like a rare glistening jewel packed away within a casket and the green- sward was its grass green velvet lining. Again they would cruise along one of the larger lakes. It would take them quite a number of days to pass along it from one end to the other, let alone explore its tributaries. Then again it seemed sometimes to our travelers that as the prow of their bark parted aside the cat-tailed flag and tangled water growth of drift weed that usually guarded the entrance to one of these larger lakes, and they had unexpectedly merged into its wide and open water surface, that they had un- ■» wittingly crossed over the boundaries that hemmed in mortals and passed into a veritable fairyland. How still and perfect it spread around them in all its mirrored loveli-C ness. Far and away the dome of heaven, as it bent downward from above, was stake-tented down to the circle of the horizon. Within its comli, pass all was bathed in a rich sunshine of amber and gold. In the luminosity^ o X ^ ■? P of its waters were reflections of sylvan glades rare in their half-tones and re- flected lights. Where the deeper shad- .ows lay were the silken shene of rar- est brilliancy. Where the bold head- land jutted out into the lake its sharp outline stopped not at the water's sur- face, but continued fathoms down into its depths. . In the middle distance were the shades of purple and violet. Further back they merg'ed into the softer tones of lilac and tender g'rays, exquisite in the delicacy of their tones. On the nearer shore . were mossy banks and dales and glades of waving foliage. Down through them flowed winding .streams that spread out upon a shore- line where pebbles washed and washed again, until they were snowy white, lay spread upon a silvery strand. Though they have departed their "names are ever upon these lakes, riv- ers and localities. Though they have gone much remains that are a continual memento of that race of beings that have gone before. Much of their pres- ' ence of an indefinite kind still lingers. Their spirit still seems to hover over and cast a spell of romance upon this Eden-land wherein no fig leaves grow. Let us venture further yet afield and ' come down to the present. Upon the .'■.loaping shores of these self same lakes :\to-day there are situated many cities, towns, villages and hamlets. There aic also quite a number of well known i»colleges, seminaries and halls of learn- ing. There are many of the summer .ihomes of the wealthy as well as the humbler slab boathouse of the nature lover and enthusiast. \ The whistle from some passing train of cars that mayhap crosses some cor- J^or of this domain, or the rude blast ol a steamboat, as it turns the bend of )me landlocked lake, awakens momen- xrily the echoes, but as the sound dies ^/■jway in the distance the calm and the 'Uecluded enchantment of this region mesumes its sway. Nature has planned If per handiwork upon so large a scale. however, that the barbaric splendor of these domains remain very much as they were when their former posses- sors, the Indians, roamed them free and undisturbed. What sonorous and liquid names the Indians have blazed upon their trail to identify various localities in this pic- turesque country. They are composed usually of words of short syllables. They fiow as smoothly from the tongue as do the waterfalls and streams they name as they glide over crags and precipices or wind through dales and valleys down to the quiet lakes. They sound, as you become more familiar with their pronunciation, like that of the soothing music of falling water. They also express, yet in terms as a poet might, the clear meaning of what they have given title to. For instance, one of the largest of the Finger Lakes, whose silvery depths are as clarified as crystal and upon whose surface is spread in all kinds of fair weather a glaze of heaven's pur- ity, is at the present time named Sen- eca Lak. The Indians many years be- fore had named it the Kan-a-de-sa-ga. Expressed in the dialect of the Seneca's it meant "The Lake of the beautiful Water." There is situated a few miles east of this lake, upon its outlet, a place where the Seneca river widens out and divides into several smaller streams. This is to make room for and to gather into its embrace a number of islands. The several channels into which the river divides eddies down stream around them into a series of sloaping rapids. Upon these islands and upon both sides of the river around here has since been built the enterprising village of Waterloo. It is the northshire county seat of Seneca county. The Senecas called this place Skoi- yase (pronounced Skoy-yees, as of one syllable.) By means of wiers made of twigs, by spearing and by various other ingenious contrivances, they caught along these narrow waterways great quantities of eels. These they salted and dried in the sun for winter use. The Iroquois came from remote parts of the confederacy to this place to take part in the fishing. So much did they esteem these fish- ing grounds that in the treaty of 1789, entered into between the State of New York and the Cayuga tribe of Indians, there occurs in the second clause this In "The Catherine Vallej'" in Schuy- ler county in the town of Montour, is , the village of Montour Falls. At the west end of one of its principal streets and directly across it rises a huge *■ rocky barrier. High up in the hills above it a mountain stream has worn a passage way into the rock during '* the centuries that have gone by and comes rushing down to the brink and over the face of this barricade, break- reservation: "That the Cayugas slinll have a competent piece of land upon the southern side of the river (Seneca) at the said place (Skoi-yase) sufficient for the said Cayugas to land, encamp upon and to cure their eel." All along these different streams and inlets and upon the rich lov.' inuclvv bottoms on the islands grew in great abundance a tough, hardy shrub, which bore the edible blue whortleberry. It was from these that Skoi-yase took its name. Its meaning being "The Place of Whortleberries." ing into numberless cascades in its passage. These drop with many splat- , teringo and splasliings into a pool be- \o\i Here caught in tlie current of the stream it feeds it puils away to bear its » tribute to the waters of the Kana- dosag.t. The silence of this everlasting liill froin whence it came is broken al-' way by the echoes of its passage. The name that the followers of Cath^ . erine Montour gave it was the She-qua- gnh Falls, meaning "The Place of th!T Roaring or Murmiil-ing Water." Thr^V illustration of these falls v.ith as a fore I ground the west end of the village «^treet, was taken years ago when this community was named Havana. It shows, however, the front of the *Jls and the west end of the street. It was in front of these falls that the Seneca queen, whose name is blazened i:"pon so much of the surrounding coun- try, Catherine Montour, stood while the exiled King of France, Louis Phil- iTppe, penciled the wild, romantic scene. This ex-king at the time was touring across the frontier from Niagara Falls to our seat of government at Philadel- phia. This sketch was after the res- toration hung in the art galleries of the palace of the Touilleries. Nothing in all the realms of fiction can quite equal the proud history of this strange char- acter. With a strain of blood of one of the noblest families of France in her veins, we shall see, as this legend unfolds, what a remarkable career was ^ers. What a marked contrast such names as these were to those that the white J.ian so indiscriminately inflicted upon this and adjoining portions of New York State. After surveyng large tracts of wild land into townships, a further difficulty arose in regard to Tindlng names for all of them. This task was at length assigned to a young, energetic assistant in the surveyor gen- eral's office. He was at the time just completing his Latin and Greek studies. The result of his industry is that the nomenclature of the interior of central New York has every indication of hav- ing been spawned from the dead and gone heroes of Greek and Latin text books. Its further results are that many communities, like southern pica- ninnies, have such ponderous and philo- sophical names that they have about as much relation to the place they naiTie as a Trogan hero of twenty cen- turies gone by would have in taking part in our great world of yesterday. But we have wandered far; our trav- elers encamped along Wood Creek are wrapped in slumber. A few drowsy sentinals keep watch and ward. The fires have died down dim. Anon the moon comes out and casts its beams above the treetops. It shines upon a mighty forest, vast in extent and ma- jestic in its grandeur. It shines upon treetrunks that are gnarled and hoary with age, scarred with battling with the old elements for unnumbered years. "Dark, rich and luxurious they stand like an enchanted army wrapped in an eternal sleep." Thus they have stood, this army of veterans, with arms uplift ed and at attention well nigh since the dawn of creation, awaiting the roll call of the Almighty. The continuation of this legend, of which this is merely introductory, will be of absorbing interest, it will tell you of interesting things of the Finger Lakes country that is not generally known, that should be known. *» ^/^ [. 2^ : ^0 VI ^0 <^„ * 3 *,.o- u -^ V c. ° " ° * >S^. <5> o*, DOBBSEROS. -^. « ^ l' LIBRARY BINDING ^ Q> , ' ti -^ o ' ^ ST. AUGUSTINE -^ ^^ /^%, FLA. 0^ .-"^ "^O ^f084^Ki^v -^ c:^'