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85-621: Ganargua Creek is part of the Clyde River watershed which feeds the Seneca River . From there, the Seneca River enters the Oswego River and into Lake Ontario . The name Ganargua has been translated as "where the village sprang up" or "a village suddenly sprang up", and the name was given to by the creek by the region's original Iroquois inhabitants. The nickname of 'Mud Creek' is given due to

170-744: A Seneca war party ambushed a British supply train and soldiers in Battle of Devil's Hole , also known as the Devil's Hole massacre, during Pontiac's Rebellion . After the American Revolutionary War broke out between the British and the colonists, the Seneca at first attempted to remain neutral but both sides tried to bring them into the action. When the rebel colonists defeated the British at Fort Stanwix , they killed many Seneca onlookers. The Seneca Tribe before

255-480: A clan is called the "clan mother". Despite the prominent position of women in Iroquois society, their influence on the diplomacy of the nation was limited. If the "clan mothers" do not agree with any major decisions made by the chiefs, they can eventually depose them. Arrows from the area are made from split hickory, although shoots of dogwood and Viburnum were used as well. The eastern two feather style of fletching

340-624: A covenant belt. The Americans attempted a similar wine and dine method on the Tuscarora and Oneidas. In the end, the Mohawk, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca sided with the British, and the Tuscarora and Oneida sided with the Americans. From this point on, the Iroquois would have a serious role in the American Revolution. The war divided them and now they would be fighting against each other from 1777 till

425-518: A dissolution of their traditional society under pressure of disease and encroachment by European Americans. But fieldwork at the 1715–1754 Seneca Townley-Read site near Geneva, New York , has recovered evidence of "substantial Seneca autonomy, selectivity, innovation, and opportunism in an era usually considered to be one of cultural disintegration". In 1756, the Confederacy directed the Munsee to settle in

510-525: A new satellite town in Seneca territory called Assinisink (where Corning developed) on the Chemung River. In this period, they developed satellite towns for war captives who were being assimilated near several of their major towns. The Seneca received some of the Munsee's war prisoners as part of their negotiations. At a peace conference in Easton, Pennsylvania in 1758, the Seneca chief Tagashata required

595-516: A part of this confederacy with the Cayuga , Onondagas , Oneidas , Mohawks , and, later on, the Tuscaroras . However, although the Seneca and Iroquois tribes had ceased fighting each other, they still continued to conduct raids on outsiders, or rather their European visitors. Despite the Iroquois continuing raids on their new European neighbors, the Iroquois tribes struck up profitable relationships with

680-681: A state-owned waterway, the Cayuga-Seneca Canal , which contains eleven locks in 21 miles (34 km). Construction of the Seneca reach of the Erie Canal began in the 1820s. The channel between Three Rivers and Cayuga Lake was widened and straightened to accommodate barges, and other reaches were bypassed via the construction of parallel canals. The canal path had to cross the Seneca River at several points, so locks were built to lower boats down to river level, where they were towed across aided by temporary wooden bridges. In 1849 work began to separate

765-454: Is Butternut Run in the town of Lyons. Use of Ganargua Creek dates back to pre- colonial times. It was a primary stopover point for the Iroquois on their trade routes. Mormonism founder Joseph Smith also had an interest in the creek after hearing a speech from Seneca Indian Chief Red Jacket at Palmyra in 1822. Before the Erie Canal was constructed in 1817, Ganargua Creek originally met

850-531: Is named for the Seneca people , whose traditional lands extended roughly between Lake Erie and Seneca Lake. The Onondaga inhabited the area in present-day Onondaga County, around Onondaga Lake and Syracuse, and the Cayuga inhabited the river valley and lakeshores in between. All three were part of the Iroquois League , which is believed to have been established between 1570 and 1600. For hundreds of years before

935-659: Is overgrown with brush. In the early 1920s, the material that made up the Bare Hill fort was used by the Town of Middlesex highway department for road fill. The Seneca historically lived in what is now New York state between the Genesee River and Canandaigua Lake . The dating of an oral tradition mentioning a solar eclipse yields 1142 AD as the year for the Seneca joining the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee). Some recent archaeological evidence indicates their territory eventually extended to

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1020-623: Is typical from this region. During the colonial period, the Seneca became involved in the fur trade , first with the Dutch and then with the British. This served to increase hostility with competing native groups, especially their traditional enemy, the Huron (Wyandot), an Iroquoian-speaking tribe located near Lac Toronto in New France . In 1609, the French allied with the Huron (Wyandot) and set out to destroy

1105-733: The Allegheny River in present-day northwestern Pennsylvania, particularly after the Iroquois destroyed both the Wenrohronon and Erie nations in the 17th century, who were native to the area. The Seneca were by far the most populous of the Haudenosaunee nations, numbering about four thousand by the seventeenth century. Seneca villages were located as far east as current-day Schuyler County (e.g. Catherine's Town and Kanadaseaga ), south into current Tioga and Chemung counties, north and east into Tompkins and Cayuga counties, and west into

1190-771: The Canandaigua Outlet and the Clyde River into the Seneca River. Keuka Lake empties into Seneca Lake via the Keuka Lake Outlet. Owasco and Skaneateles Lakes join the Seneca through their eponymous outlet streams, while Otisco Lake flows via Ninemile Creek into Onondaga Lake , which in turn empties into the Seneca. Left Black Brook Clyde River Crusoe Creek Spring Lake Outlet Muskrat Creek Right Kendig Creek Silver Creek Sucker Brook Sampson Creek Demont Creek Cayuga Lake Crane Brook Owasco River Skaneateles Creek Dead Creek Crooked Brook Onondaga Lake The river

1275-796: The Canandaigua Outlet in Lyons to form the Clyde River . Some parks and hiking trails are located along Ganargua Creek, primarily in Wayne County, including Ganargua Creek Meadow Preserve in Macedon, Gravino Park in Macedon, Aqueduct Park in Palmyra, the Erie Canalway Trail in Palmyra, Swifts Landing Park near Palmyra, Norsen Bridge Park near Newark and Abbey Park in Lyons. Seneca River (New York) The Seneca River flows 61.6 miles (99.1 km) through

1360-770: The Chemung River to the Susquehanna River. At Tioga the Seneca had access to every corner of Munsee country. Seneca warriors traveled the Forbidden Path south to Tioga to the Great Warrior Path to Scranton and then east over the Minnisink Path through the Lorde's valley to Minisink . The Delaware River path went straight south through the ancient Indian towns of Cookhouse , Cochecton and Minnisink, where it became

1445-559: The Delaware Water Gap and the western Catskills. The men of both branches of the Seneca wore the same headgear. Like the other Haudenosaunee, they wore hats with dried cornhusks on top. The Seneca wore theirs with one feather sticking up straight. Traditionally, the Seneca Nation's economy was based on hunting and gathering activities, fishing, and the cultivation of varieties of corn , beans , and squash . These vegetables were

1530-691: The Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York in the United States . The main tributary of the Oswego River – the second-largest river flowing into Lake Ontario – the Seneca drains 3,468 square miles (8,980 km ) in parts of fourteen New York counties. The Seneca flows generally east, and is wide and deep with a gentle gradient. Much of the river has been channelized to form part of the Erie Canal . The Seneca River begins at Geneva in Seneca County , as

1615-402: The Genesee River valley. The villages were the homes and headquarters of the Seneca. While the Seneca maintained substantial permanent settlements and raised agricultural crops in the vicinity of their villages, they also hunted widely through extensive areas. They also executed far-reaching military campaigns. The villages, where hunting and military campaigns were planned and executed, indicate

1700-891: The Huron (Wyandot) To the South, the Iroquoian -speaking tribes of the Susquehannock (Conestoga) also threatened constant warfare. The Algonquian tribes of the Mohican blocked access to the Hudson River in the east and northeast. In the southeast, the Algonkian tribes of the Lenape people (Delaware, Minnisink and Esopus) threatened war from eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey and the Lower Hudson. The Seneca used

1785-513: The Lenape Indians, an Algonquian-speaking people whose territory extended deep along the coastal areas of the mid-Atlantic coast, up into present-day Connecticut. They occupied the western part of Long Island as well. The Lenape nation was Algonkian -speaking and made up of the Delaware , Minnisink and Esopus bands, differentiated according to their territories. These bands later became known as

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1870-643: The Minsi Path . Using these ancient highways, the Seneca exerted influence in what is today Ulster and Sullivan counties from the Dutch colonial era onward. Historical evidence demonstrating Seneca presence in the Lower Catskills includes: In 1657 and 1658, the Seneca visited, as diplomats, Dutch colonial officials in New Amsterdam. In 1659 and 1660, the Seneca interceded in the First Esopus War , which

1955-602: The Munsee , based on their shared dialect. (Folts at pp 32) The Munsee inhabited large tracts of land from the middle Hudson into the Delaware Water Gap , and into northeast Pennsylvania and northwest New Jersey . The Esopus inhabited the Mid-Hudson valley (Sullivan and Ulster counties). The Minnisink inhabited northwest New Jersey. The Delaware inhabited the southern Susquehanna and Delaware water gaps. The Minnisink-Esopus trail, today's Route 209 , helped tie this world together. To

2040-821: The Seneca Nation of Indians , with five territories in western New York near Buffalo ; and the Tonawanda Seneca Nation . The Seneca-Cayuga Nation is in Oklahoma , where their ancestors were relocated from Ohio during the Indian Removal . Approximately 1,000 Seneca live in Canada, near Brantford, Ontario , at the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation . They are descendants of Seneca who resettled there after

2125-546: The animal side, and the Deer, Hawk, Snipe, and Heron are the bird side. The Iroquois have a matrilineal kinship system ; inheritance and property descend through the maternal line. Women are in charge of the clans. Children are considered born into their mother's clan and take their social status from her family. Their mother's eldest brother was traditionally more of a major figure in their lives than their biological father, who does not belong to their clan. The presiding elder of

2210-548: The "Upper" on watershed documents, begins in the Ontario County town of Victor at the confluence of Mud Creek, Fish Creek and Great Brook near the Ontario Central Railroad line between NY Route 96 and Plaster Mill Road. The primary source feeding Ganargua Creek is Mud Creek which starts on the southern end of Ontario County near Bristol Mountain . From the confluence, Ganargua Creek flows north and east through

2295-486: The American Revolution had a prosperous society. The Iroquois Confederacy had ended the fighting amongst the war-based Iroquois tribes and allowed them to live in peace with each other. Yet, despite this peace amongst themselves, the Iroquois tribes were all revered as fierce warriors and were reputed to control together a large empire that stretched hundreds of miles along the Appalachian Mountains. The Seneca were

2380-604: The American Revolution, as they had been allies of the British and forced to cede much of their lands . The Seneca's own name for themselves is O-non-dowa-gah or Onödowá’ga , meaning "Great Hill People" The exonym Seneca is "the Anglicized form of the Dutch pronunciation of the Mohegan rendering of the Iroquoian ethnic appellative" originally referring to the Oneida. The Dutch applied

2465-748: The American Revolution. Notable raids like the Cherry Valley massacre and Battle of Minisink , were carefully planned raids on a trail laid out "from the Susquehanna to the Delaware Valley and over the Pine Hill to the Esopus Country". In 1778 Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, and Mohawk warriors conducted raids on white settlements in the upper Susquehanna Valley. Although the Iroquois were active participants, Seneca like Governor Blacksnake were extremely fed up with

2550-587: The British as a conflict meant to include only them. The Albany Council occurred in August, and the Iroquois Confederacy debated about the Revolution from August 25 to August 31. The non-Iroquois present at the council consisted of important figures like Philip Schuyler , Oliver Wolcott , Turbutt Francis , Volkert Douw , Samuel Kirkland , and James Dean. The Iroquois at the council were representatives from all

2635-542: The British, were disliked by the Seneca because of their continual disregard for the Treaty of Fort Stanwix. Specifically, the Iroquois were enraged by the Americans movement into the Ohio Territory. However, despite their continual encroachment on established Iroquois land, the Americans respected their skills at warfare and attempted to exclude them from their conflict with the British. The Americans viewed their conflict with

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2720-557: The British: "[I]mmediately after arrival the officers came to see us to See what wanted for to Support the Indians with prvisions and with the flood of Rum. they are Some of the ... warriors made use of this intoxicating Drinks, there was several Barrel Delivered to us for us to Drinked for the white man told us to Drinked as much as we want of it all free gratus, and the goods if any of us wishes to get for our own use." Contingent to this generosity

2805-564: The Delaware to trade with the Dutch in New Amsterdam ( Manhattan ). In 1634, war broke out between the Delaware and the Susquehannock, and by 1638, the defeated Delaware became tributaries to the Susquehanna. The Iroquois Confederacy to the north was growing in strength and numbers, and the Seneca, as the most numerous and adventurous, began to travel extensively. Eastern Seneca traveled down

2890-481: The Erie Canal for roughly three miles before breaking off and continuing northeast. The 18-mile (29-kilometer) northern section of Ganargua Creek, known as the "Lower" on watershed documents, begins in the Wayne County town of Palmyra at a spillway off the Erie Canal near Swifts Landing Park west of Galloway Road along NY Route 31 . Access to the area can be made from the Erie Canalway Trail via Swifts Landing Park on Hogback Road. Ganargua Creek runs northeast towards

2975-405: The Erie Canal system. Most of the aqueduct was dynamited in the 1910s to allow navigation on the Barge Canal. Certain points on the Seneca River were an early center of development for industry. Seneca Falls is the location of the only significant natural drop on the river, which was utilized in the early days to power water mills. Where the river had no natural falls, mill dams were built, one of

3060-427: The Europeans, especially the English. In 1677, the English were able to make an alliance with the Iroquois league called the "Covenant Chain". In 1768, the English renewed this alliance when Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet signed the Treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1768. This treaty put the British in good favor with the Iroquois, as they felt that the British had their best interests in mind as well. The Americans, unlike

3145-519: The Genesee and Allegheny rivers, as well as the Great Indian War and Trading Path (the Seneca Trail ), to travel from southern Lake Ontario into Pennsylvania and Ohio (Merrill, Arch. Land of the Senecas ; Empire State Books, 1949, pp. 18–25). The eastern Seneca had territory just north of the intersection of the Chemung , Susquehanna , Tioga and Delaware rivers, which converged in Tioga. The rivers provided passage deep into all parts of eastern and western Pennsylvania, as well as east and northeast into

3230-473: The Iroquois Confederacy Council. The western Seneca lived predominantly in and around the Genesee River , gradually moving west and southwest along Lake Erie and the Niagara River , then south along the Allegheny River into Pennsylvania. The eastern Seneca lived predominantly south of Seneca Lake . They moved south and east into Pennsylvania and the western Catskill area. The west and north were under constant attack from their powerful Iroquoian brethren,

3315-525: The Iroquois and other Native Americans as savages and lesser people. An example of this rhetoric came in the Declaration of Independence: "the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions." As a result of this terrible rhetoric, many Mohawk, Cayuga, Onondaga, and Seneca prepared to join the British. However, many Oneida and Tuscarora were able to be swayed by an American missionary, Samuel Kirkland . The Iroquois nation began to divide as

3400-455: The Iroquois chose to remain neutral for the time being. They felt it would be best to stand aside while the Colonists and the British battled. They did not wish to get caught up in this supposed "family quarrel between [them] and Old England". Despite this neutrality, the anti-Native American rhetoric of the Americans pushed the Iroquois over to the side of the British. The Americans put forth an extremely racist and divisive message. They viewed

3485-486: The Iroquois. The Iroquois-Huron war raged until approximately 1650. Led by the Seneca, the Confederacy began a near 35-year period of conquest over surrounding tribes following the defeat of its most powerful enemy, the Huron (Wyandot). The Confederacy conducted Mourning Wars to take captives to replace people lost in a severe smallpox epidemic in 1635. Through raids, they stabilized their population after adopting young women and children as captives and incorporating them into

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3570-401: The Mid-Hudson valley. By 1712, the Esopus Indians were reported to have reached the east Pepacton branch of the Delaware River , on the western slopes of the Catskill Mountains . From 1720 to the 1750s, the Seneca resettled and assimilated the Munsee into their people and the Confederacy. Historical accounts had noted the difficulties encountered by the Seneca during this period and noted

3655-425: The Munsee and Minnisink to conclude a peace with the colonists and "take the hatchet out of your heads, and bury it under ground, where it shall always rest and never be taken up again". A large delegation of Iroquois attended this meeting to demonstrate that the Munsee were under their protection. In 1759, as colonial records indicate, negotiators had to go through the Seneca in order to have diplomatic success with

3740-427: The Munsee. Despite the French military campaigns, Seneca power remained far-reaching at the beginning of the 18th century. Gradually, the Seneca began to ally with their trading partners, the Dutch and British , against France 's ambitions in the New World. By 1760 during the Seven Years' War , they helped the British capture Fort Niagara from the French . The Seneca had relative peace from 1760 to 1775. In 1763

3825-425: The Revolution continued and, as a result, they extinguished the council fire that united the six Iroquois nations, therefore ending the Iroquois Confederacy. The Iroquois ended their political unity during the most turbulent time in their history. Two powers in the midst of battle pulled them apart to gain their skill as warriors. This divided the Iroquois and the tribes chose sides based on preference. In addition to

3910-400: The Seneca Indians. The traces of an ancient fort, covering about an acre, and surrounded by a ditch, and formerly by a formidable wall, are still to be seen on top of Bare Hill. They indicate defenses raised by Indian hands, or more probably belong to the labors of a race that preceded the Indian occupation. The wall is now about tumbled down, the stones seem somewhat scattered, and the ground

3995-455: The Seneca River enters Onondaga County . It turns sharply north then east, past Baldwinsville and Liverpool , along the northern edge of metro Syracuse where it receives the outflow of Onondaga Lake . The river then flows north to join the Oneida River at Three Rivers on the Onondaga– Oswego County line, forming the Oswego River . From the confluence, the Oswego flows a further 23 miles (37 km) north, emptying into Lake Ontario at

4080-401: The Seneca had hegemony in these areas. Major Seneca villages were protected with wooden palisades . Ganondagan , with 150 longhouses , was the largest Seneca village of the 17th century, while Chenussio , with 130 longhouses, was a major village of the 18th century. The Seneca nation has two branches: the western and the eastern. Each branch was individually incorporated and recognized by

4165-426: The Seneca homelands. In 1650, the Seneca attacked and defeated the Neutrals to their west. In 1653, the Seneca attacked and defeated the Erie to their southwest. Survivors of both the Huron and Erie were subjugated to the Seneca and relocated to the Seneca homeland. The Seneca took over the vanquished tribe's traditional territories in western New York. In 1675, the Seneca defeated the Andaste (Susquehannock) to

4250-503: The Seneca warriors and Continental Army soldiers by noting that Blacksnake "was not unlike" known Revolutionary veterans " Joseph Plumb Martin and James Collins and other white American [veterans] who could never finally resolve whether killing was right or wrong". As the war went on, many more brutal attacks and atrocities would be committed by both sides, notably the Sullivan Expedition , which devastated Iroquois and Seneca lands. The Iroquois were involved in numerous other battles during

4335-472: The Susquehanna River and were assimilated into the Seneca and Cayuga people . In 1694, Captain Arent Schuyler , in an official report, described the Minnisink chiefs as being fearful of being attacked by the Seneca because of not paying wampum tribute to these Iroquois. Around 1700, the upper Delaware watershed of New York and Pennsylvania became home of the Minnisink Indians moving north and northwest from New Jersey, and of Esopus Indians moving west from

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4420-465: The arrival of Europeans, the river was an important Native American trade route. The first Europeans to reach the Seneca River were likely Jesuit missionaries in the late 1600s, who established an outpost, St. Stephen, on the river shortly below its origin at Seneca Lake. In 1821, the Seneca Lock Navigation Company completed eight locks along the upper Seneca River above Cayuga Lake to allow navigation to Seneca Lake. By 1828, this had been replaced by

4505-402: The attack, the Seneca moved further west, east and south down the Susquehanna River. Although great damage was done to the Seneca homeland, the Seneca's military might was not appreciably weakened. The Confederacy and the Seneca moved into an alliance with the British in the east. In and around 1600, the area currently comprising Sullivan , Ulster and Orange counties of New York was home to

4590-403: The battle from the viewpoint of the victorious Indians: "as we approach to a firghting we had preparate to make one fire and Run amongst them we So, while we Doing it, feels no more to Kill the Beast, and killed most all, the americans army, only a few white man Escape from us ... there I have Seen the most Dead Bodies all it over that I neve Did see." Author Ray Raphael made a connection between

4675-469: The brutality of the war. He noted particularly on his behavior at Oriskany, and how he felt "it was great sinfull by the sight of God". Warriors like Blacksnake were feeling the mental toll of killing so many people during the American Revolution. As Raphael noted in his book, "warfare had been much more personal" for the Iroquois before the American Revolution. During the revolution, these once proud Iroquois were now reduced to conducting brutal acts such as

4760-463: The calf of his leg. This has been the only recorded attack on humans in the river so far. [REDACTED] Media related to Seneca River (New York) at Wikimedia Commons Seneca Indian The Seneca ( / ˈ s ɛ n ɪ k ə / SEN -ik-ə ; Seneca : O-non-dowa-gah/Onöndowa'ga:' , lit.   'Great Hill People') are a group of Indigenous Iroquoian -speaking people who historically lived south of Lake Ontario , one of

4845-403: The canal from the river, to reduce the impact of flooding and sedimentation . The Montezuma Marshes at the outlet of Cayuga Lake were a major obstacle to the Erie Canal path. The stone Seneca River Aqueduct (Richmond Aqueduct), which carried the canal over the Seneca and Clyde Rivers, opened in 1857 after eight years of construction. At 840 feet (260 m) it was the second-longest aqueduct on

4930-595: The central aisle, and two families shared a hearth. Over time they began to build cabins, similar to those of their American neighbors. The main form of social organization is the clan , or ka'sä:te' , nominally each descended from one woman. The Seneca have eight clans: Bear ( nygawai' ), Wolf ( aga̓ta:yö:nih ), Turtle ( ha'no:wa:h ), Beaver( nöganya'göh ), Deer ( neogë ), Hawk ( gaji'da:s ), Snipe ( nödzahgwë' ), and Heron ( jo̙äshä' ). The clans are divided into two sides ( moieties ) – the Bear, Wolf, Turtle , and Beaver are

5015-416: The city of Oswego . The Seneca River watershed drains a total of 3,468 square miles (8,980 km ), or about two-thirds of the greater Oswego River basin. There are about 4,370 miles (7,030 km) of streams in the Seneca basin. The Seneca receives the outflow of seven of the eleven Finger Lakes: Canandaigua , Keuka , Seneca, Cayuga, Owasco , Skaneateles and Otisco . Canandaigua Lake flows via

5100-411: The community of East Palmyra and into the town of Arcadia , following the CSX Transportation railroad line. It will pass just north of the village of Newark and continue northeast along the Ontario Midland Railroad line to just south of the community of Fairville Station at Norsen Bridge Park. Ganargua Creek will then meander its way back southeast along Bauer-Van Wickle Road and Layton Street into

5185-448: The creek, from the right include Trap Brook in Macedon and Hathaway Brook in Palmyra which actually empties into the Erie Canal. On the left side are two waterways named Red Creek. The western one travels through the towns of Walworth , Macedon and Palmyra into Ganargua Creek at the spillway. Not far from there, the eastern one runs through the towns of Marion and Palmyra and enters Ganargua Creek near East Palmyra. The eighth tributary

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5270-408: The earliest of which was at Baldwinsville. In 1915 a dam 80 feet (24 m) high was built at Seneca Falls to generate hydroelectricity. Below Onondaga Lake, the Seneca River is moderately polluted by industrial and domestic waste, including high levels of mercury, PCBs , dioxin and ammonia. The New York State Department of Health advises limited consumption of fish from the lower river. Parts of

5355-413: The end on opposite sides. The Seneca chose to side with the British in the American Revolution. One of the earliest battles the Iroquois were involved in occurred on August 6, 1777, in Oriskany During the Battle of Oriskany , Native Americans led a brutal attack against the rebel Americans where they "killed, wounded, or captured the majority of patriot soldiers". The Seneca Governor Blacksnake described

5440-427: The five Great Lakes in North America . Their nation was the farthest to the west within the Six Nations or Iroquois League ( Haudenosaunee ) in New York before the American Revolution . For this reason, they are called “The Keepers of the Western Door.” In the 21st century, more than 10,000 Seneca live in the United States, which has three federally recognized Seneca tribes. Two of them are centered in New York:

5525-431: The future Lackawanna and into the land of the Minnisink on the New York /New Jersey border. The Seneca tried to curtail the encroachment of white settlers. This increased tensions and conflict with the French to the north and west, and the English and Dutch to the south and east. As buffers, the Confederacy resettled conquered tribes between them and the European settlers, with the greatest concentration of resettlements on

5610-444: The lower Susquehanna. In 1685, King Louis XIV of France sent Marquis de Denonville to govern New France in Quebec. Denonville set out to destroy the Seneca Nation and in 1687 landed a French armada with "the largest army North America had ever seen" at Irondequoit Bay . Denonville struck straight into the seat of Seneca power and destroyed many of its villages, including the Seneca's eastern capital of Ganondagan . Fleeing before

5695-453: The murkiness of the water. Ganargua Creek is a primary spot for fishing , canoeing and kayaking . Even though a channel has been cut through the foliage, paddling trips on the creek can be difficult due to a number of log jams from fallen trees as a result of ice storms which hit the greater Rochester area in 1991 and 2003. At this time the creek is nearly impassable. The 13-mile (21-kilometer) southern section of Ganargua Creek, known as

5780-421: The name Sennecaas promiscuously to the four westernmost nations, the Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca, but with increasing contact the name came to be applied only to the latter. The French called them Sonontouans . The Dutch name is also often spelled Sinnikins or Sinnekars , which was later corrupted to Senecas. Seneca oral history states that the tribe originated in a village called Nundawao, near

5865-438: The nineteenth century, many Seneca adopted customs of their immediate American neighbors by building log cabins , practicing Christianity, and participating in the local agricultural economy. The Seneca traditionally lived in longhouses , which are large buildings that were up to 100 feet long and approximately 20 feet wide. The longhouses were shared among related families and could hold up to 60 people. Hearths were located in

5950-448: The outflow of Seneca Lake , flowing east past Waterloo and Seneca Falls . Skirting the northern end of Cayuga Lake at the Montezuma Marsh , it turns north, receiving the Clyde River from the west, forming the Seneca– Cayuga county line, then the border of Cayuga and Wayne counties. The river passes under Interstate 90 , flowing northeast past Weedsport , across the middle of Cayuga County into Cross Lake . Below Cross Lake,

6035-441: The push of American bigoted rhetoric, the British also continued to attempt to sway the Iroquois towards their side. One British attempt to sway the Iroquois was described by two Seneca tribesmen, Mary Jemison and Governor Blacksnake . They both described the grandeur of the lavish gifts that the British bestowed upon the Iroquois. Governor Blacksnake's account held many details about the luxurious treatment that they received from

6120-511: The river are infested by non-native zebra mussels , which have depleted the level of dissolved oxygen, impacting fish populations. The population density of mussels in one particular section of the river below Cross Lake is considered among the highest in North America. The river is home to a population of common snapping turtles . In July 2001, there was a recorded attack on a 43-year-old man, near Fobes Island, who sustained minor injuries to

6205-582: The south and southeast. The Confederacy's hegemony extended along the frontier from Canada to Ohio, deep into Pennsylvania, along the Mohawk Valley and into the lower Hudson in the east. They sought peace with the Algonquian-speaking Mohegan (Mahican), who lived along the Hudson River. Within the Confederacy, Seneca power and presence extended from Canada to what would become Pittsburgh, east to

6290-571: The south end of Canandaigua Lake , at South Hill. Close to South Hill stands the 865-foot-high (264 m) Bare Hill, known to the Seneca as Genundowa . Bare Hill is part of the Bare Hill Unique Area, which began to be acquired by the state in 1989. Bare Hill had been the site of a Seneca (or Seneca-ancestral people) fort. The first written reference to this fort was made in 1825 by the Tuscarora historian David Cusick in his history of

6375-456: The staple of the Haudenosaunee diet and were called "the three sisters " (työhe'hköh). Seneca women generally grew and harvested varieties of the three sisters, as well as gathering and processing medicinal plants, roots, berries, nuts, and fruit. Seneca women held sole ownership of all the land and the homes. The women also tended to any domesticated animals such as dogs and turkeys. Seneca men were generally in charge of locating and developing

6460-542: The town and hamlet of Lyons where it will finally enter the Erie Canal at Miller's Marina near Abbey Park west of Lock #27. This section between Palmyra and Lyons is where the most paddling of Ganargua Creek occurs as the other section is quite shallow and unsuitable. There are eight primary tributaries feeding Ganargua Creek which are part of its watershed although other minor waterways directly enter it as well. First are Mud Creek, Fish Creek and Great Brook which meet together to form Ganargua Creek near Victor. Further down

6545-429: The town sites, including clearing the forest for the production of fields. Seneca men also spent a great deal of time hunting and fishing. This activity took them away from the towns or villages to well-known and productive hunting and fishing grounds for extended amounts of time. These hunting and fishing locations were altered and well maintained to encourage game; they were not simply "wild" lands. Seneca men maintained

6630-428: The traditional title of war sachems within the Haudenosaunee. A Seneca war sachem was in charge of gathering the warriors and leading them into battle. Seneca people lived in villages and towns. Archaeological excavations indicate that some of these villages were surrounded by palisades because of warfare. These towns were relocated every ten to twenty years as soil, game and other resources were depleted. During

6715-454: The tribes, but the Mohawk, Oneidas, and Tuscaroras had the most representatives. The Iroquois agreed with the Americans and decided at their Albany Council that they should remain as spectators to the conflict. A Mohawk Chief named Little Abraham declared that "the determination of the Six Nations not to take any part; but as it is a family affair, to sit still and see you fight it out". Thus,

6800-415: The tribes. By the winter of 1648, the Confederacy, led by the Seneca, fought deep into Canada and surrounded the capital of Huronia . Weakened by population losses due to their own smallpox epidemics as well as warfare, the Huron (Wyandot) unconditionally surrendered. They pledged allegiance to the Seneca as their protector. The Seneca subjugated the Huron (Wyandot) survivors and sent them to assimilate in

6885-525: The west of the Delaware nation were the Iroquoian -speaking Andaste/ Susquehannock . To the east of the Delaware Nation lay the encroaching peoples of Dutch New Netherland . From Manhattan, up through the Hudson, the settlers were interested in trading furs with the Susquehannock occupying territory in and around current Lancaster, Pennsylvania . As early as 1626, the Susquehannock were struggling to get past

6970-602: The western end of the town of Farmington , including passing under the New York State Thruway , before entering Wayne County. It continues in snake-like fashion through the town and village of Macedon until its conjunction with the Erie Canal just east of Lock #29 in Palmyra . The creek passes through the remains of the Palmyra Aqueduct (built 1857) prior to the canal. From there, Ganargua Creek runs concurrent with

7055-543: Was going on between the Dutch and Esopus at current-day Kingston. The Seneca chief urged Stuyvesant to end the bloodshed and "return the captured Esopus savages". In 1675, after a decade of warfare between the Iroquois (mainly the Mohawk and Oneida ) and the Andaste/Susquehannock, the Seneca finally succeeded in vanquishing their last remaining great enemy.(Parker at pp 49) Survivors were colonized in settlements along

7140-488: Was the loyalty of the Iroquois to the British. The Iroquois debated whether to side with the British or not. An argument to remain neutral until further development came from Governor Blacksnake's uncle Cornplanter , but Joseph Brant twisted his recommendation to wait as a sign of cowardice. The British noticed that the Indian warriors were divided on the issue, so the British presented them with rum, bells, ostrich feathers, and

7225-430: Was used, although three radial feathers were also used. The Smithsonian Institution has an example of a Seneca bow, which was donated 1908. It is made of unbacked hickory , and is 56.25 inches (142.9 cm) tip to tip. Although the string is missing for the specimen, when strung it would make a good "D" shape with slightly recurved tips, and was obviously made for bigger game. The tips are irregular in shape, which

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