In April 1801, two boatloads of gentlemen and women of all ages with all their worldly possessions traveled up the Clyde River to stake a assert on Large amount 70 of the Army Tract. The tract was nearly 2 million acres of land in Central New York, as soon as belonging to the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Indians) but which had been promised to Revolutionary War veterans.

A single of the gals arriving in 1801 was 18-12 months-outdated Betsy King. She gave an account of how she and the 34 other settlers huddled the 1st night in a single log cabin — and, as it turned out, the occasion incorporated not the only inhabitants:

“During the night Skip King was disturbed in consequence of a gentle which appeared throughout the river and gave evidence of an Indian encampment. When daylight arrived, a physique of Indians crossed the river and appeared ahead of the cabin crying ‘Hungry! Hungry! Hungry!’ In their ears and noses they wore jewellery which bore the overall look of direct or pewter. They proved to be a occasion of Cayugas … They experienced an eel-weir in the river a brief length above our settlement. Reverse the head of this was a modest island in close proximity to the north lender of the river, between which boats handed.”

The point out of an “eel-weir” in the above account is exciting. A weir is a kind of entice, generally utilised by Native Us citizens to catch eels and other fish. They have been developed of stone, normally in a “V” shape that funneled the fish to an apex — exactly where they were speared, or caught in nets or baskets. Early land treaties often incorporated a provision enabling Indians to fish the lakes and rivers of the region, with the problem that they did so with out impeding use of the waterways.

For many many years, I’ve…