HISTORY: Chapter 1, History of Cayuga Co., NY 1879; Cayuga co., NY

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1789 - History of Cayuga County, New York, with Illustrations and Biographical
Sketches of some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, by Elliot G. Storke,
assisted by Jas. H. Smith. Pub. by D. Mason & Co., Syracuse, N.Y. 1879

HISTORY OF CAYUGA COUNTY, NEW YORK
CHAPTER I.
NATIVE INHABITANTS.
THE IROQUOIS CONFEDERACY - PERFECTION OF ITS ORGANIZATION - TRADITION OF ITS
ORIGIN - HIAWATHA'S ADDRESS TO THE COUNCIL -EXTENT OF THEIR SWAY - SOURCES OF
THEIR POWER - THEIR CIVIL, SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CODES.

The first inhabitants of Cayuga County, of whom authentic records have been
preserved, were the Cayugas, one of the five nations that formed the famous
Iroquois Confederacy. That Confederacy was the best organized and the most
powerful of any on the Continent. Its history is not only very interesting in
itself, but is also very closely connected with the early settlement and
development of this part of the State, and may, therefore, in a brief form
appropriately introduce the general history of the County. The history of the
five nations is, also, the history of the Cayugas, as their interests were
always closely allied and their habits and usages essentially the same.
The Confederacy, at its first formation, comprised five separate nations,-the
Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas and Senecas. Territorially, the Onondagas
were the middle nation. The Oneidas and Mohawks lying to the east, and the
Cayugas and Senecas to the west of them. The seat of their government was upon
Onondaga Lake, where their wise men,-the civil rulers of the league,-assembled
to deliberate upon and determine all questions of national concern ; and here
their council fires burned for many generations.*

The union of the separate nations was formed anterior to authentic history ;
its date rests only upon the authority of vague Indian traditions, which are
legendary and fabulous. Like all rude nations, they trace their origin to
supernatural agencies. ' Divested of the hyperbole of their language, the
following is a brief account of their origin : Hundreds of years ago,
Ta-oun-ya-wat-ba, the deity that presided over the fisheries and streams,
visited the earth to clear the streams,-point out the best fishing and hunting
grounds, and bestow good gifts upon the people. He crossed Lake Ontario at
Osh-wah-kee, Oswego, and disclosed to two hunters, whom he there met, the
object of his mission. They, at the invitation of the visitor, accompanied him
over all the lesser lakes, when he made a full provision for the sustenance of
all good men. He taught the people the art of raising corn and beans, made
fishing and hunting free, and distributed liberally the fruits of the earth.
Having done all this, the spirit man decided to live as man, among the
children of men, whose habits and character he henceforth assumed. He was
given the name of Hi-a-wat-ha,-very wise man,-and was consulted by multitudes.
After a few years of quiet, a ferocious band of warriors from the-north of the
great lakes, attacked them and slaughtered many of their people. Hi-awat-ha,
being consulted, advised a grand council of all the tribes, which was held at
a spot on the banks of the Oh-nen-to-ha, (Onondaga Lake,) believed to be near
the present site of Liverpool. Three days had the council fire burned, but
Hia-wat-ha was absent. He was sought and found in great dejection and informed
the messengers that he had concluded not to attend the council, for, he said,
he had a fearful " foreboding of ill fortune." But the business of the council
awaited his presence. After repeated solicitations and communion with the
Great Spirit, he consented to attend the council, accompanied by a favorite
daughter, where he was received with great respect. Soon after he was seated,
a monster bird, of such size as to darken the sky, descended with the speed of
lightning, piercing with his monster bill the body of Hi-a-wat-ha's daughter,
killing her instantly ; the bird being also killed. The father was greatly
dejected, and remained for three days prone upon the earth, during which no
business was transacted. Finally recovering, he joined the council and its
deliberations proceeded. At the second days' session, he made them the
following address :

HIAWATHA'S ADDRESS TO THE COUNCIL.  
"Friends and Brothers - You are members of many tribes and nations. You have
come here, many of you, a great distance from your homes ; you have convened
for one common purpose, to promote one common interest, and that is to provide
for our mutual safety and how it shall best be accomplished. To oppose these
hordes of northern foes by tribes singly and alone, would prove our certain
destruction ; we can make no progress in that way ; we must unite ourselves in
one common band of brothers. Our warriors united, would surely repel these
rude invaders and drive them from our borders. This must be done, and we shall
be safe.

"You, the Mohawks, sitting under the shadow of `the great tree,' whose roots
sink deep into the earth, and whose branches spread over a vast country, shall
be the first nation, because you are warlike and mighty.

"And you, Oneidas, who incline your bodies against ` the everlasting stone,'
that cannot be moved, shall be the second nation, because you give wise
counsels.

"And you, Onondagas, that have your habitation at 'the great mountain,' and
are over-shadowed by its crags, shall be the third nation, because you are
greatly gifted in speech and mighty in war.

And you, Cayugas, a people whose habitation is `the dark forest,' and whose
home is every-where, shall be the fourth nation, because of your superior
cunning in hunting.

"And you, Senecas, a people who live in 'the open country,' and possess much
wisdom, shall be the fifth nation, because you understand better the art of
raising corn and beans and of making cabins.

You, five great and powerful nations, must unite and have but one common
interest, and no foe shall be able to disturb or subdue you.

"And you, Manhattans, Nyacks, Metoacks and others, who are as 'the feeble
bushes ;' and you, Narragansetts, Mohegans, Wampanoags and your neighbors, who
are 'a fishing people,' may place yourselves under our protection. Be with us
and we will defend you. You of the South and you of the West may do the same,
and we will protect you. We earnestly desire your alliance and friendship.

" Brothers, if you unite in this bond, the Great Spirit will smile upon you,
and we shall be free, prosperous and happy ; but if we remain as we are, we
shall be subject to his frown ; we shall be enslaved, ruined, perhaps
annihilated forever ; we shall perish, and our names be blotted out from among
the nations of men.

"Brothers, these are the words of Hi-a-wat-ha. Let them sink deep into your
hearts. I have said it"

The great Confederacy was immediately formed and it continued until its power
was broken by the war of the Revolution. Such is a summary of the tradition of
their origin, current among the Onondagas, and given on the authority of two
of their head chiefs.

But, however or when its origin, the success of the union was. complete. Not
only did it end the internal wars of the separate nations, but it enabled the
Confederacy to exterminate, or effectually subdue, their troublesome
neighbors. They assumed the title of the "People of the Long House," and
started upon the war-path, to revenge themselves upon their enemies, in which
they were remarkably successful, becoming, in time, the dictators of the
continent, holding practical sway over a territory estimated to be twelve
hundred miles long by eight hundred broad, embracing a large part of New
England and reaching thence to the Mississippi; while the Cherokees and
Catawbas in the far south were humbled by their power.

From the conquered nations they exacted tribute, and drew conscripts for their
armies. They adopted the Tuscaroras, who resided in Carolina, into the
Confederacy in 1713, and were thereafter known as the Six Nations. From the
extent of their conquests, the number of their subject nations, and the
tribute and military aid rendered to them by the latter, they have been called
the " Romans of the New World."

This Confederacy, so widely controlling in its influence, held in actual
possession a territory extending only from the Hudson to the Niagara, and from
Lake Ontario to the Susquehanna ; and of their own warriors could bring into
the fight barely two thousand braves.

The westernmost nations, the Cayugas and the Senecas, occupied the most
inviting part of the Confederacy, the beautiful lake country." and the equally
beautiful but more fertile valley of the Genesee. Here the greatest
improvements had been made in the building of houses, and the cultivation of
the soil. Their traditions credited the Senecas with a residence in "the open
country," and as 11 best understanding the art of cultivating beans and corn,"
and of " building cabins." The correctness of these traditions is fully
verified by the account given by General Sullivan when passing over this
region in the Fall of 1779, on his famous campaign, just one hundred years
ago, and nearly fifty years before the settlement of the present people.

Whether the improvements described by him were the result of early missionary
instruction or made by an anterior race is an unsolved question. The trees had
been removed from thousands of acres ; old orchards existed, and evidences of
long cultivation abounded. General Sullivan reports that in 1779, " the Indian
town of Genesee contained one hundred and twenty-eight houses, mostly large
and elegant. It was beautifully situated, encircled by a clear flat extending
a number of miles, over which fields of corn were waving, together with every
kind of vegetable that could be conceived of" Similar towns were also found at
other points of his march. The whole valley presented the appearance of
havingbeen cultivated for generations, and the farms, orchards and gardens
were cultivated with care. Apples, pears and peaches were among the fruits
produced.

It is, perhaps, difficult for the generation of young readers to now fully
credit the accounts of the degree of civilization to which the Senecas had
attained at that early date; yet, Colonel Stone, in his life of Brant, says,
"that they had several towns and many large villages laid out with
considerable regularity. They had framed houses, some of them well finished,
having chimneys and painted; they had broad and productive fields. "The
howling wilderness" and the "dark forest," usually associated with all Indian
life, had here given place to cultivated fields, fruitful orchards and
gardens, and comfortable houses. The sources of the great power and influence
of the Five Nations may be found in their habits and modes of life, and in the
rare wisdom of their social and political systems. They were forest tribes,
subsisting mainly by the chase.

Between the various Indian tribes of this country there were marked physical
differences. The figure of the Iroquois was erect and commanding; he was
reserved and haughty; cool, deliberate and cunning. The prairie Indians, with
very different habits, were more nervous, social and excitable. Charles T.
Koffman, Esq., thus traces the cause of these differences: "The Pawnees,
following the buffalo in his migrations, and having always plenty of animal
food to subsist upon, are a much better fed and a larger race than those who
find a precarious subsistence in the forest chase; while the woodland tribes,
who, though not so plump in form, are of a more wiry and, perhaps, muscular
make, have again a decided advantage in figure and gait over the fishing and
trapping tribes of the North-west that pass most of their time in canoes..
This difference in character and physical appearance between the different
Indian races, or rather between those tribes which have such different methods
of gaining a livelihood, has not been sufficiently attended to by modern
authors, though it did not escape the early French writers on this country-.
And yet, if habit have any effect in forming the character- and temper of a
rude people, it must of course follow that the savage who lives in eternal
sunshine upon flowery plains, and- hunts on horseback with a troop of
tribesmen around him, must be a different being from the solitary deer-stalker
who wanders through the dim forest, depending upon his single arm for
subsistence for his wife and children."

But the Iroquois differed more from the other nations in their civil, social
and political systems. Their Confederacy was a very efficient though simple
plan of union. The entire control of all civil matters affecting the common
interest was vested in a national council of about fifty sachems, though in
some instances as many as eighty, chosen at first from their wisest men in the
several nations, and afterwards hereditary in their families. All the nations
were represented. Each nation had a single vote in the council, and no measure
could be adopted except by the concurrence of all the nations. To produce this
unanimity, the persuasive powers of reason and eloquence were constantly
employed, and here were trained their famous orators.(2)

In his own nation, each sachem was a local civil magistrate, and decided the
differences between his people, in public audiences of his tribe. In military
matters he had no control ; these were confided to chiefs of tribes. If he
engaged in war, he held only the rank of a common warrior. This national
council met as often as their exigencies required, on the shore of Onondaga
Lake, and discussed and decided all questions relating to peace or war ;
negotiations with other nations, and all matters of common interest relating
to the internal affairs of the Confederacy. Every question was fully discussed
with dignity and courtesy.

Each nation was divided into eight clans or tribes, each having a specific
device or totem. These devices were wolves, bears, beavers, turtles, deer,
herons, snipes and hawks. The first four, in all the nations, were accounted
brothers of each other ; the last four, though brothers of each other, were
cousins only to the first four. Each tribe composed a family, but, while all
its were accounted brothers and sisters of each other, they also were brothers
and sisters of the members of all the other tribes having the same device.
Here was an ingenious linking of all, the members of each tribe to all the
others in the Confederacy. That bond of union was also further strengthened by
the laws applicable to marriage. No one of the brothers,-that is, no one
bearing either of the first four devices, wolf, bear, beaver or turtle, could
seek his bride from any tribe having those devices; but must take her from
cousins, that is, from one of the tribes bearing one or the other of the last
four devices. The tribal brothers and sisters could not intermarry.
It will thus be seen that in forming their social and political codes, the
Iroquois displayed much shrewdness and wisdom. They bound their people
together, not only by the strong ties of political interests, but of
affection; linking together the separate parts of each tribe and nation, and
also each nation to every other.

(1) The council fire at Onondaga was finally extinguished January 19, 1777, in
the following speech of the Oneida chiefs to Colonel Elmore: " Brother-We are
sent here by the Oneida chiefs, in con-junction with the Onondagas. They
arrived at our village yesterday. They gave us the melancholy news that the
grand council fire at Onondaga was extinguished. We have lost out of their
town by death ninety, among whom are three principal sachems. We, the
remaining part of the Onondagas, do now inform our brethren that there is no
longer a council fire at the capital of the Six Nations. However, we are
determined to use our feeble endeavors to support peace through the
Confederate nations. But let this be kept in mind, that the council fire is
extinguished. It is of importance to our well being, that this be immediately
communicated to General Schuyler, and likewise to our brothers, the Mohawks."
The reasons for this step have never been satisfactorily. explained, and still
remains a mystery.

(2) The orators studied euphony in their words and in their arrangement. Their
graceful attitudes and gestures and their flowing sentences rendered their
discourses, if not always eloquent, at least highly impressive. An erect and
commanding figure, with a blanket thrown loosely over the shoulder, his naked
arm raised, and addressing, in impassioned straigs,.a group of similar persons
sitting upon the ground around him, would, to use the illustration of an early
historian of this State, give no faint picture of Rome in her early days.
Smith's History of New York.members