A Matter of History Bits and Pieces

By Ramona Salmon

     I was visiting with someone the other day that is also a history buff. We talked about many topics, eventually geting around to my story last week about the Indians and Lewis County. What I discovered first had from this person, from a book put out by the 3-G Fire Department years ago, and additional research on my part, enlightened me to many more interesting facts about the Indians in Lewis County.
     This week's title of 'Bits and Pieces' I thought was quite apropos. You can research until the cows come home, but it isn't until you just happen to be at the right place, at the right time, talking to the right person, that you obtain the most important bits and pieces  of information relevant to your story.
     In the Hamlet of Glenfield, one of the streets is named Oliver Place, after the Oliver family who owned all of that area. One of the OPliver family's daughters was the grandmother to the person I was visiting with, and she passed down the following story to her grandson. The exact dates these events took place are unknown, but using the 3-G Fire Departments book as a guide, the timeframe would be approximatley the late 1800s.
     Every summer the Indians, including women and childrem traveleld to Lewis County. Upon arriving they would knock on the Oliver family door and ask to camp on their land. The men would head up to the Brantingham area to hunt and fish, and the women and children would plant and harvest vegetables such as corn and swuash. At summer;s end, the men would return adn, taling the game and harvest, the Indians would leave Glenfield and travel south to Oneida. One year as a thank you to the Oliver family,m the Indians left a large woven basket on the porch, which is still in the family today.
     The Fire Department book is the history of Glenfield, Glendale, Greig and Brantingham. The contributors were Deforest Burdick, Maude Burke, Clarence Johnson, Roland Reed and Lloyd E. Tiffany. The book verifies the firsthand account of the Indians coming to Lewis County for the summer, going even further to say additional gropiups of Indians camped along the Independance River, as well as along the Black River near what was then called the Villiage of Greig.
     Additional pieces of important information connecting the Indians to Lewis County that I've happened upon come from old maps drawn prior to 1795. On the maps, the northern part of New York is named Irocoisia, which means 'The Land of the Iroquois.' The maps do not show the existance of the Black River, but rather notes the area as 'Deer hunting grounds of the Five NAtions.' The Oneida Indians were , in fact, the sole owners of Greig and Brantingham. However, by formal treaty signed at Fort Stanwix in 1788, they ceded most of this land to the state, excepting certain reservations, including a tract 1/2-mile wide on each side of Fish Creek. The early 1800's  history states that IUndians reported that a big fire had swept over Brantingham and ruined most of the first growth timber. The names that the indians face to our lakes, rivers and creeks are: Ga-na-ga-to-da for Deer River, Ne-ha-sa-ne for Beaver River, Da-Ween-Net for Otter Creek, Te-ca-hun-di-an-do for Moose River, Ta-ga-so-ke for Salmon River, and O-je-quack for Indian River.
     A good historical story is more than just facts from books,. It is enhanced ten fold when it includes the knowlege of local people. I would be grateful for any informatuion, memoris and stories you have about our southern Lewis County towns.

Ramona Salmon lives in the Town of Watson (in Lewis County) and enjoys writing about North Country people and places that peaks the interest and brings back foind memoris for the readers.

From the Boonville Herald October 19, 2011
Page 12