Visit Pymatuning Lake Pa

12/07/2022

December 7th, 1941… a date which will live in Infamy!!!

President Roosevelt made handwritten modifications to the dictated and typewritten first draft of his Declaration of War against Japan.

A short Video to view and remember… sorry they have ads in the video, just hit the “Skip Ad” button and enjoy.

President Roosevelt made handwritten modifications to the dictated and typewritten first draft of his Declaration of War against Japan.

12/07/2022

12/06/2022

Good Evening Everyone… tonight is part 2 of my journey up to Geneseo and the Genesee Valley, and the home of the Seneca Indians…

I posted a teaser last week of a very large tree, which is call the “Torture Tree”

As I said last week, I took a trip into that area last Monday to visit a gentleman I needed to see. As I talked about my enthusiasm for being in the area of the Geneseo and the Genesee River, the homelands of the Seneca Indians, He said to me, “do you want to see something horrifying yet real” and of course I said yes. So he said “jump into my truck and I’ll show you something very close by”.

We ended up at a roadside park called “Boyd-Parker Memorial Park, with a few large stone rocks with historical markers and a very large oak tree, and once I read the entrance sign, I realized there was a Mound onsite too.

The park got its name from 2 U.S. Continental Soldiers that were tortured by the Seneca at this location. But before I tell you those details, let’s roll back the time a little and build the background for the end result.

The year was 1779, and under the orders of George Washington, in response to the 1778 Iroquois–British attacks on Wyoming, German Flatts, Cobleskill and Cherry Valley, which massacre hundreds of early American settlers in the new frontier. The decision was made to take the war to the enemy, the Seneca and the other 3 tribes that had aligned themselves with the British. The goal being to break the morale of those tribes and seek revenge for the losses in 1778.

The Revolution War was already in progress and the Six Nations were divided over what course to pursue. Most Mohawks, Cayugas, Onondagas, and Senecas chose to align themselves with the British, while the Oneidas and Tuscaroras joined the side of the American revolutionaries, thus causing a Civil War within the 6 Nations. The British Loyalist had armed the tribes with lots of weapons and used the 4 tribe nations to conduct raids on the forts and settlements in an attempt to break the will of the settlers and their Militia Army.

The British Loyalists and their Iroquois allies would raid American Patriot settlements in this region, as well as the villages of American-allied Iroquois. Working out of Fort Niagara, men such as British Loyalist commander Colonel John Butler, Sayenqueraghta - War Chief of the eastern Seneca Tribe, Mohawk military leader Joseph Brant, and Seneca Chief Cornplanter led the British-Indian raids.

The Commander-in-chief, General George Washington never provided more than a minimal amount of Continental Army troops for the defense of the frontier and he told the frontier settlements to use the local militia for their own defense. This would allow easy success for the British backed Indian Nations to over run the frontier settlements, where brutal massacres would occur, including the individuals that surrendered thinking that surrendering would save their lives. It’s said that so many settlers were scalped at the hand and knife of the Indians, that their hand could not hold and carry them all back.

As the summer of 1779 arrived, the Sullivan Expedition finalized their plans and set out by foot on June 18th when the army marched from Easton, Pennsylvania. Gen. Washington instructed Gen. Sullivan and three brigades, including Morgan's Riflemen and one of the brigades consisting of Gen. Edward Hand's "Light Corps", to march from Easton, Pennsylvania to the Susquehanna River in central Pennsylvania and to follow the river upstream to Tioga, now known as Athens, Pennsylvania, where a fort would be built and called Fort Sullivan.

Gen. Washington would order Gen. James Clinton to assemble a fourth brigade at Schenectady, New York, move westward up the Mohawk River Valley to Canajoharie, and cross overland to Otsego Lake as a staging point. Gen. Sullivan would order Gen. Clinton's New York Brigade to march down the Susquehanna to meet Sullivan at Tioga, and during their march they were to destroy all Indian villages along their route.

Over the next several months, the Sullivan Expedition would move deeper and deeper into Seneca Territory and would reach their deepest pe*******on at the Seneca town of Chenussio (also called Little Beard's town, Beardstown, Chinefee, Genesee, and Geneseo), near the present day town of Cuylerville, New York, on September 15. During the pe*******on, they would inflict total destruction on the Iroquois villages they encountered and by Sullivan's account, 40 Iroquois villages were destroyed, including Catherine's Town, Goiogouen, Chonodote, and Kanadaseaga, along with all the crops and orchards of the Iroquois and Seneca Nation.

Sullivan's army carried out a scorched earth campaign to put an end to British Loyalist and Iroquois attackers by destroying at least 40 Iroquois villages throughout the Finger Lakes region of western New York. The surviving Indians would flee to British regions in Canada and the Niagara Falls and the Buffalo areas. The devastation created great hardships for the thousands of Iroquois refugees who fled the region to shelter under British military protection outside Fort Niagara in the winter of 1779 and many people starved or froze to death.

The Sullivan Expedition devastated the Iroquois crops and towns and left them dependent on whatever the British could provide in the harsh winter. With the Iroquois people decimated by disease and battle, their morale never fully recovered, and the Iroquois thereafter mostly limited their incursions into the new United States to isolated hunting parties.

By the end of September 1779, those within the expedition would return to Fort Sullivan and by October 3rd, the army would abandoned Fort Sullivan and return to Morristown, New Jersey, and go into winter quarters.

So your now probably wondering how does the Torture Tree play into this story… here we go.

On or about Saturday, September 11, 1779, Gen. Sullivan and others were engaged in an argument and/or debate as to the principle location of the Seneca Village of Geneseo where Chief Little Beard was believed to be. They couldn’t decide if their main objective existed on the West or the East bank of the Genesee River.

The following day Gen. Sullivan sent Lieutenant Thomas Boyd to scout the exact location of the Geneseo Castle. A ‘castle’ is word that describes a Native American village. The one they were seeking was the principle Seneca Village founded by Chief Little Beard.

Boyd was instructed to take four riflemen and one Indian guide on this scouting trip, but instead he reportedly took a larger group of men, somewhere in the number of twenty. They set out under the dark of night when at some point in the early hours a skirmish happened with a group of Seneca Indians walking the trail with fi****ms. After a brief exchange of bullets, Boyd’s group made the decision to retreats.

They were soon met by an even larger group of Seneca Indians which laid in wait for an ambuscade against the soldiers. As a result of the ambuscade,
most of Boyd’s men were killed, but one soldier was able to escape, making it back to Gen. Sullivan’s encampment near the Conesus Lake Inlet. Once Gen. Sullivan received word from the sole escapee, it was decided to set out toward their destination and hopeful survival.

Gen. Sullivan originally had visions of a surprise attack on the Seneca Village and to capture Chief Little Beard and make him witness the total destruction of the village, leveling it to the ground so the Seneca Indians had nothing left in that spot.

Back on the trail where most of Boyd’s men had been killed, the few that survived were taken captive and were brought back to Chief Little Beard’s Town.

Lieutenant Thomas Boyd and Sargent Michael Parker were among those brought back to the village. There they were questioned by Chief Little Beard, Joseph Brant (a Mohawk who chose an English name) and John Butler (an ‘American’ who was loyal to the British and England.)

John Butler and Joseph Brant finished their interrogation once they realized neither Boyd nor Parker would give up any details on Gen. Sullivan’s plans, thus turning the two men and the other survivors over to the care of the Seneca Indians.

**Warning, if your weak in the stomach you may not want to read below.

Now in the hands of the Seneca, retribution for what the Sullivan Expedition had done over the last few months was going to be taken out on these men.

While I don’t know the exact details to most of the survivors, (but they were most like tortured, burned alive or scalped), we do know that Boyd and Parker were taken to what is now known as the “Torture Tree”, where they underwent the wrath of the Seneca and a trial of excruciating abuse until their death.

Their finger and toe nails were removed, their ge****ls mutilated and their backs whipped till they bled nonstop. While having been stripped naked, their right ears were cut off as well as their noses and their tongues cut from their mouths. Each of their right eyes had been gouged out from their sockets and left hanging by strands of flesh.

In a final show of hatred to the soldiers and settlers for taking their lands, the Seneca would cut open the abdomen of each Boyd and Parker and attached one end of their intestines to the tree and then force each man to walk around the trunk in circles by the
prodding of their weapons until they final collapsed, then their hearts were ripped out from their bodies and each man was beheaded.

Gen. Sullivan’s army would arrive at the village at the close of the torture fest, where they found Boyd’s head on a stick, at the center place of their victory dance while Parker’s head was never to be seen again. Sullivan and his men were so enraged by this sight and celebration by the Seneca, that they destroyed every single trace of the village existence, so much so that when the Seneca returned later, they told the story that there wasn’t even enough food remaining to have kept a single child alive for a day.

This location was the single most Western point in the state that the Sullivan Expedition would march, the following day they returned to the path that led them to the gruesome scene of the Torture Tree.

Upon their arrival at the Torture Tree, they found the remains of Lt. Boyd and Sgt. Parker’s body all around the tree. Gen. Sullivan instructed his men to gather what they could of their remains and then gave them both a proper burial near the tree that played a significant part in their agonizing death. The mound on the park site was the burial site of all the bodies found from the scouting expedition.

Since 2009 the tree in Cuylerville, NY. is a registered National Historic Landmark, along with the nearby Groveland Ambuscade featuring a memorial obelisk.
The tree is said to be more than 285 years of age and could easily be one of the oldest trees in the entire state.

The bodies of Boyd and his men were left at the site of the battlefield until 1841, when they were removed and taken to Rochester, New York's, Mount Hope Cemetery in a ceremony hosted by New York Governor William H. Seward.

Today the Groveland Ambuscade Monument marks the site along with a small town park, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009. In September 2004 the site commemorated the event's 225th anniversary with a series of reenactments.

In writing this story, I used various website post, online articles, historical articles and other stories written by someone else. While I didn’t name credits, please know all were found online or in person Inspection by myself while in New York.

Some facts/details may seem questioned, but know I have done my best to be as accurate as I can be.
I leave it to you to decide whether you believe it or not, but a few important details have compelled me to believe most if not all of this history.

1) The remains of soldiers where exhumed from this site and moved to a new permanent burial site.
2) The history and writings of Sullivan Expedition are without much doubt and the details are backed up by both Seneca and British History.
3) The fact that it’s a registered historical landmark site, means that much research and details were done before me, far more than my story for this location to garner such a designation.. so due to that alone, I feel there is little doubt to the validity of the events in September 1779

I hope you have enjoyed this little slice of history and the events that happened during a time when the United States of American was still yet a dream to those men and women that battled for its freedom from British control.

Sadly many lives where lost on all sides, but the Indians that first resides here all paid in my opinion, the largest price to the lives that they once enjoyed and lived… if not by gun or sword, the diseases that the earlier explorers and settlers brought to their lands killed so many without discrimination.

Thank for reading… see you in a week with another story.

12/02/2022

Hi Everyone,

I’m just doing a quick teaser post as I write the second part of my journey in the Genesee Valley and the home lands of the Seneca Nation.

Our next story is about the “Torture Tree” and the story that it will tell us all..

I will attempt to post this over the weekend, but it may not be till Monday Evening too. With the weekend upon us, I have a lot of special orders to process and 3 long 18 hours days ahead of me… so please don’t fret if it takes me a few days to make this story very good for all… I want to get it right for you.

Thanks

12/01/2022

Fall Brooks Fall, Geneseo, NY - Seneca Lands

Hi Everyone… so tonight I’m venturing back down the road to writing history stories which will mainly be local in nature, but I reserve the right and desire to write stories of areas that I might visit and explore, which may also have great history and may tie back to our local history or a previous story that I wrote about in the past. This story is about the Seneca Nation which roamed our area after they defeated the Erie Nation which once live and roam these parts before they were defeated by the Seneca and Iroquois 6 Nations alliance.

So on Monday (11/28) this week, I traveled into New York, into the Geneseo Valley Region, east of Buffalo, and north of Salamanca, know today as the Genesee Valley, Genesee River, the home of the Seneca Indians, the most westwardly Tribe of the 6 Nations of Iroquois.

The Seneca tribal lands ran to the Genesee River marking the western boundary of their territory.

If you go back to when I did my series of stories on the Erie Nation, this same river is where the Seneca and Erie Nation had a historic battle that would ultimately cause the demise of the Erie Nation and their eventual existence.

But todays history story and the next one that I will be posting happened over 125 years later, at a time when the US Continent Army, under the leadership of George Washington was pushing to take over the lands in Western New York and large section within Pennsylvania too. The tribes within the Iroquois 6 Nations were aligned with the British, were now threatened by the Continent Army as the early Settlers continued to push westward and the Treaties that once existed to protect these lands for the Iroquois tribes, were now seemingly worthless under the supervision of George Washington and the desire to expand and grow a new but young Nation.

One of histories largest genocide in America was ordered by George Washington and carried out by the Sullivan Campaign, in what was discribed as a “Scorched-Earth” campaign against the tribes of the Iroquois, their villages, their food supplies during 1779. In my next post I will talk about this much more, and the gruesome results this campaign had on many Soldiers within the Sullivan campaign and the Seneca villages and towns and their people.

Now to the waterfall from the video I posted yesterday. It sits within the Genesee Valley, NY, (Geneseo Valley, or as the Seneca Indians called it, “Chenussio”). This beautiful valley was treasured by the Seneca Indians as a prized land, as their place to grow crops, harvest the wild foods which existed, hunt the vast valley for all sorts of animals to provide meat, and fish along the Genesee River for the much desired fish swimming within. Much like the Pymatuning wetlands that sustained the Erie Nations, the Geneseo Valley provided the same for the Seneca Nation.

While during my visit to this area, I met a wonderful gentleman that took to my excited interest into the local Indian History, who then asked, “Do you want to see something really cool which is local to us”.. and of course I said, Sure!!!

He drove me to 2 locations that he felt I would find extremely interesting. The Falls in the video are known as “Fall Brooks Fall”, which sit just south of Geneseo on route 63, and north of Indian Fort Nature Preserve.

The falls carry not only a steady stream of water over their 70+ foot drop, but also many stories and/or fables that may or may not be of full truth. Since we are talking about a time when little was well documented, many of these stories carry with them a flow of inaccuracies or maybe even a drip of truth.

One fable tells of an Indian girl, the favorite daughter of a chieftain of a neighboring village, she was being pushed to marry a man for whom she did not love, as a result, she is said to have thrown herself over the Falls to the fatal rocks below. The natives would claim that often at twilight, and always amid the howlings of autumn tempests, the tones of her voice could be heard.

Another story that is told is that during the Sullivan Campaign, a Village of Indians sought protection in the Falls area, but they were eventually surrounded and forced over the Falls as the Continental Soldiers pushed them to the edge. Instead of being captured and taken away, they either jumped over the Falls to their death or they were physically forced over by the bayonets at the end of the Soldiers rifles.

Another story tells of an earlier event, but this time the tragic fate happened to a group of French Soldiers or Explorers that attempted to enter the lands and valley of the Seneca. In this story, the Seneca Indians forced the French to the cliffs edge, and eventually over the falls to their death..

Which one if any are true?? It’s hard to say. But as I stood at the falls edge, taking pictures and the video, I couldn’t help but let my mind drift to a time and place when and where the Seneca Indians may have come to the same spot where I stood. I could imagine the Seneca looking out into the same gorge as I was now seeing, and viewing the same Falls as I was.

Could the stories or fables talked about above be true?? It’s not for me to say yes or no, but instead allow you the ability to decide for yourself. I can see how these Falls may carry not only the flow of water, but the flow of death too. I can see it being a place of entrapment to both Soldiers and Indians as the early settlers wanted to take over the lands, or maybe other Indians from competing tribes like the Erie Nation which fell to their death by the back and forth flow of territory battlement within the tribes. Could a broken hearted young Indian girl, who may have decided to make the grave decision to give up her life and leap over the edge instead of facing a future that she felt gave her a worse alternative???

What I will say is this.. the walls of the gorge stretch much higher than 70+ feet into the sky above; the Falls were beautiful and peaceful to stand at and enjoy. Standing on the edge definitely made my heart rate increase, but every minute I stood there, I found myself at peace with nature and enjoying the sound of the water pouring over the edge and splashing the rocks below. The sound was hypnotizing and alluring… maybe to the point one would make the frightful fare of just one wrong step. Someone posted that my video from yesterday made them feel nervous for me… but the roar of the water makes you want to look over further and further without the worry of falling.

I could feel the presents of those long before me and I felt for a few seconds I was looking at the beauty around me with their eyes. I could imagine them standing there, looking at the same Falls and talking in their native tongue about the area around the Falls. I could see them using the top of the Falls as a lookout for wild game below and planning their attack on those animals which may have been drinking at a pool of water in numerous spots.

With all this said, I must also tell you that “After” I did my visit, (accompanied by the person I was visiting) I found out that these Falls sit on private lands via a search about the areas history. There were no signs posting private property or no trespassing, so I didn’t know until I did my research. So if you find yourself in the area and making the decision to pull over and visits the area, know in advance that you are Trespassing. A tour can be arranged and the guided tour will show you more than what I saw, but you need to know this before you go there and hike in.

My next story is from an area about 5 miles from the Falls, but as I said last night, the next story is gruesome and fatal to many that live back then. But it’s a story worth telling, and one I feel most all of you will enjoy after you get over the squeamish feeling in your stomach.

Enjoy the picks below and any short comments below them. Thanks for tuning back in and reading this story… see you in a few days

Thanks

11/29/2022

Hi Everyone, History Anyone???

Yes, Yes, I Know… it’s been quite a while since I posted any stories, and I sincerely apologize for that!!

I’ve had a lot of you reach out to me, asking me to get back at doing stories once again. Thank you for your kind words and motivation, it’s worked.

I’m posting a video below which is a prelude to a few stories that are about Seneca Indians at an area I visited on Monday this week.

This is a teaser video to see if I can arouse your interest once again in history, but these next few stories are not about the Pymatuning area, but they indirectly do tie into the Erie Indians that once roamed our area and the other tribes that followed them.

Some of you may find the second story that I’ll be posting to be a bit gory and might even make you squeamish as you read it, it did to me!

So enjoy the video and look for my post about these Falls and where they are located in a day or so… then get ready for a horror Indian story, which I think may get you good.

Thanks and I hope to see that a lot of you are still out there and once again interested in my crazy but adventurous stories.

Thanks and Happy Holidays to all. 🎄

04/06/2021

An Afternoon with Robert Griffing... 04/05

In hopes to better understand and learn more about the Indian History of Pymatuning Lake and the area around it, today we met with Robert Griffing in his studio.

I reached out to Robert about a week ago to see if he was available to meet with a group of us from the Pymatuning area at his place. I asked him if he could share with us his years of collecting Indian artifacts from the lake region. As always, Robert was more than willing to meet with us and share his knowledge of the area from his days of youth when he spent more time collecting than probably doing homework. Our visit was like the best “Show & Tell” experience a kid could have, but we were all adults with our eyes 👀 wide open!!!

Our group consisted of 2 individuals from Pymatuning State Park office, Stacie and Jarod, plus Jeff and myself. We had such a great time... thanks Robert!

Upon entry, it’s impossible to miss the large wooden canoe which hangs from his ceiling and then his area where he paints his amazing portraits. We were very lucky to see 3 new paintings, one of which was still in progress on his painting easel; another newly finished but not framed as of yet, and a third recently framed and heading to a new owner... His attention to detail is so amazing and each and every time I see his work, I stand in complete amazement as I stare into each painting... to be very honest, I stood holding the unframed one in my hands for quite a long time as I stared at the deep detail Robert put into each of the subjects in the portrait.

Robert shared so much with all of us... boxes after boxes of artifacts with such great detail to what we were seeing and where he found them. I would reveal the locations, but I feel since the areas are private property, it’s better for me to keep that a secret and not have property owners or the state park upset with me...

We pulled maps out which the State Park brought along with them and using Google Earth, Robert shared his secret locations that will definitely shed light for the Park to look at.

The details shared today by Robert definitely showed us that the Indians just didn’t visit the area but instead were residents for a long period of time... Robert shared a story of a flint pile that he remembers as a kid that was several feet deep and wide when exposed, showing a great example that the Indians from this area didn’t just happen to be here for a short period of time. In Roberts words, they had to be here a long time for a pile that large and deep to exist.

Robert showed a lot of his collection to all of us, and even pulled out charts to show the age of the artifacts... one dated back to 6000 BC... his collection of artifacts span a long period of time and knowing where he found them, the area had to be a large Indian settlement... again, not a transient population, but one that settled and lived in this Pymatuning Lake region for a very long period of time.

I asked Robert directly that same question, “Do you feel the Indian population was enduring or a short periods of time” and Robert agreed that those that were here before us where here for a long periods of time...

I’m personally still of the belief that the Erie Nation (Chat Nation) dominated this area prior to their destruction by the Iroquois Nation and that while in control by the Erie Nation, the Pymatuning region was a hub of trade for the many nations that made up the Erie Nation and a place where other Nations that allied with the Erie could come to make trade, this would explain why some many artifacts which couldn’t have come from here are in fact here in vast quantities... the trade with the Erie (Chat) Nation in this area had to be huge.

Now I’m saving the best for last.... one artifact that Robert shared with us is pictured below... it’s a small pipe with a small handle below it. Something so unique and truly different than other items found in the area. This absolutely unique item is a “show piece” in my opinion and it is fully functional still. When it was made is a true mystery to everyone that has seen it because of its size and the small handle below it. I made the suggestion to Robert that maybe the handle underneath was only temporary, as a way to hold it as it was being shaped and smoothed, but under more observation, the four sides of the small handle were also shaped and smoothed, leaving one to believe the maker had purposely designed it that way. Roberts theory was it might be a small pipe for a young child, or it was created by a younger Indian child who’s parents were makers of other pipes and artifacts for the tribe.

Nevertheless, this unique artifact left us all wondering, “Who, When and Why”!!! The location where he found it was also shown to us by Robert, and once again it was in the area where many of his other artifacts were found, but just south of the main Indian village that is believed to have existed in this area.

As I write this, I image the maker of the small pipe probably lost it as he was running back to his camp from the swamp area after a fishing or hunting expedition... it probably popped out of his bag or pouch that he wore to carry stuff in while out in the woods... being such a small item, it would have been so hard to find once lost.

It’s truly hard to say exactly what period of time this item was made, but I feel it’s safe to say it was a Woodland Period Artifact, possibly a middle to late period and the maker may have seen something from the very early trappers that might have influenced him to make this unique piece.

The end result of the day was great.... we all had lunch together, talked more about the Park, the Indians and the history that is yet to be discovered and exposed. We all wish the artifacts that were discovered by the men that built the Pymatuning Lake could be brought out of hiding so a greater examination could be done to help determine the early native that lived here before the migration of Indians from the east once the Europeans pushed them from their lands. The Erie Indians and those before them, such as the mound builders all left items behind to be found... but unless we can get more of them exposed, we may never know the great depth of Indian history in the Pymatuning Lake Region...

One thing is for certain, these lands were definitely inhabited by vast Indigenous tribes that found the area to be bountiful for life’s existence and with the numerous Mounds that still existed from the writings of both Ralph Ferris in the 1930’s and Albert Huidekoper in the 1840’s both show and tell us that forts, mounds and large encampment existed prior to the white man coming to the area.

The artifacts that are finally being shared with us by residents such as Robert Griffing will slowly reveal the rich history of the area. I’m hoping this story will encourage others that have great collections which were handed down from their grandparents will benefit all of us as we dig even deeper for the knowledge of the past...

Let me end this story by saying the following... the Park didn’t take or repossess any of the artifacts from Robert. So if you have a collection and your worry is “Oh, but Park will take it if I show it”, that is a false rumor!!! They, myself and others are just trying to learn from your collection and unvail the deep history of the area, so please consider sharing your collection, especially those of you that have ones handed down from the builders of the lake... they can help out greatly!!!

Thanks for reading and following these stories. Feel free to share as you wish.