90 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



that arrived almost naked during this period, if not earHer, entered 

 Colonel Guy Johnson's company of Foresters. When spring opened 

 Colonel Watson Powell, who had succeeded Lieutenant Colonel 

 Bolton at Niagara, set Butler's men at clearing some ground on the 

 western side of the river, which was intended to produce part of the 

 garrison's supply of corn, another tract on Buffalo Creek being des- 

 tined for the same use on account of its exceptional fertility. As 

 eight or nine of the Rangers had secured their families from the 

 frontier in the previous autumn, they together with some of their 

 comrades, were sufficiently charmed by the approach of summer in 

 the lake region to seek their discharge with leave to settle in the 

 neighborhood, provided they could be supplied with provisions for 

 one year and such smith work as might be necessary. As these men 

 were farmers, Butler thought that they would soon prove themselves 

 useful to the post, besides supporting their families comfortably. 

 He was the more willing to release these prospective settlers, since 

 he was expecting a number of recruits from the frontier, which would 

 enable him to keep his corps complete. Toward the close of August, 

 1782, the little colony at Niagara comprised 18 men, 17 women, and 

 49 children, or a total of 84 persons. Seven of the families seem to 

 have come from the Susquehanna Valley in Pennsylvania, and the 

 remaining nine from various parts of Tryon County in New York. 

 They had among them 49 horses, 61 cattle, 30 sheep, and 103 hogs, 

 and had cleared 236 acres of land, on which the produce for the year 

 was 926 bushels of Indian corn, 630 of potatoes, 206 of wheat, and 46 

 of oats. Already two members of the colony had planned to build 

 a saw mill and a grist mill near the Rangers' Barracks, but were 

 prevented from carrying their plan into effect by the government's 

 refusal to sanction private ownership of the proposed mills. 

 However, Governor Haldimand offered to supply the building 

 material and pay for the work of construction, and Lieutenant Brass 

 erected the mills under these conditions. It was expected that 

 they would be ready for operation by June 1, 1783; but unforeseen 

 delay in transporting the iron work from Montreal retarded their 

 completion for some days. Meanwhile, the farmers began bringing 

 their wheat to the fort to exchange for flour, and although the 

 quantity was double that produced by the settlement during the 

 previous year, it remained of no use to the garrison until the grist 

 mill could be finished.^ 



By March, 1783, the refugee colonists were showing their dis- 

 satisfaction with the uncertain tenure under which they held their 



1 Haldimand Papers, B. 147, p. 298; B. 101, p. 195; B. 169, p. 1; Niagara 

 Hist. Soc, No. 17, 6-9, 11, 41; Cruikshank, Butler's Rangers, 109-111. 



