494 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



remained only the hunting ground of the Seneca Indians but the 

 Allegany Reservation now covers almost the entire Allegheny val- 

 ley from Vandalia on the east to the Pennsylvania line on the west; 

 (5) the Allegheny valley from Vandalia running through O'lean to 

 Carroll on the east; (6) other minor localities are the valley of Cold 

 Spring creek, running northward into the town of Napoli, the valley 

 of Big Indian creek in the town of Perrysburg, and the hilly region 

 in the town of Persia just west of the branch of the town of 

 Cattaraugus. 



Investigation along archeological lines in this county were early 

 conducted by Schooicraft, Cheney, Adams, Larkin and Macauley, 

 who have all described various sites in the county. The principal 

 scientific investigations in the county have been conducted by M. R. 

 Harrington and the writer. Several collectors, among them W. T. 

 Fenton of Conewango, have done good work in making surveys and 

 recording sites. 



Many of the aboriginal village sites and burial grounds found in 

 the valley of the Cattaraugus and vicinity usually credited to the 

 Erie exhibit characteristics that lead one to think that in reality 

 they belong to the Seneca. The clay vessels and pipes are counter- 

 parts of those found in the valley of the Genesee, the original habitat 

 of the Senecas. Farther west along the Lake Erie shore are sites 

 that are unmistakably Erie. Here the pottery is vastly different in 

 form and decoration. The Iroquois exterminated the Erie about 

 1654 and from that time until the war of the American revolution 

 their territory was supposed to have been uninhabited. To have 

 left so rich a hunting ground unvisited and without settlements is 

 contrary to the known policies of the Iroquois and it is extremely 

 probable that the Seneca, to whom the territory naturally fell, early 

 had villages and defensive works there. Tradition has little to say 

 of tliis occupation though there are a few faint glimmerings that 

 might lead to the idea. Archeology, however, sheds a more definite 

 light on the matter and from the material found in grave pits and 

 refuse heaps in the Cattaraugus valley I am led to say that there is 

 much evidence to support the statement that the locality was occu- 

 pied by the Seneca soon after the Erie were driven from it. 



List of Sites 



i A work on a high ridge on the south side of Cattaraugus creek, 

 5 miles from Lake Erie and one-fourth of a mile below Big Indian 

 creek. The bluff is parallel with the first creek, pointing up stream. 

 The sides are high and abrupt, except at one place on the north side ; 

 along this a wall was built for 15 or 18 rods, completely closing the 



