XXXVIII. The History of the Early Settlement 

 and Agricultural development of the Chautau- 

 qua Region 



The earliest Indian tribe to occupy this area, so far as we have any 

 record, were the Eries, a tribe of the Huron Iroquois family. They 

 were in possession of the land when La Salle, the French explorer, 

 penetrated the forest and discovered Chautauqua Lake. 



The county was a part of the disputed area in the French-English 

 colonial war, and in 1749 De Celeron, a French captain, landed at 

 Barcelona Harbor, crossed the ridge to Chautauqua Lake and passed 

 by the Allegheny into the Ohio River, taking possession in the name 

 of France. 



The first settlement was made in 1802, at a point about three-quarters 

 of a mile west of the present site of Westfield, where a stone monument 

 has been erected to mark the spot. A clearing of about 10 acres was 

 made and planted to corn the beginning of agriculture in this fertile 

 county. 



The year following settlers began coming in more rapidly. The tide 

 of immigration from eastern New York and the New England States 

 brought many pioneers, who found in the fertility of the soil and in the 

 favorable climate a promise of certain reward for their labors. They 

 purchased their claims, for which they paid about $2.50 per acre, from 

 the Holland Land Company. These frontiersmen built their rude huts 

 of logs, chinking them with mud to keep out the cold. Of necessity 

 they gained a subsistence chiefly by hunting and fishing. Many en- 

 gaged in trade with the Indians, while lumbering was an important 

 industry in the southern part of the county. But soon the gun and rod 

 gave place to the plow, sawmills and gristmills were built, and in place 

 of log shanties comfortable frame houses were erected. 



As fast as the land could be cleared of its timber the soil was put 

 under cultivation. In 1820 the largest clearings and best cultivated 

 farms were within 3 or 4 miles east and west of Fredonia. These did 

 not contain more than 30 to 60 acres each and were worth from $10 

 to $20 per acre. The principal crop was corn. There is record of a 

 New England farmer who brought with him into the wilderness a 

 quantity of apple seed, from which he started a nursery and set out 

 an orchard. And so at this early time fruit growing was begun in 

 the county that has since become one of the important centers in the 

 country for the raising of fruit. 



