ONONDAGA C U N T Y — E A R T tl - WO R K S , ETC. 29 



estimated there were not less than eighty cemeteries in Pompey township alone. 

 McCauley states that one of the three works, mentioned above by Mr. Chnton, 

 was triangular in form, and contained about six acres. 



Mr. J. V. H. Clark has described a work situated in part of lot 33 in this township ; 

 but whether or not it is one of the three mentioned by Mr. Clinton, it is impossible 

 to determine. " It is about four miles southeast from Manlius village, situated on a 

 slight eminence, which is nearly surrounded by a deep ravine, the banks of which 

 are quite steep and somewhat rocky. The ravine is in shape somewhat like an 

 ox-bow, made by two streams which pass nearly around and then unite. Across 

 this isthmus of this peninsula, if we may so call it, was a wall of earth running 

 from northeast to southwest. When first discovered by the early settlers, the 

 embankment was straight, four or five feet high, with an exterior ditch from two 

 to three feet deep. The area thus enclosed is from ten to twelve acres. A portion 

 of the area was free from trees, and was called the Frame, and is still noted among 

 the old men as the spot where the first battalion military training was held in the 

 county of Onondaga. But that portion of the work near the wall has recently 

 been cleared of a heavy growth of black-oak timber. Many of the trees were 

 large, and probably one hundred and fifty or two hundred years old. Some were 

 standing in the ditch and others on the embankment. The plough has defaced the 

 lines to a considerable degree, but they may still be traced the whole extent. 

 Within the enclosure there is a burial-place. Here, too, are to be found numerous 

 fragments of dark-brown pottery, of coarse material."* 



Mr. Clark mentions that a great number of rude relics have been discovered 

 here. Among other things found in the vicinity were some small three-pound 

 cannon balls. There is a large rock in the ravine on the south, on which the 

 following characters are insci'ibed, viz. : 1 1 1 1 1 X . They are cut nine inches 

 long, three-quarters of an inch deep, and the same in width, and are perfectly 

 regular. 



Within two miles of Jamesville, in De Witt township, upon the banks of But- 

 ternut Creek, there existed until recently the traces of an enclosure or fort, and in 

 the vicinity many evidences of comparatively late occupation by the Indians. The 

 fort had been rectangular, with bastions, and constructed with cedar pickets, firmly 

 set in the ground. The stumps of the palisades were struck by the plough when 

 the land was first cultivated. It appeared that the cabins which it had enclosed 

 had been arranged with regularity — a practice not common among the Indians 

 before intercourse with the whites. In the year 1810 an oak was felled near this 

 fort, in cutting which a leaden bullet was found imbedded in the wood. One hun- 



had fixed their settlements at Onondaga, and before the Five Nations were confederated, the Onondagas 

 lived below Jamesville and in Pompey ; that in consequence of continued warfare with other tribes, they 

 removed their villages frequently ; and that, after the confederation, their fortifications being no longer 

 necessary, they were allowed to fall into decay. This he believed was the origin of the ancient works 

 at these points. — Notes on the Iroquois, p. 442. 

 * Schoolcraft's Notes on the Iroquois, p. 469. 



