42 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Sing Sing creek, in the town of Big Flats. French says it was 

 called after John Sing Sing, a friendly Indian, but it was known 

 by this name in 1758. Gen. J. S. Clark would seem to extend it 

 farther up the river, into Steuben county, making it a scattering 

 settlement. It is usually defined stone upon stone, in allusion to 

 the peculiar rocks along the river. On Guy Johnson's map of 1771 

 it is Sin Sink- 



Cayuga branch was a frequent name for Chemung river. 



Ca-yu'-ta creek and postoffice. This may be from Gahato, log in 

 the water. 



Che-mung' has various forms, as that of Skeemonk in 1777, and 

 Shimango in 1779. In 1757 the French spoke of the " Loups of 

 Chaamonaque' or Theoga," meaning the Delawares living at Tioga. 

 It was written Shamunk in 1767, but usually Chemung. The river 

 and an Indian village bore this name, which meant big horn. The 

 village was burned in 1779. Zeisberger has Wschummo for horn, 

 and the locative may be added. Spafford said : " Chemung is said 

 to mean big horn, or great horn, in the dialect of the Indian tribes 

 that anciently possessed this country. And that a very large horn 

 was found in the Tioga or Chemung river is well ascertained." 

 This was a Delaware name, and the river had another of sirriilar 

 meaning. In Schoolcraft's larger work [5 : 609] is a communica- 

 tion from Thomas Maxwell, who gave the usual definition and 

 said that the name came from a large horn or tusk found in the 

 river. Of corrse this must have been in colonial times to have 

 originated the Delaware name. The early settlers found a similar 

 one in the streami in 1799. It was sent to England, and an eminent 

 scientist called it lhe tusk of an elephant or some similar animal. 

 In 1855 Mr Maxwell added: 



One ot much the same character was found on an island in the 

 river below Elmira, a few weeks since, and it is now here. I have 

 recently examined it. It is about 4 feet in length, of the crescent 

 form, perhaps 3 to 4 inches in diameter. Capt. Eastm,an saw it yes- 

 terday and with others who have seen it pronounced it to- be ivory, 

 and a tusk of some large animal, probably now extinct. This is 

 the third horn or tusk which has been found in the Chemung so that 

 the nam^e is likely to be perpetual. 



Con-e-wa-wa-wa, Ka-no-wa-lo-hale, and Ka-na-wa-hol-la, head 

 on a pole, are different forms of a favorite name given to a village 



