ABORIGINAL OCCUPATION OF NEW YORK 25 
nearly a hundred stockades or earthworks in every century, so 
that the time of their rule becomes a simple problem in arithmetic. 
After they became intimate with the whites they held their towns 
somewhat longer. 
Earlier than these resident lords of the soil were the visitors from 
many parts of the land. The historic importance of their camps 
has been hitherto overlooked by writers in general, but they are 
deserving of the most careful attention, and for this reason have 
a prominent place here. Some of these early comers left curious 
and beautiful articles, of which the Iroquois knew absolutely noth- 
ing, and of the age of which we ourselves have no very clear idea. 
Like our summer sportsmen, all however sought the fishing places, ~ 
for there they found abundant food. 
The arrangement of descriptions of sites by counties is somewhat 
arbitrary, but this is a matter of convenience rather than taste. 
The natural grouping would be by nations, all the Mohawk sites 
being described in order, and the others in the same way. The result 
would be confusion. The Onondaga territory is well known, but 
during and after the revolution they had a large village near Buffalo. 
The Tuscaroras once lived in Madison county, with villages else- 
where. Their home is now near the Niagara river. The Senecas 
are and were in places far apart. As for the rest, the early comers 
camped and traveled as they pleased. 
Unless a map could be published on a large scale, as charts are 
often prepared for private use in archeologic work, it would be im- 
possible to represent all sites large and small, but several of those 
-in close proximity may be placed under one number. The'com- 
pilation and rearrangement of plans scattered through many 
volumes and the addition of many others, will serve to perpetuate 
and popularize the work of other laborers in this field, whether liv- 
ing or dead. Most of such work is done in such an unselfish spirit 
that we have little hesitation in availing ourselves of it. In fact so 
much was done directly in the interest of the state, that there is 
already a proper claim upon it. The new plans have come from 
many sources, professional or otherwise, which are more or less ac- 
curate in detail. In all cases they add much to our knowledge of 
