8 Ni:\V ^■()RK STATE MUSEUM 



Observers at that time had not yet recorded the fact that the Iro- 

 quois did not use or make banner stones, or that stamped patterns 

 characterized Algonkian pottery, or that grooved axes were found 

 only on non-Iroquoian sites. It remained for later students such as 

 Vv'. M. Beauchamp, ]\I. R. Harrington, Alanson Skinner, Frederick 

 Houghton and the present writer to differentiate types of occupation, 

 though other observers working in other localities had perhaps cleared 

 the way for an understanding of the New York cultural areas. 



New York archeology owes much to the work of Prof. Frederic 

 Putnam, William H. Holmes, Charles C. Abbott, Cyrus Thomas, Wil- 

 liam C. Mills and Warren K. Aloorehead, and in later days to Charles 

 C. Willoughby, Christopher Wren and Col. George E. Laidlaw, 

 all of whom, working in the areas surrounding New York, cleared the 

 way or contributed information for a more adequate understanding 

 of the New York field. It was Dr William Beauchamp, however, 

 who did most to draw attention to certain specific problems and his 

 pioneer work has borne abundant fruit. His series of bulletins on 

 New York archeological subjects, published by the State Museum, 

 did much to stimuate study. Doctor Beauchamp was one of the 

 first archeologists to point out the evidences of Eskimoan influence 

 in New York. 



Interest in the evidences of the former Indian occupation of this 

 area has grown from a mere idle curiosity to a serious desire to 

 preserve and to interpret the specimens that are so abundant. Through 

 the efforts of Melvil Dewey in 1896 an appropriation of $5000 was 

 made for the purchase of collections. By this appropriation bill the 

 State Museum was given an " Indian department " charged with the 

 duty of making collections and of studying and recording the facts 

 of Indian culture. In the fulfilment of this obligation A. G. Rich- 

 mond of Canajoharie, a collector, was given the duty of making 

 the first purchases. Later the cooperation of Doctor Beauchamp 

 was obtained. Mrs Harriet IMaxwell Converse, whose father, Hon. 

 Thomas Maxwell, had been adopted by the Seneca tribe, became 

 interested and donated a considerable collection of ethnological 

 specimens. From this time on the State Museum has made every 

 endeavor consistent with its resources and other duties to build up 

 its archeological collections. It should not be forgotten, however, 

 that the " Indian department " of the State Museum had its real 

 origin in the work and collections of Lewis Henry Morgan for the 

 Museum as early as 1849. Morgan's work was ethnological rather 

 than archeological, but as the two sciences are interrelated and 



