﻿224 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  At 
  Belfort 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  fall 
  of 
  50 
  feet, 
  utilized 
  to 
  generate 
  electricity, 
  

   which 
  is 
  transmitted 
  to 
  adjacent 
  towns. 
  

  

  Otter 
  creek. 
  This 
  stream 
  rises 
  in 
  Herkimer 
  county 
  and 
  flows 
  

   westerly 
  into 
  Black 
  river, 
  a 
  few 
  miles 
  north 
  of 
  the 
  village 
  of 
  

   Greig. 
  Its 
  catchment 
  area 
  is 
  63 
  square 
  miles. 
  

  

  Independence 
  creek. 
  Independence 
  creek 
  also 
  rises 
  in 
  Herki- 
  

   mer 
  county 
  and 
  flows 
  westerly 
  into 
  Black 
  river 
  three 
  miles 
  south 
  

   of 
  Bushe's 
  Landing. 
  The 
  catchment 
  area 
  above 
  the 
  mouth 
  of 
  the 
  

   stream 
  is 
  99 
  square 
  miles. 
  

  

  Deer 
  river. 
  This 
  stream 
  rises 
  in 
  the 
  extreme 
  western 
  part 
  of 
  

   Lewis 
  county 
  and 
  flows 
  northeasterly 
  into 
  Black 
  river 
  five 
  miles 
  

   above 
  Carthage. 
  The 
  catchment 
  area 
  of 
  the 
  stream 
  is 
  102 
  square 
  

   miles. 
  

  

  Early 
  water 
  power 
  and 
  manufacturing 
  projects 
  on 
  Black 
  river. 
  

   Precise 
  knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  region 
  drained 
  by 
  Black 
  river 
  is 
  almost 
  

   entirely 
  confined 
  to 
  the 
  present 
  century. 
  So 
  little 
  was 
  known 
  

   of 
  its 
  geography 
  that 
  in 
  a 
  statistical 
  work, 
  Winterlbotham's 
  View 
  

   of 
  the 
  American 
  United 
  States, 
  published 
  in 
  1796, 
  it 
  is 
  stated 
  

   that 
  Black 
  river 
  is 
  said 
  to 
  rise 
  " 
  in 
  the 
  high 
  country 
  near 
  the 
  

   sources 
  of 
  Canada 
  creek, 
  which 
  falls 
  into 
  the 
  Mohawk 
  river 
  and 
  

   takes 
  its 
  course 
  northwest 
  and 
  then 
  northeast 
  until 
  it 
  discharges 
  

   into 
  the 
  Cataraqui 
  or 
  Iroquois 
  river 
  not 
  far 
  from 
  Swegauchee; 
  

   it 
  is 
  said 
  to 
  be 
  navigable 
  for 
  batteaux 
  up 
  to 
  the 
  lower 
  falls, 
  60 
  

   miles." 
  That 
  is 
  to 
  say, 
  Winterbotham 
  understood 
  Black 
  river 
  

   to 
  be 
  navigable 
  either 
  to 
  Carthage 
  or 
  possibly 
  Lyon 
  Falls, 
  the 
  

   misapprehension 
  probably 
  having 
  grown 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  accounts 
  given 
  

   by 
  hunters 
  and 
  trappers 
  of 
  the 
  long, 
  nearly 
  level 
  stretch 
  of 
  about 
  

   40 
  miles 
  between 
  Carthage 
  and 
  Lyon 
  Falls. 
  The 
  Black 
  river 
  is 
  

   not 
  represented 
  on 
  any 
  of 
  the 
  early 
  French 
  or 
  English 
  maps 
  of 
  

   the 
  region. 
  1 
  

  

  Surveys 
  of 
  Watertown 
  township 
  were 
  made 
  in 
  1796 
  by 
  

   Benjamin 
  Wright, 
  who 
  was 
  later 
  engineer 
  on 
  the 
  Erie 
  canal. 
  His 
  

   report 
  may 
  be 
  considered 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  something 
  like 
  accurate 
  

  

  x 
  See 
  preface 
  to 
  a 
  History 
  of 
  Jefferson 
  county, 
  by 
  Franklin 
  B. 
  Hough, 
  

   Watertown, 
  1854. 
  

  

  