12 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



mixed clay. The difficulty was increased by the unsystematic 

 excavations of amateurs whose filled-up prospects constituted false 

 leads in many instances. 



The Moore farm is divided into two general sections, the agricul- 

 tural plot on the top of the hill, and the pasture plot on the west 

 slope. The portion excavated in the autumn of 1919 was the brow 

 of the hill in the pasture plot. Here on two lobate ridges running 

 out into the brook valley, were found the burials. The specimens 

 recovered include one bone comb, four clay pipes, a woven pouch, 

 two wooden spoons, several strings of wampum beads and shell 

 runtees. European material included glass beads, brass kettles, 

 brass arrow points, gun locks and barrels, knives, chisels and 

 punches. Of considerable interest are the specimens of dried foods, 

 further preserved from decay in the ground by impregnation with 

 copper salts derived from oxidation of brass kettles. These foods 

 include apples, grapes, squash rind and seeds, pressed berries, corn 

 bread and corn. Some tobacco leaf and " fine cut " Virginia is also 

 among the preserved vegetable substances. Through substances 

 such as these it is possible to determine some of the foods used by 

 the Indians who lived at Boughton Hill. 



The site is that known as Gandagora by the French. To the 

 Indians it was Ga-on-sa-gaa-ah. This village was one of the great 

 towns of the Seneca and was known to the colonists as early as 

 1637. During the conflict of the Iroquois with the French of 

 Canada the village was attacked by Governor Denonville. With 

 him were 1600 French soldiers, 800 of whom were trained men 

 from France ; the rest were hastily drilled habitants. To supple- 

 ment this force there were some 1400 Indian allies, mostly Hurons 

 and Ottawas. The Seneca occupants made several feeble efforts to 

 defend their homes, but they were outnumbered ten to one. Fleeing 

 before the superior invading force they abandoned and burned the 

 village and fled to Gayaanduk, a fortified hill a half league to the 

 west. This was almost immediately abandoned and burned, leav- 

 ing the French and Indian invaders the task of destroying the corn 

 fields and public storehouses. The French destroyed four prin- 

 cipal villages of the Seneca and burned several small settlements, 

 together with. their com fields and garden plots. A few Seneca 

 Indians were killed but the Ottawa allies of the French accused 

 Denonville of killing more horses and pigs than Seneca enemies. 

 " You have destroyed the nest," said one Indian ally, " but you have 

 left the hornets with their stings.'' 



