ABORIGINAL OCCUPATION OF NEW YORK 1 5 



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agreement. Aside from conquest there can be no doubt of this. 

 In 1654 and later, the foot of Oneida lake was certainly in the 

 territory of the Onondagas, their village there being well known 

 for 50 years. Yet at a later day the Oneidas not only held the 

 lake, but reserved a fishing place on its outlet, three miles below. 

 Deep Spring was certainly on the line between the Oneidas and 

 Onondagas after the revolution, but it is almost as evident that 

 the Onondagas at one time owned Cazenovia lake and its outlet. 

 Mr Morgan himself divided Cross lake by the eastern line of the 

 Cayugas, while the Onondagas had clearings west of- it. He also 

 placed Sodus bay, well known as the Bay of tTie Cayugas, in the 

 Seneca territory. The Cayugas themselves at one time had villages 

 north of Lake Ontario, and on the Susquehanna at a later day. 



It will be seen, also, that the Mahikans are here placed on both 

 sides of the Hudson^ at Albany and vicinity. Wassenaer wrote 

 distinctly of " the Maikans, a nation lying 25 (Dutch) miles on 

 both sides of the river, upwards." They alone sold Killian Van 

 Rensselaer a tract of two days inland on each side of the river; 

 a map of his patent will show very nearly their western claims. At 

 the Saratoga purchase, in 1683, some Mahikans were present and 

 quit-claimed any titles to those lands, which the Mohawks had con- 

 quered from them. Their landa extended into Massachusetts, where 

 they took refuge in 1630. They were Algonquins, having close 

 family relations with those east and south of them. The Minsis or 

 Mu'nseys were of the same stock, being a part of the Delaware 

 people. Though distinguished locally, the tribes from Kingston to 

 Westchester county are often classed as Esopus Indians. 



The Susquehanna river was held in Pennsylvania by the Iroquois 

 family. Of these the Gachoi, or Gachoos, alone had land in New 

 York^ nor did they live there long. Below them were the 

 Capitanasses and the Minquas; the latter being the Andastes of 

 the French. Collectively and later, all these were known to the 

 English as Susquehannas or Conestogas. 



A brief summary is given of the traces of aboriginal occupation 

 near the boundaries of New York but outside of the line. South 

 of Lake Champlain and in New England the Algonquin sites pre- 



