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, aXt 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 pubHshed 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 



