112 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



22 There was a recent fort on Cranston's farm at Oneida castle 

 east of the creek, probably the one built by Johnson in 1756. St 

 Peter's Indian church was there also before the Oneidas went to 

 Green Bay. The cemetery west of the station was cut into by the 

 West Shore railroad. 



23 *^At the orchard the first Methodist mission house was built. 

 The orchard is an old and very large one situated in the southwest 

 corner of Vernon. It was set out by the Indians long before the 

 arrival of the first white settlers, it being apparently an old orchard 

 in 1794." The noted Orchard party had its name from this. — 

 Hammond, p. 114 



24 Dr Hinsdale reported a large site less than a mile west of the 

 village of North Bay, with stone relics. 



25 He found a large straggling site near the mouth of Oneida 

 creek, and another large village half a mile from the mouth, with 

 early articles of bone, clay and stone. Net sinkers are common 

 near the mouth of the creek. 



Onondaga county. This county was the historic center of the 

 powerful Iroquois league and there the great council fire burned, 

 though not always in the same place. For nearly or quite a cen- 

 tury the Onondaga towns were on the hills bordering the valley of 

 Limestone creek. About 1690 or a little earlier they shifted to the 

 east bank of the Butternut creek, a mile south of Jamesville. The 

 next half century found them in the Onondaga valley east of the 

 creek, but by 1750 nearly all were on the west side. Their. present 

 location is quite recent. While part of this nation seem to have 

 been immigrants but little over three centuries since, it is probable 

 that they united with some of the same family who had preceded 

 them, settling near Seneca river. Another group of this family was 

 in Elbridge but may not have united with them, their natural as- 

 sociations being farther west. 



Preceding the Onondagas and their kindred, and mainly in the 

 northern towns, were those visitors who left so many interesting 

 reHcs on the Seneca and Oneida rivers and the adjacent lakes and 

 streams. These came from many places, but when, we can not 

 tell. In this field the writer has worked for many years with the 



