﻿ABORIGINAL 
  PLACE 
  NAMES 
  OF 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  171 
  

  

  Onondaga 
  Falls 
  was 
  one 
  name 
  for 
  frhese 
  in 
  colonial 
  times. 
  

  

  Onondaga 
  river 
  was 
  long 
  a 
  name 
  -for 
  Oneida 
  and 
  Oswego 
  rivers. 
  

   In 
  1 
  72 
  1 
  Charlevoix 
  spoke 
  of 
  it 
  " 
  the 
  river 
  of 
  Chaugeuen, 
  formerly 
  

   the 
  river 
  of 
  Onnontague'." 
  

  

  O-swe'-go, 
  Osh-wa-kee 
  and 
  Swa-geh 
  are 
  forms 
  of 
  a 
  well 
  known 
  

   name, 
  meaning 
  flowing 
  out, 
  or 
  more 
  exactly 
  small 
  water 
  flowing 
  

   into 
  that 
  zvhich 
  is 
  large. 
  Clark 
  said 
  that 
  Hiawatha 
  ascended 
  the 
  

   hill, 
  and 
  looking 
  on 
  the 
  broad 
  lake 
  said 
  : 
  " 
  Osh-wa-kee, 
  literally, 
  

   / 
  see 
  everywhere 
  — 
  -see 
  nothing." 
  This 
  is 
  not 
  the 
  meaning, 
  though 
  

   it 
  may 
  have 
  been 
  his 
  thought. 
  The 
  English 
  first 
  mentioned 
  the 
  

   place 
  as 
  Oswego 
  in 
  1727, 
  and 
  spoke 
  of 
  the 
  lake 
  as 
  " 
  the 
  Osweego 
  

   Lake" 
  in 
  1741. 
  Before 
  that 
  they 
  had 
  called 
  Lake 
  Erie 
  by 
  that 
  

   name. 
  To 
  the 
  Onondagas 
  it 
  is 
  still 
  the 
  lake 
  at 
  Oswego. 
  The 
  

   French 
  had 
  known 
  the 
  upper 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  stream 
  as 
  Riviere 
  

   d'Ochoueguen 
  as 
  early 
  as 
  1672, 
  at 
  least; 
  and 
  in 
  1682 
  the 
  Onon- 
  

   dagas 
  wished 
  to 
  meet 
  Frontenac 
  at 
  Techoueguen, 
  which 
  was 
  near 
  

   their 
  town, 
  or 
  to 
  have 
  him 
  come 
  to 
  La 
  Famine. 
  Two 
  years 
  later 
  

   they 
  proposed 
  a 
  general 
  council 
  with 
  De 
  la 
  Barre 
  at 
  Ochoueguen. 
  

   This 
  became 
  the 
  usual 
  French 
  form, 
  with 
  or 
  without 
  the 
  prefix. 
  

   According 
  to 
  Morgan 
  the 
  river 
  had 
  this 
  name 
  only 
  in 
  its 
  downward 
  

   course. 
  Going 
  up 
  the 
  stream 
  it 
  was 
  named 
  from 
  the 
  nation 
  to 
  

   which 
  it 
  first 
  led. 
  For 
  a 
  considerable 
  distance 
  it 
  was 
  thus 
  called 
  

   from 
  the 
  Onondagas 
  but 
  the 
  French 
  mentioned 
  the 
  lower 
  part 
  as 
  

   the 
  River 
  Choueguen 
  in 
  1726. 
  In 
  his 
  gazetteer 
  Mr 
  French 
  erred 
  

   in 
  deriving 
  this 
  name 
  from 
  Ontiahantaque, 
  which 
  belongs 
  to 
  

   Salmon 
  river. 
  

  

  Oneida 
  lake 
  and 
  river 
  belong 
  to 
  this 
  county, 
  but 
  have 
  been 
  

   mentioned. 
  

  

  The 
  Relation 
  of 
  1656 
  says 
  : 
  " 
  Otihatangue' 
  is 
  a 
  river 
  which 
  dis- 
  

   charges 
  itself 
  into 
  Lake 
  Ontario." 
  This 
  was 
  the 
  mouth 
  of 
  Salmon 
  

   river 
  and 
  was 
  well 
  described. 
  In 
  the 
  same 
  Relation 
  it 
  is 
  written 
  

   Ontiahantague' 
  and 
  Oeiatonnehengue', 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  following 
  year 
  

   Otiatannehengue'. 
  This 
  means 
  a 
  large 
  clearing, 
  there 
  being 
  ex- 
  

   tensive 
  natural 
  meadows 
  there. 
  It 
  was 
  the 
  place 
  at 
  first 
  selected 
  for 
  

   the 
  French 
  colony, 
  being 
  a 
  noted 
  landing 
  place, 
  and 
  it 
  afterward 
  

   had 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  La 
  Famine 
  from 
  the 
  hunger 
  of 
  the 
  colonists, 
  who 
  

   found 
  no 
  food 
  there. 
  Charlevoix 
  erroneously 
  derived 
  this 
  name 
  

   from 
  a 
  later 
  event, 
  but 
  the 
  name 
  appears 
  two 
  years 
  before 
  De 
  la 
  

  

  