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  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  Ots-da'-wa 
  creek. 
  This 
  is 
  also 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  a 
  postofBce 
  in 
  Otego. 
  

  

  Ot-se-go 
  creek 
  was 
  also 
  called 
  Otsgo 
  in 
  the 
  Sullivan 
  campaign. 
  

  

  Ot-se'-go. 
  Morgan 
  has 
  Ote-sa'-ga 
  for 
  the 
  lake 
  and 
  Cooperstown, 
  

   but 
  with 
  no 
  definition. 
  It 
  was 
  mentioned 
  in 
  1753 
  by 
  the 
  Rev. 
  Gideon 
  

   Hawley 
  and 
  written 
  as 
  now. 
  Sauthier's 
  map 
  has 
  Otsega, 
  but 
  it 
  

   is 
  Ostega 
  on 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  New 
  Hampshire 
  grants. 
  More 
  than 
  a 
  

   century 
  since 
  Ostenha 
  was 
  one 
  name 
  for 
  the 
  lake, 
  and 
  Cooper 
  said 
  

   that 
  the 
  large 
  stone 
  at 
  the 
  outlet 
  still 
  retained 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  the 
  

   Otsego 
  rock 
  when 
  he 
  wrote 
  Deerslayer. 
  Father 
  Bruyas 
  gives 
  

   ostenra 
  as 
  a 
  rock; 
  Schoolcraft 
  has 
  otsteaha 
  for 
  rock 
  in 
  Mohawk, 
  

   and 
  otsta 
  in 
  Oneida. 
  Adding 
  the 
  locative 
  and 
  making 
  due 
  allow- 
  

   ance 
  for 
  changes, 
  it 
  is 
  reasonable 
  to 
  interpret 
  this 
  place 
  of 
  the 
  rock 
  

   In 
  Halsey's 
  Old 
  New 
  York 
  Frontier 
  is 
  a 
  view 
  of 
  this 
  great 
  stone. 
  

  

  Another 
  possible 
  but 
  less 
  probable 
  origin 
  may 
  be 
  mentioned. 
  

   Atsagannen, 
  in 
  Mohawk, 
  was 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  stranger, 
  or 
  to 
  speak 
  a 
  dif- 
  

   ferent 
  language, 
  as 
  the 
  Delawares 
  did, 
  who 
  at 
  first 
  lived 
  in 
  that 
  

   direction 
  and 
  may 
  have 
  had 
  early 
  contact 
  with 
  the 
  Iroquois 
  there. 
  

   This 
  word 
  differs 
  little 
  from 
  some 
  early 
  forms 
  of 
  the 
  name, 
  though 
  

   preference 
  is 
  given 
  to 
  the 
  first 
  definition. 
  In 
  Campbell's 
  Annals 
  of 
  

   Tryon 
  County 
  another 
  meaning 
  is 
  suggested. 
  He 
  said 
  : 
  "The 
  water 
  

   is 
  deep 
  and 
  clear, 
  which 
  is 
  said 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  meaning 
  of 
  its 
  Indian 
  

   name." 
  There 
  seems 
  no 
  support 
  for 
  this. 
  Schoolcraft 
  said 
  : 
  

   " 
  Otsego 
  is 
  derivative 
  from 
  an 
  Iroquois 
  particle, 
  denoting 
  bodies 
  of 
  

   water, 
  and 
  hence 
  becomes 
  by 
  ellipsis, 
  the 
  name 
  for 
  lake, 
  as 
  we 
  

   observe 
  it 
  in 
  Otisco. 
  The 
  term 
  ego 
  means 
  beautiful, 
  as 
  we 
  find 
  it 
  in 
  

   the 
  word 
  Oswego, 
  which 
  is 
  the 
  Onondaga 
  term 
  for 
  Ontario, 
  the 
  

   latter 
  being 
  in 
  the 
  Wyandot 
  language." 
  It 
  is 
  needless 
  to 
  comment 
  

   on 
  this. 
  

  

  O-wer-i-ho'-wet, 
  a 
  branch 
  of 
  the 
  Susquehanna, 
  is 
  mentioned 
  on 
  

   land 
  papers 
  in 
  Albany. 
  

  

  O-war-i-o'-neck 
  suggests 
  the 
  last, 
  and 
  was 
  west 
  of 
  Unadilla 
  and 
  

   on 
  the 
  south 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  river. 
  A. 
  Cusick 
  defined 
  this 
  as 
  where 
  the 
  

   teacher 
  lived, 
  and 
  it 
  may 
  refer 
  to 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  Indian 
  schools 
  held 
  in 
  

   that 
  region 
  in 
  the 
  later 
  colonial 
  days, 
  and 
  which 
  were 
  sometimes 
  

   migratory. 
  Halsey 
  thought 
  this 
  was 
  Carr's 
  creek. 
  

  

  Lake 
  Sa-te-i-yi-e-non, 
  a 
  small 
  lake 
  on 
  Pouchot's 
  map, 
  south 
  of 
  

   Otsego 
  and 
  Schuyler 
  lakes, 
  would 
  be 
  in 
  Middlefield 
  were 
  the 
  map 
  

   correct. 
  But 
  while 
  it 
  is 
  made 
  a 
  head 
  of 
  the 
  Susquehanna 
  on 
  this, 
  

  

  