Eeie County 273 



sway over Lake Ontario and, therefore, of the great fur trade. 

 Fort Niagara was accordingly rebuilt. During the French and 

 Indian War it was captured by the English, who assumed con- 

 trol of the Niagara River after it had been under French domina- 

 tion for more than 100 years. 



The Indians became discontented under the English control , 

 and in 1763, Pontiac, a celebrated Ottawa chief with whom the 

 Senecas were in sympathy, went on the war path. The other 

 Indian nations were loyal to the English, through the powerful 

 influence of Sir William Johnson. General Bradstreet, who 

 started" for the West to quell the outbreak, met Johnson at Oswego, 

 and together they proceeded to Niagara, where a treaty of peace 

 was effected. From this time to the Revolution peace reigned 

 over the Xiagara frontier, and trade with the Indians rapidly 

 increased. 



In the few years preceding the Revolution, settlement advanced 

 very little beyond the various trading posts, every one being intent 

 on making a profit in furs to the neglect of clearing away forests 

 and tilling lands. During the Revolution the frontier of western 

 Xew York had little immediate connection with the events that 

 transpired, although the post at Fort Xiagara was very important 

 in -a military sense. There the Butlers, Johnsons, Brant, and 

 others opposed to the colony had their headquarters. It was not 

 until July 4, 1796*, that Fort Xiagara and other posts were finally 

 surrendered by the British. Previous to that' time the relations 

 of the people on either side of the boundary had not been cordial, 

 and the peculiar situation undoubtedly tended to retard settle- 

 ment at various points. 



The first settlement was made at Buffalo, about 1794—95. The 

 generous outlays of money made by the Holland Company in 

 the construction of roads, bridges, mills, etc., led to a rapid occu j 

 pation of all the best land in the county. In the War of 1812 

 Black Rock and Buffalo were captured and Buffalo was burned. 



The construction of the Erie Canal and the New York Central 

 Railroad tended largely to develop the resources of the county and 

 to convert Buffalo into the greatest commercial place on the Great 

 Lakes. 



