288 THE INDIAN OCCUPANCY 



tion right, however, and in 1810 it conveyed to David Ogden not 

 only this Reservation but also the Buffalo Creek, Tonawanda and 

 Tuscarora Reservations, "subject only to the right of the native 

 Indians and not otherwise". In 1838 an agreement was made 

 between the United States, represented by R. H. Gillett, and the 

 Senecas, whereby they and others of the Six Nations were to 

 remove to lands west of the Missouri River, to be deeded to them 

 by the United States, and they were to convey to Messrs. Ogden 

 and Fellows for a consideration of $20,200 all lands owned by 

 them in New York State. The purchasers promptly began] to 

 open these lands to settlers; but the Indians charged irregulari- 

 ties in obtaining the necessary signatures of their sachems and 

 women, and refused to abide by the terms of the deed. So 

 actively did they urge their claims of fraud that a compromise 

 was finally made whereby the Ogden Company released and re- 

 turned the Allegany and Cattaraugus Reservations; while the 

 Senecas gave up the Buffalo Creek Reservation and the Tona- 

 wanda Reservation, allowing preemptive rights to remain in the 

 Ogden L,and Company. The Senecas on the Tonawanda Reserva- 

 tion protested vigorously against this compromise and refused to 

 remove, whereupon the United States bought from the Ogden 

 L,and Company their interest in the Tonawanda Reservation which 

 is now held in fee by the Comptroller of the State of New York 

 for the Indians living thereon, (1). 



After the compromise, at different times between 1842 and 

 1844 the Indians of the Buffalo Creek Reservation removed to 

 their lands on the Cattaraugus Reservation, where they and their 

 descendants still live. For many years thereafter parties of 

 Senecas came frequently to Buffalo Creek, and even as late as 

 twenty years ago the writer remembers to have seen Seneca tents 

 on the flats of Cazenovia Creek. 



The Cattaraugus Reservation lies on both sides of Cattaraugus 

 Creek, in Erie, Cattaraugus and Chautauqua Counties. It con- 

 tains 21,680 acres. The Tonawanda Reservation lies in Erie, 

 Niagara and Genesee Counties and contains 6,550 acres. The 

 Senecas on the Cattaraugus and Allegany Reservations are incor- 

 porated under the name of "The Seneca Nation". They are 

 governed under a constitution by a president and a council of 



i. The data regarding these land changes were obtained from "The 

 Indian Problem", a report made in 1889 to N. Y. Legislature by a special 

 committee to Investigate the Indian Problem of the State of N. Y. 



