TOWN OF CAMERON. 



203 



settlement consists of an old saw-mill and ten houses, four 

 of which were built for the entertainment of travelers. 

 It was here that H. Knickerbocker, J. D. Yost, Porter and 

 others kept their taverns, and accommodated parties from 

 Bath as well as travelers across the country. Harley Sears, 

 a native of Seneca County, settled north of Timothy Car- 

 penter in 1832, James Rowe, who came with him, joining 

 him on the south. Eh Northrup, from Yates County, set- 

 tled in the east part of the town in 1830. His son, Asahel 

 Northrup, lives near by, and is a prosperous farmer. This 

 is a separate family, and not connected with the Northrup 

 in the south of the town. 



Hiram Averill was an early settler in the north part of 

 Cameron, on the high land which is known as Averill Hill, 

 and has been from 1826 a leading man of the town, and 

 for many years a magistrate. His son, William W. Averill, 

 a graduate of West Point, early distinguished himself as a 

 soldier while fighting the Kalamath Indians in the North- 

 west, where he was wounded. At the outbreak of the war 

 of 1861-65 he entered into active service, and distinguished 

 himself as a brilliant cavalry officer, obtaining a brigadier- 

 general's commission before the close of the war. Samuel 

 Watrous and Barnabas Robinson were early settlers in 

 North Cameron. 



In 1831, John French settled on Averill Hill, his brother, 

 David, father of Byron French, coming soon after. Timothy 

 Hastings, David Thayer, and Isaac Hedges were early set- 

 tlers. 



From Averill Hill to the south and southwest may be 

 obtained a fine view of the steep, broken hills bordering 

 the Canisteo River, from two to four miles distant, forming 

 a magnificent circle around a lower pine-clad hill in. front, 

 while near by, on either side, cultivated farms slope toward 

 a common centre. To the right, near the west line of the 

 town, the distant hill is broken off abruptly by a bend in 

 the river, leaving a prominent headland. Far to the south 

 are blue lines of hills in Pennsylvania. Down in the river- 

 valley in front, on a sloping hill-side sixty feet above the 

 river, is West Cameron, a hamlet of a dozen houses, a 

 church, and a school-house. Here was the first home of 

 Isaac Santee, David Ames, who came in 1825, and Luther 

 White. The business has been transferred to Cameron, and 

 the two stores changed, one to a church, and the other, 

 more recently occupied, is used as a dwelling. The post- 

 office of West Cameron was closed in 1874. 



As late as 1804, Indians were scattered along the valley, 

 their temporary camps occupying the sunny knolls along 

 the north bank of the river. On these knolls they raised 

 their little store of corn, which was carefully gathered for 

 winter's use, braided together by the husks, and buried in 

 hills raised above the surface of the ground. For some 

 years they were more numerous than the white settlers, ex- 

 pressing their astonishment at the appearance of the first 

 arks with childlike simplicity, as they followed them along 

 the banks. Amos White, the trapper and hunter, was a 

 great favorite with them, teaching and learning from them 

 the arts of woodcraft. 



Milling trips were excursions of pleasure down the river, 

 in which several joined, takmg their bags of grain and their 

 rifles in a canoe, and watching through the night for deer 



which came into the river to feed. Fish were so plenty in 

 the river that it was not uncommon for a man to spear all 

 he could carry, in a couple of hours. 



Lumbering was commenced along the river by the early 

 settlers selling the most accessible trees along its banks, and 

 the manufacture of long shingles, two feet in length, which 

 were put up in round, barrel-shaped bundles, and sent down 

 the river in arks. In 1828-29, there began a general 

 swarming of lumbermen at all the most accessible points, 

 and mills were erected at every available point along the 

 river. The boards were made into rafts and run down the 

 river to Baltimore and Port Deposit, Md., for market. A 

 boy did not consider himself to be a man, in those days, 

 until he had been '' down the river." 



Sometimes belated rafts, lodged along the river by the 

 falling current, would be carried away by late floods, entail- 

 ing a loss of thousands of dollars. Making " grubs," which 

 were pins of white oak, four feet in length, with heads 

 formed from the root, was an occupation for winter resi- 

 dents on the hills. The rafts, composed of separate '' plat- 

 forms" of boards, laid each way to a depth of two feet, 

 were fastened with grubs, which passing up through, were 

 wedged in their places, and were joined by strong pieces 

 built in from one platform to another. The rafts were 

 wielded by strong oars fastened at either end of the raft, 

 and propelled by the rapid current over falls and rapids, the 

 ends being elevated by strong timbers to prevent them from 

 dipping into the rough Waters. Ten platforms, making a 

 raft 160 feet in length and 16 feet wide, were provided with 

 a temporary cabin, some extra oar blades ; strong ropes to 

 tie up with when landed, replaced the hickory withes of the 

 first raftsmen, who had no ropes. A sheet-iron stove or 

 platform of earth for a fire, bunks for the three men, 

 cooking utensils, an axe, an auger, and a saw, completed 

 the outfit, and when once on the Way, the country along 

 the route furnished their provisions. Sometimes, in going 

 over a fall, the front platform would plunge under the 

 water and bring up fish, for which the men would scramble 

 as soon as they could get free from the oars. On the first 

 trip down, the novice was made the butt of many jokes, 

 and was the laughing-stock of the older raftsmen. 



Long, straight stems of Norway pine, 80 to 120 feet in 

 length, and free from limbs or knots, were rafted whole, 

 fastened together with withes, and run to the seaboard to 

 be used for the masts of sailing-vessels. Rival crews, when 

 far down the river, were always anxious to see who had the 

 best man. When the rafts were disposed of, the crews 

 were paid, and started on foot to return to their homes. 



Among the leading lumbermen of earlier years were 

 Capt. Luther White, who ran as many as 40 rafts of from 

 50,000 to 60,000 feet each in a season, James H. Miles, 

 and Capt. James Young. 



The village of Cameron is built on a narrow neck of land 

 at the mouth of a ravine which breaks through the hill 

 from the north, and is entirely surrounded by the high, pre- 

 cipitous hills, which open only to admit the river at the 

 the north, and closes again half a mile below. 



A main street runs through the village, parallel with the 

 river, and along this street are ranged the older residences 

 and some fine modern ones, including the beautiful residence 



