34 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Te-hon-da-lo'-ga at the mouth of the creek, Canajoharie on the 

 east bank of Ot-squa'-go creek at Fort Plain, and the upper Mohawk 

 castle in Danube, Herkimer county. Thence his trail went to I'tica, 

 Whitesboro, Oriskany and Rome. This was a very recent route. 



On the north he supposed that the trail turned off to Johnstown, 

 a modern feature, returning to the river at Fonda, and going thence 

 to Rome. This does not allow for the fact that as early as 1600 

 one Mohawk town was far up Cayadutta creek, another still farther 

 on the Garoga, and a third on the Ot-squa'-go, all several miles 

 from the Mohawk. Rome was not an objective point till western 

 trade became vigorous, and there was probably little travel that way 

 till the 1 8th century. Van Curler, in going to Oneida in 1634, 

 certainly left the Mohawk east of present Canajoharie, crossing the 

 hills to the upper waters of Oneida creek. Later accounts show 

 that this was long the only great trail, and this fact Morgan over- 

 looked. This affected his scheme beyond the portage. He said : 



From Rome the main trail, taking a southwest direction, passed 

 through Verona, Te-o-na-tale', and finally came out at Oneida Castle. 

 This was the principal village of the Oneidas. 



Knowing the latter was a recent town, Gen. John S. Clark placed 

 Old Oneida in the southwest corner of Vernon, where Sauthier's 

 map shows it. On his map of 1700 Colonel Romer marked his 

 route as leaving the Mohawk at the third castle, thence southwesterly 

 near the head of Schuyler lake, thence west to Old Oneida, whence 

 a branch trail led to the portage. Being on horseback his party took 

 the main road west to Onondaga. 



From the modern Oneida Castle. Morgan's trail went through 

 Canastota, Canaseraga, Chittenango and the Deep Spring, Manlius 

 and Jamesville, to Onondaga Valley. No colonial traveler mentions 

 Deep Spring, though one of Gansevoort's officers spoke of it as 

 " Sunken Spring in the road/' in 1779, and the Onondagas tell me 

 that their favorite resting place was at Green lake, near Kirkville 

 and north of this route. Johnson and the Moravians alike show 

 that the main trail in 1756 was a mile south of Jamesville, entering 

 Onondaga valley far south of the turnpike. The Moravian journals 

 show that there were several trails between Oneida and Onondaga, 

 touching the Tuscarora towns. 



