hill, near the present road leading east tp Fompey
hill, there is'a spring'«till «haltered with shrubbery,
which:be supposes furnished the; fort., with
. water. |
' This fort constitutes .but. a- p a rta f the o r y
marked evidences qf former occupancy by man
in a civilized state» and in a forgotten age, which
occur in this,portion of Onondaga, chiefly in the
^present towns of Pompey, ‘Lafayette' De Witt,
Camillusand Manlius. v Other observed localities
and facts derived Trom. other ! •witnesses,
iliustfating the character of this fort, and ofthb
ancient Indian settlements in theEasonda valley,
are marked H in the annesfdi^feetcdi.1
In this plat B denotes the site1 of an ancient
Onondaga town or village* immediately on the
banks of the stream,' where water could be
readily obtained tar all purposes. the locality
of the cemetery used at the period, on the
ascending grounds on the north hanks of the
stream. It constitutes ^ well marked transverse
ridge. Immediately, west of it rises ?a natural
mound, marked D, of large.size, neatly copical
in its shape, and terminating in, a flat,surface or
plain, of anpyate border, some twelve by seventeen
paces. James G-ould, the proprietor of the
land, who, from his residence, guided, me to the
spot, remarks that this conical hill was formerly
covered with a hard wood forest, similar in
its species to those of the surrounding country,
with the exception of a spot, some four or •ft'Ce
paces diameter, on its apex. This spot was,
however, completely veiled from sight by the
overtopping,trees until the arcanum was entered.
From the peculiar character of this eminence,
and its relative-position to the village and'burial
ground, it maybe supposed to have been the site
of the sfeer’s lodge/ from which-he uttered- his
Sacred responses.
; Speaking of ,the old,* fort-of Kasonda, this informant
remarked, that when he1 came into the
country, its eutline«.;Could' still- he fracedgr that it
was a square fort, with bastions, and had streets
within i t It had- been set round withteedar
pickets, which had been burned^0 the:fground.
Stumps,-of these ancient palisades' were -struck
by.fhS* pkfogV It p, en this testimony' which
at, the same time^ denotes a violent destruction
of. the wotk, .that the geometrical figure of it,
Represented' in A, is drawn. He had; I think,
been in the revolutionary army, and drawn his
bounty lands, as many of the .original settler«;,on.
the military tract had done. He knew therefore',:
the import of the military terms he employed.
In a* collection of aboriginal antiquarian arti-,
cles at his bouse, he. permitted me to make
drawings of any taken from the fort grounds,, oy
disinterred from ancient Indian graves,' which
appeared to me to merit it. j Of these, but a few
are pertinent to the present inquiry. Th£y are
as follows;
'Number 1, represents an antique.<collar or
medal, {Nabikotigun,) wrought out of sea shell: ' It
is crossed with two parallel, and two horizontal
I IP?