Appalachian oak hickory forest
Appalachian oak hickory forest
AOH forests are hardwood forests occurring on well-drained soils, usually on ridgetops, upper slopes, or south- and west-facing slopes (Edinger et al. 2002). This is a broadly defined forest community with several regional variations and soil types. I’ll begin by discussing the dominant and namesake genera, oaks (Quercus) and hickories (Carya), before addressing individual species.
Oaks (Quercus spp.)
Oaks can be divided into two main groups: the white oak group and the red oak group. White oaks of local interest include white oak, swamp white oak, bur oak, and chinkapin oak. Red oak species occurring in central New York are black oak, red oak, and (in the Finger Lakes area) scarlet oak. In the white oak group, tips and lobes of the leaves are generally rounded without bristles, and the bark is usually scaly. Red oaks, in contrast, have darker, more furrowed, and harder bark, as well as bristle points at the tips of leaf lobes.
Oaks have many uses in native cultures both here and all over the world where they are found. Specific uses of local oaks will be discussed below with the species accounts. Here, I will make some general comments on use of acorns for food and other purposes. Acorns have been (and in some cases still are) widely used as a food source in North America, Europe, and Asia. For thousands of years in what is now upstate New York, mast foods such as acorns formed a significant part of people's diets.
AOH forests are hardwood forests occurring on well-drained soils, usually on ridgetops, upper slopes, or south- and west-facing slopes (Edinger et al. 2002). This is a broadly defined forest community with several regional variations and soil types. I’ll begin by discussing the dominant and namesake genera, oaks (Quercus) and hickories (Carya), before addressing individual species.
Oaks (Quercus spp.)
Oaks can be divided into two main groups: the white oak group and the red oak group. White oaks of local interest include white oak, swamp white oak, bur oak, and chinkapin oak. Red oak species occurring in central New York are black oak, red oak, and (in the Finger Lakes area) scarlet oak. In the white oak group, tips and lobes of the leaves are generally rounded without bristles, and the bark is usually scaly. Red oaks, in contrast, have darker, more furrowed, and harder bark, as well as bristle points at the tips of leaf lobes.
Oaks have many uses in native cultures both here and all over the world where they are found. Specific uses of local oaks will be discussed below with the species accounts. Here, I will make some general comments on use of acorns for food and other purposes. Acorns have been (and in some cases still are) widely used as a food source in North America, Europe, and Asia. For thousands of years in what is now upstate New York, mast foods such as acorns formed a significant part of people's diets.
Parker (1968) includes a photograph of a cache of acorns unearthed near X, NY. In addition, archaeologists at the Lamoka Lake site (between Keuka and Seneca Lakes) found abundant remains of acorns, and (in smaller amounts) hickory nuts, in pits and around hearths at this location (Ritchie 1969). Lamoka Lake is considered part of a widespread Mast Forest Archaic culture that flourished from 4000 to 1700 BC (Gibbon and Ames 1998). Ground stone tools included mortars and pestles. The acorn and hickory nut remains, combined with these food grinding tools, suggest that gathering of mast was an important subsistence activity.
Acorns require some processing for eating, since all acorns contain varying amounts of tannic acid. A bitter and toxic substance, tannic acid must be removed before the nutmeat can be consumed. White oaks contain less tannin than red oaks, and therefore are the preferred species for eating. However, acorns from the red oak group were widely used despite the presence of tannins since these compounds are water soluble and therefore readily leached out.
To prepare acorns for bread, native people mixed nutmeats with hardwood ashes and water, thus removing the bitter and astringent qualities. They also dried the kernels and poured boiling water through the flour; or simply put the dried mass in a basket and a stream, or in a hollow pocket of sand, and allowed flowing water to remove the tannins (Fernald and Kinsey 1958).
How important were acorns to the Haudenosaunee diet? While not the favorite nut for eating, the Haudenosaunee did rely on acorns along with other nuts, as described by Parker (1968):
Acorns were boiled in lye and roasted much as corn was to remove the bitterness, and after several washings pounded up in a mortar and mixed with meal or meat and made into a soup or pudding. Children even now [Parker’s book was originally published in 1910] commonly eat raw acorns, but their elders at present seldom use them for cooking. Their former employment remains only a memory.
Waugh (1916) notes that acorns of swamp white oak, white oak, and chestnut oak were gathered for consumption.
Of course, native peoples relied on oak trees for a number of services besides direct production of food. Indirectly, mast producing trees such as oaks provided food for wildlife such as passenger pigeons, white-tailed deer, turkeys, ruffed grouse, wood ducks-- all potential sources of meat protein in the aboriginal diet.
According to Lyford (1945, p. 53), the Haudenosaunee made canoes of the oak and the red (slippery) elm. The bark of the oak was considered more lasting. She describes the construction of such a craft:
After the rough outside had been removed from large slabs of bark, they were smooth and soaked, then stitched to a frame of ash or hickory with basswood fiber or splint. Narrow strips of asked to serve as ribs were set across the bottom of the canoe, about a foot apart. The edges of these ribs were turned up and secured under the rim of the canoe. At each end the canoe was finished with a vertical prow. Iroquois canoes varied in size from 12 feet, to carry two men, up to 40 feet with capacity for 30 men. In early days the bark canoe was extensively used in the fur trade.
ther uses for oaks are discussed with the species accounts.
Several authorities have pointed out that acorns could still be a valuable food source for us in American culture, did we make the effort to harvest them. The eminent biologist C. Hart Merriam (1855-1942) lamented the waste of this abundant caloric resource:
That a food of such genuine worth should be disregarded by our people is one of many illustrations of the reluctance of white man to avail himself of sources of subsistence long utilized by the aborigines (native American Indians).
We seem to prefer crops that require laborious preparation of the soil, followed by costly planting and cultivation, rather than those provided without price by bountiful nature (Merriam 1918).
One advantage of harvesting wild foods such as acorns (besides the fact that they are “provided without price by bountiful nature”) is that such taking does not require dismantling forests, wetlands, or grassland habitats in order to extract the nutrient resource. In fact it is the plants in such habitats that serve in a sense as the “crops,” providing incentive for their care and perpetuation. With today’s focus on carbon storage systems, forests clearly retain more carbon than agriculture land above and below ground since acorns do not require soil disturbance for production of annual crops—“ costly planting and cultivation."
Acorns require some processing for eating, since all acorns contain varying amounts of tannic acid. A bitter and toxic substance, tannic acid must be removed before the nutmeat can be consumed. White oaks contain less tannin than red oaks, and therefore are the preferred species for eating. However, acorns from the red oak group were widely used despite the presence of tannins since these compounds are water soluble and therefore readily leached out.
To prepare acorns for bread, native people mixed nutmeats with hardwood ashes and water, thus removing the bitter and astringent qualities. They also dried the kernels and poured boiling water through the flour; or simply put the dried mass in a basket and a stream, or in a hollow pocket of sand, and allowed flowing water to remove the tannins (Fernald and Kinsey 1958).
How important were acorns to the Haudenosaunee diet? While not the favorite nut for eating, the Haudenosaunee did rely on acorns along with other nuts, as described by Parker (1968):
Acorns were boiled in lye and roasted much as corn was to remove the bitterness, and after several washings pounded up in a mortar and mixed with meal or meat and made into a soup or pudding. Children even now [Parker’s book was originally published in 1910] commonly eat raw acorns, but their elders at present seldom use them for cooking. Their former employment remains only a memory.
Waugh (1916) notes that acorns of swamp white oak, white oak, and chestnut oak were gathered for consumption.
Of course, native peoples relied on oak trees for a number of services besides direct production of food. Indirectly, mast producing trees such as oaks provided food for wildlife such as passenger pigeons, white-tailed deer, turkeys, ruffed grouse, wood ducks-- all potential sources of meat protein in the aboriginal diet.
According to Lyford (1945, p. 53), the Haudenosaunee made canoes of the oak and the red (slippery) elm. The bark of the oak was considered more lasting. She describes the construction of such a craft:
After the rough outside had been removed from large slabs of bark, they were smooth and soaked, then stitched to a frame of ash or hickory with basswood fiber or splint. Narrow strips of asked to serve as ribs were set across the bottom of the canoe, about a foot apart. The edges of these ribs were turned up and secured under the rim of the canoe. At each end the canoe was finished with a vertical prow. Iroquois canoes varied in size from 12 feet, to carry two men, up to 40 feet with capacity for 30 men. In early days the bark canoe was extensively used in the fur trade.
ther uses for oaks are discussed with the species accounts.
Several authorities have pointed out that acorns could still be a valuable food source for us in American culture, did we make the effort to harvest them. The eminent biologist C. Hart Merriam (1855-1942) lamented the waste of this abundant caloric resource:
That a food of such genuine worth should be disregarded by our people is one of many illustrations of the reluctance of white man to avail himself of sources of subsistence long utilized by the aborigines (native American Indians).
We seem to prefer crops that require laborious preparation of the soil, followed by costly planting and cultivation, rather than those provided without price by bountiful nature (Merriam 1918).
One advantage of harvesting wild foods such as acorns (besides the fact that they are “provided without price by bountiful nature”) is that such taking does not require dismantling forests, wetlands, or grassland habitats in order to extract the nutrient resource. In fact it is the plants in such habitats that serve in a sense as the “crops,” providing incentive for their care and perpetuation. With today’s focus on carbon storage systems, forests clearly retain more carbon than agriculture land above and below ground since acorns do not require soil disturbance for production of annual crops—“ costly planting and cultivation."
Presence of Oaks around Onondaga Lake and in Central NY
Cogbill et al. (2002) describe a tension line in New England forests between more southerly oak-hickory lands and those found further north, dominated by American beech and sugar maple. This tension line, which dips into Pennsylvania, also extends a finger into upstate New York where oak forests follow the Susquehanna Valley and inhabit the western Finger Lakes. In any case, beech maple forests are more typical of historical upland forests in Central New York (Marks et al. 1992) than are oak hickory forests, in general.
Oaks nonetheless form, and formed, an important component of Central New York forests. Wetland and riparian oak species (swamp white oak, bur oak) were once common in the swamps around Onondaga Lake (Paine 1865). Presence of oaks is suggested by place names in the northern part of the county especially, such as Oak Orchard; and Oak Openings in or near the current Onondaga Nation land. In general, oaks and hickories appear (along with other more southern species like tulip tree) on the lake plain in the northern half of the county, while more northerly species (sugar maple, beech, yellow birch) typify the hills of the southern half.
Other historical records suggest presence of oaks. When Pursh walked from Onondaga Hollow to Salina in 1807, he noted that “the rood goes chiefly through Oak woods, and crosses a considerable piece of swamp, through which Onondago creek runs close to the road side.” (Think of the Rand Tract today, with some outstanding red and white oak trees, as well as other areas in the Valley section of Syracuse extending down through Nedrow). Similarly, DeWitt Clinton commented on the oak woods he observed while travelling from Salina to Manlius in 1810: “The country is rich, pretty well settled, and is covered with fine woods of oak.” As discussed below in the species accounts, George Geddes described massive oaks found in the Fairmount area.
These trees were cut for timber rather than allowed to stand. Oaks had a variety of uses in the early immigrant culture of central New York. Oak was the preferred wood for barrels used for the storage of salt. Coopers (people who make barrels) had no shortage of business; some produced thousands of barrels per year to store not only salt, but other commodities. As salt production reached significant levels, the demand for oak to make barrels soared and oak had to be imported from the surrounding region. (I don't know if this is true we would need to find out –Liverpool Historical Society?). Swamp white oak, along with American elm, “abounded in potash” (Geddes 1869), then an important source of cash.
Early settlers could gauge the quality of the land for agricultural purposes by the forest it supported. As George Geddes wrote:
The "oak lands" as they are called by the farmers, have been proverbial for their ability to produce wheat; and that belt of land once covered with oak and hickory is the true wheat land.
By the time Geddes wrote, oak was in such limited supply that it had to be imported from Saginaw Bay in the Western Lakes.
In the absence of fire, the most common natural vegetation of Central New York was beech maple forest (Marks et al. 1992). Presence of oaks in certain parts of the county could suggest differences in soil type, or management by native people to increase presence of mast producing species such as oaks.
Cogbill et al. (2002) describe a tension line in New England forests between more southerly oak-hickory lands and those found further north, dominated by American beech and sugar maple. This tension line, which dips into Pennsylvania, also extends a finger into upstate New York where oak forests follow the Susquehanna Valley and inhabit the western Finger Lakes. In any case, beech maple forests are more typical of historical upland forests in Central New York (Marks et al. 1992) than are oak hickory forests, in general.
Oaks nonetheless form, and formed, an important component of Central New York forests. Wetland and riparian oak species (swamp white oak, bur oak) were once common in the swamps around Onondaga Lake (Paine 1865). Presence of oaks is suggested by place names in the northern part of the county especially, such as Oak Orchard; and Oak Openings in or near the current Onondaga Nation land. In general, oaks and hickories appear (along with other more southern species like tulip tree) on the lake plain in the northern half of the county, while more northerly species (sugar maple, beech, yellow birch) typify the hills of the southern half.
Other historical records suggest presence of oaks. When Pursh walked from Onondaga Hollow to Salina in 1807, he noted that “the rood goes chiefly through Oak woods, and crosses a considerable piece of swamp, through which Onondago creek runs close to the road side.” (Think of the Rand Tract today, with some outstanding red and white oak trees, as well as other areas in the Valley section of Syracuse extending down through Nedrow). Similarly, DeWitt Clinton commented on the oak woods he observed while travelling from Salina to Manlius in 1810: “The country is rich, pretty well settled, and is covered with fine woods of oak.” As discussed below in the species accounts, George Geddes described massive oaks found in the Fairmount area.
These trees were cut for timber rather than allowed to stand. Oaks had a variety of uses in the early immigrant culture of central New York. Oak was the preferred wood for barrels used for the storage of salt. Coopers (people who make barrels) had no shortage of business; some produced thousands of barrels per year to store not only salt, but other commodities. As salt production reached significant levels, the demand for oak to make barrels soared and oak had to be imported from the surrounding region. (I don't know if this is true we would need to find out –Liverpool Historical Society?). Swamp white oak, along with American elm, “abounded in potash” (Geddes 1869), then an important source of cash.
Early settlers could gauge the quality of the land for agricultural purposes by the forest it supported. As George Geddes wrote:
The "oak lands" as they are called by the farmers, have been proverbial for their ability to produce wheat; and that belt of land once covered with oak and hickory is the true wheat land.
By the time Geddes wrote, oak was in such limited supply that it had to be imported from Saginaw Bay in the Western Lakes.
In the absence of fire, the most common natural vegetation of Central New York was beech maple forest (Marks et al. 1992). Presence of oaks in certain parts of the county could suggest differences in soil type, or management by native people to increase presence of mast producing species such as oaks.
Hickories (Carya spp.)
According to Parker (1968), "the favorite food nuts of the Iroquois were hickory and chestnuts though other nuts were valued." The Jesuit fathers at St. Marie on Onondaga Lake wrote (1656):
There are two kinds of nuts; one kind is as sweet and agreeable to the taste as the other is bitter but, with all their bitterness, an excellent oil is extracted from them by passing them through the ashes, through the mill, through fire, and through water, in the same way as the Savages extract oil from sunflowers (Thwaites 1899, vol 43, chapter XI).
The "two kinds of nuts" referred to in this passage are probably shagbark hickory and bitternut hickory, described in the species accounts below (bitternut hickory appears in the floodplain forest section). They appear to be the species of hickory most commonly used by the Haudenosaunee.
Hickory nuts were eaten by themselves, but also mixed with other foods such as corn. Heckewelder (1876) describes a dish made from nut milk and corn, for which hickory nuts were favored:
Another very good dish is prepared by boiling with their corn or maize, the washed kernels of shell bark[1] or hickory nut. They pound the nuts in a block or mortar, pouring a little warm water on them, and gradually a little more as they become dry until, at last, there is a sufficient quantity of water so that by stirring up the pounded nuts the broken shells separate from the liquor, which from the pounded kernels assumes the appearance of milk. This being put into the kettle and mixed with the pottage gives it a rich and agreeable flavor. If the broken shells do not all freely separate by swimming on the top or sinking to the bottom, the liquor is strained through a clean cloth before it is put into the kettle.
Many species other than oaks and hickories occur in oak hickory forests, and these are described below along with the dominant trees.
[1] “Shell bark” hickory is a former common name for Carya ovata, currently known as Shagbark Hickory. Today, shellbark hickory is used to refer to Carya laciniosa, a floodplain species whose range in NYS is rather limited (see entry under floodplain forest).
According to Parker (1968), "the favorite food nuts of the Iroquois were hickory and chestnuts though other nuts were valued." The Jesuit fathers at St. Marie on Onondaga Lake wrote (1656):
There are two kinds of nuts; one kind is as sweet and agreeable to the taste as the other is bitter but, with all their bitterness, an excellent oil is extracted from them by passing them through the ashes, through the mill, through fire, and through water, in the same way as the Savages extract oil from sunflowers (Thwaites 1899, vol 43, chapter XI).
The "two kinds of nuts" referred to in this passage are probably shagbark hickory and bitternut hickory, described in the species accounts below (bitternut hickory appears in the floodplain forest section). They appear to be the species of hickory most commonly used by the Haudenosaunee.
Hickory nuts were eaten by themselves, but also mixed with other foods such as corn. Heckewelder (1876) describes a dish made from nut milk and corn, for which hickory nuts were favored:
Another very good dish is prepared by boiling with their corn or maize, the washed kernels of shell bark[1] or hickory nut. They pound the nuts in a block or mortar, pouring a little warm water on them, and gradually a little more as they become dry until, at last, there is a sufficient quantity of water so that by stirring up the pounded nuts the broken shells separate from the liquor, which from the pounded kernels assumes the appearance of milk. This being put into the kettle and mixed with the pottage gives it a rich and agreeable flavor. If the broken shells do not all freely separate by swimming on the top or sinking to the bottom, the liquor is strained through a clean cloth before it is put into the kettle.
Many species other than oaks and hickories occur in oak hickory forests, and these are described below along with the dominant trees.
[1] “Shell bark” hickory is a former common name for Carya ovata, currently known as Shagbark Hickory. Today, shellbark hickory is used to refer to Carya laciniosa, a floodplain species whose range in NYS is rather limited (see entry under floodplain forest).
American chestnut Castanea dentata
The tale of the American chestnut must surely be among the most tragic of tree stories. And unlike American elm, some individuals of which continue to grow and reach reproductive maturity before succumbing to its fatal diseases, American chestnut has been all but obliterated from the central New York landscape. The lethal fungus, Cryphonectria parasitica, came from Asia, and was first detected in trees at the Bronx Zoo in 1904. The Chinese chestnut had evolved with the blight, and therefore had developed some resistance, but not so its American counterpart. Fungal spores traveled by air and on the feet of carrier organisms such as woodpeckers, and in a few decades girdled billions of chestnut trees. Chestnut blight swept through the central NY region in 1920s?? The horse chestnut is not a closely related species and must never be eaten.
In one of the earliest passages written by a European visitor to this area, chestnut is the only tree mentioned. One reason is likely that it was easily recognized, especially in autumn when the burrs were ripening around the fruits or nuts. Traveling south from Quebec to Onondaga with Huron and Algonkian guides, Samuel de Champlain followed the eastern shore of Lake Ontario en route to attack the Onondaga settlements. This entry from Champlain’s trip log dates from early October, 1615:
I observed a very pleasant and beautiful country, intersected by many little streams and two small rivers, which discharge into the before-mentioned lake [Ontario], also many ponds and meadows, where there was an endless amount of game, many vines, fine woods, and a large number of chestnut trees, whole fruit was still in the burr. The chestnuts are small, but of good flavor. The country is covered with forests, which over its greater portion have not been cleared (citation).
While his location is hard to pinpoint exactly, Champlain’s expedition may have landed near present-day Stony Point in Jefferson County, and stowed their canoes near what is now Henderson Harbor (Marshall 2010). Traveling south from there, the “two small rivers” may be Sandy Creek and the Salmon River.
American chestnut did have historical presence around Onondaga Lake, particularly on the high ground near Liverpool on the north side of the lake (as reflected in names such as “Chestnut Hill”). The “long branches” of Long Branch Park belonged to American chestnut trees. The Long Branch chestnuts took a beating in a tornado that hit Liverpool in 1912, and, particularly following the onset of the blight a decade or so later, never recovered. Currently oak and tulip trees (I think) grow on the hills of this park. Chestnut also grew sparingly on the hills southeast of the lake (near the village of Geddes; Anonymous 1800).
American chestnut presence in Onondaga County was “somewhat localized” according to Goodrich in 1912. During his stay at the Onondaga village in 1743, Bartram (1895) explores the “western mountain” (so possibly including the present day Rand Tract and lands to the south) and reports:
. . . it was very rich and full of tall timber quite up to the top; the trees were linden, elm, sugar maple, white walnut, oak, hickory and chesnut, besides ginseng, and most sort of herbs that grow on our rich limestone land (77).
In 1656 Jesuit Claude Dablon writes that “The forests consist almost entirely of chestnut and walnut trees,” suggesting a significant presence of chestnut (Thwaites 1899). If Dablon was writing from the area around the Mission grounds on Onondaga Lake, which seems likely, then he could be referring to today’s “Chestnut Hill” section of Liverpool between Old Liverpool Road and the NYS Thruway. Marks et al. (1992) note that chestnut was not common in the northern portion of the military tract, but did occur in lands around the Onondaga nation.
Chestnuts were one of the nuts favored by the Haudenosaunee. Moravian missionaries visiting the Onondagas in 1750 report dining on chestnut milk and chestnut oil (Beauchamp et al. 1916): “Anacharisso regaled us with chestnut milk.”
To produce nutmeat oil, the nuts were pounded, boiled slowly in water, and the oil skimmed off into a bowl (Waugh 1916). The oil was boiled again, salted, and added to bread, potatoes, pumpkin, squash. Nutmeats were also crushed and added to cornmeal for bread.
Traces of American chestnut still exist in the Onondaga landscape. A few persistent stumps continue sprouting, only later to be killed again by the fungus, and a few chestnut trees grow scattered throughout the county. Old chestnut stumps can be recognized by the characteristic outer ring of persistent wood around a large hollow center (Mohler et al. 2006).
The tale of the American chestnut must surely be among the most tragic of tree stories. And unlike American elm, some individuals of which continue to grow and reach reproductive maturity before succumbing to its fatal diseases, American chestnut has been all but obliterated from the central New York landscape. The lethal fungus, Cryphonectria parasitica, came from Asia, and was first detected in trees at the Bronx Zoo in 1904. The Chinese chestnut had evolved with the blight, and therefore had developed some resistance, but not so its American counterpart. Fungal spores traveled by air and on the feet of carrier organisms such as woodpeckers, and in a few decades girdled billions of chestnut trees. Chestnut blight swept through the central NY region in 1920s?? The horse chestnut is not a closely related species and must never be eaten.
In one of the earliest passages written by a European visitor to this area, chestnut is the only tree mentioned. One reason is likely that it was easily recognized, especially in autumn when the burrs were ripening around the fruits or nuts. Traveling south from Quebec to Onondaga with Huron and Algonkian guides, Samuel de Champlain followed the eastern shore of Lake Ontario en route to attack the Onondaga settlements. This entry from Champlain’s trip log dates from early October, 1615:
I observed a very pleasant and beautiful country, intersected by many little streams and two small rivers, which discharge into the before-mentioned lake [Ontario], also many ponds and meadows, where there was an endless amount of game, many vines, fine woods, and a large number of chestnut trees, whole fruit was still in the burr. The chestnuts are small, but of good flavor. The country is covered with forests, which over its greater portion have not been cleared (citation).
While his location is hard to pinpoint exactly, Champlain’s expedition may have landed near present-day Stony Point in Jefferson County, and stowed their canoes near what is now Henderson Harbor (Marshall 2010). Traveling south from there, the “two small rivers” may be Sandy Creek and the Salmon River.
American chestnut did have historical presence around Onondaga Lake, particularly on the high ground near Liverpool on the north side of the lake (as reflected in names such as “Chestnut Hill”). The “long branches” of Long Branch Park belonged to American chestnut trees. The Long Branch chestnuts took a beating in a tornado that hit Liverpool in 1912, and, particularly following the onset of the blight a decade or so later, never recovered. Currently oak and tulip trees (I think) grow on the hills of this park. Chestnut also grew sparingly on the hills southeast of the lake (near the village of Geddes; Anonymous 1800).
American chestnut presence in Onondaga County was “somewhat localized” according to Goodrich in 1912. During his stay at the Onondaga village in 1743, Bartram (1895) explores the “western mountain” (so possibly including the present day Rand Tract and lands to the south) and reports:
. . . it was very rich and full of tall timber quite up to the top; the trees were linden, elm, sugar maple, white walnut, oak, hickory and chesnut, besides ginseng, and most sort of herbs that grow on our rich limestone land (77).
In 1656 Jesuit Claude Dablon writes that “The forests consist almost entirely of chestnut and walnut trees,” suggesting a significant presence of chestnut (Thwaites 1899). If Dablon was writing from the area around the Mission grounds on Onondaga Lake, which seems likely, then he could be referring to today’s “Chestnut Hill” section of Liverpool between Old Liverpool Road and the NYS Thruway. Marks et al. (1992) note that chestnut was not common in the northern portion of the military tract, but did occur in lands around the Onondaga nation.
Chestnuts were one of the nuts favored by the Haudenosaunee. Moravian missionaries visiting the Onondagas in 1750 report dining on chestnut milk and chestnut oil (Beauchamp et al. 1916): “Anacharisso regaled us with chestnut milk.”
To produce nutmeat oil, the nuts were pounded, boiled slowly in water, and the oil skimmed off into a bowl (Waugh 1916). The oil was boiled again, salted, and added to bread, potatoes, pumpkin, squash. Nutmeats were also crushed and added to cornmeal for bread.
Traces of American chestnut still exist in the Onondaga landscape. A few persistent stumps continue sprouting, only later to be killed again by the fungus, and a few chestnut trees grow scattered throughout the county. Old chestnut stumps can be recognized by the characteristic outer ring of persistent wood around a large hollow center (Mohler et al. 2006).
white oak Quercus alba
White oak is a common species on appropriate sites in central New York. George Geddes (1860) wrote of this tree:
White Oak, Quercus alba, grows in abundance on the limestone soils. The gypseous shales were generally covered with a stinted growth of white oak, for the whole width of the County East and West. The town of Otisco had large forests of this valuable timber, some parts of which yet remain.
Some very large oaks were found on the low lands north of the Erie Canal, and scattered among the scrub oaks of the gypseous shales. One of them at Fairmount was saved when the other timber was cut away, as a monument; but, deprived of its surroundings, it soon died, and of necessity was cut down. The stump was five feet in diameter and forty feet above when it was somewhat elliptical in form; its two diameters measured four feet and six inches, the other three feet and ten microphone off inches. A block cut from this tree is still in existence.
White oak was/is used to make mortars for grinding corn. Lyford (1945, p. 61) describes the creation of such a tool:
To make a wooden mortar for pounding corn the trunk of an oak or other hardwood tree was cut in the desired length and place in an upright position. The top was hollowed out by first applying fire, then cleaning the charred portion away by use of the stone chisel. The mortar was usually about 2 feet high and 20 inches in diameter, and had a symmetrical cavity at one end about 12 inches deep. A double ended pesto or molar of hard maple about 4 feet in length was made to be grasped with both hands midway on the handle when in use. Two or three pestles were sometimes used in one mortar when pounding.
Lyford adds that “a smaller mortar and pestle of wood were used to crush the sunflower seeds which furnished oil for food [and] for use on the hair.”
White oak is a common species on appropriate sites in central New York. George Geddes (1860) wrote of this tree:
White Oak, Quercus alba, grows in abundance on the limestone soils. The gypseous shales were generally covered with a stinted growth of white oak, for the whole width of the County East and West. The town of Otisco had large forests of this valuable timber, some parts of which yet remain.
Some very large oaks were found on the low lands north of the Erie Canal, and scattered among the scrub oaks of the gypseous shales. One of them at Fairmount was saved when the other timber was cut away, as a monument; but, deprived of its surroundings, it soon died, and of necessity was cut down. The stump was five feet in diameter and forty feet above when it was somewhat elliptical in form; its two diameters measured four feet and six inches, the other three feet and ten microphone off inches. A block cut from this tree is still in existence.
White oak was/is used to make mortars for grinding corn. Lyford (1945, p. 61) describes the creation of such a tool:
To make a wooden mortar for pounding corn the trunk of an oak or other hardwood tree was cut in the desired length and place in an upright position. The top was hollowed out by first applying fire, then cleaning the charred portion away by use of the stone chisel. The mortar was usually about 2 feet high and 20 inches in diameter, and had a symmetrical cavity at one end about 12 inches deep. A double ended pesto or molar of hard maple about 4 feet in length was made to be grasped with both hands midway on the handle when in use. Two or three pestles were sometimes used in one mortar when pounding.
Lyford adds that “a smaller mortar and pestle of wood were used to crush the sunflower seeds which furnished oil for food [and] for use on the hair.”