Historical ecology timeline, Onondaga Lake
28,000 ybp. Last glacial maximum. Continental ice sheets covered most of current NYS.
11, 400 ybp. Glacial recession from northeast. Start of Holocene Epoch.
Early Holocene (1st 1600 yrs). Conditions in central NY were cool, dry.
XXX Hiscock mastodon found in XXX, apparently in association with salt springs. Perhaps these mammals visited salt springs around Onondaga Lake?
XXX Bear skeleton found near Ninemile Creek outlet. Thought to be Pleistocene relic (source?).
7-8K – 3K bp. Hypsithermal. Warm, wet.
5K bp. Eastern hemlock apparently nearly eliminated from eastern forest, possibly due to combination drought and pest outbreak (hemlock looper?). Lasted approximately 1000 years.
3K. Cooled down and remained dry (in CNY; since Mullins’ work acc. to Matt Distler). Elsewhere, wet. Moisture came from south (Bermuda). Jet Stream changes determined climate in CNY. Lake levels dropped, indicating drier climate in CNY.
Neoglacial Medieval Warm Period and cool, dry Little Ice Age.
6893 – 5395 BP Production of marl during this time suggests a freshwater lacustrine environment in Onondaga Lake. (Kappel and Teece 2007; in Hohman 2011)
2270 BP (cal. 2σ 399-208 B.C.). First record of maize grown in the area, upper Finger Lakes region of New York (Hart et al. 2007).
XXXX. Production of peat suggests vegetation types and climate. `
1535. Indians in Quebec area save Jacques Cartier and crew from scurvy by feeding them a tea made from needles and bark of northern white cedar, a rich source of vitamin C (Trigger 1976).
1603. French commence settlement of Canada.
1609. Samuel de Champlain attacks Mohawks near present-day Lake Champlain. First encounter between French and Haudenosaunee, likely, it set the stage for the next century of conflict between French and Haudenosaunee.
1615. Samuel de Champlain enters Onondaga territory; attacks Onondaga fort probably near Onondaga Lake.
1616. First major disease epidemic in the Northeast. Disease is unknown, possibly bubonic plague. Confined to coastal settlements. (Severe epidemic Jamestown 1654 did not spread north, apparently. Smallpox Mexico 1520-1524, but apparently did not move north at least into the Northeast). (Snow and Lanphear 1988).
16XX? Malaria arrives on ships from Europe (mild form) and Africa (virulent form).
1633. First smallpox epidemic; spreads to the interior, including Mohawk and other Haudenosaunee (Snow and Lanphear 1988). See also Jesuit Relations for harrowing descriptions of the effects of these plagues (quoted in Gately 2005).
1640. By this date, beaver are extirpated, commercially at least, in the Lake Ontario watershed (Gately 2005; what is her source?)
1654. Simon LeMoine invited by Onondaga leaders to come to Onondaga. The Onondagas show him the salt springs along the shores of Onondaga Lake. He travels “baptizing dying children” along the way—the disease may be smallpox, or measles?
1655-56. French Jesuit Mission on the shores of Onondaga Lake. Dablon and Chaumonot. Note that the missionaries arrived first, in 1655. Then in May 1656, when the French attempted to establish a colony on the shores of Onondaga Lake, tensions re-surfaced and eventually the French were driven back to Quebec. (according to G. Geddes account; check others)
1657. Jean de Quen
1677. Wentworth Greenhalgh, English trader. Comments on Haudenosaunee settlements and fields.
1682. Jean de Lamberville
1720. Charlevoix sails along southern coast of Lake Ontario; describes Jerusalem artichokes, milkweeds, and other plant foods, as well as abundant fisheries of that time.
1753 Carl Linnaeus publishes Species Plantarum for plants. This work, along with the tenth edition of the Systema Naturae (1758; first edition was 1735), became the starting points of scientific, binomial nomenclature in use today. This system will be used for plant names in the dissertation.
1770. Onondaga salt (produced by the Onondagas) is in common use among the Delaware Indians, and is brought by traders to Albany (Clark 1849)
Father Jerome Lallemont? Geddes p 266
1696. Count de Frontenac plans to attack Onondaga village near present-day Jamesville.
1737. Conrad Weiser ?
1743. Weiser, Evans, Bartram. Bartram describes in general terms the forests of the region, and the longhouse at Onondaga.
1745. A.G. Spangenberg, Moravian
1778. September. Treaty of Fort Stanwix, which states that: “the salt lake, and the lands for one mile around the same, shall forever remain for the common benefit of the people of the State of New York, and of the Onondagas, and their posterity, for the purpose of making salt.”
1779 Clinton-Sullivan campaign. On April 21, 1779, Colonel Goose von Schaick
destroyed Onondaga villages, cornfields, along Onondaga Creek [south of Seneca Turnpike?]
1786. Ephraim Webster, first white man to settle in what is now Onondaga County. Set up a trading post near the mouth of Onondaga Creek.
1788. Asa Danforth and family move to Onondaga. First settlement made a little south of Onondaga Hollow.
1788. Onondagas show Comfort Tyler salt springs around Onondaga Lake. Tyler begins to boil brine in May, producing 13 bushels of salt in about 9 hours. First record of salt production by whites.
~1789. Last moose observed in Onondaga County (Beauchamp 1908). CHECK
1790s. Military Tract Surveys parse up Onondaga homeland into a grid of land give-aways for Revolutionary War soldiers.
1791. Trade and Intercourse Act. This Act states that only the federal government has the authority to negotiate for the purchase of native territory. Only through public treaty could any lands be purchased.
1791. Elkanah Watson visits Onondaga Lake, Onondaga Creek and envisions the possibility of water travel via a canal system.
1792. Francis Adrienne Vanderkemp, a Dutchman, travels from Rome, NY to Oswego and gushes over the fish in Oneida Lake.
1794. Canandaigua Treaty between US government (George Washington, president) and Haudenosaunee. It re-affirmed that the Haudenosaunee and the United States are 2 separate sovereign nations, and that there would be peace and friendship between the two nations. Federal boundary lines were adjusted to prevent further loss of land in Seneca Territory.
1794. Judge James Geddes arrives from Pennsylvania. Constructs a “salt works” about a mile SW of Salt Point/Salina, and began producing salt. Near the mouth of Harbor Brook, as it was at that date (ie, near the Inner Harbor of today), according to one source (City that Salt Built).
1794 or close. John Danforth begins salt production at Liverpool.
1795. New York State “buys” rights to Onondaga Lake and the land surrounding it, in order to exploit its salt resources. (The state is in clear violation of both the 1790 and 1793 Trade and Intercourse Acts. As in earlier treaties, these were negotiated with factions of the nation who had no authority to sell land.
1797. Legislature passes first laws relative to salt manufacture. Surveyor General required to lay out the salt springs reservation into lots, not exceeding 10 acres, with 5 acres of salt marsh for the convenience of persons engaged in the manufacture of salt. Lots leased for 3 years, and for every kettle lessee was required to make 10 bushels of salt annually. William Stevens appointed as first Superintendent of Onondaga Salt Springs (Clark 1849).
S. could assign to lessees a certain proportion of the lot/marsh to be improved by them, for the purpose of “cutting grass or sedge” thereon; also allowed to cut canals to lake.
1798?. By legislative act, James Geddes lays out streets and blocks for the village of Salina, including a village square (see APS map). Streets that extend away from the Village include present-day Hiawatha Blvd, which followed a strip bordering the marsh (he called it Free Street at the time); and Canal St, which become Salina St. Streets leading into the square were LeMoyne and Park. Streets parallel to Free were Wolf, Turtle, Bear, after the Onondaga clans.
1799. Law passed (NYS Legislature) related to salt manufacture. All salt was directed by law to be packed in good, seasoned, white oak casks, water tight.
Heavy penalties were enacted against anyone who should cut or carry off wood from the reservation, without consent of the Superintendent (Clark 1849). (But see what De Witt Clinton said of the timber situation in 1810— “The wood on the reservation is cut without any regard to economy, and no adequate measures have been taken to prevent this evil, or to provide for the growth of young timber” [Clinton 1849?]).
1807. Frederick Pursh in Onondaga for 4 months, keeps a journal valuable for botanical observations.
1810. John Richardson appointed Salt Superintendent. While in office (1810-1812), he conducted waters of Yellow Brook from Syracuse to Salina, in order to drive a wheel for the elevation of brine. Before this time brine was pumped by hand (Clark 1849). “ The first well of any note was at Salina—a large hole 20 feet square and about thirty feet deep” (Clark 1849)—sunk during Dr. Kirkpatrick’s leadership.
1816. Duty of 12.5¢ per bushel was charged on Onondaga salt for the increase of the canal fund (Clark 1849).
1819. Last wolf seen in Cicero Swamp (Clark 1849).
1820. Erie Canal completed through Syracuse.
1825. Opening of Erie Canal from Lake Erie to the Hudson River.
1826. George W. Clinton, son of De Witt Clinton, collects plants in the Onondaga Lake area during a trip with Professor Amos Eaton. His collection is currently housed at the Buffalo Museum and Science Center. Paine (1865) references Clinton’s collection in his flora of Oneida Lake (McMullen 1993)
1884. Long Branch mound removed. Relics found all around the eastern shore of Onondaga Lake (Bruce 1896 p. 29)
Notes
Bruce, D. 1896. Onondaga’s Centennial: Gleanings of a Century. Boston: the Boston History Co.
Clark J. V. H. 1849. Onondaga, or, Reminiscences of earlier and later times : being a series of historical sketches relative to Onondaga ; with notes on the several towns in the county, and Oswega. Stoddard and Babcock, Syracuse.
Health Canada. 2008. Native foods and nutrition: an illustrated reference manual. Rev. [ed.]. Medical Services Branch, Health Canada.
Trigger, P. G. 1976. The children of Aataentsic: a history of the Huron people to 1660. Montreal: MacGill-Queen’s University Press.
Snow,
11, 400 ybp. Glacial recession from northeast. Start of Holocene Epoch.
Early Holocene (1st 1600 yrs). Conditions in central NY were cool, dry.
XXX Hiscock mastodon found in XXX, apparently in association with salt springs. Perhaps these mammals visited salt springs around Onondaga Lake?
XXX Bear skeleton found near Ninemile Creek outlet. Thought to be Pleistocene relic (source?).
7-8K – 3K bp. Hypsithermal. Warm, wet.
5K bp. Eastern hemlock apparently nearly eliminated from eastern forest, possibly due to combination drought and pest outbreak (hemlock looper?). Lasted approximately 1000 years.
3K. Cooled down and remained dry (in CNY; since Mullins’ work acc. to Matt Distler). Elsewhere, wet. Moisture came from south (Bermuda). Jet Stream changes determined climate in CNY. Lake levels dropped, indicating drier climate in CNY.
Neoglacial Medieval Warm Period and cool, dry Little Ice Age.
6893 – 5395 BP Production of marl during this time suggests a freshwater lacustrine environment in Onondaga Lake. (Kappel and Teece 2007; in Hohman 2011)
2270 BP (cal. 2σ 399-208 B.C.). First record of maize grown in the area, upper Finger Lakes region of New York (Hart et al. 2007).
XXXX. Production of peat suggests vegetation types and climate. `
1535. Indians in Quebec area save Jacques Cartier and crew from scurvy by feeding them a tea made from needles and bark of northern white cedar, a rich source of vitamin C (Trigger 1976).
1603. French commence settlement of Canada.
1609. Samuel de Champlain attacks Mohawks near present-day Lake Champlain. First encounter between French and Haudenosaunee, likely, it set the stage for the next century of conflict between French and Haudenosaunee.
1615. Samuel de Champlain enters Onondaga territory; attacks Onondaga fort probably near Onondaga Lake.
1616. First major disease epidemic in the Northeast. Disease is unknown, possibly bubonic plague. Confined to coastal settlements. (Severe epidemic Jamestown 1654 did not spread north, apparently. Smallpox Mexico 1520-1524, but apparently did not move north at least into the Northeast). (Snow and Lanphear 1988).
16XX? Malaria arrives on ships from Europe (mild form) and Africa (virulent form).
1633. First smallpox epidemic; spreads to the interior, including Mohawk and other Haudenosaunee (Snow and Lanphear 1988). See also Jesuit Relations for harrowing descriptions of the effects of these plagues (quoted in Gately 2005).
1640. By this date, beaver are extirpated, commercially at least, in the Lake Ontario watershed (Gately 2005; what is her source?)
1654. Simon LeMoine invited by Onondaga leaders to come to Onondaga. The Onondagas show him the salt springs along the shores of Onondaga Lake. He travels “baptizing dying children” along the way—the disease may be smallpox, or measles?
1655-56. French Jesuit Mission on the shores of Onondaga Lake. Dablon and Chaumonot. Note that the missionaries arrived first, in 1655. Then in May 1656, when the French attempted to establish a colony on the shores of Onondaga Lake, tensions re-surfaced and eventually the French were driven back to Quebec. (according to G. Geddes account; check others)
1657. Jean de Quen
1677. Wentworth Greenhalgh, English trader. Comments on Haudenosaunee settlements and fields.
1682. Jean de Lamberville
1720. Charlevoix sails along southern coast of Lake Ontario; describes Jerusalem artichokes, milkweeds, and other plant foods, as well as abundant fisheries of that time.
1753 Carl Linnaeus publishes Species Plantarum for plants. This work, along with the tenth edition of the Systema Naturae (1758; first edition was 1735), became the starting points of scientific, binomial nomenclature in use today. This system will be used for plant names in the dissertation.
1770. Onondaga salt (produced by the Onondagas) is in common use among the Delaware Indians, and is brought by traders to Albany (Clark 1849)
Father Jerome Lallemont? Geddes p 266
1696. Count de Frontenac plans to attack Onondaga village near present-day Jamesville.
1737. Conrad Weiser ?
1743. Weiser, Evans, Bartram. Bartram describes in general terms the forests of the region, and the longhouse at Onondaga.
1745. A.G. Spangenberg, Moravian
1778. September. Treaty of Fort Stanwix, which states that: “the salt lake, and the lands for one mile around the same, shall forever remain for the common benefit of the people of the State of New York, and of the Onondagas, and their posterity, for the purpose of making salt.”
1779 Clinton-Sullivan campaign. On April 21, 1779, Colonel Goose von Schaick
destroyed Onondaga villages, cornfields, along Onondaga Creek [south of Seneca Turnpike?]
1786. Ephraim Webster, first white man to settle in what is now Onondaga County. Set up a trading post near the mouth of Onondaga Creek.
1788. Asa Danforth and family move to Onondaga. First settlement made a little south of Onondaga Hollow.
1788. Onondagas show Comfort Tyler salt springs around Onondaga Lake. Tyler begins to boil brine in May, producing 13 bushels of salt in about 9 hours. First record of salt production by whites.
~1789. Last moose observed in Onondaga County (Beauchamp 1908). CHECK
1790s. Military Tract Surveys parse up Onondaga homeland into a grid of land give-aways for Revolutionary War soldiers.
1791. Trade and Intercourse Act. This Act states that only the federal government has the authority to negotiate for the purchase of native territory. Only through public treaty could any lands be purchased.
1791. Elkanah Watson visits Onondaga Lake, Onondaga Creek and envisions the possibility of water travel via a canal system.
1792. Francis Adrienne Vanderkemp, a Dutchman, travels from Rome, NY to Oswego and gushes over the fish in Oneida Lake.
1794. Canandaigua Treaty between US government (George Washington, president) and Haudenosaunee. It re-affirmed that the Haudenosaunee and the United States are 2 separate sovereign nations, and that there would be peace and friendship between the two nations. Federal boundary lines were adjusted to prevent further loss of land in Seneca Territory.
1794. Judge James Geddes arrives from Pennsylvania. Constructs a “salt works” about a mile SW of Salt Point/Salina, and began producing salt. Near the mouth of Harbor Brook, as it was at that date (ie, near the Inner Harbor of today), according to one source (City that Salt Built).
1794 or close. John Danforth begins salt production at Liverpool.
1795. New York State “buys” rights to Onondaga Lake and the land surrounding it, in order to exploit its salt resources. (The state is in clear violation of both the 1790 and 1793 Trade and Intercourse Acts. As in earlier treaties, these were negotiated with factions of the nation who had no authority to sell land.
1797. Legislature passes first laws relative to salt manufacture. Surveyor General required to lay out the salt springs reservation into lots, not exceeding 10 acres, with 5 acres of salt marsh for the convenience of persons engaged in the manufacture of salt. Lots leased for 3 years, and for every kettle lessee was required to make 10 bushels of salt annually. William Stevens appointed as first Superintendent of Onondaga Salt Springs (Clark 1849).
S. could assign to lessees a certain proportion of the lot/marsh to be improved by them, for the purpose of “cutting grass or sedge” thereon; also allowed to cut canals to lake.
1798?. By legislative act, James Geddes lays out streets and blocks for the village of Salina, including a village square (see APS map). Streets that extend away from the Village include present-day Hiawatha Blvd, which followed a strip bordering the marsh (he called it Free Street at the time); and Canal St, which become Salina St. Streets leading into the square were LeMoyne and Park. Streets parallel to Free were Wolf, Turtle, Bear, after the Onondaga clans.
1799. Law passed (NYS Legislature) related to salt manufacture. All salt was directed by law to be packed in good, seasoned, white oak casks, water tight.
Heavy penalties were enacted against anyone who should cut or carry off wood from the reservation, without consent of the Superintendent (Clark 1849). (But see what De Witt Clinton said of the timber situation in 1810— “The wood on the reservation is cut without any regard to economy, and no adequate measures have been taken to prevent this evil, or to provide for the growth of young timber” [Clinton 1849?]).
1807. Frederick Pursh in Onondaga for 4 months, keeps a journal valuable for botanical observations.
1810. John Richardson appointed Salt Superintendent. While in office (1810-1812), he conducted waters of Yellow Brook from Syracuse to Salina, in order to drive a wheel for the elevation of brine. Before this time brine was pumped by hand (Clark 1849). “ The first well of any note was at Salina—a large hole 20 feet square and about thirty feet deep” (Clark 1849)—sunk during Dr. Kirkpatrick’s leadership.
1816. Duty of 12.5¢ per bushel was charged on Onondaga salt for the increase of the canal fund (Clark 1849).
1819. Last wolf seen in Cicero Swamp (Clark 1849).
1820. Erie Canal completed through Syracuse.
1825. Opening of Erie Canal from Lake Erie to the Hudson River.
1826. George W. Clinton, son of De Witt Clinton, collects plants in the Onondaga Lake area during a trip with Professor Amos Eaton. His collection is currently housed at the Buffalo Museum and Science Center. Paine (1865) references Clinton’s collection in his flora of Oneida Lake (McMullen 1993)
1884. Long Branch mound removed. Relics found all around the eastern shore of Onondaga Lake (Bruce 1896 p. 29)
Notes
Bruce, D. 1896. Onondaga’s Centennial: Gleanings of a Century. Boston: the Boston History Co.
Clark J. V. H. 1849. Onondaga, or, Reminiscences of earlier and later times : being a series of historical sketches relative to Onondaga ; with notes on the several towns in the county, and Oswega. Stoddard and Babcock, Syracuse.
Health Canada. 2008. Native foods and nutrition: an illustrated reference manual. Rev. [ed.]. Medical Services Branch, Health Canada.
Trigger, P. G. 1976. The children of Aataentsic: a history of the Huron people to 1660. Montreal: MacGill-Queen’s University Press.
Snow,