By, Carol Fisher-Linn
The perfect season for a day in the park…
A natural wonder literally in our own backyard that some may not be as familiar with is what is known by many as the ‘Grand Canyon of the East’ – Letchworth State Park. This 14,427-acre park, 47 miles northeast of Ellicottville (1 hour) is considered one of the most scenic areas in the U.S. In 2015, it won the USA TODAY Readers’ Choice Award for the Best State Park in the United States (chosen from 6,000 parks across the nation). Per their website, “Here, the Genesee River thunders through two gorges and over three major waterfalls. Some cliffs are nearly 600 feet high. Letchworth provides 66 miles of hiking trails by foot, horse, bike, snowmobile, snowshoe, and cross-country ski, plus camping, cabins, hot air ballooning, whitewater rafting, a pool, year-round education, community science, and the 1858 home of William Pryor Letchworth, the Glen Iris Inn” (home of the winter ice volcano directly in front of it – https://www.comejoinmyjourney.com/ice-volcano-letchworth-state-park/).
Aside from all the year-round activities available to visitors at the park, history lovers can find much to enjoy at the Museum which tells the story of the land which is former Seneca territory. The natives were forced out following the Revolutionary War because they chose to be allies of the British, who were then defeated in 1783. Not far from the museum is a statue appearing to be a young Irish woman in native Indian garb which was commissioned and erected by Letchworth after learning the story of Mary Jemison, the “white woman of the Genesee.”
Mary was born in 1743 on a ship en route to America to Irish parents who were coming here from Belfast to seek a better way of life. Within a year they settled into frontier life in Marsh Creek, Pa, near modern-day Gettysburg. All was peaceful until the outbreak of the French and Indian War in 1754. In 1758 her family’s homestead was attacked by the French and the Shawnee Indians who allied with them. Mary and a young neighbor boy were kidnapped and survived the mass murder of her family, except for two brothers who managed to escape. Heeding her mother’s final words to her, Mary did not try to escape with the knowledge she would be caught and likely murdered. Her mother also implored her to retain use of her language and remember her familial culture. Her life was spared, likely because the natives were in awe of her fair skin and hair and diminutive stature. She was taken to an Ohio town and adopted by a Seneca woman and named Dehgewanus. Over time, she began learning the Seneca way of life becoming, as she said in a late life interview, “habituated to their mode of living and attached to my sisters”. By 1761, Mary was married to a Seneca and mother of one when she became widowed. By 1766, Mary is remarried with another son. By 1779, Mary has five children. Mary names all her children after her deceased Irish family members. They barely escaped the Sullivan and Clinton Expedition sent by General George Washington to destroy Seneca homelands and capture Ft. Niagara. The soldiers succeeded in the destruction but did not take the fort. Mary and her children escaped to Gardeau Flats. Once the war ended, the British gave their holdings east of the Mississippi River to the United States, but they did this without consulting with their Native American allies. As a result, the Seneca were forced to give up their lands. By 1797, the Seneca had to sell much of their land to Americans. Negotiations were taking place with the Holland Land Company in Geneseo, and it was here that Mary Jemison proved herself an effective negotiator for the Seneca Tribe, winning more favorable terms for surrendering their rights to the land at the Treaty of Big Tree. No sooner had the treaty been negotiated and signed, the Council issued a grant of land to Mary Jemison who subsequently continued to live there with her family. She remained at Gardeau until 1831 when she sold her land and moved to Buffalo Creek Reservation where she died at age 90 in 1833. Gardeau Flats is in Castile in Wyoming County on Letchworth Park Road. A marker can be found at https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=118846
Historically, her story is important because she related a first-hand account into the suffering of Native American captives as well as an insight into the Indian culture, and especially their women. Her remains and her daughter’s home were relocated at the request of her family to Letchworth Park on the grounds of an original Seneca Council House which was disassembled and moved there by Mr. Letchworth. Historical documents about her life with the natives are there as is her memorial statue.
To learn more about Mary Jemison, please go to http://womenshistory.info/narrative-life-mrs-mary-jemison/
Aside from all the year-round activities available to visitors at the park, history lovers can find much to enjoy at the Museum which tells the story of the land which is former Seneca territory. The natives were forced out following the Revolutionary War because they chose to be allies of the British, who were then defeated in 1783. Not far from the museum is a statue appearing to be a young Irish woman in native Indian garb which was commissioned and erected by Letchworth after learning the story of Mary Jemison, the “white woman of the Genesee.”