Page:Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties, Pennsylvania, Containing a Concise History of the Two Counties and a Genealogical and Biographical Record of Representative Families.pdf/33

 COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES — the one from W yoming to the fo rk s of the D elaw are, at Easton. T o all other points the trail along the Susquehanna w as not only the great Indian thoroughfare fo r the natives of the valley, but fo r the whole Iroquois con­ federacy. MAOAMC UO NTO Uil

From authentic sources the story o f Madame M ontour is a s fo llo w s: She w as the daughter o f a French gentleman named M ontour and an Indian woman of the tribe at that time inhabiting Canada. H e r first m arriage w as to an Indian of the Seneca tribe. She was at A lbany in 1 7 1 1 and acted as interpreter. Ill 1744 she again acted as interpreter, in a treaty held at Lancaster, P a. H er second hus­ band w as Carondawana, a chief of the Oncidas, and she had altogether four sons and two daughters, but by which union they were born is not positively known. Sh e seems to have been a friend of the proprietaries, for la ^ e grants were given to her sons, A ndrew, H enry, Robert and L ew is, on the Chillisquaque, near M ontoursvillc and at Shade Gap, in Hunting­ don county. In 17 4 5 she resided at Shamokin, w here she died, but the date is not known. M adam e Montour's d.aughtcr M argaret had several children, three of them daughters. She it w as who w as termed “ French M argaret.” One o f her daughters, Esther, m arried F.chgohund, a ch ief of the M onscy clan. Sh e w as accused o f complicity in the W yom ing m as­ sacre, although no direct evidence could be gathered lo prove the fact. Tratliiion ascribes to another daughter o f M argaret the founding of the fam ous Cathcrincstown, the home and temple of the sorcerers of the Cat D a n of the Senecas, who w ere the enemies alike of the whites and the other tribes o f Indians. I.S n iA N VILtJVCES AND SKTTI.KMENTS

A n y attempt to locate the sites o f Indian villages in this part o f Pennsylvania must de­ pend entirely upon tradition. It is .accepted as fact that the sites o f Bloomsburg, Berw ick. C ataw issa and Danville were at one time oc­ cupied by large Indian settlements, as the remains and relics conliiiually found at these points indicate the presence in the remote past o f large and thriving communities. Most of the first settlers encountered these natives on their arrival and w ere fo r some time a fte r­ w ards frequently terrorized by the return o f occasional bands o f Indians who camped on the sites which ha«l from time immemorial beep their favorite stopping places.

T he nearest large village o f which accurate record has been left us, in this portion of the State, is that o f Sham okin, now the site o f S u n ­ bury, Northumberland county. In 17 2 8 Shikellamy, a prominent Cayuga ch icfu tn, was governor of the village, which w as populated principally by the Delawares. H e governed in a wise and judicial manner until his death in 1749. T h e natives a fte r that date were g rad u ­ ally forced out by the whites, who in 17 56 built the fort called A ugusta at this point. From this nucleus grew up the present town o f S u n ­ bury. ^ M ore than a century and a lia lf has passed since the withdrawal of the Indians from the territory o f Columbia and Montour counties, and the history of the Indian customs and habits would soon be lost if not revived by the historian o f each decade. It is well, therefore, to review in b rief the manner o f life o f our aboriginal predecessors a s a reminder of the contrasts between those days and the present age o f wonders and achievement. T he towns and villages of the Indians in­ habiting the valley of the Susquehanna and its tributaries were Iqcatcd immediately upon the banks of the streams, on ground high enough to be out o f reach o f floods. B u t little atten­ tion w as paid to location fo r defensive pur­ poses, except that a s|» t free o f timber and usually on a point jutting out into the stream was selected, in order that canoes could be easily landed and the squaw s have ready access to the water. W igw am s were constructed in a substantial manner to resist wind and storm, and to keep the innutcs com fortable during the winter. Som e were nearly twenty feet in diam eter, large and roomy, while others w ere sm aller; most of them either oval or round in sh ap e; o f bark or matting laid o ver a fram ew ork o f poles stuck ill the ground, bunched together at the top and tied with thongs. T h e w inter w igw am s w ere covered with skins, w ith an opening at the top to allow the escape o f sm oke, and flaps at different points arranged to be used fo r entrance, according to the direction of the wind. Even in -these modern d a y s it is quite an art to erect a “ tcpcc” that w ill be w cathcqiroof and at the same time not s u f­ focate the occupants with the smoke of the fire. In winter these wig%s-ams were lined with matting, woven o f rushes, grasses and re e d s; bunks were built o f jw les, with skins and fu rs for bedding. T h e clay cooking pots were hung from the center o ver the ever-burning fire. In the larger settlements the Indians built log cabins, roofed with bark and sod, a hole