Monday, September 30, 2019

The Ghost Shirt

     In the archives of the Montour Falls Library is a Ghost Shirt from the 1890s.  It was part of a  religion begun by Wovoka, a Paiute Indian.  The religion taught that if one wore a Ghost Shirt and performed the Ghost Dance while firmly believing in its power, then the ghosts of past Native Americans would return, the bullets of the whites could not kill them, the buffalo would return, the Native Americans would gain their land back, and the white people would vanish. The U.S. military feared the religion would promote uprisings among the Native Americans, and took steps to discourage Ghost Dances.  The massacre that occurred at Wounded Knee, South Dakota in 1890 was a direct result of that effort to curtail the practice.  When Chief Big Foot and his band left one reservation to travel to another, with the purpose of performing a Ghost Dance, the 7th Cavalry (Custer's old unit) intercepted them and planned to escort them back to a reservation.  The group encamped along Wounded Knee Creek.  The soldiers disarmed the Indians, and later began a search for any weapons they had missed.  During that search, a gunshot was fired.  The soldiers responded indiscriminately with lethal effect, killing many men, women, and children.  Those who fled were pursued and shot in the back was they ran.  What was called the Battle of Wounded Knee was really a massacre of defenseless people.  The massacre also killed the religion of the Ghost Dance.
     On the Ghost Shirt from the Montour Falls Library (shown below) are symbols that look like Nazi swastikas.  They are actually a Native American symbol that represents the "whirling log of life," which represents well-being and good luck.  In the 1930s and 1940s, Native Americans were discouraged from using the symbol in artistic expressions, but it is seeing a revival today.




Tuesday, September 17, 2019

The Name That Almost Wasn't

The name Schuyler County sounds so familiar to us today, but it almost didn't happen.  That was not the intended name for the county.  When parts of Steuben, Chemung, and Tompkins Counties were taken to form this county, the plan called for the new county to be named Webster County, after the famed Whig politician, Daniel Webster.  That name was rejected and the name Montour County, honoring the local Seneca Indian woman Catharine Montour,  was endorsed by some, but that idea quickly faded. It was finally decided to name it in honor of Revolutionary War general, Philip Schuyler.  At least Catharine Montour and Daniel Webster once set foot in the county, Schuyler had not.  But, Schuyler won out.  The legislature passed the bill, and the governor signed it.  Creation of the new county quickly opened another can of worms--would Watkins or Havana (Montour Falls) be the county seat?  The two towns would battle over that for more than a decade.

Philip Schuyler
from Schuyler County Historical Society files

Friday, September 13, 2019

Watkins Glen and Little Big Horn

At the Little Bighorn Battlefield in Montana is the grave of James Quinn, one of the soldiers killed with General Custer at the 1876 battle.  According to records, Quinn was born in Watkins in 1850.  He enlisted in Buffalo, NY on February 13, 1872, listing his occupation as a boatman on the canals.  Quinn was described as five feet six-inches in height with blue eyes and red hair.  I have checked census records for Schuyler County during that time and have been unable to locate James Quinn.  The only James Quinn I unearthed was a young man who was too young, and he was still living in Watkins at the time of the battle.  So, the James Quinn who met his fate at Little Big Horn is a mystery.  Perhaps he did not use his real name when he enlisted as some men did at the time.  If anyone has any more information about James Quinn, please let me know.


General George Armstrong Custer

Old Surveyor's Pin

Along Cass Road, just before it connects with Rock Cabin Road, an old surveyor's iron pin is visible on the rock ledge (see center of photo).  When Aranthus Everts performed a survey to lay out the streets of Watkins Glen for Dr. Samuel Watkins in the 1830s, he placed several pins such as this one to use in his surveying.  This one still survives.  It was used to lay out Fourth Street in Watkins Glen.