In addition to the locations of the ancient castles, Van Curler's notes supply interesting evidence of the strength of the Mohawks when the Dutch first met them, which was then at its highest known point in number and in the number of their settlements, namely: Two hundred and twenty-five "long houses" in castles and villages, without including villages on the lower Mohawk "where the ice drifted fast," which he passed without particular note, and those in villages or settlements which he did not see. Two hundred and twenty-five houses were capable of holding and no doubt did hold a very large number of people, packed as they were packed. Father Pierron reported, in 1669, after the French invasion of 1666, that he visited every week "six large villages, covering seven and one-half leagues distance," around Caughnawaga where he was stationed. In almost constant wars with the French, and with the Hurons and other Indian tribes as allies of the French, their number had dwindled to an estimate of eighty warriors in 1735. The story of their greatness and of their decay is of the deepest interest. No student of American history can dispense with its perusal and be well-informed in the events of the pioneer era.
[FN-1] Arent Van Curler, in 1635, in his "Journal of a Visit to the Seneca Country," wrote: "I was shown a parcel of flint-stones with which they make a fire when in the forest. These stones would do very well for flint-lock guns."
Roger Williams wrote of the Narraganset Indians in 1643: "I have seen a native go into the woods with his hatchet, carrying a basket of corn with him, and stones to strike a fire." Father Le June wrote, in 1634: "They strike together two metallic stones, just as we do with a piece of flint and iron or steel. . . . That is how they light their fire." The "Metallic stones" spoken of are presumed, by some writers, to have been iron pyrites, as they may have been in some cases, but the national emblem was the flint.
[FN-2] "Sankhicani, the Mohawk's, from Sankhican, a gun-lock." (Heckewelder.) The name appears first on the Carte Figurative of 1614-16, in application to the Indians of northern New Jersey (Delawares), who were, by some writers, called "The Fire-workers." They seem to have manufactured stone implements by the application of fire. Presumably they were "Fire-strikers" as well as the Mohawks. Certainly they were not Mohawks. Were the Mohawks the discoverers of the fire-striking properties of the flint?
[FN-3] State Historian Hastings writes me: "The map of which you inquire, appeared originally in a pamphlet published at Middleburgh, Holland, at the Hague, 1666. It was first reproduced by the late Hon. Henry C. Murphy in his translation of the 'Vertoogh van Nieu Nederland,' etc. His reproduction gives Canagere, as the name of the second castle, and Caneray as the name of the first, precisely as they appear in order in our reproduction in our Third Report."
[FN-4] Oneongoure is a form of the name in Colonial History. In the standard translation of Jesuit Relations it is Oneugiouré. Oneon is a clerical error. The letters u and ou represent a sound produced by the Indian in the throat without motion of the lips. Bruyas wrote it 8{sic ȣ?}; it is now read w-Onew. Adding an a, we have very nearly M. Cuoq's Ohnawah, "current," "swift river"; with suffix gowa, "great," the reference being to the great rapids near which the castle was located. The omission of the locative participle shows that it was not "at" or "on" the great rapids.
[FN-5] "Their three castles destroyed and themselves dispersed." (Col. Hist. N. Y., iv, 20, 22.) The castles referred to Caughnawaga, Canagora, and Tiononteogen. A castle on the south side of the Mohawk, said to have been about two miles inland, escaped. Presumably it was the village of the Beaver family, but we have nothing further concerning it. The attack was made on the night of Feb. 16, 1693. The warriors of the first two castles were absent, and the few old men and the women made little resistance. At the third, the warriors fought bravely but unsuccessfully. The three castles were burned; that at Caughnawaga was given to the flames on the morning of February 20, 1693.
[FN-6] Journal of Arent van Curler, of a visit to the Seneca country, 1634-5 O. S., translated by General James Grant Wilson, printed in "The Independent," N. Y., Oct. 5, 1895. Republished by National Historical Society.
[FN-7] General Wilson wrote me that the Journal was translated for him by a Hollander, now (1905) dead, and that the manuscript had passed out of his hands. The question of hours and miles is not important here. On his return travel he gave the distance from the little hunters' cabin (which in the meantime had been burned), as "A long walk," which will not be disputed. It may be added that it is not justifiable to count his two days' travel as one, and count the two as thirty-two English miles from Fort Orange. The two days' travel are very distinct in the Journal.