Chapter Four
Life Begins Anew
After the ice age the Mohawk Valley was barren. There were no grasses,
no shrubs and no trees. Even when glaciers receded, most of the valley
was flooded. In the mountains (and atop the highest hills), life began
anew as lichens grew on solid rock. These pioneer plants died, rotted in
crevices and depressions, and mosses took root. Decayed moss provided
the soil for grass, small plants, shrubs and a few trees. (Thousands of
years of rotting leaves and trees created the soil that eventually supported
a mountain forest.)
In the lower valley, as temperatures increased and
glacial lakes and rivers receded, glacial deposits of ground-up rock of
every texture and composition encouraged plant growth at a much faster
rate. This area became dominated by a great variety of grasses, plants
and small trees, providing an abundant food supply for the many large mammals
that followed the glacier as it retreated north. Now extinct animals like
the woolly mammoth, mastodon, ground sloth, moose-elk and giant beaver
moved into this area. Bear, bison, musk ox, moose, deer, caribou, elk and
many other animal species also followed the ever-growing food supply.
Although remains of these early inhabitants were
not found in abundance in the Mohawk Valley, they were found in peat bogs
and other sites throughout New York State. Some nearby discoveries were:
mastodon, mammoth and giant beaver near Oneida Lake, and elk just south
of the Herkimer County line in Otsego County.
Mastodon and giant round-tailed beaver
moved into the Mohawk Valley
when life began anew.
The Cohoes Mastodon
The most famous prehistoric animal discovery in the Mohawk Valley was
the Cohoes Mastodon.
According to a Professor Hall's report:
"In the month of September, 1866 the workmen engaged in excavations
for the foundation of a new mill to be erected by Harmony Mill Company,
of Cohoes, N.Y., discovered the lower jaw of a mastodon with a single foot
bone, resting upon a projection of rock between two depressions or concave
walls of small pot-holes, in the margin of what afterward proved to be
a larger pot-hole.
"Several thousand of loads of muck and peaty
soil with trunks and branches of decayed trees had been removed previous
to coming to the level where the jaw was found. . . .
"The discovery of the jaw with a single bone
in such a position led to the inference that other parts of the skeleton
would be found at the bottom of the pot-hole, could it be reached, and
the progress of the excavation was watched with great interest. After
considerable delay, the excavation was resumed and the peaty earth was
removed from the eastern and central part of the pot-hole, which later
proved to be the deepest portion. In the bottom of this cavity, lying upon
a bed of clay, broken slate, gravel and water-worn pebbles, and covered
with river ooze and vegetable soil, lay the principal parts of the mastodon
skeleton. . . the head, with tusks unbroken and undisturbed, was directed
to the eastward. . . ."
The mastodon's skeleton was displayed in the
offices of the Harmony Mills Company and exhibited at the Troy County
Fair before the State of New York purchased it for $2,000. In 1867 the
almost complete skeleton was assembled and displayed at the "State Cabinet
of Natural History" in Albany.
How Do You Hide a Mastodon?
When I learned that the skeleton of the Cohoes
Mastodon was assembled and displayed at the "State Cabinet of Natural History"
in Albany in 1867, I wondered why it wasn't on display at the New York
State Museum. I had visited the museum a couple of times in recent
years and never saw it. A month or so ago, Gert and I visited the museum
and again I looked for the huge skeleton, but it wasn't in any of the exhibit
rooms. On the second day of our visit, I stopped at the information desk
at the main entrance to pick up some brochures. When I turned around I
was astonished to discover the Cohoes Mastodon "under glass" standing between
the entranceways. As is often the case, it was hiding right before my eyes.
If you have never been to
the New York State Museum, by all means do so. It is worth a visit just
to see the Adirondack and Native Peoples of New York exhibits. The museum
is open daily from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and it's easy to find at the Empire
State Plaza in downtown Albany, right across from the State Capitol.
From Thruway Exit 24, take
I-90 toward Albany and exit onto I-787 South. Take I-787 to the Empire
State Plaza exit. From Exit 23, take I-787 north to the Empire State Plaza
exit. Visitors parking is available underground under the Plaza, however
due to increased security since 9/11/02, photo identification is required.
There is also above ground parking near the museum.
Man Hunts Giants To Extinction
Man moved into upstate New York around 9,000 years ago. These early
inhabitants roamed the hills and valleys of central New York, hunting the
animals that lived here. With flint and chert-tipped spears they are credited
with hunting the largest mammals to extinction.
(After the ice age, wherever man migrated in
the Northern Hemisphere, the largest "ice age" mammals ceased to
exist. Man migrated across Europe much earlier than in North America, consequently
these animals ceased to exist many years earlier in Europe than they did
in North America.)
As the climate became more moderate and trees dominated
the region, animals that fed on grass, such as bison, moved west. Others
like the musk ox and caribou moved north. Many animals adjusted to the
changing climate and dwindling food supplies, but in tree-dominated areas
their numbers declined.
Seasonal and High-Ground Settlements
The
people who lived in this new habitat adjusted by establishing semi-permanent
settlements near food supplies such as rivers, streams and lakes where
fish and mussels were abundant most of the year or during spawning
seasons, or where game was abundant during migration periods or as a result
of habitat changes created by fires, floods, blowdowns and heavy snowfall.
Seasonal camps were established near the mouth of
the river and the mouths of many of the tributaries, as well as near rapids
and waterfalls where fish migration was slowed or halted. Hunting camps
existed in areas where huge flocks of passenger pigeons roosted and where
whitetail deer yarded in the winter.
Permanent settlements were established when area
inhabitants developed gardens that included such foodstuffs as corn, beans
and squash. When these plants failed to produce abundantly, gardens were
moved to other locations near the village, allowing the previously planted
land to rejuvenate. Villages near especially productive soil often remained
in the same location for decades.
points of land jutting out into tributary valleys.
When soil fertility was depleted nearby and/or pests
became abundant, the entire settlement moved to another location in the
vast forest. At this new location, trees were girdled, burned at the base
until the charcoaled-wood could be chopped away with stone tools. Seeds
were planted around tree stumps in the rich soils of the forest floor and
crops flourished.
Abandoned fields, reclaimed by the forest, soon
provided the shrubs and small trees that attracted deer, turkey and other
wildlife---and became productive hunting grounds. Burning large areas of
forest during dry seasons created additional hunting grounds. As in the
past, temporary hunting and fishing camps were occupied in areas where
wildlife, fish and mussels were seasonally abundant.
When competition for the best croplands and hunting
and fishing grounds caused increased tribal warfare, the larger settlements
were established several miles from the river on high-ground, defendable
positions. Quite often a point of land jutting out into a tributary valley
provided a village site that was high-ground defensible from three directions.
The fourth approach to the village was protected by a stockade of upright
logs. See also Cayadutta
Creek and Otsquago Creek
Other villages were established on relatively flat-topped
hills and surrounded by stockades of two to three rows of upright logs.
When the first Europeans came to this area in the early 1600s, they traveled
up the Mohawk Valley, noting the Indian settlements along the way. They
referred to these stockaded villages as "castles".
See also Indian Castles
Windows to the Past
In the Mohawk Valley there were more than a hundred seasonal and "permanent"
villages. Many of these sites were discovered by amateur archaeologists
or "collectors" in the 1800s and early 1900s. Most of them are well documented
and located between Schenectady and East Canada Creek. For more information
on these archaeological treasures, read Mohawk Valley Archaeology: The
Sites - Dean R. Snow - 1995.
Although there are settlement sites west of
East Canada Creek, they have not been surveyed or made public for various
reasons. Except for the small Oneida Village near the mouth of Oriskany
Creek, their locations remain "State Secrets" to prevent amateur archaeologists
and collectors from destroying their historical integrity.
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