Page:History of Delaware County (1856).djvu/215

DELAWARE COUNTY. 191 miles^ to its outlet — the head waters of the mighty Susque- hanna — for the first time they encamped in the open air, and on the very spot where the village of Cooperstown now stands. At the close of the second day they had descended the Susque- hanna as far as the outlet of Cherry Yalley creek. Here the female portion of the family first had a sight of the native Indians, who had also encamped at this place, on their journey down the river to their ancient hunting-grounds. They had built a monstrous fire, around which they were merrily prepar- ing their supper from a buck, which had been shot during the afternoon, every now and then uttering a horrid yell of joy, which reverberated fearfully among the hills. On the evening of the third day from the lake, they arrived at the end of their journey, very much wearied. Here they discovered the remnants of a few log-houses crumbled to ruins, said to have been the habitations of a few Scotch settlers, who had penetrated the wilderness before the Revolution, (see a previous chapter,) at the outbreak of which they were com- pelled to fly for safety to Cherry Valley, and commit their homes to the mercy of the ruthless savage. One of these Scotch settlers, the Rev. Mr. Johnston, had returned the same year that Mr. Beach settled in Sidney. They had but barely arrived at their new home, when winter, with its deep snows and fierce driving winds, set in. The miserable hovel in which they sheltered themselves, but illy supplied the place of the comfortable home they had left in Connecticut. There were but five families in all that region, none of whom had been there over a few months, and consequently provisions of every kind were very scarce, and could not be procured nearer than Schoharie, a distance of seventy miles. Mr. John Wickham, an early settler of the town of Har- persfield, informed me that in 1790 his father, in company with a man by the name of Butts, came into Harpersfield, which then constituted a part of Montgomery county, and