welcome
Niagara County Historty and Links to more information View upcoming events & activities Historical Photos Bicentennial Merchandise - shirts, hats & more! Bicentennial Committee Links to Niagara County Community Information! Find out how to support the Bicentennial Celebration! Contact Us!
old falls logo new falls fireworks
moments
Indian Schooling

Niagara County’s 200-year history includes a “partnership” with the Tuscarora nation of the Iroquois Confederacy. Being fully ensconced within Niagara County’s borders by 1722, the Tuscaroras have formed a productive association with the county, state and nation. Looking back even earlier than our first days as a county, the Iroquois people were proud of their own history that dated back many hundreds of years before. As new “neighbors,” the American colonists often felt it was their duty to “civilize” their “native” American brethren. As such, in 1744, the Virginia legislature offered free tuition at the College of William and Mary to six Iroquois youths, but the Iroquois politely declined.

In explanation, Canasatego, spokesman for the Onondaga, told why the offer of a college education made no sense at all. “We have had some experience of it. Several of our young people were formerly brought up in the colleges of the Northern provinces; they were instructed in all your sciences; but when they came back to us, they were bad runners, ignorant of every means of living in the woods, unable to bear either cold or hunger, knew neither how to build a cabin, take a deer, nor kill an enemy, spoke our language imperfectly, were therefore neither fit for hunters, warriors, nor counselors; they were totally good for nothing. We are however not the less obliged for your kind offer, though we decline accepting it; and to show our grateful sense of it, if the gentlemen of Virginia shall send us a dozen of their sons, we will take great care of their education, and instruct them in all we know, and make men of them.”

Douglas Farley, Director
Erie Canal Discover Center
24 Church St.
Lockport NY 14094
716.439.0431
CanalDiscovery@aol.com
www.NiagaraHistory.org

Previous Moments
The Old Stone Chimney
1/7/08

Indian Schooling
1/7/08

From Middleport to Juneau on Horsebacks
1/2/08

Bath Islands
1/2/08

Lockport vs. Niagara Falls
12/24/07

Life Masks
12/24/07

Mud Ball Canons
12/17/07

Bone-Wars
12/17/07

The Riviera
12/10/07

Theft of Railroad
12/10/07

The Planned Community of Echota, Niagara Falls, NY
12/3/07

Billy The Kid vs. Niagara County
12/3/07

From Muffins to Mayor
11/26/07

President Lincoln
11/26/07

Newspaper Doughboys
11/19/07

Bell Aerospace
11/19/07

Disappearing Islands
11/12/07

The County Fair
11/12/07

Iroquois Confederacy
11/5/07

First Telephone
11/5/07

The Curse of Idleness
10/31/07

All They Needed Was Love
10/31/07

Biddle Stairs to the Falls
10/22/07

The Trowbridge Connection
10/22/07

The Roar of Niagara
10/15/07

Five and Dime Inflation
10/15/07

What to do with the rowdies?
10/8/07

The Wreck of the Lucinda Van Valkenburg
10/8/07

Master Birdman
10/1/07

Gazetteer
10/1/07

Cleanliness Is Next To Godliness
9/24/07

Maid of the Mist
9/170/07

Paul Bunyan
9/17/07

Do Not Remove
9/10/07

Waterless Niagara
9/10/07

The Sutherland Sisters
9/4/07

Grave Robbery
9/4/07

The Lumber City
8/27/07

Dance Hall Oddities
8/27/07

Niagara Falls Reservation State Park
8/20/07

The Human Fly
8/20/07

The Telegraph Connection
8/13/07

The Great Gorge Route
8/13/07

Olcott Beach Trolley and Hotel
8/6/07

A Counterfeiter’s Plan
8/6/07

Holy Cows
7/30/07

The Brotherhoods
7/30/07

A Fish Story
7/23/07

Mrs. Trollope
7/23/07

Fire, Fire, Fire
7/16/07

Boys Will Be Boys
7/16/07

The Strap Railroad
7/9/07

Newspaper Rivalry
7/9/07

Horseless Carriages
7/2/07

Niagara joins all of America to celebrate its 120th birthday
7/2/07

A Winter Walk Across the Niagara River
6/25/07

Grand Balloon Ascension
6/25/07

For More Information: www.NiagaraHistory.org


Home | History | Events | Photos | Merchandise | Committee | Community Links | Sponsorship
©2007 Niagara County Bicentennial Committee | Web site design & maintenance by Jason Devald | Graphic Design