Lake Otsego

“ These fish have as yet only been found in Otsego Lake, where they are rapidly diminishing in size and numbers. They are not known to take any bait, and are presumed to feed on aquatic vegetation. Early in spring they seek the shallow water for a few days, when they are taken in nets; but shortly retiring to the deepest water, they remain till Autumn, when they [152] again seek the shores to spawn. They never exceed four pounds, and rarely two, and though undesirable on table, are not a sportsman’s fish, and have been described only that they may be distinguished from other species. ”

“ During many summers before the white man came the breath of nature sighing through the pines of Otsego, the winding river murmuring lovelorn secrets to the flowers that nodded on its margin, the moon rising over Mount Vision and shedding its splendor upon the lake, were subtle influences in [Pg 19] secret meetings between men and maidens, in whispered vows beneath the trees, in courtships on the border of the Glimmerglass, in lovemaking along the shores of the Susquehanna. ”

“ Rising in Otsego Lake in New York, it flows over four hundred miles down to Chesapeake Bay, receives large tributaries, its West Branch being two hundred miles long, rends all the Allegheny Mountain chains, and takes a great part of the drainage of that region in New York and Pennsylvania, passes through grand valleys, noble gorges and most magnificent scenery, and yet it is so thickly sown with islands, rocks and sand-bars, rapids and shallows, as to defy all attempts to make it satisfactorily navigable excepting by lumber rafts, logs and a few canal boats. ”

“ A few days later a set of colors was formally presented the boat by a few citizens of the village. On the 3d August, Professor Maillefert gave an exhibition of the modus operandi of sub-marine blasting, on Lake Otsego, which was witnessed by a large number of highly interested spectators. The Scotchmen of this village and surrounding, country this year organized a society and held their first annual meeting at Three Mile Point. Addresses were made by Rev. Mr. McHarg of this village, and Hon. ”

“ The Otsego Farmer in 1915 summed up the matter thus: "Otsego bass is not what is ordinarily termed whitefish, but is probably a species of the same family. As a matter of fact, Otsego Lake has been stocked with whitefish fry from the Great Lakes, and now the nets of fishermen are always filled with a mixture of whitefish and Otsego bass. Whatever Dr. Bean may think about it, any Otsego Lake fisherman can tell the difference, and any epicure having [Pg 373] once tasted Otsego bass is never again deceived by whitefish." ”

“ There is a point on Otsego Lake, opposite to Natty Bumppo's cave, from which passing boatmen awaken the famous Echo of the Glimmerglass. For more than half of the nineteenth century there lived in the village a negro whose lungs were renowned for their power to call forth the fullness of this strange echo. "Joe Tom," as he was named, was always called upon, as the guide of lake excursions, to perform this peculiar duty. Stationing his scow at the focal point, the negro would shout across the water, "Natty Bumppo! ”

“ The banks of the lake abound with eligible situations for country houses. On its western side, there is scarcely a quarter of a mile without one. and we feel persuaded that nothing but a good road to the Mohawk is wanting to bring this spot into so much favor as shall line the shores of the Otsego with villas. ”

“ The upper and lower portions of the lake, being shallow and weedy, afford ample pickerel grounds, while the middle portion and whole eastern shore are admirably adapted, by deep water and soft marl bottom, to the coregoni and salmon trout, and nearer shore, by rocky bottom and sharp ledges, to the rock bass, black bass, and yellow perch. Large fish find an abundant food supply in the "lake shiner," an exquisitely beautiful creature [Pg 371] and dainty morsel, about four inches long.
The fish for which the lake has become famous among epicures is the "Otsego bass." ”

“ The Susquehanna, a narrow though rapid stream at its source, was much filled with "flood wood," or fallen trees; and the troops adopted a novel expedient to facilitate their passage. The Otsego is about nine miles in length, varying in breadth from half a mile to a mile and a half. The water is of great depth, limpid, and supplied from a thousand springs. At its foot the banks are rather less than thirty feet high the remainder of its margin being in mountains, intervals, and points. ”

“ They had come out to Britannia for the summer, and were enjoying its fine facilities for boating, bathing, and canoeing as only city boys, pent up in close quarters for three-fourths of the year, can enjoy such exhilarating sports.
The great Lake Deschenes filled them with profound admiration. They exulted in its magnificent breadth, its mighty length, its cool, limpid depths, and most of all the glorious rapids which marked the place where it gathered itself together to become the River Ottawa again, and resume its steady course seaward. ”

“ By going some distance down the river, and making the circuit of the lake into which it flowed, the servant of Don Mariano believed he could find a crossing, by which they might reach the hacienda of San Carlos on a different road. Although this détour would make their journey nearly one day longer, it would still be preferable to falling into the company of Arroyo and his brigands.
Among all the places in America, sacred to the worship of the native races, perhaps none enjoys a greater celebrity than the lake of Ostuta, and the mountain which rises up out of the bosom of its waters. ”

“ It was, however, to the first home on Otsego's shore that the future creator of American romance was brought when a babe some thirteen months old. Here, in the heart of the wilderness, his infancy was passed. Otsego Hall sheltered his budding boyhood and young manhood. Grace and refinement dwelt within the household; without, voices of the forest awakened and nurtured his naturally active mind, which later on was not less influenced by the mysteries of the sea. The Six Nations were yet a power in the Mohawk Valley, then the highway to the land of the setting sun beyond. ”

“ They maintain the perfect equality of women with men in all social and business relations, and have become quite wealthy as manufacturers, farmers and dairymen. The outlet of Oneida Lake, and in fact the outlet streams of all the lakes of Central New York, discharge into Oswego River, which flows northward into Lake Ontario. Oswego means "the small water flowing into that which is large," and the port at its mouth, noted for its flour and starch-mills, has about twenty-five thousand people, and is the largest city on the New York shore of Lake Ontario. ”

“ There is on the eastern bank of the Otonabee, a pretty rounded knoll, clothed with wild cherries, hawthorns and pine-trees, just where a creek half hidden by alder and cranberry bushes, works its way below the shoulder of the little eminence; this creek grows broader and becomes a little stream, through which the hunters sometimes paddle their canoes, as a short cut to the lower part of the lake near Crook’s Rapids. ”

“ It abounds with fish of an excellent flavor, among which are the Oswego bass, weighing three or four pounds. Near the south-east part it receives the waters of the Oswego river, and on the north-east it discharges itself into the St. Lawrence. It is never entirely closed by ice, and is computed from some soundings to be five hundred feet deep. The Ridge Road, or Alluvial Way, is a remarkable ridge extending along the south shore of this lake, from Rochester on the Gennessee to Lewiston on the river Niagara, eighty-seven miles. ”

“ Then Ottiby began to talk. He said his son would search for a certain plant that the Indians used when they had fevers. As for the blocking of the passage, that was another matter. Ottiby said he and his son had come to the lake to fish. He knew of no outlet from it other than the two already described. One was impassable as it was blocked by the falling of the water and the other was closed by a mass of land—a veritable floating island. The Indian said he had reached the lake by an overland route; he and his son carrying their canoe. ”

“ They fought with all the powers of mind and body for the single chance of overtaking the canoe.
"I hope you see it, Tayoga," said Robert.
"Not yet," replied the Onondaga. "The darkness is heavy over the lake, and the mists and vapors, rising from the water, increase it."
"It was a fine canoe, Tayoga, and it holds our rifles, our ammunition, our deer, my buffalo robe, and all our precious belongings. We have to find it."
"It is so, Dagaeoga. We have no other choice. We truly swim for life. One could pray at this time to have all the powers of a great fish. Do you see anything behind us?" ”

“ There is here good camping, and pasturage seems abundant, but horses do not like it and should therefore be hobbled to prevent straying. The lake was stocked with Loch Leven trout in 1911 and with rainbow, eastern brook, black spotted and steelhead in 1917, 1918 and 1919, but fishing is only fair. Crossing the meadows at the outlet our trail joins the Tioga Road, which follows the western margin of the lake to the Tenaya Lake Lodge, about one and a half miles distant, where good accommodations will be found. ”

“ Thousands upon thousands of people died in towns and villages, and it was only here between the Chor and the Tolo that Death did not levy his inexorable toll. This was because of our lake. In the spring and autumn immense flocks of ducks, geese, swans and other migrating birds came here to feed. They arrived in the spring from the south and the southwest, in the autumn down the valley of the Nonni and southeastward against the current of the Sungari; and they always stopped on our lake for a long period of rest and feeding, for then fish and nutritious water-plants were plentiful. ”

“ A new El Capitan now rises above us, though it lacks the smooth unbroken dignity of the great Yosemite cliff, yet it is sublime in its sudden rise and vast height. Nestling at its feet is Eagle Lake, and beyond are the Velmas and a score of other glacial jewels calling for visitors to rhapsodize over their beauty. Maggie's Peaks are to our right, Eagle Falls to our left, with Emerald Bay, the Island, the Point and the Lake beyond all calling upon us to enjoy them to the full. ”

“ West of the Caniengas the Oneidas held the small river and lake which bear their name, the first in that series of beautiful lakes, united by interlacing streams, which seemed to prefigure in the features of nature the political constitution of the tribes who possessed them. West of the Oneidas, the imperious Onondagas, the central and, in some respects, the ruling nation of the League, possessed the two lakes of Onondaga and Skeneateles, together with the common outlet of this inland lake system, the Oswego River, to its issue into Lake Ontario. ”

“ When the Erie Canal came along the place grew rapidly, and it is now a great canal and railroad centre, with lines radiating in various directions, and from it the Oswego Canal goes northward to Lake Ontario. The city has a population approximating a hundred thousand. The salt springs come out of the rocks of the Upper Silurian period, and are located chiefly in the marshes bordering Onondaga Lake. The brine wells are bored in the lowlands surrounding the lake to a depth of two hundred to over three hundred feet. ”

“ After the distribution of presents, I left Chegoimegon on the 18th July. The first party of Indians met at the Namakagon, belonging to a Chippewa village called Pukwaewa, having, as its geographical centre and trading-post, Ottowa Lake. As I had directed part of the expedition to precede me there, during my journey to Yellow River, I requested these Indians to meet me at Ottowa Lake, and assist in conveying the stores and provisions to that place—a service which they cheerfully performed. ”

“ After a few days' journey they leave the main stream and go up one of its branches. Here they come to a place where the stream widens into a lake. The water is very still, and as the fishing is good, the Indians camp here for a week and rest. There are so many wolves and wild cats in the woods that Otelne puts up the tent on a little island out in the middle of the lake.
For many days they go on upstream. Over and over again they have to carry their goods around rapids. The dark branches of spruce, hemlock, and fir trees often hang over the stream. ”

“ The south-eastern part of Lake Ladoga falls also within the government of Olonets. The rivers drain to the Baltic and White Sea basins. To the former system belong Lakes Ladoga and Onega, which are connected by the Svir and receive numerous streams; of these the Vytegra, which communicates with the Mariinsk canal-system, and the Oyat, an affluent of Lake Ladoga, are important for navigation. Large quantities of timber, fire-wood, stone, metal and flour are annually shipped on waters belonging to this government. ”

“ There is a wooden bridge across the lake, leading from Cayuga village towards Geneva, one mile long, wanting three [Pg 132] roods. It suffered so much by shocks of the ice last winter, that in some places it is hardly safe to pass it. This forenoon we had passed the outlet of the Owasco Lake, but did not see the lake itself, which we were told was about a mile south of the road. The country hitherto is somewhat uneven, though by no means so much so as near the Onondaga Hollow. The soil, however, is excellent in many places, and is of a reddish color. ”