Oneida Lake

“ 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. ”

“ The Oneidas were the granite people, sprung from a stone, and they, too, dwelt upon a hill, from which they could look far away through an extensive and fertile valley, on the borders of Oneida lake. The stone which was the rallying point of the people, is a great boulder, differing in geological formation from any within a hundred miles. In council, they came afterwards to be called the great tree people, from some occurrence in a treaty beneath a big tree. ”

“ The voyageurs, after several days of hard labour and difficulty, emerge into the little lake Oneida, lying in the north-western part of the State of New York, through which they pass with ease and pleasure. The most difficult part of their journey has been overcome. In due time they reach the Onondaga River, and soon pass down it to Oswego, then an old fort which had been built by the French, when they were masters of the country, as a barrier against the encroachments of the wily Indian. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Lake Onega remains free from ice for 209 days in the year (middle of May to second week of December) . The water is at its lowest level in the beginning of March; by June it has risen 2 ft. A considerable population is scattered along the shores of the lake, mainly occupied in the timber trade, fisheries and mining industries. Salmon, palya (a kind of trout) , burbot, pike, perch pike and perch are among the fish caught in the lake. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Lawrence did heave that July evening, no mistake about it. A fresh west wind was blowing over the lake, and the spray was dashing up with sea-like violence as we steamed away from the wooden wharves of Kingston, heading down-stream for the Thousand Islands. Lake Ontario, when it chooses, can get up a very decent storm indeed; quite as fine a storm as any to be seen upon the German Ocean, with huge four-masters from Chicago stranding helplessly on the reefs and spits; and even the river can run seas-high in its broader reaches among the wide expansion known as the Lake of the Thousand Islands. ”

“ Having passed the rocks, they found the stream broadening out once more. The bottom was now muddy, and here and there grew large clumps of reeds and cattails.
"This seems to be more of a swamp than a lake," was the comment of the doctor's son. "From what Jed Sanborn said I thought it was a narrow stream all the way to the lake."
"So did I," added Giant. "I begin to feel that we have made a mistake."
"If we have, you're to blame," grumbled Whopper.
"Oh, you were willing enough to come this direction," answered Giant sharply. "If we are wrong, you needn't blame me." ”

“ It is the grand reservoir from whence proceed the waters of Michigan, Huron, and Erie. It gives birth to Niagara, the wonder of the world, fills the basin of Ontario, and rolls a mighty flood down the St. Lawrence to the Atlantic.
This lake lies in the bosom of a mountainous region, where the Indian yet reigns and roams in his wonted freedom. Except an occasional picketed fort or trading house, it is yet a perfect wilderness. The entire country is rocky and covered with a stunted growth of vegetation such as is usual in high latitudes. ”

“ Minute after minute passed with my eyes straining in vain for a glimpse of light and my ears listening vainly for some sound of human nearness, but the darkness was no less complete than the silence. Perhaps I had gone wrong. Perhaps that open space below, from whence rose dampness and odor, was not the lake at all, but the bay. ”

“ As soon as the stream is fairly over the lake-lip it breaks into cascades, never for a moment halting, and scarce abating one jot of its glad energy, until it reaches the next filled-up basin, a mile below. Then swirling and curving drowsily through meadow and grove, it breaks forth anew into gray rapids and falls, leaping and gliding in glorious exuberance of wild bound and dance down into another and yet another filled-up lake basin. Then, after a long rest in the levels of Little Yosemite, it makes its grandest display in the famous Nevada Fall. ”

“ 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. ”

“ A wilderness of bowlders compels the winding about of the trail, but we hear and see Five Lake Creek, roaring and dashing along, for it has a large flow of water and its course is steep and rocky. We pass through groups of willows, wild currants and alders, enter a sparsely wooded meadow and in a few moments see the first of the Five Lakes. There is but little difference in their levels, though their sizes vary considerably. The first one is the largest. Here is a log cabin and two or three boats. These are owned by the Deer Park Springs resort, and are for their fishing and hunting patrons. ”

“ Treading in file, rifles at trail, and knife and hatchet loosened, we moved on swiftly just within that strip of dusk that divides the forest from the river shrub; and I saw the silver water flowing deep and smooth, where batteaux as well as canoes might pass with unvexed keels; and, over my right shoulder, above the trees, a baby peak, azure and amethyst in a cobalt sky; and a high eagle soaring all alone.
The Mohican had halted; an Oneida ran down to the sandy shore and waded out into mid-stream; another Oneida was peeling a square of bark from a towering pine. ”

“ The park-like character of the woods is gone. Still, there are here and there gentle undulations upon which the long lines of western sunlight slope away; the lake gleams silvery through the trees; the air is pure and sparkling as in high altitudes.
It was evening before we could leave the lakeside and plunge into the dense new growth which adds to the ancient name of Ekoniah the modern appellation of "Scrub." Amid its close-crowding thickets night came upon us speedily. ”

“ And so the starfish arms of the little lake at my feet seemed to have plunged into this wilderness tangle only to reappear at greater distance. Like swamp-fire, it lured the imagination always on and on and on through the secret waterways of the uninhabited North. It was as though I stood on the dividing ridge between the old and the new. Through the southern haze, hull down, I thought to make out the smoke of a Great Lake freighter; from the shelter of a distant cove I was not surprised a moment later to see emerge a tiny speck whose movements betrayed it as a birch canoe. ”

“ But besides this Passage by the Lakes, there is a River which comes from the Country of the Sennekas, and falls into the Onondaga River, by which we have an easy Carriage into that Country, without going near the Cataracui Lake. The Head of this River goes near to Lake Erie, and probably may give a very near Passage into that Lake, much more advantageous than the Way the French are obliged to take by the great Fall of Jagara, because narrow Rivers are much safer for Canoes than the Lakes, where they are obliged to go ashore if there be any Wind upon the Water. ”

“ The quality of the soil now found in the patches of grassy land on the margins of these lakes and lagoons depends on the nature of the high ground nearest to them. The hills to the eastward of Lake George are chiefly granitic. Ondyong point on its northern shore consists of sandstone resembling that of the coal-measures; and the rock forming the range above the western shores is of the same quality. The hills at the source of Kenny's creek consist of trap, of which rock there is also a remarkable hill on the southern side of Bredalbane plains ”

“ A sailing vessel would have difficulty in getting in without a leading wind from the southward, but a light breeze would probably be sufficient; although there is a heavy body of water in the river, it does not flow with such impetuosity into the sea as to make much debatable ground between it and the tide. The natural effect of the existence of the Lake must be to reserve the water for a time on the occasions of storms, and to feed the river more gradually than if it flowed directly from among the hills. ”

“ 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. ”

“ For the silvery river-trout lying there carried a forked willow-twig between gill and gill-cover. Nor was this all; the fish was fresh-caught, for the gills had not puffed out, nor the supple body stiffened. Every little wavelet rippled its slim and limber length; and a thread of blood trailed from the throat-latch out over the surface of the water.
Suddenly the young Oneida in mid-stream shrank aside, flattening his yellow painted body against a boulder, and almost at the same instant a rifle spoke.
I heard the bullet smack against the boulder; then the Mohican leaped past me. ”

“ The town abounds with lakes. Bald Eagle lies partly in the town; Oneka; Rice, Egg, Eagle, Horseshoe, and others are within the town. Small springs and rivulets abound. A tamarack swamp, varying in width from a few rods to a half mile, traverses the town from north to south, forming a natural barrier between the eastern and western divisions. The principal lake is Oneka, located in sections 9 and 16. Rice lake has been celebrated as the resort of Indians from Mendota, who camped here annually to gather wild rice for the St. Paul and Minneapolis markets. ”

“ On all sides were the immense trees and dense brushwood, while the stream was dotted with little islands, covered with reeds and rushes and small, thorny bushes.
The sun had gone down, and as the darkness increased the boys looked at each other wonderlngly. This was not at all what they had expected.
"If this is Narsac Lake I don't want to stay here," remarked Shep. "Why, it can't hold a candle to Cameron or Firefly."
" No wonder nobody comes here," grumbled Whopper. "It's nothing but a swamp." ”

“ Upper Klamath Lake is one of the largest lakes in the state and is of considerable importance from an economic standpoint. The elevation of the water has been put under control and it is probable that very substantial use of the water for irrigation and power purposes will be developed from time to time. ”

“ The man who loves the breath of the storm and the glow of excitement will loose his boat from Tallac when the clouds swing down the canyon and speed forth borne, as it were, on the wings of the waves toward the distant foot of the Lake—past the black water wall where the waves of Emerald Bay sweep into Tahoe, through the frothy waters where the wind shifts and whips around Rubicon Point, over the white caps of Meek's Bay until by skillful maneuvering the jutting cape is weathered and quieter water is found in McKinney Bay. ”

“ The Lake of the Dismal Swamp is the very eye of material anguish. Its circle of silvery beach is flooded and hidden, and still the pent-up water, vainly beseeching an outlet, is raised and driven in unnatural emnity to the roots of the tall juniper, cypress, and gum trees, that completely surround its shore. The waves that should murmur and break on a strand of incomparable brilliancy, are pushed beyond their proper limits, and compelled to soften and sap the productive earth; to wash bare and white the sinews of the friendly trees, and inundate a wide region of extraordinary fertility. ”