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The Onondaga Lake Watershed Before the Mid-1700s
Four hundred years ago, before Euro-American settlers arrived, Onondaga Lake was the center of the
Onondaga Nation’s homeland. It was a pathway for trade and communication
between indigenous nations. The lake was also important to the Onondagas and
Indigenous – the first neighboring nations for spiritual, cultural, and historical reasons. In ancient times
to live in an area
they were all brought to the lake’s shores by a spiritual messenger called the
Peacemaker. The Peacemaker showed the nations a way to live together in peace.
The Fish of Onondaga Lake
Onondaga Lake was full of life in the early 1700s. Many Atlantic salmon,
American eel, and lake sturgeon lived in or visited its waters. There were
also a variety of other fish in the region, including burbot and yellow
perch. The Onondagas depended on these fish for food. The loss of their fish diet in later
centuries severely harmed the Onondagas’ health, culture, and economy.
Lake sturgeon
Drawing by Ellen Edmonson,
courtesy of NY State Dept of
Environmental Conservation
American eel
Drawing by Ellen Edmonson,
courtesy of NY State Dept of
Environmental Conservation
Euro-American settlers began to arrive in the region before the
mid-1700s. Over time, they began to use fish from Onondaga
Lake for sport-fishing and for food. One species in particular, the
Onondaga Lake whitefish, was served in restaurants around NY
State until the end of the 19th century.
Wetlands Around
Onondaga Lake
This map of the southern end
of Onondaga Lake was created
around 1800. The map shows
that the lake was surrounded by
different kinds of habitats like
forests and spring-fed salt and
freshwater wetlands.
Onondaga Lake
Habitat – a place where
an organism lives
N
Wetlands are areas that are
covered with shallow water for
part or all of the year. The different wetlands around
the lake were important habitats for fish, birds,
mammals, amphibians, reptiles, and other animals.
Map showing part of Onondaga Lake,
made around 1800
(North arrow and Onondaga Lake label added)
Courtesy of the American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia PA
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The wetlands also helped clean the water and control
erosion and flooding.
Near the tributaries of the lake there were wetlands
known as cedar swamps. One of these cedar swamps
was called the Lodi Swamp. It was located along the
southeastern shores of the lake. The cedar swamps were
home to many
types of trees
Tributary – a creek or stream that
besides cedars.
flows into a larger water body
Trees like black
ash, tamarack,
white pine, yellow birch, and hemlock probably grew
there. The forest floor was cool, dark, and covered with
ferns and other plants. Rare plant species like native
orchids grew in the cedar swamps.
Erosion – the process of natural forces (like wind
or water) wearing away soil, land, or rocks and
moving the sediments somewhere else
Cedar swamp
Maple and ash swamps
(Photo of Nelson Swamp, NY)
Photo by Donald J. Leopold, PhD
were another type of
wetland found near the
lake’s tributaries. Maple, ash, oak, American elm, ferns, and
many other trees and plants probably grew there. American
elm was very important to the Onondagas. It gave them
medicine, cooking tools, bark for building homes, and
ceremonial
objects.
Salt springs near
the lake crePhoto by Donald J. Leopold, PhD
ated wetlands
called inland salt marshes. These were found to the southwest and
southeast of the lake. The inland salt marshes were wet areas with
fewer plants than the forest swamps. Large animals like deer, elk,
and possibly bison visited the salt springs. The Jesuit missionaries
who settled near the lake in the mid-1600s saw rattlesnakes and
many hundreds of passenger pigeons around the salt springs.
Maple and ash swamp
(Photo of Beaver Lake Nature Center, NY)
Inland salt marsh
Beaver, bears, otters, turtles, cougars, moose, wolves, and many
(Photo of Carncross Salt Marsh, NY)
Photo: (c) TNC
other animal species probably lived around the lake. Clans among
the Onondaga Nation and neighboring indigenous nations are named
after some of these animals, and after local birds and fish. This is because those animals
have been very important to the people since ancient times.
Beaver
Flickr photo by gainesp2003
The soil around Onondaga Lake and the Finger Lakes is generally very good for planting crops. In the hills above Onondaga Lake, the Onondagas cleared fields for building
towns and planting crops like corn, sunflowers, beans, and squash. In the hills there
were also very large forests of beech, chestnut, oak, maple, basswood, elm, and other
trees. These woods amazed the Europeans who first came to the area. In 1745, a bishop
named Spangenberg who was traveling toward Onondaga Nation wrote, “The forest is
so dense that for a day the sun could not be seen, and so thick that you could not see
twenty feet before.”
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