Onaquaga (also spelled many other ways) was a large

Iroquois The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...

village, located on both sides of the

Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River ( ; Unami language, Lenape: ) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, crossing three lower Northeastern United States, Northeast states (New York, Pennsylvani ...

near present-day

Windsor, New York Windsor is a town in Broome County, New York, United States. The population was 5,804 at the 2020 census. The town is on the southern border of the county and is east of Binghamton. The town includes the village of Windsor, located on the Sus ...

. During the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

destroyed it and nearby Unadilla in October 1778 in retaliation for British and Iroquois attacks on frontier communities. The

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

of Ouaquaga is now located along the Susquehanna close to the southern border of Windsor.

Population

Onaquaga was originally home to members of the

Oneida tribe The Oneida people ( ; autonym: Onʌyoteˀa·ká·, Onyota'a:ka, ''the People of the Upright Stone, or standing stone'', ''Thwahrù·nęʼ'' in Tuscarora) are a Native American tribe and First Nations band. They are one of the five founding n ...

, one of the Five Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy. The Iroquoian-speaking

Tuscarora Tuscarora may refer to the following: First nations and Native American people and culture * Tuscarora people **'' Federal Power Commission v. Tuscarora Indian Nation'' (1960) * Tuscarora language, an Iroquoian language of the Tuscarora people * ...

people joined in outlying settlements when they migrated north from South Carolina and became the Sixth Nation of the confederacy in 1722. In 1753, Nanticoke refugees from

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

also moved into the village. That same year, Reverend Gideon Hawley established an Indian mission in the village. The establishment of the mission led to an increase in population of Christianized Indians living in and about the village, both those from the area and those who migrated from elsewhere. Following the 1768

Treaty of Fort Stanwix The Treaty of Fort Stanwix was a treaty signed between representatives from the Iroquois and Great Britain (accompanied by negotiators from New Jersey, Virginia and Province of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania) in 1768 at Fort Stanwix. It was negotia ...

Mohawks The Mohawk, also known by their own name, (), are an Indigenous people of North America and the easternmost nation of the Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois Confederacy (also known as the Five Nations or later the Six Nations). Mohawk are an Iroquoi ...

were forced north and west and a number settled in Onaquaga, just west of the treaty line. They were prosperous, had some cattle and poultry, gardens, and fruit trees. Many of the inhabitants were Christians. By the time of the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

, representatives from all of the Six Nations, a group of Algonquian-speaking

Lenape The Lenape (, , ; ), also called the Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. The Lenape's historica ...

people, and also a number of

Loyalists Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...

lived in Onaquaga, a total population of about 400. In 1778 during the Revolution,

Joseph Brant Thayendanegea or Joseph Brant (March 1743 – November 24, 1807) was a Mohawk military and political leader, based in present-day New York and, later, Brantford, in what is today Ontario, who was closely associated with Great Britain du ...

used Onaquaga as a base for raids on New York and Pennsylvania frontier communities. Captain Jacob (Scott) of the Saponi (Catawba) helped Brant try to hold back the community from participating in the Cherry Valley Massacre. In retaliation the Americans organized a

raid RAID (; redundant array of inexpensive disks or redundant array of independent disks) is a data storage virtualization technology that combines multiple physical Computer data storage, data storage components into one or more logical units for th ...

commanded by Lieutenant Colonel William Butler. Faced with superior forces the inhabitants abandoned the town, which was then burned by the Americans.

Alternate spellings

Historian Francis Whiting Halsey, who spelled the name of the village ''Oghwaga'', included this footnote in his 1901 work The Old New York Frontier: :Spelled in almost every conceivable manner. Among the forms are ''Oneaquaga'', ''Oughquagy'', ''Onoaughquagey'', ''Ononghquage'', ''Auquauga'', ''Anaquaga'', ''Oughquogey'', ''Anaquegha'', ''Onaquaga'', ''Aughquagee'', ''Ochquaga'', ''Aughquagey'', ''Oquaca'', ''Oguaga'', ''Anaquaqua'', ''Oquage'', and ''Okwaha''. The form ''Okwaho'' is used in the Marcoux Dictionary, which gives the meaning wolf. This was a term applied to one of the Mohawk tribes.

Gideon Hawley Gideon Hawley (1727–1807) was a missionary to the Iroquois Indians in Massachusetts and on the Susquehanna River in New York. Biography He was born in the Stratfield section of Stratford, now Bridgeport, Connecticut, in New England on November ...

wrote ''Onohoghquage''. Dr. O’Callaghan employed the form ''Oghquaga''. For the present village in the town of Colesville, the spelling is ''Ouaquaga''. A little further east in the

Southern Tier The Southern Tier is a geographic subregion of the broader Upstate New York, Upstate region of New York (state), New York State, geographically situated along or very near the state border with Pennsylvania. Definitions of the region vary wide ...

of New York State, in Delaware County, the form ''Oquaga'' is used for a small lake, a waterway, the eponymous Oquaga Creek State Park, and a hotel in the town of Deposit. The northerly branch of the Delaware has been called the ''Coquago'' branch. Wilkinson wrote ''Oquago'', and

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

''Anaquaga''. Stone adopted the form ''Oghkwaga''.

Sir William Johnson Major-General Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet ( – 11 July 1774), was a British Army officer and colonial administrator from Ireland known for his military and governance work in British colonial America. As a young man, Johnson moved to t ...

wrote ''Oghquago'' – though not always.

, after the

Battle of Minisink The Battle of Minisink took place during the American Revolutionary War at Minisink Ford, New York, on July 22, 1779. It was the only major skirmish of the Revolutionary War fought in the upper Delaware River valley. The battle was a decisive Ir ...

, used the form ''Oghwage''. Brant was a Mohawk Indian who knew how to spell. The word is pronounced in three syllables. In order to secure such pronunciation the author has taken the liberty of converting Brant’s final "e" into an "a," making it ''Oghwaga''. A. Cusick told Dr. Beauchamp he thought the word meant ''place of hulled-corn soup''.

References

*Marjory Barnum Hinman, ''Onaquaga: Hub of the Border Wars of the American Revolution in New York State'' * Onaquaga Exhibit Reinterpreted * Onaquaga War Party * "The Remnants of the Esopus Indians". Olde Ulster: An Historical and Genealogical Magazine. Volume 3, issue 11 (November 1907). Pages 321–329. {{authority control Iroquois populated places 1778 disestablishments in the United States Pre-historic cities in the United States Native American history of New York (state) Former Native American populated places in New York (state)

Population

Alternate spellings

See also

References