Scajaquada Creek ( ) is a stream in
Erie County,
New York, United States.
The name is derived from Philip Kenjockety, a Native American described as the oldest resident of the region upon his death in 1808.
The creek lends its name to the
Scajaquada Expressway,
New York State Route 198, a highway that briefly adjoins the creek's southern shore. A bike path follows the creek's northern shore most of the way from Delaware Park to the Niagara River.
Buffalo State College, the
Buffalo AKG Art Museum, and the
Buffalo History Museum overlook Scajaquada Creek.
Course
A stream that drains a watershed of , Scajaquada Creek rises in the
Town of Lancaster in Erie County, east of
Buffalo. The creek passes through most of the
Town of Cheektowaga before it is diverted into an underground
culvert
A culvert is a structure that channels water past an obstacle or to a subterranean waterway. Typically embedded so as to be surrounded by soil, a culvert may be made from a pipe (fluid conveyance), pipe, reinforced concrete or other materia ...
. The culvert carries the creek for miles through much of Buffalo, emerging in Forest Lawn. The creek passes through the
Forest Lawn Cemetery, next to
Delaware Park, and over Serenity Falls. The falls has a total vertical drop of in a horizontal distance of . It is one of two waterfalls in Buffalo, along with Cazenovia Park Falls. While the Scajaquada once flowed into Hoyt Lake in Delaware Park, it was buried by 1921 in response to pollution and urban development. Today, it bypasses the lake through a channel and culvert on the lake's south shore. The creek flows through part of the
Erie Canal
The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east–west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigability, navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, ...
known as the Black Rock Canal, then empties into the
Niagara River.
1814 Battle
In early August 1814, during the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...
, a force of about 600 British soldiers crossed into New York from Canada in an attempt to raid American supply depots kept in
Black Rock, New York. This operation was to be carried out in preparation for the
Siege of Fort Erie. However, American riflemen detected the British landing and prepared defenses at Scajaquada Creek, then known as "Conjocta Creek". British forces attempted to cross the creek to reach Black Rock, but became engaged in an intense skirmish with the roughly 200 American riflemen defending the creek. The fighting lasted an hour before the British force retreated to Canada. The British force suffered 12 killed and 17 wounded, while the Americans suffered 2 killed and 8 wounded. English author and inventor
Shadrack Byfield was wounded in the battle and had his arm amputated as a result.
References
External links
Scajaquada Creek information*
Battle of Conjocta Creek
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Geography of Buffalo, New York
Subterranean rivers of the United States
Rivers of Erie County, New York