Connecticut western news., 1906-10-11
IN THE REDSK|N DAYS
THE OLD FORT AT FALLS VILLAGE

Army Once Camped on Falls Village -' Farm-The Village was Formerly
 Known as Canaan Falls.
 Down in the pleasant little hamlet of Falls Village lives Orville Hosford, a bright. and affable old gentleman whose fund of "reminiscences and anecdotes of the early history of the village is we'll nigh inexhaustible. THE NEWS man found him in communicative mood the other day and heard an interesting story of the days when Falls Village consisted of less than a dozen houses, in fact in those days it wasn't called Falls Village but went by the name of Canaan Falls. It became known as Falls Village when the Housatonic railroad company built their station. MT. Hosford's story car ried the listener back, to the days when Indians were plentiful i'll these parts and when the settlers dared not sleep the sleep of the just lest they be taken by surprise by band of hostile Indians.
 In the Housatonic river, between the iron bridge and the falls, is a small island smaller now than in the days of which we speak, as a result of the constant action of the water against its shores. When it became evident that some means of warding of the attacks of these (Schaghticoke) Indians must be devised, the whites decided to build a fort on this island and take refuge there whenever they detected. signs of an uprising. Thus it was that stone walls, with port holes here and there, rose on all sides of the island and with their old fiint-lock mus kets the settlers were able 10 keep the enemy at a distance and, at the same time be in no danger of injury from their arrows. These uprisings occurred, on an average, once month and the settlers who lived on the hills surrounding the village were always able to detect the approach of the Indians in time to warn the other settlers and for all to get into the fort, MT. Hosford estimates that the of that section was about % in those days, i. G., during the few years just previous to 1900. The story he tells is a tale oft repeated by his parents and grandparents.
 The Indians, of course, far outnum- bered the whites and when in hostile mood, would skulk up and down the river banks, every now nnd then aiming an arrow at one of the fort port holes. They knew the result of getting in range of the settlers guns and rarely ventured into the water.
 There were times however, when they were friendly and approached the set tiers to exchange blankets, baskets etc. for grain, pork and other things.
 This intermittent warfare between the whites and reds continued for several years or until the whites were reinforced by settlers who gradually came and took possession of tracts of land. AS the whites increased in numbers, the Indians receded from their strongholds and went to Cornwall and later to Kent, after which the whites lived in peace and were enabled to enjoy the fruits of their labors without fear of molestation.
 And then came the war. Many stories are told of those strenous times but the one which MT. Hosford chose to relate was relative to Burgoyne's army passing through the village. Burgoyne's men salo,, of and while being marched through the country camped for a week or more on what Is now a portion of Charles Deans farm. And they were far from being dejected lot. During there stay in this territory they had more solid enjoyment than they had in the ranks. There were dances and other social functions at the camp and the maidens from miles around attended in order to have the pleasure of dancing with the gallant and resplend- antly uniformed officers. Many jeal ous son of toll was jubilant when the army moved on and many a pretty maiden was oorrespondingly dejected.
 Much has happened in Falls Village since the days of which we write and many changes have been witnessed by Mir Hosford. He saw its prosperity increase when the railroad ''came through" he saw it in more flourishing state when the car shops were erected and when building after building was erected to accommodate the families of the men who found employment there, he saw the beginning of the now famous canal which was to make of Falls Village 8 second Fall River, which was to bring industries there by the score and which was to turn the quiet hamlet into a hustling, busting thriving city. Then he witnessed the failure of it all. the turning of the water into the runway less than half dozen times, the aban- donment of the project and the utter loss of vast amount of money, the