The Washington times., 1906-10-08
NEW YORK SWAMP
TO Be DESTROYED
Vast EXpanSe of Marsh Land
to Give Way to En-
gineerS.
HISTORIC HUNTING GROUNDS
Prices Of Laud to Rise in Value
From 81 to $3.50 an
Acre.

CLYDE, n. y. oct S-That the his
toIlc MonJezuma marshes are doomed
10 destruction seems inevitable. owing
10 the building OF the barge canal
This vast eNpaase OF $1,000 acres OF
marshlaud through which flows the
Seneca river D. counted one of the nat
ural scenic features OF the State lt is
known for the desolate beauty of it's
scenery. for the engineering Ieat uy
which the railroads have bridged Ii. and
most OF all, perhaps. because of its un-
surpassed opportunities for fishermen
and bird hunters.
That such a region as the Moutezuma
marshes stu exists within the bounda
ries of New York State is hard TO be-
heve. IL is practically "a world unto IL
self, with a life and customs peculiarly
its own. Its $1,000 acres are covered
with waste of marsh-liag. which by
fan has grown TO ii height of ten feet
or more above water-Ievel- Through
it flows bewllderiug network Of water
currents az most rivers flow through
solid banks. IL is as unsafe 10 ven
ture far into the maze of them without
a guide as TO Try 20 find ones way
through the Catacomhs of Rome.
Often HOpelessly Lost.
More than one 700 veuturcsome sports
man has been hopeIessIy lost in the
marshes, and has spent "a night of be-
wildered wandering until at last dis
covered by some inhabitants of the
region.
Occasional islands rise To The surface.
their slopes strewu thick with relics OF
the Seneca Indians, who yearly mi
grated here for the hunting season.
HH
lords rich ma OF silver uinkeIs that
had found their way 10 these Indians
from The Jesuit Fathers OF Canada. OF
OF brass buttons which some Seneca
chief had pluudcrcd ON the battlefield
from the body of G. soldier.
Scattered across these islands today
comprise the present dwelers OF The
marshes They support themselves by
CutLu@ and selling tile fus and 10y
hunting and trapping.
Old Channel Found.
Such are the Moutezuma marshes. !
Section No. o begins al Mosquito Point
and for four miles follows The course
of tho Seneca river where that stream
crosses tae marsh. The Empire Con- !
sJrleriuu Company. which b. in charge /
OF this division of the canal, in exam
iuiug The proposed route, found here a /
Weli-dguugd channel. which. although il /
had net been dredscd in half century.
had not nIsd TO any great extent |
d was learned, also, i1at the present |
water level OF the river rs four feet
higher than The proposed water level of 4
The barge canal
Consequently. as there is no lock be /
tween rnfs IGr1Tfry and sylvan Reach I
The river for this section of its course /
VIII he lowered four feet In addition /
10 this, the e&c4Eatcd material taken +
i'm dredging is % be piled on either side 4
of the canal in high banks. These two .
conditions viii prevent the overflow of /
The river into the marShlauds during /
seasons of high water. II viii result n /
the retaining of land that has been ]
periodically submerged, and also, il is I
believed, of that land JhdL is always /
under water.
If this conjecture proves 10 be a fact, /
while hunters viii lose the Mouteuma /
the price of land there, owing /
to its natural fertility and its desirable !
..-uu, viii rise from s. TO from SIUJ /
10 $50 per acre.