Montgomery County sentinel., 1952-11-27

local color and beauty unknown to
the average native. We sincerely
subscribe to it's contents, for there
are truly "acres of diamonds" at
your own back door which are i'm
possible to emulate were you to
search the world over.
SENECA"
The river bottom village of SEN
eca, so named because it is situa-
ted at the south of Great Seneca
Creek, is we'll known to those who
live close to nature. 1t is the most
peaceful spot imaginable and Of
fers unlimited opportunities for al
most any outdoor activity.
Seneca was once the home of the
sanguinary Seneca Indians. Here
is to be found the only really navi-
gable natural water on the uppar
Potomac. Eastward from the Sen
eca dam, which was destroyed
many years ago for fish propoga-
tion purposes, the Potomac is
swift, shallow and turbulent
stream, its waters swirliag and ed
dying over rocks; it meanders de-
viously among numberless islands,
in it's fifteen mile sweep to Great
Falls, below which, of course, is
tidewater.
Great Seneca Creek is the father
of dozens of upper Montgomery
County's streams, the largest Of
which are Dry Seneca and Little
Seneca. All of its tributaries flow
through rich farm land, most of
them originating in the Old Ger
mantown, Poolesville and Damson-
vile sections.
Seneca is well known for it's
5000 acre expanse of what are re-
ferred to as the "duck ponds, an
enormous swamp aboundihg in all
kinds of wild ducks. This entire
area is quite valueless for farming
purposes-but | can assure you =
~ 10 OllC pldSC OIl cdICH WHSIS g'u
can positively find mature in the
raw"
Adjacent to Seneca on the Po-
tomac are four islands. The first
island is very small, the second one
considerably larger. Neither has
name. The third island is known
as Van Devanter and is about 100
acres in area. The fourth island
running from the tip of the third
almost to Edwards Ferry is the
largest of all. / judge it to be
about 500 acres. A fine, productive
farm is located on this big island.
1t is connected to the Virginia
shore by narrow but modern steel
and concrete bridge, giving the
farmer a chance to get off with
his livestock and other belongings
in case of flood. Incidentally, all
four of these islands were COM
pletely inundated in the floods of
1886 and 1888. &
Although the Seneca Indians
lived very close to what is now
the village of that name, it is al
most impossible to find any If
their articles in this immediate vi
cinity. The Algonquins and the
Conoys both lived in Maryland
above Seneca within the three 10
five mile area along the river.
This has been definitely established
as a fact. Yet, outside of this area
the Indian was apparently non-ex-
istent, aside from the incontrover-
tible evidence of a scattering of
game and war arrowheads, and an
occasional grooved axe eor celt
(tomahawk.)
Just opposite Seneca, in Virgin
ia, / have personal knowledge of
five permanent camp sites all with
in five miles up the river. Then,
no more, for many miles. One site,
in particular, is strangely far ir-
land, located on a promontory, si-
tuated so, | believe to preclude the
danger of floods. And many's the
bone Clipped arrowhead of ryeolite,
jasper and flint ! have found on
the rocky two mile beach just op-
posite Seneca. Thousands, untold
/ thousands, of articles of intrinslc
value on both sides of the river
will never see the light of day.
This is true also of the third and
fourth islands upstream, for | have
dug test holes on both of them and
found charcoal from their fires,
charcoal layers foot thick, at
testing the many, many years their
fires burned. But river silt from
many floods, since the waite man
cut down the trees and eroded the
land, have covered signs of the In-
dians existence SO thoroughly that
! the shallow plow of the farmet
does little to bring them to the
surface. | assume that you do know
that the greater portion of all In
dian articles in our hands today
have been found in a plowed field;
said field having been subjected 20
heavy, beating rains, eventually
laying bare some of the Indian 5
possessions.
Below Seneca is desolate bat