page_title: Salmon River (New York)
section_title: General history
hierarchical_section_title: Salmon River (New York) / History / General history
caption_attribution_description: English: Ontario 1718, approximate modern province area highlighted, from Carte de la Louisiane et du cours du Mississipi by Guillaume de L'Isle. Licensing My contributions cleaning and highlighting are donated to Public Domain. Bill Whittaker (talk) 19:32, 28 July 2009 (UTC) The Library of Congress scan is covered under: The original 1718 work is covered by:
context_page_description: The Salmon River is a large river in Upstate New York in the United States. The river is a popular and economically important sportfishing destination, and the most heavily fished of New York's Lake Ontario tributaries. From its headwaters in the Tug Hill region of New York, it flows 44 miles westward through two hydroelectric dams and over the 110-foot Salmon River Falls before it empties into eastern Lake Ontario at Port Ontario in Oswego County. The Salmon River watershed drains approximately 280 square miles.
  The river is noted for its recreational salmon fishery, which is sustained by the efforts of the Salmon River Fish Hatchery, located north of Altmar on a tributary to the Salmon River. Hatchery staff raise over three million young trout and salmon each year to be stocked in streams and lakes throughout New York State, including the Salmon River itself.
  The Salmon River derives its name from the landlocked Atlantic salmon which were of great importance to Native Americans and early settlers of the region. However, these native salmon were extirpated from the river by 1872 and from Lake Ontario by 1898.
context_section_description: Prior to European colonization, the Salmon River and its surrounding area was important to the Iroquois Confederacy as seasonal hunting and fishing grounds. Among their names for the river was Heh-hah-wa-gah, meaning "where swim the sweet fish". Additional names included A-han-ha-ge, Ca-no-ha-ge (meaning "a creek" or "river"), Otihatangue (meaning "a large clearing", referring to natural meadows near the river's mouth), and  Ga-hen-we-gah. The river also served as passage to interior hunting grounds, and was described in 1688 as "the place where the greater part of the Iroqouis embarked to go upon the trail of the beaver", in reference to their excursions into the Lesser Wilderness, now known as the Tug Hill.
  In 1615, French explorer Samuel de Champlain and Jesuit missionaries, including Simon Le Moyne, explored the river and the surrounding area, which would be claimed as part of New France. Early maps and accounts refer to the river by its French name of La Famine, a name referencing the hunger of French colonists who passed through the area in 1656; an Iroquois settlement known as Cahihonovage (or Cahihonovague) was also on noted on its south shore, near present-day Port Ontario. La Famine was described as a "well-known stopping-place upon the eastern shore of Lake Ontario for the weary hunter and the bold explorer, and the spot where even armies encamped, and the ambassadors of hostile nations met in solemn council."
  Records from Jesuit missionaries as early as 1657 make note of Iroquois fishermen taking large quantities of Atlantic salmon from the river, which would then be dried or smoked to preserve it for the upcoming winter. One early source observed that the river contained so many salmon that the Iroquois "often brought up a hundred at one cast of the net."
  The Salmon River at this time was noted for its natural harbor and abundance of fish. As such, the lower river was contested between the French, British and Iroquois during the French and Indian Wars from 1688 to 1763; ultimately the British would hold control of the region following these conflicts. Their control was short-lived, however, as the United States gained its independence from Great Britain following the American Revolution in 1783; the region's Iroquois were also substantially weakened, having suffered losses due to siding with the British during this time.
  The first permanent American settlement in the area was built by Nathan Tuttle and Nathan Wilcox in 1801 near the mouth of the Salmon River. Upstream, what was to become the village of Pulaski began as a single log cabin constructed in 1804 by Benjamin Winch. The stone Selkirk Lighthouse was built near the river's mouth in 1838 and survives to this day; the lighthouse served both to aid navigation along the Lake Ontario shore, and as a location to collect tariffs on items imported from Canada.
  The river has historically served as a source of both food and hydro-power, and numerous dams and mills were built along the river during the 1800s. Though these dams served the needs of the growing human population along the river, they also impeded movement of salmon seeking access to upstream spawning grounds, and they contributed to the eventual extirpation of landlocked Atlantic salmon from the river by 1872.
  In 1847, residents of the region filed proposed legislation to separate from Oswego County and form "Salmon County" with Pulaski as the county seat. The legislation did not advance beyond the initial filing in the New York State Assembly.
  The Salmon River underwent extensive changes in the early 1900s with the construction of hydroelectric dams and their associated reservoirs. Between 1912 and 1930, dams and reservoirs were constructed both upstream and downstream of the Salmon River Falls.
  A major flood occurred along the Salmon River and its tributaries between December 29, 1984 and January 2, 1985. Rapid snowmelt combined with heavy rainfall (as much as 6.90 inches [17.5 cm] near the Salmon River's headwaters) caused extensive flood damage along the river, destroying bridges near Redfield 
caption: Portion of Guillaume de l'Isle's Carte de la Louisiane et du cours du Mississipi from 1718 showing the eastern Great Lakes region. La Famine, the French name for the Salmon River, is shown near the southeastern corner of Lake Ontario.
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