Catharine Montour, also known as Queen Catharine (died after 1791), was a prominent

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

leader living in ''Queanettquaga,'' a Seneca village of ''Sheaquaga'', informally called Catharine's Town, in western New York. She has often been confused with Elizabeth "Madame" Montour, her aunt or grandmother who was a noted interpreter and adviser to the governor, and with "Queen Esther" Montour, usually described as her sister. Several places in western New York were later named in her honor, after most of the Iroquois had been forced to cede their lands and were driven out of the region.

Early life

Catharine was likely born in Pennsylvania or New York as the daughter of Marguerite Fafard Turpin, an Iroquois-French métis also known as

Margaret Montour The Montour family was a family of Native-American and French descent which was prominent in colonial New York and Pennsylvania before and during the American Revolution. Because of the Iroquois practice of reckoning descent through the female lin ...

or "French Margaret." Margaret was either the daughter or niece of

Madame Montour Madame Montour (1667 or c. 1685 – c. 1753) was an interpreter, diplomat, and local leader of Algonquin and French Canadian ancestry. Although she was well known, her contemporaries usually referred to her only as "Madame" or " Mrs." Montour. She ...

. Catharine's father was ''Katarioniecha,'' also known as Peter Quebec. He was described as a Caughnawaga Mohawk, referring to converted Catholic Mohawk who lived in the Jesuit mission village now known as

Kahnawake The Kahnawake Mohawk Territory (french: Territoire Mohawk de Kahnawake, in the Mohawk language, ''Kahnawáˀkye'' in Tuscarora) is a First Nations reserve of the Mohawks of Kahnawá:ke on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Queb ...

. It was founded south of

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

across the

St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...

in Quebec in the early 18th century.Sivertsen, 110. Catharine had a sister named Mary (or Molly), and two brothers: Andrew Montour and Nicholas Quebec. (Her brother Andrew should not be confused with

Andrew Montour Andrew Montour ( – 1772), also known as Sattelihu, Eghnisara,Hagedorn, 57 and Henry,Montour was also called Henry, possibly due to the similarity of sound with the French ''"Andre".'' was an important mixed Language interpretation, interpr ...

(c. 1720–1772), who was the son of Elizabeth "Madame" Montour and was probably Catharine's uncle. He was a well-known interpreter in the backcountry of Pennsylvania and Virginia.)

Marriage and family

Catharine Montour married a

Seneca Seneca may refer to: People and language * Seneca (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname * Seneca people, one of the six Iroquois tribes of North America ** Seneca language, the language of the Seneca people Places Extrat ...

chief named Telenemut, also known as Thomas Hudson. She and her husband lived in the

Finger Lakes The Finger Lakes are a group of eleven long, narrow, roughly north–south lakes located south of Lake Ontario in an area called the ''Finger Lakes region'' in New York, in the United States. This region straddles the northern and transitional ...

region at ''Queanettquaga,'' a Seneca town that became known as Catharine's Town. After the village was destroyed by rebel continental forces during the 1779

Sullivan Expedition The 1779 Sullivan Expedition (also known as the Sullivan-Clinton Expedition, the Sullivan Campaign, and the Sullivan-Clinton Genocide) was a United States military campaign during the American Revolutionary War, lasting from June to October 1779 ...

in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, Montour relocated with other Seneca to Niagara. This area was held by the British at the time, although it later became part of New York state. When Schuyler County in western New York was settled by European Americans following the revolution and United States independence, they named several places after Catharine Montour. Historical references to Catharine in her later years are few. In 1791, Catharine's sister

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

sought permission to live at the Moravian mission village of New Salem, near present

Milan, Ohio Milan ( ) is a village (United States)#Ohio, village in Erie County, Ohio, Erie and Huron County, Ohio, Huron counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 1,367 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is best known as the birt ...

. Missionary

David Zeisberger David Zeisberger (April 11, 1721 – November 17, 1808) was a Moravian clergyman and missionary among the Native American tribes who resided in the Thirteen Colonies. He established communities of Munsee (Lenape) converts to Christianity in the ...

recorded at the time that Catharine Montour was still living near Niagara.Eugene F. Bliss, ed., ''Diary of David Zeisberger: A Moravian Missionary among the Indians of Ohio'' (Cincinnati: Clarke, 1885), 2:148–49.

Representation in media

"Catharine Montour" was the name of a fictional leading character of a 1917 silent film, '' The Spirit of '76.'' She was portrayed as a mistress of King George of Great Britain and an adventuress in America.

Legacy and honors

Several places in New York were named after Montour in the period of European-American settlement following the American Revolution, all in Schuyler County. * Catharine, New York *

Catharine Creek Catharine Creek is a roughly stream that flows through Chemung and Schuyler counties in New York. The creek, named after Catharine Montour, is a major tributary to Seneca Lake. Course While the other waterways of Chemung County are part of ...

Montour, New York Montour is a town in Schuyler County, New York, United States. The population was 2,305 at the 2020 census. The town is one of two towns in the county named after Catherine Montour. The Town of Montour is in the southern part of the county and ...

Montour Falls, New York Montour Falls is a village located in Schuyler County, New York, United States. The population was 2,714 at the time of the 2020 census. A waterfall at the end of West Main Street gives the village its name. The name "Montour" is derived from Q ...

References

;Notes ;Bibliography *Sivertsen, Barbara J. ''Turtles, Wolves, and Bears: A Mohawk Family History,'' Westminster, Maryland: Heritage Books, 1996.

External links