Onaquaga (also spelled many other ways) was a large

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 ...

village, located on both sides of the Susquehanna River near present-day

Windsor, New York Windsor is a town in Broome County, New York, United States. The population was 5,804 at the 2020 census. The town is on the southern border of the county and is east of Binghamton. The town includes the village of Windsor, located on the Susque ...

. During 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 ...

, the Continental Army destroyed it and nearby Unadilla in October 1778 in retaliation for British and Iroquois attacks on frontier communities.

Population

Onaquaga was originally home to members of the

Oneida tribe The Oneida people ( autonym: Onʌyoteˀa·ká·, Onyota'a:ka, ''the People of the Upright Stone, or standing stone'', ''Thwahrù·nęʼ'' in Tuscarora) are a Native American tribe and First Nations band. They are one of the five founding ...

, one of the Five Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy. The Iroquoian-speaking

Tuscarora Tuscarora may refer to the following: First nations and Native American people and culture * Tuscarora people **''Federal Power Commission v. Tuscarora Indian Nation'' (1960) * Tuscarora language, an Iroquoian language of the Tuscarora people * ...

people joined in outlying settlements when they migrated north from South Carolina and became the Sixth Nation of the confederacy in 1722. In 1753,

Nanticoke Nanticoke may refer to: * Nanticoke people in Delaware, United States * Nanticoke language, an Algonquian language * Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape, a state-recognized tribe in New Jersey Place names Canada * Nanticoke, Ontario ** Nanticoke Generating S ...

refugees from

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

also moved into the village. That same year, Reverend Gideon Hawley established an Indian mission in the village. The establishment of the mission led to an increase in population of Christianized Indians living in and about the village, both those from the area and those who migrated from elsewhere (reference: Olde Ulster, volume 3, issue 11, page 323). Following the 1768

Treaty of Fort Stanwix The Treaty of Fort Stanwix was a treaty signed between representatives from the Iroquois and Great Britain (accompanied by negotiators from New Jersey, Virginia and Pennsylvania) in 1768 at Fort Stanwix. It was negotiated between Sir William J ...

, Mohawks were forced north and west and a number settled in Onaquaga, just west of the treaty line. They were prosperous, had some cattle and poultry, gardens, and fruit trees. Many of the inhabitants were Christians. By the time of the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

, representatives from all of the Six Nations, a group of Algonquian-speaking Lenape people, and also a number of

Loyalists Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...

lived in Onaquaga, a total population of about 400. In 1778 during the Revolution, Joseph Brant used Onaquaga as a base for raids on New York and Pennsylvania frontier communities. In retaliation the Americans organized a

raid Raid, RAID or Raids may refer to: Attack * Raid (military), a sudden attack behind the enemy's lines without the intention of holding ground * Corporate raid, a type of hostile takeover in business * Panty raid, a prankish raid by male college ...

commanded by Lieutenant Colonel William Butler. Faced with superior forces the inhabitants abandoned the town, which was then burned by the Americans.

Alternate spellings

Historian Francis Whiting Halsey, who spelled the name of the village ''Oghwaga'', included this footnote in his 1901 work The Old New York Frontier: :Spelled in almost every conceivable manner. Among the forms are ''Oneaquaga'', ''Oughquagy'', ''Onoaughquagey'', ''Ononghquage'', ''Auquauga'', ''Anaquaga'', ''Oughquogey'', ''Anaquegha'', ''Onaquaga'', ''Aughquagee'', ''Ochquaga'', ''Aughquagey'', ''Oquaca'', ''Oguaga'', ''Anaquaqua'', ''Oquage'', and ''Okwaha''. The form ''Okwaho'' is used in the

Marcoux Dictionary Joseph Marcoux (16 March 1791 – 29 May 1855) was a Canadian Catholic missionary among the Iroquois. Fluent in Mohawk, Marcoux was also known as Tharoniakanere, "the one who looks up to the sky". Life Marcoux travelled to the mission at St. Reg ...

, which gives the meaning wolf. This was a term applied to one of the Mohawk tribes.

Gideon Hawley Gideon Hawley (1727–1807) was a missionary to the Iroquois Indians in Massachusetts and on the Susquehanna River in New York. Biography He was born in the Stratfield section of Stratford, now Bridgeport, Connecticut, in New England on November ...

wrote ''Onohoghquage''. Dr. O’Callaghan employed the form ''Oghquaga''. For the present village in the town of Colesville, the spelling is ''Ouaquaga''. A little further east in the Southern Tier of New York State, in Delaware County, the form ''Oquaga'' is used for a small lake, a waterway, the eponymous Oquaga Creek State Park, and a hotel in the town of Deposit. The northerly branch of the Delaware has been called the ''Coquago'' branch. Wilkinson wrote ''Oquago'', and

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

''Anaquaga''. Stone adopted the form ''Oghkwaga''. Sir William Johnson wrote ''Oghquago'' – though not always. Joseph Brant, after the

Battle of Minisink The Battle of Minisink was a battle of the American Revolutionary War fought at Minisink Ford, New York, on July 22, 1779. It was the only major skirmish of the Revolutionary War fought in the northern Delaware Valley. The battle was a decisive ...

, used the form ''Oghwage''. Brant was a Mohawk Indian who knew how to spell. The word is pronounced in three syllables. In order to secure such pronunciation the author has taken the liberty of converting Brant’s final "e" into an "a," making it ''Oghwaga''. A. Cusick told Dr. Beauchamp he thought the word meant ''place of hulled-corn soup''.

References

*Marjory Barnum Hinman, ''Onaquaga: Hub of the Border Wars of the American Revolution in New York State''
Onaquaga Exhibit ReinterpretedOnaquaga War Party
* "The Remnants of the Esopus Indians". Olde Ulster: An Historical and Genealogical Magazine. Volume 3, issue 11 (November 1907). Pages 321-329. {{authority control Iroquois populated places 1778 disestablishments in the United States Pre-historic cities in the United States Native American history of New York (state) Former populated places in New York (state) Former Native American populated places in the United States

Population

Alternate spellings

See also

References