“An account of and Indian grant of land at the Falls.

The escape of Mr. Stedman, not only from the iron grasp of one of their most athletic and powerful warriors, but from the shower of rifle balls discharged at him from the rifles of their beat and most unerring marksmen, confounded the Indians with wonder and fear, furnishing a subject whereon to feed their most absurd, superstitious whims.  They at once pronounced him a favorite of the Great Spirit; and to appease its wrath, made Stedman a present of the tract of land he had encompassed in the retreat to Fort Schlosser; to wit, beginning at the Devil’s Hole, thence running east, to Gill creek; thence southerly down the creek, to the Niagara River, thence west, down the river, to Niagara Falls; and thence northerly, still bounding on the river, to the place of beginning; being a tract about two miles wide, and three and a half miles long.  But neither the British government, nor the United States, or either of the states, has ratified or confirmed the gift; although Jesse Ware, claiming under Stedman, has, for a number of years in succession, assailed our legislative halls for the land, or some remuneration therefor.  Nor does it appear that even the Indians themselves, after the excitement produced by the transaction had subsided, recognized any validity in Stedman’s title; for the next year, 1764, they ceded the same tract, together with other lands, extending north to Lake Ontario, to the king of Great Britain, for a carrying place around the Falls of Niagara.”

Reference Data:

Anthology and Bibliography of Niagara Falls, Vol. 1, by Charles Mason Dow, 1921, pages 385-6