SimplyLife

If you've visited Letchworth State Park or are from Wyoming County, NY you're familiar with Mary Jemison a/k/a The White Woman of the Genesee. Hers is a fascinating story spanning years before the Revolutionary War to the early 1800s. Mary's life is a Western New York legend, a rich part of the early history of the white man coming to the "beautiful valley." A daughter of Thomas and Jane Jemison, Mary drew her first breath on board the sailing ship William and Mary in the fall of 1743. Her parents, of Scotch-Irish heritage were Protestant settlers in Adams County, near Carlisle, Pennsylvania. On April 5, 1758, Indians and Frenchmen descended on the frontier neighborhood, killing many and dragging off captives.  Mary, her parents, and several neighbors along with their children were among those captured and forced to march many miles through woods and swamps. Their fate was almost certain death, but the second night on the march, Mary was given a pair of moccasin...

It's always fun to have family members who have a bit of notoriety because of interesting pursuits. My husband's cousin, Ken Wallace is one of those.  Ken is an artist who works in stone as a flintknapper. Flintknapping is the ancient art of shaping tools and weapons from pieces of stone. Knapping was part of the survival skill set of Native Americans. Arrowheads, knives, hatchets, and more were shaped from raw pieces of flint or chert.  Ken knapping at the Wallace Reunion Ken became interested in this process back in 1985. One of his favorite pastimes was searching fields for arrowheads, both of which are pretty plentiful in Western New York. Freshly plowed ground in rural areas often yields many different types of arrowheads since the Iroquois were the original residents of what are now corn fields and cow pastures. Fascinated with how the Iroquois made their weapons and tools, Ken started to try and recreate them. He says a lot of trial and error were involved in the...