Canandaigua

Canandaigua stands at the northern end of its namesake lake, one of the Finger Lakes. The Seneca village of Tganödä:gwëh grew here after the French destruction of Ganondagan in 1687. Its inhabitants built longhouses near the lake, while French visitors recorded a nearby spring where escaping natural gas made the water appear to burn.

During the American Revolution, the Sullivan Expedition destroyed the village in 1779, part of a campaign against Haudenosaunee settlements and food stores. Settlers arrived after the war. In 1794 representatives of the Six Nations and the United States met at Canandaigua and signed a treaty of peace and friendship, which also defined the boundaries of Seneca lands. Among the Seneca signatories were Cornplanter, Red Jacket and Handsome Lake.