Cattaraugus

Cattaraugus lies in the wooded country of the Cattaraugus Creek, which flows west into Lake Erie. The region was associated with the Wenro, an Iroquoian-speaking people of the eastern Great Lakes. In the late 1630s warfare and the loss of protection from their Neutral allies drove many Wenro to seek refuge among the Wendat to the north.

The area later formed part of Seneca country. In 1797 the Seneca signed an agreement at Big Tree that transferred most of their remaining lands in western New York while reserving several smaller tracts. Among them were lands at Cattaraugus, described in the agreement by reference to the creek and the shore of Lake Erie. Subsequent exchanges altered the boundaries of the reserved land.