The Land Around Us Farmhouse/Settlement Courtesy: Fenton History Center, Jamestown, N.Y. By the end of the 1700's the Holland Land Company was operating in western New York, including Chautauqua County. The first permanent European settlers arrived soon after, and by 1811 the county's population surpassed 500 European inhabitants. Chautauqua Lake sits 700 feet higher than Lake Erie, although only six miles away. Lake Erie's waters drain into the Atlantic Ocean, while Chautauqua Lake's waters drain into the Gulf of Mexico. The Land Around Us Barcelona Harbor Courtesy: Chautauqua County Historical Society, Westfield, N.Y. Limited information exists regarding the early occupants of this area. Indications of the culture known as the "Mound Builder" have been found, followed by evidence of Erie Indian occupation. The Seneca were the next occupants dominating the area. The descendants of the Seneca, many still living in Chautauqua County, maintain four reservations in western New York. French explorers landed in Chautauqua County on the shore of Lake Erie in the 1740's, seeking a southward passage to the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. The route connecting Barcelona Harbor on Lake Erie with Chautauqua Lake, later known as the Portage Trail, offered
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