Note 27 — THE PIONEERS OF UNADILLA VILLAGE. 1784-1840. (continued 3)

This interesting prehistoric relic stood close to the river road leading to Sidney on the north side of the Susquehanna. The land was I believe part of the so-called “Church farm” that gift of Gouldsborough Banyar to St. Matthew’s already referred to, I well remember the pile of stones, but all trace of them has, I think, disappeared. The late William Frey of Sidney told me that when he was a boy living on the Hough farm an Indian one day arrived at the monument and added some stones to the pile—a pile of common field stones this “monument” was, but it might more properly be called a cairn. Asked why he did this, the Indian answered that if the act were not regularly done by one of his tribe, the Great Spirit would render the tribe extinct. Cairns like this were common among the Iroquois and are believed to have been closely associated with their firm faith in a future life.