First Pale Face in Cortland County

     For starters, the first white man in Cortland County wasn't Reverend Farley Smoot--despite rumors and persistent reports--often aided and abetted by this blog.
     Instead, history points to French adventurer Etienne Brule.
     Consul Willshire Butterfield writes in History of Brule's Discoveries and Explorations 1610-1626:  "October 15, 1615...But what of Brule and the five hundred Canantuannais? They had left Carantouan (Waverly, N.Y.); they had marched northward, leaving, probably, the territory now included in Tioga County, New York, and going through that of present counties of Tompkins, Cayuga, Cortland and into Onondaga, but reaching the rendezvous (fixed upon near Lake Simcoe by the Hurons) two days after the departure of Champlain and his Huron allies."
     The Canantuannais, also called Andaste, were Susquehannocks, who with the Hurons refused to join the Great Peace offered by the Five Nations of the Iroquois. The purpose of the march northward was to meet Champlain and his Hurons at the main Onondaga Castle, invest the fortress and conquer the Onondaga. Carantouan, by this history, was located on Spanish Hill next to Route 222 at Waverly, N.Y.
Click on reference:
http://www.spanishhill.com/susquehannocks/who.shtml
     Brule had a late start. He arrived two days after Champlain had abandoned the siege. After a brief skirmish, he and the Canantuannais returned to Carantouan.
     Onondaga Castle was enclosed with four palisades and defended by more than one thousand warriors. Champlain had built siege towers and the Hurons had pushed them to the outer palisades. French sharpshooters had mounted the towers and fired at the Onondaga warriors behind the palisades. The French threw flaming bundles of evergreen wood over the ramparts but the Onondagas put out the fires with water. The unsuccessful siege lasted from October 10 to October 16, 1615. Champlain and the Hurons then retreated to their hidden canoes located on the east side of Lake Ontario. They returned to New France.
     After more than a year exploring the Susquehanna River and Chesapeake Bay, Brule returned to the Hurons. Passing through Seneca territory, he was captured by them. He was tortured but managed to obtain his freedom by a false promise to establish peace with the French and Hurons. When he returned to Huron territory in New France, he immersed himself in their culture. Later, in his short adventurous career, he plotted against Champlain. He was eventually killed by the Hurons over an unknown dispute. Sagard wrote that the Hurons burned and ate Brule after they killed him.
Click on reference:
http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?id_nbr=95
Editor's note:
One of several horrible contributors to this blog has suggested that the Huron burning and eating of Etienne Brule may have been the first serving in North America of the French dessert called creme brule. The French word "brule" means "burned."
Gastronomists and surviving witnesses of the siege at Onondaga Castle are encouraged to leave a comment.