The Enchanted Hills of New York State

By Kathleen Walls & Renée Gordon

New York’s Cattaraugus County is known as the Enchanted Mountains for good reason. It may be a lesser known destination but there is so much to see and do among those picturesque mountains you will be enchanted. 

The county is the proverbial melting pot but there are two unique cultures that can best be experienced in this region. You can follow the Amish Trail, on a self-drive or personalized guided tour, and immerse yourself in a simpler way of life as you meander along county roads. The trail features more than 125 family operated venues, identified by latitude and longitude instead of address, and designated with a special sign. Visitors can purchase an amazing array of handcrafted items including quilts, toys, candy, baked goods and furnishings, dine on farm fresh meals or simply take in the passing bucolic scenery. Complete information, including maps, guides and business listings, are available at the sites and online. www.AmishTrail.com/tour

New York has also established two Amish Geo Trails (NYAGT). Each trail has 12 caches as well as a trackable Geo Coin. A magnetic geo-button is earned for locating individual caches and the lucky explorers who find 10 of the caches will be gifted a NY Amish Geo Trail Coin. www.AmishTrail.com/Geotrail

The earliest culture fostered within these mountains remains as serene and steadfast as the hills themselves.  The sovereign Seneca Nation has lived here for centuries and probably encountered the first Europeans in the 1500s. They call themselves the Onöndowa’ga:’, consist of eight clans, Turtle, Bear, Wolf, Beaver, Snipe, Heron, Deer and Hawk, and were the largest of the nations in the confederacy. They are the “Keepers of the Western Door”, because they were the westernmost of the nations and controlled the land any foreigner had to cross to gain access to the confederacy entering from this direction.

The Great Confederacy was formed in the late 1500s and is credited with being the oldest participatory democracy in the United States. The Sacred Tree of Peace, the Iroquois Constitution, was created to establish peace and promote justice, morality and the rule of civil authority. Decisions made under The Great Law of Peace required a council mandate based on one vote per tribe and absolute agreement. Concepts in the Iroquois Constitution were used as a model for the US Constitution. 

Just as the Seneca functioned as gatekeepers for the Confederacy they have maintained that role and now serve as guardians of their culture. In September of this year the Deyonöhsagwë:de’ Cultural Center campus opened as a 33,000-sq. ft., state-of-the-art museum, cultural center, educational facility, Seneca-Iroquois Living Cultural Village and performance space. Visitors will be able to eat traditional cuisine and purchase native crafts as well as view the more than 85,000 artifacts on display. Tours of the 10 exhibit galleries begin with the traditional welcoming ceremony and cleansing of one’s aura.  www.senecamuseum.org

A guiding principle in the Seneca belief system is that we are all spiritual beings living an earthly existence. Our spirits are renewed in the Seneca-Iroquois Museum and our earthly desires can be fulfilled in the nearby Seneca Alleghany Casino and Resort, whether you are a high roller or a lover of leisure and luxury. Architecturally the resort focuses on the symbols and beliefs of the Seneca culture through use of natural materials, iconic images and indigenous art. 

The full-service resort is the winner of numerous honors including Best Hotel Rooms,  Best Spa and the AAA Four Diamond designation annually for nine years. Visitors can choose from 413 luxury accommodations with panoramic views of the cultural center and surrounding area, world-class dining venues, live entertainment and a plethora of award-winning gaming options. The spa and salon offer a complete menu of services and feature themed and specialized treatments. www.senecaalleganycasino.com

Shoppers will be enchanted by the Salamanca Antique Mall. The mall traces its history to 1982, when Bill Guche and Peter Kolokouris began at a plaza in Farmington, NY. As that mall's popularity grew, Peter opened another antique plaza at a mall he owned in Salamanca, NY. The mall grew until today it has over 1000 dealers and is managed by Peter's son, Demitri. 

It's a treasure trove. The mall has many of the traditional booths filled with larger items but what is unique are the locked glass cases filled with jewelry and smaller valuable objects. So many that you can easily get lost. Eleni Bechakas, the mall manager, offered me a pencil and pad to write the location of my finds. When you find something you want, you write the clearly marked location number. When you finish, just go to the deck and the cashier calls a friendly worker who unlocks the case and takes out your treasure.  www.salamancamallantiques.com

Nature lovers will fall in love with the Allegany State Park. It's the largest in New Your and third largest in the nation. Allegany State park is an all-season park. In summer you can enjoy hiking and multi-use trails. There is a large lake for water sports including kayaking, canoeing and paddle boarding. In winter it transforms into a ski and snow fun resort. 

The park is divided into two sections, The Red House Area and the Quaker Run Area. Both have cabins and camping sites. Altogether there are 424 campsites, 375 cabins. There's even a covered bridge, a Stone Tower, a small museum and much more. There's a Tudor style administration building built by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) as are most of the cabins. You can dine at the cute restaurant in the park on those days you don't want to venture far. www.stateparks.com/allegany_state_park_in_new_york.html 

There's seasonal fun at Pumpkinville.

Ellicottville Rock and Roll Weekend will take you back to the fabulous fifties with antique cars and classic rock and Roll. Even Elvis makes an appearance in the person of Terry Buchwald. Terry Buchwald was inducted into the Buffalo Music Awards Hall of Achievement , awarded Night-Life Life Time Achievement Award from the Buffalo Night-Life Music and Club Awards and others. He is one of the nation’s top Elvis impersonators however he considers his show "a tribute" rather than an impersonation. 

The other part of the weekend is filled with  hot cars. I saw vehicles ranging from early Fords to pristine cars from the 60s. Judging by the many Mustangs I saw, they seem to be the most popular classics.

There are many shops, eateries, a winery and the town museum to add to the fun. It's dog friendly so you can bring your four legged friends. www.ellicottvilleny.com

Auburn, NY: A Sanctuary City

                  In 1793 when Revolutionary War veteran Colonel John Hardenbergh, the first documented white settler in the Finger Lakes area, arrived in the Auburn, NY region it was home of the Haudenosaunee and was called “Ahskuby”. He and his two African American slaves, Kate and Henry, established the settlement of Hardenbergh’s Corners and two mills. The village was renamed Auburn in 1805. Local factories provided jobs for the inhabitants and with the 1825 opening of the Erie Canal job opportunities grew. Because of employment, access to transportation and proximity to Canada Auburn was a draw for free and fugitive African Americans, abolitionists and liberal thinkers. www.iloveny.com

                  The city has been designated a Preserve America Community for its protection of the culture and heritage and development and preservation of the neighborhoods. Auburn has done an outstanding job of protecting and preserving and because of its efforts the sites cover an intriguingly diverse range of themes and time periods. www.preserveamerica.gov

Auburn is referred to as the “prison city” because it is home to the Auburn Correctional Facility. Auburn Prison was created in 1816 to serve as a model for prisoner treatment and for a fee visitors could view the prisoners. On August 6, 1890 the world’s first execution by electric chair took place at the prison. It was also the first botched execution as the first jolt of electricity failed and a second was required to accomplish the deed. 

In 1854 George Washington, an escaped slave who had served ten years in the prison, was to be discharged and returned to slavery due to the 1950 Fugitive Slave Law. A crowd gathered and managed to free him and send him to Canada. This was the final time the Fugitive Slave Law was invoked in central New York. www.tourcayuga.com

                  Auburn at Prison City Pub and Brewery, located nearby, has an award-winning, on-site, craft brewery. Food is sourced from local suppliers and the menu offers creative gourmet pub food. Delicious options range from poutine to shrimp and grits. www.prisoncitybrewing.com

                   The Richardsonian Romanesque Willard Memorial Chapel is a unique jewel in a crown filled with them. It features the only complete and unaltered Tiffany chapel in existence. From 1892-4 the Louis C. Tiffany and Tiffany Glass and Decoration Co. completed the interior. On view are 14 opalescent nave windows, nine Moorish-styledchandeliers, inlaid oak furnishings, 9 paneled rose window, jeweled octagonal pulpit and a ceiling with gold leaf stencils. The chapel was commissioned by the daughters of Dr. and Mrs. Willard in their memory. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.A guided tour, “The Tiffany Treasure of the Great Lakes”, is offered. Do not miss this site! www.willard-chapel.org

                  Harriet Tubman National Historical Park interprets Harriet’s life after she moved to Auburn in 1859. She spent the final 54-years of her life here and continued her fight for civil and human rights. Tours of the location include the Harriet Tubman Residence, the Harriet Tubman Home for the Elderly, the AME Zion Church, a museum and 20-minute orientation in the Visitor Center.

                  New York Senator William H. Seward sold Tubman the 7-acre property, after she refused to accept it as a gift, for $1,200. In 1896 she added 25-acres to her property in order to establish a home for the elderly. In 1886 her original wooden house burned down and was replaced by her second husband, Nelson Davis, with a brick residence. Tubman deeded her property to the AME Zion Church to ensure that the home would continue. She died in 1913 and was buried in Fort Hill Cemetery. AME Zion Church manages the site and tours are masterfully conducted by Rev. Carter of Harriet Tubman Home, Inc. www.harriet-tubman.org, https://www.nps.gov/hart        

William H. Seward was Lincoln’s Secretary of State and was severely wounded in the assassination plot. He and his wife were staunch abolitionists and ran an Underground Railroad station from their home and it was they who sold the property to Harriet Tubman. Seward was significant in the writing of the Emancipation Proclamation and a copy, with his edits, is displayed in his home. Seward paid the bail money for the Jerry Rescuers and defended an African American murderer in court invoking the insanity plea for one of the first times in an American court. Seward’s parents were slave owners and he said that he came by his abolitionist beliefs through his enjoyment of time spent with the slaves. He realized they were treated poorly and resolved to do something about it.

The Federal-style Seward House was constructed in 1817, one of the earliest brick homes in the city. Originally it was a 10-room townhouse. With additions the home now has more than 30 rooms. House tours include rooms furnished with some family possessions. The mansion was visited by 6 presidents and countless freedom seekers in transit to Canada. Slaves were hidden in the basement kitchen and a room over the woodshed. The kitchen interprets the Seward’s UGRR experiences. It is believed that his wife Francis ran the station because Seward was so often in Washington. www.sewardhouse.org

The Sewards and Harriet Tubman are buried in Fort Hill Cemetery. The 22-acre cemetery was dedicated in 1852 but served the Cayuga Indians as a fortified hill in the mid-1500s. A 56-foot obelisk sits in the center of the mound to honor Cayuga Chief “Talgahyeetah” Logan. www.forthillcemetery.net      

The 1851 Springside Inn should be your only choice for accommodations in Auburn. This luxurious 7-room inn sits on the shore of Lake Owasco and has hosted Us Presidents, the rich and famous and NY Senator Hillary Clinton. It is believed to have been active in the UGRR. A continental breakfast is included as is free Wi-Fi, parking and personalized service. The on-site Oak and Vine Restaurant incorporates locally sourced foods into their creative menu. www.springsideinn.com/springside-inn-on-owasco-la

Louisiana’s River Road (Part Two

Laura Plantation features a 75-minute award-winning tour of this Creole Plantation that brings to life all aspects of the family that owned the plantation and the free and enslaved population that worked there. Twenty-years of research using archival material, inventories, Civil War pension records and a memoir, “Memories of the Old Plantation Home,” penned by one of the Laura’s who lived there, went into developing the guided tour. 

Highlights include the house, the focus on the French Colonial experience and the 2017 addition of an exhibit based on the documented experiences of the individual enslaved, including skilled labor, health, medicine, domestic life, and post-Civil War. Approximately 400 enslaved people moved through this plantation. In 1994 Laura was the first Louisiana historic attraction to incorporate the stories of the enslaved. The site is listed on the Louisiana African American Heritage Trail.www.louisianatravel.com/african-american-heritage-trail

                  

The guided grounds’ tour showcases 12 buildings on the National Register including the house, gardens and an authentic 1840 slave cabin. The 1804 home, originally 5 rooms wide and 2 rooms deep, is notable for its Federal interior. Visits begin in the outstanding gift shop, Laura’s Plantation Store. www.lauraplantation.com

                 

 Oak Alley Plantation provides a memorable experience from the moment you glimpse the quarter-mile allée of 28 Live Oak trees that lead to your exploration of the 11 interpreted sites on the grounds. A guided tour of the “Big House” takes you through the 1837, 2-story, Greek Revival structure dominated by the 28 Doric columns on the façade. Six reconstructed slave cabins comprehensively interpret the life of the enslaved from field to household staff in the “Slavery at Oak Alley” exhibit. 

The plantation has been used as a setting for Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte, Interview with a Vampire,True Detectiveand Beyonce’s Déja Vu video. Oak Alley offers a restaurant, an inn and a gift shop. It is a singular experience. www.oakalleyplantation.com

For film buffs the 1830 St. Joseph Plantation, adjacent to Oak Alley, is a mandatory stop. This operating Creole sugar plantation is currently the setting of Queen Sugarand was used in 12 Years a Slave. The gift shop features crafts made by descendants of individuals who worked there. www.stjosephplantation.com

                  

The 1752 Whitney Plantation, originally known as “Habitation Haydel”, is the sole plantation museum dedicated to interpreting the story of the enslaved. Founder John Cummings spent $11-million of his private fortune on restoration, artworks, monuments, memorials and a museum based on research and primary documents, all housed on the 2,000-acre complex. Guided tours begin in the museum with a general overview of slavery in the region and proceeds onto the grounds where you encounter the children of Whitney. Life-sized sculptures of enslaved children by Woodrow Nash, as they would have appeared in 1865, placed around the grounds. A collection of the sculptures are in the original 1868 freedmen’s Antioch Church. 

                  

There were 354 slaves on Whitney 1752- 1865 and a Wall of Honor records their names. The 1811 German Coast Uprising exhibit details the largest slave revolt in American history. A slave jail made in Philadelphia, a 1790 French Creole barn, slave quarters and the 1803 French Creole raised Big House are included on the tour. The most arresting memorial is the Field of Angels, honoring the 2,200 enslaved children who died in St. John the Baptist Parish 1820-60. Etched in each plaque is the child’s name, date and age of death and mother’s name.

Whitney Plantation is listed on the Louisiana African American Heritage Trail. www.whitneyplantation.com     

                  

Louisiana’s Plantation Country’s African American experience did not end with Emancipation and Historic Riverlands Christian Center begins where the plantation stories generally end. They offer specially designed tours as well as interactive experiences, a Catholic History Tour and Soul River: A Musical Journey through African American History. Philadelphians will find the role Katherine Drexel played in the history of Louisiana’s African American history particularly intriguing. Packages and catering are offered and this site is particularly fitting for groups and reunions. It is on the African American Heritage Trail. www.historicriverlands.com

                  

The Sorapuru House, home to a family of Creoles of Color, was constructed in 1825. The house is inscribed on the registry of National Historic Places because of its architectural significance. It is one of the last extant examples of French Creole architecture and it functioned as the first parish courthouse until 1847. www.neworleansplantationcountry.com

           

Dining in the towns along River Road is always a treat and here are a few of my favorites.

                  

B&C Seafood Riverside Market & Cajun Restaurant features authentic Cajun and Creole food at its freshest. www.bncrestaurant.com

                  

Nobile's Restaurant began in 1894 as a place for lumbermen to meet and eat. www.nobilesrestaurant.com

                  

Chef Richard Kiral presides over the kitchen at Ormond Plantation Restaurant situated in one of the oldest plantation mansions. The atmosphere is exceeded only by the international cuisine. www.plantation.com/restaurant

United Front Transportation Services provides transportation to the River Parishes for groups and individuals as well as airport pickups. If you have a long layover at the airport you can arrange to take a tour and still make your flight. www.unitedfronttransportationservices 

                  

Get outside of New Orleans and have the experience of a lifetime in Plantation Country. #nolaplantations

TRAVEL TIPS: 

Abita MysteryHouse, located in Abita Springs, Louisiana, exhibits artistic  works created by artist John Preble of more than 1,000 objects and inventions. Visitors follow a winding path that leads pass tiny dioramas, machines, button-activated displays and animated exhibits. Highlights of this homage to the unusual are the paint-by-number collection, the Bassigator and a full-scale UFO. The Mystery House has been featured on a number of television programs. www.AbitaMysteryHouse.com

Louisiana's River Road (part one)

“Caught in the devil’s bargain” Joanie Mitchell

No experience has so impacted the United States as profoundly and lastingly as the years of black enslavement from 1619 to the end of the Civil War. “The peculiar institution” remains a defining characteristic of who we were, are and will become as a nation. How do we align the events of the past with the view of ourselves that we are a country founded on the principles of liberty for all and malice toward none? www.louisianatravel.com    

To better understand the present we must peel back the layers of the past and a trip to the plantations along both sides of the river on Louisiana’s Great Mississippi River Road is a great way to do it. The road begins just outside of New Orleans and winds 70-miles to Baton Rouge. This was the same road that planters and slaves traversed as they traveled from city homes to plantations or moved from field to field, passing palatial homes, slave quarters, rustic churches, bayous and levees. www.gonola.com

Destrehan Bedroom/Slave Carved Bed

Many of the mansions remain, some offer tours and a few feature overnight accommodations. The largest group of homes was constructed beginning in the early 1800s, often in the Greek Revival-style with a common feature being the use of columns. There is also a collection of Creole houses that dates from the French colonial era. Moss draped oaks and beautiful gardens complete these idyllic scenes but there are other equally important structures that remain from the ante-bellum period. The dependencies, slave quarters and work buildings were also significant parts of the plantation complex. www.nps.gov/nr/travel/louisiana/riverroad

In 1682 La Louisiane, named to honor Louis XIV, became a colony of France. Antoine Crozat became the Proprietor of Louisiane in 1712 with an express mandate to fill the colony with white Catholics and black slaves in hopes of bolstering France’s sagging economy. Prior to this the native population had been the primary slaves but they proved difficult because they could escape and return home. The settlers primarily imported black slaves from their West Indies colonies. John Laws Company of the West took over in 1717. He promised to supply 3,000 black slaves by 1727. By 1721 two-thousand slaves had been imported but only 565 survived because of the disease, climate and arduous labor.

Slave Cabins in Destrehan

Slave Cabin Interior

Native Americans and Africans  joined forces on several occasions to rebel, most notably The Great Natchez Massacre on November 18, 1729. Natchez Indians and Africans joined forces and launched an attack that killed approximately 200 of the French and freed more than 275 slaves. Slaves who fled the plantations would often create maroon (from the French marronage, “to run  away”) communities in the bayous and swamps. When the Spanish took over they abolished Indian slavery in 1763.

A series of events occurred  at the end of the 18th-century that made black slavery even more lucrative. The invention of the cotton gin and mechanization of spinning and weaving, increased production and sale of cotton. In 1795 it became possible to produce granulated sugar from Louisiana cane. White planters fled the Haitian revolt bringing with them slaves skilled in the labor needed in the region. Steamboats began plying the waterways of Louisiana increasing the ease of shipping goods.

Dining Room Exhibit

The value of a slave in Louisiana increased and generally cost double the price in Virginia. New Orleans became the largest slave market in the nation, selling 6-8,000 annually. In 1860 there were 331,726  in the state and it ranked first in the number of people owning 70 or more slaves. Solomon Northrup in “Twelve Years a Slave” graphically describes slave sales in New Orleans and life on a River Road Plantation.

Cajun Swamp Tours, in the heart of the 54-mile Plantation Country, provides an excellent way to explore the bayous and swamps on a cruise within a private wildlife refuge. The native-Cajun guides narrate as you spot wildlife and pass by the Cajun town of Frenier and the gravesite of the Julia Brown. Brown, believed to have been a voodoo priestess, had an acrimonious relationship with her neighbors. She predicted that upon her death they would die too. She died in 1915, the same day a hurricane wiped out the entire community. Her spirit makes Manchac the country’s most haunted swamp. You may not see Julia but you will see numerous American gators. www.cajunprideswamptours

River Road’s plantations are noted for their architecture, individual histories and now, the unique and increasingly comprehensive manner in which they tell their stories, making each plantation distinctive and worthy of exploration. #nolaplantations

The oldest extant plantation is the 1787 Destrehan, built during the French Colonial era. The third owner, Jean Noel Destrehan, migrated from France, successfully granulated sugar, became incredibly wealthy and was instrumental in Louisiana’s statehood quest. The house is French Colonial with Greek Revival Doric columns and semi-detached wings. Some of the furnishings and all of the portraits are original and a 1,300-lb marble bathtub is a showpiece. Interview with the Vampire was filmed here.

The 20-acre complex features 15 tour stops and a history that is inclusive of all the people who lived and worked there. The slave cabins are original but their porches are not. Costumed docents share information on general history and the lives of the enslaved. Demonstrations on daily life including indigo, construction, weaving, cooking and African American herbal remedies are presented on a rotating basis.

The Miller-Haydel Museum has an excellent exhibit detailing the 1811 slave rebellion, the largest in US history. More than 500 farm implement wielding slaves headed to New Orleans shouting for freedom. Their way was blocked by troops and a battle ensued. Some rebels were hacked apart and decapitated, their heads displayed on pikes along River Road. There were 3 trials for the remaining leaders, one of which was held at Destrehan. The story was suppressed because plantation owners feared further rebellion. Interestingly, after the Civil War the plantation was the site of a freedman’s colony. www.destrehanplantation.org

Join me for part two as we continue our journey. www.neworleansplantationcountry.com