I really enjoyed talking to the Town of Jerusalem Historical Society last night. The Branchport library was packed!

Back to Brink Hill

I finally met Madis Senner and his dog Pepper yesterday. Madis shares my interest in ancient stone structures and publishes his own blog at http://motherearthprayers.blogspot.com/

Madis focuses on the how these structures connect to mother earth and the energy that runs through them. He has some interesting ideas including using dowsing rods to detect energy. Although I have a different approach to my research I do appreciate his point of view and enjoyed walking through the woods on a beautiful November day. The hill we visited just off of Brink Hill Road, East of Naples, is a special place. There are hundreds of Native American stone piles in this area but this one hill side has the best preserved collection of them. They make a zig zag line up the hill. At the top of the hill is a very large three tiered rectangular cairn with a circular mound on the end. This is a larger version the the one in Clark Gully.

Anyone who has been to this spot with me has been convinced that these stone piles were not made by farmers. Unfortunately my camera malfunctioned and the photos I took didn't come out but I did take a few with my phone that I will post.
This is State land, part of the Hi-Tor preserve. It would be nice if the state recognized these structures and took steps to protect them. Unfortunately for whatever reason the DEC and Historical Preservation department don't have time or interest in examining these archeological treasures.

East Hill Naples

My wife and I went back to one of the first sites I found years ago. This area was once the site  of an Algonquin fort and lies directly across the valley from Clark Gulley (the birth place of the Seneca). If you think about the picture of the gulley in this post you will know why the Seneca viewed this spot as a birth place. From the valley floor you can even see legs. This hill also offers the farthest view of the head of Canandaigua lakes and the forts that were located there.

Introduction

Welcome to my blog. I started this blog to document the ancient stone structures located in the Hi-Tor recreational area near Naples. When I had documented all of the information on that area I began to expand the scope of this blog. It now includes information on stone structures located throughout Western New York. Blogger publishes post chronologically so some important post have gotten lost in past. I am including links to key past post in this introduction.

Italy Hill

Who created the cairns?

Stone Pile Cluster Video

Clark Gulley

Stone Pile Styles

Hi-Tor

Pioneer Accounts

Wesley Hill Summer Update

My wife and I went back to Wesley Hill Woods to take pictures of the Stone Piles we found last winter. At the time they were covered with snow so I thought I would go back when it was warm to see what was hidden under the snow. Well, the best laid plans went to naught. I waited to long. We have had such a wet spring that the woods have grown into a jungle. The undergrowth and mud made it hard too walk and obscured the pictures. The pile pictured above is quite large. 15 feet across and very long, 35 feet. It was in disarray but stacked areas are visible underneath the rubble.  This cairn was located on top of an active spring in the lowest part of the woods, below the cabin.

We found another pile by the road on the way out. Like many of these Native American stone cairns this one was topped with a quartz stone that glowed in the sunlight. My talented wife took this picture.

Wesley Hill

I haven't posted anything new in a while but that doesn't mean I haven't been looking for new area's. Last summer I was invited to walk through the Wesley woods area just up the hill from the South end of Canadice Lake. Low and behold three stone piles appeared just off the trail. I went back today and found a total of six piles marked on the map included. They have signs of stacking and i am sure they are of native American origin. If any readers have more information about stone piles in this area please contact me.

Clark Gully Revisited

View from the gullies edge.

First Pile Found

Stone Pile located on a Spring

I went for a hike yesterday not expecting to find any new discoveries. It was a beautiful winter Saturday. The temps were in the single digits but the sun was out, the ground was covered with a light dusting of snow and there was no wind. I had found twenty stone piles (with the help of David Robinson) on the South side of Clark gully many years ago but had never had any luck on the North side of the gully. There is a lot of rugged territory in this part of the Hi-Tor area and I had never explored this far North and West of the gully. My goal was to get a photo from a spot on the gully with a great view so I didn't have my GPS or my meter stick. I didn't get very far into the woods when three stone piles that were definitely of Native American origin found me. One was placed at the origin of a strong spring. A line of 10 piles going up the hill found me. I will be going back Monday to mark them with my GPS.

Swain

Many years ago I found a stone pile that was round and showed signs of being stacked up like a foundation or a stone wall a local old timer told me it was a Native American stone pile. In my search to learn more about this I met a remarkable person. David Robinson. He gave me a great deal of valuable information and started me on a journey of discovery. David told me he started his search for understanding because he found these interesting stone piles on his property. All these years later I finally got a chance to see these stone piles. David has passed on but his son Andy took me up to see them. I am posting videos and pictures of what Andy showed me on the blog.

This video shows what we found.

Andover-Swain-Canisteo-Angelica

Just when I think all of the cairns in Western New York have been discovered more of them reveal themselves. This week Norman M. sent me a packet of information developed by David Robinson and his son Andrew. Include in the packet was a picture of a large, well stacked cairn located in Swain. David Robinson told me about this cairn years ago. He said it started his interest in research Native Archeology in Western New York.

Also documented was a perfect beehive cairn located near Andover New York. These beehive cairns are interesting. I saw one near Cinnamon Lake just East of Corning. There is at least one more cairn in the picture.

The packet also contained information on a site near Canisteo. This site included a good sized circular cairn and a large slide that may have been a collapsed cairn.

Still another site was mentioned North of Angelica. No pictures were included. 

I plan on visiting all of these sites during my April vacation.

Springwater

I haven't post much lately because I haven't had a lot to report. This week I was contacted by a reader (Jeff) that found stone piles on and around his land near Springwater NY. I was very excited when he sent me some pictures. Two of the cairns are quite large and well stacked. I have a feeling there might be a lot of these yet to be found in this area. I will post more information when I find out more.

Update: I went down to Springwater over April break and met Jeff and Gus. Nice guys. They found two large well formed stone piles just off their property and knew they were unusual. In researching them they found their way to this blog. I am glad they did. These are the tallest stone piles I have seen. Over ten feet. In addition to their original find I found another dozen less impressive pile that form a line extending North of their original find. If you look at the map you will notice that they follow a natural depression or shallow valley over the hill. We haven't explore to the South. I wouldn't be surprized if there aren't more stone piles in this area.

Norman Brockenshire

I am an open minded person but I am also a skeptic of fuzzy science. This topic of stone structures seems to attract a number of individuals with strange theories about who created these stone structures. Some even attribute special powers to them. I feel it is necessary to state that I do not. I appreciate the fact that these structure are what they are mysterious monuments from the past. I was disappointed to see that Norma Brockenshire is a speaker at the Fall meeting of Neara (New England Antiquities Research Association). It is hard enough to get people to understand this Archaeological phenomia without adding a bunch of ridiculous speculation. I don't know Mr. Brockenshire but I have read the information on his web page. He seems to be suggesting that these mounds are connected to the "people of the book of mormon". What a joke. First, the Mormon religion is the most pathetic excuse for a faith currently praticed in this country. Anyone that believes this nonsense should not be inculded in any scientic discussion. Secondly, I believe that racism is the only explaination for the way some people have such trouble believing that Native people made these structures. What adds insult to injury is that Joe Smith plillaged a number of stone piles looking for treasure before he concocted his story about finding golden books.
Neara appears to be a group of people with legitamate scientific interest as well as a few of these nut cases. It is to bad Neara can't be descriminate in choosing speakers. Sorry to waste my blog space ranting like this but enough with the nonsense. Quit standing on the whale fishing for minnows.

Turnpike State Forest

It is fascinating how the whisper of these stone pile travels to one ears. I had talked to my friend and fellow teacher D. House about using my GPS device. He is an avid Geocacher. I told him I did geocaching but used my GPS mostly to document the location of Native American stone piles. Some time after this discussion he told me that he found a geocache in one of these stone piles. Over the Memorial weekend my girlfriend Judy and I decided to go check it out. We made the drive to the Alfred area and headed into the woods. It was a hot buggy day and the wild roses made the hike a struggle but we did find native stone piles. This is a completely new area never before documented. I didn't have time for extensive exploration but I did find three cairns. They were in bad shape and somewhat unremarkable. I hope to go back next autumn to look for more. If any readers get a chance to check out this area I would like to hear what you find. These are the coordinates for the small pile where the cache is located N42 17.599 W 077 49.373 .

Welcome

I was inspired to create this blog after following the post of another blogger Peter Waksman who publishes a blog called Rock Piles. This blog will provide information about archaeological evidence of an ancient culture that live in this part of New York before the time of the Sonontouan (Seneca). I have two goals. The first is to promote an understanding of this valuable historical resource. The second is to make sure the stones survive. To accomplish this I will provide some generally information about the area but not provide information on specific locations.

Before I go any further I should point out that this just a theory. The State of New York does not think that this site has any archaeological signifance. No specific artifacts have been found that prove that this theory is correct. Still, I firmly believe that people that lived in this area over one thousand years ago created this site.

At this point I would guess that the reader must be asking themselves what is this guy talking about. The short answer to that question is that there are over three hundred stacked stone piles created by native people that still dot the hills overlooking the lakes. Stone piles like these have been found all over the Eastern United States. To date professional archaeologist have shown little interest in this archaeological phenomena. That may be changing. Amateur archaeologists from all over the country have begun to share information and an undeniable pattern has begun to emerge. I find it fascinating that the secret of these ancient monuments may be discovered because of the interconnective nature of the Internet. What was once the intellectual property of PhD's and doctorial candidates is now available to anyone with a computer.

As time allows I will begin to post information and pictures of some stone pile found on the Hi-Tor State land. Although many of these stone structures are on state land many are on private property. I will only provide information on stone piles found on state land.

Finally. In fifteen years of researching these stone structures I have never turned over a stone. Do not disturb these structures. They have lasted hundreds of years. Look but don't touch! Also, share this information discreetly. It would be a shame if some idiot destroyed one of these objects. Even if you open a stone pile up you wouldn't find anything of value. There is a possibility that some of these stone piles are grave markers. If you want to be a grave robber go to a modern cemetery. Your crime would be more profitable.

Stone Pile Whisper

Stone Pile Whisper

Heavy stones pried from the earth by ancient hands
Hands that knew things we don’t comprehend

Heavy stones piled carefully with purpose and strange order
Over and over, year after year, alone in the end

Heavy stones resting in the sun
Soaking in the rain and holding onto the cold

Seeds become saplings
Saplings become trees
Trees that grow, die, and tumble, resting on stones, only to fade away
Over and over, year after year, alone in the end

Heavy stones surviving change with simple illusion
Their trick of weight and commonality

Heavy stones too sacred and powerful to be tossed away
Even today
When nothing is sacred and everything is tossed away

Heavy stones holding a secret
Whispering so quietly that only the old crow can hear
Whispering of ancient hands and distant secrets
Over and over, year after year, alone in the end

About the High Tor or Hi Tor Stone Monuments

High above the Naples Valley, hidden throughout the forest, are hundreds of stacked stone piles. Contrary to popular belief these stone piles are not historic, they are Pre-Columbian. They were not made by farmers clearing fields they were made by native people. As a young man I picked rocks for the local farmers and I know that no farm hand would waste time making stacked platforms. I have estimated that some of these piles would have taken a month or more to build and there are dozens of these very large piles. Others have theorized that a mentally handicapped family member or a bored pioneer created these stone piles. That is really funny. Some people try so hard to deny the fact that people lived here before the European-Americans took possession of the land.
I believe that the stone piles were created by a culture that lived in this area before the time of the Sonontouan (or "Seneca") people that call this area their birthplace. Over the summer I will be adding more information and pictures to this blog detailing this site. My hope is that others that find this topic interesting will share information with me and work to preserve these ancient artifacts

Yates County Archeology

I have started to put together a collection of blogs that document interesting facts about the ancient past of this land between the lakes. The links listed in the top left section of this blog.

Stone Pile Tour

I've created a series of short videos that document some of the larger stone cairns in the Hi-Tor area. This is the first video.

Walled Section

This cairn is still walled up on one side.

Three Large Cairns

Large Stone on Top

This cairn is unusual.