tively. The banks of the first fall,
which is in the heart of the city, rise to a height of 200 ft.
above the river. The river, in fact, cuts through the center of
the city in a deep gorge, the banks of which vary in height from
50 to 200 ft. The Genesee Valley south of Rochester is a very
fertile and beautiful stretch of country where the river flows
between meadows that rise gradually to high hills. The appearance
of the country here, with its immense pasture-land dotted with
oak and elm, is distinctly English. Besides being exceedingly
productive both for crops and pasturage, the Genesee Valley is
famous as riding country, although the hunting interest has of
late somewhat waned. But foxes are still found, and the flats
along the river give wonderful opportunities for the chase.

The modern city, however, has spread north until it now embraces the
large village of Charlotte on the western side of the mouth of the
river. The region about Rochester was visited about 1650 by Jesuit
missionaries who worked among the Seneca Indians in the neighborhood,
and in 1687 the Marquis de Denonville fought a battle with the Iroquois
near the Falls.

The Senecas were members of the League of the Iroquois and
eventually became one of the most important tribes of that
league. Their territory lay between the Seneca Lake and the
Genesee River and they were the official guardians of the
league's western frontier. At the height of their power they
extended their range to the country west of Lake Erie and south
along the Alleghany River to Pennsylvania They fought on the
English side in the War of Independence. About 2,800 are now on
reservations in New York State.

Jacques Ren['e] de Bresay, marquis of Denonville, succeeded La
Barre, who succeeded Frontenac, as governor of Canada in 1689. La
Barre, an inefficient leader against the insurgent Iroquois, held
the administration for only one year. Denonville was of great
courage and ability, but in his campaign against the Indians
treated them so cruelly that they were angered, not intimidated.
The terrible massacre of the French by the Iroquois at Lachine,
Quebec, in 1689, must be regarded as one of the results of his
expedition. In 1687 he built Fort Denonville, which was abandoned
during the following year when an epidemic wiped out its
garrison.

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