Last Day

The rest of our vacation involved more exploration Letchworth State Park. We had seen the falls on the south side, but there was a damm on the north end that needed our attention.

We drove to the other side of the gorge to get to the damm. The damm spans across the gorge from east to west, but the east side is where you can take a tour. The Army Corps of Engineers built and control the damm. Being a part of the military, Homeland Security does not allow pictures to be taken inside the damm. The tour was fascinating. The best part was the views from the damm.

After we were done at the damm, we went back down to the south end of the park to see a the house of William Pryor Letchworth. He was the man who bought and granted the land of the state park to New York state. His personal mission was to keep this beautiful area from being developed, ruining forever the mystic of the land. in a dedication to the park in 1910 he wrote,

"God wrought for us this scene beyond compare

But one man's loving hand protected it
And gave to his fellow man to share."

His house is now a museum dedicated to him and the development of the park. Called the Glen Iris Inn, it is also adapted for the use of a hotel.

The museum has many artifacts collected by Letchworth over his life time. He was very interested in Native Americans, and many of the artifacts are from their history. There is also a very large mammoth skull that takes up much of one room. 

Up the hill from Glen Iris is the grave site of Mary Jemison a pioneer of Scots-Irish decent. At 12 years old she was captured by a French and Shawnee raiding party during the French and Indian war. Later she was adopted by a family of the Seneca People. She made the Seneca her family and lived with them the rest of her life. Her remains rest  on the grounds of the Seneca Council house.

After another happily busy day, we returned to our campsite for our last night of our vacation. One last campfire before the long drive awaiting us the next day.