Picture Courtesy of Jim Kuntz

Picture Courtesy of Jim Kuntz

The Genesee River rises in Pennsylvania and flows northwest 150 miles before emptying into Lake Ontario. Starting as a placid steam, the Genesee, in Letchworth State Park, plunges over three impressive cataracts, dropping 300 feet in three miles. The spectacular gorge has been called "The Grand Canyon of the East." The river then twists and turns through a broad valley. At Rochester the falls furnish water power which has greatly aided the city's development.

To the Seneca Indians, who occupied villages in the area, Genesee meant "beautiful valley." In 1762, Mary Jemison came to the valley as a Seneca captive and lived there as an Indian for 71 years. The Treaty of Big Tree (Geneseo), in 1797, ended Indian claims to western New York, and land speculators purchased the region. The great estates of James and William Wadsworth are still owned by their descendants.

The Genesee Valley canal, connecting the Erie canal with the Allegheny River and Olean, was completed in 1857 and abandoned in 1878. Later a railroad, now the Pennsylvania, followed the canal's route. The Genesee Country during the 19th Century was an important wheat growing area. Farms now produce fruits, vegetables and dairy products.

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