. The story of Cooperstown . , says that for some years after the villagewas commenced. Mill Island was a favorite resortof the Indians, who came frequently in parties tothe new settlement, remaining here for monthstogether. Mill Island lies in the Susquehanna ashort distance below Fernleigh, near the dam,where the river reaches out two arms to encloseit, and with so little effort that it is difficult todistinguish the island from the mainland. In theearly days of the village the island was coveredwith woods, and the Indians chose it for theircamp, in preference to other situations. MissCooper
. The story of Cooperstown . , says that for some years after the villagewas commenced. Mill Island was a favorite resortof the Indians, who came frequently in parties tothe new settlement, remaining here for monthstogether. Mill Island lies in the Susquehanna ashort distance below Fernleigh, near the dam,where the river reaches out two arms to encloseit, and with so little effort that it is difficult todistinguish the island from the mainland. In theearly days of the village the island was coveredwith woods, and the Indians chose it for theircamp, in preference to other situations. MissCooper thinks it may have been a place of resortto their fishing and hunting parties when the coun-try was a wilderness. In Rural Hours, writing in1851, she gives a curious description of a visit • The Old New York Frontier, 75, 160. THE INDIANS 21 made at Otsego Hall by some Indians who hadencamped at Mill Island. There were three ofthem,—a father, son, and grandson,—who madetheir appearance, claiming a hereditary acquaint-. C. F. Zahriskie At Mill Island ance with the master of the house, FenimoreCooper. The leader and patriarch of the party, saysMiss Cooper, was a Methodist minister—theRev. Mr. Kunkerpott. He was notwithstandinga full-blooded Indian, with the regular copper-colored complexion, and high cheek bones; theoutline of his face was decidedly Roman, and hislong, gray hair had a wave which is rare among 22 THE STORY OF COOPERSTOWN his people; his mouth, where the savage expres-sion is usually most strongly marked, was small,with a kindly expression about it. Altogether hewas a strange mixture of the Methodist preacherand the Indian patriarch. His son was muchmore savage than himself in appearance—a si-lent, cold-looking man; and the grandson, a boy often or twelve, was one of the mOst uncouth, imp-ish-looking creatures we ever beheld. He wore along-tailed coat twice too large for him, with bootsof the same size. The childs face was very wild,and he was bareheaded
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