June 1996

Achsinessink

Monument Dedication

June 9, 1996

by

Bill Treichler

A new monument commemorating the Delaware Indian village Achsinessink and given in memory of Ellsworth Cowles (1898 - 1992) who identified Spanish Hill near Waverly and the Lamoka site at Lake Lamoka will be dedicated at 2:00 pm, Sunday, June 9, 1996.

The ceremony will be held at the triangular park in Corning where Houghton Circle and Pershing Street intersect off East Pulteney Street near the Museum of Glass. There will be a reception at the Benjamin Patterson Inn following the program.

The monument has been a project of the Newtown-Battle Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution, The Corning-Painted Post Historical Society, The City of Corning, and artist Fritz Wasser.

Achsinessink, a Delaware word meaning stone on stone, referred to the columns of layered rock left by erosion along the Chemung River near the stronghold of the Monsey Clan. The Andaste Trail went through their village named Achsinessink. The path west from the settlement, became known as "The Forbidden Trail," because Europeans were prohibited from using the route.

Echgohund and Teedyuscung were Delaware leaders there during the French and Indian War. Achsinessink village was destroyed by British and Iroquois forces in 1764.

The stone formations were called the "Chimney Rocks" by the pioneers. The rock columns were destroyed by railroad construction in 1881 and highway building in 1974.

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