When Erie County was first settled, the area we now refer to as the City of Lackawanna, was still in the possession of the Seneca Indians. Being the strongest of the six Iroquois nations, they had eliminated all other tribes from this area by 1655. The Seneca used the district only for trapping and hunting during the summer months. Around 1780, the British helped the Seneca establish log cabin villages on Buffalo Creek and supplied them with clothing, agricultural equipment and seeds. An Indian settlement stood on the banks of Smokes Creek which still passes through Lackawanna. The creek was named for a local chief known as “Old Smoke.” A ridge of high ground separated the watersheds of Smokes Creek from that of Buffalo Creek. A road built along this high ground came to be known as Ridge Road
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