The legend of Mon-a-sha-sha is haunting,
tragic and beautiful. It is the story of a young Seneca bride who perished, with
her child, in the great cataract known today as the Letchworth Gorge. Their spirits
are said to live today in the elusive white deer of Letchworth State Park, a 17-mile
stretch of grey-green canyon. Vivid green in springtime, radiant red in autumn,
this "vale of the three falls" is aptly called The Grand Canyon of the
East. A million people visit Letchworth annually. Most come to view the scenic
splendor, or to picnic, hike or camp. Others are drawn by the history, the romance
and the legends of the falls, for in them flows the true spirit of Letchworth
Park-its mood, character and emotions.
Two of the canyon's living legends
were Mary Jemison and William Pryor Letchworth.
Mary Jemison, the White
Woman of the Genesee, was captured by Indians from her Pennsylvania home at age
15 and brought to the Genesee Country.
Here, she married, raised her children
and lived to age 90 among her adopted Seneca people.
Her cabin on the
Gardeau Flats, just north of the falls, was her home for many years. A cabin she
built for her daughter, Nancy, along with the Caneadea Seneca Council House have
been moved to Letchworth Park and are open to visitors.
Like many modern
initiates to the gorge's splendor, William P. Letchworth fell in love with the
land around the canyon on his first visit and wished to make it his home. First,
he acquired 100 acres and began a lifetime of restoring the cut-over forest and
building the estate he called Glen Iris, now a restaurant and inn. His holdings
had increased to 1,000 acres when, in 1859, he deeded his property to the State
of New York as a park.
Letchworth Park's many legends echo in the thunder
of the falls. Their voices whisper in the canyon winds. They are the voices of
Red Jacket and Cornplanter. Of ghost towns like St. Helena and Gibsonville. They
are heard in the voices of men who built impossible canals, towering bridges and
If you go: Letchworth State Park, located 20 miles south
of Rochester. Entrances in the towns of Portageville, Castile, Perry and Mount