Photos below show the actual river and mansion referenced in the Grand River Saga novels. Continue scrolling to see the images of John Smoke Johnson and Barton Farr, antagonists.
1. Ruthven Hall on the Grand River Ontario. Like the canal system, David Thompson 1's Ruthven Hall was constructed with Six Nation's money, which just happened to turn up in Thompson's bank account. (See, Bruce E Hill, The Grand River Navigation Company.)
2. Marker of Tehawennihárhos Squire Davis and Jennet Ferguson. Accused by "H. H." (Hilton Hill?) in John A Noon's book about the Grand River Settlement (Law and Government of the Grand River Iroquois. New York: Viking Fund, 1949) of being a racketeer, Squire Davis disappoints the charges. Family researchers, pouring over documents and unearthing vital statistics, find no evidence Squire Davis was a racketeer who sold drunks into the union army. Did he? If we could confirm the accuracy of this charge, we would say. We simply can find no evidence.
3. The Grand River at Indiana Ontario
4. Grand River at Onondaga
All photos above are copyright ©️ Juniper
5. Complete with a widow's walk, David Thompson's Ruthven Hall at the (ghost) village of Indiana looms over the Grand River, Ontario. The site of the village is on Cayuga territory.
6. John Smoke Johnson, Sakayengwaraton, the man who stole Peter the Runner's farm on the Oxbow Road, as described in sworn affidavit by Margaret Riley Davis, looks like a grim fellow. There is plenty of evidence outlining the cause of the feud between the Davises and the Johnsons. The Johnsons' side of the case was much helped by the close relationship they had with Indian Superintenden, Jasper Tough Gilkison, UEL. Gilkison, risibly, called the Davises "unpopular." We know with whom the Davises were unpopular: the Johnsons.
7. ©Michael Swanson, artist. In aid of the great Haudenosaunee diaspora after the American Revolution, scouts look for Thayendanegea's preferred site for settlement on the Grand River, Tinaatoua. 1784.
8. Ruthven Hall before drainpipes
9. Reeve, Barton Farr. Vital statistics reveal the dark side of this incestuous sexual predator. Bart Farr was both the Father and step-grandfather of Sarah Maria Farr. Bart Farr was both the father and great-grandfather of Addie Farr. Sarah Maria Farr, Farr's daughter/granddaughter, married William Davis, eldest son of Squire Davis and Jennet Ferguson. Velma Farr (mother of Bart Farr's daughter/great-granddaughter, Addie) married David Davis, second son of Squire Davis and Jennet Ferguson. Check vital statistics available on Ancestry.ca. The brave women, Sarah Maria Farr Davis and Velma Farr Davis and Addie Farr Davis, do not lie or even hesitate to name Barton Farr as a predator. Elizabeth Lymburner Farr (Farr's daughter-in-law) is Sarah Mariah Farr's mother, and Velma Farr (Farr's granddaughter) is Addie Farr's mother. We must believe the women, respect their courage, and name him too. Misogyny, political correctness, and cancel culture will not keep us quiet.
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