Is it near Tully, NY. I was looking at Wiki and found these links. Could it be related to the salt mining? Sounds like there were Indians in the area and underground railroad activity there too. Curious to know the answer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Fort_Stanwix
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syracus...#Early_history

The 1788 Treaty of Fort Stanwix, and the subsequent designation of the area by the state of New York as the Onondaga Salt Springs Reservation[3] provided the basis for commercial salt production from the late 1700s through the early 1900s; brine from wells that tapped into halite(common salt) beds in the Salina shale near Tully,NY, 15 miles south of the city were developed in the 19th century. It is the north flowing brine from Tully that is the source of salt for the "salty springs" found along the shoreline of Onondaga lake. The rapid development of this industry in the 18th and 19th centuries led to the nicknaming of Syracuse as "The Salt City."