Curiosities of the Finger Lakes: hidden ancient ruins, flying machines, the boy who caught a trout with his nose and more

Description

"The Finger Lakes region is known for its beauty, but look carefully and you will discover some of New York's other abundant--and unusual--treasures. The cliffs of Excelsior Glen are scattered with ancient Indian pictographs, and Bluff Point conceals the ruins of an unknown civilization. The wine industry has its own strange stories; discover why one wine producer was banned from using his own name. Among the oddities of the Finger Lakes region are the world's largest pancake, a slice of Susan B. Anthony's seventy-eighth birthday cake and the anecdote of the boy who accidentally caught an eight-pound trout with his nose. Join author Melanie Zimmer and uncover these and other curiosities and strange tales of the Finger Lakes"--;1. Stories of the Haudenosaunee. Creation ; How the Seneca Indians came to the Finger Lakes ; How fire came to the Haudenosaunee ; How the Pleiades Star Cluster came to be ; How birds obtained their songs ; The little man's bow and arrows ; Lacrosse : for the pleasure of the Creator ; The painted rocks of Seneca Lake ; Queen Catherine and her sister, Queen Ester ; The Haudenosaunee as one of the Lost Tribes of Israel -- 2. Pre-Columbian civilizations. Ancient Indian pictographs ; The pre-Columbian ruins at Bluff Point ; The story of surveyors Samuel Hart Wright and Berlin Hart Wright -- 3. A bit of history. The origin of the Mennonites and Amish ; Slocum Howland and the Underground Railroad in Sherwood ; Susan B. Anthony's birthday cake ; The great agnostic : Robert Green Ingersoll ; The mysterious disappearance of the HMS Ontario -- 4. Fruit of the vine. Reverend Bostwick and the introduction of wine grapes into the Finger Lakes ; The strange story of Walter S. Taylor -- 5. Inventions and ideas. Auburn Prison and the electric chair ; Flying machines ; Willard Chapel : a Tiffany treasure ; Theodore Case and the invention of sound-on-film -- 6. The spirit world. The legend of buried treasure at Indian Pines ; The Willard Asylum for the Insane ; Belhurst Castle ; Erie Mansion ; The 1890 House -- 7. Other strange tales. The RIT Escherian stairwell ; The ghost deer of Seneca Lake ; The world's largest pancake ; A big fish story : Harry Morse and the trout -- Conclusion.