where they built the first log house within the original boundaries of Gowanda. This house was built on the Cattaraugus County side not far from where the railroad bridge now stands. About this time Col. Benjamin Waterman came from Vermont and bought land lyingnorth and west of the Aldrich purchase on the flats and built a double log-house west of where the Thatcher Brook empties into the Cattaraugus Creek. He built a stockade as a safeguard

safeguard for his ho gs, cattle and sheep against the ravages of wolves, bears and other wild animals that infested these forests in large numbers and were continually committing depredations upon the hog-pens and sheep-folds of the first settlers. Col. Waterman was a natural leader and took an active part in developing the community.

In the early days Hidi was known as ''Allen's Mills." Ahaz Allen not only built the saw-mill at Hidi, but purchased two teams of oxen and in the first year cleared ten acres of land and planted corn and potatoes as well as the first fruit orchard in this vicinity. Ira. Ackley, Sr., came in 1814 and worked for Mr. Allen. In 1813 John Hanford opened the first store in Taylor's Hollow and kept a tavern. The settlers in Aldrich Mills and Allen's Mills went there for supplies.

Between 1814 and 1817, Turner Aldrich built a brush-dam at the natural falls on the Cattaraugus Creek, dug a small race and built a grist-mill on the land now occupied by Walter Ley' s Service Station. The lack of a bridge across the Cattaraugus was a great

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handicap as farmers south of the creek were obliged to either ford it at a place below the present school house or ferry across in boats. The friends had a church organization in Collins and North Collins, in 1813 or 1814. They had a log meeting house just over the line in North Collins on Nathani~l Sissons Farm, and another about half a mile southeast of Bagdad. Turner Aldrich and his family went to church there.

When hostilities began . on the Niagara Frontier in the War of 1812, many settlers left for safer quarters. Aldrich and Allen were among the braver ones who remained. How. ever, when those who had left heard that the Indians had allied themselves with the American forces, they returned to their cabins. They were away some six weeks, ·1ost much of their cattle and many were without supplies on their return.

The great chief, Cornplanter, friend of George Washington, was given credit for the loyalty of the Senecas. He counciled them to take up arms in defense of the settlers, thus bringing peace and security to the new homes · in this vicinity.

In 1815 Daniel Wheeler came and worked for Turner Aldrich. Mr. Wheeler obtained the land next to the town line on West Main Street on the west side of Thatcher Brook.

He built the house now occupied by Judge Andrew Musacchio.

Hosea Stewart, Subina Adams and James West came about the same time, and Park Daily, Timothy Smith and John Strang soon followed. David Brand bought the first farm east of the village in ,1815 (now occupied by Max Armes) and put up a log house. (Subsequently the property was owned by Ralph Plumb and later by the Torrance Estate.)

In 1817, Benjamin Albee of Collins with a party of hunters followed the trail of a black bear to the banks of the Cattaraugus above Aldrich Mills. They wounded the bear but she escaped. As her cubs were alive, David Brand took one, tamed it and kept it for a long time.

Achilles Akin opened the first blacksmith shop at Hidi in 1816. That was also the year Ahaz Allen built the first bridge acro·ss the Cattaraugus. This bridge stood at Hidi until 1830 when it was condemned and torn down.

With the bridge completed, Col. Benjamin

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Waterman opened his double log house as a tavern and started the first line of stage coaches between Aldrich Mills and Buffalo.

Crossing the bridge at Hidi, the road went through Bagdad where there was a tavern, the first stop on the route. This was a popular mode of travel and a great improvement over the tedious ox-teams. The route between Aldrich Mills and Buffalo had tavern stops about every seven miles for a change of horses.

The horses were driven at top speed over plank roads and were able to make remarkably good time. Most of the bridges became toll bridges'' where each passenger had to pay a small fee. The money was used for the maintenance of these structures. At each stop there were a few moments for rest and refreshments, the jovial tavern keeper offering the hospitality of a well stocked larder and bar.

The year 1816 was not only eventful but disastrous to the pioneer settlers. There was a killing frost in every month of Spring, Summer and Fall. All growing crops were destroyed and foodstuffs became scarce. Many families had no bread for weeks and some

sometimes children went into the woods and dug roots to eat.

In the Fall of 1816, or the Spring of 1817, Ahaz Allen walked with an ox-team to Utica to buy flour and other supplies. He was gone so long that on l1is return he found his family had almost starved in his absence, their only remaining food being a few potatoes and a little salt.

Many Indians stayed on the reservation. While wolves roamed at large, a menace to sheep and cattle, the wolf of hunger stood silently at many a door. Through all these hardships the pioneers struggled on to clear the land, improve their homes, and build the foundation for the village of today

Dan Allen, brother of Ahaz, came from Cayuga County to Hidi in 1816,,. The year previous to the coming of Dan Allen, the first frame house in the town of Persia was built at Hidi by Ahaz Allen. He lived in this house until 1820, when he gave a deed conveying the same and about 100 acres of land to his brother, Dan, as a settlement of co-partnership between them. This house still stands at the top of Snyder Hill on Beech Street in Hidi.

When Col. Waterman opened his tavern in

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