The Great Wolf Hunt in Chautauqua County

I recently became a member of the Chautauqua County Historical Society. One of the perks of the membership (in addition to free admission to the McClurg Museum in Westfield) is receiving the quarterly newsletter, TimeLines. The current issues has a small article regarding the wolf hunts that took place in Chautauqua County during the pioneer days. Coincidentally, I also wrote a brief article about the Wolf Hunt of Chautauqua County as described in History of Chautauqua County by Andrew Young (1875). I never got around to publishing the article until now.

Journey through the woods and forests of Chautauqua County today, and its highly unlikely you’ll encounter a wolf. But this wasn’t always the case. While some speculate that "wolves" encountered during the pioneer era were more often than not coyotes, it can't be denied that wolves were native to our area of the country and posed a significant threat to not only livestock, but people as well. This is why no one - man, woman or child - ventured from their houses at night without a torch or weapon for their protection.

When it comes to the menace of wolves in Chautauqua County, it’s believed no town suffered more than Stockton. Judge Bugbee (Judge was his first name, not his title or occupation), who would serve as town supervisor in the 1850s and whose family was one of the first settlers in the Stockton area, wrote an extensive description of one of the several “great wolf hunts” that took place in Stockton during the 1820s in an attempt to rid the forest of the beast once and for all.



Bugbee said the Cassadaga swamp area, located south of Cassadaga lake, served as a secure retreat for the wolves, where during the daytime they could quietly digest the mutton from the night before. It didn’t take long before the local inhabitants, whose livestock was being decimated by the wolves, put forth an effort to fully exterminate the animal from the area.

The battle ground was selected nearly east of the fork of the Cassadaga and Bear creeks. The plan of battle was a simultaneous attack from four divisions upon all sides of the swamp at once. Before going into the swamp, each division had chosen its place of rendezvous: The east at Sinclairville, the north at Cassadaga village, the west at Delanti (now Stockton village), and the south at South Stockton.

Four lines were created from all sides and prepared by blazing trees and lopping brush. Each line was a mile and half in length and formed a square area into which the men would attempt to drive the wolves out. There was no mention of the exact number of men, but it’s estimated that it was well over a thousand.

At mid morning, the men were all upon the ground, forming a continuous line and encircling a good portion of the swamp. The signal for advance was given and the lines moved forward in splendid order, growing more compact until they arrived on the battle grounds, forming a square about one mile in circumference. A signal was given and each man fired into the area. After the first discharge, the deer and rabbits within the lines became frantic and made their escape of the area. After all the game had been dispatched that could be seen, a committee of three or more was sent within the inclosure, to search under old logs and fallen trees to see if any game had fled to any of these places for safety. After the return of the committee, the men, by orders, moved towards the center of the inclosure, bringing in the game. This specific hunt yielded two large wolves, one bear, several deer and other small game.

Three other hunts were conducted following the same process, yielding several more animals. The wolf pelts were turned in and bounty collected and the money was used to buy ammunition and whiskey for subsequent hunts. The state offered a bounty of $20 for a full grown wolf and half that for a young one and the county gave the same bounty and most if not all towns gave a $10 bounty. Making a total of $50 for a full grown wolf. Thus, hunting wolves not only secured the safety of livestock, but also generated much needed revenue for the residents.

Similar hunts were coordinated in areas throughout the county and by 1830, most if not all of the native wolf population was eradicated from the county.

Listening to:
Monster
By Steppenwolf
- 1969