The Sutherland Falls and Otter Creek
By Trenton and Obadiah
This is Trenton, reporting live from PES News. Did you know that the Otter Creek was not always called that. It use to be call the Crooked River. The waterfall in Proctor has also been called the Great Falls and Sutherland Falls. Let’s go on location and see what Obie knows about the Sutherland Falls and the Otter Creek.
Thanks Trenton. The Great Falls was named by Chief Paddlequick. On May 6, 1730 Captain James Cross, and 12 Iroquois, docked their canoes by what is now the Proctor Free Library. He was the first settler beside the Iroquois. The Great Falls was an Iroquois hunting reservation boundary.
We’ll be back in a few minutes after this short commercial break.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
Welcome back to PES News. We’re back with more information about the Sutherland Falls and the Otter Creek.
John Sutherland settled in Proctor during the 1760’s. He settled here because of the power from the Falls. The falls were then named after him. He built a grist mill. This mill remained until 1842. He also built three other mills. The carding mill was located south of the grist mill. The fulling mill was located directly south of the carding mill. The last mill was called the saw mill. People used the power from the falls to grind corn and grains. People still use the falls for power today.
The Sutherland falls is a 120 foot drop. The Otter Creek is 112 miles long. They also used the falls and the Creek for fishing and they still do today. The Otter Creek was used to beach people's canoes on the banks.
This is Obie and Trenton signing off from PES News.
We hope you learned something.