July 10, 1937, “LaSalle-DeNonville 250th Anniversary Celebration”
Bristol’s Burning Springs was the site in 1937 of a pageant commemorating LaSalle’s visit in 1669. The event was held on the 250th anniversary of LaSalle’s death in 1687. This 16-page program (festooned with entertaining advertisements reminiscent of the period) starts with an article on LaSalle’s visit with the Seneca and with the Jesuit priest Galinee. The article was researched and written by the Rev. Alexander M. Stewart of Rochester. It is followed by the event program, which appears to have been largely produced by white people but with some Seneca involvement (and, we are told, was attended by a large contingent of Native people).
The program notes that the property at that time was owned by the Case family (namesake of Case Road, where it took place) and is signed by Helen R. Jones, whose family bought the property 12 years later. It was provided to the Bristol Hills Historical Society by Helen’s son Alan Jones and is published here with his permission.