Catherine Montour

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Madame Catherine (also Catharine) Montour, or Queen Catharine (1710–1804), was born in New France and became a prominent woman among the Iroquois during the end of the 18th century.

Montour was reportedly a half-breed Huron (and also claimed to be the illegitimate daughter of a French official). She had been captured by the Iroquois and married to a Seneca chief. After his death she was accepted into the matriarchate of the tribe and was influential in their dealings with white settlers and leaders. She was able to speak both English and French, as well as some native languages.

A Seneca town named Catherine's Town after her was located at the south end of Seneca Lake. It was destroyed during the Sullivan Expedition of 1779. At that time the town was reported to have 30-40 houses, corn fields, and fruit orchards, all of which were destroyed.

She died in Chemung County, New York. She is buried in Montour Falls, New York.

Sometimes confused with a sister {Esther Montour} who reportably was in the Wyoming Massacre in 1778, tomahawking captured whites. The Senecas were the allies of the British during the American Revolution.

[edit] Locations named after the Montour family

A fictional "Catherine Montour" was the subject of a 1917 silent film, The Spirit of '76, in which she was a mistress of King George and an adventuress in America.

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