One of the early political leaders of Niagara County began his career after the Revolutionary War as sort of a "cowboy," driving cattle from New Jersey to feed a burgeoning population in this area.
When historic cowboys are mentioned, the Old West comes to mind, but there was a call for drovers after the Revolutionary War to bring cattle to Fort Niagara from New Jersey. Among the early drovers were a father and son, both named Silas Hopkins.
Hopkins, originally from New Jersey, returned there to gather herds of cattle to drive them to Fort Niagara, where the beef was processed for sale. At this time, the younger Silas Hopkins was 16 years old and was given the job of helping his father drive the cattle.
The younger Hopkins, when he was an old man, told many interesting stories about these times to historian Orsamus Turner, who wrote about the exploits in his "History of the Holland Purchase."
Hopkins told of one John Smith, whom he met in Lewiston. Smith wanted to accompany the drovers back to New Jersey. Smith missed the drovers when they left and tried to follow them. Hopkins told Turner, "He followed in a few days alone and was murdered at a spring about one mile west of Warren's Corners near the Ridge Road." Smith had been carrying a large sum of money.
On another trip, Hopkins said, he found a saddle, bridle and a dead horse near an encampment about a mile from Chestnut Ridge. A tomahawk blow had killed the horse. Hopkins took the saddle and bridle to Queenston, where "they were recognized as those of a traveler who had a few days before come down from Detroit on his way to New York. Nothing more was ever known of the matter."
Hopkins spent most of the summer of 1788 buying furs in Lewiston. At that time, there were large cranberry bogs in that swampy area. Hopkins collected many wild cranberries and reaped a nice profit.
Hopkins became assessor and, later, supervisor for the Town of Cambria. He bought a log tavern at Molyneaux Corners and later sold it to William Molyneaux. Hopkins' house and barn were burned by the infamous British scorched-earth raid in 1813 as part of the War of 1812. He returned after the war to rebuild.
When Erie County was separated from Niagara County in 1821, Hopkins was among the first judges in Niagara County named by the governor. He continued public service until his death in 1862.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | Jan. 17 2006 |