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From the Gowanda PennySaver News "Reflections" series compiled by Mary Pankow. issue date - December 9, 2001

c. 1908

Forks of the Cattaraugus - "The Forks" is the common name for the confluence of the main and south branches of Cattaraugus Creek, about three miles above Gowanda. The 1893 county history says Walter Morehouse was the original settler on the flats on the Persia side, succeeded by Ephraim Rolf. Elisha Darby, a native of Salem, Massachusetts, brought his wife and five children here in 1828. Other inhabitants included Jacob Balcom, who moved there in 1818 and sold to Nathaniel Whitcomb. Around 1900, Ernest Valentine of Conewango purchased Darby Flats from Joseph H. Plumb, and the land is known to this day as Valentine's Flats. Valentine's cattle herd is shown in this postcard view. (Photo courtesy of Phil Palen.)