Chautauqua Creek

Chautauqua Creek
Stream
Early Autumn on Chautauqua Creek
Country	United States
State	New York
Region	Chautauqua County
Source	Sherman, New York
- coordinates	42°10′54″N 79°35′58″W / 42.18167°N 79.59944°W / 42.18167; -79.59944
Mouth
- location	Lake Erie
- elevation	571 ft (174 m)
- coordinates	42°20′16″N 79°36′24″W / 42.33778°N 79.60667°W / 42.33778; -79.60667Coordinates: 42°20′16″N 79°36′24″W / 42.33778°N 79.60667°W / 42.33778; -79.60667
Length	15 mi (24 km)
Location of the mouth of Chautauqua Creek in New York State.

Chautauqua Creek is a tributary of Lake Erie, approximately 15 miles (24 km) long, in the southwestern corner of New York in the United States. The headwaters of the creek rise in the town of Sherman, in Chautauqua County, and flow in a northerly direction through the town and village of Westfield where they empty into Lake Erie. For much of its length, the creek serves as the boundary line between the towns of Westfield and Chautauqua.

The creek is believed to have been discovered by French explorers as early as 1615, probably by Etienne Brule, a scout and interpreter for Samuel de Champlain. He learned, as Native Americans had known since ancient times, that a short portage between Lake Erie and Chautauqua Lake connected the Great Lakes and Mississippi River systems, by way of the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers. In 1753 the French cut a road to Chautauqua Lake, now known as the French Portage Road, to facilitate the transportation of men and materiel between the two systems. The road began at the mouth of Chautauqua Creek and ran parallel to it for approximately two miles, then scaled an escarpment and continued to what is now Mayville, New York, roughly in the same path as the present New York State Route 394.

In 1804, James McMahan, the first settler of Westfield, established a grist mill near the mouth of the creek, at the head of the old trail, and others followed. For the next century the creek powered grist mills, saw mills, carding mills, and other manufactories.