Editing Chautauqua County, New York (section)

==History==
Prior to European colonization, most of what is now Chautauqua County was inhabited by the indigenous [[Erie people]] prior to the [[Beaver Wars]] in the 1650s. French forces traversed the territory beginning in 1615. The [[Seneca Nation of New York|Seneca Nation]] conquered the territory during the Beaver Wars and held it through the next century until siding with the British crown, their allies for most of the 18th century, against the American revolutionaries in the [[American Revolutionary War]].

Chautauqua County was organized by the state legislature during the development of [[western New York]] after the [[American Revolutionary War]] and the ratification of The [[Treaty of Canandaigua]], between the United States and the Council of the Six Nations. It was officially separated from [[Genesee County, New York|Genesee County]] on March 11, 1808.<ref>'''New York. ''Laws of New York.''''';31st Session; Chapter 40; Sections1—2; Page 266.</ref> This partition was performed under the same terms that produced [[Cattaraugus County, New York|Cattaraugus]] and [[Niagara County, New York|Niagara]] counties. The partition was done for political purposes, but the counties were not properly organized for self-government, so they were all administered as part of [[Niagara County, New York|Niagara County]].

On February 9, 1811, Chautauqua was completely organized, and its separate government was launched.<ref>Doty, William J., et al. '';Historic Annals of Southwestern New York.''; 3 Volumes; [[New York (state)|New York]]: Lewis Historical Publishing Company; 1940; Volume 1; Page 360.</ref> This established Chautauqua as a county of {{convert|1,100|mi2|km2|abbr=off}} of land. Chautauqua has not been altered since.

The first [[Chautauqua Institution|New York Chautauqua Assembly]] was organized in 1874 by [[Methodist]] minister [[John Heyl Vincent]] and businessman [[Lewis Miller (philanthropist)|Lewis Miller]] in the county at a campsite on the shores of [[Chautauqua Lake]].<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Feinman |first=Peter |date=May 2010 |title=Chautauqua America |magazine=The American Interest |volume=5 |issue=5 |pages=83–88}}</ref>