Totiakton was a town of the Seneca Nation located in the present-day town of Mendon, New York. It is located "on the northernmost bend of Honeoye outlet" two miles from the current village of Honeoye Falls. The Seneca name for the town was De-yu-di-haak-doh, meaning “the bend," because of its location at a bend of Honeoye Creek.[1] The archaeological remains of the site are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
"The ancient town was located on the table land which projects into the west side of the valley in the form of a bold bluff, facing the east, at an elevation of about one hundred and fifty feet above the water."The town occupied an area of 15acres (Peck says 25 acres) and is estimated to have held 4000 people.[2]
In 1667, a visitor, Wentworth Greenhalgh, described the town as follows— the houses mentioned would have been the traditional Haudenosaunee longhouse:
Totiakton was the site of a French Jesuit mission, led by Father Jacques Frémin, between 1668 and 1673.[3] The Jesuits built a small chapel dedicated to the Immaculate Conception (La Conception).[4]
The French explorer La Salle visited the town twice, the first time in 1669, and again about ten years later.[5]
In 1687, the Governor of New France, Marquis de Denonville, destroyed the town during his expedition against the Seneca. It appears that following the destruction a small palisaded temporary village of about 0.5acres was constructed at the site prior to the remaining population moving elsewhere. Previously Seneca towns had not been defended by a palisade.
In 1802, the site was purchased by Abner Sheldon, who did some exploration. In 1898 the farm was owned by Sheldon's descendant, Antoinette and her husband, William J. Kirkpatrick of Rochester, New York. In 1925 Kirkpatrick sold the property to Louis Desmann, whose family continued to farm until 1979. A large part of the property was sold to neighbors of Totiakton, but 39acres were donated to The Seneca Nation.[6]