Erie Street Cemetery is Cleveland's oldest existing cemetery. Today downtown Cleveland towers over this peaceful plot of land, which has remained essentially unchanged since it was opened as a burial ground in 1826 at the far edge of the town, whose population was only about 800 at the time. Within the cemetery are the graves of soldiers who served in the Indian Wars, the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Civil War, the Mexican War, and the Spanish-American War, and it is the last resting place of many of the city's early leaders and pioneer families.

Erie Street Cemetery is Clevelands oldest existing cemetery. Today downtown Cleveland towers over this peaceful plot of land, which has remained essentially unchanged since it was opened as a burial ground in 1826 at the far edge of the town, whose population was only about 800 at the time. Within the cemetery are the graves of soldiers who served in the Indian Wars, the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Civil War, the Mexican War, and the Spanish-American War, and it is the last resting place of many of the citys early leaders and pioneer families.

On June 11, 1950, the Cleveland Plain Dealer published an obituary under the bold headline “Chief Thunderwater, Famous in Cleveland 50 Years, Dies.” And there, it seems, the consensus on Thunderwater ends. Was he, as many say, a con artist and an imposter posing as an Indian who lead a political movement that was a cruel hoax? Or was he a Native activist who worked tirelessly and successfully to promote Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois, sovereignty in Canada? The truth about this enigmatic figure, so long obscured by vying historical narratives, emerges clearly in Gerald F. Reid’s biography, Chief Thunderwater—the first full portrait of a central character in twentieth-century Iroquois history. Searching out Thunderwater’s true identity, Reid documents Thunderwater's life from his birth in 1865, as Oghema Niagara, through his turns as a performer of Indian identity and, alternately, as a dedicated advocate of Indian rights. After nearly a decade as an entertainer in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, Thunderwater became progressively more engaged in Haudenosaunee political affairs—first in New York and then in Quebec and Ontario. As Reid shows, Thunderwater’s advocacy for Haudenosaunee sovereignty sparked alarm within Canada’s Department of Indian Affairs, which moved forcefully to discredit Thunderwater and dismantle his movement. Self-promoter, political activist, entrepreneur: Reid’s critical study reveals Thunderwater in all his contradictions and complexity—a complicated man whose story expands our understanding of Native life in the early modern era, and whose movement represents a key moment in the development of modern Haudenosaunee nationalism.

Erie Street Cemetery is Cleveland's oldest existing cemetery. Today downtown Cleveland towers over this peaceful plot of land, which has remained essentially unchanged since it was opened as a burial ground in 1826 at the far edge of the town, whose population was only about 800 at the time. Within the cemetery are the graves of soldiers who served in the Indian Wars, the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Civil War, the Mexican War, and the Spanish-American War, and it is the last resting place of many of the city's early leaders and pioneer families.