Lost in the clouded annals of history is the story of the Houghton Boulder.
As people on campus will recall, The Boulder is the name of the currently defunct college yearbook. What many people do not know is that the name of The Boulder was inspired by a real & historical boulder located on campus.
For many new incoming students, the answer seems clear as to which boulder this is. The boulder by the Gillette Dorm of course! It’s the most iconic rock on campus. But this is not the case. The Gillette Boulder has only been on campus since the spring of 2008 and was donated by the outgoing class of that year. Furthermore, when the Gillette Boulder was initially installed on campus it was met with a wide amount of criticism.
Marc Smithers (‘08), the Dean of Students, was a part of the class that donated the Gillette boulder. He explained, “The class of 2009, which my wife graduated in, had a strong push within their class to have their class gift be the removal of the rock as they saw it as an eyesore. But, hey, people thought the Eiffel Tower was an eyesore when it was first installed.”
Returning to the initial question, it turns out that there is another rock on campus which inspired the name for the yearbook. Located in front of Fancher Hall and emblazoned with a bronze plaque is the grave of Copperhead, “The last one of the Seneca tribe of Indians,” as the plaque reads. This is Copperhead’s story.
During the days of westward expansion, many of the original inhabitants of Allegany country were forced away from the Genesee Valley and forced onto reservation. That is, all but Copperhead, who claimed that he was never paid for his land and thus refused to leave. Over the years, Copperhead became a local icon. He lived off of charity and would often share his lunch with the local children who visited him. In March of 1864 tragedy struck, as his cabin caught on fire and badly burned him, leading to his death. Claiming to be 120 years old when he died, he was buried at the intersection of Centerville and Old River Road, facing eastward so that he could see the sunrise each day.
The narrative was not over, however. In 1910 the Houghton Star published an article revealing that the nearby creek to Copperhead’s grave was beginning to destroy the burial site. The students on campus immediately began to raise money so that in June of 1914 Copperhead’s remains were safely transported to the top of the campus. Then, in order to give Copperhead a proper memorial, Leonard Houghton (son of Willard J. Houghton) donated the historic boulder that now rests there to this very day.
Eventually, in 1925, the student body held a contest to see what the yearbook should be called. On the suggestion of a student known as Kieth Farner (‘25), The Boulder was chosen.
The Copperhead Bolder is still used to this day on the campus’s insignia. You can see it on the front desk in the Reinhold Campus Center and on many of the stickers placed on the glass doors around campus.
A special thank you to Professor Douglas Gaerte for helping to make the research for this article possible!