High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The story of the city of Syracuse began with the land which was covered with swamps and bogs, and with a large forest surrounding a clear, freshwater lake located in the northeast corner of the Finger Lakes Region. The land around the present day city was originally the home of the Haudensaunee, or the Onondaga Nation. They were members of the Iroquois Confederacy, which spanned most of Upstate New York.