Erie County was named for the lake and the Indian tribe, the Eriez, who first used the inland waters. The county was created in 1800 from a part of Allegheny County, which Pennsylvania had purchased from the United States Government in 1792. It was here that Commodore Perry led his sailors against the British in the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812. One tragic outcome of this round of fighting was that many of the American soldiers camped at Misery Bay on the lake ended up dying from smallpox. Their suffering gave the bay its name. They were buried in the adjacent pond named, aptly, Grave Yard Pond. In the mid-19th century Erie was the freshwater fishing capital of the world. Railroads were introduced in 1864 to complement the Erie Canal extension, and Erie thrived as a transportation center. Grapes grow well along the lake shore and many of the fine wines of Pennsylvania come from grapes grown in this region.