History of the state of New York Vol I, Part 9

Author: Brodhead, John Romeyn, 1814-1873. 4n
Publication date: 1871
Publisher: New York : Harper & Brothers
Number of Pages: 844

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After the procurement of the New Netherland charter, Block's connection with American discovery ceased. Van Tweenhuysen, who had been one of the joint owners of "the Tiger," was anxious to secure the services of his en- terprising captain for the newly-organized " Northern Com- pany," and offered him the command of some vessels to be employed in the whale-fishery near Spitzbergen. Block accepted his patron's proposition, and sailed for the Arctic Block sails Ocean carly in 1615 .* He does not appear to have ever tic Ocean. to the Aro- revisited the scenes of his successful adventures on the coasts of America. Of all the early followers of Hudson in the exploration of New Netherland, the honored names of only two are now commemorated by Block Island and Cape May ; yet the annalist of commercial New York will ever gratefully record the " Restless" as the pioneer ves- sel launched by white men upon her waters, and as her first ship-builder, Adriaen Block.

* Wassenaar, viii., 95.

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.

CHAPTER III.

1615-1620.

CHAP. III. 1615. The New Netherland Company.

THE Holland merchants, who had obtained from the States General the exclusive right of trading for three years to New Netherland, though united together in one company to secure the grant of their charter, were not strictly a corporation, but rather "participants" in a spe- cific, limited, and temporary monopoly, which they were to enjoy in common. No Dutch vessels might visit the coasts of America, between Barnegat and Nova Scotia, except those belonging to the grantees of the charter, who resided at Amsterdam and Hoorn, in North Holland. But these grantees were intrusted with no political powers for the government of New Netherland. The objects they had chiefly in view were traffic and discovery ; and to pro- mote these objects the States General had sealed their charter. Agricultural colonization was not their present purpose ; and their few men in garrison at Castle Island were rather armed traders, holding formal possession of an unoccupied territory, than emigrants to subdue a wilder- ness.

Murder of Hendrick sen.

Not long after Christiaensen had completed Fort Nas- Christiaen- sau, the first murder recorded after Hudson's voyage oc- curred in New Netherland. The two young savages, Or- son and Valentine, who had been carried to Holland, were soon afterward safely restored to their native country. They were described as " very stupid, yet adepts enough in knavery." Of the two, Orson seems to have been the most mischievous : " an exceedingly malignant wretch, who was the cause of Hendrick Christiansen's death," is

DEATH OF HENDRICK CHRISTIAENSEN.

Wassenaar's quaint record. No motive is assigned for the CHAP. III. murder, which, however, the Hollanders speedily avenged ; and the treacherous Orson "was repaid with a bullet as 1615. his reward."*

Meanwhile, Jacob Eelkens continued actively employed Eelkens in prosecuting a quiet traffic with the Mohawk and Mahi- can Indians about Castle Island, and in collecting valu- able cargoes of furs, which, from time to time, were sent in shallops down the river to Manhattan, for shipment to Holland. Scouting parties were, at the same time, con- stantly engaged in exploring all the neighboring country, and in becoming better acquainted with the savage tribes which surrounded them; with all of whom it was the con- stant policy of the Dutch to cultivate the most friendly relations.

While the sober spirit of commercial Holland was thus The French quietly searching out new avenues for trade along the Ontario on Lakes coasts of Long Island Sound, and on the borders of the daga, and Onon- Mauritius River, the more impetuous spirit of chivalrous France was intrepidly exploring the waters of Lake Onta- rio, and invading the territories of the " Konoshioni," or Iroquois, t near the valley of Onondaga. After discovering the lovely inland waters which perpetuate his name, Cham- plain thrice revisited France; and having engaged some wealthy merchants of Saint Malo, Rouen, and Rochelle, 1614. to form an association for the colonization of Canada, he obtained, through the influence of the viceroy, Prince de Conde, a ratification of the contract by the king. Setting sail from Honfleur early in the spring of 1615, he soon 1615. reached Tadoussac, accompanied by four Recollet mission- 25 May. aries, who were the first ministers of Christianity settled in Canada.# On his arrival at Montreal, Champlain found

* Wassenaar, viii., 85 ; ix., 44 ; Doc. Hist., N. Y., iii., 38, 41.

t The Five Confederated Nations of New York Indians. "Le nom d'IROQUOIS est pure- ment François, et a été formé du terme Hiro, ou Hero, que signifie j'ai dit ; et par lequel ces sauvages finissent tous leurs discours, comme les Latins faisoient autrefois, par leur dixi ; et de Kouė, qui est un cri, tantôt de tristesse, lorsqu'on le prononce en traînant, et tantôt de joie, lorsqu'on le prononce plus court. Leur nom propre est Agonnonsionni, qui veut dire Faiseurs de Cabannes."-Charlevoix, i., p. 271. According to Clinton and School- craft, their name was Kenunctioni, or Konoshioni.

+ Champlain, 181-240. Jesuit missionaries, as we have seen (ante, p. 52), were set-

prosecutes he Incan trade.

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.

CHAP. III. the Hurons and their allies preparing for an expedition 1615. against their ancient enemies, the Iroquois. Anxious to reconnoitre the hostile territory, and also to secure the friendship of the Canadian savages, the gallant Frenchman resolved to accompany their warriors. After visiting the tribes at the head-waters of the Ottawa, and discovering Lake Huron, which, because of its "great extent," he named " La Mer Douce," Champlain, attended by an arm- ed party of ten Frenchmen, accordingly set out toward the south, with his Indian allies. Enraptured with the " very beautiful and pleasant country" through which they passed, and amusing themselves with fishing and hunting, as they descended the chain of "Shallow Lakes," which discharge their waters through the River Trent, the expedition reached the banks of Lake Ontario .*

1 Sept.

lands in Jefferson county.

October. Crossing the end of the lake "at the outlet of the great River Saint Lawrence," and passing by many beautiful islands on the way, the invaders followed the eastern shore of Ontario, for fourteen leagues, toward their enemy's coun- try. In the vicinity of the present village of Henderson, Champlain in the county of Jefferson, the party landed, and the sav- ages hid all their canoes in the woods near the bank of the lake. After proceeding about four leagues, over a sandy tract, Champlain remarked "a very agreeable and beautiful country, traversed by several small streams and two little rivers which empty into the lake." These riv- ers were the Big and Little Sandy Creeks, and the " beau- tiful country" was the northern edge of the present coun- ty of Oswego. Leaving the shores of the lake, the in- vaders continued their route inland to the southward, for twenty-five or thirty leagues. For four days they pressed onward, meeting no foes, and crossing in their way a num- ber of rivulets, and a river forming the outlet of Oneida Lake; which Champlain described as "twenty-five or thir- ty leagues in circuit, in which there are beautiful islands,

tled in Maine and Nova Scotia several years before this ; but Champlain now first intro- duced the Recollet, or Franciscan fathers, into Canada.

* " Le Lac des Entouhonorons," Champlain, 254 ; Bouchette's British America, i., 84.

CHAMPLAIN IN ONONDAGA.

and where our Iroquois enemies catch their fish, which are CHAP. Jh. very abundant." Here the Canadians captured eleven Ir- oquois, who had come about four leagues from their fort 9 October. 1615. to fish in the Oncida Lake. Among the prisoners were four squaws. Preparations were immediately made for the usual savage tortures ; but Champlain humanely pro- testing against the cruelty of his allies, as " not the act of a warrior," succeeded in saving the lives of the women, though the men all suffered death.

In the afternoon of the next day the expedition arrived The Iro- before the fortified village of the Iroquois, on the northern at Ononda- quois castle bank of the Onondaga Lake, near the site of the present ed. ga attack- town of Liverpool .* The village was inclosed by four rows of palisades, made of large pieces of timber closely interlaced. The stockade was thirty feet high, with gal- leries running around like a parapet, which were garnish- ed with double pieces of wood, arquebuse-proof ; and the fortification stood close by a "pond where water was nev- er wanting."

Some skirmishing took place as soon as the invaders reached the Onondaga Fort ; though their first design was not to discover themselves until the next morning. But the impatience of the savages overcame their prudence. They were anxious to see the effect of the fire-arms of their French allies ; and Champlain, advancing with his little de- tachment against the Onondagas, quickly "showed them what they had never seen or heard before." As soon as the Iroquois heard the reports of the arquebuses, and felt the balls whistling about their cars, they nimbly took ref- uge within their fort, carrying with them their killed and wounded. The assailing party then fell back upon their main body, with five or six wounded ; one of whom died.

* " This Iroquois fort was on the shore of Onondaga Lake ; and it is highly probable that it was on the ground subsequently occupied by Sieur Dupuis, in 1665, and also by Count Frontenac in his expedition against the Onondagas, in 1696, and by Colonel Van Schaick in 1779."- Clark's Ilist. of Onondaga, i., 256. The spot is marked on Cham- plain's Map very distinctly. Every geographical-detail in Champlain's work seems to confirm the opinion of Clark and Marshall that the lake must have been the Onondaga ; and that it could not have been the Canandaigua, as assumed in a note on page 16, iii Doc. Hist., N. Y.

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.

CHAP. III. Contrary to Champlain's advice, the invaders now re- 1615. treated a cannon's shot from the fort. This provoked his earnest remonstrances ; and his genius soon suggested a plan of attack, borrowed from the ancient modes of war- fare. A movable tower, in which four French marksmen could be placed, was to be constructed, sufficiently high to command the palisades ; and while the besieged Iro- quois were thus securely picked off, the stockade itself was to be set on fire. The plan was promptly approved of by the Canadians, who commenced the work the next day, and labored with such diligence that the tower was com- pleted in four hours. They then wished to wait for a re- inforcement of five hundred men which they expected ; but Champlain, judging that delay in most cases is prej- udicial, pressed them to attack the fort at once.

2 October.

The invaders, yielding to his arguments, followed his advice. The tower was carried, by two hundred men, to within a pike's length from the stockade; and four arque- busiers, well protected from arrows and stones, began to fire on the invested Iroquois. The besieged savages at first answered with warm discharges of arrows; but the fatal balls of the French marksmen soon drove them from their galleries. Champlain now directed the Hurons to set fire to the stockade. But instead of obeying, they began to shout at the enemy, and discharge ineffective flights of ar- rows into the fort. Ignorant of discipline, and impatient of control, each savage did as he liked. At length they lit a fire, on the wrong side of the fort, contrary to the wind, so that it produced no effect. The besiegers then began to pile wood against the palisades, though in such small quantity that it did little good. The noise now be- came overpowering. Champlain attempted to warn the savages against the results of their bad judgment ; but the . great confusion prevented him from being heard. Per- ceiving that he was only " splitting his head by crying out," he directed the remainder of his French party to fire upon the besieged. Many of the Iroquois were killed; but, observing the disorder of their assailants, they poured wa-

THE CANADIAN INVADERS REPULSED.

ter from the gutters in such abundance, that every spark CHAP. III. of fire was soon extinguished. Meanwhile they discharged incessant flights of arrows, which fell upon the besiegers 1615. like hail. The combat lasted about four hours. Two of the Huron chiefs and fifteen warriors were wounded. The Cana- Champlain himself was twice severely injured by arrows ; ers re- dian invad pulsed. and the repulsed besiegers retreated to their encampment.

Here they remained inactive several days. No argu- ments of Champlain could induce the Hurons to renew the attack until their expected re-enforcement of five hund- red men should arrive from Canada. A few skirmishes occurred ; but whenever the Iroquois saw the French ar- quebusiers approaching, they promptly retreated within their fort. At length the invaders, tired of waiting for their re-enforcements, broke up the siege, contrary to Cham- 16 October plain's earnest remonstrance, and began their retreat. The gallant Frenchman, himself disabled by his wounds from walking, was placed in a frame of wicker-work, and car- ried for several days on the backs of the savages. The Iroquois pursued their enemies for half a league, but the retreat was conducted in such good order that the invaders suffered no loss.

In a few days the party reached the spot where they 20 October had hidden their canoes on the shore of Lake Ontario, and were overjoyed to find that they had not been discovered and destroyed by the Iroquois. Champlain was now anx- ious to return to Montreal by way of the Saint Lawrence, Return of over the upper waters of which no European had yet passed. But his savage allies refused to furnish him with a promised guide and canoe ; and he was obliged to ac- company them home, an unwilling guest, and pass a dreary winter in the Huron country. The following spring Champlain set out on his return, and, after forty 1616. days travel, reached the French settlements toward the 20 May. end of June. His countrymen received him with joy, as June. onc risen from the grave ; for the savages had long before reported him dead .*

the expedi- tion to Canada.

* Voyages de Champlain, 240-306 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii., 10-17. See also an interest-

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.

CHAP. III. Thus the French were the first Europeans who visited 1616. two of the magnificent lakes which partially bound the territories of New York. Almost contemporaneously with Hudson's exploration of the great River of the Mountains, Champlain had discovered those beautiful waters on our northeastern frontier which now bear his brilliant name. Six years later, the adventurous Frenchman, again the first of Europeans, was coasting along the southern shore of Lake Ontario, and penetrating the valley of Onondaga. But the progress of French discovery was the progress of French arms. The exploring voyages of Hudson and his followers were visits of peaceful agents of commercial Hol- land in search of new avenues for trade, and intent chief- ly on its rewards. No predatory movements marked their onward way. Enterprising and patriotic, they were dis- creet and humane. If blood was early shed, it was shed in retaliation, or to repel attack. But the expeditions of Champlain were incursions of bold adventurers from gal- lant France, seeking trophies of victory in the unknown territories of the Iroquois. The placid waters of Lakes Champlain and Onondaga were alike stained by unoffend- ing native blood ; and the roar of the few French arque- buses which first echoed through the frontier forests of New Netherland, but preluded the advance, in after years, of serried battalions over northern New York, bearing to bat- tle and conquest the triumphant lilies of the Bourbon.

Aboriginal tribes along the North River.

The valley of the "Cahohatatea,"* or Mauritius River, at the time Hudson first ascended its waters, was inhab- ited, chiefly, by two aboriginal races of Algonquin lineage, afterward known among the English colonists by the ge- neric names of Mohegans and Mincees. The Dutch gen- erally called the Mohegans, Mahicans; and the Mincees,

ing paper on this subject, by O. II. Marshall, of Buffalo, in N. Y. H. S. Proceedings for 1849, p. 96-103 ; and Clark's Onondaga, i., 251-256.

* The Iroquois name of the North or Hudson River, upon the authority of Mr. John Bleecker, of Albany, "the ancient Indian interpreter, now (1810) in the 79th year of his age." See letter of Dr. Mitchill to Dr. Miller, dated Albany, 3d March, 1810, in N. Y. H. S. Coll , i., p. 43. See also Schoolcraft, in N. Y. H. S. Proc., 1844, p. 94. The Mahicans called it the " Shatemuc ;" while the Delawares and other southern tribes, according to Heckewelder, named it the "Mahican-ittuk," or place of the Mahicans.

LONG ISLAND AND NEW JERSEY TRIBES.

Sanhikans. These two tribes were subdivided into nu- CHAP. III. merous minor bands, each of which had a distinctive name. The tribes on the east side of the river were generally 1616. Mohegans ; those on the west side, Mineces. They were hereditary enemies ; and across the waters which formed the natural boundary between them, war-parties frequent- ly passed, on expeditions of conquest and retribution. But however much the tribes of River Indians were at va- riance among themselves, they were sympathetic in their enmity against the powerful Iroquois, or the Five Confed- erated Nations, whose hunting-grounds extended over the magnificent regions, as yet unexplored by the Dutch, west- ward and northward from Fort Nassau .*

Long Island, or "Sewan-haeky," was occupied by the Long Ist- savage tribe of " Metowacks," which was subdivided into dians. and In- various elans, each having a separate appellation, and whose lodges extended from "the Visscher's Hook," or Montauk Point, to "Ihpetonga," or "the high sandy banks," now known as Brooklyn Heights. Staten Island, on the opposite side of the bay, was inhabited by the Mon- atons, who named it Monaeknong, or Eghquaous.t In- land, to the west, lived the Raritans and the Hackin- New Jer- sacks ; while the regions in the vicinity of the well-known dians. sey In- "Highlands," south of Sandy Hook, were inhabited by a band or sub-tribe called the Nevesineks, or Navisinks, whose name denotes their intermediate position between the Atlantic and the Raritan Bay.# To the south and west, covering the centre of New Jersey, were the Aqua- machukes and the Stankekans; while the valley of the Delaware, northward from the Schuylkill, was inhabit- ed by various tribes of the Lenape race, who were col- leetively known to the Dutch as " the Minquas," and by their hereditary northern foes, the Iroquois, were named "Ogehage."§

The " Island of the Manhattans" was so called " after Manhat-

tans.

* Schoolcraft, in N. Y. II. S. Proc., 1844, 89-91.

t Alb. Rec., viii., 161 : Smith's N. Y., i., 321 ; Clinton, in N. Y. II. S. Coll., ii., 41 ; Thompson's L. I., i., 87-95 ; Schoolcraft, 97, 98 ; ante, p. 57 ; post, p. 172.

# Schoolcraft, 105, 106.

Figurative Map, see Appendix, notes G and I.

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.

CHAP. III. the ancient name of the tribe of savages among whom the 1616. Dutch first settled themselves."* This tribe, which inhab- ited the eastern shore, was always "very obstinate and un- friendly" toward the Hollanders. On the west side of the Sanhikans. bay, and of the river above Bergen Point, lived the Sanhi- kans, who were "the deadly enemies of the Manhattans, and a much better people."t North of the Sanhikans, on the broad bay between the Palisadoes and Verdrietig Hook, Tappans. dwelt the tribe of Tappans,# whose wigwams extended back from Nyack toward the hilly regions of Rockland and Orange counties. This unexplored territory, the early im- perfect maps of New Netherland transmitted to Holland, erroneously represented as an " effen veldt," or a level, open country.

The eastern bank of the river, north of Manhattan, and the valley of the Nepera or Saw-mill Creek, was possessed Weck- quaes geeks. by the tribe of Weckquaesgeeks. The region above, as far as the Croton, or Kitchawan, was inhabited by another Sint-Sings. band called the Sint-Sings, whose chief village was named Ossin-Sing, or "the Place of Stones ;" and the famous mar- ble quarries now worked near "Sing-Sing," while they commemorate the name, vindicate the judgment of the ab- origines.§

Pachami.

Wappin- gers.

The Highlands above were occupied by a band called the Pachami, beyond whom dwelt the Waoranacks. North of these, and in what is now the county of Dutchess, lived the tribe of Wappingers, whose name is still preserved in that of the picturesque stream which empties into the riv- er near New Hamburg. Their chief locality was the val- ley of the Fishkill, or " Matteawan" Creek, the aboriginal name of which, according to the popular traditions of the country, signified " good furs," for which the stream was anciently celebrated. But modern etymology more accu-

* Alb. Rec., xviii., 348; N. Y. H. S. Coll., iii., 375 ; O'Call., i., 48. The Dutch them- selves named the island after the Indian tribe of " Manhattans." Heckewelder's tradi- tionary account that the name of the island was derived from the " general intoxication" which is said to have occurred there, is considered in note A, Appendix.

t De Laet, book iii., cap. ix. ; Figurative Map.

# According to Heckewelder, the name of Tappan is derived from " Tuphanne," a Del- aware word, signifying " cold stream."-Moulton's N. Y., p. 227. § Schoolcraft, 101.

THE NORTH RIVER TRIBES.

rately deriving the term from " metai," a magician or CHAP. III. medicine man, and " wian," a skin, it would seem that tlie neighboring Indians esteemed the peltries of the Fish- 1616. kill as " charmed" by the incantations of the aboriginal enchanters who dwelt along its banks; and the beautiful scenery in which these ancient priests of the wild men of the Highlands dwelt is thus invested with new poetical associations. A few miles north of the " Wahamanessing," or Wappinger's Creek, was a sheltered inlet at the mouth of the Fallkill, affording a safe harbor for canoes navigat- ing the "Long Reach," between Pollepel's Island and Crom Elbow .* The aboriginal designation of this inlet was Apokeepsing, " a place of shelter from storms ;" and the memory of this once famous harbor for the canoes of the river tribes is perpetuated in the name of the flourish- ing eity of Pokeepsie. Still further north, near Red Hook Pokeepsie. landing, lived another clan of the Wappingers. Here tra- dition asserts a great battle was fought between the river Indians and the Iroquois confederates ; and the bones of the slain were said to be yet visible, when the Dutch first settled themselves on the spot. The wigwams of the Wap- pingers and their sub-tribes extended eastward to the range of the Tachkanic, or Taconick Mountains, which separate the valley of the North River from that of the Housatonic.t

On the west side of the river, northward from Verdrie- tig Hook and the Kumochenaek, or Haverstraw Bay, the tribes were remarkably mixed and subdivided. Parts of the present county of Rockland, and nearly the whole of the county of Orange, were inhabited by the Waronawan- Waronaw- kongs, whose hunting-grounds extended along the Shaw- ankongs. angunk mountain range.# Further north, and occupying

* Pollepel's Island is the one in the middle of the river, just north of the Highlands. Its name is derived from its supposed resemblance to the convex side of a ladle, which in Dutch is " Pollepel." The abrupt bend in the river, between Pokeepsie and Hyde Park, formerly called " Krom Elleboog," or crooked elbow, is now known as Crom Elbow.

+ Schoolcraft, 101-103.

# These mountains are said to have obtained their name from the predominating white or gray color of their rocks ; the word "Shawan-gunk" being explained by the Indians of the country to mean " white rocks."-See Mather's Geology of N. Y., 355. Schoolcraft,

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.

CHAP. III. the present counties of Ulster and Greene, were the Min- qua clans of Minnisincks, Nanticokes, Mincses, and Dela-

1616.

Minni- wares. These clans had pressed onward from the upper eincks. valley of the Delaware, which the Dutch expressively named " the Land of Baca,"* and, following the course of the Nevesinck River and the valley of the " Great Esopus Creek," had at length reached the tides of the North River. Esopus In- They were generally known among the Dutch as the Eso- dians. pus Indians. The doubtful etymology of this name is traced to " Seepus," a river ; and the Esopus Creek, hav- ing long been celebrated as the aboriginal channel of com- munication with the upper waters of the Delaware, it was probably called " the Seepus," or river, by way of emi- nence.t The word was soon modified into "Sopus," or Esopus, in which form it has ever since been in use. At an early period, the Dutch are said to have erected a " Ron- duit," or small fort, near the mouth of the creek, which, from this circumstance, obtained its present name, the " Rondout." Part of the adjoining region was afterward named " Wiltwyck," or Indian village; but the familiar term Esopus continued in popular use long after the pres- ent legal designation of Kingston was adopted.#

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History of the state of New York Vol I, Part 9

Author: Brodhead, John Romeyn, 1814-1873. 4n Publication date: 1871 Publisher: New York : Harper & Brothers Number of Pages: 844

Author: Brodhead, John Romeyn, 1814-1873. 4n
Publication date: 1871
Publisher: New York : Harper & Brothers
Number of Pages: 844