USA > New York > History of the state of New-York : including its aboriginal and colonial annals, vol. pt 1 > Part 30
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* Intro. sec. 43, p. 202.
i Groote Rivier-the Hudson.
# Dutch Records, letter A. or vol. II. 10-13 of Vander Kemp's Trans- lation.
§ De Witt P. I. c. 23. || De Lact.
* Indian name of the Hudson.
*** Sce the tradition, Intro. sec. 51, p. 251.
it These were the names the Mohawks gave to the Dutch, (according to Rev. J. Megapolensis, the first clergyman in Renselaerwyck, in his Kort Ontwerp vande Makakvase Indianen, en Viaune Nederlandt, huer Landt. Sc. 1844. Vole .-- This is in manuscript among the Du Simitiere MSS. of
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The voyage was successful, and therefore repeated. 'The fame of its profits and of the country stimulated adventurers ; and within three years, much competition arose in this new branch of the commerce of Holland. The hostility of the Indians on the eastern shore of the Great River, manifest- ed even while Hudson was sailing upon it, rendered succeed- ing navigators cautious in their approaches ; and therefore they confined themselves, during their first visits, to their ships, and traded with the natives in canoes, for furs, oysters, f wild fowl, maize, beans, and tobacco. The Kayingahaga, or Mohawks, who, in an orationf to Hudson, appeared, amid their joyful surprise and exuberance of good will, to tender their country and all their wealth, maintained a cordial and undi- minished friendship. In their neighbourhood the ships, of which some wintered,§ were safe, and intercourse was less guarded. This was the head of ship navigation, and the chief mart of the fur trade ; the principal source of which extend- ing north, was Couxsachruga, or the Dismal Wilderness, || the beaver hunting country of the five confederate nations of In- dians. Assailed by Champlain, the founder of Quebec, at the head of his Indian allies, they were impelled by the strongest motives to cultivate harmony with the Dutch, and consequently obtain, in exchange for furs, such novel engines of war as had
the Philadelphia Library.) The Delawares called the Dutch Swannakwak, (Heckewelder, but see Intro. sec. 51, p. 255.) This name perhaps arose from the name of Swaendael, on the Delaware river, where the Dutch were massacred. De Vries says these Indians denominated the Dutch Swaendaels, or Swanekens. The New England Indians named the Eng- lish Chauquaquock, or knife-men, (from Chauquock a knife -- Roger Wil- liams' key to the Indian language, 1643.) The Canada Indians called all the French Normands, (Nova Francia, or three voyages of De Monts, &c. translated from the French. London, 1609.) See as to the early visits of the Norrman, or Scandinavians, Intro. sec. 27.
¡ No lobsters were found on the coast at this period, according to tra- dition, related by Kalm, in travels I. 187-8.
: Sec Intro. sec. 51.
9 De Lact.
" The northern countics of New-York, forming the triangle boundel by Jakes Ontario, Champlain, and the rivers thence flowing.
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recently given to the algonquins a victorious superiority. The Mohawks, indeed, were very early denominated by the other In- dians, Sankhicauni, or fire-workers, in consequence of the astonishiment of their neighbours at beholding in their hands the clumsy guns with match-locks, which the Dutch had fur- nished them .*
It has been affirmed, f that as early as 1613, an insignificant warehouse was crected on a small island just below Skaghnegk- tadyt ; and that in 1614, four housesg were on the island which Hudson had, five years previously, mentioned as Mana- hata. This is possible. The fierce inhabitants of this island, cruel and inimical as the Dutch|| say they were, may have mitigated their hostility, and, imitating the policy of their hc- reditary foes, the Mohawks, allowed hats for traffic and fishing. These must have been temporary in design, and consequently frail in structure ; for no fortified or permanent settlement could have been contemplated, so long as the country was unappropriated, and the trade thither was participated by all adventurers. Competition had indeed become so disadvan- tageous to individual enterprise, that those who had seconded Hudson's voyage, sensibly felt the effects of a rivalry which they had no power to prevent : for, as an East India Com- pany, their charter could not embrace this western region ; and if the unauthorised assertion, T that Hudson sold to them his discovery, had been true, they could not thence, in a corpo- rate capacity, have acquired an exclusive interest, as no public sanction had secured to them the monopoly. A memorial was therefore presented to their High Mightinesses the Lords States-General, ** stating that they who had incurred the ex-
* Sce Intro. sec. 41, p. 177.
i Acrelius, Nya-Swerige.
# (Albany) signifying the other side of the pine, (Col. Brant, in MSS. of N. Y. Historical Society.)
& Plantagenet's New-Albion.
|| De Laet.
See Smith's New-York. See Intro. sec. 53, p. 275.
** De Hooge Mogbeuda Heeren Staten Generael.]
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pense and risk of originating discoveries, were prevented, by an unjust competition, from realizing an adequate remunera- tion. The States accordingly passed an edict on the 27d: day of March, 1614,* that " all persons who had discovered, or who might discover, any rivers, bays, harbours or coun- tries before unknown, should enjoy, besides other advantages, the exclusive trade there for four successive voyages." This was the first recognition by the Republic, of an exclusive right vested in its citizens by the discovery of any part of the, New World, or West Indies, as it was then denominated ; and this was the foundation of the Amsterdam Licensed Trading West Indian Company.
* Groot Plakaatboek, I. D. 563, or Book of Resolutions, as cited by Lambrechtsen in Korte Beschrijving, &c. van Nieuw Nederland, &c. This was undoubtedly the correct date, as is confirmed by De Laet, book III. c. 9. But l'Histoire Generale des Voyages, tom. xxi. 280, places the grant in 1610 : Joost Hartger in Beschryvinge van Virginia, Nieuw Neder- land, Nieuw Engeland, &c. Amst. 1651, (a MS. copy of which is in the 'Loganian Library) fixes the date 1611. Abin. Yates, jun. in letter to Je- dediak Morse, 1793, (MSS. of N. Y. Historical Society) puts the grant 25th March, 1612.
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CHAPTER II.
1014 to 1621. The operations of the Amsterdam Licensed Trading Com- pany. Schipper Blok's and Christiaanse' voyage to Manhattan and disco- veries. First fortified settlement on Casteel Eyland (1614), on Manhat- tan (1615.) The Opper hooft and commis. Reflections on the charac- ter of this military and commercial establishment. Treaty of alliance with the Kenunctioni. Removal from Castle Island to Nordtman's kill, ₹(1617.) Dutch at Esopus, Bergen, Schenectady, (1620.) No colony contemplated. English claim the Hudson. Argall's supposed conquest of Manhattan. The English were the first that designed a colony, (1620.) The founders of New England intended to settle near the Ilud. son. The Dutch now projecting the establishment of a great National Society, and under its auspices a permanent settlement on the Great River.
THE members of this company had a double object : 10 secure the possession of the Great River by fortifications, and to extend their commercial privileges under the edict by the discovery of circumjacent places. The same year (1614) two ships were, therefore, equipped, and commanded by Ad- riaan Blok and Hendrik Christiaanse. They left Hol- land. Schipper Blok arrived first at Manhattan. His ship was accidentally burned. He erected on the shore of the river, a small vessel,# the first specimen of marine archi- tecture superior to a canoe which had probably ever been finished here, and the first ocular demonstration to the Indians of the pre-eminent intelligence and skill of the Charistooni.i In this vessel, Blok sailed from the Great River, upon a voyage of exploration and discovery. He distinguished by the name of Helle-gadt rivier, t the water flowing from Pag- gank, § to Helle-gadt, | between Manhattan and Sewanhacky,
* Yacht 442 feet long on deck, 114 wide. De Laet.
i See note, page 337.
# Named afterwards Oost rivier-East river.
9 Indian name of Governor's Island, in the bay of New-York. The Dutch called it Nooten Bylandt, from the nuts found on it.
A Ilolo of bell, or hellish hole .. Hell Gate.
Vor .. I. 43
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or the Island of Shells .* Ile determined its insular situa- tion, t examined the places in the Great Bay, [ and sailed to the coast which Hudson had named New Holland, and the English Cape Cod. Here he met Schipper Christiaanse' ship, embarked, and left his yacht to be used by a fishing party. After this arrangement, the two navigators examined the neighbouring islands and coast, probably before they pro- ceeded to the Great River, to accomplish the chief design of their voyage. The islands recognised by the Dutch as Christiaanse island and Blok island, may have been so named at this time, in conformity to the custom of Hollanders who considered themselves first discoverers.§
Blok bestowed upon the cluster of islands near the west shoreff of the great bay of Sewanhacky, the appellation of Archipelago, T and to the Housatunnuk, the name of the river of the red mountain .** But the discoveries, to which it may be necessary hereafter to advert, as more important than any others made this year, were of the Narraganset bay, which the Dutch denominated bay of Nassau, ff and river, ' Con-
* This was the real name of Long Island, as appears from deeds to Wou- ter Van Twiller, and others. It has been called Matouwax and Paumu- pake. These were local names on that island. (Sec Indian map and notes to this history. ) Sewan was the name of Indian shell-money, hacky, or hackink-on, or in the land .- Delaware language.
i Dr. Belknap was therefore mistaken (American Biography, life of Gorges, Prefatory Essay) in attributing to Thomas Dermer, the first cx- ploration, in 1613, of Long Island Sound, and the determination of the in- sular situation.
# Groot Baai-Long Island Sound.
Christiaanse Eylandt was the name given to No-Mans-Land, then call- ed by the English Martha's Vineyard, which name has been since attached to a large island in the vicinity of No-Mans-Land. Blok island retains its name.
! Opposite Norwalk in Connecticut.
" Or Archipel, as truncated-the name, also, of the Algean Sea between Greece and Asia, and improperly applied to the aggregate of islands.
** Rooden-Bergh rivier, or, according to De Laet, Rivier van den Roy- enberch.
Ht Embracing Rood (red) Eglandt, whence Rhode Island. Dutch re- condis. 1
-
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necticoot or Sickagothe, which from its freshness was named Versche rivier .* This river was thoroughly explored. It was inhabited by a numerous Indian population, of which, one of the tribes, named Nawas, had, in the latitude 41º 48', a town fortified against the inroads of enemies.t
It is presumed that the two navigators, having completed their discoveries, fishing, and traffic with the natives of these islands, coasts, and rivers, retired in the fall to the Great River, and under the superintendence of one or both, the first fortified settlement was there established. A redoubt] was raised (1614) on the small island before mentioned, de- signated by its fortification Casteel Eylandt, § surrounded by a ditch eighteen feet wide, mounted by two brass pieces and cleven stone guns, (stecn stucken), and garrisoned by a dozen soldiers. 'The opper-hoofdt, or chief commander, was Chris- tiaanse, and his lieutenant, or commissary of the licensed tra- ders, was Jaques Elckens, || who had been clerk to a merchant in Amsterdam. T
The advantage of traffic and of arms induced the Mohawks to permit the crection of this fortification. These men of blood, ** who had conquered or exacted tribute from some of the neighbouring tribes, had the sagacity to perceive, that by securing the friendship of the Hollanders, they might render
* Fresh river.
f De Laet does not name the discoverer of the Connecticut, but says, " Blok with his yacht sailed through Hell-gate into the Great bay, and ex- amined all the places about it, and sailed to Cape Cod," &c. It is possible he explored this river before he met Christiaanse. Trumbull, in his histo- ry of Connecticut, says it is uncertain who discovered this river. But Hubbard admits the Dutch discovered it, (History New Eng. ch. L .- see vol. v. Massachusett's Historical Collections, (N. S.) p. 18. 170.) He cer- tainly cannot be charged with partiality towards " the beast of trade," the " Hogen Mogens and bewintehebbers," as he terms them.
į See note (156).
9 Castle Island, just below Albany ferry.
!! De Laet, 1625. The name by Lambrechtsen (1818) is Jakob llelkens.
5 De Vries-MS. copy.
Mokocht means blood in their language : a title peculiarly appro- priate, as will be shown in the supplemental history of the five nations.
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their acquired superiority durable, and their ferocious bravery terrible to those who, in alliance with the founder of Quebec, were still entertaining the haughty but delusive hope of ex- terminating them and their confederates of the five nations. They could not foresee their own desolation as a people, in the ultimate effect of a measure, which virtually transferred the sovereignty over their country ; and their numbers, pe- culiar relations and condition were, therefore, far better adapted to guaranty the unmolested progress of a colony, had colonization been contemplated by the Dutch, than the only two North American colonies from Europe had yet experien- ced in Virginia and Canada.
The Indians of Manhattan, descendants of the once war- like Mlinsi tribe of the Lenni Lenape, were not inattentive to a policy so obvious, and so ambitious. They might despair of regaining the boasted ascendency of their tribe and nation; but hereditary hatred towards the five nations, aggravated by the tradition of former greatness, or even the rival jealousy of traffic, would predominate over their reluctance to permit a fortified entrenchment. The following year (1615) they al- lowed a redoubt to be thrown up and fortified, on an elevated spot on the west bank of the river, near the southern extremity of the island .* The licensed trading company had now pos- session of the two most important positions on the river. That on Manhattan was the principal rendezvous for their ships; and thence, with furs collected from all the neighbour- ing rivers and coasts, their vessels departed annually for Am- sterdam.
In the progress of an establishment, so purely military and commercial, and so single in the range of its commerce, few incidents could have transpired worthy of record, and proba- bly none which could elevate in moral or intellectual dignity, the character of these pioneers of colonization. In commu- nities where all the lights of science and religion are perfectly
" On the site of the Macomb houses in Broadway, New-York, accord- ing to tradition, as related by the Rev. John N. Abeel, in MSS. of New" York Historical Society,
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accessible, and the widest scope is offered to the noblest efforts of intellect and to the generous energies of philanthropy, we find men with minds so infected with the idolatry of avarice as to despise all illumination but that of the golden altar : with hearts so palsied by the unhallowed devotion, as to resist every expansive and touching impress. They admit no senti- mental refinement, upon the plain maxim of gainful Carthage --- no ethic restriction upon the vantage ground of sagacious spe- culation-no limitation to the imperious creed of victorious ex- tortion .* They recognise no moral sublimity or beauty in a monumental fame, purchased by public munificence and secured by public gratitude -- or in that celebrity which the father tells to his children, or in the impassioned praises of private grati- tude when the name of benefactor is uttered, or in that still voice of active emulation, which, kindling into enthusiasm from the influence of authority, without the necessity of pre- cept, conveys to the author of great deeds and good qualities the delicacy of reward without the grossness of compliment. They listen to no voice of humanity, when to bless and be bless- ed would be the mighty gain for a little subtraction from the mass, which even spendthirift prodigality could hardly ex- haust ; and seldom do they betray by accident, and by design never, one solitary attribute of excellence, to vindicate the no- bility of human nature, from the perishable worthlessness of their names and general example. When men so situated, and so actuated, are not unfrequently seen in the ranks of polished and enlightened society, what either illustrious in virtue or - signal in action could be expected from those whose object was gain, and nothing else? who, in its precarious pursuit, had abandoned the fire-sides and endearments of their native country ; whose location was irresponsible to au- thority, because beyond the pale of law, and whose inter- course with the natives, or with each other, must, therefore, have been governed by motives of fear and policy, rather than by principle.
---- Sed que reverentia legum ?
Quis metus, aut pudor est unquam properantis avari? JUVENAL.
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There was, however, one political measure deserving & me- morial :-- the alliance by a formal treaty with the Five N'a- tion Confederacy* or united people.t Prior intercourse be- tween the Dutch and at least one of those nations, had been regulated by that informal good understanding which arose from their peculiar circumstances, from mutual fear, hope, palpable interest and obvious necessity.
In 1617 the Dutch were obliged to abandon their fort on Castle Island, in consequence of the high floods. They re- moved abont four miles south, to the shore of a creek called by them Nordtman's kill, where they erected a new fortifica- tion, and where the treaty, probably about the same time, was concluded in the primitive solemnity which characterised the public transactions of the Indians. The importance attached to the treaty, by the five nations, was evinced by the delega- ·tion of those chiefs, who bore the names or titles which had a century previously distinguished the deputies that formed that confederacy; in commemoration of which it was then stipulat- ed, that one chief of each nation should always wear the same name or title.į
The Lenni Lenape and Mahiccans, say they were also in- vited by the Sankhicanni, or Mohawks, the prime movers of the treaty; that the belt of peace was laid over their shoul- ders, as the nation of women ; that one end of the long belt was to be held fast by the Dutch, the other by the warlike nations. Here the tomahawk was trampled into the earth, the Dutch declaring they would erect a church over it, and that none should dig it up without overturning the edifice, and incurring the resentment of its builders.§ The treaty was preserved in good faith, and became highly important to the tranquil prosperity of the Dutch, and highly conducive to
* Kenunctioni.
+ Agonnosionni.
# The names were Tekanawitagh, of the Kayingahaga, (Mohawks) ~~ Olatshighte, of the Oneayote, (Oncidas)-T'hatodurho, of the Ononda-agaes, or O-non-dau-gohs-S'honommicendowane, of the Kai-u-gues or Callugas- Kannindarioh and S'hadekaronyes, of the Chenandoanes, (Senecas.)
· See note (157.1
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the ascendency which the united people maintained, and the terror they inspired among other Indians of North America.
The security thus guaranteed, the increasing profits of trade, and the natural advantages of the country, were favour- able to the enlargement of settlements .. It has been asserted that about this period some Hollanders settled among the Esopus Indians, others in 1618, in the rich and extensive vale of Talpahockin," and others in 1620, on the great plaint, which was an ancient seat of the immediate allies of the Dutch.1. It is nevertheless extremely problematical, whether at the last date any Dutch family was settled in the country which Hudson discovered from the bay of the South rivers to New Holland. Agents of the company may have resided at the above-mentioned places to promote trade, cultivate harmony, and learn the language of the Indians. But the foundation of a permanent colony had not been comprehend- ed among the ambitious plans of the Hollanders, for reasons which in part have been assigned. Another cause may have co-operated to deter them from thus appropriating the country -- the title to it which England traced to the discovery of the Cabots. Though there is not any evidence that they saw the coast near Manhattan, yet it was comprehended in the English claim to almost all North America, and was patented by Queen Elizabeth under the general denomination of Virginia. This was subdivided by her successor into North and South Virginia, three years before Hudson's discovery. || As the patentees were enjoined in the patents, from settling their re- spective colonies within one hundred miles of each other, it resulted, that the Manhattan was virtually left by that sin-
* The country south of the Highlands, forming the vale of New-Jersey and Pennsylvania. It is said that in 1613 a settlement was at Bergen in Scheyichbi, or New-Jersey.
{ Connugbharicughharie -- city of Schenectady.
# Sec note (158.)
" Zuydi rivier, the Dutch name of the Delaware.
: See Intro. $ 28. 40.
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gular provision, vacuum domicilium, and if the injunction had not been given before Hudson's discovery, it might have been construed as an intentional concession of King James in fa- vour of his republican friends." But the policy of that mo- march was averse to any such concession. This is apparent from the displeasure manifested, when it was ascertained that Iludson, a native of England, had effected the discovery in the service of the Hollanders; from the inconsistent claim the English made to the discovery by virtue of his nativity ; ;. from the name of the Hudson which they gave to the river discovered ; and from the title to it, which they asserted upon every occasion, and vindicated, in one instance, at a very early date, by force of arms, if credit is due to the story of Cap- tain Argall's conquest of the Dutch settlement in 1614. In the month of March of that year, Sir Thomas Gates, one of the patentees of South Virginia, left its government to Sir Thomas Dale, and retired to England. Captain Samuel Ar- gall, pursuant to Governor Dale's commission to him, accom- plished an expedition directed against Port Royal in Cana- da, į returned to Virginia with the spoils of his conquest, and sailed in June to England.§ If to the conquest of the French he added that of the Dutch, this must have been achieved be- tween March and June. It has been remarked, that prior to
" Sce a " Declaration and Manifestation by way of Speech," (N. Y. Historical Collections, III. 575.) Governor Stuyvesant's Ambassadors to the Court of Lord Baltimore, were therefore mistaken in saying that King James had made this provision as an allotment for the Dutch plantation.
+ Sec Intro. $53, p. 278, 276.
t Or Acadia. The French claimed the country in collision to the English title, and say that the Basques discovered Newfoundland and Ca- nada 100 years before Columbus. Le Beau, tom. I. 43.
9 Capt. Smith's History of Virginia, London, 1629 (reprinted in Rich- mond, Virginia.) Gates departed March-1614, (vol. 2, p. 22,) left the go- vernment to Dale, (p. 18,) and Argall after his expedition against the Freuch, sailed towards England in June (p. 23) and Dale with Pocahontas and ber husband went to England in 1616. (Smith, p. 26, &c. 33.) This settles the date of the expedition which by others bes been placed at peri- ods carher and later than 1614. (See Prince's Annals, Belknap's Biog- raphy. Douglass' Summary, &c.
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March, when the decree of the States gave political existence to the licensed company, transient navigators may have erected huts on the Manhattan, but it has also been apparent that Christiaanse could not probably have arrived at Manhattan, from Holland, in time for Argall's alleged conquest to take ef- fect through the submission of the former. The relation is this : that Argall on his return from the north, landed upon Manhat- tan, found four houses and a pretended Dutch governor, whom he informed that his commission required him to expel all in- truders, exacted from him a written submission to the crown of England and government of Virginia, compelled him to pay the expenses of his voyage, and on arriving in Virginia depo- sited the letter of submission including a promise of tribute, in the archives of that colony." Captain Smith, the same
* The following seems to have been the earliest account of this con- quest.
" Virginia being granted, settled, and all that part now called Maryland, New-Albion, and New-Scotland, being part of Virginia, Sir Thomas Dale and Sir Samuel Argoll, captains and counsellors of Virginia, hearing of divers aliens and intruders, and traders without license, with a vessel and forty soldiers, landed at a place called Mount Desert, in Nova Scotia, near St. John's River, or 'Twede, possest by the French, there killed some French, took away their guns, and dismantled the fort, and in their return landed at Manhatas-Isle in Hudson's river, where they found four houses built, and a pretended Dutch governor, under the West-India Company of Amsterdam share or part ; who kept trading boats, and trucking with the Indians ; but the said knights told him, their commission was to expel him and all aliens, intraders on his majesty's dominions and territories ; this being part of Virginia, and this river an English discovery of Hudson an Englishman ; the Dutchman contented them for their charge and voiage, and by his letter sent to Virginia and recorded, submitted himself, compa- ny, and plantation to his majesty, and to the governor and government of Virginia." . Beauchamp Plantaganet's " Descriptionof the province of New- Albion, and a direction for adventurers with small stock to get two for one, and good land freely," &c. London 1648. Note. This scarce work is in the Loganian library, Philadelphia, and is the first English account of the country, now New-Jersey and Pennsylvania.)
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