USA > New York > Bronx County > The Bronx and its people; a history, 1609-1927, Volume I > Part 8
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leagues more were made on the 15th, and these sixty miles would have carried the explorers through the Highlands and within view of the Catskills, with their long and undulating line far above any of the hills or highlands upon which they had hitherto looked. "Passing by high mountains" is the brief record of the matter-of-fact log-book, the writer being evidently more intent upon the replenishing of the ship's stores by contributions of "Indian corn and pompions" on the part of the friendly natives, and by means of the abundance of fish to be caught in the river. Six miles more were gained during the ensuing night, but then followed a series of groundings on the unexpected sand-banks, or mud-flats. Eighteen miles higher up the river might have brought them about opposite the location of Hudson City, where certainly there are "shoals in the middle of the river and small islands, but seven fathoms water on both sides." "Riding still" all day of the 18th a visit was made on land in the afternoon by "our master's mate," says Juet, who had care of the log-book, but De Laet quotes Hudson's own journal, and this represents the navigator himself as going on shore. There he saw the habitation of an old chief, a circular house with an arched roof and covered with bark. He was especially impressed with the profusion of vegetable products lying about the house, and as a result exclaims that this was "the finest land for cultivation that he ever in his life trod upon." A feast was prepared in his honor, consisting of freshly killed pigeons and a fat dog; but he forbears to mention, or at least De Laet omits to do so, whether he partook of the latter delicacy. On September 19th, with fair and hot weather, a run of two leagues was made; and then beavers and otters' skins, obtained for a trifle, began to indicate a source of profitable trade, which was not lost upon the Dutch commercial public when the account of this voyage reached the Netherlands. On the 20th the precaution was taken to send the boat up ahead of the vessel in order to sound the depth, and the "Half-Moon" rode at anchor all day and night. The next day was again a memorable one; no prog- ress was made but "our master and his mate determined to try some of the chief men of the country, whether they had any treachery in them." It must be admitted that Hudson resorted to a questionable experiment. The savage chiefs were taken into the cabin and treated to an abundance of "wine and aque-vitae" so that in the end "one of them was drunk, and that was strange to them; for they could not tell how to take it." On September 22 the boat had gone up nearly twenty- seven miles beyond the present anchorage of the "Half-Moon," and then the disappointing conclusion was forced upon the ship's company that their dream of a northwest passage would have to be abandoned. There were but seven feet of water at that distance and the river was growing
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narrower and more shallow. Hitherto there had been nothing to dis- courage the belief that the river they were on might be a strait like Magellan's at the southern extremity of the hemisphere. For long stretches that strait drew its banks together to within even a smaller distance than that which separated the shores of this great river of the mountains. But the report brought by the master's mate was fatal to their hopes. This was a river, and not a strait; they had reached the head of navigation "and found to be at an end for shipping to go in." Accordingly on the 23rd the anchor was weighed and the descent of the river began. In two days the "Half-Moon" had gone some thirty miles, and on the 24th "we went on land and gathered good store of chestnuts." The monotony of the progress by water was diversified on the 25th by a brisk walk along the west shore, which resulted in a minute observation of the excellency of the soil, the abundance of slate rock in the vicinity and of other good stone, and with particular delight were noticed the "great store of goodly oaks, and walnut trees, and chestnut trees, yew trees, and trees of sweet wood." The next day, the wind being contrary though the weather was fine, the opportunity was seized to place on the ship a quantity of logs as specimens of the richness of this country in timber for shipbuilding purposes. A pleasant visit from old chiefs formerly met was made to the ship, and Hudson returned their courtesy by causing them to dine with him. On September 27th a strong wind from the north would have sent them far down the river if they had not struck upon a muddy bank; only about six leagues were thus made, and they may by this time have come within a few miles of Fishkill and Newburgh. Fifteen miles more brought them to the entrance of the Highlands from the north on the 28th. And here Hudson remained stationary for about two days: "Storm King" and "Breakneck" loomed up high and forbidding like two grim sentinels, and the cautious pilot would not venture among the treacherous mountains while the wind blew strong, "because the high land hath many points and a narrow channel, and hath many eddy winds." On the 29th and 30th, accordingly, they lay at anchor in Newburgh Bay with "the wind at southeast, a stiff gale between the mountains." Looking intently at either shore they came to the conclusion that this was "a very pleasant place to build a town on;" and surely their prescience has been justified by the event, as the sight of Newburgh and Fishkill abundantly testifies. October 1st was an eventful day. The wind changed, and in one uninterrupted run of twenty-one miles they cleared the troublesome channel of the Highlands and left the mountains behind them. But in other respects the adventurers were less fortunate. An Indian was caught stealing ; "he got up by our rudder to the cabin window, and stole out my pillow,"
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writes Juet, "and two shirts and two bandoleers. Our master's mate shot at him and struck him in the breast and killed him." Then the ship's boat was manned and sent to recover the stolen goods; the Indians swam out to it, and one trying to upset it "the cook took a sword and cut off one of his hands, and he was drowned." Thus two lives had been sacrificed that day and trouble with the revengeful natives was sure to follow.
Next day the trouble came. Seven leagues farther down the strong incoming tide and a light wind compelled them to anchor. There a savage whom they had kidnapped on their upward journey, but who had escaped, lay in wait to have his revenge. An attack was made on the ship's company with bows and arrows, which fell harmless on the deck. But a discharge of six muskets slew two or three of the natives. "Then above a hundred of them came to a point of land to shoot at us. There I shot a falcon among them, and killed two of them, whereupon the rest fled into the wood." The savages still persisting in the attack, manned a canoe; at which Juet leveled another falcon, or small cannon, shooting through the canoe, which sank with the Indians, and as they struggled in the water a second discharge of muskets killed several more. Another six miles and they came to anchor off "a cliff that looked of the color of white green"; and thereby we know that they were nearly opposite the Elysian Fields of Hoboken. October 3rd was a stormy day, which gave them much trouble with their anchorage. Still the shelter of the Upper Bay was enjoyed by them and no harm came of it. On October 4th, the weather being fair and the wind favorable, the "Half-Moon" sailed out from between the headlands of the Narrows, the first vessel to leave the port of New York direct for Europe. She stood straight across the ocean, discarding the ordinary course by way of the West Indies and the Canaries. Indeed in the opinion of some of her officers her mission was by no means accomplished, and they thought she ought even then to have steered for the northwest and through Davis's Strait to India. The underskipper, who was a Dutchman, Van Meteren tells us, was for spending the winter at Terra Nova, or Newfoundland, and continu- ing the business of Arctic exploration the next season. But Hudson found reason for his course apparently in the temper of his motley crew, and feared a mutiny unless a course was made towards home. Hence, as Juet concludes, "We continued our course toward England without seeing any land by the way, all the rest of this month of Octo- ber"; and on November 7, 1609, the "Half-Moon" arrived safely at Dartmouth.
Coming of the Dutch-We need not follow Hudson in his subsequent career. Enough that his voyage led in course of time through a series
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of events to the founding of New Amsterdam. Interest in the regions brought again to European notice by Hudson spread to other cities besides Amsterdam. A number of merchants residing at Rotterdam, Hoorn, and Enkhuizen, then the most active commercial towns next to the metropolis, having heard something concerning a new navigable river and country thereabouts, but perhaps designedly kept in ignorance of its true location, brought pressure to bear upon the magistrates of their respective cities to demand for them, from either the Provincial or the General Government, precise information and official charts, so that they too might despatch vessels thither. A similar request pro- ceeded from certain Amsterdam merchants also, who were evidently not admitted to the privileged circles of the East India Company that had financed Hudson. Hence at the meeting of the States of Holland Province on September 7, 1611, a demand was submitted on the part of the deputies from those four cities, asking that their constituents be furnished with the data in question.
With this information some of the five ships mentioned by name in the charter of 1614 were no doubt despatched to the new quarter early in 1612. Of one of these ships Hendrick Christiaensen was captain, master, or skipper, as the commander of a merchant vessel was then variously designated. On the testimony of Wassenaer, living at that time, a resident of Amsterdam, and thus a fellow-townsman of Christi- aensen, the latter had been favorably impressed with the country about the mouth of the Hudson, after but a brief glance at it. Sailing with a heavily laden ship from the West Indies towards Holland, he ap- proached the Lower Bay, but he dared not enter or anchor, having in mind the fate of a former vessel from a neighboring city in North Hol- land, which had stranded there and had been wrecked. We have no other account of this vessel, or of the errand upon which it was sent, and which ended so disastrously; and hence we incidentally learn that unrecorded voyages must have been made, during those early years after Hudson's. The glimpse which Christiaensen had obtained sufficed to kindle within him a strong desire to revisit those regions. He suc- ceeded in awakening a similar enthusiasm on the part of his friend, Adriaen Block. The two at first chartered a vessel together, they them- selves going with it to America, but placing her in command of Captain Ryser. Without definite data to fix the exact time of this voyage, it is probable that it took place in 1612; when perhaps one or two others of the five ships named in the charter of 1614 may also have been dis- patched in pursuance of the information gained through the mediation of the States of Holland in the autumn of 1611. We may perhaps even specify that these were the "Nightingale," under Captain Thys Volkert-
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EMBARKATION OF THE "PRINCESS AMELIA," AUGUST 16, 1647 (SHOWING WILLIAM KIEFT AND PETER STUYVESANT IN THE LEFT FOREGROUND)
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sen, of Amsterdam, and the "Fortune," of Hoorn, under Captain Cor- nelius Jacobsen Mey, or May ; but the time of these earliest undertakings cannot be stated with certainty.
Christiaensen and Block, returning in their chartered ship, brought with them, besides a cargo of peltries, two sons of chiefs, to whom were given the names of Valentine and Orson. The exhibition of these Indi- ans contributed largely towards exciting an interest in America through- out the United Provinces. It is at least abundantly evident that the two friends themselves were satisfied with the result of their experiment as a commercial venture, for each now prepared to set out once more in command of a separate vessel-Christiaensen in the "Fortune" and Block in the "Tiger"-having also enlisted other "adventurers" or mer- chants to share in the enterprise. It may be supposed that these two vessels sailed early in 1613. As a result of his experiences on this trip Christiaensen came to the conclusion that instead of returning to Hol- land when the peltry season was over, it would be more advantageous to remain in America. He perceived that the trade in furs would obvi- ously be very much advanced if a somewhat permanent settlement were established on some point or points along the great river. The Indians could thereby become accustomed to bringing their skins to a fixed locality as a market. The trade would thus acquire more regularity, and would receive greater stimulus by interesting a large number of tribes stretching over a more extended territory then could be reached by occasional and hurried visits to places chosen at random. Naturally he first selected as the most appropriate place for such a market the island of Manhattan. Several rude houses, built mainly of boards, and roofed with great strips of bark peeled from the trees around them, were constructed on the island under Christiaensen's supervision ; and- historians have attempted to identify the very spot. But although he . provided himself with a place of abode on the island Christiansen at the same time diligently explored the bays, creeks, and inlets of the immediate vicinity in every direction in order to effect negotiations with the natives. Taking his vessel, the "Fortune," he went up the river to the head of navigation. There above the site of Albany, near the junc- tion of the Mohawk with the waters of the large river, was the place where several routes of Indian trade concentrated. The Mohawk Valley formed a natural highway between the east and west, between the Great Lakes and the Hudson; and down from the north, along Lake Champlain and Lake George, Indians came from points as distant as Quebec. So advantageous did this appear that when the winter was past Christiaensen immediately proceeded to erect a primitive fort in the vicinity. He selected for its site an island in the middle of the
Bronx-5
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river, probably not much more than a stockade or breastwork, surround- ing the magazine or warehouse, an oblong building thirty-six feet long by twenty-six wide. Upon this first stronghold of the Dutch in New Netherland was bestowed the name of "Nassau" in honor of the Stadtholder of the Republic, Maurice, Count of Nassau; and about the same time his first name in the form of "Mauritius" was given to what was later to be called the "Hudson River," which before that time had been designated the River, or the Great River of the Mountains. Having completed this work Christiaensen departed to rejoin his trading port on Manhattan. Not long afterwards this bold navigator was, Was- senaer tells us, killed by Orson, one of the two Indians whom he had taken to Holland. We are not informed what provoked the murder, which was avenged on the spot by Christiaensen's companions. A serious misfortune also befell Adriaen Block, for his vessel, the "Tiger," lying at anchor in New York Bay, caught fire and was totally destroyed. When the opening of spring in 1614 found Christiaensen erecting a fort at the head of navigation, it heralded the completion by Block of the first vessel constructed in the port of New York. There was indeed an abundance of timber, but it was not in condition for being im- mediately applied to shipbuilding, and with insufficient and imperfect tools, the undertaking must have taxed the ingenuity as well as patience of captain and crew. The result of the labors of the winter and early spring was a shapely ship of sixteen tons burden, thirty-eight feet along the keel, forty-four and a half feet over all, and of eleven and a half feet beam. To this little craft was given the name of the "Onrust." Proving restless as the name of his new vessel Block could not idly wait the arrival of the ships of the Fatherland, but set out at once on a voyage of exploration, to which the "Onrust" was well adapted, since with her he could venture into waters which were inaccessible to larger vessels.
He first explored the waters of what was later to be called The Bronx, pushing boldly through the arduous channel of what we now call Hell Gate, a name which at that time designated the entire East River. He thus made his way, the first of European navigators into the broad expanse of Long Island Sound. He coasted along its northern shore ; entered the inlet of New Haven, the Rodenberg or Red Hill of the Dutch; and sailed into the Connecticut, which, contrasting it with the salt and brackish water of the Hudson far into the interior, he called the Fresh Water River. The three-cornered island which Verrazano had seen and named, Block also saw, giving it his own name, which is the only appellation of his bestowal that has survived the changes of the years. He had by this time established the interesting fact that the long stretch of coast running almost directly east from the mouth of
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the Hudson, apparently a part of the mainland, was in reality an island. On the return voyage to Manhattan he fell in with Christiaensen's ship, which was directing its course to Holland, probably to announce the news of its master's fate. It was commanded by one Cornelius Hen- dricksen, so that it is not unlikely that he was the son of Hendrick Christiansen, if we are to judge from the prevailing custom of family names among the burgher class of Holland at that date. Block directed Hendricksen to take charge of the "Onrust" and to continue in her the series of discoveries which he had begun. He himself embarked in the "Fortune," and kept her on her course to Amsterdam, to report the result of his adventures. Besides his own explorations Block had also in charge to report those made by Captain May, in the ship "Fortune," of Hoorn. The latter had been partly over the same ground, for his testimony is appealed to later in regard to the clayey appearance of the soil of Martha's Vineyard, called "texel" by the Dutch. But May had been busy on the south coast of Long Island while Block was in the Sound north of it, for on his authority its length is given by the historian De Laet as being twenty-five (Dutch) miles from Montauk Point, or "Visscher's Hoek" to the Bay of New York.
Trade in New Netherland-Block went before the authorities of The Hague to make known to them the facts he had discovered. In March of that very year, 1614, the States-General had published a decree in the form of a "General Charter for those who discover New Passages, Havens, Countries, or Places," the reward being a monopoly of trade in those countries, but only to the extent of making four voyages thither. A resolution was adopted to grant a charter to the association of merchants with whom Block had allied himself, and the document was issued, signed, and sealed on October 11, 1614. It is of peculiar interest because it first officially gave the name of New Netherland to this por- tion of the Republic. In New Netherland meanwhile a second fort had been erected. It has been supposed that such was built on Manhattan Island in the year 1615. Twenty years later the West India Company. reminded the States-General in a memorial that "One or more little forts were built" under their High Mightinesses' jurisdiction, "even before the year 1614." But this declaration, like some other of their historical statements, admits of doubt. And while learned historians differ as to the fact whether any fort was erected on Manhattan before that constructed by Director Minuit in 1626, perhaps we are not far amiss in looking for the origin of the rumor that there was, in the very probable circumstance that Hendrick Christiaensen may have construct- ed breastworks or have surrounded his little hamlet with a stockade in anticipation of a visit from English forces. Neither on the Figurative
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map, nor on what we may call Hendricksen's Map of 1616, do we notice any indication of a fort on Manhattan Island. But near the head of navigation there undoubtedly was one; and indeed so great appeared to be the necessity for a stronghold there that we find one succeeding another in rapid succession. Christiaensen's Fort Nassau, with Jacon Eelkens in command, remained "occupied steadily through three years," says De Laet, "and then fell into decay."
When the three years of exclusive trade to New Netherland conceded to the "United Netherland Company" had expired, the merchants who constituted it found it difficult to obtain a renewal of the privilege, for other merchants claimed the right to send ships thither. One com- pany of adventurers, headed by a Hendrick Eelkens, possibly a relative of Jacob Eelkens, obtained permission to send a ship, the "Schilt," or Shield, from their port of Amsterdam to the North River, as the Mauri- tius River had become designated, to distinguish it from the South River, or the Delaware. In 1630 Captain Cornelius Jacobsen May was active, visiting scenes which he had explored six or seven years before. In the ship called in translation the "Glad Tidings" he had sailed up the James River in Virginia. May claimed to have made discoveries and there was a great rivalry of claims, and finally the West India Company was formed, the charter being signed and sealed on June 3, 1621. It was not until 1623, however, that the company was ready for complete organization, and not until 1626 was the first regular colonial govern- ment provided for New Netherland. The interval was filled up with a number of voyages of which some were for purposes of trade merely, while others were made in the interest of colonization.
Westchester and The Bronx were settled in the main partly by an overflow from the Dutch population of New Amsterdam, and partly by settlers who moved there from New England. In this connection reference should be made to an incident which occurred about this time and which is interesting also on other grounds. In the first place it gives evidence that the idea of colonization, for which there had been made such slight provision in the charter of the West India Company, was distinctly entertained and its importance intelligently appreciated by many men in Holland whose attention had been directed to this country ; and in the second place because it connects the Hudson River and Manhattan Island with a neighboring colony, the advent of whose members to the shores of America is looked upon as the beginning of national history for the Republic of the United States. On February 20, 1620, a document was addressed to Maurice, Prince of Orange, the Stadtholder of the Republic of the Netherlands. It was a petition from the directors of the "New Netherland Company." The company was still in existence and actively engaged in the trade to the Hudson, al-
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though its charter had expired three years after January 1, 1615. The trade was open to all, and, as they remark in this paper, other associa- tions and private merchants were also despatching vessels thither. There is not in their petition any trace of a desire to revive their monopoly. Another project was in their minds. Beyond a trading post they had conceived the idea of making the banks of the Hudson the seat of a regular colony. But it was not easy for Holland to colonize uninhabited districts in foreign lands. Much as has been said by some writers about the overcrowded condition of the United Provinces, we have to accept such statements with caution. There was ample space for all within the territories of the Seven Provinces. At any rate they were not a people inclined to leave the Fatherland permanently. Restlessly diligent in pursuing wealth or glory to the remotest parts of the earth, the sons of Holland ever cherished the expectation of spending their last days amid the early associations of home. So it will be seen that the first attempts of colonization in connection with New Netherland depended for the supply of colonists upon refugees who had found an asylum in free Holland from religious persecution in their own lands. These having been once transplanted, and not yet rooted to the soil, it seemed easier for them to make another change.
English Puritans in Holland-It happened, the petitioners informed the Prince, and through him the government, that there was "residing in Leyden a certain English preacher, versed in the Dutch language, who is well inclined to proceed thither to live," meaning New Nether- land. What is more he was representative in this proposal of no less than four hundred families who would "accompany him thither both out of this country and England." Here was thus a golden opportunity for forming a colony : a thousand people at their doors, indebted to Holland for a home and freedom of worship during a dozen years, besides several hundred fellow-sufferers in England ready to join their brethren in this change of abode, and likely to be equally grateful for the favor accorded. Eagerly did the directors of the New Netherland Company recommend this project to the Prince, requesting that they be aided in transporting these families. They had themselves, as we learn else- where, made generous proposals to the English exiles; New England historians call them "large offers," and well they may, for the directors promised to give them free passage to America, and furnish every family with cattle. But there was danger to be apprehended on the high seas as well as after they should have landed on the distant shores, from the vindictive persecution of their own king; and hence the direc- tors begged the Dutch government to take the enterprise under its pro- tection and to allow two armed ships to accompany the expedition.
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