| By Author | [ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z | Other Symbols ] |
| By Title | [ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z | Other Symbols ] |
| By Language |
|
Download this book: [ ASCII | HTML | PDF ] Look for this book on Amazon Tweet |
Title: Footprints of the Redmen
Author: Ruttenber, E. M.
Language: English
As this book started as an ASCII text book there are no pictures available.
*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Footprints of the Redmen" ***
[Illustration: Cover]
[Illustration: Map of Hudson's River, part 1.]
[Illustration: Map of Hudson's River, part 2.]
[Illustration: Map of New Netherlands, part 1.]
[Illustration: Map of New Netherlands, part 2.]
FOOTPRINTS OF THE RED MEN.
* * * * *
Indian Geographical Names
IN THE VALLEY OF HUDSON'S RIVER,
THE VALLEY OF THE MOHAWK,
AND ON THE DELAWARE:
THEIR LOCATION AND THE PROBABLE
MEANING OF SOME OF THEM.
* * * * *
BY
E. M. RUTTENBER,
_Author of "History of the Indian Tribes of Hudson's River."_
* * * * *
"Indian place-names are not proper names, that is unmeaning words, but
significant appellatives each conveying a description of the locality
to which it belongs."--_Trumbull._
* * * * *
PUBLISHED UNDER THE AUSPICES
OF THE
New York State Historical Association.
* * * * *
Copyrighted by the
NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
1906.
* * * * *
{INDEX p. 237}
Primary Explanations.
* * * * *
The locatives of the Indian geographical names which have been handed
down as the names of boundmarks or of places or tribes, are properly a
subject of study on the part of all who would be familiar with the
aboriginal geography of a district or a state. In many cases these names
were quite as designative of geographical centers as are the names of
the towns, villages and cities which have been substituted for them. In
some cases they have been wisely retained, while the specific places to
which they belonged have been lost. In this work special effort has been
made, first, to ascertain the places to which the names belonged as
given in official records, to ascertain the physical features of those
places, and carry back the thought to the poetic period of our
territorial history, "when the original drapery in which nature was
enveloped under the dominion of the laws of vegetation, spread out in
one vast, continuous interminable forest," broken here and there by the
opened patches of corn-lands and the wigwams and villages of the
redmen; secondly, to ascertain the meanings of the aboriginal names,
recognizing fully that, as Dr. Trumbull wrote, "They were not proper
names or mere unmeaning marks, but significant appellatives conveying a
description of the locatives to which they were given." Coming down to
us in the crude orthographies of traders and unlettered men, they are
not readily recognized in the orthographies of the educated missionaries,
and especially are they disguised by the varying powers of the German,
the French, and the English alphabets in which they were written by
educated as well as by uneducated scribes, and by traders who were
certainly not very familiar with the science of representing spoken
sounds by letters. In one instance the same name appears in forty-nine
forms by different writers. Many names, however, have been recognized
under missionary standards and their meanings satisfactorily ascertained,
aided by the features of the localities to which they were applied; the
latter, indeed, contributing very largely to their interpretation.
Probably the reader will find geographical descriptions that do not
apply to the places where the name is now met. The early settlers made
many transfers as well as extensions of names from a specific place to
a large district of country. It must be remembered that original
applications were specific to the places which they described even
though they were generic and applicable to any place where the same
features were referred to. The locatives in Indian deeds and original
patents are the only guide to places of original application, coupled
with descriptive features where they are known.
No vocabularies of the dialects spoken in the lower valley of the Hudson
having been preserved, the vocabularies of the Upper-Unami and the
Minsi-Lenape, or Delaware tongues on the south and west, and the Natick,
or Massachusetts, on the north and east, have been consulted for
explanations by comparative inductive methods, and also orthographies
in other places, the interpretations of which have been established by
competent linguists. In all cases where the meaning of terms has been
particularly questioned, the best expert authority has been consulted.
While positive accuracy is not asserted in any case, it is believed that
in most cases the interpretations which have been given may be accepted
as substantially correct. There is no poetry in them--no "glittering
waterfalls," no "beautiful rivers," no "smile of the Great Spirit," no
"Holy place of sacred feasts and dances," but plain terms that have
their equivalents in our own language for a small hill, a high hill, a
mountain, a brook, a creek, a kill, a river, a pond, a lake, a swamp,
a large stone, a place of small stones, a split rock, a meadow, or
whatever the objective feature may have been as recognized by the
Indian. Many of them were particular names in the form of verbals
indicating a place where the action of the verb was performed;
occasionally the name of a sachem is given as that of his place of
residence or the stream on which he resided, but all are from generic
roots.
To the Algonquian dialects spoken in the valley of Hudson's River at the
time of the discovery, was added later the Mohawk--Iroquorian, to some
extent, more particularly on the north, where it appears about 1621-6,
as indicated in the blanket deed given by the Five Nations to King
George in 1726. Territorially, in the primary era of European invasion,
the Eastern Algonquian prevailed, in varying idioms, on both sides of
the river, from a northern point to the Katskills, and from thence south
to the Highlands a type of the Unami-Minsi-Lenape or Delaware. That
spoken around New York on both sides of the river, was classed by the
early Dutch writers as Manhattan, as distinguished from dialects in the
Highlands and from the Savano or dialects of the East New England coast.
North of the Highlands on both sides of the river, they classed the
dialect as Wapping, and from the Katskills north as Mahican or Mohegan,
preserved in part in what is known as the Stockbridge. Presumably the
dialects were more or less mixed and formed as a whole what may be
termed "The Hudson's River Dialect," radically Lenape or Delaware, as
noted by Governor Tryon in 1774. In local names we seem to meet the
Upper-Unami and the Minsi of New Jersey, and the Mohegan and the Natick
of the north and east, the Quiripi of the Sound, and the dialect of the
Connecticut Valley. In the belt of country south of the Katskills they
were soft and vocalic, the lingual mute _t_ frequently appearing and
_r_ taking the place of the Eastern _l_ and _n._ In the Minsi (Del.)
Zeisberger wrote _l_ invariably, as distinguished from _r,_ which
appears in the earliest local names in the valley of the Hudson. Other
dialectic peculiarities seem to appear in the exchange of the sonant
_g_ for the hard sound of the surd mute _k,_ and of _p_ for _g,_ _s_
for _g,_ and _t_ for _d,_ _st_ for _gk,_ etc. Initials are badly mixed,
presumably due in part at least, to the habit of Indian speakers in
throwing the sound of the word forward to the penult; in some cases to
the lack of an "Indian ear" on the part of the hearer.
In structure all Algonquian dialects are Polysynthetic, _i. e.,_ words
composed wholly or in part of other words or generic roots. Pronunciations
and inflections differ as do the words in meaning in many cases. In all
dialects the most simple combinations appear in geographical names,
which the late Dr. J. H. Trumbull resolved into three classes, viz.:
"I. Those formed by the union of two elements, which we will call
_adjectival_ and _substantival,_ or ground-word, with or without a
locative suffix, or post-position word meaning 'at,' 'in,' 'on,' 'near,'
etc. [I use the terms 'adjectival' and 'substantival,' because no true
adjectives or substantives enter into the composition of Algonquian
names. The adjectival may be an adverb or a preposition; the
substantival element is often a verbal, which serves in composition as
a generic name, but which cannot be used as an independent word--the
synthesis always retains the verbal form.] II. Those which have a single
element, the _substantival,_ or ground-word, with locative suffix.
III. Those formed from verbs as participials or verbal nouns, denoting
a place where the action of the verb is performed. Most of these latter,
however," he adds, "may be shown by strict analysis to belong to one of
the two preceding classes, which comprise at least nine-tenths of all
Algonquian local names which have been preserved." For example, in Class
I, _Wapan-aki_ is a combination of _Wapan,_ "the Orient," "the East,"
and _aki,_ "Land, place or country," _unlimited;_ with locative suffix
(_-ng,_ Del., _-it,_ Mass.), "In the East Land or Country." _Kit-ann-ing,_
Del., is a composition from _Kitschi,_ "Chief, principal, greatest,"
_hanné,_ "river," and _ing_ locative, and reads, "A place at or on the
largest river." The suffix _-aki, -acki, -hacki,_ Del., meaning "Land,
place, or country, _unlimited,_" in Eastern orthographies _-ohke, -auke,
-ague, -ke, -ki,_ etc., is changed to _-kamik,_ or _-kamike,_ Del.,
_-kamuk_ or _-komuk,_ Mass., in describing "Land or place _limited,_" or
enclosed, a particular place, as a field, garden, and also used for
house, thicket, etc. The Eastern post-position locatives are _-it, -et,
-at, -ut;_ the Delaware, _-ng, -nk,_ with connecting vowel _-ing, -ink,
-ong, -onk, -ung, -unk,_ etc. The meaning of this class of suffixes is
the same; they locate a place or object that is at, in, or on some other
place or object, the name of Which is prefixed, as in Delaware _Hitgunk,_
"On or to a tree;" _Utenink,_ "In the town;" _Wachtschunk,_ "On the
mountain." In some cases the locative takes the verbal form indicating
place or country, Williams wrote "_Sachimauónck,_ a Kingdom or Monarchy."
Dr. Schoolcraft wrote: "From _Ojibwai_ (Chippeway) is formed
_Ojib-wain-ong,_ 'Place of the Chippeways;' _Monominikaun-ing,_ 'In the
place of wild rice,'" Dr. Brinton wrote "_Walum-ink,_ 'The place of
paint.'" The letter _s,_ preceding the locative, changes the meaning of
the latter to near, or something less than at or on. The suffixes _-is,
-it, -os, -es_ mean "Small," as in _Ménates_ or _Ménatit,_ "Small
island." The locative affix cannot be applied to an animal in the sense
of at, in, on, to. There are many formative inflections and suffixes
indicating the plural, etc.
Mohawk or Iroquoian names, while polysynthetic, differ from Algonquian
in construction. "The adjective," wrote Horatio Hale, "when employed
in an isolated form, follows the substantive, as _Kanonsa,_ 'house;'
_Kanonsa-kowa,_ 'large house;' but in general the substantive and
adjective coalesce." In some cases the adjective is split in two, and
the substantive inserted, as in _Tiogen,_ a composition of _Te,_ "two,"
and _ogen,_ "to separate," which is split and the word _ononté,_
"mountain," or hill, inserted, forming _Te-ononté-ogen,_ "Between two
mountains," "The local relations of nouns are expressed by affixed
particles, such as _ke, ne, kon, akon, akta._ Thus from _Onónta,_
mountain, we have _Onóntáke,_ at (or to) the mountain; from _Akéhrat_
dish, _Akehrátne,_ in or on the dish," etc. From the variety of its
forms and combinations it is a more difficult language than the
Algonquian. No European has fully mastered it.
No attempt has been made to correct record orthographies further than
to give their probable missionary equivalents where they can be
recognized. In many cases crude orthographies have converted them into
unknown tongues. Imperfect as many of them are and without standing in
aboriginal glossaries, they have become place names that may not be
disturbed. No two of the early scribes expressed the sound of the same
name in precisely the same letters, and even the missionaries who gave
attention to the study of the aboriginal tongues, did not always write
twice alike. Original sounds cannot now be restored. The diacritical
marks employed by Williams and Eliot in the English alphabet, and by
Zeisberger and Heckewelder in the German alphabet, are helpful in
pronunciations, but as a rule the corrupt local record orthographies
are a law unto themselves. In quoting diacritical marks the forms of the
learned linguists who gave their idea of how the word was pronounced,
have been followed. It is not, however, in the power of diacritical
marks or of any European alphabet to express correctly the sound of an
Algonquian or of an Iroquoian word as it was originally spoken, or write
it in European characters. Practically, every essential element in
pronunciation is secured by separating the forms into words or parts of
words, or particles, of which it is composed, (where the original
elements of the composition cannot be detected) by syllabalizing on the
vowel sounds. An anglicized vocalism of any name may be readily
established and an original name formed in American nomenclature, as
many names in current use amply illustrates. Few would suspect that
_Ochsechraga_ (Mohawk) was the original of Saratoga, or that _P'tuk-sepo_
(Lenape) was the original of Tuxedo.
A considerable number of record names have been included that are not
living. They serve to illustrate the dialect spoken in the valley as
handed down by European scribes of different languages, as well as the
local geography of the Indians. The earlier forms are mainly Dutch
notations. A few Dutch names that are regarded by some as Indian, have
been noticed, and also some Indian names on the Delaware River which,
from the associations of that river with the history of the State, as
in part one of its boundary streams, as well as the intimate associations
of the names with the history of the valley of Hudson's River, become
of especial interest.
In the arrangement of names geographical association has been adopted
in preference to the alphabetical, the latter being supplied by index.
This arrangement seems to bring together dialectic groups more
satisfactorily. That there were many variations in the dialects spoken
in the valley of Hudson's River no one will deny, but it may be asserted
with confidence that the difference between the German and the English
alphabets in renderings is more marked than differences in dialects. In
so far as the names have been brought together they form the only key
to the dialects which were spoken in the valley. Their grammatical
treatment is the work of skilled philologists.
Credit has been given for interpretations where the authors were known,
and especially to the late eminent Algonquian authority, J. Hammond
Trumbull. Special acknowledgment of valuable assistance is made to the
late Dr. D. G. Brinton, of Philadelphia; to the late Horatio Hale,
M. A., of Clinton, Ontario, Canada; to the late Prof. J. W. Powell, of
the Bureau of Ethnology, Washington, D. C, and his successor, William H.
Holmes, and their co-laborers, Dr. Albert S. Gatschet and J. B. N.
Hewitt, and to Mr. William R. Gerard, of New York.
The compilation of names and the ascertaining of their locatives and
probable meanings has interested me. Where those names have been
preserved in place they are certain descriptive landmarks above all
others. The results of my amateur labors may be useful to others in the
same field of inquiry as well as to professional linguists. Primarily
the work was not undertaken with a view to publication. Gentlemen of
the New York Historical Association, with a view to preserve what has
been done, and which may never be again undertaken, have asked the
manuscript for publication, and it has been given to them for that
purpose.
E. M. RUTTENBER.
Newburgh, January, 1906.
INDIAN GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES.
* * * * *
Hudson's River and Its Islands.
Muhheakun'nuk, "The great waters or sea, which are constantly in motion,
either ebbing or flowing," was written by Chief Hendrick Aupaumut, in
his history of the Muhheakun'nuk nation, as the name of Hudson's River,
in the Stockbridge dialect, and its meaning. The first word, _Muhheakun,_
was the national name of the people occupying both banks of the river
from Roelof Jansen's Kill, a few miles south of Catskill, on the east
side of the river, north and east with limit not known, and the second
_-nuk,_ the equivalent of Massachusetts _-tuk,_ Lenape _-ittuk,_ "Tidal
river, or estuary," or "Waters driven by waves or tides," with the
accessory meaning of "great." Literally, in application, "The great
tidal river of the Muhheakan'neuw nation." The Dutch wrote the national
name _Mahikan, Maikan,_ etc., and the English of Connecticut wrote
Mohegan, which was claimed by Drs. Schoolcraft and Trumbull to be
derived from _Maingan_ (Cree _Mahéggun_), "Wolf"--"an enchanted wolf,
or a wolf of supernatural powers." From their prevailing totem or
prevailing coat-of-arms, the Wolf, the French called them _Loups,_
"wolves," and also _Manhingans,_ including under the names "The nine
nations gathered between Manhattan and Quebec." While the name is
generic its application to Hudson's River was probably confined to the
vicinity of Albany, where Chief Aupaumut located their ancient capital
under the name of Pem-po-tow-wut-hut Muh-hea-kan-neuw, "The fire-place
of the Muh-hea-kan-nuk nation." [FN] The Dutch found them on both sides
of the river north of Catskill, with extended northern and eastern
alliances, and south of that point, on the east side of the river, in
alliance with a tribe known as Wappans or Wappings, Wappani, or
"East-side people," the two nations forming the Mahikan nation of
Hudson's River as known in history. (See Wahamensing.)
* * * * *
[FN] Presumed to have been at what is now known as Scho-lac, which see.
Father Jogues, the French-Jesuit martyr-missionary, wrote in 1646,
_Oi-o-gué_ as the Huron-Iroquoian name of the river, given to him at
Sarachtoga, with the connection "At the river." "_Ohioge,_ river;
_Ohioge-son,_ at the long river," wrote Bruyas. Arent van Curler wrote
the same name, in 1634, Vyoge, and gave it as that of the Mohawk River,
correcting the orthography, in his vocabulary, to "_Oyoghi,_ a kill" or
channel. It is an Iroquoian generic applicable to any principal stream
or current river, with the ancient related meaning of "beautiful river."
It is said that the Mohawks called the river _Cohohataton._ I have not
met that name in records. It was quoted by Dr. Schoolcraft as
traditional, and of course doubtful. He wrote it _Kohatatea,_ and in
another connection wrote "_-atea,_ a valley or landscape." It is
suspected that he coined the name, as he did many others. _Shate-muck_
is quoted as a Mohegan [FN-1] name, but on very obscure evidence,
although it may have been the name of an eel fishing-place, or a great
fishing-place (_-amaug_). Hudson called the stream "The River of the
Mountains." On some ancient maps it is called "Manhattans River." The
Dutch authorities christened it "Mauritus' River" in honor of their
Staat-holder, Prince Maurice. The English recognized the work of the
explorer by conferring the title "Hudson's River." It is a fact
established that Verrazano visited New York harbor in 1524, and gave to
the river the name "Riviere Grande," or Great River; that Estevan Gomez,
a Spanish navigator who followed Verrazano in 1525, called it "St.
Anthony's River," a name now preserved as that of one of the hills of the
Highlands, and it is claimed that French traders visited the river, in
1540, and established a _château_ on Castle [FN-2] Island, at Albany,
[FN-3] and called the river "Norumbega." It may be conceded that possibly
French traders did have a post on Castle Island, but "Norumbega" was
obviously conferred on a wide district of country. It is an Abnaki term
and belonged to the dialect spoken in Maine, where it became more or less
familiar to French traders as early as 1535. That those traders did
locate trading posts on the Penobscot, and that Champlain searched for
their remains in 1604, are facts of record. The name means "Quiet" or
"Still Water." It would probably be applicable to that section of
Hudson's River known as "Stillwater," north of Albany, but the evidence
is wanted that it was so applied. Had it been applied by the tribes to
any place on Hudson's River, it would have remained as certainly as
_Menaté_ remained at New York.
* * * * *
[FN-1] "_Mohegans_ is an anglicism primarily applied to the small band
of Pequots under Uncas." (Trumbull.) While of the same linguistic
stock, neither the name or the history of Uncas's clan should be
confused with that of the Mahicani of Hudson's River.
[FN-2] Introduced by the Dutch--_Kasteel._ The Indians had no such word.
The Delawares called a house or hut or a town that was palisaded,
_Moenach,_ and Zeisberger used the same word for "fence"--an enclosure
palisaded around. Eliot wrote _Wonkonous,_ "fort."
[FN-3] It is claimed that the walls of this fort were found by Hendrick
Christiansen, in 1614; that they were measured by him and found to
cover an area of 58 feet; that the fort was restored by the Dutch and
occupied by them until they were driven out by a freshet, occasioned by
the breaking up of the ice in the river in the spring of 1617; that the
Dutch then built what was subsequently known as Fort Orange, at the
mouth of the Tawalsentha, or Norman's Kill, about two miles south of
the present State street, Albany, and that Castle Island took that name
from the French _château_--all of which is possible, but for conclusive
reasons why it should not be credited, the student may consult
"Norumbega" in Winsor's "Narrative and Critical History of America."
Wrote Dr. Trumbull: "Theuet, in _La Cosmographie Universella,_ gives
an account of his visit, in 1656, to 'one of the finest rivers in the
whole world, which we call _Norumbeque,_ and the aboriginees _Agoncy,'_
now Penobscot Bay."
[Illustration: HUDSON'S RIVER, 1609. From Hudson's Chart.]
Manhattan, now so written, does not appear in the Journal of Hudson's
exploration of the river in 1609. On a Spanish-English map of 1610,
"Made for James I," and sent to Philip III by Velasco in letter of March
22, 1611, [FN-1] _Mannahatin_ is written as the name of the east side
of the river, and _Mannahata_ as that of the west side. From the former
_Manhattan,_ and from it also the name of the Indians "among whom" the
Dutch made settlement in 1623-4, otherwise known by the general name of
_Wickquaskecks,_ as well as the name of the entire Dutch possessions.
[FN-2] Presumably the entries on the Spanish-English map were copied
from Hudson's chart, for which there was ample time after his return to
England. Possibly they may have been copied by Hudson, who wrote that
his voyage "had been suggested" by some "letters and maps" which "had
been sent to him" by Capt. Smith from Virginia. Evidently the notations
are English, and evidently, also, Hudson, or his mate, Juet, had a chart
from his own tracing or from that of a previous explorer, which he
forwarded to his employers, or of which they had a copy, when he wrote
in his Journal: "On _that side_ of the river called _Mannahata,_" as a
reference by which his employers could identify the side of the river
on which the Half-Moon anchored, [FN-3] Presumably the chart was drawn
by Hudson and forwarded with his report, and that to him belongs the
honor of reducing to an orthographic form the first aboriginal name of
record on the river which now bears his name. Five years after Hudson's
advent Adriaen Block wrote _Manhates_ as the name of what is now New
York Island, and later, De Vries wrote _Manates_ as the name of Staten
Island, both forms having the same meaning, _i. e.,_ "Small island."
There have been several interpretations of Mannahatin, the most
analytical and most generally accepted being by the late Dr. J. H.
Trumbull: "From _Menatey_ (Del.), 'Island'--_Mannahata_ 'The Island,'
the reference being to the main land or to Long Island as the large
island. _Menatan_ (Hudson's _Mannah-atin,_ _-an_ or _-in,_ the
indefinite or diminutive form), 'The small island,' or the smaller of
the two principal islands, the Manhates of Adriaen Block. [FN-4]
_Manáhtons,_ 'People of the Island,' _Manáhatanesen,_ 'People of the
small islands.'" [FN-5] The Eastern-Algonquian word for "Island"
(English notation), is written _Munnoh,_ with formative _-an_
(Mun-nohan). It appears of record, occasionally, in the vicinity of
New York, presumably introduced by interpreters or English scribes. The
usual form is the Lenape _Menaté,_ Chippeway _Minnis,_ "Small island,"
classed also as Old Algonquian, or generic, may be met in the valley of
the Hudson, but the instances are not clear. It is simply a dialectic
equivalent of Del. _Ménates._ (See Monach'nong.) Van Curler wrote in his
Mohawk vocabulary (1635), "_Kanon-newaga_, Manhattan Island." The late
J. W. Powell, Director of the Bureau of Ethnology, wrote me: "In the
alphabet of this office the name may be transliterated _Kanoñnò'ge._ It
signifies 'Place of Reeds.'" Perhaps what was known as the "Reed Valley"
was referred to, near which Van Twiller had a tobacco plantation where
the Indians of all nations came to trade. (See Saponickan.) The lower
part of the island was probably more or less a district of reed swamps.
* * * * *
[FN-1] Brown's "Genesis of the United States," 327, 457, 459, ii, 80.
[FN-2] Colonial History of New York.
[FN-3] Hudson anchored in the bay near Hoboken. Near by his anchorage
he noticed that "there was a cliff that looked of the color of white
green." This cliff is near Elysian Fields at Hoboken. (Broadhead.)
The cliff is now known as Castle Point.
[FN-4] The reference to Adriaen Block is presumably to the "Carte
Figurative" of 1614-16, now regarded as from Block's chart.
[FN-5] "Composition of Indian Geographical Names," p. 22.
Pagganck, so written in Indian deed of 1637, as the name of Governor's
Island--Peconuc, Denton, is an equivalent of _Pagán'nak,_ meaning
literally "Nut Island." Also written _Pachgan,_ as in _Pachganunschi,_
"White walnut trees." (Zeisb.) Denton explained, "Because excellent nut
trees grew there." [FN] The Dutch called it "der Nooten Eilandt,"
literally "The Walnut Island," from whence the modern name, "Nutten
Island." The island was purchased from the Indian owners by Director
Wouter van Twiller, from whose occupation, and its subsequent use as a
demense of the governors of the Province, its present name.
* * * * *
[FN] Denton's "Description of New York," p. 29. Ward's and Blackwell's
islands were sold to the Dutch by the Marechawicks, of Long Island, in
1636-7. Governor's Island was sold in the same year by the Tappans,
Hackinsacks and Nyacks, the grantors signing themselves as "hereditary
owners." Later deeds were signed by chiefs of the Raritans and
Hackinsacks.
Minnisais is not a record name. It was conferred on Bedloe's Island by
Dr. Schoolcraft from the Ojibwe or Chippeway dialect, [FN] in which it
means "Small island."
* * * * *
[FN] The Objibwe (Objibwai) were a nation of three tribes living
northwest of the great lakes, of which the Ojibwai or Chippeway
represented the Eagle totem. It is claimed by some writers that their
language stands at the head of the Algonquian tongues. This claim is
disputed on behalf of the Cree, the Shawanoe, and the Lenape or
Delaware. It is not assumed that Ojibwe (Chippeway) terms are not
Algonquian, but that they do not strictly belong to the dialects of the
Hudson's river families. Rev. Heckewelder saw no particular difference
between the Ojibwe and the Lenape except in the French and the English
forms. Ojibwe terms may always be quoted in explanations of the Lenape.
Kiosh, or "Gull Island," was conferred on Ellis Island by Dr.
Schoolcraft from the Ojibwe dialect. The interpretation is correct
presumably.
Tenkenas is of record as the Indian name of what is now known as Ward's
Island. [FN] It appears in deed of 1636-7. It means "Small island,"
from _Tenke_ (Len.), "little."
* * * * *
[FN] The Dutch called the island _Onvruchtbaar,_ "Unfruitful, barren."
The English adopted the signification, "Barren," which soon became
corrupted to "Barrent's," to which was added "Great" to distinguish it
from Randal's Island, which was called "Little Barrent's Island." Barn
Island is another corruption. Both islands were "barren" no doubt.
Monatun was conferred by Dr. Schoolcraft on the whirlpool off Hallet's
Cove, with the explanation, "A word conveying in its multiplied forms
the various meanings of violent, forcible, dangerous, etc." Dr.
Schoolcraft introduced the word as the derivative of Manhatan, which,
however, is very far from being explained by it. _Hell-gate,_ a vulgar
orthography of Dutch _Hellegat,_ has long been the popular name of the
place. It was conferred by Adriaen Block, in 1614-16, to the dangerous
strait known as the East River, from a strait in Zealand, which,
presumably, was so called from Greek _Helle,_ as heard in Hellespont--"Sea
of Helle"--now known as the Dardanelles--which received its Greek name
from _Helle,_ daughter of Athamas, King of Thebes, who, the fable tells
us, was drowned in passing over it. Probably the Dutch sailors regarded
the strait as the "Gate of Hell," but that is not the meaning of the
name--"a dangerous strait or passage." In some records the strait is
called _Hurlgate,_ from Dutch _Warrel,_ "Whirl," and _gat,_ "Hole, gap,
mouth"--substantially, "a whirlpool."
Monachnong, deed to De Vries, 1636; _Menates,_ De Vries's Journal;
_Ehquaons_ (Eghquaous, Brodhead, by mistake in the letter _n_), deed of
1655, and _Aquehonge-Monuchnong,_ deed to Governor Lovelace, 1670, are
forms of the names given as that of Staten Island, and are all from
Lenape equivalents. _Menates_ means "Small island" as a whole;
_Monach'nong_ means a "Place on the island," or less than the whole, as
shown by the claims of the Indians in 1670, that they had not previously
sold all the island. (Col. Hist. N. Y., xiii, 453.) It is the equivalent
of _Menach'hen,_ Minsi; _Menach'n,_ Abn., "Island," and _ong,_ locative;
in Mass. _Mimnoh-han-auke._ (See Mannhonake.) _Eghquaons_ and _Aquehonga_
are equivalents, and also equivalents of _Achquoanikan-ong,_ "Bushnet
fishing-place," of which _Acquenonga_ is an alternate in New Jersey.
(Nelson's "Indians of New Jersey," 122.) In other words, the Indians
conveyed places on the island, including specifically their "bushnet
fishing-place," and by the later deed to Lovelace, conveyed all unsold
places. The island was owned by the Raritans who resided "behind the
Kol," and the adjoining Hackensacks. (Deed of 1655.) Its last Indian
occupants were the Nyacks, who removed to it after selling their lands
at New Utrecht. (See Paganck note.)
Minnahanock, given as the name of Blackwell's Island, was interpreted by
Dr. Trumbull from _Munnŏhan,_ Mass., the indefinite form of _Munnŏh,_
"Island," and _auke,_ Mass., "Land" or place. Dr. O'Callaghan's "Island
home," is not in the composition. (See Mannhonake.)
* * * * *
On Manhattan Island.
Kapsee, Kapsick, etc., the name of what was the extreme point of land
between Hudson's River and the East River, and still known as Copsie
Point, was claimed by Dr. Schoolcraft to be Algonquian, and to mean,
"Safe place of landing," which it may have been. The name, however,
is pretty certainly a corruption of Dutch _Kaap-hoekje,_ "A little cape
or promontory."
Saponickan and Sapohanican are the earliest forms of a name which
appears later Sappokanican, Sappokanikke, Saponican, Shawbackanica,
Taponkanico, etc. "A piece of land bounded on the north by the strand
road, called Saponickan" (1629); "Tobacco plantation _near_ Sapohanican"
(1639); "Plantation situate against the Reed Valley _beyond_
Sappokanican" (1640). Wouter van Twiller purchased the tract, in 1629,
for the use of the Dutch government and established thereon a tobacco
plantation, with buildings enclosed in palisade, which subsequently
became known as the little village of Sapokanican--Sappokanican, Van
der Donck--and later (1721) as Greenwich Village. It occupied very
nearly the site of the present Gansevort market. The "Strand road" is
now Greenwich Street. It was primarily, an Indian path along the shore
of the river north, with branches to Harlem and other points, the main
path continuing the trunk-path through Raritan Valley, but locally
beginning at the "crossing-place," or, as the record reads, "Where the
Indians cross [the Hudson] to bring their pelteries." [FN-1] "South of
Van Twiller's plantation was a marsh much affected by wild-fowl, and
a bright, quick brook, called by the Dutch 'Bestavar's Kil,' and by the
English 'Manetta Water.'" [FN-2] (Half-Moon Series.) _Saponickan_ was in
place here when Van Twiller made his purchase (1629), as the record
shows, and was adopted by him as the name of his settlement. To what
feature it referred cannot be positively stated, but apparently to the
Reed Valley or marsh. It has had several interpretations, but none that
fare satisfactory. The syllable _pon_ may denote a bulbous root which
was found there. (See Passapenoc.) The same name is probably met in
Saphorakain, or Saphonakan, given as the name of a tract described as
"Marsh and canebrake," lying near or on the shore of Gowanus Bay,
Brooklyn. (See Kanonnewage, in connection with Manhattan.)
* * * * *
[FN-1] "Through this valley pass large numbers of all sorts of tribes
on their way north and east." (Van Tienhoven, 1650.) "Where the Indians
cross to bring their pelteries." (De Laet, 1635.) The crossing-place
is now known as Pavonia. The path crossed the Spuyten Duyvil at Harlem
and extended along the coast east. To and from it ran many "paths and
roads" on Manhattan, which, under the grant to Van Twiller, were to
"forever remain for the use of the inhabitants." The evidence of an
Indian village at or near the landing is not tangible. The only village
or settlement of which there is any evidence was that which gathered
around Van Twiller's plantation, which was a noted trading post for
"all sorts of tribes."
[FN-2] Bestevaar (Dutch) means "Dear Father," and Manetta (Manittoo,
Algonquian), means, "That which surpasses, or is more than ordinary."
Water of more than ordinary excellence. (See Manette.)
Nahtonk, Recktauck, forms of the name, or of two different names, of
Corlear's Hook, may signify, abstractively, "Sandy Point," as has been
interpreted; but apparently, _Nahtonk_ [FN-1] is from _Nâ-i,_ "a point
or corner," and _Recktauck_ [FN-2] from _Lekau_ (Requa), "Sand gravel"--a
"sandy place." It was a sandy point with a beach, entered, on English
maps, "Crown Point."
* * * * *
[FN-1] Naghtonk (Benson); Nahtonk (Schoolcraft); Rechtauck (record).
It was to the huts which were located here to which a clan of Long
Island Indians fled for protection, in February, 1643, and were
inhumanly murdered by the Dutch. The record reads: "Where a few
Rockaway Indians from Long Island, with their chief, Niande Nummerus,
had built their wigwams." (Brodhead.) "And a party of freemen behind
Corlear's plantation, on the Manhattans, who slew a large number and
afterwards burned their huts." The name of the Chief, _Niande
Nummerus,_ is corrupted from the Latin _Nicanda Numericus,_ the name
of a Roman gens. De Vries wrote, "Hummerus, a Rockaway chief, who I
knew."
[FN-2] See Rechqua-hackie. "The old Harlem creek, on Manhattan Island,
was called Rechawanes, or 'Small, sandy river.'" (Gerard.)
Warpoes is given as the name of "a small hill" on the east side and
"near ye fresh water" lake or pond called the _Kolk_ (Dutch "pit-hole"),
which occupied several acres in the neighborhood of Centre Street. [FN-1]
The Indian name is that of the narrow pass between the hill and the
pond, which it described as "small" or narrow. (See Raphoos.)
In the absence of record names, the late Dr. Schoolcraft conferred, on
several points, terms from the Ojibwe or Chippeway, which may be
repeated as descriptive merely. A hill at the corner of Charlton and
Varick streets was called by him _Ishpatinau,_ "A bad hill." [FN-2] A
ridge or cliff north of Beekman Street, was called _Ishibic,_ "A bad
rock;" the high land on Broadway, _Acitoc;_ a rock rising up in the
Battery, _Abie,_ and Mount Washington, _Penabic,_ "The comb mountain."
The descriptions are presumably correct, but the features no longer
exist.
* * * * *
[FN-1] "By ye edge of ye hill by ye fresh water." (Cal. N. Y. Land
Papers, 17.) The Dutch name ran into _Kalch, Kolack_ and _Collect,_
and in early records "_Kalch-hock._" from its peculiar shape,
resembling a fish-hook.
[FN-2] "At ye sand Hills near the Bowery." (Cal. N. Y. Land Papers.
17.) _Ishpetouga_ was given by the same writer to Brooklyn Heights,
with the explanation "High, sandy banks," but the term does not
describe the character of the elevation. (See Espating.)
Muscota is given as the name of the "plain or meadow" known later as
Montagne's Flat, between 108th and 124th streets. (Col. Hist. N. Y.,
xiv.) It also appears as the name of a hill, and in Muskuta as that of
the great flat on the north side of the Spuyten Duivel. "The first
point of the main land to the east of the island Papirinimen, there
where the hill Muskuta is." The hill takes the name from the meadows
which it describes. "_Moskehtu,_ a meadow." (Eliot.)
Papinemen (1646), Pahparinnamen (1693), Papirinimen (modern), are forms
of the Indian name used interchangeably by the Dutch with Spuyten Duivel
to designate a place where the tide-overflow of the Harlem River is
turned aside by a ridge and unites with Tibbet's Brook, constituting
what is known as the Spuyten Duivel Kill, correctly described by Riker
in his "History of Harlem": "The narrow kill called by the Indians
Pahparinamen, which, winding around the northerly end of Manhattan,
connected the Spuyten Duyvil with the Great Kill or Harlem River, gave
its name to the land contiguous to it on either side." The locative of
the name is clearly shown in the boundaries of the Indian deed to Van
der Donck, in 1646, and in the subsequent Philipse Patent of 1693, the
former describing the south line of the lands conveyed as extending from
the Hudson "to Papinemen, called by our people Spuyten Duivel," and the
latter as extending to and including "the neck, island or hummock,
Pahparinnamen," on the north side of the passage, at which point, in the
early years of Dutch occupancy, a crossing place or "wading place" was
found which had been utilized by the Indians for ages, and of which
Jasper Bankers and Peter Sluyter wrote, in 1679-80, "They can go over
this creek, at dead or low water, upon the rocks and reefs, at a place
called Spuyt ten Duyvel." From this place the name was extended to the
"island or hummock" and to what was called "the Papirinameno Patent,"
at the same point on the south side of the stream, to which it was
claimed to belong in 1701. Mr. Riker's assignment of the name to the
Spuyten Duivel passage is probably correct. The "neck, island or
hummock" was a low elevation in a salt marsh or meadow. It was utilized
as a landing place by the Indians whose path ran from thence across the
marsh "to the main." Later, the path was converted to a causeway or
road-approach to what is still known as King's Bridge. A ferry was
established here in 1669 and known as "The Spuyten Duyvil passage or
road to and from the island to the main." In 1692 Governor Andros gave
power to the city of New York to build a bridge "over the Spiken devil
ferry," and the city, with the consent of the Governor, transferred the
grant to Frederick Philipse. In giving his consent the Governor made the
condition that the bridge "should thenceforth be known and called King's
Bridge." It was made a free bridge in 1758-9. The "island or hummock"
came to be the site of the noted Macomb mansion.
The name has not been satisfactorily translated. Mr. Riker wrote, "Where
the stream closes," or is broken off, recognizing the locative of the
name. Ziesberger wrote, Papinamen, "Diverting," turning aside, to go
different ways; accessorily, that which diverts or turns aside, and
place where the action of the verb is performed. Where the Harlem is
turned aside or diverted, would be a literal description.
[Illustration: The Sputen Duyvel]
Spuyten Duyvil, now so written, was the early Dutch nickname of the
Papirinimen ford or passage, later known as King's Bridge. "By our
people called," wrote Van der Donck in 1652, indicating conference by
the Dutch prior to that date. It simply described the passage as evil,
vicious, dangerous. Its derivatives are _Spui,_ "sluice;" _Spuit,_
"spout;" _Spuiten,_ "to spout, to squirt, to discharge with force," as
a waterspout, or water forced through a narrow passage. _Duyvil_ is a
colloquial expression of viciousness. The same name is met on the Mohawk
in application to the passage of the stream between two islands near
Schenectady. The generally quoted translation, "_Spuyt den Duyvil,_ In
spite of the Devil," quoted by Brodhead as having been written by Van
der Donck, has no standing except in Irving's "Knickerbocker History of
New York." Van der Donck never wrote the sentence. He knew, and Brodhead
knew, that _Spuyt_ was not _Spijt,_ nor _Spuiten_ stand for _Spuitten._
The Dutch for "In spite of the Devil," is _In Spijt van Duivel._ The
sentence may have been quoted by Brodhead without examination. It was a
popular story that Irving told about one Antony Corlear's declaration
that he would swim across the ford at flood tide in a violent storm,
"In spite of the devil," but obviously coined in Irving's brain. It may,
however, had for its foundation the antics of a very black and muscular
African who was employed to guard the passage and prevent hostile
Indians as well as indiscreet Dutchmen from crossing, and who, for the
better discharge of his duty, built fires at night, armed himself with
sword and firebrands, vociferated loudly, and acted the character of a
devil very well. At all events the African is the only historical devil
that had an existence at the ford, and he finally ran away and became
merged with the Indians. _Spiting Devil,_ an English corruption, ran
naturally into _Spitting Devil,_ and some there are who think that that
is a reasonably fair rendering of Dutch _Spuiten._ They are generally
of the class that take in a cant reading with a relish.
Shorakkapoch and Shorackappock are orthographies of the name of record
as that of the cove into which the Papirinemen discharges its waters at
a point on the Hudson known as Tubby Hook. It is specifically located
in the Philipse charter of 1693: "A creek called Papparinnemeno which
divides New York Island from the main land, so along said creek as it
runs to Hudson's River, which part is called by the Indians
Shorackhappok," _i. e._ that part of the stream on Hudson's River. In
the patent to Hugh O'Neil (1666): "To the Kill Shorakapoch, and then to
Papirinimen," _i. e.,_ to the cove and thence east to the Spuyten Duyvil
passage. "The beautiful inlet called Schorakapok." (Riker.) Dr. Trumbull
wrote "_Showaukuppock_ (Mohegan), a cove." William R. Gerard suggests
"_P'skurikûppog_ (Lenape), 'forked, fine harbor,' so called because it
was safely shut in by Tubby Hook, [FN-1] and another Hook at the north,
the current taking a bend around the curved point of rock (covered at
high tide) that forked or divided the harbor at the back." Dr. Brinton
wrote: "_W'shakuppek,_ 'Smooth still water;' _pek,_ a lake, cove or any
body of still water; _kup,_ from _kuppi,_ 'cove.'" Bolton, in his
"History of Westchester County," located at the mouth of the stream, on
the north side, an Indian fort or castle under the name of _Nipinichen,_
but that name belongs on the west side of the Hudson at Konstable's
Hook, [FN-2] and the narrative of the attack on Hudson's ship in 1609,
noted in Juet's Journal, does not warrant the conclusion that there was
an Indian fort or castle in the vicinity. A fishing village there may
have been. At a later date (1675) the authorities permitted a remnant
of the Weckquasgecks to occupy lands "On the north point of Manhattan
Island" (Col, Hist. N. Y., xiii, 494), and the place designated may
have been in previous occupation.
* * * * *
[FN-1] Tubby Hook, Dutch _Tobbe Hoeck,_ from its resemblance to a
washtub.
[FN-2] Called Konstabelshe's Hoek from a grant of land to one Jacobus
Roy, the Konstabel or gunner at Fort Amsterdam, in 1646.
[Illustration: THE PALISADES FROM YONKERS.]
* * * * *
Names on the East from Manhattan North.
Keskeskick, "a piece of land, situated opposite to the flat on the
island of Manhattan, called Keskeskick, stretching lengthwise along the
Kil which runs behind the island of Manhattan, beginning at the head of
said Kil and running to opposite of the high hill by the flat, namely
by the great hill," (Deed of 1638.) _Kaxkeek_ is the orthography of
Riker (Hist. of Harlem); and _Kekesick_ that of Brodhead (Hist. New
York), in addition to which may be quoted _Keesick_ and _Keakates,_
given as the names of what is now known as Long Pond, which formed the
southeast boundary of the tract, where was also a salt marsh or meadow.
In general terms, the name means a "meadow," and may have been that of
this salt marsh (a portion of the name dropped) or of the flat. The root
is _Kâk,_ "sharp;" _Kâkákes,_ "sharp grass," or sedge-marsh;
_Sik-kákaskeg,_ "salt sedge-marsh." (Gerard.) _Micûckaskéete,_ "a
meadow." (Williams.) _Muscota,_ now in use, is another word for meadow.
Mannepies is quoted by Riker (Hist. Harlem) as the name of the hilly
tract or district of Keskeskick, described as lying "over against the
flats of the island of Manhattan." It is now preserved as the name of
Cromwell Lake and creek, and seems to have been the name of the former.
The original was probably an equivalent of _Menuppek,_ "Any enclosed
body of water great or small." (Anthony.)
Neperah, Nippiroha, Niperan, Nepeehen, Napperhaera, Armepperahin, the
latter of date 1642 (Col. Hist. N. Y., xiii, 9), forms of record as the
name of Sawmill Creek, and also quoted as the name of the site of the
present city of Yonkers, has been translated by Wm. R. Gerard, from the
form of 1642: "A corruption of _Ana-nepeheren,_ that is, 'fishing
stream' or 'fishing rapids.'" _Ap-pehan_ (Eliot), "a trap, a snare."
There was an Indian village on the north side of the stream in 1642.
(Col. Hist. N. Y., xiii, 9.)
Nepahkomuk, Nappikomack, etc., quoted as the name of a place on Sawmill
Creek, and also as the name of an Indian village at Yonkers, may have
been the name of the latter by extension. It has been translated with
apparent correctness from _Nepé-komuk_ (Mass.), "An enclosed or occupied
water-place." [FN]
* * * * *
[FN] This translation is from _Nepe (Nepa, Nape, Nippe,_ etc.), meaning
"water," generally, and _Komuk,_ "place enclosed, occupied, limited," a
particular body of water. "The radical of _Nipe_ is _pe_ or _pa,_ which,
with the demonstrative and definitive _ne_ prefixed, formed the noun
_nippe,_ water." (Trumbull.) _Nape-ake (-auke, -aki)_ means "Water-land,"
or water-place. _Nape-ek,_ Del., _Nepeauk,_ Mass., means "Standing
water," a lake or pond or a stretch of still water in a river.
_Menuppek,_ "Lake, sea, any enclosed body of water, great or small."
(Anthony.) _Nebi, nabe, m'bi, be,_ are dialectic forms. The Delaware
_M'hi_ (Zeisb.) is occasionally met in the valley, but the Massachusetts
_Nepe_ is more frequent. _Gami_ is another noun-generic meaning "Water"
(Cree, _Kume_). _Komuk_ (Mass.), _Kamick_ (Del.), is frequently met in
varying orthographies. In general terms it means "Place, limited or
enclosed," a particular place as a field, garden, house, etc., as
distinguished from _auke,_ "Land, earth, unlimited, unenclosed."
Meghkeekassin, the name of a large rock in an obscure nook on the west
side of the Neperah, near the Hudson, is written _Macackassin_ in deed
of 1661. It is from _Mechek,_ Del., "great," and _assin_ "stone."
"_Meechek-assin-ik,_ At the big rock." (Heckewelder.) The name is also
of record _Amack-assin,_ a Delaware term of the same general
meaning--"_Amangi,_ great, big (in composition _Aman-gach_), with the
accessory notion of terrible, frightful." (Dr. Brinton.) Presumably, in
application here, "a monster," _i. e._ a stone not of the native
formation usually found in the locality. [FN]
* * * * *
[FN] The Indians are traditionally represented as regarding boulders of
this class, as monuments of a great battle which was fought between
their hero myth Micabo and Kasbun his twin brother, the former
representing the East or Orient, and the latter the West, the imagery
being a description of the primary contest between Light and
Darkness--Light gleaming from the East and Darkness retreating to the
West before it. Says the story: "The feud between the brothers was
bitter and the contest long and doubtful. It began on the mountains of
the East. The face of the land was seamed and torn by the wrestling of
the mighty combatants, and the huge boulders that are scattered about
were the weapons hurled at each other by the enraged brothers." The
story is told in its several forms by Dr. Brinton in his "American Hero
Myths."
Wickquaskeck is entered on Van der Donck's map as the name of an Indian
village or castle the location of which is claimed by Bolton to have
been at Dobb's Ferry, where the name is of record. It was, however, the
name of a place from which it was extended by the early Dutch to a very
considerable representative clan or family of Indians whose jurisdiction
extended from the Hudson to or beyond the Armonck or Byram's River, with
principal seat on the head waters of that stream, or on one of its
tributaries, who constituted the tribe more especially known to the
Dutch settlers as the Manhattans. Cornelius Tienhoven, Secretary of New
Amsterdam, wrote, in 1654, "_Wicquaeskeck_ on the North River, five
miles above New Amsterdam, is very good and suitable land for
agriculture. . . . This land lies between the Sintsinck and Armonck
streams, situate between the East and North rivers." (Doc. Hist, N. Y.,
iv, 29.) "Five miles," Dutch, was then usually counted as twenty miles
(English). Standard Dutch miles would be about eighteen. The Armonck is
now called Byram River; it flows to the Sound on the boundary line
between New York and Connecticut. A part of the territory of this tribe
is loosely described in a deed of 1682, as extending--"from the rock
Sighes, on Hudson's River, to the Neperah, and thence north until you
come to the eastward of the head of the creek, called by the Indians
Wiequaskeck, [FN] stretching through the woods to a kill called
Seweruc," including "a piece of land about Wighqueskeck," _i. e._ about
the head of the creek, which was certainly at the end of a swamp. The
historic seat of the clan was in this vicinity. In the narrative of the
war of 1643-5, it is written, "He of Witqueschreek, living N. E. of
Manhattans. . . . The old Indian (a captive) promised to lead us to
Wetquescheck." He did so, but the castles, three in number, strongly
palisaded, were found empty. Two of them were burned. The inmates, it
was learned, had gathered at a large castle or village on Patucquapaug,
now known as Dumpling Pond, in Greenwich, Ct., to celebrate a festival.
They were attacked there and slaughtered in great numbers. (Doc. Hist.
N. Y., iv, 29.) Bolton's claim that the clan had a castle at or near
Dobb's Ferry, may have been true at some date. The name appears in many
orthographies; in 1621, _Wyeck;_ in treaty of 1645, _Wiquaeshex;_ in
other connections, _Witqueschreek, Weaquassick,_ and Van der Donck's
_Wickquaskeek._ Bolton translated it from the form, _Weicquasguck,_
"Place of the bark kettle," which is obviously erroneous. Dr. Trumbull
wrote: "From Moh. _Weegasoeguck,_ 'the end of the marsh or wet meadow.'"
Van der Donck's _Wickquaskeck_ has _the same meaning._ It is from Lenape
_Wicqua-askek--wicqua,_ "end of," _askek,_ "swamp," marsh, etc.: _-ck,
-eck,_ formative.
* * * * *
[FN] The creek now bearing the name flows to the Hudson through the
village of Dobb's Ferry. Its local name, "Wicker's creek," is a
corruption of Wickquaskeek. It was never the name of an individual.
Pocanteco, Pecantico, Puegkandico and Perghanduck, a stream so called
[FN-1] in Westchester County, was translated by Dr. O'Callaghan from
_Pohkunni,_ "Dark." "The dark river," and by Bolton from _Pockawachne,_
"A stream between hills," which is certainly erroneous. The first word
is probably _Pohk_ or _Pak,_ root _Paken_ (_Pákenum,_ "Dark," Zeisb.;
_Pohken-ahtu,_ "In darkness," Eliot). The second may stand for
_antakeu,_ "Woods," "Forest," and the combination read "The Dark Woods."
The stream rises in New Castle township and flows across the town of Mt.
Pleasant to the Hudson at Tarrytown, where it is associated with
Irving's story of Sleepy Hollow. The Dutch called it "Sleeper's-haven
Kil," from the name which they gave to the reach on the Hudson,
"Verdrietig Hoek," or "Tedious Point," because the hook or point was so
long in sight of their slow-sailing vessels, and in calms their crews
slept away the hours under its shadows, "Over against the Verdrietig
Hoek, commonly called by the name of Sleeper's Haven," is the record.
Pocanteco was a heavily wooded valley, and suggested to the early
mothers stories of ghosts to keep their children from wandering in its
depths. From the woods or the valley the name was extended to the
stream.[FN-2] (See Alipkonck.)
* * * * *
[FN-1] December 1st, 1680, Frederick Phillips petitioned for liberty to
purchase "a parcel of land on each side of the creek called by the
Indians Pocanteco, . . . adjoining the land he hath already purchased;
there to build and erect a saw-mill." (Col. Hist. N. Y., xiii, 546.)
[FN-2] "Far in the foldings of the hills winds this wizard
stream--sometimes silently and darkly through solemn woodlands.. . .
In the neighborhood of the aqueduct is a deep ravine which forms the
dreamy region of Sleepy Hollow." (Sketch Book.)
Alipkonck is entered on Van der Donck's map of 1656, and located with
the sign of an Indian village south of Sing Sing. Bolton (Hist. West.
Co.) claimed it as the name of Tarrytown, and translated it, "The place
of elms," which it certainly does not mean. Its derivative, however, is
disguised in its orthography, and its locative is not certain.
Conjecturally _Alipk_ is from _Wálagk_ (surd mutes _g_ and _p_ exchanged),
"An open place, a hollow or excavation." The locative may have been
Sleepy Hollow. _Tarrytown,_ which some writers have derived from _Tarwe_
(Dutch), "Wheat"--Wheat town--proves to be from an early settler whose
name was _Terry,_ pronounced _Tarry,_ as written in early records. The
Dutch name for Wheat town would be Tarwe-stadt, which was never written
here.
Oscawanna, an island so called, lying a short distance south of Cruger's
Station on N. Y. Central R. R., Hudson River Division, is of record, in
1690, _Wuscawanus._ (Doc. Hist. N. Y., ii, 237.) It seems to have been
from the name of a sachem, otherwise known as Weskora, Weskheun,
Weskomen, in 1685. _Wuski,_ Len., "New, young;" _Wuske'éne_ Williams, "A
youth."
[Illustration: SOUTHERN GATEWAY OF THE HIGHLANDS]
Shildrake, or Sheldrake, given as the name of Furnace Brook, takes that
name from an extended forest known in local records as "The Furnace
Woods." By exchange of _l_ and _n,_ it is probably from _Schind,_
"Spruce-pine" (Zeisb.); _aki,_ "Land" or place. _Schindikeu,_ "Spruce
forest" ("Hemlock woods," Anthony). (See Shinnec'ock.) Furnace Brook
takes that name from an ancient furnace on its bank. In 1734 it was
known as "The old-mill stream." _Jamawissa,_ quoted as its Indian name,
seems to be an aspirated form of _Tamaquese,_ "Small beaver." (See
Jamaica.)
Sing-Sing--Sinsing, Van der Donck; _Sintsing,_ treaty of 1645--usually
translated, "At the standing-stone," and "Stone upon stone," means "At
the small stones," or "Place of small stones"--from _assin_ "stone;"
_is,_ diminutive, and _ing,_ locative. _Ossinsing,_ the name of the
town, has the same meaning; also, Sink-sink, L. I., ind Assinising,
Chemung County. The interpretation is literally sustained in the
locative on the Hudson.
Tuckahoe, town of East Chester, is from _Ptuckweōō,_ "It is round."
It was the name of a bulbous root which was used by the Indians for food
and for making bread, or round loaves. (See Tuckahoe, L. I.)
Kitchiwan, modern form; _Kitchawanc,_ treaty of 1643; _Kichtawanghs,_
treaty of 1645; _Kitchiwan,_ deed of 1645; _Kitchawan,_ treaty of 1664;
the name of a stream in Westchester County from which extended to an
Indian clan, "Is," writes Dr. Albert S. Gatschet of the Bureau of
Ethnology, "an equivalent of _Wabenaki-ke'dshwan, -kidshuan,_ suffixed
verbal stem, meaning 'Running Swiftly,' 'Rushing water,' or current,
whether over rapids or not. _Sas-katchéwan,_ Canada, 'The roiley,
rushing stream'; _assisku,_ 'Mud, dirt.' (Cree.) The prefix _ki_ or
_ke,_ is nothing else than an abbreviation of _kitchi,_ 'great,'
'large,' and here 'strong.' Examples are frequent as -kitchuan,
-kitchawan, Mass.; kesi-itsooaⁿn or taⁿn, Abn., Kussi-tchuan, Mass., 'It
swift flows.' The prefix is usually applied to streams which rise in the
highlands and flow down rapidly descending slopes." The final _k_ in some
of the early forms, indicates pronunciation with the guttural aspirate,
as met in _wank_ and wangh in other local names. [FN] The final _s_ is a
foreign plural usually employed to express "people," or tribe. The
stream is now known as the _Croten_ from _Cnoten,_ the name of a
resident sachem, which by exchange of _n_ and _r,_ becomes _Croten,_ an
equivalent, wrote Dr. Schoolcraft of _Noten,_ Chip., "The wind."
"Bounded on the south by Scroton's River" (deed of 1703); "Called by
the Indians Kightawank, and by the English Knotrus River." (Col. N. Y,
Land Papers, 79.)
* * * * *
[FN] Dr. Trumbull wrote in the Natick (Mass.) dialect, "_Kussitchuan,
-uwan,_ impersonal verb, 'It flows in a rapid stream,' a current; it
continues flowing; as a noun, 'a rapid stream.'" In Cree, _Kussehtanne,_
"Flowing as a stream" In Delaware, _-tanne_ has its equivalent in
_-hanne._ "The impersonal verb termination _-awan, -uan,_ etc., is
sometimes written with the participial and subjunctive _k_" (_ka_ or
_gh._) (Gerard.) The _k_ or _gh_ appears in some forms of Kitchawan.
(See Waronawanka.)
Titicus, given as the name of a branch of the Croton flowing from
Connecticut, is of record Mutighticos and Matightekonks, translated by
Dr. Trumbull from _Mat'uhtugh-ohke,_ "Place without wood," from which
extended to the stream. (See Mattituck and Sackonck.)
Navish is claimed as the name of Teller's (now Croton) Point, on a
reading of the Indian deed of 1683: "All that parcel, neck or point of
land, with the meadow ground or valley adjoining, situate, lying and
being on the east side of the river over against Verdrietig's Hooke,
commonly called and known by the name of Slauper's Haven and by the
Indians Navish, the meadow being called by the Indians Senasqua."
Clearly, Navish refers to Verdrietig Hook, on the west side of the
river, where it is of record. It is an equivalent of _Newás_ (Len.),
"promontory." (See Nyack-on-the-Hudson.)
Nannakans, given as the name of a clan residing on Croton River, is an
equivalent of _Narragans_ (_s_ foreign plural), meaning "People of the
point," the locative being Croton Point. (See Nyack.) This clan, crushed
by the war of 1643-5, removed to the Raritan country, where, by
dialectic exchange of _n_ and _r,_ they were known as Raritanoos, or
Narritans. They were represented, in 1649, by Pennekeck, "The chief
behind the Kul, having no chief of their own." (Col. Hist. N. Y., xiii.)
The interpretation given to their removal, by some writers, viz., "That
the Wappingers removed to New Jersey," is only correct in a limited
sense. The removal was of a single clan or family. The Indians on both
sides of the Hudson here were of kindred stock and were largely
intermarried. (See Raritans and Pomptons.)
Senasqua, quoted as the name of Teller's Point (now Croton Point), and
also as the name of Teller's Neck, is described as "A meadow,"
presumably on the neck or point. It is an equivalent of Del.
_Lenaskqual,_ "Original grass," (Zeisb.), _i. e._ grass which was
supposed to have grown on the land from the beginning. (Heck.) Called
"Indian grass" to distinguish it from "Whitemen's grass." [FN]
* * * * *
[FN] _Askquall,_ or _Askqua,_ is an inanimate plural in the termination
_-all, -al,_ or _-a._ All grass was not described by _Maskik,_ in which
the termination _-ik_ is the animate plural.
Peppeneghek is a record form of the name quoted as that of what is now
known as Cross-river.
Kewighecack, the name of a boundmark of Van Cortlandt's Manor, is
written on the map of the Manor _Keweghteuack_ as the name of a bend in
the Croton west of Pine Bridge. It is from _Koua, Kowa, Cuwé,_
"Pine"--_Cuwé-uchac,_ "Pine wood, pine logs." (Zeisb.)
Kestaubniuk is entered on Van der Donck's map as the name of an Indian
place or village north of Sing Sing. On Vischer's map the orthography
is _Kestaubocuck._ Dr. Schoolcraft wrote _Kestoniuck,_ "Great Point,"
and claimed that the last word had been borrowed and applied to Nyack
on the opposite side of the river, but this is a mistake as Nyack is
generic and of local record where it now is as early as 1660, and is
there correctly applied. No one seems to know where Kestaubniuk was, but
the name is obviously from _Kitschi-bonok,_ "Great ground-nut place."
_Ketche-punak_ and _Ketcha-bonac,_ L. I., _K'schobbenak,_ Del.
Menagh, entered in Indian deed to Van Cortlandt, 1683, as the name of
what is now known as Verplanck's Point, is probably from _Menach'en_
(Del.), the indefinite form of _Menátes,_ diminutive, meaning "Small
island." The point was an island in its separation from the main land
by a water course. Monack, Monach, Menach, are other orthographies of
the name.
Tammoesis is of record as the name of a small stream north of Peekskill.
Appamaghpogh, now _Amawalk,_ seems to have been extended to a tract of
land without specific location. It is presumed to have been the name of
a fishing place on what is now known as Mohegan Lake _Appéh-ama-paug,_
"Trap fishing place," or pond. _Amawalk,_ is from _Nam'e-auke,_
"Fishing-place," (Trumbull.) In the Massachusetts dialect _-pogh_ stands
for "pond," or water-place.
Keskistkonck, Pasquasheck, and Nochpeem are noted on Van der Donck's map
in the Highlands. In Colonial History is the entry (1644),
"Mongochkonnome and Papenaharrow, chiefs of Wiquseskkack and Nochpeems."
On the east side of the river, apparently about opposite the Donderberg,
is located, on early maps, the _Pachimi,_ who, in turn, are associated
in records with the _Tankitekes._ Pacham is given as the name of a noted
chief of the early period. His clan was probably the Pachimi.
Keskistkonck was a living name as late as 1663, but disappears after
that date. "The Kiskightkoncks, who have no chief now, but are counted
among the foregoing savages." (Col. Hist. N. Y., xiii, 303.)
Sachus, Sachoes and Sackoack are quoted as names of Peekskill, and
_Magrigaries_ as the name of the stream. The latter is an orthography
of _MacGregorie's,_ from Hugh MacGregorie, an owner of lands on the
stream. [FN-1] Though quoted as the name of Peak's Kill, it was the name
given to a small creek south of that stream, as per map of 1776.
_Sachus_ and _Sachoes_ are equivalents, and probably refer to the mouth
or outlet of the small or MacGregorie's Creek--_Sakoes_ or _Saukoes._
_Sackonck_ has substantially the same meaning--_Sakunk,_ "At the mouth
or outlet of a creek or river." There was, however, a resident sachem
who was called _Sachoes,_ probably from his place of residence, but
which can be read "Black Kettle," from _Suckeu,_ "black," and _ōōs,_
"kettle." Peekskill is modern from Peak's Kill, so called from Jan Peak,
[FN-2] the founder of the settlement. The Indian name of the stream is
noted, in deed of 1695, "Called by the Indians _Paquintuk,_" probably
an equivalent of _Pokqueantuk,_ "A broad, open place in a tidal river or
estuary." Peekskill Bay was probably referred to. (See Sackonck.)
* * * * *
[FN-1] Hugh MacGregorie was son of Major Patrick MacGregorie, the first
settler in the present county of Orange. He was killed in the Leisler
rebellion in New York in 1691. The son, Hugh, and his mother, were
granted 1500 acres of land "At a place called John Peaches creek." No
fees were charged for the patent out of respect for the memory of Major
MacGregorie, as he then had "lately died in His Majesty's service in
defence of the Province." (Doc. Hist. N. Y., ii, 364.) MacGregories
sold to Van Cortlandt in 1696.
[FN-2] Peake, an orthography of _Peak,_ English; Dutch, _Piek_;
pronounced _Pek_ (_e_ as _e_ in wet); English, _Pek_ or _Peck._
Kittatinny, erroneously claimed to mean "Endless hills," and to describe
the Highlands as a continuation of the Allegheny range, belongs to
Anthony's Nose [FN-1] to which, however, it has no very early record
application. It is from _Kitschi,_ "Principal, greatest," and _-atinny,_
"Hill, mountain," applicable to any principal mountain peak compared
with others in its vicinity. [FN-2]
* * * * *
[FN-1] The origin of the name is uncertain. Estevan Gomez, a Spanish
navigator, wrote "St. Anthony's River" as the name of the Hudson, in
1525. The current explanation, "Antonius Neus, so called from fancied
resemblance to the nose of one Anthony de Hoages," is a myth. The name
as the early Dutch understood it, is no doubt more correctly explained
by Jasper Bankers and Peter Sluyter in their Journal of 1679-80: "A
headland and high hill in the Highlands, so called because it has a
sharp ridge running up and down in the form of a nose," but fails to
explain St. Anthony, or Latin Antonius. The name appears also on the
Mohawk river and on Lake George, presumably from resemblance to the
Highland peak.
[FN-2] The Indians had no names for mountain ranges, but frequently
designated certain peaks by specific names. "Among these aboriginal
people," wrote Heckewelder, "every tree was not the tree, and every
mountain the mountain; but, on the contrary, everything is
distinguished by its specific name." Kittatinny was and is the most
conspicuous or greatest hill of the particular group of hills in its
proximity and was spoken of as such in designating the boundmark.
Sacrahung, or Mill River, "takes its name from _Sacra,_ 'rain.' Its
liability to freshets after heavy rains, may have given origin to the
name." (O'Callaghan.) Evidently, however, the name is a corruption of
_Sakwihung_ (Zeish.), "At the mouth of the river." The record reads,
"A small brook or run called Wigwam brook, but by some falsely called
Sackwrahung." (Deed of 1740.)
Quinnehung, a neck of land at the mouth and west side of Bronx River, is
presumed to have been the name of Hunter's Point. The adjectival
_Quinneh,_ is very plainly an equivalent of _Quinnih_ (Eliot), "long,"
and _-ung_ or _-ongh_ may stand for place--"A long place, or neck of
land." (See Aquchung.)
Sackonck and Matightekonck, record names of places petitioned for by
Van Cortlandt in 1697, are located in general terms, in the petition,
in the neighborhood of John Peak's Creek and Anthony's Nose. (Cal. N. Y.
Land Papers, 49.) The first probably referred to the mouth of Peak's
Creek (Peekskill). _Sakunk_ (Heck.), "At the mouth or outlet of a creek
or river." _Saukunk_ (Donck) is another form. (See Titicus.)
Aquehung, Acqueahounck, etc., was translated by Dr. O'Callaghan, "The
place of peace." from _Aquene,_ Nar., "peace," and _unk,_ locative.
Dr. Trumbull wrote, "A place _on this side_ of some other place," from
the generic _Acq._ The description in N. Y. Land Papers reads, "Bounded
on the east by the river called by the Indians Aquehung," the river
taking its name from its position as a boundary "on this side" of which
was the land. The contemporary name, _Ran-ahqua-ung,_ means "A place on
the other side," corresponding with the description, "On the other side
of the Great Kil." Bolton assigns Acqueahounck to Hutchinson's Creek,
the west boundary of the town of Pelham. The "Great Kil" is now the
Bronx.
Kakeout, the name of the highest hill in Westchester County, is from
Dutch _Kijk-uit,_ "Look-out--a place of observation, as a tower, hill,"
etc. It appears also in Rockland and in Ulster County and on the Mohawk.
(See Kakiate.)
Shappequa, a name now applied to the Shappequa Hills and to a mineral
spring east of Sing-Sing, and destined to be remembered as that of the
home of Horace Greeley, was primarily given to locate a tract now
embraced in the towns of New Castle and Bedford, and, as in all such
cases, was a specific place by which the location could be identified,
but which in turn has never been identified. The name is apparently a
form of _Chepi_ written also _Chappa,_ signifying, "Separated, apart
from, a distinct place." [FN] (See Kap-hack.)
* * * * *
[FN] The word _Chippe_ or _Shappa,_ means not only separate, "The
separate place," but was employed to describe a future
condition--Chepeck, the dead. As an adjective, _Chippe_ (El.) signifies
separated, set apart. _Chepiohkomuk,_ the place of separation. The same
word was used for 'ghost,' 'spectre,' 'evil spirit.' (Trumbull.) The
corresponding Delaware word was _Tschipey._ It is not presumed that the
word was made use of here in any other sense than its literal
application, "A separate place." Bolton assigns the name to a Laurel
Swamp, but with doubtful correctness.
Aspetong, a bold eminence in Bedford, is an equivalent of _Ashpohtag,_
Mass., "A high place," "A height." (Trumbull.) See Ishpatinau.
Quarepos, of record as the name of the district of country called by the
English "White Plains," from the primary prevalence there of white
balsam (Dr. O'Callaghan), seems to have been the name of the lake now
known as St. Mary's. _Quar_ is a form of _Quin, Quan,_ etc., meaning
"Long," and _pos_ stands for _pog_ or _paug,_ meaning "Pond." The name
is met in _Quin'e-paug,_ "Long Pond." The pond lies along the east
border of the town of White Plains.
Peningo, the point or neck of land forming the southeastern extremity
of the town of Rye, [FN] was interpreted by Dr. Bolton, with doubtful
correctness: "From _Ponus,_ an Indian chief." The neck is some nine
miles long by about two miles broad and seems to have been primarily
a region of ridges and swamps.
* * * * *
[FN] Rye is from Rye, England. The derivative is _Ripe_ (Latin),
meaning, "The bank of a river." In French, "The sea-shore."
Apanammis, Cal. N. Y, Land Papers; Apauamis and Apauamin, Col. Hist.
N. Y.: Apawammeis, Apawamis, Apawqunamis, Epawames, local and Conn.
Records, is given as the name of Budd's Neck, between Mamaroneck River
and Blind Brook, Westchester County. Dr. Trumbull passed the name
without explanation. It is written as the name of a boundmark.
Mochquams and Moagunanes are record forms of the name of Blind Brook,
one of the boundary streams of the tract called Penningo, which is
described as lying "between Blind Brook and Byram River." (See Armonck.)
Magopson and Mangopson are orthographies of the name given as that of
De Lancey's Neck, described as "The great neck." (See Waumaniuck.) The
dialect spoken in eastern Westchester seems to have been _Quiripi_ (or
Quinipiac), which prevailed near the Sound from New Haven west.
Armonck, claimed as the name of Byram's River, was probably that of a
fishing place. In 1649 the name of the stream is of record, "Called by
the Indians _Seweyruck._" In the same record the land is called _Haseco_
and a meadow _Misosehasakey,_ interpreted by Dr. Trumbull, "Great fresh
meadow," or low wet lands. _Haseco_ has no meaning; it is now assigned
to Port Chester (Saw-Pits), and _Misosehasakey_ to Horse Neck. Armonck
has lost some of its letters. What is left of it indicates _Amaug,_
"fishing place." (Trumbull's Indian Names.)
Eauketaupucason, the name written as that of the feature in the village
of Rye known by the unpleasant English title of "Hog-pen Ridge," is,
writes Mr. William R. Gerard, "Probably an equivalent of Lenape
_Ogid-ápuchk-essen,_ meaning, 'There is rock upon rock,' or one rock
on another rock." Topography not ascertained.
Manussing--in will of Joseph Sherwood, _Menassink_--an island so called
in the jurisdiction of Rye, may be an equivalent of _Min-assin-ink,_
"At a place of small stones," _Minneweis,_ now City Island, is in the
same jurisdiction.
Mamaroneck, now so written as the name of a town in Westchester County,
is of record, in 1644, Mamarrack and Mamarranack; later, Mammaranock,
Mamorinack, Mammarinickes (1662), primarily as that of a "Neck or parcel
of land," but claimed to be from the name of an early sachem of the
Kitchtawanks whose territory was called Kitchtawanuck. [FN] Wm. R.
Gerard explains: "The dissyllabic root, _mamal,_ or _mamar,_ means 'To
stripe;' _Mamar-a-nak,_ 'striped arms,' or eyebrows, as the name of an
Indian chief who painted his arms in stripes or radiated his eyebrows,"
a custom noted by several early writers. There is no evidence that the
Kitchtawanuck sachem had either residence or jurisdiction here, nor is
his name signed to any deed in this district. The reading in one record,
"Three stripes or strips of land," seems to indicate that the name was
descriptive of the necks or strips of land. (See Waumaniuck.)
* * * * *
[FN] "Mamarranack and Waupaurin, chiefs of Kitchawanuck." (Col. Hist.
N. Y., xiii, 17.) The Kitchawan is now known as Croton river. It has
no connection whatever with Mamaroneck.
Waumaniuck and Maumaniuck, forms of the name of record as that of the
eastern part of De Lancey's Neck, or Seaman's Point, Westchester County,
as stated in the Indian deed of 1661, which conveyed to one John
Richbell "three necks of land," described as "Bounded on the east by
Mamaroneck River, and on the west by Gravelly or Stony Brook" (Cal.
N. Y. Land Papers, 5), the latter by the Indians called Pockotesse-wacke,
came to be known as Mamaraneck Neck, otherwise described as "The great
neck of land at Mamaroneck."
Pockotessewacke, given as the name of what came to be known as "Gravelly
or Stony Brook," and "Beaver-meadow Brook," [FN] has been translated by
Wm. R. Gerard, from "_Petuk-assin-icke,_ 'where there are numerous round
stones'"; a place from which the name was extended to the stream, or
the name of a place in the stream where there were numerous round
stones, _i. e._ paving stones or "hard-heads." _Esse (esseni)_ from
_assin,_ "stone," means "stony, flinty."
* * * * *
[FN] Pockotessewacke and Beaver-meadow Brook. (Cal. N. Y. Land Papers.)
[Illustration: Cro' Nest Mountain]
Manuketesuck, quoted by Bolton (Hist. West. Co.) as the name of Long
Island Sound and interpreted, "Broad flowing river," was more correctly
explained by Dr. Trumbull: "Apparently a diminutive of _Manunkatesuck,_
'Menhaden country,' from _Munongutteau,_ 'that which fertalizes or
manures land,' the Indian name for white fish or bony fish, which were
taken in great numbers by the Indians, on the shores of the Sound, for
manuring their corn lands."
Moharsic is said to have been the name of what is now known as
Crom-pond, in the town of Yorktown. The pond is in two parts, and the
name may mean, "Where two ponds meet," or come together. _Crom-pond_ is
corrupt Dutch from _Krom-poel,_ "Crooked pond."
Maharness, the name of a stream rising in Westchester County and flowing
east to the Sound, is also written _Mianus_ and _Mahanus,_ in Dutch
records _Mayane,_ correctly _Mayanno._ It was the name of "a sachem
residing on it between Greenwich and Stamford, Ct., who was killed by
Capt. Patrick, in 1643, and his head cut off and sent to Fort
Amsterdam." (Brodhead, i, 386.) Dr. Trumbull interpreted, "He who
gathers together." _Kechkawes_ is written as the name of the stream in
1640.
Nanichiestawack, given as the name of an Indian village on the southern
spur of Indian Hill (so called) in the town of Bedford, rests on
tradition.
Petuckquapaug, a pond in Greenwich, Ct., but originally under the
jurisdiction of the Dutch at Fort Amsterdam, signifies "Round Pond."
It is now called "Dumpling Pond." The Dutch changed the suffix to _paen,_
"soft land," and in that form described an adjacent district of low
land. (See Tappan.)
Katonah, the name of a sachem, is preserved in that of a village in the
town of Bedford. The district was known as "Katonah's land." In deed
of 1680, the orthography is Katōōnah--oo as in food.
Succabonk, a place-name in the town of Bedford, stands for Sagabonak-ong,
"Place of ground nuts," or wild potatoes. (See Sagabonock.)
Wequehackhe is written by Reichel ("Mem. Moravian Church") as the name
of the Highlands, with the interpretation, "The hill country"--"People
of the hill country." The name has no such meaning. _Weque_ or _Wequa,_
means "The end," and _-hackhe_ (hacki) means "Land," not up-land. In
other words, the boundary was the end of the Highlands.' [FN]
* * * * *
[FN] "_Hacki,_ land; _Len-hacki,_ up-land." (Zeisberger.) "When they
speak of highlands they say _Lennihacke,_ original lands; but they do
not apply the same name to low lands, which, being generally formed by
the overflowing or washing of streams, cannot be called original."
(Heckewelder.)
Mahopack, the modern form of the name of a lake in Putnam County, is of
record _Makoohpeck_ in 1765, and _Macookpack_ on Sauthier's map of 1774,
which seem to stand for _M'achkookpéeck_ (_Ukh-okpeck,_ Mah.), meaning
"Snake Lake," or "Water where snakes are abundant." (See Copake.) In
early years snakes were abundant in the region about the lake, and are
not scarce in present times. [FN] The lake is ten miles in circumference
and lies sixteen hundred feet above the level of Hudson's River. It
contains two or three small islands, on the largest of which is the
traditionally famous "Chieftain's Rock."
* * * * *
[FN] A wild, wet region among the hills, where the rattlesnake
abounded. They were formerly found in all parts of the Highlands, and
are still met frequently.
Canopus, claimed to have been the name of an Indian sachem and now
preserved in Canopus Hollow, Putnam County, is not Indian; it is Latin
from the Greek name of a town in Egypt. "_Can'pus,_ the Egyptian god
of water." (Webster.)
Wiccopee is of record as the name of the highest peak in the Fishkill
Mountains on the south border of East Fishkill. It is also assigned to
the pass or clove in the range through which ran the Indian path, now
the present as well as the ancient highway between Fishkill Village and
Peekskill, which was fortified in the war of the Revolution. An Indian
village is traditionally located in the pass, of which "one Wikopy" is
named as chief on the same authority. The name, however, has no
reference to a pass, path, village or chief; it is a pronunciation of
_Wecuppe,_ "The place of basswoods or linden trees," from the inner bark
of which (_wikopi_) "the Indians made ropes and mats--their tying bark
par excellence." (Trumbull.) "_Wikbi_, bast, the inner bark of trees."
(Zeisberger.) In Webster and The Century the name is applied to the
Leather-wood, a willowy shrub with a tough, leathery bark.
Matteawan, now so written, has retained that orthography since its first
appearance in 1685 in the Rombout Patent, which reads: "Beginning on
the south side of a creek called Matteawan," the exact boundmark being
the north side or foot of the hill known as Breakneck (_Matomps'k_). It
has been interpreted in various ways, that most frequently quoted
appearing in Spofford's Gazetteer: "From _Matai,_ a magician, and
_Wian,_ a skin; freely rendered, 'Place of good furs,'" which never
could have been the meaning; nor does the name refer to mountains to
which it has been extended. Wm. R. Gerard writes: "_Matáwan,_ an
impersonal Algonquian verb, meaning, 'It debouches into,' _i. e._ 'a
creek or river into another body of water,' substantially, 'a
confluence.'" This rendering is confirmed by Albert S. Gatschet, of the
Bureau of Ethnology, who writes: "Mr. Gerard is certainly right when he
explains the radix _mat--mata_--by confluence, junction, debouching,
and forming verbs as well as roots and nouns." _-A'wan, -wan -uan,_
etc., is an impersonal verb termination; it appears only in connection
with impersonal verbs. (See Waronawanka.) Matteawan is met in several
forms--Matawa and Mattawan, Ontario, Canada; Mattawan, Maine; Matawan,
Monmouth County, N. J.; Mattawanna, Pa.; Mattawoman, Maryland.
Fishkill, the English name of the stream of which Matteawan is the
estuary, is from Dutch _Vischer's Kil._ It was probably applied by the
Dutch to the estuary from _Vischer's Rak_ which the Dutch applied to a
reach or sailing course on the Hudson at this point. De Laet wrote:
"A place which our country-men call Vischer's Rack, [FN] that is
Fisherman's Bend." (See Woranecks.) On the earlier maps the stream, or
its estuary, is named _Vresch Kil,_ or "Fresh-water Kil," to distinguish
it from the brackish water of the Hudson. From the estuary extended to
the entire stream.
* * * * *
[FN] Rack is obsolete; the present word is _Recht._ It describes an
almost straight part of the river.
Woranecks, Carte Figurative 1614-16; _Waoranecks,_ 1621-25; _Warenecker,_
Wassenaer; _Waoranekye,_ De Laet, 1633-40; _Waoranecks,_ Van der Donck's
map, 1656--is located on the Carte Figurative north of latitude 42-15, on
the east side of the river. De Laet and Van der Donck place it between
what are now known as Wappingers' Creek and Fishkill Creek. De Laet
wrote: "Where projects a sandy point and the river becomes narrower,
there is a place called Esopus, where the Waoranekys, another barbarous
nation, have their abode." Later, Esopus became permanent on the west
side of the river at Kingston. It is a Dutch corruption of Algonquian
_Sepus,_ meaning brook, creek, etc., applicable to any small stream.
From De Laet's description, [FN] there is little room for doubt that the
"sandy point" to which he referred is now known as Low Point, opposite
the Dans Kamer, at the head of Newburgh Bay, where the river narrows,
or that Esopus was applied to Casper's Creek. On Van der Donck's map the
"barbarous nation" is given three castles on the south side of the
stream, which became known later (1643) as the Wappingers, who certainly
held jurisdiction on the east side of Newburgh Bay. The adjectival of
the name is no doubt from _Wáro,_ or _Waloh,_ meaning "Concave,
hollowing," a depression in land, low land, the latter expressed in
_ock (ohke),_ "land" or place. The same adjectival appears in
_Waronawanka_ at Kingston, and the same word in _Woronake_ on the Sound
at Milford, Ct., where the topography is similar. The foreign plural
_s_ extends the meaning to "Dwellers on," or inhabitants of. (See
Wahamenesing and {Waro?}nawanka.)
* * * * *
[FN] . . . "And thus with various windings it reaches a place which our
countrymen call Vischer's Rack, that is the Fisherman's Bend. And here
the eastern bank is inhabited by the Pachimi. A little beyond where
projects a sandy point and the river becomes narrower, there is a place
called Esopus, where the Waoranekys, another barbarous nation, have
their abode. To these succeed, after a short interval, the
Waranawankconghs, on the opposite side of the river." (De Laet.)
"At the Fisher's Hook are the Pachany, Wareneckers," etc. (Wassenaer.)
Mawenawasigh, so written in the Rombout Patent of 1684, covering lands
extending from Wappingers' Creek to the foot of the hills on the north
side of Matteawan Creek, was the name of the north boundmark of the
patent and not that of Wappingers' Creek. The Indian deed reads:
"Beginning on the south side of a creek called Matteawan, from thence
northwardly along Hudson's river five hundred yards _beyond_ the Great
Wappingers creek or kill, called Mawenawasigh." The stream was given
the name of the boundmark and was introduced to identify the place that
was five hundred yards north of it, _i. e._ the rocky point or
promontory through which passes the tunnel of the Hudson River R. R. at
New Hamburgh. The name is from _Mawe,_ "To meet," and _Newásek,_ [FN]
"A point or promontory"--literally, "The promontory where another
boundary is met." The assignment of the name to Wappingers' Falls is as
erroneous as its assignment to the creek.
* * * * *
[FN] _Nawaas,_ on the Connecticut, noted on the Carte Figurative of
1614-16, is very distinctly located at a point on the head-waters of
that river.
_Neversink_ is a corruption of _Newas-ink,_ "At the point or promontory."
Wahamanesing is noted by Brodhead (Hist. N. Y.) as the name of
Wappingers' Creek--authority not cited and place where the stream was
so called not ascertained. The initial W was probably exchanged for M
by mishearing, as it was in many cases of record. _Mah_ means "To meet,"
_Amhannes_ means "A small river," and the suffix _-ing_ is locative. The
composition reads: "A place where streams come together," which may have
been on the Hudson at the mouth of the creek. In Philadelphia
_Moyamansing_ was the name of a marsh bounded by four small streams.
(N. Y. Land Papers, 646.) Dr. Trumbull in his "Indian Names on the
Connecticut," quoted _Mahmansuck_ (Moh.), in Connecticut, with the
explanation, "Where two streams come together." The name was extended
to the creek as customary in such cases. The Wahamanesing flows from
Stissing Pond, in northern Duchess County, and follows the center of a
narrow belt of limestone its entire length of about thirty-five miles
southwest to the Hudson, which it reaches in a curve and passes over a
picturesque fall of seventy-five feet to an estuary. From early Dutch
occupation it has been known or called Wappinck (1645), Wappinges and
Wappingers' Kill or creek, taking that name presumably from the clan
which was seated upon it of record as "Wappings, Wappinges, Wapans, or
Highland Indians." [FN-1] On Van der Donck's map three castles or
villages of the clan are located on the south side or south of the
creek, indicating the inclusion in the tribal jurisdiction of the lands
as far south as the Highlands. From Kregier's Journal of the "Second
Esopus War" (1663), it is learned that they had a principal castle in
the vicinity of Low Point and that they maintained a crossing-place to
Dans Kamer Point. Their name is presumed to have been derived from
generic _Wapan,_ "East"--_Wapani,_ "Eastern people" [FN-2]--which could
have been properly applied to them as residents on the east side of the
river, not "Eastern people" as that term is applied to residents of the
more Eastern States, but locally so called by residents on the west side
of the Hudson, or by the Delawares as the most eastern nation of their
own stock. They were no doubt more or less mixed by association and
marriage with their eastern as well as their western neighbors, but
were primarily of Lenape or Delaware origin, and related to the Minsi,
Monsey or Minisink clans on the west side of the river, though not
associated with them in tribal government. [FN-3] Their tribal
jurisdiction, aside from that which was immediately local, extended on
the east side of the river from Roelof Jansen's Kill (south of opposite
to the Catskill) to the sea. At their northern bound they met the tribe
known to the Dutch as the Mahicans, a people of eastern origin and
dialect, whose eastern limit included the valley of the Housatonic at
least, and with them in alliance formed the "Mahican nation" of Dutch
history, as stated by King Ninham of the Wappingers, in an affidavit in
1757, and who also stated that the language of the Mahicans was _not the
same_ as that of the Wappingers, although he understood the Mahicani.
Reduced by early wars with the Dutch around New Amsterdam and by contact
with European civilization, they melted away rapidly, many of them
finding homes in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, others at Stockbridge,
and a remnant living at Fishkill removing thence to Otsiningo, in 1737,
as wards of the Senecas. (Col. Hist. N. Y., vii, 153, 158.)
* * * * *
[FN-1] "Highland Indians" was a designation employed by the Dutch as
well as by the English. (Col. Hist. N. Y., viii, 440.)
[FN-2] The familiar historic name _Wappingers_ seems to have been
introduced by the Dutch from their word _Wapendragers,_ "Armed men."
The tribe is first met of record in 1643, when they attacked boats
coming down from Fort Orange. (Doc. Hist. N. Y., iv, 12.) A map of
1690 gives them a large settlement on the south side of the creek.
There is no _Opossum_ in the name, as some writers read it, although
some blundering clerk wrote _Oping_ for _Waping._
[FN-3] The relations between the Esopus Indians and the Wappingers were
always intimate and friendly, so much so that when the Mohawks made
peace with the Esopus Indians, in 1669, and refused to include the
Wappingers, it was feared by the government that further trouble would
ensue from the "great correspondence and affinity between them." (Col.
Hist. N. Y., xiii, 427.) "Affinity," relationship by marriage, kinship
generally.
Gov. Tryon, in his report in 1774, no doubt stated the facts correctly
when he wrote that the "Montauks and others of Long Island, Wappingers
of Duchess County, Esopus, Papagoncks, &c., of Ulster County, generally
denominated River Indians, spoke a language radically the same," and
were "understood by the Delawares, being originally of the same race."
(Doc Hist. N. Y., i, 765.)
Poughquag, the name of a village in the town of Beekman, Duchess County,
and primarily the name of what is now known as Silver Lake, in the
southeast part of the town, is from _Apoquague,_ (Mass.), meaning, "A
flaggy meadow," which is presumed to have adjoined the lake. It is from
_Uppuqui,_ "Lodge covering," and _-anke,_ "Land" or place. (Trumbull.)
Pietawickquassick, a brook so called which formed a bound-mark of a
tract of land conveyed by Peter Schuyler in 1699, described as "On the
east side of Hudson's River, over against Juffrou's Hook, at a place
called by the Christians Jan Casper's Creek." The creek is now known as
Casper's Creek. It is the first creek north of Wappingers' Kill.
Schuyler called the place _Rust Plaest_ (Dutch, Rust-plaats), meaning
"Resting place, or place of peace." The Indian name has not been
located. It is probably a form or equivalent of _P'tukqu-suk,_ "A bend
in a brook or outlet."
Wassaic, a village and a creek so called in the town of Amenia, Duchess
County, appears in N. Y. records in 1702, _Wiesasack,_ as the name of
a tract of land "lying to the southward of Wayanaglanock, to the
westward of Westenhoek creek." (Cal. N. Y. Land Papers, 58); later,
"Near a place called Weshiack" (Ib. 65), "and thence northerly to a place
called Wishshiag, and so on about a mile northwest of ye Allum rocks."
[FN] (Ib. 75.) The name seems to have been applied to the north end of
West Mountain, where is located the ravine known as the Dover Stone
Church, about half a mile west of the village of Dover Plains. The
ravine is 20 to 25 feet wide at the bottom, 1 to 3 feet at the top,
30 to 40 feet long, and 40 to 50 feet high, hence called a church. The
Webotuck, a tributary of Ten Mile River, flows through the ravine. Dr.
Trumbull ("Indian Names in Connecticut") wrote: "_Wassiog,_ (Moh.),
alternate _Washiack,_ a west bound of the Mohegan country claimed by
Uncas; 'the south end of a very high hill' very near the line between
Glastonbury and Hebron," a place near Hartford, Conn., but failed to
give explanation of the name.
* * * * *
[FN] _Wallam_--the initial _W_ dropped--literally, "Paint rocks," a
formation of igneous rock which, by exposure, becomes disintegrated
into soft earthy masses. There are several varieties. The Indians used
the disintegrated masses for paint. The name is met in some forms in
all Algonquian dialects. (See Wallomschack.)
Weputing, Weepitung, Webotuck, Weepatuck (N. Y. and Conn. Rec.), given
as the name of a "high mountain," in the Sackett Patent, was translated
by Dr. Trumbull, from Conn. Records: "_Weepatuck,_ 'Place of the narrow
pass,' or 'strait.'" (See Wassaic.)
Querapogatt, a boundmark of the Sackett Patent, is, apparently, a
compound of _Quenne,_ "long," _pog_ (paug), "pond," and _att_
locative--"Beginning at the (a) long pond." The name is met in
_Quine-baug,_ without locative suffix, signifying "Long Pond" simply.
She'kom'eko, preserved as the name of a small stream which rises near
Federal Square, Duchess County, and flows thence north to Roelof
Jansen's Kill, was primarily the name of an Indian village conspicuous
in the history of the labors of the Moravian missionaries. [FN-1] It was
located about two miles south of Pine Plains in the valley of the
stream. Dr. Trumbull translated: "_She'com'eko,_ modern _Chic'omi'co,_
from _-she, -che_ (from _mishe_ or _k'che_), 'great,' and _comaco,_
'house,' or 'enclosed place'--'the great lodge,', or 'the great
village.'" [FN-2] We have the testimony of Loskiel that the occupants
of the village were "Mahicander Indians."
* * * * *
[FN-1] The field of the labors of the Moravian missionaries extended
to Wechquadnach, Pachquadnach, Potatik, Westenhoek and Wehtak, on the
Housatenuc. _Wechquadnach_ (Wechquetank, Loskiel) was at the end of
what is now known as Indian Pond, lying partly in the town of North
East, Duchess County, and partly in Sharon, Conn. It was the Gnadensee,
or "Lake of Grace," of the missionaries. _Wequadn'ach_ means "At the
end of the mountain" between which and the lake the Indian village
stood. _Pachquadn'ach_ was on the opposite side of the pond; it means
"Clear bare mountain land." _Wehtak_ means "Wigwam place."
_Pishgachtigok_ (Pach-gat-gock, German notation), was about twenty
miles south of Shekomeko, at the junction of Ten Mile River and the
Housatonuc. It means, "Where the river divides," or branches. (See
Schaghticoke.) _Westenhoek,_ noted above, is explained in another
connection. _Housatonuc,_ in N. Y. Land Papers _Owassitanuc,_ stands
for _A-wass-adene-uc,_ Abn.; in Delaware, _Awossi,_ "Over, over there,
beyond," _-actenne,_ "hill or mountain," with locative _-uk,_ "place,"
"land"; literally, "A place beyond the hill." (Trumbull.) It is not
the name of either the hill or the river, to which it was extended,
but a verbal direction. An Indian village called Potatik by the
Moravian missionaries, was also on the Housatonuc, and is written in
one form, _Pateook._
[FN-2] A translation from the Delaware _Scha-gach-we-u,_ "straight,"
and _meek_ "fish"--an eel--eel place--has been widely quoted. The
translation by Dr. Trumbull is no doubt correct.
[Illustration: The Highlands West From Little Stony Brook]
Shenandoah (Shenandoah Corners, East Fishkill) is an Iroquoian name of
modern introduction here. It is met in place in Saratoga County and at
Wyoming, Pa. (See Shannondhoi.)
Stissing, now the name of a hill and of a lake one mile west of the
village of Pine Plains, Duchess County, is probably an apheresis of
_Mistissing,_ a "Great rock," and belongs to the hill, which rises 400
or 500 feet above the valley and is crowned with a mass of naked rock,
described by one writer as "resembling a huge boulder transported there."
Poughkeepsie, now so written, is of record in many forms of which
Pooghkeepesingh, 1683; Pogkeepke, 1702; Pokeapsinck, 1703; Pacaksing,
1704; Poghkeepsie, 1766; Poughkeepsie, 1767, are the earlier. The
locative of the name and the key to its explanation are clearly
determined by the description in a gift deed to Peter Lansing and Jan
Smedes, in 1683: "A waterfall near the bank of the river called
Pooghkeepesingh;" [FN-1] in petition of Peter Lansing and Arnout Velie,
in 1704: "Beginning at a creek called Pakaksing, by ye river side."
[FN-2] There are other record applications, but are probably extensions,
as Poghkeepke (1702), given as the name of a "muddy pond" in the
vicinity. Schoolcraft's interpretation, "Safe harbor," from
_Apokeepsing,_ is questioned by W. R. Gerard, who, from a personal
acquaintance with the locative, "A water-fall," writes: "The name refers
not to the fall, but to the basin of water worn out in the rocks at the
foot of the fall. Zeisberger would have written the word _Āpuchkìpìsink,_
that is, 'At the rock-pool (or basin) of water.' _Ā-puchk-ìpìs-ink_ is
a composition of _-puchk,_ 'rock'; _ipis,_ in composition, 'little
water,' 'pool of water,' 'pond,' 'little lake,' etc." _Pooghk_ is no
doubt from _ápughk_ (apuchk), "rock." The stream has long been known
as the Fall Kill. Primarily there seems to have been three falls upon
it, of which _Matapan_ will be referred to later.
* * * * *
[FN-1] "This fifth day of May, 1683, appeared before me . . . a
Highland Indian called Massang, who declared herewith that he has given
as a free gift, a bouwery (farm) to Pieter Lansingh, and a bouwery to
Jan Smeedes, a young glazier, also a waterfall near the bank of the
river, to build a mill thereon. The waterfall is called Pooghkeepesingh
and the land Minnisingh, situated on the east side of the river." (Col.
Hist. N. Y., xiii, 571.)
[FN-2] Cal. N. Y. Land Papers, 71. There are forty-nine record
orthographies of the term, from which a selection could be made as a
basis of interpretation. _Poghkeepke,_ for example, might be accepted
as meaning, "Muddy Pond," although there is neither a word or particle
in it that would warrant the conclusion.
Wynogkee, Wynachkee, and Winnakee are record forms of the name of a
district of country or place from which it was extended to the stream
known as the Fall Kill "Through which a kill called Wynachkee runs,
. . . including the kill to the second fall called Mattapan," is the
description in a gift deed to Arnout Velie, in 1680, for three flats
of land, one on the north and two on the south side of the kill. "A
flat on the west side of the kil, called Wynachkee" (Col. Hist. N. Y.,
xiii, 545, 572), does not mean that the kill was called Wynachkee, but
the flat of land, to which the name itself shows that it belonged. The
derivatives are _Winne,_ "good, fine, pleasant," and _-aki_ (auke,
ohke), "land" or place; literally, "land." [FN]
* * * * *
[FN] From the root _Wulit,_ Del. From the same root _Winne, Willi,
Wirri, Waure, Wule,_ etc. The name is met in equivalent forms in
several places. _Wenaque_ and _Wynackie_ are forms of the name of a
beautiful valley in Passaic county, N. J. (Nelson.) _Winakaki,_
"Sassifras land--rich, fat land." _Winak-aki-ng,_ "At the Sassifras
place," was the Lenape name of Eastern Pennsylvania. (See Wanaksink.)
Eliot wrote in the Natick (Mass.) dialect, "_Wunohke,_ good land."
The general meaning of the root is pleasurable sensation.
Mattapan, "the second fall," so called in the deed to Arnout Velie
(1680), was the name of a "carrying place," "the end of a portage,
where the canoe was launched again and its bearers reembarked."
(Trumbull.) A landing place. [FN] "At a place called Matapan, to the
south side thereof, bounded on the west by John Casperses Creek." (Cal.
Land Papers, 108.) (See Pietawick-quasick.)
* * * * *
[FN] _Mattappan,_ a participle of _Mattappu,_ "he sits down," denotes
"a sitting down place," or as generally employed in local names, the
end of a portage between two rivers, or from one arm of the sea to
another--where the canoe was launched again and its bearers reembarked.
(Trumbull.) In Lenape _Aan_ is a radical meaning, "To move; to go."
_Paan,_ "To come; to get to"; _Wiket-pann,_ "To get home"; _Paancep,_
"Arrived"; _Mattalan,_ "To come upto some body"; logically,
_Mattappan,_ "To stop," to sit down, to land, a landing place.
Minnissingh is written as the name of a tract conveyed to Peter Lansing
and Jan Smedes by gift deed in 1683. (See Poughkeepsie.) _Minnissingh_
is, apparently, the same word that is met in Minnisink, Orange County.
The locative of the tract has not been ascertained, but it was pretty
certainly on the "back" or upper lands. There was no island there. (See
Minnisink.)
Eaquorisink is of record as the name of Crom Elbow Creek, and
_Eaquaquanessìnck_ as that of lands on the Hudson, in patent to Henry
Beekman, the boundary of which ran from the Hudson "east by the side of
a fresh meadow called _Mansakìn_ [FN-1] and a small run of water called
_Mancapawìmick._" In patent to Peter Falconier the land is called
Eaquaquaannessìnck, the meadow Mansakin, the small creek Nanacopaconick,
and Crom Elbow (Krom Elleboog, Dutch, '"crooked elbow'") Creek.
Eaquarysink is a compression of Eaquaquaannessinck. It was not the name
of the creek, but located the boundmark "as far as the small creek."
The composition is the equivalent of _Wequa,_ [FN-2] "end of"; _annes,_
"small stream," and _ink,_ "at," "to," etc.
* * * * *
[FN-1] "A meadow or marsh land called Manjakan," is an equivalent
record in Ulster County. (Cal. N. Y. Land Papers, 133.) "A fresh
meadow," _i. e._ a fresh water meadow, or low lands by the side of the
creek.
[FN-2] Enaughqua, L. I.; _Yò anûck quaque,_ Williams; _Wequa, Weque,
Aqua, Ukwe, Echqu,_ etc., "end of." The word is met in many forms.
_Wehque,_ "as far as." (Eliot.)
Wawyachtanock, Indian deed to Robert Livingston, 1685; _Wawyachtanock,
Wawijachtanock, Wawigachtanock_ in Livingston Patent and
_Watwijachtonocks_ in association with "The Indians of the Long Reach"
(Doc. Hist. N. Y., 93, 97), is given as the name of a place--"The path
that leads to Wawyachtenock." In a petition for permission to purchase,
in 1702 (Col. Land Papers, 58), the description reads: "A tract of land
lying to the westward of Westenhoeks Creek [FN-1] and to ye eastward of
Poghkeepsie, called by ye Indians _Wayaughtanock._" It is presumed that
the locative of the name is now known as Union Corners, Duchess County,
where Krom Elleboog Creek, after flowing southwesterly, turns at nearly
a right angle and flows west to the Hudson, which it reaches in a
narrow channel between bluffs, a little south of Krom Elbow Point,
where a bend in the Hudson forms the north end of the Long Reach. The
first word of the name is from _Wawai,_ "Round about," "Winding around,"
"eddying," as a current in a bend of a river. The second, _-tan, -ten,
-ton_ means "current," by metonymie, "river," and _ock,_ means "land"
or place--"A bend-of-the-river place." The same name is met in
Wawiachtanos, in the Ohio country, [FN-2] and the prefix in many places.
(See Wawayanda.)
* * * * *
[FN-1] Westenhoek is Dutch. It means "West corner." It was given by
the Dutch to a tract of land lying in a bend of Housatonuk river, long
in dispute between New York and Massachusetts, called by the Indians
W-nagh-tak-ook, for many years the name of the capital town of the
Mahican nation.(Loskiel.) Rev. Dr. Edwards wrote it Wnoghquetookooke
and translated it from an intimate acquaintance of the Stockbridge
dialect, "A bend-of-the-river-place." Mr. Gerard writes it,
Wamenketukok, "At the winding of the river." Now Stockbridge, Mass.
[FN-2] "Tjughsaghrondie, alias Wawayachtenok." (Col. Hist. N. Y., iv,
900; La Trobe's Translation of Loskiel, i, 23.) The first name,
Tjughsaghrondie, is also written Taghsaglirondie, and in other forms.
It is claimed to be from the Wyandot or Huron-Iroquoian dialect. In
History of Detroit the Algonquin is quoted Waweatunong, interpreted
"Circuitous approach," and the claim made that the reference was to
the bend in the Strait at Detroit at an elevation "from which a view
of the whole broad river" could be had. In Shawano, _Wawia'tan_
describes bending or eddying water--with locative, "Where the current
winds about." The name is applicable at any place where the features
exist.
Metambeson, a creek so called in Duchess County, is now known as
Sawkill. It is the outlet of a lake called Long Pond. The Indian name
is from _Matt,_ negative and depreciatory, "Small, unfavorable," etc.,
and _M'beson,_ "Strong water," a word used in describing brandy,
spirits, physic, etc. The rapidity of the water was probably referred
to.
Waraughkameck--Waraukameck--a small lake in the same county, is now
known as "Fever Cot or Pine Swamp." The Indian name is probably an
equivalent of Len. _Wálagh-kamik,_ an enclosed hole or den, a hollow or
excavation.
Aquassing--"At a creek called by the Indians Aquassing, and by the
Christians Fish Creek"--has not been located. _Aquassing_ was the end of
the boundary line, and may be from _Enaughquasink,_ "As far as."
Tauquashqueick, given as the name of a meadow lying between Magdalen
Island [FN] and the main land, now known as "Radcliff's Vly," is
probably an equivalent of _Pauqua-ask-ek._ "Open or clear wet meadow
or vly."
* * * * *
[FN] Magdalen Island is between Upper and Lower Red-hook. The original
Dutch, Maagdelijn, supposed to mean "A dissolute woman," here means,
simply, "Maiden," _i. e._ shad or any fish of the herring family. (See
Magaat Ramis.) The name appears on Van der Donck's map of 1656.
Sankhenak and Saukhenak are record forms of the name given as that of
Roelof Jansen's Kil (Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii, 612; French's Gazetteer.)
_Sauk-hannek_ would describe the mouth or outlet of the stream, and
_Sank-hannek_ would read "Flint-stone creek." Sauk is probably correct.
The purchase included land on both sides of the creek from "A small kil
opposite the Katskil," on the north, called _Wachhanekassik._ "to a
place opposite Sagertyes Kil, called Saaskahampka." The stream is now
known as Livingston's Creek. [FN]
* * * * *
[FN] The creek was the boundmark between the Wappingers and the
Mahicans. (See Wahamanessing.)
Wachanekassik, Indian deed to Livingston, 1683; _Waghankasick,_ patent
to Van Rensselaer, 1649, and other orthographies, is written as the
name of a small creek which marked the place of beginning of the
northwest boundmark of the Livingston Patent and the place of ending of
the southwest boundmark of the prior Van Rensselaer Patent of Claverack.
The latter reads; ". . . And so along the said Hudson River southward
to the south side of Vastrix Island, by a creek called Waghankasick,
thence easterly to Wawanaquasik," etc. The deed to Livingston conveyed
lands "On both sides of Roelof Jansen's Kill, [FN-1] called by the
Indians Sauk-henak," including lands "along the river's bank from said
Roeloff Jansen's Kill, northwards up, to a small stream opposite
Catskill named Wachanekasseck, and southwards down the river to
opposite the Sagertjes Kill, called by the Indians Saaskahampka." In
the Livingston Patent of 1684: "Eighteen hundred acres of woodland
lying between a small creek or kill lying over against Catskill called
Wachanakasseck and a place called Suaskahampka," and in patent of 1686:
"On the north by a line to be drawn from a certain creek or kill over
against the south side of Vastrix Island in Hudson's River, called
Wachankasigh," to which Surveyor John Beatty added more precisely on
his map of survey in 1715: "Beginning on the east side of Hudson's
River _southward_ from Vastrix Island, _at a place_ where a certain run
of water watereth out into Hudson's River, called in ye Indian tongue,
Wachankassik." The "run of water" is not marked on Beatty's map, nor on
the map of survey of the patent in 1798, but it is marked, from
existence or presumed existence, on a map of the boundary line between
New York and Massachusetts and seems to have been one of the several
small streams that flow down the bluff from the surface, apparently
about two miles and a half north of Roelof Jansen's Kill, in the
vicinity of the old Oak Hill station [FN-2] on the H. R. R., later
known as Catskill station. While referred to in connection with the
boundmark to identify its location, its precise location seems to have
been lost. In early days boundmarks were frequently designated in
general terms by some well known place. Hence we find Catskill spoken
of and particularly "the south end of Vastrix Island," a point that
every voyager on the Hudson knew to be the commencement of a certain
"rak" or sailing course. [FN-3] Hence it was that Van Rensselaer's
first purchase (1630) was bounded on the south by the south end of
Beeren or Mahican Island, and the second purchase by the south end of
Vastrix Island, which became the objective of the northwest bound of
Livingston's Patent. While the name is repeatedly given as that of the
stream, it was probably that of a place or point on the limestone bluff
which here bounds the Hudson on the east for several miles. Surveyor
Beatty's description, "Beginning at a place where," and the omission of
the stream on his map, and its omission on subsequent maps of the manor,
and the specific entry in the amended patent of 1715, "Beginning at a
certain place called by the Indians Wahankassek," admit of no other
conclusion, and the conclusion is, apparently, sustained by the name
itself, which seems to be from Moh. _Wakhununuhkōōsek,_ "A high point,"
as a hill, mountain, peak, bluff, etc., from _Wakhu_, "hill, mountain,"
_uhk,_ "end, point," and _ōōsic,_ "peak, pinnacle." etc. The reference
may have been to a point formed by the channel of the little stream
flowing down from the bluff above, or to some projection, but certainly
to the bluff as the only permanent objective on the Hudson. The
connection of the "small run of water" with the boundmark should
entitle it to more particular description than has been given to it by
local writers.
* * * * *
[FN-1] Named from Roeloff Jansen, Overseer of the Orphan Court under
the Dutch Government. (French.)
[FN-2] Oak Hill station on the Hudson River R. R., about five miles
south of the city of Hudson, was so called from a hill in the interior
just north of the line of the town of Livingston, from which the land
slopes west towards the Hudson and south to Roelof Jansen's Kill.
[FN-3] _Vastrix_ is a compression of Dutch _t'Vaste Rak_ as written on
Van der Donck's map of 1656, meaning, "The fast or steady reach or
sailing course," which began here. The island is the first island
lying north of the mouth of the Katskill. It is now known as Roger's
Island.
Nickankook, Kickua and Weckqashake are given as the names of "three
flats" which, with "some small flats," were included in the first
purchase by Livingston, and described as "Situate on both sides" of the
kill called Saukhenak (Roelof Jansen's Kill). The Indian deed also
included all land "Extending along the bank of the river northwards
from Roelof Jansen's Kill to a small stream opposite Catskill named
Wachanekassik." The names of the three flats are variously
spelled--Nickankooke, Nickankook, etc. The first has been translated
by Mr. Wm. R. Gerard from _Nichánhkûk,_ "At the bend in front."
_Kickua,_ the second, is untranslatable. _Wickquashaka, Wequakake,_
etc., is the equivalent of _Wequaohke,_ "End land" or place. The kill
flows through a valley of broad and fertile flats, but near the Hudson
it breaks through the limestone bluff which forms the east line of the
Hudson, and its banks are steep and rocky.
Saaskahampka, Indian deed; _Suaskahampka_ patent of 1684--the southwest
boundmark of the Livingston Patent, is described as "A dry gully at
Hudson's River." It is located about opposite Sawyer's Creek, north of
the present Saugerties or Esopus Creek. _Sasco,_ or as written _Saaska,_
means "A swamp;" _Assisku_ (Del.), "Mud, clay"; _Asuskokámika,_ "Muddy
place," a gully in which no water was flowing. (Gerard.)
Mananosick--"Along the foot of a high mountain to the path that goes to
Wawyactanock to a hill called by the Indians Mananosick." Also written
_Nanosick._ Eliot wrote, in the Natick dialect, _Nahōōsick,_ "Pinnacle,"
or high peak. The indefinite and impersonal _M'_ or _Ma,_ prefixed,
would add "a" or "the" high peak. The hill has not been located except
in a general way as near the Massachusetts line.
Nanapenahakan and Nanipanihekan are orthographies of the name of a
"creek or brook" described as "coming out of a marsh lying near unto
the hills where the heaps of stones lye." The stream flows to Claverack
Creek. The outlet waters of Achkookpeek Lake unite with it, from which
it is now called Copake Creek. It unites with Kinderhook Creek north of
the city of Hudson.
Wawanaquasik, Claverack Patent, 1649; _Wawanaquassick,_ Livingston
Patent of 1686; _Wawauaquassick_ and _Mawauapquassek,_ patent of 1715;
_Mawanaqwassik,_ surveyor's notation, 1715; now written
_Mawanaquassick_--a boundmark of the Claverack Patent of 1649, and also
of the Livingston Patent, is described in the Claverack Patent, "To the
high woodland called Wawanaquasik," and in the Livingston Patent, "_To
a place_ called by the Indians Wawanaqussek, where the heapes of stone
lye, near to the head of a creek called Nanapenahaken, which comes out
of a marsh lying near unto the hills of the said heapes of stones, upon
which the Indians throw another as they pass by, from an ancient custom
among them." The heap of stones here was "on the south side of the path
leading to Wayachtanok," and other paths diverged, showing that the
place was a place of meeting. "To the high woodland," in the description
of 1649, is marked on the map of survey of 1715, "Foot of the hill,"
apparently a particular point, the place of which was identified by the
head of the creek, the marsh and the heap of stones. The name may have
described this point or promontory, or it may have referred to the
place of meeting near the head of the creek, or to the end of the marsh,
but it is claimed that it was the name of the heap of stones, and that
it is from _Miáe,_ or _Miyáe,_ "Together"--_Mawena,_ "Meeting,"
"Assembly"--frequently met in local names and accepted as meaning,
"Where paths or streams or boundaries come together;" and _Qussuk,_
"stone"--"Where the stones are assembled or brought together," "A stone
heap." This reading is of doubtful correctness. Dr. Trumbull wrote that
_Qussuk,_ [FN-1] meaning "stone," is "rarely, perhaps never" met as a
substantival in local names, and an instance is yet to be cited where
it is so used. It is a legitimate word in some connections, however,
Eliot writing it as a noun in _Môhshe-qussuk,_ "A flinty rock," in the
singular number. If used here it did not describe "a heap of stones,"
but a certain rock. On the map of survey of the patent, in 1798, the
second station is marked "Manor Rock," and the third, "Wawanaquassick,"
is located 123 chains and 34 links (a fraction over one and one-half
miles) north of Manor Rock, as the corner of an angle. In the survey of
1715, the first station is "the foot of the hill"--"the high
woodland"--which seems to have been the _Mawan-uhqu-ōōsik_ [FN-2] of the
text. To avoid all question the heap of stones seems to have been
included in the boundary. It now lies in an angle in the line between
the townships of Claverack and Taghkanic, Columbia County, and is by
far the most interesting feature of the locative--a veritable footprint
of a perished race. Similar heaps were met by early European travelers
in other parts of the country. Rev. Gideon Hawley, writing in 1758,
described one which he met in Schohare Valley, and adds that the
largest one that he ever saw was "on the mountain between Stockbridge
and Great Barrington." Mass. (Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii, 1039.) The
significance of the "ancient custom" of casting a stone to these heaps
has not been handed down. Rev. Mr. Sergeant wrote, in 1734, that though
the Indians "each threw a stone as they passed, they had entirely lost
the knowledge of the reason for doing so," and an inquiry by Rev.
Hawley, in 1758, was not attended by a better result. [FN-3] The heaps
were usually met at resting places on the path and the custom of
throwing the stone a sign-language indicating that one of the tribe had
passed and which way he was going, but further than the explanation
that the casting of the stone was "an ancient custom," nothing may be
claimed with any authority. A very ancient custom, indeed, when its
signification had been forgotten.
* * * * *
[FN-1] Williams wrote in the Narraganset dialect _Qussuck,_ stone;
_Qussuckanash,_ stones; _Qussuckquon,_ heavy. Zeisberger wrote in the
Minsi-Lenape, _Ksucquon,_ heavy; _Achsun,_ stone; _Apuchk,_ rock.
Chippeway, _Assin,_ stone; _Aubik,_ rock. Old Algonquian, _Assin,_
stone. Eliot wrote in the Natick (Mass.) dialect, _Qussuk,_ a rock;
_Qussukquanash,_ rocks; _Hussunash,_ stones; _Hussunek,_ lodge or ledge
of rocks, and for _Hussimek_ Dr. Trumbull wrote _Assinek_ as an
equivalent, and _Hussun_ or _Hussunash,_ stones, as identical with
_Qussukqun,_ heavy. Eliot also wrote _-pick_ or _-p'sk,_ in compound
words, meaning "Rock," or "stone," as qualified by the adjectival
prefix, _Onap'sk,_ "Standing rock."
[FN-2] Literally, "A meeting point," or sharp extremity of a hill.
[FN-3] Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii, 1039. The heap referred to by Rev. Hawley
was on the path leading to Schohare. It gave name to what was long
known as the "Stoneheap Patent." The heap is now in the town of
Esperance and near Sloansville, Schohare County. It is four rods long,
one or two wide, and ten to fifteen feet high. (French.)
Ahashewaghick and Ahashewaghkameck, the latter in corrected patent of
1715, is given as the name of the northeast boundmark of the Manor of
Livingston, and described as "the northernmost end of the hills that
are to the north of Tachkanick"--specifically by the surveyor, "To a
heap of stones laid together on a certain hill called by the Indians
Ahashawaghkik, by the north end of Taghanick hill or mountain"--has
been translated from _Nash-ané-komuk_ (Eliot), "A place between." Dr.
Trumbull noted _Ashowugh-commocke,_ from the derivatives
quoted--_Nashaué,_ "between"; _-komuk,_ "place," limited, enclosed,
occupied, _i. e._ by "a heap of stones laid together," probably by the
surveyor of the prior Van Rensselaer Patent, of which it was also a
boundmark. The hill is now the northeast comer of the Massachusetts
boundary line, or the north end of Taghkanick hills.
Taghkanick, the name of a town in Columbia County and primarily of a
tract of land included in the Livingston Patent and located "behind
_Potkoke,_" is written _Tachkanick_ in the Indian deed of 1685;
_Tachhanick_ in the Indian deed of 1687-8; "Land called _Tachhanick_
which the owners reserved to plant upon when they sold him _Tachhanick,_
with the land called Quissichkook;" _Tachkanick,_ "having the kill on
one side and the hill on the other"; _Tahkanick_ (Surveyor's notation)
1715--is positively located by the surveyor on the east side of the kill
called by the Indians _Saukhenak,_ and by the purchasers Roelof Jansen's
Kill. Of the meaning of the name Dr. E. B. O'Callaghan wrote:
"_Tachanûk,_ 'Wood place,' literally, 'the woods,' from _Takone,_
'forest,' and _ûk,_ 'place'"; which Dr. Trumbull regarded as "the least
objectionable" of any of the interpretations that had fallen under his
notice, and to which he added: "Literally, 'wild lands,' 'forest.'" It
would seem to be more probable that _Tachk, Taghk, Tachh, Tahk,_ etc.,
represents _Tak_ (Taghk), with formative _an, Taghkan,_ meaning "wood;"
and _ek,_ animate plural added, "Woods," "trees," "forest." Dr.
O'Callaghan's _ûk_ (ook), "Land or place," is not in any of the
orthographies. The deed-sentence, "When they sold him Tachanick," reads
literally, from the name, "When they sold him the woods." The name was
extended to the reserved field, to the stream and to the mountain. [FN]
The latter is familiar to geologists in what is known as the Taconic
rocks. Translations of the name from Del. _Tuphanné,_ "Cold stream,"
and _Tankkanné,_ "Little river," are without merit, although _Tankhanné_
would describe the branch of Roelof Jansen's Kill on which the
plantation was located.
* * * * *
[FN] The purchasers claimed but the Indians denied having sold the
mountain. It was heavily wooded no doubt. Livingston claimed it from
having bought "the woods." The Moravian missionaries wrote, in 1744,
_W'takantschan,_ which Dr. Trumbull converted to _Ket-takone-wadchu,_
"Great woody mountain."
Wichquapakat, Wichquapuchat, Wickquapubon, the latter by the surveyor,
given as the name of the southeast boundmark of the Livingston Patent
and therein described as "the south end of the hills," of which
Ahashawagh-kameck was the north. _Wichqua_ is surely an equivalent of
_Wequa_ (_Wehqua,_ Eliot), "As far as; ending at; the end or extreme,
point." [FN] Now the southwest corner on the Massachusetts line.
* * * * *
[FN] Robert Livingston, who wrote most of the Indian names in his
patent, was a Scotchman. He learned to "talk Dutch" in Rotterdam, and
picked up an acquaintance with the Indian tongues at Fort Orange
(Albany). Some of his orthographies are singular combinations.
Mahaskakook, a boundmark in the Livingston Patent, is described, in one
entry, as "A copse," _i. e._ "A thicket of underbrush," and in another
entry, "A cripple bush," _i. e._ "A patch of low timber growth"--Dutch,
_Kreupelbosch,_ "Underwood." Probably the Indian name has, substantially,
the same moaning. _Manask_ (Del.), "Second crop"; _-ask,_ "Green, raw,
immature"; _-ak,_ "wood"; _-ook_ (_ûk_), locative. The location has not
been ascertained.
Nachawawakkano, given as the name of a creek described as a "creek which
comes into another creek," is an equivalent of _Léchau-wakhaune_
(Lenape), "The fork of a river," a stream that forks another stream.
Aupaumut, the Stockbridge Historian, wrote, with locative suffix,
_Naukhuwwhnauk,_ "At the fork of the streams."
Mawichnauk--"the place where the two streams meet being called
Mawichnauk"--means "The fork place," or place where the Nachawawakkano
and the Tawastaweka came together, or where the streams meet or flow
together. In the Bayard Patent the name is written Mawighanuck and
Wawieghanuck. (See Wawighanuck.)
Shaupook and Skaukook are forms of the name assigned to the eastern
division of a stream, "which, a little lower down," was "called
Twastawekah," known later as Claverack Creek. It may be translated from
_Sóhk,_ Mass., "outlet," and _ûk,_ locative, "At the outlet" or mouth
of the stream.
Twastawekah and Tawastawekah, given, in the Livingston Patent, as the
name of Claverack Creek, is described as a place that was below Shaukook,
The root is _Tawa,_ an "open space," and the name apparently an
equivalent of Lenape _Tawatawikunk,_ "At an open place," or an
uninhabited place, a wilderness. _Tauwata-wique-ak,_ "A place in the
wilderness." (Gerard.)
Sahkaqua, "the south end of a small piece of land called Sahkaqua and
Nakawaewick"; "to a run of water on ye east end of a certain flat or
piece of land called in ye Indian tongue, Sahkahka; then south . . . one
hundred and forty rods to . . . where two runs of water come together
on the south side of the said flat; then west . . . to a rock or great
stone on the south corner of another flat or piece of low land called by
the Indians Nakaowasick." (Doc. Hist., iii, 697.) On the surveyor's map
Nakaowasick, the place last named, is changed to Acawanuk. From the
text, _Sahkaqua_ described "Land or place at the outlet or mouth of a
stream," from _Sóhk,_ "outlet," and _-ohke,_ "land" or place. The
second name _Nakawaewick_ (Nakaouaewik, Nakawasick, Acawasik) is
probably from _Nashauewasuck,_ "At (or on) a place between," _i. e._
between the streams spoken of.
Minnischtanock, in the Indian deed to Livingston, 1685, located the end
of a course described as "Beginning on the northwest side of Roelof
Jansen's Kill," and in the patent, "Beginning on the other side of the
creek that runs along the flat or plain land _over against_
Minnisichtanock, and from thence along a small hill to a valley," etc.
The name has been interpreted "Huckleberry-hill place," from _Min,_
"Small fruit or grain of any kind"; _-achtenne,_ "hill"; _-ûk,_ locative.
Kackkawanick, written also Kachtawagick, Kachkawyick, and Kachtawayick,
is described in the deed, as "A high place to the westward of a high
mountain." Location has not been ascertained. From the map it seems to
have been a long, narrow piece of land between the hills.
Quissichkook, Quassighkook, etc., one of the two places reserved by the
Indians "to plant upon" when they sold Tachkanik, is described in the
deed as a place "lying upon this (_i. e._ the west) side of Roelof
Jansen's Kill" and "near Tachanik," the course running "thence along a
small hill to a valley that leads to a small creek called by the Indians
Quissichkook, and over the creek to a high place to the westward of a
high mountain called by the natives Kachtawagick." In a petition by
Philip Schuyler, 1686, the description reads: "Quassichkook, . . .
lying on the east side of Roelof Jansen's Kill," and the place as a tract
of woodland. The name was probably that of a wooded bluff on the east
side of the creek. It seems to be from _Kussuhkoc_ (Moh.), "high," and
_-ook,_ locative--"At, to or on a high place"--from which the stream and
the plantation was located. (See Quassaick.)
Pattkoke, a place so called, also written _Pot-koke,_ gave name to a
large tract of land patented to Johannes Van Rensselaer in 1649. In
general terms the tract was described as lying "South of Kinder-hook,
[FN-1] east of Claverack, [FN-2] and west of Taghkanick" (Doc. Hist.
N. Y., iii, 617), and also as "Lying to the east of Major Abraham's
patent of Claverack." [FN-3] Specifically, in a caveat filed by John
Van Rensselaer, in 1761, "From the mouth of Major Staats, or Kinderhook
Kill, south along the river to a point opposite the south end of Vastrix
Island, thence easterly twenty-four English miles," etc. (Cal. N. Y.
Land Papers, 307. See also, Wachanekasaik.) It was an immense tract,
covering about eight miles on the Hudson by twenty-four miles deep, and
became known as "The Lower Manor of Rensselaerswyck," but locally as
Claverack, from its frontage on the river-reach so called. The name was
that of a particular place which was well known from which it was
extended to the tract. In "History of Columbia County" this particular
place is claimed to have been the site of an Indian village situate
"about three (Dutch, or nine English) miles inland from Claverack."
(Doc. Hist. N. Y., iv, 84.) The record does not give the name, nor does
it say "village," but place. The local story is, therefore, largely
conjectural. The orthographies of the name are imperfect. Presumably,
they may be read from Mass. _Pautuckoke,_ meaning "Land or country
around the falls of a stream," and the reference to some one of the
several falls on Claverack Creek, or on Eastern Creek, its principal
tributary. Both streams were included in the patent, and both are marked
by falls and rifts, but on the latter there are several "cataracts and
falls of great height and surpassing beauty." "Nothing but a greater
volume of water is required to distinguish them as being among the
grandest in the world," adds the local historian. The special reference
by the writer was to the falls at the manufacturing village known as
Philmont, nine miles east of the Hudson, corresponding with the record
of the "place" where the Indians assembled in 1663-4. _Pautuck_ is met
in many forms. It means, "The falls of a stream." With the suffix, _-oke_
(Mass. _-auke_), "Land, ground, place, unlimited"--"the country around
the falls," or the falls country. (See Potick.)
* * * * *
[FN-1] Kinderhook is an anglicism of Dutch _Kinder-hoek,_ meaning,
literally, "Children's point, angle or corner." It dates from the
Carte Figurative of 1614-16, and hence is one of the oldest names on
Hudson's River. It is supposed to have been applied from a gathering of
Indian children on a point of land to gaze upon the ship of the early
navigator. It could not have been a Dutch substitute for an Indian name.
It is pure Dutch. It was not an inland name. The navigator of 1614-16
did not explore the country.
[FN-2] _Claverack_--Dutch, _Claverrak_--literally, "Clover reach--a
sailing course or reach, so called from three bare or open fields which
appear on the land, a fancied resemblance to _trefoil_ or three-leaved
clover," wrote Jasper Dankers and Peter Sluyter in their Journal in
1679-80. Presumably the places are specifically located in the patent
to Jan Frans van Heusen, May, 1667, on which the city of Hudson now
stands, which is described as "A tract of land which takes in three of
the Clavers on the south." From the locative the reach extended some
miles north and south and to lands which it bounded. It is still
preserved as the name of a creek, a town and a village. Of record it
dates back to De Laet's map of 1625-6, and is obviously much older. It
is possible that the "three bare places" were fields of white clover,
as has been claimed by one writer, but there is no record stating that
fact. Dankers and Sluyter, who wrote only fifty-four years after the
application of the name, no doubt gave correctly the account of its
origin as it was related to them by living witnesses. If interpreted as
were the names of other reaches, the reference would be to actual
clover fields.
[FN-3] "Major Abraham" was Major Abraham Staats, who located on a neck
of land on the north side of "Major Staats' Creek," now Stockport Creek.
(See Ciskhakainck.) "West of Taghkanick," probably refers to the
mountains now so known. It means, literally, however, "The woods."
(See Taghkanick.) There was a heated controversy between the patroon of
Rensselaerswyck and Governor Stuyvesant in regard to the purchase of
the tract. It was decided in 1652 in favor of the former, who had, in
the meantime, granted several small leaseholds. (See Brodhead's Hist.
N. Y., i.) The first settlement by the patroon was in 1705 at Claverack
village.
Ciskhekainck and Cicklekawick are forms of the name of a place granted
by patent to Major Abraham Staats, March 25, 1667, and to his son in
1715, described as "Lying north of Claverack [Hudson], on the east side
of the river, along the Great Kill [Kinderhook Creek], to the first fall
of water; then to the fishing place, containing two hundred acres, more
or less, bounded by the river on one side and by the Great Kill on the
other." Major Staats had made previous settlement on the tract under
lease from Van Rensselaer. His house and barn were burned by the Indians
in the Esopus war of 1663. In 1715, he being then dead, his son, Abraham,
petitioned for an additional tract described as "Four hundred acres
adjoining the north line of the neck of land containing two hundred
acres now in his possession, called Ciskhekainck, on the north side of
Claverack, on ye east side of Hudson's River." (Cal. N. Y. Land Papers,
118.) The petition was granted and the two parcels consolidated. The
particular fall referred to is probably that now known as Chittenden's,
on Kinderhook (now Stockport) Creek, a short distance west of Stockport
Station. It may be called a series of falls as the water primarily
descended on shelves or steps. It was noted as remarkable by Dankens
and Sluyter in 1679-80. [FN] Claverack Creek unites with Stockport Creek
just west of the falls. In other connections both streams are called
mill streams. In the Stephen Bayard patent of 1741, the name of the fall
on Stockport Creek is noted as "A certain fall . . . called by the
Indians _Kasesjewack_" The several names are perhaps from _Cochik'uack_
(Moh.), "A wild, dashing" stream. _Cochik'uack,_ by the way, is one of
the most corrupted names of record.
* * * * *
[FN] "We came to a creek, where, near the river, lives a man whom they
call the Child of Luxury (_t'kinder van walde_). He had a sawmill on
the creek or waterfall, which is a singular one. The water falls quite
steep in one body, but it comes down in steps, with a broad rest
sometimes between them. These steps were sixty feet or more high, and
were formed out of a single rock."
Kesieway's Kil, described in an Indian deed to Garritt van Suchtenhorst,
1667-8. "A certain piece of land at Claverack between the bouwery of
Jan Roother and Major Abraham Staats, beginning at a fall at the kil
called Kesieway's Kil." (Col. Hist. N. Y., xiii, 51, 57.) The tract seems
to have been on Claverack Creek south of Stockport "Jan Roothers" is
otherwise written, "Jan Hendricksen, alias Jan Roothaer." _Roth_ (German)
means "red," _-aer_ is from German _Haar_ (hair). He was known locally
as "Jan, the red-head." The location of the fall has not been
ascertained. _Kashaway_ Creek is a living form of the name in the town
of Greenport, Columbia County. On the opposite side of the Hudson the
same name apparently, appears in Keesieway, Kesewey, etc., as that of a
"chief or sachem" of the Katskill Indians. (See Keessienwey's Hoeck.)
Pomponick, Columbia County. (N. Y. Land Papers.) _Pompoenik,_ a fort to
be erected at "about the barn of Lawrence van Alen." (Doc. Hist. N. Y.,
ii, 90.) _Pompoen_ is Dutch for pumpkin. The name is also written as
that of an Indian owner--"the land bought by Jan Bruyn of Pompoen."
(Col. Hist. N. Y., xiii, 545.) Pompoeneck is the form of the signature
to deed.
Mawighanuck, Mawighunk, Waweighannuck, Wawighnuck, forms of the name
preserved as that of the Bayard Patent, Columbia County, described as a
place "Lying to the northwest of Kinderhook, about fifteen miles from
Hudson's River, upon Kinderhook River and some branches thereof, part of
which tract is known by the Indian name of Mawighanuck." The particular
"part" noted has not been located, but it seems to have been where one
of the branches of Kinderhook Creek united with that stream. (See
Mawichnauk.)
Mogongh-kamigh, a boundmark of the Bayard Patent (Land Papers, 245), is
located therein, "From a fall on said river called by the Indians
Kasesjewack to a certain place called by the natives Mogongh-kamigh,
then up the southeast branch," etc. The name means, probably, "Place of
a great tree."
Kenaghtiquak, "a small stream" so called, was the name of a boundmark of
the Peter Schuyler Patent, described, "Beginning where three oak trees
are marked, lying upon a small creek, to the south of Pomponick, called
by the Indians Kenaghtiquak, and running thence," etc. It probably
stands for _Enaughtiqua-ûk,_ "The beginning place."
Machachoesk, a place so called in Columbia County, has not been located.
It is described of record as a place "lying on both sides of Kinderhook
Creek," and may have taken its name from an adjacent feature.
Wapemwatsjo, the name of a hill in Columbia County, is a Dutch
orthography of _Wapim-wadchu,_ "Chestnut Hill." The interpretation is
correctly given in the accompanying alternate, "or Karstengeberg"
(Kastanjeberg, Dutch), "Chestnut Hill."
Kaunaumeek, an Indian village sixteen miles east of Albany, in the town
of Nassau, Rensselaer County, was the scene of the labors of Moravian
missionaries, and especially of Missionary Brainerd. It was long known
as Brainerd's Bridge, and is now called Brainerds. The name is Lenape
(German notation) and the equivalent of _Quannamáug,_ Nar., _Gunemeek,_
Len., "Long-fish place," a "Fishing-place for lampreys." The form,
Kaunaumeek, was introduced here by the Moravian missionaries.
Scompamuck is said to have been the name of the locality now covered by
the village of Ghent, Columbia County, perhaps more strictly the head
of the outlet of Copake Lake where an Indian settlement is located on
early maps. The suffix, _-amuck,_ is the equivalent of _-amaug,_ "fishing
place." _Ouschank-amaug,_ from _Ousch-acheu,_ "smooth, slippery," hence
eel or lamprey--"a fishing-place for eels."
Copake, the modern form of the name of a lake in Columbia County, is of
record _Achkookpeek_ (Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii. 628), meaning, literally,
"Snake water," from _Achkook,_ "Snake," and _-péek,_ "Water place," pool
or pond. Hendrick Aupaumut, the Historian of the Stockbridge-Mahicans,
wrote: "_Ukhkokpeck;_ it signifies snake-water, or water where snakes
are abundant." On a map of the boundary line between Massachusetts and
New York an Indian village is located at the outlet of the lake,
presumably that known as Scompamuck.
Kaphack, on Westenhook River, a place described as "Beginning at an
Indian burying-place hard by Kaphack," probably means "A separate
place"--"land not occupied." The tract began at "an Indian
burying-place," and presumably took its name therefrom. _Chépeck,_ "The
dead;" _Chépeack,_ "Place of the dead." (See Shapequa.)
Valatie, the name of a village in Columbia County, is Dutch. It means
"Vale, valley, dale, dell," and not "Little Falls," as rendered in
French's Gazetteer. _Waterval_ is Dutch for "Waterfall." _Vallate,_ Low
Latin for "valley," is the derivative of _Valatie,_ as now written.
Schodac, now covered by the village of Castleton (Schotax, 1677;
Schotack, 1768), was the place of residence of Aepjin, sachem, or "peace
chief," of the Mahicans. [FN-1] It has been translated from _Skootay,_
Old Algonquian (_Sqúta,_ Williams), "fire," and _-ack,_ "place,"
literally, "Fire Place," or place of council. It was extended to Smack's
Island, opposite Albany, which was known to the early Dutch as
"Schotack, or Aepjen's Island." It is probable, however, that the
correct derivative is to be found in _Esquatak,_ or Eskwatak, the record
name of the ridge of land east of Castleton, near which the Mahican fort
or palisaded village was located, from which Castleton takes its name.
_Esquatak_ is pretty certainly an equivalent of _Ashpohtag_ (Mass.),
meaning "A high place." Dropping the initial _A,_ and also the letter
_p_ and the second _h,_ leaves Schotack or Shotag; by pronunciation
Schodac. Eshodac, of which Meshodack [FN-2] is another form, the name of
a high peak in the town of Nassau, Rensselaer County, has become Schodac
by pronunciation. It has been claimed that the landing which Hudson made
and so particularly described in Juet's Journal, was at Schodac. [FN-3]
The Journal relates that the "Master's mate" first "went on land with
an old savage, the governor of the country, who carried him to his house
and made him good cheere." The next day Hudson himself "Sailed to the
shore, in one of their canoe's, with an old man who was chief of a tribe
consisting of forty men and seventeen women," and it is added, "These I
saw there in a house well constructed of oak bark and circular in shape,
so that it had the appearance of being built with an arched roof."
Presumably the house was near the shore of the river and in occupation
during the fishing and planting season. The winter castle was further
inland. The "arched roof" indicates that it was one of the "long" houses
so frequently described, not a cone-like cabin. The "tribe" was the
sachem's family.
* * * * *
[FN-1] Aepjin's name appears of record first in 1645 as the
representative of the Westchester County clans in negotiating a treaty
of peace with the Dutch. In the same capacity he was at Esopus in 1660.
He could hardly have been the "old man" whom Hudson met in 1609. In one
entry his name is written "Eskuvius, alias Aepjin (Little Ape)," and in
another "Called by the Dutch Apeje's (Little Ape's) Island." He may have
been given that name from his personal appearance, or it may have been
a substitute for a name which the Dutch had heard spoken. Eliot wrote,
"_Appu,_ He sits; he rests, remains, abides; _Keu Apean,_ Those that
sittest," descriptive of the rank of a resident ruler or peace chief,
one of a class of sachems whose business it was to maintain the
covenants between his own and other tribes, and negotiate treaties of
peace on their behalf or for other tribes when called upon. From his
totemic signature he was of the Wolf tribe of the Mahicans. (See
Keessienway's Hoeck.)
[FN-2] The prefixed _M,_ sometimes followed by a short vowel or an
apostrophe (M'), has no definite or determinate force. (Trumbull.)
[FN-3] The Journal locates the place at Lat. 42 deg. 18 min. This would
be about five miles (statute) north of the present city of Hudson.
"But," wrote Brodhead, "Latitudes were not as easily determined in
those days as they are now; and a careful computation of the distances
run by the Half-Moon, as recorded in Juet's day-book, shows that on the
18th of September, 1609, when the landing occurred, she must have been
'up six leagues higher' than Hudson, in the neighborhood of Schodac and
Castleton."
Sickenekas, given as the name of a tract of land on the east side of the
river, "opposite Fort Orange (Albany), above and below," dates from a
deed to Van Rensselaer, 1637, the name of one of the grantors of which
is written Paepsickenekomtas. The name is now written Papskanee and
applied to an island.
Sicajoock, (Wickagjock, Wassenaer), is given as the name of a tract on
the east side of the river extending from Smack's Island to Castle Island
where it joined lands "called Semesseeck," Gesmessecks, etc., which
extended north to Negagonse, "being about twelve miles (Dutch), large
measure." The northern limit seems to have been Unuwat's Castle on the
north side of a stream flowing to the Hudson north of "opposite to
Rensselaer's Kil and waterfall." _Sicajoock_ (Dutch notation), "Black,
or dark colored earth," from _Sûcki_ "Dark colored, inclining to black,"
and _-ock,_ "land." The same name is written Suckiage (_ohke_) in
application to the Hartford meadows, Conn.
Gesmesseeck, a tract of land so called, otherwise entered of record
"Nawanemit's particular land called _Semesseerse,_ lying on the east
bank, opposite Castle Island, off unto Fort Orange." "Item--from
Petanoc, the mill stream, away north to Negagonse." In addition Van
Rensselaer then purchased lands held in common by several owners,
"extending up the river, south and north" from Fort Orange, "unto a
little south of Moeneminnes castle," "being about twelve miles, large
measure." Moeneminne's castle was on Haver Island at Kahoes.
_Semesseerse_ is the form of the name in deed as printed in Col. Hist.
N. Y., vol. i, p. 44, and Gesmesseecks p. 1, v. iv. Kesmesick is another
form and perhaps also Taescameasick. (See Patuckquapaen.) The several
forms of the name illustrate the effort on the part of the early Dutch,
who were then limitedly acquainted with the Indian tongue, to give
orthographies to the names which they heard spoken.
Passapenoc, Pahpapaenpenock and Sapanakock, forms of the name of Beeren
Island, lying opposite Coeymans, is from an edible tuber which was
indigenous on it. [FN] The Dutch name Beeren or Beerin, means, literally,
"She bear," usually called Bear's Island. De Laet wrote "Beeren" in 1640.
* * * * *
[FN] "The Indians frequently designated places by the names of esculent
or medicinal roots which were there produced. In the Algonquin language
the generic names for tubers was _pen,_ varying in some dialects to
_pin, pena, pon,_ or _bun._ This name seems originally to have belonged
to the common ground nut: _Apias tuberosa._ Abnaki, _pen,_ plural,
_penak._ Other species were designated by prefixes to this generic, and,
in the compositions of place names, was employed to denote locality
(_auk, auki, ock,_ etc.), or by an abundance verb (_kanti-kadi_). Thus
_p'sai-pen,_ 'wild onions,' with the suffix for place, _ock,_ gave
_p'sai-pen-auk,_ or as written by the Dutch, _Passapenock,_ the Indian
name for Beeren Island." (J. H. Trumbull, Mag. of Am. Hist I, 387.)
Patuckquapaen and Tuscumcatick are noted in French's Gazetteer as names
of record in what is now the town of Greenbush, Rensselaer County,
without particular location. The first is in part Algonquian and in part
Dutch. The original was, no doubt, _Patuckquapaug,_ as in Greenwich,
Ct., meaning "Round pond." The Dutch changed _paug_ to _paen_ descriptive
of the land--low land--so we have, as it stands, "Round land," "elevated
hassocks of earth, roots," etc. (See Patuckquapaug.) The second name is
written in several forms--Taescameatuck, Taescameesick, and
Gessmesseecks. _Greenbush_ is an anglicism of _Gran Bosch,_ Dutch,
meaning, literally, "Green forest." The river bank was fringed by a long
stretch of spruce-pine woods. Dutch settlement began here about 1631.
In 1641 a ferry was established at the mouth of the _Tamisquesuck_ or
Beaver Creek, and has since been maintained. About the same year a small
fort, known as Fort Cralo, was constructed by Van Rensselaer's
superintendent.
Poesten Kill, the name of a stream and of a town in Rensselaer County,
is entered in deed to Van Rensselaer in 1630, "Petanac, the mill stream";
in other records, "_Petanac,_ the Molen Kil," and "De Laet's Marlen Kil
and Waterval." _Petanac,_ the Indian name, is an equivalent of
Stockbridge _Patternac,_ which King Ninham, in an affidavit, in 1762,
declared meant "A fall of water, and nothing more." "Molen Kil" (Dutch),
means "mill water." "De Laet's Marlen Kil ende Waterval," locates the
name as that of a well-known waterfall on the stream of eighty feet.
Weise, in his "History of Troy," wrote: "Having erected a saw-mill upon
the kill for sawing posts and timber, which was known thereafter as
Poesten mill, the name became extended to the stream," an explanation
that seems to bear the marks of having been coined. From the character
of the stream the name is probably a corruption of the Dutch _Boosen,_
"An angry stream," because of its rapid descent. The stream reaches the
Hudson on the north line of Troy. (See Gesmessecks.)
Paanpaach is quoted by Brodhead (Hist. N. Y.) as the name of the site of
the city of Troy. It appears in 1659 in application to bottom lands known
as "The Great Meadows," [FN-1] lying under the hills on the east side of
the Hudson. At the date of settlement by Van der Huyden (1720), it is
said there were stripes or patches within the limits of the present city
which were known as "The corn-lands of the Indians," [FN-2] from which
the interpretation in French's Gazetteer, "Fields of corn," which the
name never meant in any language. The name may have had an Indian
antecedent, but as it stands it is Dutch from _Paan-pacht,_ meaning "Low,
soft land," or farm of leased land. The same name appears in _Paan-pack,_
Orange county, which see.
* * * * *
[FN-1] Weise's Hist. of Troy.
[FN-2] Woodward's Reminiscences of Troy.
Piskawn, of record as the name of a stream on the north line of Troy,
describes a branch or division of a river. Rale wrote in Abnaki,
"_Peskakōōn,_ branche," of which _Piskawn_ is an equivalent.
Sheepshack and Pogquassick are record names in the vicinity of
Lansingburgh. The first has not been located. It seems to stand for
_Tsheepenak,_ a place where the bulbous roots of the yellow lily were
obtained--modern Abnaki, _Sheep'nak._ _Pogquassick_ appears as the name
of a "piece of woodland on the east side of the river, near an island
commonly called Whale-fishing Island," correctly, Whalefish Island. [FN]
This island is now overflowed by the raising of the water by the State
dam at Lansingburgh. The Indian name does not belong to the woodland;
it locates the tract near the island, in which connection it is probably
an equivalent of _Paugasuck,_ "A place at which a strait widens or opens
out" (Trumbull), or where the narrow passage between the island and the
main land begins to widen. In the same district _Pogsquampacak_ is
written as the name of a small creek flowing into Hoosick River.
* * * * *
[FN] "Whale-fishing Island" is a mistranslation of "Walvish Eiland"
(Dutch), meaning simply "Whale Island." It is related by Van der Donck
(1656) that during the great freshet of 1647, a number of whales
ascended the river, one of which was stranded and killed on this
island. Hence the name.
Wallumschack, so written in return of survey of patent granted to
Cornelius van Ness and others, in 1738, for lands now in Washington
County; _Walloomscook,_ and other forms; now preserved in Walloomsac, as
the name of a place, a district of country, and a stream flowing from a
pond on the Green Mountains, in the town of Woodford, near Bennington,
Vermont. [FN-1] It has not been specifically located, but apparently
described a place on the adjacent hills where material was obtained for
making paints with which the Indians daubed their bodies. (See Washiack.)
It is from a generic root written in different dialects, _Walla, Wara_
etc., meaning "Fine, handsome, good," etc., from which in the Delaware,
Dr. Brinton derived _Wálám,_ "Painted, from the sense to be fine in
appearance, to dress, which the Indians accomplished by painting their
bodies," and _-'ompsk_ (Natick), with the related meaning of standing or
upright, the combination expressing "Place of the paint rocks." [FN-2]
The ridges of many of the hills as well as of the mountains in the
district are composed of slate, quartz, sandstone and limestone, which
compose the Takonic system. By exposure the slate becomes disintegrated
and forms an ochery clay of several colors, which the Indians used as
paint. The washing away of the rock left the quartz exposed in the form
of sharp points, which were largely used by the Indians for making axes,
lance-heads, arrow points, etc. Some of the ochre beds have been
extensively worked, and plumbago has also been obtained. White Creek,
in the same county, takes that name from its white clay banks.
* * * * *
[FN-1] Vermont is from _Verd Montagne_ (French), meaning "Green
Mountains," presumably from their verdure, but actually from the
appearance of the hills at a distance from the color of the rocks
reflected in the atmosphere. To the Indian they were Wal'ompskeck,
"fine, handsome rocks."
[FN-2] An interpretation of the name from the form Wallumscnaik, in
Thompson's Hist. Vermont, states that "The termination _'chaik'_
signifies in the Dutch language, 'scrip.' or 'patent.'" This is
erroneous. There is no such word as _chaik_ in the Dutch language. The
_ch_ in the name here stands for _k_ and belongs to _'ompsk._
Tomhenack, Tomhenuk, forms of the name given as that of a small stream
flowing into the Hoosick from the north, [FN] takes that name,
apparently, from an equivalent of _Tomheganic,_ Mass., _Tangamic,_ Del.,
a stone axe or tomahawk, referring to a place where suitable stones were
obtained for making those implements. (Trumbull.) (See Wallumschack.)
* * * * *
[FN] "At a creek called Tomheenecks, beginning at the southerly bounds
of Hoosick, and so running up southerly, on both sides of said creek,
over the path which goes to Sanckhaick." (Cal. N. Y. Land Papers, 194;
petition of John de Peyster, 1730.)
Tyoshoke, now the name of a church at San Coick, Rensselaer County, is
probably from an equivalent of _Toyusk,_ Nar., "a bridge," and _ohke,_
"Place"--a place where the stream was crossed by a log forming a bridge.
It was a well-known fording place for many years, and later became the
site of Buskirk's Bridge.
Sanckhaick, now San Coick, a place in North Hoosick, Rensselaer County,
appears of record in petition of John de Peyster in 1730, and in Indian
deed to Cornelius van Ness and others, in 1732, for a certain tract of
land "near a place called Sanckhaick." The place, as now known, is near
the junction of White Creek and the Wallompskack, where one Van Schaick
made settlement and built a mill at an early date. In 1754 his buildings
were burned by Indian allies of the French. After the war of that period
the mill was rebuilt and became conspicuous in the battle of Bennington,
Aug. 16, 1777. It is claimed that the name is a corruption of Van
Schaick. Col. Baume, commandant of the Hessians in the battle of
Bennington (1777) wrote it Sancoik, which is very nearly Van Schaick.
Schaghticoke, now so written as the name of a town in the northeast
corner of Rensselaer County, and in other connections, is from
_Pishgachtigok_ Mohegan, meaning "Land on the branch or division of a
stream." The locative of the name was at the mouth of Hoosick River on
the Hudson, in Washington County. The earliest record (1685) reads,
"Land at _Schautecógue_" (-ohke). It is a generic name and appears in
several forms and at several places. _Pishgachtigok_ is a form on the
west side of the Housatonic at and near the mouth of Ten-Mile River. It
was the site of an Indian village and the scene of labor by the Moravian
missionaries. In some cases the name is written with locative, "at,"
etc., in others, with substantive meaning land or place, and in others
without suffix. Writes Mr. Gerard, "The name would probably be correctly
written _P'skaghtuk-uk,_" when with locative "at." [FN] Although first
of record in 1685, its application was probably as early as 1675, when
the Pennacooks of Connecticut, fleeing from the disastrous results of
King Phillip's War in which they were allies, found refuge among their
kindred Mahicans, and later were assigned lands at Schaghticoke by
Governor Andros, where they were to serve as allies of the Mohawks. They
seem to have spread widely over the district and to have left their
footprints as far south as the Katskill. It is a tradition that
conferences were held with them on a plain subsequently owned by
Johannes Knickerbocker, some six miles east of the Hudson, and that a
veritable treaty tree was planted there by Governor Andros in 1676-7,
although "planting a tree" was a figurative expression. In later years
the seat of the settlement seems to have been around Schaghticoke hill
and point, where Mashakoes, their sachem, resided. (Annals of Albany,
v, 149.) In the French and Indian war of 1756, the remnant of the tribe
was carried away to Canada by the St. Francis Indians, an organization
of kindred elements in the French service. At one time they are said to
have numbered six hundred warriors. (See Shekomeko.)
* * * * *
[FN] The root of the name is _Peske_ or _Piske_ (_Paske,_ Zeisb.),
meaning, primarily, "To split," "To divide forcibly or abruptly."
(Trumbull.) In Abnaki, _Peskétekwa,_ a "divided tidal or broad river or
estuary"--_Peskahakan_ (Rale), "branche." In the Delaware, Zeisberger
wrote _Pasketiwi,_ "The division or branch of a stream." _Pascataway,_
Md., is an equivalent form. _Pasgatikook,_ Greene County, is from the
Mohegan form. _Paghataghan_ and _Pachkataken,_ on the east branch of
the Delaware, and _Paghatagkam_ on the Otterkill, Vt., are equivalent
forms of _Peskahakan,_ Abnaki. The Hoosick is not only a principal
branch, but it is divided at its mouth and at times presents the
appearance of running north in the morning and south at night.
(Fitch's Surv.)
Quequick and Quequicke are orthographies of the name of a certain fall
on Hoosick River, in Rensselaer County. In petition of Maria van
Rensselaer, in 1684, the lands applied for were described as "Lying on
both sides of a certain creek called Hoosock, beginning at ye bounds of
Schaakook, and so to a fall called Quequick, and thence upward to a
place called Nachacqikquat." (Cal. Land Papers, 27.) The name may stand
for _Cochik'uack_ (Moh.), "Wild, dashing" waters, but I cannot make
anything out of it. The first fall east of Schaakook (Schagticoke)
Patent is now known as Valley Falls, in the town of Pittstown
(Pittstown Station).
Pahhaoke, a local name in Hoosick Valley, is probably an equivalent of
_Pauqna-ohke,_ "Clear land," "open country." It is frequently met in
Connecticut in different forms, as in Pahqui-oke, Paquiag, etc., the
name of Danbury Plains. The form here is said to be from the Stockbridge
dialect, but it is simply an orthography of an English scribe. It has
no relation whatever to the familiar Schaghticoke or Scat'acook.
Panhoosick, so written in Indian deed to Van Rensselaer in 1652, for a
tract of land lying north and east of the present city of Troy,
extending north to nearly opposite Kahoes Falls and east including a
considerable section of Hoosick River, appears in later records as an
apheresis in Hoosick, Hoosack, and Hoosuck, in application to Hoosick
River, Hoosick Mountains, Hoosick Valley, Hoosick Falls, and in "Dutch
Hossuck," an early settlement described in petition of Hendrick van Ness
and others, in 1704, as "land granted to them by Governor Dongan in
1688, known by the Indian name of Hoosack." (Cal. N. Y. Land Papers,
27, 74.) The head of the stream appears to have been the outlet of a
lake now called _Pontoosuc_ from the name of a certain fall on its
outlet called _Pontoosuck,_ "A corruption," wrote Dr. Trumbull, "of
_Powntucksuck,_ 'falls of a brook,' or outlet." "_Powntuck,_ a general
name for all falls," according to Indian testimony quoted by the same
writer. "_Pantuck,_ falls of a stream." (Zeisb.) Several interpretations
of the name have been suggested, of which the most probably correct is
from Massachusetts _Pontoosuck,_ which would readily be converted to
Hoosick or Panhoosick (Pontoosuck). It was applicable to any falls, and
may have had locative at Hoosick Falls as well as on the outlet of
Pontoosuck Lake. Without examination or warrant from the local dialect,
Heckewelder wrote in his Lenape tradition, "The Hairless or Naked Bear":
"_Hoosink,_ which means the basin, or more properly, the kettle." The
Lenape or Delaware _Hōōs,_ "certainly means, in that dialect, 'a pot or
kettle.' Figuratively, it might be applied to a kettle-shaped depression
in land or to a particular valley. _Hoosink_ means 'in' or 'at' the pot
or kettle. _Hoosack_ might be read 'round valley land,' or land with
steep sides." (Brinton.) Of course this does not explain the prefix
_Pan_, nor does it prove that _Hōōs_ was in the local dialect, which,
in 1652, was certainly Mahican or Mohegan. Still, it cannot be said that
the tradition was not familiar to all Algonquians in their mythical
lore.
Heckewelder's tradition, "The Naked or Hairless Bear," has its
culmination at a place "lying east of the Hudson," where the last one
of those fabulous animals was killed. "The story," writes Dr. Brinton,
"was that the bear was immense in size and the most vicious of animals.
Its skin was bare except a tuft of white hair on the back. It attacked
and ate the natives and the only means of escape from it was to take to
the waters. Its sense of smell was remarkably keen, but its sight was
defective. As its heart was very small, it could not be easily killed.
The surest plan was to break its back-bone; but so dangerous was it that
those hunters who went in pursuit of it bade families and friends
farewell, as if they never expected to return. The last one was tracked
to Hoosink, and a number of hunters went there and mounted a rock with
precipitous sides. They then made a noise and attracted the beast's
attention, who rushed to the attack with great fury. As he could not
climb the rock, he tore at it with his teeth, while the hunters above
shot him with arrows and threw upon him great stones, and thus killed
him." [FN]
* * * * *
[FN] "The Lenape and their Legends."
The Hoosick River flows from its head, near Pittsfield, Berkshire
County, in Massachusetts, through the Petersburgh Mountains between
precipitous hills, and carries its name its entire length. Fort
Massachusetts, in the present town of Adams, Mass., was on its borders
and in some records was called Fort Hoosick. It was captured by the
French and their Indians in 1746. The general course of the stream is
north, west, and south to the Hudson in the northwest corner of
Rensselaer County, directly opposite the village of Stillwater,
Saratoga County. There are no less than three falls on its eastern
division, of which the most considerable are Hoosick Falls, where the
stream descends, in rapids and cascades, forty feet in a distance of
twelve rods. Dr. Timothy Dwight, who visited it in the early part of the
19th century, described it as "One of the most beautiful rivers in the
world." "At different points," he wrote, "The mountains extend their
precipitous declivities so as to form the banks of the river. Up these
precipitous summits rise a most elegant succession of forest trees,
chiefly maple, beech and evergreens. There are also large spots and
streaks of evergreens, chiefly hemlock and spruce." Though, with a
single exception, entered in English records by the name of "Hoosick or
Schaahkook's Creek," it was, from the feature which especially attracted
Dr. Dwight's attention, known to the Iroquois as the _Ti-oneenda-howe,_
or "The river at the hemlocks." [FN]
* * * * *
[FN] See Saratoga. _Ti-oneenda-howe_ was applied by the Mohawks to the
Hoosick, and _Ti-ononda-howe_ to the Batten Kill as positive boundmarks,
the former from its hemlock-clad hills (_onenda_), and the latter from
its conical hills (_ononda_). The late Horatio Hale wrote me:
"_Ti-ononda-howe_ is evidently a compound term involving the word
_ononda_ (or _ononta_), 'hill or mountain.' _Ti-oneenda-howe,_ in like
manner, includes the word _onenda_ (or _onenta_), 'hemlock.' There may
have been certain notable hills or hemlocks which as landmarks gave
names to the streams or located them. The final syllables _howe,_ are
uncertain." (See Di-ononda-howe.)
Cossayuna, said to be from the Mohawk dialect and to signify "Lake of
the pines," is quoted as the name of a lake in the town of Argyle,
Washington County. The translation is correct, substantially, but the
name is Algonquian--a corruption of _Coossa,_ "Pine," [FN] and _Gummee,_
"Lake," or standing water. The terms are from the Ojibway dialect, and
were probably introduced by Dr. Schoolcraft.
* * * * *
[FN] It is of record that "the borders of Hudson's River above Albany,
and the Mohawk River at Schenectady," were known, in 1710, as "the best
places for pines of all sorts, both for numbers and largeness of trees."
(Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii, 656.) Mass. _Kowas-'ktugh,_ "pine tree." The
name is met in many orthographies.
Anaquassacook, the name of a patent in Washington County, and also of a
village and of a stream of water, was, primarily, the name of a
boundmark. The locative has not been ascertained. _Anakausuk-ook,_ "At
the end of a course," or as far the brook.
Podunk, a brook so called in the town of Fort Ann, Washington County,
is met in several other places. (See Potunk, L. I.) Its meaning has not
been ascertained.
Quatackquaohe, entered on Pownal's map as the name of a tract of land on
the south side of a stream, has explanation in the accompanying entry,
"Waterquechey, or Quatackquaohe." Waterquechey (English) means "Moist
boggy ground," indicating that _Quatackquaohe_ is an equivalent of
_Petuckquiohke,_ Mass., "Round-land place," _i. e._ elevated hassocks
of earth, roots, etc. The explanation by Gov. Pownal may supply a key
to the translation of other names now interpreted indefinitely.
Di-ononda-howe, a name now assigned to the falls on the Batten Kill
below Galeville, Washington County, is Iroquoian and of original
application to the stream itself as written in the Schuyler Patent. It
is a compound descriptive of the locality of the creek, the reference
being to the conical hills on the south side of the stream near the
Hudson, on one of which was erected old Fort Saratoga. The sense is,
"Where a hill interposes," between the object spoken of and the speaker.
The late Superintendent of the Bureau of Ethnology, Prof. J. W. Powell,
wrote me: "From the best expert information in this office, it may be
said that the phonetic value of the final two syllables _howe_ is far
from definite; but assuming that they are equivalent to _huwi_ (with the
European vowel values), the word-sentence Di-ononda-howe means, 'There
it has interposed (a) mountain,' Written in the Bureau alphabet, the
word-sentence would be spelled Ty-ononde-huwi. It is descriptive of the
situation of the creek, but not of the creek itself, and is applicable
to any mountain or high hill which appears between a speaker and some
other object." (See Hoosick.)
Caniade-rioit is given as the name of Lake George, and "The tail of the
lake" as the definition, "on account of its connection with Lake
Champlain." (Spofford's Gazetteer.) Father Jogues, who gave to the lake
the name "Lac de Saint Sacrament" (Lake of the Holy Sacrament), in 1645,
wrote the Mohawk name, _Andiato-rocte_ (French notation), with the
definition, "There where the lake shuts itself in," the reference being
to the north end of the lake at the outlet. This definition is not far
from a correct reading of the suffix _octe_ (_okte,_ Bruyas), meaning
"end," or, in this connection, "Where the lake ends." _Caniade,_ a form
of _Kaniatare,_ is an Iroquoian generic, meaning "lake." The lake never
had a specific name. _Horicon,_ which some writers have endeavored to
attach to it, does not belong to it. It is not Iroquoian, does not mean
"north," nor does it mean "lake" or "silver water," [FN] The present
name was conferred by Sir William Johnson, in honor of King George III,
of England.
* * * * *
[FN] _Horikans_ was written by De Laet, in 1624, as the name of an
Indian tribe living at the head waters of the Connecticut. On an ancient
map _Horicans_ is written in Lat. 41, east of the Narragansetts on the
coast of New England. In the same latitude _Moricans_ is written west
of the Connecticut, and _Horikans_ on the upper Connecticut in latitude
42. _Morhicans_ is the form on Carte Figurative of 1614-16, and
_Mahicans_ by the Dutch on the Hudson. The several forms indicate that
the tribe was the _Moricans_ or _Mourigans_ of the French, the _Maikans_
or _Mahikans_ of the Dutch and the _Mohegans_ of the English. It is
certain that that tribe held the headwaters of the Connecticut as well
as of the Hudson. The novelist, Cooper, gave life to De Laet's
orthography in his "Last of the Mohegans."
Ticonderoga, familiar as the name of the historic fortress at Lake
George, was written by Sir William Johnson, in 1756, _Tionderogue_ and
_Ticonderoro,_ and in grant of lands in 1760, "near the fort at
_Ticonderoga._" Gov. Golden wrote _Ticontarogen,_ and an Iroquoian sachem
is credited with _Decariaderoga._ Interpretations are almost as numerous
as orthographies. The most generally quoted is from Spofford's Gazetteer:
"_Ticonderoga,_ from _Tsindrosie_, or _Cheonderoga,_ signifying
'brawling water,' and the French name, _Carillon,_ signifying 'a chime
of bells,' were both suggested by the rapids upon the outlet of Lake
George." The French name may have been so suggested, but neither
_Tsindrosie_ or _Cheonderoga_ means "brawling water." The latter is
probably an orthography of _Teonderoga._ Ticonderoga as now written, is
from _Te_ or _Ti,_ "dual," two; _Kaniatare,_ "lake," and _-ogen,_
"intervallum, divisionem" (Bruyas), the combination meaning, literally,
"Between two lakes." Horatio Hale wrote me of one of the forms:
"_Dekariaderage,_ in modern orthography, _Tekaniataroken,_ from which
Ticonderoga, means, simply, 'Between two lakes.' It is derived from
_Tioken,_ 'between,' and _Kaniatara,_ 'lake.' Its composition illustrates
a peculiar idiom of the Iroquoian language, _Tioken_ when combined with
a noun, is split in two, so to speak, and the noun inserted. Thus in
combining _Tioken_ with _Ononte,_ 'mountain,' we have _Ti-ononte-oken,_
'Between two mountains,' which was the name of one of the Mohawk
castles--sometimes written Theonondiogo. In like manner, _Kaniatare,_
'lake,' thus compounded, yields _Te-kaniatare-oken,_ 'Between two lakes.'
In the Huron dialect _Kaniatare_ is contracted to _Yontare_ or _Ontare,_
from which, with _io_ or _iyo,_ 'great,' we get _Ontario_ (pronounced
Ontareeyo), 'Great lake' which, combined with _Tioken,_ becomes
_Ti-onteroken,_ which would seem to be the original of Colden's
_Tieronderoga._"
There is rarely an expression of humor in the use of Indian place-names,
but we seem to have it in connection with Dekariaderoga, one of the forms
of Ticonderoga quoted above, which is of record as having been applied
to Joseph Chew, Secretary of Indian Affairs, at a conference with chiefs
of the Six Nations. (Col. Hist. N. Y., viii, 501.) Said the sachem who
addressed Secretary Chew, "We call you Dekariaderoga, the junction of
two lakes of different qualities of water," presumably expressing
thereby, in keeping with the entertainment usually served on such
occasions, that the Secretary was in a condition between "water and
firewater." Neither "junction" or "quality of water" are expressed in
the composition, however; but perhaps are related meanings.
Caniade-riguarunte is given by Governor Pownal as the Iroquoian name of
Lake Champlain, with the legend, "The Lake that is the gate of the
country." (Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii, 1190.) The lake was the route taken
by the Algonquians of Canada in their forays against the Mohawks. Later,
it became a link in the great highway of travel and commerce between
New York and Quebec, via. Hudson's River, in which connection it was
literally "The gate of the country." The legend is not an interpretation
of the Iroquoian name, however. In the French missionary spelling the
generic word for "lake" is _Kaniatare_ of which _Caniaderi_ is an
English notation. The suffix _-guarûnte,_ in connection with
_Caniaderi,_ gives to the combination the meaning, "A lake that is part
of another lake." (J. B. N. Hewitt.) The suffix is readily confused with
_Karonta,_ or _-garonta_ (Mohawk), meaning "tree," from which, probably,
Fennimore Cooper's "Lake of the Woods." "Lake of the Iroquois," entered
on early maps, does not mean that when Champlain visited it in 1609 it
was owned by the Iroquois, but that it was the route from Quebec to the
Iroquois country.
On Long Island.
* * * * *
Matouwackey, Sewanhackey and Paumanackey, in varying orthographies,
are names of record for Long Island, derived from _Meitauawack_
(_Metaûhock,_ Nar.), the name of the shell-fish from which the Indians
made the shell-money in use among them, [FN-1] called by English _Peag,_
from _Wau-paaeek_ [FN-2] (Moh.), "white," and by the Dutch _Sewan_ or
_Zeewan,_ [FN-3] from _Sewaûn_ (Moh.), _Sueki_ (Nar.), "black." This
money was both white and black (so called), the latter the most rare
and valuable. It was in use by the Europeans as a medium of trade with
the Indians, as well as among themselves, by the Indians especially for
the manufacture of their historic peace, tribute, treaty and war belts,
called _Paumaunak_ (_Pau-pau-me-numwe,_ Mass.), "an offering." [FN-4]
_Meitouowack,_ the material, _Waupoaeek_ and _Sewaûn,_ the colors;
_Paumanack,_ the use, "an offering." The suffix of either term (_hock,
hagki, hackee_) is generic for shell--correctly, "An ear-shaped shell."
(Trumbull.) Substantially, by the corruption of the suffix to _hacki_
(Del.), "land" or place, the several terms, as applied to the island,
have the meaning, "The shell island," or "Place of shells." De Laet
wrote, in 1624: "At the entrance of this bay are situated several
islands, or broken land, on which a nation of savages have their abode,
who are called Matouwacks; they obtain a livelihood by fishing within
the bay, whence the most easterly point of the land received the name
of Fisher's Hook and also Cape de Bay." Van der Donck entered on his
map, "t' Lange Eyland, alias, Matouwacks." "Situate on the island called
by the Indians Sewanhacky." (Deed of 1636.) "Called in ye Indian tongue
Suanhackey." (Deed of 1639.) Than these entries there is no claim that
the island ever had a specific name, and that those quoted were from
shells and their uses is clear. Generically the island was probably
known to the Minsi and neighboring tribes as _Menatey,_ "The island,"
as stated by Dr. Trumbull; smaller islands being known as _Menatan,_ from
which _Manathan_ and _Manhatan._ The occupants of the island were a
distinct group of Algonquian stock, speaking on the east a dialect more
or less of the Massachusetts type, and on the west that known as
Monsey-Lenape, both types, however, being largely controlled by the
Dutch and the English orthographies in which local notings appear. They
were almost constantly at war with the Pequods and Narragansetts, but
there is no evidence that they were ever conquered, and much less that
they were conquered by the Iroquois, to whom they paid tribute for
protection in later years, as they had to the Pequods and to the
English; nor is there evidence that their intercourse with the river
tribes immediately around them was other than friendly.
* * * * *
[FN-1] "_Meteauhock,_ the Periwinkle of which they made their wampum."
(Williams.) "Perhaps derived from _Mehtauog,_ 'Ear-shaped,' with the
generic suffix _hock_ (_hogki, hackee_), 'shell.'" (Trumbull.)
[FN-2] _Wompompeag_ is another form quoted as Mohegan, from which
_Wompum._ "_Wompom,_ which signifies white." (Roger Williams.)
[FN-3] _Seahwhoog,_ "they are scattered." (Eliot.) "From this word the
Dutch traders gave the name of _Sewan,_ or _Zeawand,_ to all shell
money; just as the English called all _Peag,_ or strung beads, by the
name of the white, _Wampum._" (Trumbull.)
[FN-4] An interpretation of _Paumanack_ as indicating a people
especially under tribute, is erroneous. The belts which they made were
in universal use among the nations as an offering, the white belts
denoting good, as peace, friendship, etc., the black, the reverse. The
ruling sachem, or peace-chief, was the keeper and interpreter of the
belts of his nation, and his place sometimes took its name from that
fact. That several of the sachems did sign their names, or that their
names were signed by some one for them, "Sachem of Pammananuck," proves
nothing in regard to the application of that name to the island.
Wompenanit is of record as the name of "the utmost end eastward" of the
Montauk Peninsula. The description reads: "From the utmost end of the
neck eastward, called Wompenanit, to our utmost bound westward, called
Napeake." (Deed of July 11, 1661.) In other papers Wompenonot and
Wompenomon, corrupted orthographies. The meaning is "The utmost end
eastward," _i. e._ from the east side of Napeake to the extreme end.
The derivatives are Nar. _Wompan_ (from _Wompi,_ white, bright), "It is
full daylight, bright day," hence the Orient, the East, the place of
light, and _-anit,_ "To be more than," extending beyond the ordinary
limit. The same word appears in _Wompanánd,_ "The Eastern God"
(Williams), the deity of light. From _Wompi,_ also _Wapan_ in
_Wapanachkik,_ "Those of the eastern region," now written _Abanaqui_ and
_Abnaki,_ and confined to the remnant of a tribe in Maine. (See
Wahamanesing,) Dr. Trumbull wrote: "_Anit,_ the subjunctive participle
of a verb which signifies 'To be more than,' 'to surpass'"; with
impersonal _M_ prefixed, _Manit,_ as in _Manitou,_ a name given by the
Indians, writes Lahontan, "To all that passes their understanding";
hence interpreted by Europeans, "God." It has no such meaning in
_Wompenanit,_ but defined a limit that was "more than," or the extreme
limits of the island. No doubt, however, the Indians saw, as do visitors
of to-day, at the utmost end of the Montauk Peninsula, in its breast of
rock against which the ocean-waves dash with fearful force; its
glittering sun-light and in its general features, a _Wompanánd,_ or
Eastern God, that which was "more than ordinary, wonderful, surpassing,"
but those features are not referred to in _Wompenanit,_ except, perhaps,
as represented by the glittering sun-light, the material emblem of the
mystery of light--"where day-light appears."
Montauk, now so written--in early orthographies _Meantacut,_
_Meantacquit,_ etc.--was not the name of the peninsula to which it is
now applied, but was extended to it by modern Europeans from a specific
place. The extreme end was called by the Indians _Wompenanit,_ and the
point, _Nâïag,_ "Corner, point or angle," from which Adriaen Block
wrote, in 1614, _Nahicans,_ "People around the point," a later Dutch
navigator adding (War Dep. Map) the topographical description, _Nartong,_
"A barren, ghastly tongue." The name has had several interpretations by
Algonquian students, but without entire satisfaction even to themselves.
Indeed, it may be said with truth, "It has been too much translated" to
invite further study with the hope of a better result. The orthography
usually quoted for interpretation appears first in South Hampton Records
in an Indian deed of 1640, "_Manatacut,_ his X mark," the grantor being
given the name of the place which he represented, as appears from the
same records (1662), "Wyandanch, Meantacut sachem," or sachem of
Meantac. The Indian deed reads: "The neck of land commonly known by the
name of Meantacquit, . . . Unto the east side of Napeak, next unto
Meantacut high lands." In other words the high lands bounded the place
called Meantacqu, the suffix _-it_ or _-ut_ meaning "at" that place.
The precise place referred to was then and is now a marsh on which is a
growth of shrub pines, and cedars. Obviously, therefore, _Meantac_ or
_Meantacqu,_ is an equivalent of Mass. _Manantac,_ "Spruce swamp," and
of Del. _Menántac,_ "Spruce, cedar or pine swamp." (Zeisb.) The Abn.
word _Mannaⁿdakôô,_ "cedar" (Mass. _-uɧtugh;_ Nar. _áwtuck_), seems
to establish conclusively that _-ántak_ was the general generic suffix
for all kinds of coniferous trees, and with the prefix _Men, Man, Me,_
etc., described small or dwarf coniferous trees usually found growing
in swamps, and from which swamps took the name. [FN] There is nothing
in the name or in its corruptions that means "point," "high lands,"
"place of observation," "fort," "fence," or "confluence"; it simply
describes dwarf coniferous trees and the place which they marked. The
swamp still exists, and the dwarf trees also at the specific east bound
of the lands conveyed. (See Napeak.)
* * * * *
[FN] The Indians had specific names for different kinds of trees. The
generic general word was _Me'hittuk_ or _M'hittugk,_ Del., _M'tugh,_
Mass., which, as a suffix, was reduced to _-ittuk, -utugh, -tagh,
-tack, -tacque,_ etc., frequently _ak,_ which is the radical. Howden
writes in Cree: "_Atik_ is the termination for the names of trees,
articles made of wood," etc. _Mash-antack-uk,_ Moh., was translated by
Dr. Trumbull from _Mish-untugh-et,_ Mass., "Place of much wood."
_Mannaⁿdakōō_ is quoted as the Abn. word for "cedar;" _Mishquáwtuck,_
Nar., "Red cedar." _Menántachk,_ "Swamp" (Len. Eng. Dic.), is explained
by Rev. Anthony, "with trees meeting above." _Menautac,_ "Spruce,
cedar or pine swamp" (Zeisb.), from the kind of trees growing in the
swamp, but obviously _antac_ never described a swamp, or trees growing
in swamps, without the prefix _Men, Man, Me,_ etc. _Keht-antak_ means
a particularly large tree which probably served as a boundmark. It may
be a question if the initial _a_ in _antak_ was not nasal, as in Abn.,
but there can be none in regard to the meaning of the suffix.
Napeak, East Hampton deed of 1648, generally written _Napeaka, Neppeage_
and _Napeague,_ and applied by Mather (Geological Survey) to a beach
and a marsh, and in local records to the neck connecting Montauk Point
with the main island, means "Water land," or "Land overflowed by water."
The beach extends some five miles on the southeast coast of Long Island.
The marsh spreads inland from the beach nearly across the neck where it
meets Napeak Harbor on the north coast. It is supposed to have been, in
prehistoric times, a water-course which separated the island from the
point. Near the eastern limit are patches of stunted pines and cedars,
and on its east side at the end of what are called the "Nominick hills,"
where was obviously located the boundmark of the East Hampton deed,
"Stunted pines and cedars are a feature," wrote Dr. Tooker in answer to
inquiry. (See Montauk.)
Quawnotiwock, is quoted in French's Gazetteer as the name of Great Pond;
authority not cited. Prime (Hist. L. I.) wrote: "The Indian name of the
pond is unknown." The pond is two miles long. It is situate where the
Montauk Peninsula attains its greatest width, and is the largest body
of fresh water on the island. It would be correctly described by _Quinne_
or _Quawnopaug,_ "Long pond," but certainly not by _Quawnotiwock,_ the
animate plural suffix _-wock,_ showing that it belonged to the
people--"People living on the Long River." [FN] (See Quantuck and
Connecticut.)
* * * * *
[FN] The suffix _-og, -ock, -uck,_ is, in the dialect here, a plural
sign. Williams wrote _-oock, -uock, -wock,_ and Zeisberger wrote _-ak,
-wak._ _Quinneh-tuk-wock,_ "People living on the Long River"--"a
particular name amongst themselves." _Kutch-innû-wock,_ "Middle-aged
men;" _Miss-innû-wock,_ "The many." _Lénno,_ "Man"; _Lénno-wak,_ "Men."
(Zeisberger.) _Kuwe,_ "Pine"; _Cuweuch-ak,_ "pine wood, pine logs."
Strictly, an animate plural. In the Chippeway dialect, Schoolcraft
gives eight forms of the animate and eight forms of 'the inanimate
plural. The Indians regarded many things as animates that Europeans do
not.
Assup, given as the name of a neck of land--"A tree marked X hard by the
northward side of a cove of meadow"--means "A cove." It is an equivalent
of _Aucûp_ (Williams), "A little cove or creek." "_Aspatuck_ river" is
also of record here, and probably takes that name from a hill or height
in proximity. "Aspatuck hill," New Millford, Conn.
Shinnecock, now preserved as the name of an Indian village in the town
of Southampton, on the east side of Shinnec'ock Bay, for many years in
occupation by a remnant of the so called Shinnec'ock Indians who had
taken on the habits and customs of European life, appears in its present
form in Plymouth Records in 1637, in treaty association with the
Massachusetts government. They claimed to be the "true owners of the
eastern end of Long Island," but acknowledged the primacy of Wyandanch,
sachem of the Montauks, who had been elected by other sachems as chief
sachem or the "sachem of sachem" of the many clans. The name is probably
from the root _Shin,_ or _Schind,_ "Spruce-pine" (Zeisb.); _Schindikeu,_
"Spruce-pine forest"; _Shinak-ing,_ "At the land of spruce-pines."
(Brinton); _Schindak-ock,_ "Land or place of spruce-pines." There was
an extended spruce-pine forest on that part of the island, a considerable
portion of which remains in the district south of Peconic River in the
town of Southampton. The present form of the name is pronounced
Shinnec'ock.
Mochgonnekonck is written, in 1643, as the name of a place unlocated
except in a general way. The record reads: "Whiteneymen, sachem of
Mochgonnekonck, situate on Long Island." (Col. Hist. N. Y., xiv, 60.)
Whiteneymen, whose name is written Mayawetinnemin in treaty of 1645, and
"Meantinnemen, alias Tapousagh, chief of Marsepinck and Rechawyck," in
1660 (Col. Hist. N. Y., xiii, 58), was son of Mechowodt, sachem of
Marsepingh, and probably succeeded his father as sachem of that clan.
(Col. Hist. N. Y., xiv, 540.) His last possession was Cow Neck, in the
present town of North Hampton, which was given to him by his father; it
may have been the Mochgonnekonk of 1643. De Vries met him in conference
in 1645, and notes him as a speaker of force, and as having only one
eye. Brodhead wrote of him: "Kieft, therefore, by the advice of his
council determined to engage some of the friendly Indians in the interest
of the Dutch, and Whiteneymen, the sachem of Mochgonnecocks, on Long
Island, was dispatched, with several of his warriors, 'to beat and
destroy the hostile tribes.' The sachem's diplomacy, however, was better
than his violence. In a few days he returned to Fort Amsterdam bearing
friendly messages from the sachems along the Sound and Near Rockaway,"
and a formal treaty of peace soon followed. He was elected "sachem of
sachems" by the sachems of the western clans on the island, about the
time the jurisdiction of the island was divided between the English at
New Haven and the Dutch at Manhattan, the former taking the eastern
clans under Wyandanch, and as such appears in the treaties with the
Dutch in 1645, '56--His record name is variously written--Tapousagh,
Tackapousha, etc. It is frequently met in Long Island Records.
_Mochgonneckonck_ the name of his sachemdom in 1643, has not been
identified further than that he was the owner of Cow Neck, now called
Manhasset (Manhas'et), Queens County, the largest neck or point of land
on the coast.
Quaunontowunk, Quannotowonk, Konkhonganik and Konghonganoc, are forms
of two distinct names applied respectively to the north and south ends
of Fort Pond, as per deed for the tract known as "the Hither Woods
purchase," which reads: "The name of the pond is Quaunontowunk on the
north and Konkhonganik on the south." Dr. Tooker translated the former
from _Quaneuntéow-unk,_ (Eliot), "Where the fence is," the reference
being to a certain fence of lopped trees which existed on the north end
of the pond, [FN-1] and the latter from _Kuhkunhunganash_ (Eliot),
"bounds," "At the boundary place." The present name of the pond is from
two Indian forts, one known as the Old Fort, on the west, and one known
as the New Fort, on the east, the latter remaining in 1661, the former
destroyed, the deed reading, "Where the Old Fort stood." Wyandanch, [F-2]
"the sachem of Manatacut,"--later called "The great sachem of
Montauk"--had his residence in the Old Fort. He was the first ruler of
the Montauks known to the Dutch, his name appearing in 1637. (See
Montauk.)
* * * * *
[FN-1] The deed reads: "The north fence from the pond to the sea, shall
be kept by the town; the south fence, to the sea, by the Indians."
Presumably the fences were there when the land was sold.
[FN-2] Wyandach, or Wyandance, is said to have been the brother of
Paggatacut, sachem of Manhas'set or Shelter Island, the chief sachem
of fifteen sachemdoms. On the death of the latter, in 1651, Wyandanch
became, by election, the successor of his brother and held the office
until his death by poison in 1659.
Mastic, preserved as the name of a river and also as that of a village
in Brookhaven, is of uncertain meaning. _Wampmissic,_ the name of
another village, is supposed to have been the name of a swamp--Mass.
_Wompaskit,_ "At or in the swamp, or marsh."
Poosepatuck, a place so called and now known as the Indian Reservation,
back of Forge River at Mastick, probably means "On the other side," or
"Beyond the river," from _Awossi,_ "Over, over there, on the other side,
beyond," and _-tuck,_ "Tidal river."
Speonk, the name of a village in Southampton near East Bay, on an
inlet of the ocean, to which flows through the village a small brook,
has lost some of its letters. _Mas-sepe-onk_ would describe a place on
a broad tidal river or estuary. In the same vicinity _Setuck_ is of
record as the name of a place. It may also be from Mas-sepe-tuck. (See
Southampton Records.) While the English settlers on eastern Long Island
were careful to preserve Indian names, they were very careless in
orthographies.
Poquatuck is quoted by Thompson (Hist. L. I.) as the name of Oyster
Pond in the town of Southold. It is now claimed as the name of Orient,
a village, peninsula or neck of land and harbor on the east side of the
pond. Probably from _Pohqu'unantak,_ "Cleared of trees," a marshy neck
which had been cleared or was naturally open. The same name is met in
Brookhaven.
Cataconoche, given as the name of the Great Neck bounding Smithtown on
the east, has been translated by Dr. Tooker from _Kehte-komuk,_ "Greatest
field," later known as the Old Man's Field, or Old Field.
Yaphank, Yamphank, etc., a village in Brookhaven, is from Niantic
dialect in which _Y_ is used for an initial letter where other dialects
employ _L, N_ or _R._ Putting the lost vowel _e_ back in the word, we
have _Yapehánek,_ in Lenape _Rapehánek,_ "Where the stream ebbs and
flows." The name is written Yampkanke in Indian deed. (Gerard.) The name
is now applied to a small tributary of the Connecticut, but no doubt
belongs to a place on the Connecticut where the current is affected by
the tide. (See Connecticut.)
Monowautuck is quoted as the Indian name of Mount Sinai, a village in
the town of Brookhaven, a rough and stony district on what is known as
Old Man's Bay, a small estuary surrounded by a salt-marsh meadow. The
name seems to be an equivalent of _Nunnawanguck,_ "At the dry land." Old
Man's Bay takes that name from the Great Neck called Cataconche,
otherwise known as the Old Man's Meadow, and as the Old Field. "The two
neckes or hoeces (hooks) of meadow that lieth next beyond the Old Man's
Meadow"--"with all ye privileges and appurtenances whatsoever, unto the
Old Field." Presumably _Man's_ was originally _Manse_ (English),
pronounced _Mans,_ "the dwelling of a landholder with the land attached,"
and called _Old_ because it was the first land or field purchased. (See
Cataconche.)
Connecticut, now so written and of record _Connetquoit,_ etc, is not the
name of the stream to which it is applied, but of the land on both sides
of it. It is an equivalent of _Quinnituckquet,_ "Long-river land," as in
Connecticut. (Trumbull.) _Quinnituk,_ "Long river"; with locative _-et_
or _-it,_ "Land or place on the long-river." The stream is the outlet
of Ronkonkoma Lake, and flows south to Fire-place Bay, where the name is
of primary record. There were two streams to which it was applied; one
is a small stream in Islip, and the other, the largest stream on the
island, as described above. In old deeds it is called East Connecticutt.
Fire-place is now retained as the name of a village on Bellport Bay, and
its ancient locative on the Connecticut is now called South Haven. [FN]
* * * * *
[FN] There were two places bearing the name of Fire-place, one on the
north side of the island on Gardiner's Bay, and one on the south side.
The latter is referred to here.
Minasseroke, quoted as the name of Little Neck, town of Brookhaven,
probably means "Small-stone land" or place--_Min-assin-ohke, r_ and _n_
exchanged.
Patchogue, Pochough, Pachough, the name of a village in the town of
Brookhaven, Suffolk County, on Patchough Bay, is probably met in
Pochaug, Conn., which Dr. Trumbull read from _Pohshâog,_ where two
streams form one river, signifying, "Where they divide in two." The name
was early extended to a clan known as the Pochoughs, later Patchoogues,
who seem to have been a family of the Onchechaugs, a name probably the
equivalent of _Ongkoué_ (Moh.), "beyond," with _-ogue_ (ohke), "land
beyond," _i. e._ beyond the bay. [FN] (See Moriches.)
* * * * *
[FN] Otherwise written _Unquetauge_--"land lying at Unquetauge, on the
south side of Long Island, in the county of Suffolk." Literally, "Land
beyond;" "on the further side of; in the same direction as, and further
on or away than." _Onckeway,_ a place beyond Stamford, on Connecticut
river. (Col. Hist. N. Y.) "_Ongkoué,_ beyond Pequannuc river."
(Trumbull.)
Cumsequogue is given in will of William Tangier Smith as the name of
what is now known as Carman's River, flowing to Bellport Bay. It is
probably a pronunciation of _Accomb-suck-ohke,_ "Land or place at the
outlet beyond." The record name of Bellport is Occombomeck, Accobamuck,
etc., meaning, "Fishing-place beyond," which, as the deeds show, was a
fishing-place at a freshwater pond, now dried up. The name is readily
confused with Aquebogue.
Moriches, a neck of land "lying at Unquetague, on the south side of
Long Island, being two necks called by ye names of _Mariges_ and
_Namanock_" (Cal. N. Y. Land Papers, 45), is now in the town of
Brookhaven. Namanock seems, from the locative, to be a corruption of
_Nam'e-ohke,_ "Fish-place"--Namanock or Namecock. (Trumbull.) [FN]
_Moriches,_ or _Mariges,_ is a corruption of Dutch _Maritches_ (Morichi,
Mariche), from _Moriche Palmita_ (Latin), meaning, in popular use, any
plant thought to resemble a palm. _Mauritia_ a species of Mauriticæ,
or South-American palm, so called in honor of Prince Maurice of Nassau.
(See Palmagat.)
* * * * *
[FN] _Namaus,_ generic, "a fish"--_Namohs,_ Eliot; _Namés,_ Abn.,
_Namaes,_ Heck.; _Namees,_ Zeisb.; with suffix _-aki, -ohke,_ etc.,
"fish-land," place or country. _Améessok,_ Zeisb.; _Anmesooak,_ Abn.,
_Aumsûog,_ Mass., "small fishes." As a generic suffix, _-ama'ug,_ Mass.,
_-ama'uk,_ Del., "fishing-place." "_Ama'ug_ is only used at the end of
a compound name, where it is equivalent to _Nameaug,_ at the beginning."
(Trumbull.) The final syllable, _-ug, -uk,_ etc., is an animate plural.
On Long Island, _-Ama'ug_ is frequently met in _-amuck;_ in other
places, _-amwack, -amwook, -ameock,_ etc.
Kitchaminchoke, given as the name of a boundmark, said to be Moriches
Island, is interpreted by Dr. Tooker, "The beginning place." The
description (1630) reads, "Beginning at" a place called, _i. e._ an
object or feature which would definitely locate a boundmark--apparently
an equivalent of _Schiechi-kiminschi-aki,_ Lenape, "Place of a soft-maple
tree." The territory conveyed extended to _Enaughquamuck,_ which Dr.
Tooker rendered correctly, "As far as the fishing-place."
Niamug and Niamuck are forms of the name of what is now known as Canoe
Place, on the south side of Long Island, near Southampton. "_Niamug,_ the
place where the Indians haul over their canoes out of the North Bay to
the South Bay." (Deed of 1640.) Dr. Trumbull translated from _Nôe-amuck,_
"Between the fishing places." Local tradition affirms that centuries
ago the Indians made a canal here for the purpose of passing their
canoes from Mecox Bay to Paconic Bay. Mongotucksee, the hero of the
story, was a chieftain who reigned over the Montauks in the days of their
pride and power. The tradition has no other merit than the fact that
Niamug was a place at which canoes were hauled across the island.
Sicktew-hacky (deed of 1638); _Sicketewackey_ (Van der Donck, 1656):
"All the lands from Rockaway eastward to Sicktew-hackey, or Fire Island
Bay"; "On the south coast of Long Island, at a place called Sicktewacky,
or Secontague, near Fire Island Inlet" (Brodhead); Seaquetauke, 1659;
Setauck Neck, the south bound of St. George's Manor, now Manorville; of
record as the name of an Indian clan and village near Fire Island Inlet,
with the Marsapinks and Nyacks for neighbors; now preserved in several
forms of which Setauket probably locates a place near Secontague.
_Sicketeuhacky,_ writes Mr. Gerard, "is the Lenape equivalent of
_Secatogue,_ meaning 'Burned-over land.' Whether the mainland or Fire
Island was the 'Burned-over land,' history does not tell us." Lands were
burned over by the Indians to destroy the bushes and coarse grasses, and
probably some field of this character was referred to by the Indian
grantors, from which the name was extended to the Neck and to Fire
Island, although it is said that fires were kindled on the island for
the guidance of fishermen.
Saghtekoos--"called by the native Indians Saghtekoos; by the Christians
Appletree Neck"--the name of the Thompson estate in Islip--probably
means, "Where the stream branches or divides," or "At the branch,"
referring to Thompson's brook. The suffix _-oos_ evidently stands for
"small." (See Sohaghticoke.) "Apple-tree Neck" is not in the composition,
but may indicate that the Indian owners had planted apple trees there.
Amagansett, the Indian name of what is now East Hampton, was translated
by Dr. Trumbull, "At or near the fishing place"; root _Am,_ "to take by
the mouth"; _Amau,_ "he fishes"; Abn., _Amaⁿgaⁿ,_ "_ou péche lá,_" "he
fishes there," (Rasles); _s,_ diminutive or derogatory; _ett,_ "Near or
about," that is, the tract was near a small or inferior fishing-place,
which is precisely what the composition describes.
Peconic, now so written and applied to Peconic Bay and Peconic River, but
primarily to a place "at the head of the river," or as otherwise
described, "Land from ye head of ye bay or Peaconnack, was Shinnec'ock
Indians' Land" (Col. Hist. N. Y., xiv, 600), is not the equivalent of
_Peqan'nuc,_ "a name common to all cleared land," as translated by Dr.
Trumbull, but the name given as that of a small creek tributary to
Peconic River, in which connection it is of record _Pehick-konuk,_ which,
writes Mr. Gerard, "plainly stands for _K'pe-hickonuk,_ or more properly
_Kĕpehikanik,_ 'At the barrier,' or weir. _Kĕpehikan_ from _Kepehike,_
'he closes up,' or obstructs, _i. e._ 'dams.'" The bounds of the
Shinnec'ock Indians extended east to this stream; or, as the record
reads, "To a river where they did use to catch the fish commonly called
alewives, the name of which creek was Pehickkonuk, or Peconic." (Town
Records.)
Agwam, Agawam, is quoted by French as the name of Southampton, L. I. Dr.
Trumbull wrote: "Acawan, Agawan or Auquan, a name given to several
localities in New England Where there are low meadows--a low meadow or
marsh." Presumably from _Agwu,_ "Underneath, below." Another authority
writes: "_Agawam_ from _Magawamuk,_ A great fishing place." (See
Machawameck.)
Sunquams is given by French as the Indian name of Mellville in
Southampton, L. I., with the interpretation, "Sweet Hollow." The
interpretation is mere guess-work.
Massaback, a hill so called in Huntington, Suffolk County--in English
"Half hill," and in survey (1703) "Half-hollow hill"--probably does not
belong to the hill which the English described as "half-hollow," but to
a stream in proximity to it--_Massabeset,_ "At a (relatively) great
brook." (Trumbull.)
Mattituck, the name of a village in Southold, near the west end of the
town, was primarily written as that of a tract of land including the
present town of Riverhead, from which it was extended to a large pond
between Peconic Bay and the Sound. Presumably the same name is met in
Mattatuck, Ct., written Matetacoke, 1637, Matitacoocke, 1673, which was
translated by Dr. Trumbull from Eliot's _Mat-uh'tugh-auke,_ "A place
without wood," or badly wooded. (See Titicus.)
Cutchogue, Plymouth Records, 1637; "_Curchaug,_ or Fort Neck;"
_Corch'aki,_ deed of 1648; now Cutchogue, a village in Southold, in the
vicinity of which was an Indian fort, the remains of which and of an
Indian burial ground are objects of interest, is probably a corruption
of _Maskutchoung,_ which see. Dr. Tooker translated from _Kehti-auke,_
"The principal place," the appositeness of which is not strikingly
apparent. The clan bearing the name was party to the treaty with the
Massachusetts people in 1637, and to the sale of the East Hampton lands.
Their earliest sachem was Momoweta, who acknowledged the primacy of
Wyandanch.
Tuckahoe, a level tract of land near Southampton village, takes that
name from one or the other of the larger "round" roots (Mass.
_P'tuckweōō_), possibly the Golden Club, or Floating Artmi, a root
described "as much of the bigness and taste of potatoes." (Trumbull.)
[FN] The same name is met in Westchester County.
* * * * *
[FN] Dr. Brinton writes: "They also roasted and ate the acrid cormus of
the Indian turnip, in Delaware _taw-ho, taw-hin_ or _tuck-ah,_ and
collected the seeds of the Golden Club, common in the pools along the
creeks and rivers. Its native name was _taw-kee._" ("The Lenape and
their Legends.") The name of another place on Long Island, written
_Hogonock,_ is probably an equivalent of Delaware _Hóbbenac_ (Zeisb.),
"Potatoes," or "Ground-nuts"; _Hóbbenis,_ "Turnips." (See Passapenoc.)
Sagabonock has left only the remnant of its name to Sag-pond and
Sag-harbor. It is from _Sagabonak,_ "Ground nuts, or Indian potatoes."
(Trumbull.) The name is of record as that of a boundmark "two miles from
the east side of a Great Pond," and is described as a "pond or swamp" to
which the name of the tuber was extended from its product.
Ketchepunak, quoted as the name of Westhampton, describes "The greatest
ground-nut place," or "The greatest ground-nuts." (See Kestaubniuk.)
Wequaganuck is given as the name of that part of Sag-harbor within the
town of East Hampton. It is an equivalent of _Wequai-adn-auke,_ "Place
at the end of the hill," or "extending to the hill." (Trumbull.) The hill
is now known as Turkey Hill, on the north side of which the settlement
of Sag-harbor was commenced.
Namke, from _Namaa,_ "fish," and _ke,_ "place"--fish-place--was the name
of a place on the creek near Riverhead. (O'Gallaghan.) More exactly,
_Nameauke,_ probably.
Hoppogues, in Smithtown, Suffolk County, is pretty certainly from
_Wingau-hoppague,_ meaning, literally, "Standing water of good and
pleasant taste." The name was that of a spring and pond. In a deed of
1703, the explanation is, "Or ye pleasant springs." Supposed to have been
the springs which make the headwaters of Nissequogue river at the
locality now bearing the name of Hauppauge, a hamlet.
Massapeage--_Massapeag,_ 1636; _Massapeague, Rassapeage_--a place-name
from which extended to an Indian clan whose principal seat is said to
have been on Fort Neck, in the town of Oyster Bay, was translated by Dr.
Trumbull from _Massa,_ "great"; _pe,_ the radical of water, and _auke,_
"land," or "Land on the great cove." Thompson (Hist. L. I.) assigns the
name to "a swamp on the south side of Oyster Bay," now South Oyster Bay,
and it is so applied in Indian deeds. There were two Indian forts or
palisaded towns on the Neck. Of one the name is not given; it was the
smallest of the two; its site is said to be now submerged by water. The
second, or largest, is called in Dutch records _Matsepe,_ "Great river."
It is described as having been situated on the most southerly point of
land adjoining the salt meadows. Both forts were attacked by Dutch forces
under Capt. Pieter Cock and Capt. John Underhill, in the summer of 1644
(a local record says August) and totally destroyed with heavy loss to
the Indians. (Doc. Hist. N. Y., iv, 15, 16.) In Prime's and other local
histories the date is given as 1653, on the authority of "Hubbard's
Indian Wars," and Capt. Underhill is assigned to the command in the
attack on the largest fort. The official Dutch record, however, assigns
that honor to Capt. Pieter Cock. The year was surely 1644, (Brodhead's
Hist. N. Y., i, 91.) The prefix _Mass,_ appears in many forms--Massa,
Marsa, Marsha, Rassa, Mesa, Missi, Mas, Mes, etc., and also _Mat,_ an
equivalent of _Mas._
Massepe, quoted in Dutch records as the name of the Indian fort on Fort
Neck, where it seems to have been the name of Stony Brook, is also met
in Jamaica Records (Col. Hist. N. Y., xiv, 505) as the name of a creek
forming a mowing boundary or division line extending from a certain place
"Eastward to ye great creek called Massepe." The name is fully explained
by the description, "Great creek." _Massepe-auke_ means "Great creek
(or river) land," or place; _Mas-sepe-ink,_ "At or on the great creek."
The Indian residents came to be known as the Marsepincks.
Maskutchoung, a neck of land so called forming one of the boundaries of
Hempstead Patent as entered in confirmatory deed of "Takapousha, sachem
of Marsapeage," and "Wantagh, the Montauke sachem," July 4th, 1657:
"Beginning at a marked tree standing at the east side of the Great Plain,
and from thence running on a due south line, and at the South Sea by a
marked tree in a neck called Maskutchoimg, and thence upon the same line
to the South Sea." (Col. Hist. N. Y., xiv, 38, 416.) "By a marked tree
in a neck called Maskachoung." (Thompson's Hist. L. I., 9, 15, 47.) It
is probably an equivalent of _Mask-ek-oug,_ "A grassy swamp or marsh."
A local interpretation reads: "Grass-drowned brook," a small stream
flowing through the long marsh-grass, to which the name was extended.
Maskahnong, so written by Dr. O'Callaghan in his translation of the
treaty between the Western Long Island clans, in 1656, is noted in
"North and South Hempstead Records," p. 60, "A neck of land called
Maskahnong." It disappears after 1656, but probably reappears as
Maskachoung in 1658, and later as Maskutchoung, which see.
Merick, the name of a village in Hempstead, Queens County, is said to
have been the site of an Indian village called _Merick-oke._ It has been
interpreted as an apheresis of a form of _Namanock,_ written _Namerick,_
"Fish place." (See Moriches.) Curiously enough, Merrick was a proper name
for man among the ancient Britons, and the corruption would seem to have
been introduced here by the early English settlers from resemblance to
the Indian name in sound. The place is on the south side of the island.
The Indian clan was known as the Merickokes.
Quantuck, a bay so called in Southampton, is of record, in 1659,
_Quaquanantuck,_ and applied to a meadow or neck of land. "The meadow
called Quaquunantuck"--"the neck of land called Quaquanantuck"--"all the
meadows lying west of the river, commonly called or known by the name of
Quantuck." One of the boundmarks is described as "a stumpy marsh,"
indicating that it had been a marsh from which the trees had been
removed. The name seems to correspond with this. It is probably from
_Pohqu'un-antack,_ "cleared or open marsh" or meadow. (See Montauk.)
Quogue, the name of a village near Quantuck Bay, and located, in Hist.
Suffolk County, as "the first point east of Rockaway where access can
be had to the ocean without crossing the bay," has been read as a
contraction of Quaquaunantuck, but seems to be from _Pŏque-ogue,_ "Clear,
open space," an equivalent of _Pŏque-auke,_ Mass.
Rechqua-akie, De Vries; _Reckkouwhacky,_ deed of 1639; now applied to a
neck on the south side of Long Island and preserved in Rockaway, was
interpreted by the late Dr. E. B. O'Callaghan: "_Reck_ 'sand'; _qua,_
'flat'; _akie,_ 'land'--the long, narrow sand-bar now known as Rockaway
Beach," but is more correctly rendered with dialectic exchange of R and
L, _Lekau._ (Rekau), "sand or gravel," _hacki,_ "land" or place. (Zeisb.)
"Flats" is inferred. A considerable division of the Long Island Indians
was located in the vicinity, or, as described by De Vries, who visited
them in 1643, "near the sea-shore." He found thirty wigwams and three
hundred Indians, who were known in the treaty of 1645, as Marechkawicks,
and in the treaty of 1656 as Rockaways. [FN]
* * * * *
[FN] The names in the treaty of 1645, as written by Dr. O'Callaghan,
are "Marechkawicks, Nayecks, and their neighbors"; in the treaty of
1656, "Rockaway and Canorise." The latter name appears to have been
introduced after 1645 in exchange for Marechkawick. (See Canarise.)
_Rechqua_ is met on the Hudson in Reckgawaw-onck, the Haverstraw flats.
It is not an apheresis of Marechkawick, nor from the same root.
Jamaica, now applied to a town, a village and a bay, was primarily given
to the latter by the English colonists. "Near unto ye beaver pond called
Jamaica," and "the beaver path," are of record, the latter presumably
correct. The name is a pronunciation of _Tomaque,_ or _K'tamaque,_ Del.,
_Amique,_ Moh., "beaver." "_Amique,_ when aspirated, is written
_Jamaique,_ hence Yameco, Jamico, and modern Jamaica." (O'Callaghan.)
The bay has no claim to the name as a beaver resort, but beavers were
abundant in the stream flowing into it.
Kestateuw, "the westernmost," _Castuteeuw,_ "the middlemost," and
_Casteteuw,_ "the eastermost," names of "three flats on the island
Sewanhackey, between the bay of North river and the East river." The
tracts came to be known as Flatlands; "the easternmost," as "the Bay,"
or Amesfort.
Sacut, now known as Success Pond, lying on a high ridge in Flushing, is
a corruption of _Sakûwit_ (_Sáquik_), "Mouth of a river" (Zeisb.), or
"where the water flows out." The pond has an outlet, but it rarely
overflows. It is a very deep and a very clear body of water.
Canarsie, now so written and applied to a hamlet in the town of
Flatlands, Kings County, is of record _Canari See, Canarisse, Canarise,
Canorise_ (treaty of 1655), _Kanarisingh_ (Dutch), and in other forms,
as the name of a place or feature from which it was extended to an
Indian sub-tribe or family occupying the southwest coast of Long Island,
and to their village, primarily called _Keshaechquereren_ (1636). On the
Lower Potomac and Chesapeake Bay the name is written _Canais, Conoys,
Ganawese,_ etc. (Heck, xlii), and applied to a sub-tribe of Naniticokes
residing there who were known as "The tide-water people," or "Sea-shore
settlers." On Delaware Bay it is written _Canaresse_ (1651, not 1656 as
stated by Dr. Tooker), and applied to a specific place, described in
exact terms: "To the mouth of the bay or river called Bomptjes Hoeck, in
the Indian language _Canaresse._" (Col. Hist. N. Y. xii, 166.) "Bomptjes
Hoeck" is Dutch and in that language describes a low island, neck or
point of land covered with small trees, lying at the mouth of a bay or
stream, and is met in several connections. The point or place described
on the Delaware (now Bombay Hook) was the end of the island, known on
old maps as "Deep Point," and the "Hook" was the bend in the currents
around it forming the marshy inlet-bay on the southwest connecting with
a marshy channel or stream, and the latter on the north with a small
stream by which the island was constituted. Considered from the
standpoint of an Algonquian generic term, the rule is undisputed that
the name must have described a feature which existed in common at the
time of its application, on the Delaware and on Long Island, and it only
remains to determine what that feature was. Obviously the name itself
solves the problem. In whatever form it is met it is the East Indian
_Canarese_ (English _Can'a-resé_) pure and simple, and obviously employed
as a substitute for the Algonquian term written _Ganawese,_ etc., of the
same meaning. In the "History of New Sweden" (Proc. N. Y. Hist. Soc,
2d Ser. v. i.), the locative on the Delaware is described: "From
Christina Creek to _Canarose_ or _Bambo_ Hook." In "Century Dictionary"
_Bambo_ is explained: "From the native East Indian name, Malay and Java
_bambu_, Canarese _banbu_ or _bonwu._" Dr. Brinton translated _Ganawese_
from _Guneu_ (Del.), "Long," but did not add that the suffix--_wese,_
or as Roger Williams wrote it, _quese,_ means "Little, small," the
combination describing Bambo grasses, _i. e._ "long, small" grasses,
which, in some cases reach the growth of trees, but on Long Island and
on the Delaware only from long marsh grasses to reeds, as primarily in
and around Jamaica Bay and Gowanus Bay, on Reed Island, etc. True,
Ganawese would describe anything that was "long, small," but obviously
here the objective product. Canarese, Canarose, Kanarische, Ganawese,
represent the same sound-"in (East) Indian, Canaresse," as represented
in the first Long Island form, Canari See, now Jamaica Bay.
Keschaechquereren, (1636), _Keschaechquerem_ (1637), the name of the
settlement that preceded Canarese, disappears of record with the advent
of the English on Barren Island and at Gravesend soon after 1637-8. It
seems to describe a "Great bush-net fishing-place," from
K'sch-achquonican, "Great bush-net." (Zeisb.), the last word from
_Achewen,_ "Thicket"; from which also _t' Vlact Bosch_ (Dutch), modern
Flatbush. The Indian village was between the Stroome (tidewater) Kil and
the Vresch Kil, near Jamaica.
Narrioch was given by the chief who confirmed the title to it in 1643,
as the name of what is now known as Coney Island, and _Mannahaning_ as
that of Gravesend Neck. (Thompson's Hist. L. I., ii, 175.) The Dutch
called the former Conynen, and the latter Conyne Hoeck--"_t' Conijen
Conine._" Jasper Dankers wrote in 1679: "On the south (of Staten Island)
is the great bay, which is enclosed by Najaq, t' Conijen Island,
Neversink," etc. Conijen (modern Dutch, Konijn), signifies "Rabbit"--Cony,
Coney--inferentially "Small"--literally, "Rabbit, or Coney Island," in
Dutch. The Indian names have been transposed, apparently. _Mannahaning_
means "At the island," and _Narrioch_ is the equivalent of _Nayaug,_ "A
point or comer," as in Nyack. The latter was the Dutch "Conyne Hoeck."
Judge Benson claimed Conyn as "A Dutch surname, from which came the name
of Coney, or Conyn's Island," but if so, the surname was from "Rabbit"
surely.
Gowanus--_Gowanus,_ 1639; _Gowanes,_ 1641; _Gouwanes,_ 1672--the name of
one of the boundmarks of a tract of land in Brooklyn, is probably from
_Koua_ (_Kowaw,_ Williams; _Curve,_ Zeisb.), "Pine"; _Kowawese_
(Williams), "A young pine," or small pine. It was that of a place on a
small stream, the description in the Indian deed of 1639, reading:
"Stretching southward to a certain kil or little low bushes." The land
conveyed is described as being "overflowed at every tide, and covered
with salt-meadow grass." The latter gave to it its value. The claim that
the name was that of an Indian owner is not well sustained. The evidence
of the Dutch description of the bay as Boompje Hoek, meaning, literally,
"Small tree cape, corner or angle," and the fact that small pines did
abound there, seems to establish _Koua_ as the derivative of the name.
Marechkawick, treaty of 1645--_Mereckawack,_ Breeden Raddt, 1649;
_Mareckawick_ and _Marechkawieck,_ Rapelie deed, 1630; _Marechkourick,_
O'Callaghan; _Marechkawick,_ Brodhead--forms of the name primarily given
as that of Wallabout Bay, [FN] "The bought or bend of Marechkawick"--"in
the bend of Marechkawick," 1630--has been translated by Dr. Tooker from
_Men'achk_ (_Manachk,_ Zeisb.), "fence, fort," and _-wik,_ "house"
(Zeisb.), the reference being to a fenced or palisaded cabin presumably
occupied by a sachem and his family of the clan known in Dutch history
as the Mareckawicks. The existence of a palisaded cabin in the vicinity
of "the bought or bend" is possible, but the name has the appearance of
an orthography (Dutch) of _Mereca,_ the South-American name of a teal,
(Mereca Americani) the Widgeon, and _-wick_ (_Wijk,_ M. L. G.), "Bay,
cove, inlet, retreat," etc., literally "Widgeon Bay." "Situate on the
bay of Merechkawick," is entered on map of 1646 in Stiles' "History of
Brooklyn." _Merica_ was the Mayan name of the American Continent. It is
spread all over South America and was applied to many objects as in the
Latinized Mereca Americani. The early Dutch navigators were no doubt
familiar with it in application to the Widgeon, a species of wild duck,
and employed it in connection with the word _-wijk._ Until between 1645
and 1656, the Indians residing on the west end of Long Island were known
as Marechkawicks; after 1656 they were called Canorise. (See Canar'sie.)
Brooklyn is from Dutch _Breukelen,_ the name of a village about eighteen
miles from Amsterdam. It means "Broken land." (Breuk.) On Van der Donck's
map the name is written correctly. A record description reads: "There is
much broken land here."
* * * * *
[FN] Wallabout Bay takes its first name from Dutch _Waal,_ "gulf,
abyss," etc., and _Bocht,_ "bend," It was spoken of colloquially by the
early Dutch as "The bay of the foreigners," referring to the Walloons
who had settled on the north side of the bay in 1625. The first white
child, Sarah Rapelie, born in New Netherland, now the State of New York,
was born here June 17th, 1625.
Manette, so written of record--"near Mannato hill," about thirty miles
from Brooklyn and midway between the north and south sides of the
island--has been interpreted from its equivalent, _Manitou,_ "Hill of
the Great Spirit," but means strictly, "That which surpasses, or is more
than ordinary." (Trumbull.) It was a word in common use by the Indians
in application to everything that was more than ordinary or that they
could not understand. In this instance it seems to have been applied to
the water of a spring or well on the rising ground which they regarded
as of surpassing excellence; from the spring transferred to the hill.
The tradition is that some ages ago the Indians residing in the vicinity
of the hill were suffering for water. They prayed to the Great Spirit
for relief, and were directed to shoot an arrow in the air and where it
fell to dig and they would find water. They did so and dug the well now
on the rising ground, the water of which was of surpassing excellence,
or Manitou. The story was probably invented to account for the name. It
is harmless fiction.
Rennaquakonck, Rinnegahonck, a landmark so called in the boundaries of
a tract on Wallabout Bay, described in deed as "A certain swamp where
the water runs over the stones," and, in a subsequent deed, "At the
sweet marsh" (Hist. of Brooklyn), is an orthography of _Winnegackonck,_
meaning "At the sweet place," so called from some plant which was found
there, or to distinguish the marsh as fresh or sweet, not a salt marsh.
The exchange of R and W may be again noted.
Comac, the name of a village in Suffolk County, is an apheresis of
_Winne-comac,_ as appears of record. The combination expresses, "Good
enclosed place," from _Winne,_ "Good, fine, sweet, beautiful, pleasant,"
etc., and _-komuck,_ "Place enclosed," or having definite boundaries,
limited in size.
Nyack, the name of the site of Fort Hamilton, is a generic verbal from
_Nâï,_ "A point or corner." (_Nâïag,_ Mass., _Néïak,_ Len.) The
orthographies vary--Naywayack, Narrack, Nanak, Narrag, Najack, Niuck,
Narrioch, etc. With the suffix _-ak,_ the name means "Land or place at
the point." (See Nyack-on-the-Hudson.) Dankers and Sluyter wrote in
their Journal (1679-80): "We went part of the way through the woods and
fine, new-made land, and so along the shore to the west end of the
island called Najack. . . . Continuing onward from there, we came to the
plantation of the Najack Indians, which was planted with maize, or
Turkish Wheat." The Nayacks removed to Staten Island after the sale of
their lands at New Utrecht. (See Narrioch.)
Nissequague, now so written, the name of a hamlet in Smithtown, and of
record as the name of a river and of a neck of land still so known, is
of primary record _Nisinckqueg-hackey_ (Dutch notation), as the name of
a place to which the Matinnecock clan removed after the war of 1643.
(Col. Hist. N. Y., xiv, 60.) The English scribes wrote Nesequake (1650),
Nesaquake (1665), Nessequack (1686), Wissiquack (1704), (Cal. N. Y.
Land Papers), and other forms. The Indian deed of 1650 (Smithtown
Records) recites the sale by "Nasseoonseke, sachem of Nesequake," of a
tract "Beginning at a river called and commonly known by the name of
Nesaquake River, and from that river eastward to a river called
Memanusack." "Nesaquauke River" is the entry in patent to Richard Smith,
1665. The stream has its source in a number of springs in the southern
part of Smithtown, the flow of which forms a considerable river.
(Thompson.) The theory that "The tribe and river derived their name from
Nesequake, an Indian sagamore, the father of Nassaconset" (Hist. Suf.
Co.), is not well sustained. The suffix _-set,_ cannot be applied to an
animate object; it is a locative meaning "Less than at." In addition to
this objection, Nassaconset is otherwise written Nessaquauke-ecoompt-set,
showing that the name belonged to a place that was "On the other side"
of Nessaquauke. Neesaquauke stands for _Neese-saqû-auke,_ from _Nisse,_
"two," _Sauk,_ "Outlet," and _-auke,_ "Land" or place, and describes a
place at "the second outlet," or as the text reads, "At a river called
and commonly known by the name of Nesaquake River." The sagamore may
have been given the name from the place, but the place could not have
taken the name from the sagamore. The estuary, now known as Nissequage
Harbor into which the stream flows, extends far inland and forms the
west boundary of Nissequage Neck.
Marsepinck, a stream so called in Queens County, from which extended to
the land which was sold, in 1639, by "Mechowout, chief sachem of
Marossepinck, Sint-Sink and dependencies," and also extended to an
Indian clan known as Marsepings, is no doubt an orthography of _Massepe_
and _-ing,_ locative. It means "At, to or on the great river." _Mas_ is
an abbreviation of _Massa, Missi,_ etc., "great," and _Sepe,_ means
"river." It was probably used comparatively-the largest compared with
some other stream. (See Massepe.)
Unsheamuck, otherwise written Unthemamuk, given as the name of Fresh
Pond, on the boundary line between Huntington and Smithtown, means
"Eel-fishing place." (Tooker.)
Suggamuck, the name of what is now known as Birch Creek, in Southampton,
means "Bass fishing-place." (Tooker.)
Rapahamuck, a neck or point of land so called, is from _Appé-amuck,_
"Trap fishing-place." (Tooker.) The name is assigned to the mouth of
Birch Creek. (See Suggamuck.)
Memanusack and _Memanusuk,_ given as the name of Stony Brook, probably
has its locative "At the head of the middle branch of Stony Brook,"
Which formed the boundmark noted in the Indian deed. The same name is
probably met in _Mayomansuk,_ from _Mawé,_ meaning "To bring together,"
"To meet"; and _-suck,_ "Outlet," _i. e._ of a pond, marsh or river.
The brook was "stony" no doubt, but that description is English.
Cussqunsuck is noted as the name of Stony Brook referred to in
Memanusack. The stream is probably the outlet of the waters of a swamp.
In his will Richard Smith wrote: "I give to my daughter Sarah, 130 acres
of land at the _two_ swamps called _Cutts-cunsuck._" The first word
seems to stand for _Ksúcqon,_ "Heavy" (Zeisb.), by metonymie, "Stone,"
_-es,_ "Small," and _-uck,_ locative, "Place of small stone." _Ksúcqon_
may be employed as an adjectival prefix. Eliot wrote, "_Qussukquemin,_
Stone fruit," the cherry.
Mespaechtes, deed to Governor Keift, 1638, from which Mespath (Brodhead),
Mespat (Riker), Mashpeth and Mashpett (Co. Hist. N. Y., xiv, 602), now
Maspeth, a village in Newtown, Queens County, and met in application to
Newtown Creek (Col. Hist. N. Y., xiii, 25), has been translated by Dr.
Tooker, "From _Mech-pe-is-it,_ Bad-water place," and by Wm. R. Gerard,
"From _Massapichtit,_ verbal describing scattered settlements, as though
the Indians who sold the lands had said, 'We include the lands of those
living here and there.'" [FN] Flint, in his "Early History of Long
Island," wrote: "Mespat Kills, now Maspeth, from the Indian _Matsepe,_
written by the Dutch, _Maespaatches Kiletje_"--long known as "Dutch
Kills." In patent of 1642, for lands described as lying "on the east
side of Mespatches Kil," the boundary is stated: "Beginning at the kil
and the tree standing upon the point towards the small kil." Obviously
there were two streams here, the largest called Mespatches, which seems
to be, as Flint states, a Dutch rendering of _Matsepe-es,_ from _Mas_
(Del. _Mech_), a comparative term--"great," as distinguished from
"small," the largest of two, and _Sepees (Sepoûs, Sepuus),_ "a brook."
_Sepe, Sipo, Sipu,_ etc., is generally applied to a long stream. The
west branch of Mespatt Kill has the record name of _Quandoequareus._
Flint wrote: "The _Canapauke,_ or Dutch Kills, sluggishly winding its
way through the meadows of bronzed grasses." _Canapauke_ stands for
_Quana-pe-auke,_ "Long water-land," or "Land on the long water." The
stream is a tidal current receiving several small streams. (See
Massepe.) Mespatches seems to belong to the stream noted in patent of
1642.
* * * * *
[FN] "_Missiachpitschik,_ those who are or live scattered." (Zeisberger's
Onond. Dic.)
Sint-Sink, of record as the name of Schout's Bay, [FN] also, "Formerly
called Cow Neck, and by the Indians Sint-Sink," was the name of a place
now known as Manhasset. (Col. Hist. N. Y.) It means "Place of small
stones," as in Sint-Sink, modern Sing-Sing, on the Hudson.
* * * * *
[FN] Known also as "Martin Garretson's bay." Garretson was Schout
(Sheriff), hence "Schout's bay." The neck of land "called by the Indians
Sint-Sink," was fenced for the pasturage of cows, and became known as
"Cow Neck," hence "Cow bay" and "Cow harbor," now Manhasset bay. (See
Matinnec'ock and Mochgonneck-onck.)
Manhasset, correctly _Manhanset,_ means, "Near the Island," or something
less than at the island. The locative was long known as "Head of Cow
Neck."
Matinnecock is noted in a survey for Lewis Morris, in 1685: "A tract of
land lying upon the north side of Long Island, within the township of
Oyster Bay, in Queens County, and known by the name of Matinicock," and
in another survey: "A certain small neck of land at a place called
Mattinicock." Extended also to an island and to an Indian clan. Cornelius
van Tienhoven wrote in 1650: "Martin Garritson's Bay, or Martinnehouck,
[FN-1] is much deeper and wider than Oyster Bay; it runs westward in and
divides into three rivers, two of which are navigable. The smallest
stream runs up in front of the Indian village called Martinnehouck,
where they have their plantations. The tribe is not strong, and consists
of about thirty families. In and about this bay were formerly great
numbers of Indian plantations which now lie waste. On the rivers are
numerous valleys of sweet and salt meadows." The name has, with probable
correctness, been interpreted from _Metanak-ok_ (Lenape, _Metanak-onk_;
Abn., _Metanak-ook_), meaning, "Along the edge of the island," or, as
Van Tienhoven wrote, "About this bay." The same name appears on the
Delaware as that of what is now known as Burlington Island. [FN-2] It is
corrupted in New Jersey to Tinnicum, and is preserved on Long Island as
the name of a village in the town of Oyster Bay.
* * * * *
[FN-1] A corruption from "Martin."
[FN-2] Mattinacunk, Matinneconke, Matinnekonck--"having been formerly
known by the name of Kipp's Island, and by ye Indian name of
Koo-menakanok-onck." (Col. Hist. N. Y.) _Koo-menakanok-onck_ was the
largest of two islands in the Delaware and was particularly identified
by the Indian name, which means "Pine-tree-islands place." The name by
which the Island came to be known was transferred to it apparently.
Hog's Island, so called by the early settlers, now known as Center
Island, has the record description: "A piece of land on Martin
Garretson's Bay, in the Indian tongue called Matinnecong, alias Hog's
Neck, or Hog's Island, being an island at high tide." (Col. Hist. N. Y.,
xiv, 435.) "Matinneckock, a neck on the Sound east of Muchito Cove."
(See Muchito.) The island is connected with the main land by a neck or
beach which was overflowed at high tide.
Caumsett is recorded as the name of "The neck of land which makes the
west side of Cow Harbor and the east side of Oyster Bay" (Ind. Deed of
1654), known later as Horse Neck and Loyd's Neck. Apparently a
corruption of _Ketumpset,_ "Near the great standing rock." The reference
may have been to what was known as Bluff Point.
Muchito, the name of what is now Glen Cove, near Hempstead Harbor, is
otherwise written Muschedo, Mosquito and Muscota. It was primarily
written as the name of Muchito Neck. It means "Meadow"--_Moskehtu_
(Eliot), "grass;" _Muskuta,_ "A grassy plain or meadow." (See Muscota.)
Katawomoke, "or, as called by the English, Huntington," is written in
the Indian deed of 1653, _Ketauomoke_; in deed of 1646, _Ketauomocke,_
and assigned to a neck of land "Bounded upon the west side with a river
commonly called by the Indians Nachaquetuck, and on the east by a river
called Opcutkontycke," the latter now known as Northfield-Harbor Brook.
The name is preserved in several orthographies. In deed to Lion Gardiner
(1638), _Ar-hata-amunt_; in deed to Richard Smith (1664), _Catawaunuck_
and _Catawamuck_, and in another entry "Cattawamnuck land," _i. e._ land
about Catawamuck; in Huntington Records, _Ketewomoke_; in Cal. N. Y.
Land Papers, p. 60: "To the eastward of the town of Huntington and to
the westward of Nesaquack, commonly called by the Indians _Katawamake_
and in English by the name of Crope Meadow;" in another entry, "Crab
Meadow," by which last name the particular tract was known for many
years. "Crope" and "Crab" are English equivalents for a species of
grass called "finger-grass or wire-grass," and were obviously employed
by the English to describe the kind of grass that distinguished the
meadow--certainly not as an equivalent of the Indian name, which was
clearly that of a place at or near the head of Huntington Harbor, from
which it was extended to the lands as a general locative. The several
forms of the name may probably be correctly read from _Kehti,_ or its
equivalent. _Kehchi_, "Chief, principal, greatest," and _-amaug,_
"Fishing-place" (_-amuck,_ L. I.), literally "The greatest
fishing-place." The orthography of 1638 is especially corrupt, and
_Ketawamuck_, apparently the most nearly correct, the rule holding good
in this, as in other cases, that the very early forms are especially
imperfect.
Nachaquatuck, the western boundary stream of Eaton's Neck, quoted as the
name of Cold Spring, is translated by Dr. Tooker from _Wa'nashque-tuck_,
"The ending creek, because it was the end or boundary of the tract."
"Called by the Indians Nackaquatok, and by the English Cold Spring."
(Huntington Patent, 1666.) _Wanashque,_ "The tip or extremity of
anything."
Opcutkontycke, now assigned to a brook entering Northfield Harbor, and
primarily given as the name of a boundary stream (see Katawamake), seems
to be a corruption of _Ogkomé_ (Acoom-), "On the other side," and
_-tuck,_ "A tidal stream or estuary." It was a place on the other side
of the estuary.
Aupauquack, the name of a creek in West Hampton, is entered, in 1665,
_Aupaucock_ and described as a boundary stream between the Shinnecock
and the Unchechauge lands, "Either nation may cutt flags for their use
on either side of the river without molestation." Also given as the name
of a "Lily Pond" in East Hampton. Written Appauquauk and Appoquague, and
now Paucuck. The name describes a place "Where flags grow," and nothing
else. [FN] (See Apoquague.)
* * * * *
[FN] Rev. Thomas James, in a deposition made Oct. 18, 1667, said that
two old Indian women informed him they "gathered flags for mats within
that tract." (East Hampton Town Records, 156.)
Wading River, now so called, was also called "The Iron or Red Creek,"
"Red Creek" and "Wading Place," and by the Indians _Pauquacumsuck_ and
_Pequoockeon,_ the latter, wrote Dr. Trumbull, "Because Pequaocks, a
little thick shell-fish was found there, which the Indians waded for;
hence the name 'Wading River,' _Quahaug_ is from this term, and
_Pequaock,_ Oyster Bay." "Iron or Red Creek" explains itself. Wading
River is preserved in the name of a village in the town of Riverhead.
Assawanama--"a tract of land near the town of Huntington called by the
natives _Anendesak,_ in English Eaderneck's Beach, and so along the
Sound four miles, or thereabouts, until [to] the fresh pond called by
the natives _Assaiwanama,_ where a creek runs into the Sound"--describes
"A creek beyond," _i. e._ beyond Anendesak; from Assawa-amhames.
Aquebogue, Aquebauke--"on the north side of Aquebauke or Piaconnock
River" (COl. Hist. N. Y., xiv, 600)--means, "Land or place on this side,"
_i. e._ on the side towards the speaker, as is obvious from the
description, "On the north side," and from the deed of 1648, which
reads: "The whole tract of land called Ocquebauck, together with the
lands and meadows lying on the _other side_ of the water as far as the
creek," the latter called "The Iron or Red Creek," now "Wading River."
The name is preserved in two villages in the town of Riverhead, on the
original tract.
Wopowag, more correctly _Wepowage,_ given as the name of Stony Brook,
town of Brookhaven, describes a place "At the narrows," _i. e._ of a
brook or cove, and usually "The crossing place." (Trumbull.)
So'was'set, correctly _Cowas'sett_ (Moh.), the name of what is now Port
Jefferson, signifies, "Near a place of small pine trees." (Trumbull.)
The name was applied to what was long known as the "Drowned Meadow," but
not the less a "Place of small pine trees" which was at or near the
meadow.
Wickaposset, now given as the name of Fisher's Island, appears to be
from _Wequa,_ "End of," _-paug_ (-peauke), "Waterland," and _-et,_
locative--near the end of the water-land, marsh or pond. The island is
on the north side of the Sound opposite Stonington, Ct., but is included
in the jurisdiction of Southampton.
Hashamomuck, "being a neck of land." (Southold Records.) Hashamomock or
Nashayousuck. (Ib.) The adjectivals _Hash_ and _Nash_ seem to be from
_Nashaué,_ "Between," and _-suck,_ "The mouth or outlet of a brook." The
suffix _-momuck,_ in the first form, may stand for _-komuk,_ "Place"--a
place between. The orthographies are very uncertain.
Minnepaug, "being a little pond with trees standing by it." (Southold
Records.) The name is explained in the description, "A little pond." In
Southampton Records the same pond is called Monabaugs, another
orthography of Minnepaug.
Masspootupaug (1662), describes a boggy meadow or miry land. The
substantival is _Póotapaug,_ Mass., "A bog." The adjectival may stand for
_Mass,_ "Great," or _Matt,_ derogative.
Manowtassquott, or Manowtatassquott, is assigned to Blue Point, in Great
South Bay, town of Brookhaven. The record reads: "Bounded easterly by a
brook or river to the westward of a point called the Blue Point, known
by the Indian name of Manowtatassquott." The name belongs to a place
where Menhaden abounded--Manowka-tuck-ut--from which extended to the
point.
Ochabacowesuck, given as the name of what is now called Pine Neck, stands
for _Acquebacowes-uck,_ meaning, "On this side of the small pines."
Narraganset. _Cówawés-uck,_ "At the young pine place," or "Small-pine
place." _Koowa,_ Eliot; _-es,_ diminutive; _-uck,_ locative. The name of
the tree was from its pointed leaves; _Kous,_ a thorn or briar, or
"having a sharp point." (Trumbull.) _Acqueb,_ "This side."
Ronkonkoma, _Raconkamuck, Wonkonkoamaug, Wonkongamuck, Wonkkeconiaug,
Raconkcamake,_ "A fresh pond, about the middle of Long Island."
(Smithtown Records.) "_Woukkecomaug_ signifying crooked pond." (Indian
deed of 1720.) Obviously from _Wonkun,_ "Bent," and _-komuk,_ "Place,
limited or enclosed." Interpretation from _Wonkon'ous,_ "Fence," and
_-amaug,_ "Fishing-place" (Tooker), has no other standing than that
there was a fence of lopped trees terminating at the pond. The name,
however, was in place before the fence was made. The explanation in the
Indian deed of 1720 cannot be disputed. The pond divides the towns of
Islip, Smithtown, Setauket, and Patchoug.
Potunk, a neck of land on Shinnecock Bay, is written _Potuncke_ in
Smithtown Records, in 1662. "A swamp at Potunk," is another entry. Dr.
Trumbull quoted it as a form of _Po'dunk,_ Conn., which is of primary
record, "Called _Potaecke,_" and given as the name of a "brook or
river." In Brookfield, Mass., a brook bearing the name is said to have
been so called "from a tract of meadow adjoining." In Washington County,
N. Y., is recorded "Podunk Brook." (Cal. Land Papers.) The meaning of the
name is uncertain, but from its wide distribution it is obviously from
a generic--presumably a corruption of _P'tuk-ohke,_ a neck or corner of
land. "The neck next east of Onuck is known by the Indian name of
Potunk." (Local History.)
Mannhonake, the name of Gardiner's Island--"called by the Indians
Mannhonake, [FN] and by us the Isle of Wight"--means, "Island place or
country," from _Munnohhan,_ "Island," and _-auke,_ "Land, ground, place
(not limited or enclosed), country," etc. (Trumbull.) In common with
other islands in Gardiner's Bay, it was recommended, in 1650, as offering
rare inducements for settlement, "Since therein lie the cockles whereof
wampum is made." "The greatest part of the wampum for which the furs are
traded is made there." (Col. Hist. N. Y., xii, 360.) The island was
claimed in the deed as the property of the Narragansetts. Dr. Dwight's
interpretation of the name, "A place where a number of Indians had died,"
is a pure invention.
* * * * *
[FN] _Manchonacke_ is the orthography in patent to Lion Gardiner, 1639.
(Doc. Hist. N. Y., i, 685.) Dr. Trumbull quotes _Manchonat,_
Narragansett.
Manah-ackaquasu-wanock, given as the name of Shelter Island, is a
composition of two names, as shown by the record entry, "All that their
island of _Ahaquasu-wamuck,_ otherwise called _Manhansack._"
_Ahaquasu-wamuck_ is no doubt the equivalent of _Aúhaquassu_ (Nar.),
"Sheltered," and _-amuck_ is an equivalent of _amaug,_ "Fishing-place,"
literally, "Sheltered fishing-place." _Menhansack_ is _Manhansick_ in
deed of 1652, and _Munhassett_ and _Manhasett_ in prior deed of 1640.
(East-Hampton Records.) It is a composition from _Munnohan,_ "Island;"
_es,_ "small," and _et,_ "at" and describes a small island as "at" or
"near" some other island. The compound _Manah-ahaquasu-wanock,_ means,
therefore, simply, "Sheltered-fishing-place island," identifying the
island by the fishing-place, while _Manhasett_ identifies it in generic
terms as a small island near some other island or place. [FN] The island
now bears the generic terms _Manhasett._ Pogatacutt, sachem of the
island, is supposed to have lived on what is now known as "Sachem's
Neck." (See Montauk.)
* * * * *
[FN] Perhaps explained by the entry, "Roberts' Island, situate near
Manhansack." (Records, Town of East-Hampton.)
Manises, or _Menasses,_ as written by Dr. Trumbull, the name of Block
Island, means, literally, "Small island," just as an Englishman would
describe it. The Narragansetts were its owners. Its earliest European
occupant was Capt. Adriaen Block, who, having lost his vessel by burning
at Manhattan, constructed here another which he called the "Onrust" or
"Restless," in 1614. It was the first vessel constructed by Europeans in
New York waters. In this vessel Block made extended surveys of Hudson's
River, the Connecticut, the Sound, etc. Acquiring from his residence
among them a knowledge of the Connecticut coast dialects, he wrote the
names of tribes on the Hudson in that dialect. Reference is made to what
is better known as the "Carte Figurative of 1614-16." There is no better
evidence that this Figurative was from Block's chart than its presumed
date and the orthographies of the names written on it.
* * * * *
Hudson's River on the West.
Neversink, now so written as the name of the hills on the south side of
the lower or Raritan Bay, is written _Neuversin_ by Van der Donck,
_Neyswesinck_ by Van Tienhoven, _Newasons_ by Ogilby, 1671, and more
generally in early records Naver, Neuver, Newe, and Naoshink. The
original was no doubt the Lenape Newas-ink, "At the point, comer, or
promontory." The root _Ne_ (English _Nâï_), means, "To come to a point,"
"To form a point," or, as rendered by Dr. Trumbull, "A corner, angle or
point," _Nâïag._ Dr. Schoolcraft's translation, "Between waters," and
Dr. O'Callaghan's "A stream between hills," are incorrect, as can be
abundantly proved. (See Nyack.)
Perth Amboy, at the mouth of Raritan River, is in part, from James,
Earl of Perth, Lord High Chancellor of Scotland, who founded a settlement
there, and part from _Amboy_ (English _Ambo_), meaning any rising or
stage, a hill or any elevation. A writer in 1684 notes: "Where the town
of Perth is now building is on a shelf of land rising twenty, thirty and
forty feet." Smith (Hist. of New Jersey) wrote: "_Ambo_, in Indian, 'A
point;'" but there is no such word as _Ambo,_ meaning "A point," in any
Indian dialect. Heckewelder's interpretation: "_Ompoge,_ from which
_Amboy_ is derived, and also _Emboli,_ means 'A bottle,' or a place
resembling a bottle," is equally erroneous, although _Emboli_ may easily
have been an Indian pronunciation of Amboy. The Indian deed of 1651
reads, "From the Raritan Point, called _Ompoge,_" which may be read from
_Ompaé,_ Alg. generic, "Standing or upright," of which _Amboy,_ English,
is a fair interpretation.
Raritangs (Van Tienhoven), _Rariton_ (Van der Donck), _Raretans,
Raritanoos, Nanakans,_ etc., a stream flowing to tide-water west of
Staten Island, extended to the Indian sub-tribal organization which
occupied the Raritan Valley, is from the radical _Nâï,_ "A point," as
in Naragan, Naraticon, Narrangansett, Nanakan, Nahican, etc., fairly
traced by Dr. Trumbull in an analysis of Narragansett, and apparently
conclusively established in Nanakan and Narratschoen on the Hudson, the
Verdrietig Hoek, or "Tedious Point," of Dutch notation, where, after
several forms it culminates in _Navish._ Lindstrom's _Naratic-on,_ on
the lower Delaware, was probably Cape May, and an equivalent
substantially of the New England _Nayantukq-ut,_ "A point on a tidal
river," and Raritan was the point of the peninsula which the clan
occupied terminating on Raritan Bay, where, probably, the name was first
met by Dutch navigators. The dialectic exchange of N and R, and of the
surd mutes _k_ and _t_ are clear in comparing _Nanakan_ on the Hudson,
_Naratic-on_ on the Delaware, and _Raritan_ on the Raritan. Van der
Donck's map locates the clan bearing the name in four villages at and
above the junction of a branch of the stream at New Brunswick, N. J.,
where there is a certain point as well as on Raritan Bay. The clan was
conspicuous in the early days of Dutch New Netherland. Van Tienhoven
wrote that it had been compelled to remove further inland on account of
freshets, but mainly from its inability to resist the raids of the
southern Indians; that the lands which they left unoccupied was between
"two high mountains far distant from one to the other;" that it was "the
handsomest and pleasantest country that man can behold." The great
southern trunk-line Indian path led through this valley, and was then,
as it is now, the great route of travel between the northern and the
southern coast. (See Nanakan, Nyack-on-the-Hudson, and Orange.)
Orange, a familiar name in eastern New Jersey and supposed to refer to
the two mountains that bound the Raritan Valley, may have been from the
name of a sachem or place or both. In Breeden Raedt it is written: "The
delegates from all the savage tribes, such as the Raritans, whose chiefs
called themselves Oringkes from Orange." _Oringkes_ seems to be a form of
_Owinickes,_ from _Owini,_ N. J. (_Inini,_ Chip., _Lenni,_ Del.), meaning
"Original, pure," etc., and _-ke,_ "country"--literally, "First or
original people of the country," an interpretation which agrees with
the claim of the Indians generally when speaking of themselves. [FN]
_Orange_ is _Oranje,_ Dutch, pure and simple, but evidently introduced
to represent the sound of an Indian word. What that word was may,
probably, be traced from the name given as that of the sachem, _Auronge_
(Treaty of 1645), which seems to be an apheresis of _W'scha-já-won-ge,_
"On the hill side," or "On the side of a hill." (Zeisb.) Awonge, Auronge,
Oranje, Orange, is an intelligible progression, and, in connection with
"from Orange," indicates the location of a village or the side of a hill,
which the chiefs represented.
* * * * *
[FN] Dr. D. G. Brinton wrote me "I believe you are right in identifying
_Oringkes_ with _Owine_--possibly with locative _k._"
Succasunna, Morris County, N. J., is probably from _Sûkeu,_ "Black," and
_-achsün,_ "Stone," with substantive verbal affix _-ni._ It seems to
describe a place where there were black stones, but whether there are
black stones there or not has not been ascertained.
Aquackanonck, Aquenonga, Aquainnuck, etc.. is probably from
_Achquam'kan-ong,_ "Bushnet fishing place." Zeisberger wrote
"_Achquanican,_ a fish dam." The locative was a point of land formed by
a bend in Pasaeck River on the east side, now included in the City of
Paterson. Jasper Bankers and Peter Sluyter wrote, in 1679-80:
"Acquakenon: on one side is the kil, on the other is a small stream by
which it (the point) is almost surrounded." The Dutch wrote here,
_Slooterdam,_ _i. e._ a dam with a gate or sluiceway in it, probably
constructed of stone, the sluiceway being left open to enable shad to
run up the stream, and closed by bushes to prevent their return to the
sea. (Nelson.)
Watchung (Wacht-unk, Del.) is from _Wachtschu_ (Zeisb.), "Hill or
mountain," and _-unk,_ locative, "at" or "on." _Wachtsûnk,_ "On the
mountain" (Zeisb.); otherwise written _Wakhunk._ The original application
was to a hill some twelve miles west of the Hudson. The first deed (1667)
placed the boundmark of the tract "At the foot of the great mountain,"
and the second deed (1677) extended the limit "To the top of the mountain
called Watchung."
Achkinckeshacky; _Hackinkeshacky,_ 1645; _Hackinghsackin, Hackinkesack_
(1660); _Hackensack_ (1685); _Ackinsack, Hockquindachque; Hackquinsack,_
are early record forms of the name of primary application to the stream
now known as the Hackensack, from which it was extended to the adjacent
district, to an Indian settlement, and to an Indian sachem, or, as Van
Tienhoven wrote, "A certain savage chief, named Haickquinsacq." (Breeden
Raedt.) The most satisfactory interpretation of the name is that
suggested by the late Dr. Trumbull: "From _Huckquan,_ Mass., _Hócquaan,_
Len., 'Hook,' and _sauk,_ 'mouth of a river'--literally, 'Hook-shaped
mouth,' descriptive of the course of the stream around Bergen Point, by
the Kil van Kull, [FN-1] to New York Bay." Campanus wrote _Hócküng,_
"Hook," and Zeisberger, _Hócquaan._ [FN-2] The German _Hacken,_ now
Hackensack, means "Hook," as in German _Russel Hacken,_ "Pot-hook," a
hook incurved at both ends, as the letter S; in Lenape _Hócquoan_
(Zeisb.). Probably simply a substitution.
* * * * *
[FN-1] Before entering New York Harbor, Hudson anchored his ship below
the Narrows and sent out an exploring party in a boat, who entered the
Narrows and ascended as far as Bergen Point, where they encountered a
second channel which they explored as far as Newark Bay. The place where
the second channel was met they called "The Kils," or channels, and so
it has remained--incorrectly "Kills." The Narrows they called _Col,_ a
pass or defile, or mountain-pass, hence _Kil van Col,_ channel of the
Narrow Pass, and hence _Achter Col,_ a place behind the narrow channel.
"Those [Indians] of Hackingsack, otherwise called Achter Col." (Journal
of New Neth., 1641-47, Doc. Hist. N. Y., iv, 9.) . . . "Whether the
Indians would sell us the hook of land behind the Kil van Col." (Col.
Hist. N. Y., xiii, 280.) Achter Col became a general name for all that
section of New Jersey. _Kul_ and _Kull_ are corruptions of _Col._
_Arthur Kull_ is now applied to Newark Bay.
[FN-2] Heckewelder wrote "_Okhúcquan, Woâkhucquoan,_ or short _Húcquan_
for the modern _Occoquan,_ the name of a river in Virginia, and
remarked, 'All these names signify a hook.'" (Trumbull.) Rev. Thomas
Campanus (Holm), who was chaplain to the Swedish settlements on the
Delaware, 1642-9, and who collected a vocabulary, wrote _Hócküng_
(_ueug_), "Hook." This sound of the word may have led the Dutch to
adopt _Hackingh_ as an orthography--modern _Haking,_ "Hooking," incurved
as a hook.
Commoenapa, written in several forms, was the name of the most southern
of the six early Dutch settlements on the west side of Hudson's River,
known in their order as Commoenapa, Aresseck, Bergen, Ahasimus,
Hoboken-Hackingh, and Awiehacken. Commoenapa is now preserved as the name
of the upland between Communipaw Avenue and Walnut Street, Jersey City,
but was primarily applied to the arm of the main land beginning at
Konstabel's Hoek, and later to the site of the ancient Dutch village of
Gamœnapa, as written by De Vries in 1640, and by the local scribes,
Gamœnapaen. [FN] (Col. Hist. N. Y. xiii, 36, 37.) Dunlap (Hist. N. Y.,
i, 50) claimed the name as Dutch from _Gemeente,_ "Commons, public
property," and Paen, "Soft land," or in combination, "Tillable land and
marsh belonging to the community," a relation which the lands certainly
sustained. (Col. Hist. N. Y., xiii, 234.) The lands were purchased by
Michael Pauw in 1630, and sold by him to the Dutch government in 1638.
Although clearly a Dutch name it has been claimed as Indian, from Lenape
_Gamenowinink_ (Zeisb.), "England, on the other side of the sea."
_Gamœnapaug,_ one of the forms of the name, is quoted as the basis of
this claim; also, _Acomunipag,_ "On the other side of the bay." The Dutch
did substitute _paen_ for _paug_ in some cases, but it is very doubtful
if they did here.
* * * * *
[FN] Jasper Dankers and Peter Sluyter wrote in their Journal:
"Gamaenapaen is an arm of the main land on the west side of the North
River, beginning at Constable's Hook, directly opposite to Staten
Island, from which it is separated by the Kil van Kol. It is almost an
hour broad, but has large salt meadows or marshes on the Kil van Kol.
It is everywhere accessible by water from the city."
Ahasimus--_Achassemus_ in deed to Michael Pauw, 1630--now preserved in
Harsimus, was a place lying west of the "Little Island, Aressick;" later
described as "The corn-land of the Indians," indicating that the name
was from Lenape _Chasqummes_ (Zeisb.), "Small corn." _Ashki'muis,_ "Sea
maize." [FN] (See Arisheck.)
* * * * *
[FN] "The aforesaid land Ahasimus and Aressick, by us called the Whore's
Corner, extending along the river Maurites and the Island Manhates on
the east side, and the Island Hobokan-Hackingh on the north side,
surrounded by swamps, which are sufficiently distinct for boundaries."
(Pauw Deed, Nov. 22, 1630; Col. Hist. N. Y., xiii, 3.) Mr. Winfield
located Ahasimus "At that portion of Jersey City which lies east of
Union Hill, excepting Paulus' Hoeck (Areisheck), . . . generally from
Warren to near Grove Street."
Bergen, the name of the third settlement, is met in Scandinavian and in
German dialects. "Bergen, the Flemish for Mons (Latin), 'a hill,' a town
of Belgium." (Lippincott.) "Bergen, op. Zoom, 18 miles north of Antwerp,
'a hill at (or near) the bank,' or border." The original settlement was
on what is now known as Jersey City Heights.
Arisheck--"The Little Island Aressick" (See Ahasimus), called by the
Dutch Aresseck Houck, Hoeren Houck, and Paulus Houck--now the eastern
point of Jersey City--was purchased from the Indians by Michael Pauw,
Nov. 22, 1630, with "the land called Ahasimus," and, with the "Island
Hobokan-Hackingh," purchased by him in July of the same year, was
included in his plantation under the general name of Pavonia, a Latinized
form of his own name, from Pavo, "Peacock" (Dutch Pauw), which is
retained in the name of the Erie R. R. Ferry. Primarily, Arisseck was a
low neck of land divided by a marsh, the eastern end forming what was
called an island. The West India Company had a trading post there
conducted by one Michael Paulis, from whom it was called Paulus' Hook,
which it retains, Pauw also established a trading post there which, as
it lay directly in the line of the great Indian trunk-path (see
Saponickan), so seriously interfered with the trade of the Dutch post
that the Company purchased the land from him in 1638, and in the same
year sold the island to one Abraham Planck. In the deed to Planck the
description reads: "A certain parcel of land called Pauwels Hoek,
situated westward of the Island Manhates and eastward of Ahasimus,
extending from the North River into the valley which runs around it
there." (Col. Hist. N, Y., xiii, 3.) The Indian name, _Arisheck_ or
_Aresseck,_ is so badly corrupted that the original cannot be
satisfactorily detected, but, by exchanging _n_ for _r,_ and adding the
initial _K,_ we would have _Kaniskeck,_ "A long grassy marsh or meadow."
Hoboken, now so written--_Hobocan-Hacking,_ July, 1630; _Hobokan-Hacking,_
Nov. 1630; _Hobokina,_ 1635; _Hobocken,_ 1643; _Hoboken,_ 1647; _Hobuck_
and _Harboken,_ 1655-6--appears of record first in the Indian deed to
Michael Pauw, July 12, 1630, negotiated by the Director-general and
Council of New Netherland, and therein by them stated, "By us called
Hobocan-Hacking." Primarily it was applied to the low promontory [FN-1]
below Castle Point, [FN-2] bounded, recites the deed, on the south by
the "land Ahasimus and Aressick." On ancient charts Aressick and
Hoboken-Hacking are represented as two long necks of land or points
separated by a cove on the river front now filled in, both points being
called hooks. In records it was called an island, and later as "A neck of
land almost an island, called Hobuk, . . . extending on the south side
to Ahasimus; eastward to the river Mauritus, and on the west side
surrounded by a valley or morass through which the boundary can be seen
with sufficient clearness." (Winfield's Hist. Hudson Co.; Col. Hist.
N. Y., xiii, 2, 3, 4.) In "Freedoms and Exemptions," 1635; "But every one
is notified that the Company reserves, unto itself the Island Manhates;
Fort Orange, with the lands and islands appertaining thereto; Staten
Island; the land of Achassemes, Arassick and Hobokina." The West India
Company purchased the latter lands from Michael Pauw in 1638-9, and
leased and sold in three parcels as stated in the Pauw deeds. The first
settlement of the parcel called by the Dutch Hobocan-Hacking is located
by Whitehead (Hist. East N. J.) immediately north of Hobokan Kill and
called _Hobuk._ Smith, in his "History of New Jersey," wrote _Hobuck,_
and stated that it was a plantation "owned by a Dutch merchant who in
the Indian wars, had his wife, children and servants murdered by the
Indians." In a narrative of events occurring in 1655, it is written:
"Presently we saw the house on Harboken in flames. This done the whole
Pavonia was immediately in flames." [FN-3] (Col. Hist. N. Y., xii, 98.)
The deed statement, "By us named," is explicit, and obviously implies
that the terms in the name were Dutch and not Indian, and Dutch they
surely were. Dr. A. S. Gatschet, of the Bureau of Ethnology, wrote me:
"Hoboken, called after a village on the river Scheldt, a few miles below
Antwerp, [FN-4] and after a high elevation on its north side. _Ho-,_
_hoh-,_ is the radical of 'high' in all German dialects, and _Buck_ is
'elevation' in most of them. _Buckel_ (Germ.), _Bochel_ (Dutch), means
'hump,' 'hump-back.' _Hump_ (Low German) is 'heap,' 'hill.' _Ho-bok-an_
locates a place that is distinguished by a hill, or by a hill in some
way associated with it." Presumably from the ancient village of Hoboken
came to Manhattan, about 1655, one Harmon van Hobocoon, a schoolmaster,
who evidently was given his family name from the village from whence he
came. He certainly did not give his family name to Hoboken twenty years
prior to his landing at Manhattan.
_Hacking_ and _Haken_ are unquestionably Dutch from the radical _Haak,_
"hook." The first is a participle, meaning _Hooking,_ "incurved as a
hook," by metonymie, "a hook." It was used in that sense by the early
Dutch as a substitute for Lenape _Hócquan,_ "hook," in Hackingsack, and
Zeisberger used it in "_Ressel Hacken,_ pot-hook." No doubt Stuyvesant
used it in the same sense in writing _Hobokan-Hacking,_ describing
thereby both a hill and a hook, corresponding with the topography, to
distinguish it from its twin-hook Arisheck. Had there been an Indian
name given him for it, he would have written it as surely as he wrote
Arisheck. When he wrote, "By us called," he meant just what he said and
what he understood the terms to mean. To assume that he wrote the terms
as a substitute for Lenape _Hopoakan-hacki-ug,_ "At (or on) the
smoking-pipe land." or place where materials were obtained for making
smoking-pipes, has no warrant in the record narrative. _Hacking_ was
dropped from the name in 1635.
* * * * *
[FN-1] An ancient view of the shore-line represents it as a considerable
elevation--a hill.
[FN-2] Castle Point is just below Wehawken Cove in which Hudson is
supposed to have anchored his ship in 1609. In Juet's Journal this land
is described as "beautiful" and the cliff as of "the color of white
green, as though it was either a copper or silver mine." It has long
been a noted resort for mineralogists.
[FN-3] Teunissed van Putten was the first white resident of Hoboken. He
leased the land for twelve years from Jan. 1, 1641. The West India
Company was to erect a small house for him. Presumably this house is
referred to in the narrative. It was north of Hoboken Kill.
[FN-4] Now a commercial village of Belgium. The prevailing dialect
spoken there was Flemish, usually classed as Low German. The Low German
dialects of three centuries ago are imperfectly represented in modern
orthographies. In and around Manhattan eighteen different European
dialects were spoken, as noted of record--Dutch, Flemish, German,
Scandinavian, Walloon, etc.
Wehawken and Weehawken, as now written, is written _Awiehaken_ in deed
by Director Stuyvesant, 1658-9. Other orthographies are Wiehacken,
Whehockan, Weehacken, Wehauk, obvious corruptions of the original, but
all retaining a resemblance in sound. The name is preserved as that of
a village, a ferry, and a railroad station about three miles north of
Jersey City, and is historically noted for its association with the
ancient custom of dueling, the particular resort for that purpose being
a rough shelf of the cliff about two and one-half miles north of Hoboken
and about opposite 28th Street, Manhattan. The locative of the name is
described in a grant by Director Stuyvesant, in 1647, to one Maryn
Adriaensen, of "A piece of land called Awiehaken, situate on the west
side of the North River, bounded on the south by Hoboken Kil, and running
thence north to the next kil, and towards the woods with the same
breadth, altogether fifty morgens of land." [FN] (Col. Hist. N. Y.,
xiii, 22.) The "next kil" is presumed to have been that flowing to the
Hudson in a wild ravine just south of the dueling ground, now called the
Awiehackan. A later description (1710) reads: "Between the southernmost
cliffs of Tappaen and Ahasimus, at a place called Wiehake." (Cal. N. Y.
Land Papers, 98.) The petition was by Samuel Bayard, who then owned the
land on both sides of Wiehacken Creek, for a ferry charter covering the
passage "Between the southernmost cliffs of Tappaen and New York Island,
at a place called Wiehake," the landing-place of which was established
at or near the mouth of Awiehacken Creek just below what is now known as
King's Point. Of the location generally Winfield (Hist.. Hudson Co.,
N. J.) wrote: "Before the iconoclastic hand of enterprise had touched it
the whole region about was charming beyond description. Just south of
the dueling ground was the wild ravine down which leaped and laughed the
Awiehacken. Immediately above the dueling ground was King's Point looking
boldly down upon the Hudson. From this height still opens as fair, as
varied, as beautiful a scene as one could wish to see. The rocks rise
almost perpendicularly to one hundred and fifty feet above the river.
Under these heights, about twenty feet above the water, on a shelf about
six feet wide and eleven paces long, reached by an almost inaccessible
flight of steps, was the dueling ground." South of King's Point were the
famed Elysian Fields, at the southern extremity of which, under Castle
Point, was Sibyl's Cave, a rocky cavern containing a fine spring of
water.
The place to which the name was applied in the deed of 1658 seems to have
been an open tract between the streams named, presumably a field lying
along the Hudson, from the description, "running back towards the woods,"
suggesting that it was from the Lenape radical _Tauwa,_ as written by
Zeisberger in _Tauwi-échen,_ "Open;" as a noun, "Open or unobstructed
space, clear land, without trees." Dropping the initial we have _Auwi,
Awie,_ of the early orthography; dropping _A_ we have _Wie_ and _Wee,_
and from _-échen_ we have _-ákan, -haken, -hawking,_ etc. As the name
stands now it has no meaning in itself, although a Hollander might read
_Wie_ as _Wei,_ "A meadow," and _Hacken_ as "Hooking," incurved as a
hook, which would fairly describe Weehawking Cove as it was.
Submitted to him in one of its modern forms, the late Dr. Trumbull wrote
that _Wehawing_ "Seemed" to him as "most probably from _Wehoak,_ Mohegan,
and _-ing,_ Lenape, locative, 'At the end (of the Palisades)'" and in
his interpretation violated his own rules of interpretation which
require that translation of Indian names must be sought in the dialect
spoken in the district where the name appears. The word for "End," in
the dialect spoken here, was _Wiqui._ Zeisberger wrote _Wiquiechung,_
"End, point," which certainly does not appear in any form of the name.
The Dr.'s translation is simply worthless, as are several others that
have been suggested. It is surprising that the Dr. should quote a
Mohegan adjectival and attach to it a Lenape locative suffix.
* * * * *
[FN] A Dutch "morgen"' was about two English acres.
Espating (_Hespating,_ Staten Island deed) is claimed to have been the
Indian name of what is now known as Union Hill, in Jersey City, where,
it is presumed, there was an Indian village. The name is from the root
_Ashp_ (_Usp,_ Mass.; _Esp,_ Lenape; _Ishp,_ Chip.), "High," and _-ink,_
locative, "At or on a high place." From the same root Ishpat-ink,
Hespating. (O'Callaghan.) See Ashpetong.
Siskakes, now Secaucus, is written as the name of a tract on Hackensack
meadows, from which it was extended to Snake Hill. It is from
_Sikkâkâskeg,_ meaning "Salt sedge marsh." (Gerard.) The Dutch found
snakes on Snake Hill and called it Slangberg, literally, "Snake Hill."
Passaic is a modern orthography of _Pasaeck_ (Unami-Lenape), German
notation, signifying "Vale or valley." Zeisberger wrote _Pachsójeck_ in
the Minsi dialect. The valley gave name to the stream. In Rockland County
it has been corrupted to Paskack, Pasqueck, etc.
Paquapick is entered on Pownal's map as the name of Passaic Falls. It is
from _Poqui,_ "Divided, broken," and _-ápuchk,_ "Rock." Jasper Dankers
and Peter Sluyter, who visited the falls in 1679-80, wrote in their
Journal that the falls were "formed by a rock stretching obliquely across
the river, the top dry, with a chasm in the center about ten feet wide
into which the water rushed and fell about eighty feet." It is this rock
and chasm to which the name refers--"Divided rock," or an open place in
a rock.
Pequannock, now so written, is the name of a stream flowing across the
Highlands from Hamburgh, N. J. to Pompton, written Pachquak'onck by Van
der Donck (1656); Paquan-nock or Pasqueck, in 1694; Paqunneck, Indian
deed of 1709, and in other forms, was the name of a certain field, from
which it was extended to the stream. Dr. Trumbull recognized it as the
equivalent of Mass. _Paquan'noc, Pequan'nuc, Pohqu'un-auke,_ etc., "A
name common to all cleared land, _i. e._ land from which the trees and
bushes had been removed to fit it for cultivation." Zeisberger wrote,
_Pachqu (Paghqu),_ as in _Pachqu-échen,_ "Meadow;" _Pachquak'onck,_ "At
(or on) the open land."
Peram-sepus, Paramp-seapus, record forms of the name of Saddle River,
[FN] Bergen County, N. J., and adopted in _Paramus_ as the name of an
early Dutch village, of which one reads in Revolutionary history as the
headquarters of General George Clinton's Brigade, appears in deed for a
tract of land the survey of which reads: "Beginning at a spring called
_Assinmayk-apahaka,_ being the northeastern most head-spring of a river
called by the Indians _Peram-sepus,_ and by the Christians Saddle River."
Nelson (Hist. Ind. of New Jersey) quoted from a deed of 1671:
"_Warepeake,_ a run of water so called by the Indians, but the right
name is _Rerakanes,_ by the English called Saddle River." _Peram-sepus_
also appears as _Wieramius,_ suggesting that _Pera, Para, Wara,_ and
_Wiera_ were written as equivalent sounds, from the root _Wil (Willi,
Winne, Wirri, Waure),_ meaning, "Good, fine, pleasant," etc. The suffix
varies, _Sepus_ meaning "Brook"; _Peake (-peék),_ "Water-place," and
_Anes,_ "Small stream," or, substantially, _Sepus,_ which, by the prefix
_Ware,_ was pronounced "A fine stream," or place of water.
* * * * *
[FN] Called "Saddle River," probably, from Richard Saddler, a purchaser
of lands from the Indians in 1674. (Col. Hist. N. Y., xiii, 478.)
Monsey, a village in Rockland County, takes that name from an Indian
resident who was known by his tribal name, _Monsey_--"the Monseys,
Minsis, or Minisinks."
Mahway, Mawayway, Mawawier, etc., a stream and place now Mahway, N. J.,
was primarily applied to a place described: "An Indian field called
Maywayway, just over the north side of a small red hill called
Mainatanung." The stream, on an old survey, is marked as flowing south
to the Ramapo from a point west of Cheesekook Mountain. The name is
probably from _Mawéwi_ (Zeisb.), "Assembly," where streams or paths, or
boundaries, meet or come together. (See Mahequa.)
Mainaitanung, Cal. N. Y. Land Papers, and _Mainating_ in N. J. Records,
given as the name of "A small red hill" (see Mahway), does not describe
a "Red hill," but a place "at" a small hill--_Min-attinuey-unk._ The
suffixed locative, _-unk,_ seems to have been generally used in
connection with the names of hills.
Pompton--_Ponton,_ East N. J. Records, 1695; _Pompeton, Pumpton, Pompeton,_
N. Y. Records--now preserved in Pompton as the name of a village at the
junction of the Pequannock, the Wynokie, and the Ramapo, and continued
as the name of the united stream south of Pompton Village to its junction
with the Passaic, and also as the name of a town in Passaic County,
N. J., as well as in Pompton Falls, Pompton Plains, etc., and historically
as the name of an Indian clan, appears primarily as the name of the Ramapo
River as now known. It is not met in early New York Records, but in
English Records, in 1694, a tract of land is described as being "On a
river called Paquannock, or Pasqueck, near the falls of Pampeton," and
in 1695, in application to lands described as lying "On Pompton Creek,
about twenty miles above ye mouth of said creek where it falls into
Paquanneck River," the particular place referred to being known as
Ramopuch, and now as Ramapo. (See Ramapo.) Rev. Heckewelder located the
name at the mouth of the Pompton (as now known) where it falls into the
Passaic, and interpreted it from _Pihm_ (root _Pimé_), "Crooked mouth,"
an interpretation now rejected by Algonquian students from the fact that
the mouth of the stream is not crooked. A reasonable suggestion is that
the original was _Pomoten,_ a representative town, or a combination of
towns. [FN-1] which would readily be converted to Pompton. In 1710,
"Memerescum, 'sole sachem of all the nations (towns or families) of
Indians on Remopuck River, and on the east and west branches thereof, on
Saddle River, Pasqueck River, Narranshunk River and Tappan,' gave title
to all the lands in upper or northwestern Bergen and Passaic counties."
(Nelson, "Indians of New Jersey," 111), indicating a combination of
clans. Fifty years later the tribal title is entered in the treaty of
Easton (1758) as the "Wappings, Opings or Pomptons," [FN-2] as claimants
of an interest in lands in northern New Jersey, [FN-3] subordinately to
the "Minsis, Monseys or Minisinks," with whom the treaty was made. The
clan was then living at Otsiningo as ward's of the Senecas, and seems to
have been composed of representatives of several historic northern New
Jersey families. It has been inferred that their designation as
"Wappings" classed them as immigrants from the clans on the east side of
the Hudson. Obviously, however, the term described them as of the most
eastern family of the Minsis or Minisinks, which they were.
* * * * *
[FN-1] _Pomoteneyu,_ "There are towns." (Zeisb.) Pompotowwut-Muhheakan-neau,
was the name of the capital town of the Mahicans.
[FN-2] So recognized in the treaty of Easton.
[FN-3] The territory in which the Pomptons claimed an interest included
northern New Jersey as bounded on the north by a line drawn from
Cochecton, Sullivan County, to the mouth of Tappan Creek on the Hudson,
thence south to Sandy Hook, thence west to the Delaware, and thence
north to Cochecton, lat. 41 deg. 40 min., as appears by treaty deed in
Smith's hist, of New Jersey.
Ramapo, now so written and applied to a village and a town in Rockland
County, and also to a valley, a stream of water and adjacent hills, is
written Ramepog in N. Y. Records, 1695; Ramepogh, 1711, and Ramapog in
1775. In New Jersey Records the orthographies are Ramopock, Romopock and
Remopuck, and on Smith's map Ramopough. The earliest description of the
locative of the name appears in N. Y. Records, 1695: "A certain tract of
land in Orange County called Ramepogh, being upon Pompton Creek, about
twenty miles above ye mouth of said creek where it falls into Pequanneck
River, being a piece of low land lying at ye forks on ye west side of ye
creek, and going down the said creek for ye space of six or seven miles
to a small run running into said creek out of a small lake, several
pieces of land lying on both sides of said creek, computed in all about
ninety or one hundred acres, _with upland adjoining_ thereto to ye
quantity of twelve hundred acres." In other words: "A piece of low land
lying at the forks of said river, about twenty miles above the mouth of
the stream where it falls into the Pequannock, with upland adjoining."
The Pompton, so called then, is now the Ramapo, and the place described
in the deed has been known as Remapuck, Romapuck, Ramopuck, Ramapock,
Pemerpuck, and Ramapo, since the era of first settlement. The somewhat
poetic interpretation of the name, "Many ponds," is without warrant, nor
does the name belong to a "Round pond," or to the stream, now the Ramapo
except by extension to it. Apparently, by dialectic exchange of initials
L and R, _Reme, Rama,_ or _Romo_ becomes _Lamó_ from _Lomówo_ (Zeisb.),
"Downward, slanting, oblique," and _-pogh, -puck,_ etc., is a compression
of _-apughk_ (_-puchk_, German notation), meaning--"Rock."
_Lamów-ápuchk,_ by contraction and pronunciation, _Ramápuck,_ meaning
"Slanting rock," an equivalent of _Pimápuchk,_ met in the district in
Pemerpock, in 1674, denoting "Place or country of the slanting rock."
[FN] Ramapo River is supposed to have its head in Round Pond, in the
northwest part of the town of Monroe, Orange County. It also received
the overflow of eight other ponds. Ramapo Pass, beginning about a mile
below Pierson's, is fourteen miles long. (See Pompton.)
* * * * *
[FN] Dr. John C. Smock, late State Geologist of New Jersey, wrote me of
the location of the name at Suffern: "There is the name of the stream
and the name of the settlement (in Rockland County, near the New Jersey
line), and the land is low-lying, and along the creek, and above a
forks, _i. e._ above the forks at Suffern. On the 1774 map in my
possession, Romapock is certainly the present Ramapo. The term 'Slanting
rock' is eminently applicable to that vicinity." The Ramapock Patent of
1704 covered 42,500 acres, and, with the name, followed the mountains
as its western boundary.
Wynokie, now so written as the name of a stream flowing to the Pequannock
at Pompton, takes that name from a beautiful valley through which it
passes, about thirteen miles northwest of Paterson. The stream is the
outlet of Greenwood Lake and is entered on old maps as the Ringwood. The
name is in several orthographies--Wanaque, Wynogkee, Wynachkee, etc. It
is from the root _Win,_ "Good, fine, pleasant," and _-aki,_ land or
place. (See Wynogkee.)
Pamerpock, 1674, now preserved in _Pamrepo_ as the name of a village in
the northwest part of the city of Bayonne, N. J., is probably another
form of _Pemé-apuchk,_ "Slanting rock." [FN] (See Ramapo.) The name
seems to have been widely distributed.
* * * * *
[FN] _Pemé_ is _Pemi_ in the Massachusetts dialect. "It may generally
be translated by 'sloping' or 'aslant.' In Abnaki _Pemadené
(Pemi-adené)_ denotes a sloping mountain side," wrote Dr. Trumbull. The
affix, _-ápuchk,_ changes the meaning to sloping rock, or "slanting
rock," as Zeisberger wrote.
Hohokus, the name of a village and of a railroad station, is probably
from _Mehŏkhókus_ (Zeisb.), "Red cedar." It was, presumably, primarily
at least, a place where red cedar abounded. The Indian name of the stream
here is written _Raighkawack,_ an orthography of _Lechauwaak,_ "Fork"
(Zeisb.), which, by the way, is also the name of a place.
Tuxedo, now a familiar name, is a corruption of _P'tuck-sepo,_ meaning,
"A crooked river or creek." Its equivalent is _P'tuck-hanné_ (Len. Eng.
Dic.), "A bend in the river"--"Winding in the creek or river"--"A bend
in a river." The earliest form of the original appears in 1754--Tuxcito,
1768; Tuxetough, Tugseto, Duckcedar, Ducksider, etc., are later.
Zeisberger wrote _Pduk,_ from which probably Duckcedar. The name seems
to have been that of a bend in the river at some point in the vicinity
of Tuxedo Pond to which it was extended from a certain bend or bends in
the stream. A modern interpretation from _P'tuksit,_ "Round foot," is of
no merit except in its first word. It was the metaphorical name, among
the Delawares, of the wolf. It would be a misnomer applied to either a
river or a pond. _Sepo_ is generic for a long river. (See Esopus.)
Mombasha, Mombashes, etc., the name of a small lake in Southfield, Orange
County, is presumed to be a corruption of _M'biìsses_ (Zeisb.), "Small
lake or pond," "Small water-place." The apostrophe indicates a sound
produced with the lips closed, readily pronouncing _o_ (Mom). Charles
Clinton, in his survey of the Cheesec-ook Patent in 1735, wrote
Mount-Basha. Mombasa is an Arabic name for a coral island on the east
coast of Africa. It may have been introduced here as the sound of the
Indian name.
Wesegrorap, Wesegroraep, Wassagroras, given as the name of "A barren
plain," in the Kakiate Patent, is probably from Wisachgan, "Bitter," sad,
distressing, pitiable. Ziesberger wrote, "Wisachgak, Black oak," the
bark of which is bitter and astringent. A black oak tree on "the
west-southwest side" of the plain may have given name to the plain.
Narranshaw, Nanaschunck, etc., a place so called in the Kakiate Patent
boundary, is probably a corruption of Van der Donck's _Narratschæn,_
"A promontory" or high point. (See Nyack-on-the-Hudson.)
Kakiate, the name of patented lands in Rockland County, is from Dutch
_Kijkuit,_ meaning "Look out," or "Place of observation, as a tower,
hill," etc. The highest hill in Westchester County bears the same name
in _Kakcout,_ and _Kaykuit_ is the name of a hill in Kingston, Ulster
County. The tract to which the name was extended in Rockland County is
described, "Commonly called by the Indians _Kackyachteweke,_ on a neck of
land which runs under a great hill, bounded on the north by a creek
called Sheamaweck or Peasqua." Hackyackawack is another orthography. The
name seems to be from _Schach-achgeu-ackey,_ meaning "Straight land,"
"Straight along," (Zeisb.); _i. e._ direct, as "A neck of land"--"A pass
between mountains," or, as the description reads, "A neck of land which
runs under a great hill." Compare Cal. N. Y. Land Papers, 48, 183, etc.
Torne, the name of a high hill which forms a conspicuous object in the
Ramapo Valley, is from Dutch _Torenherg,_ "A tower or turret, a high
pointed hill, a pinnacle." (Prov. Eng.) The hill is claimed to have been
the northwest boundmark of the Haverstraw Patent. In recent times it has
been applied to two elevations, the Little Torne, west of the Hudson, and
the Great Torne, near the Hudson, south of Haverstraw. (Cal. N. Y. Land
Papers, 46.)
Cheesek-ook, Cheesek-okes, Cheesec-oks, Cheesquaki, are forms of the name
given as that of a tract of "Upland and meadow," so described in Indian
deed, 1702, and included in the Cheesek-ook Patent, covering parts of the
present counties of Rockland and Orange. It is now preserved as the name
of a hill, to which it was assigned at an early date, and is also quoted
as the name of adjacent lands in New Jersey. The suffix _-ook, -oke,
-aki,_ etc., shows that it was the name of land or place (N. J., _-ahke;_
Len. _-aki_). It is probably met in _Cheshek-ohke,_ Ct., translated by
Dr. Trumbull from _Kussukoe,_ Moh., "High," and _-ohke,_ "Land or
place"--literally, high land or upland. The final _s_ in some forms, is
an English plural: it does not belong to the root. (See Coxackie.) In
pronunciation the accent should not be thrown on the letter _k_; that
letter belongs to the first word. There is no _Kook_ about it.
Tappans, Carte Figurative of date (presumed) 1614-16, is entered thereon
as the name of an Indian village in Lat. 41° 15', claimed, traditionally,
to have been at or near the site of the later Dutch village known as
Tappan, in Rockland County. In the triangulation of the locative on the
ancient map is inscribed, "En effen veldt" (a flat field), the general
character of which probably gave name to the Indian village. Primarily,
it was a district of low, soft land, abounding in marshes and long
grasses, with little variation from level, extending along the Hudson
from Tappan to Bergen Point, a distance of twenty-seven miles. Wassenaer
wrote, in 1621-25, _Tapants_; DeLaet wrote, in 1624, _Tappaans_; in
Breeden Raedt, _Tappanders_; _Tappaen,_ De Vries, 1639; _Tappaen,_ Van
der Horst deed, 1651: _Tappaens,_ official Dutch; "Savages of _Tappaen_";
_Tappaans,_ Van der Donck, are the early orthographies of the name and
establish it as having been written by the Dutch with the long sound of
_a_ in the last word--_paan_ (-paen)--which may be read _pan,_ as a pan
of any kind, natural or artificial--a stratum of earth lying below the
soil--the pan of a tap into which water flows--a mortar pit. [FN-1] The
compound word _Tap-pan_ is not found in modern Dutch dictionaries, but
it evidently existed in some of the German dialects, as it is certainly
met in _Tappan-ooli (uli)_ on the west coast of Summatra, in application,
to a low district lying between the mountains and the sea, opposite a
fine bay, in Dutch possession as early as 1618, and also in
_Tappan-huacanga,_ a Dutch possession in Brazil of contemporary date. It
is difficult to believe that Tappan was transferred to those distant
parts from an Indian name on Hudson's River; on the contrary its presence
in those parts forces the conclusion that it was conferred by the Dutch
from their own, or from some dialect with which they were familiar,
precisely as it was on Hudson's River and was descriptive of a district
of country the features of which supply the meaning. DeLaet wrote in his
"New World" (Leyden Edition, 1625-6) of the general locative of the name
on the Hudson: "Within the first reach, on the west side of the river,
where the land is low, dwells a nation of savages named _Tappaans,_"
presumably so named by the Dutch from the place where they had
jurisdiction, _i. e._ the low lands. Specifically, De Vries wrote in
1639, _Tappaen_ as the name of a place where he found and purchased, "A
beautiful valley of clay land, some three or four feet above the water,
lying under the mountains, along the river," presumed to have been in the
meadows south of Piermont, into which flows from the mountains Tappan
Creek, now called Spar Kill, [FN-2] as well as the overflow of Tappan
Zee, of which he wrote without other name than "bay": "There flows here
a strong flood and ebb, but the ebb is not more than four feet on account
of the great quantity of water that flows from above, overflowing the
low lands in the spring," converting them into veritable soft lands.
_Gamænapaen,_ now a district in Jersey City, was interpreted by the
late Judge Benson, "Tillable land and marsh." Dr. Trumbull wrote:
"_Petuckquapaugh,_ Dumpling Pond (round pond) gave name to part of the
township of Greenwich, Ct. The Dutch called this tract _Petuck-quapaen._"
The tract is now known as Strickland Plain, [FN-3] and is described as
"Plain and water-land"--"A valley but little above tidewater; on the
southwest an extended marsh now reclaimed in part." The same general
features were met in _Petuckquapaen,_ now Greenbath, opposite Albany,
N. Y. Dr. Trumbull also wrote, "The Dutch met on Long Island the word
_Seaump_ as the name of corn boiled to a pap. The root is _Saupáe_
(Eliot), 'soft,' _i. e._ 'made soft by water,' as _Saupáe manoosh,_
'mortar,' literally 'softened clay.' Hence the Dutch word
_Sappaen_--adopted by Webster _Se-pawn._" Other examples could be quoted
but are not necessary to establish the meaning of Dutch Tappaan, or
Tappaen. An interpretation by Rev. Heckewelder, quoted by Yates &
Moulton, and adopted by Brodhead presumably without examination: "From
_Thuhaune_ (Del.), cold stream," is worthless. No Delaware Indian would
have given it as the name of Tappan Creek, and no Hollander would have
converted it into Tappaan or Tappaen.
The Palisade Range, which enters the State from New Jersey, and borders
the Hudson on the west, terminates abruptly at Piermont. Classed by
geologists as Trap Rock, or rock of volcanic origin, adds interest to
their general appearance as calumnar masses. The aboriginal owners were
not versed in geologic terms. To them the Palisades were simply _-ompsk,_
"Standing or upright rock."
* * * * *
[FN-1] _Paen,_ old French, meaning _Pagan,_ a heathen or resident of a
heath, from _Pagus,_ Latin, a heath, a district of waste land.
[FN-2] Tappan Creek is now known as the Spar Kill, and ancient Tappan
Landing as Tappan Slote. _Slote_ is from Dutch _Sloot._ "Dutch, trench,
moat." "Sloops could enter the mouth of the creek, if lightly laden, at
high tide, through what, from its resemblance to a ditch, was called the
Slote." (Hist. Rockl. Co.) The man or men who changed the name of the
creek to Spar Kill cannot be credited with a very large volume of
appreciation for the historic. The cove and mouth of the creek was no
doubt the landing-place from which the Indian village was approached,
and the latter was accepted for many years as the boundmark on the
Hudson of the jurisdiction of New Jersey.
[FN-3] Strickland Plain was the site of the terrible massacre of Indians
by English and Dutch troops under Capt. Underhill, in March, 1645.
(Broadhead, Hist. N. Y., i, 390.) About eight hundred Indians were
killed by fire and sword, and a considerable number of prisoners taken
and sold into slavery. The Indian fort here was in a retreat of
difficult access.
Mattasink, Mattaconga and Mattaconck, forms of names given to certain
boundmarks "of the land or island called Mattasink, or Welch's Island,"
Rockland County, describe two different features. _Mattaconck_ was "a
swampy or hassocky meadow," lying on the west side of Quaspeck Pond, from
whence the line ran north, 72 degrees east, "to the south side of the
rock on the top of the hill," called Mattasinck. In the surveyor's notes
the rock is described as "a certain rock in the form of a sugar loaf."
The name is probably an equivalent of _Mat-assin-ink,_ "At (or to) a bad
rock," or a rock of unusual form. _Mattac-onck_ seems to be an
orthography of _Maskék-onck,_ "At a swamp or hassocky meadow." Surd mutes
and linguals are so frequently exchanged in this district that locatives
must be relied upon to identify names. _Mattac_ has no meaning in itself.
The sound is that of _Maskék._
Nyack, Rockland County, does not take that name from _Kestaub-niuk,_ a
place-name on the east side of the Hudson, as stated by Schoolcraft, nor
was the name imported from Long Island, as stated by a local historian;
on the contrary, it is a generic Algonquian term applicable to any point.
It was met in place here at the earliest period of settlement in
application to the south end of Verdrietig Hoek Mountain, as noted in
"The Cove or Nyack Patent," near or on which the present village of Nyack
has its habitations. It means "Land or place at the angle, point or
corner," from _Néïak_ (Del.), "Where there is a point." (See Nyack,
L. I.) The root appears in many forms in record orthographies, due
largely to the efforts of European scribes to express the sound in either
the German or the English alphabet. Adriaen Block wrote, in 1614-16,
_Nahicans_ as the name of the people on Montauk Point; Eliot wrote
_Naiyag_ (_-ag_ formative); Roger Williams wrote _Nanhigan_ and
_Narragan;_ Van der Donck wrote _Narratschoan_ on the Verdrietig Hoek
Mountain on the Hudson; _Naraticon_ appears on the lower Delaware, and
_Narraoch_ and _Njack_ (Nyack) are met on Long Island. The root is the
same in all cases, Van der Donck's _Narratschoan_ on the Hudson, and
_Narraticon_ on the Delaware, meaning "The point of a mountain which has
the character of a promontory," kindred to _Néwas_ (Del.), "A
promontory," or a high point. [FN] The Indian name of Verdrietig Hoek,
or Tedious Point, is of record _Newas-ink_ in the De Hart Patent, and in
several other forms of record--Navish, Navoash-ink, Naurasonk, Navisonk,
Newasons, etc., and Neiak takes the forms of Narratsch, Narrich, Narrock,
Nyack, etc. Verdrietig Hoek, the northeastern promontory of Hook
Mountain, is a rocky precipitous bluff forming the angle of the range.
It rises six hundred and sixty-eight feet above the level of the Hudson
into which it projects like a buttress. Its Dutch-English name "Tedious
Point," has been spoken of in connection with _Pocantico,_ which see.
* * * * *
[FN] Dr. Trumbull wrote: "_Náï,_ 'Having corners'; _Náïyag,_ 'A corner
or angle'; _Náïg-an-eag,_ 'The people about the point.'" William R.
Gerard wrote: "The Algonquian root _Ne_ (written by the English _Náï_)
means 'To come to a point,' or 'To form a point.' From this came Ojibwe
_Naiá-shi,_ 'Point of land in a body of water.' The Lenape _Newás,_ with
the locative affix, makes _Newás-ing,_ 'At the promontory.' The Lenape
had another word for 'Point of land.' This was _Néïak_ (corrupted to
Nyack). It is the participial form of _Néïan,_ 'It is a point.' The
participle means, 'Where there is a point,' or literally, 'There being
a point.'"
Essawatene--"North by the top of a certain hill called Essawatene," so
described in deed to Hermanus Dow, in 1677--means "A hill beyond," or on
the other side of the speaker. It is from _Awassi_ (Len.), "Beyond," and
_-achtenne,_ "Hill," or mountain. _Oosadenighĕ_ (Abn.), "Above, beyond,
the mountain," or "Over the mountain." We have the same derivative in
_Housaten-ûk,_ now Housatonic.
Quaspeck, Quaspeek, Quaspeach, "Quaspeach or Pond Patent"--"A tract of
land called in the Indian language Quaspeach, being bounded by the brook
Kill-the-Beast, running out of a great pond." (Cal. N. Y. Land Papers,
53, 56, 70, 82.) The land included in the patent was described as "A
hassocky meadow on the west side of the lake." (See Mattasink.) The full
meaning of the name is uncertain. The substantival _-peék,_ or _-peach,_
means "Lake, pond or body of still water." [FN] As the word stands its
adjectival does not mean anything. The local interpretation "Black," is
entirely without merit. The pond is now known as Rockland Lake. It lies
west of the Verdrietig Hoek range, which intervenes between it and the
Hudson. It is sheltered on its northeast shore by the range. The ridge
intervening between it and the Hudson rises 640 feet. It is a beautiful
lake of clear water reposing on a sandy bottom, 160 feet above the level
of the Hudson.
* * * * *
[FN] The equivalent Mass. word is _paug,_ "Where water is," or "Place
of water." (Trumbull.) Quassa-paug or Quas-paug, is the largest lake in
Woodbury, Ct. Dr. Trumbull failed to detect the derivative of _Quas,_
but suggested, Kiche, "Great." Probably a satisfactory interpretation
will be found in _Kussûk,_ "High." (See Quassaick.)
Menisak-cungue, so written in Indian deed to De Hart in 1666, and also
in deed from De Hart to Johannes Minnie in 1695, is written _Amisconge_
on Pownal's map, as the name of a stream in the town of Haverstraw. As
De Hart was the first purchaser of lands at Haverstraw, the name could
not have been from that of a later owner, as locally supposed. Pownal's
orthography suggests that the original was _Ommissak-kontu,_ Mass.,
"Where Alewives or small fishes are abundant." The locative was at the
mouth of the stream at Grassy Point. [FN] Minnie's Falls, a creek so
known, no doubt, took that name from Johannes Minnie. On some maps it is
called Florus' Falls, from Florus Crom, an early settler. An unlocated
place on the stream was called "The Devil's Horse Race."
* * * * *
[FN] _Kontu,_ an abundance verb, is sometimes written _contee,_ easily
corrupted to _cungue._ Dutch _Congé_ means "Discharge," the tail-race
of a mill, or a strong, swift current. Minnie's Congé, the tail-race of
Minnie's mill.
Mahequa and Mawewier are forms of the name of a small stream which
constitutes one of the boundaries of what is known as Welch's Island.
They are from the root _Mawe,_ "Meeting," _Mawewi,_ "Assembly" (Zeisb.),
_i. e._ "Brought together," as "Where paths or streams or boundaries
come together." The reference may have been to the place where the stream
unites with Demarest's Kill, as shown on a map of survey in "History of
Rockland County." Welch's Island was so called from its enclosure by
streams and a marsh. (See Mattaconga and Mahway.)
Skoonnenoghky is written as the name of a hill which formed the southwest
boundmark of a district of country purchased from the Indians by Governor
Dongan in 1685, and patented to Capt. John Evans by him in 1694,
described in the Indian deed as beginning on the Hudson, "At about the
place called the Dancing Chamber, thence south to the north side of the
land called Haverstraw, thence northwest along the hill called
Skoonnenoghky" to the bound of a previous purchase made by Dongan "Called
Meretange pond." (See Pitkiskaker.) The hill was specifically located in
a survey of part of the line of the Evans Patent, by Cadwallader Colden,
in 1722, noted as "Beginning at Stony Point and running over a high hill,
part of which makes the Stony Point, and is called Kunnoghky or
Kunnoghkin." (Cal. N. Y. Land Papers, 162.) The south side of Stony Point
was then accepted as the "North side of the land called Haverstraw." The
hills in immediate proximity, at varying points of compass, are the
Bochberg (Dutch, _Bochelberg,_ "Humpback hill"), and the Donderberg,
neither of which, however, have connection with Stony Point, leaving the
conclusion certain that from the fact that the line had its beginning at
the extreme southeastern limit of the Point on the Hudson, the hill
referred to in the survey must have been that on which the Stony Point
fort of the Revolution was erected, "Part of which hill" certainly "makes
the Stony Point." Colden's form of the name, "Kunnoghky or Kunnoghkin,"
is obviously an equivalent of Dongan's Schoonnenoghky. Both forms are
from the generic root _Gún,_ Lenape (_Qûn,_ Mass.), meaning
"Long"--_Gúnaquot,_ Lenape, "Long, tall, high, extending upwards";
_Qunnúhqui_ (Mass.), "Tall, high, extending upwards"; _Qunnúhqui-ohke_
or _Kunn'oghky,_ "Land extending upwards," high land, gradual ascent.
The name being generic was easily shifted about and so it was that in
adjusting the northwest line of the Evans Patent it came to have
permanent abode as that of the hill now known as Schunnemunk in the town
of Cornwall, Orange County, to the advantage of the proprietors of the
Minisink Patent. [FN] Reference to the old patent line will be met in
other connections.
* * * * *
[FN] The patent to Capt. John Evans was granted by Gov. Dongan in 1694,
and vacated by act of the Colonial Assembly in 1708, approved by the
Queen in 1708. It included Gov. Dongan's two purchases of 1784-85.
{_sic_} It was not surveyed; its southeast, or properly its northwest
line was never satisfactorily determined, but was supposed to run from
Stony Point to a certain pond called Maretanze in the present town of
Greenville, Orange County. Following the vacation of the patent in 1708,
several small patents were granted which were described in general terms
as a part of the lands which it covered. In order to locate them the
Surveyor-General of the Province in 1722, propounded an inquiry as to
the bounds of the original grant; hence the survey by Cadwallader
Colden. The line then established was called "The New Northwest Line."
It was substantially the old line from Stony Point to Maretanze Pond
(now Binnenwater), in Greenville, and cut off a portion of the territory
which was supposed to have been included in the Wawayanda Patent.
Another line was projected in 1765-6, by the proprietors of the Minisink
Patent, running further northeast and the boundmark shifted to a pond
north of Sam's Point, the name going with it. The transaction formed the
well-known Minisink Angle, and netted the Minisink proprietors 56,000
acres of unoccupied lands. (Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii, 986.) Compare Cal.
N. Y. Land Papers, 164, 168, 171, 172, and Map of Patents in Hist.
Orange Co., quarto edition.
Reckgawank, of record in 1645 as the name of Haverstraw, appears in
several later forms. Dr. O'Callaghan (Hist. New Neth.) noted:
"Sessegehout, chief of Rewechnong of Haverstraw." In Col. Hist. N. Y.,
"Keseshout [FN-1] chief of Rewechnough, or Haverstraw," "Curruppin,
brother, and representative of the chief of Rumachnanck, alias
Haverstraw." In the treaty of 1645: "Sesekemick and Willem, chiefs of
Tappans and Reckgawank," which Brodhead found converted to "Kumachenack,
or Haverstraw." [FN-2] The original is no doubt from _Rekau,_ "Sand,
gravel," with verb substantive _wi,_ and locative _-ng,_ or _-ink_;
written by Zeisberger, _Lekauwi._ The same word appears in _Rechqua-akie,_
now Rockaway, L. I. The general meaning, with the locative _-nk_ or
_-ink,_ is "At the sandy place," and the reference to the sandy flats,
at Haverstraw, where Sesegehout presumably resided. There is no reason
for placing this clan on Long Island.
* * * * *
[FN-1] _Sesehout_ seems to have been written to convey an idea of the
rank of the sachem from the Dutch word _Schout,_ "Sheriff."
_K'schi-sakima,_ "Chief, principal," or "greatest sachem." In Duchess
County the latter is written _t'see-saghamaugh._
[FN-2] Haverstraw is from Dutch _Haverstroo._ "Oat straw," presumably
so named from the wild oats which grew abundantly on the flats.
Nawasink, Yan Dakah, Caquaney and Aquamack, are entered in the Indian
deed to De Hart as names for lands purchased by him at Haverstraw in
1666. The deed reads: "A piece of land and meadow lying upon Hudson's
River in several parcels, called by the Indians Nawasink, Yan Dakah,
Caquaney, and Aquamack, within the limits of Averstraw, bounded on the
east and north by Hudson's River, on the west by a creek called
Menisakcungue, and on the south by the mountain." The mountain on the
south could have been no other than Verdrietig Hoek, and the limit on the
north the mouth of the creek in the cove formed by Grassy Point, which
was long known as "The further neck." Further than is revealed by the
names the places cannot be certainly identified. Taken in the order in
the deed, _Newasink_ located a place that was "At (or on) a point or
promontory." It is a pure Lenape name. _Yan Dakah_ is probably from _Yu
Undach,_ "On this side," _i. e._ on the side towards the speaker.
_Caquancy_ is so badly corrupted that its derivative is not recognizable.
_Aquamack_ seems to be the same word that we have in Accomack, Va.,
meaning, "On the Other side," or "Other side lands." In deed to Florus
Crom is mentioned "Another parcel of upland and meadow known by the name
of _Ahequerenoy,_ lying north of the brook called Florus Falls and
extending to Stony Point," the south line of which was the north line of
the Haverstraw lands as later understood. The tract was known for years
as "The end place."
Sankapogh, Indian deed to Van Cortlandt, 1683--Sinkapogh, Songepogh,
Tongapogh--is given as the name of a small stream flowing to the Hudson
south of the stream called Assinapink, locally now known as Swamp Kill
and Snake-hole Creek. The stream is the outlet of a pool or spring which
forms a marsh at or near the foot of precipitous rocks. Probably an
equivalent of Natick _Sonkippog,_ "Cool water."
Poplopen's Creek, now so written, the name of the stream flowing to the
Hudson between the sites of the Revolutionary forts Clinton and
Montgomery, south of West Point, and also the name of one of the ponds
of which the stream is the outlet, seems to be from English _Pop-looping_
(Dutch _Loopen_), and to describe the stream as flowing out
quickly--_Pop_, "To issue forth with a quick, sudden movement"; _Looping_,
"To run," to flow, to stream. The flow of the stream was controlled by
the rise and fall of the waters in the ponds on the hills, seven in
number. The outlet of Poplopen Pond is now dammed back to retain a head
of water for milling purposes. It is a curious name. The possessive _'s_
does not belong to the original--Pop-looping Creek.
Assinapink, the name of a small stream of water flowing to the Hudson
from a lake bearing the same name--colloquially _Sinsapink_--known in
Revolutionary history as Bloody Pond--is of record, "A small rivulet of
water called _Assin-napa-ink_" (Cal. N, Y. Land Papers, 99), from
_Assin,_ "stone"; _Napa,_ "lake, pond," or place of water, and _-ink,_
locative, literally, "Place of water at or on the stone." The current
interpretation, "Water from the solid rock," is not specially
inappropriate, as the lake is at the foot of the rocks of Bare Mountain.
At a certain place in the course of the stream a legal description reads:
"A whitewood tree standing near the southerly side of a ridge of rocks,
lying on the south side of a brook there called by the Indians
_Sickbosten_ Kill, and by the Christians Stony Brook." [FN] The Indians
never called the stream _Sickbosten,_ unless they learned that word from
the Dutch, for corrupted Dutch it is. The derivative is _Boos,_ "Wicked,
evil, angry"; _Zich Boos Maken,_ "To grow angry," referring particularly
to the character of the stream in freshets.
* * * * *
[FN] Adv. in Newburgh Mirror, June 18, 1798.
Prince's Falls, so called in description of survey of patent to Samuel
Staats, 1712: "Beginning at ye mouth of a small rivulet called by the
Indians Assin-napa-ink, then up the river (Hudson) as it runs, two
hundred chains, which is about four chains north of Prince's Falls,
including a small rocky isle and a small piece of boggy meadow called
John Cantton Huck; also a small slip of land on each side of a fall of
water just below ye meadow at ye said John Cantonhuck." (Cal. N. Y. Land
Papers, 99.) Long known as Buttermilk Falls and more recently as Highland
Falls. In early days the falls were one of the most noted features on
the lower Hudson. They were formed by the discharge over a precipice of
the outlet waters of Bog-meadow Brook. They were called Prince's Falls
in honor of Prince Maurice of Holland. The name was extended to the creek
in the Staats survey--Prince's Kill.
Manahawaghin is of record as the name of what is now known as Iona
Island, in connection with "A certain tract of land on the west side of
Hudson's River, beginning on the south side of a creek called Assinapink,
together with a certain island and parcel of meadow called Manahawaghin,
and by the Christians Salisbury Island." The island lies about one mile
south of directly opposite Anthony's Nose, and is divided from the main
land by a narrow channel or marshy water-course. The tract of land lies
immediately north of the Donderberg; it was the site of the settlement
known as Doodletown in Revolutionary history. The name is probably from
_Mannahatin,_ the indefinite or diminutive form of _Mannahata,_ "The
Island"--literally, "Small island." The last word of the record form is
badly mangled. (See Manhattan.)
[Illustration: Northern Gate of the Highlands]
Manahan, meaning "Island"--indefinite _-an_--is a record name of what is
now known as Constitution Island, the latter title from Fort Constitution
which was erected thereon during the war of the Revolution. The early
Dutch navigators called it Martelaer's Rack Eiland, from Martelaer,
"Martyr," and Rack, a reach or sailing course--"the Martyr's Reach"--from
the baffling winds and currents encountered in passing West Point. The
effort of Judge Benson to convert "Martelaer's" to "Murderer's." and
"Rack" to "Rock"--"the Murderer's Rock"--was unfortunate.
Pollepel Eiland, a small rocky island in the Hudson at the northern
entrance to the Highlands, was given that name by an early Dutch
navigator. It means, literally, "Pot-ladle Island," so called, presumably,
from its fancied resemblance to a Dutch pot-ladle. Jasper Dankers and
Peter Sluyter wrote the name in their Journal in 1679-80, indicating that
the island was then well known by that title. On Van der Donck's map of
1656 the island is named Kaes Eiland. Dutch _Kaas_ (cheese) _Eiland._
Dankers and Sluyter also wrote, "_Boter-berg_ (Butter-hill), because it
is like the rolls of butter which the farmers of Holland take to market."
Read in connection the names are Butter Hill and Cheese Island. The same
writers wrote, "_Hays-berg_ (Hay-hill), because it is like a hay-stack
in Holland," and "_Donder-berg_ (Thunder-hill), so called from the echoes
of thunder peals which culminated there." The latter retains its ancient
Dutch title. It is eminently the Echo Hill of the Highlands. The oldest
record name of any of the hills is _Klinker-berg,_ which is written on
the Carte Figurative of 1614-16 directly opposite a small island and
apparently referred to Butter Hill. It means literally, "Stone Mountain."
The passage between Butter Hill and Break Neck, on the east side of the
river, was called "Wey-gat, or Wind-gate, because the wind often blowed
through it with great force," wrote Dr. Dwight. The surviving name,
however, is _Warragat,_ from Dutch _Warrelgat,_ "Wind-gate." It was at
the northern entrance to this troublesome passage that Hudson anchored
the Half-Moon, September 29th, 1609. Brodhead suggested (Note K, Vol. I)
that Pollepel Island was that known in early Dutch history as Prince's
Island, or Murderer's Creek Island, and that thereon was erected Fort
Wilhelmus, referred to by Wassenaer in 1626. (Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii, 35.)
The evidence is quite clear, however, that the island to which Wassenaer
referred was in the vicinity of Schodac, where there was also a
Murderer's Creek.
Hudson, on his exploration of the river which now bears his name, sailed
into the bay immediately north of Butter Hill, now known as Newburgh Bay,
on the morning of the 15th of September, 1709. After spending several
days in the northern part of the river, he reached Newburgh Bay on his
return voyage in the afternoon of September 29th, and cast anchor, or
as stated in Juet's Journal, "Turned down to the edge of the mountains,
or the northernmost of the mountains, and anchored, because the high
lands hath many points, and a narrow channel, and hath many eddie winds.
So we rode quietly all night." The hill or mountain long known as
Breakneck, on the east side of the river, may be claimed as the
northernmost, which would place his anchorage about midway between
Newburgh and Pollepel Island.
Quassaick, now so written, is of record, _Quasek,_ 1709; "Near to a place
called _Quasaik,_" 1709-10; _Quasseck,_ 1713; "_Quassaick_ Creek upon
Hudson's River," 1714. It was employed to locate the place of settlement
of the Palatine immigrants in 1709--"The Parish of Quassaick," later,
"The Parish of Newburgh." It is now preserved as the name of the creek
which bounds (in part) the city of Newburgh on the south. "Near to a
place called Quasek," indicates that the place of settlement was located
by the name of some other place which was near to it and generally known
by the name. The late Dr. E. B. O'Callaghan read it, in 1856: "From
_Qussuk,_ 'Stone,' and _-ick,_ 'Place where,' literally, 'A place of
stone,'" the presumed reference being to the district through which the
stream flows, which is remarkable for its deposit of glacial bowlders.
The correctness of this interpretation has been questioned on very
tenable grounds. _Qusuk_ is not in the plural number and _-uk_ does not
stand for _-ick._ Eliot wrote: "_Qussuk,_ a rock," and "_Qussukquan-ash,_
rocks." _Qussuk,_ as a substantive simply, would be accepted as the name
of a place called "A rock," by metonymie, "A stone." No other meaning
can be drawn from it. It does not belong to the dialect of the district,
the local terms being _-ápuch,_ "Rock," and _-assin,_ or _-achsûn,_
"Stone." Dr. O'Callaghan's interpretation may safely be rejected. William
R. Gerard writes: "The worst corrupted name that I know of is _Wequaskeg_
or _Wequaskeek,_ meaning, 'At the end of the marsh.' It appears in
innumerable forms--_Weaxashuk, Wickerschriek, Weaquassic,_ etc. I think
that Quassaick, changed from Quasek (1709), is one of these corruptions.
The original word probably referred to some place at the end of a swamp.
The word would easily become Quasekek, Quasek, and Quassaick. The
formative _-ek,_ in words meaning swamp, marsh, etc., was often dropped
by both Dutch and English scribes." This conjecture would seem to locate
the name as that of the end of Big Swamp, nearly five miles distant from
the place of settlement. My conjecture is that the name is from Moh.
_Kussuhkoe,_ meaning "High;" with substantive _Kussuhkohke,_ "High
lands," the place of settlement being described as "Near the Highlands,"
which became the official designation of "The Precinct of the Highlands."
_Kussuhk_ is pretty certainly met in _Cheesek-ook,_ the name of patented
lands in the Highlands, described as "Uplands and meadows;" also in
_Quasigh-ook,_ Columbia County, which is described as "A high place on
a high hill." The Palatine settlers at _Quasek,_ wrote, in 1714, that
their place was "all uplands," a description which will not be disputed
at the present day. (See Cheesekook, Quissichkook, etc.)
Much-Hattoos, a hill so called in petition of William Chambers and
William Sutherland, in 1709, for a tract of land in what is now the town
of New Windsor, and in patent to them in 1712, a boundmark described as
"West by the hill called Much-Hattoes," is apparently from _Match,_
"Evil, bad;" _-adchu,_ "Hill" or mountain, and _-es,_ "Small"--"A small
hill bad," or a small hill that for some reason was not regarded with
favor. [FN] The eastern face of the hill is a rugged wall of gneiss; the
western face slopes gradually to a swamp not far from its base and to a
small lake, the latter now utilized for supplying the city of Newburgh
with water, with a primary outlet through a passage under a spur of the
hill, which the Indians may have regarded as a mysterious or bad place.
In local nomenclature the hill has long been known as Snake Hill, from
the traditionary abundance of rattle-snakes on it, though few have been
seen there in later years.
* * * * *
[FN] "I think your reading of _Muchattoos_ as an orthography of original
_Matchatchu's,_ is very plausible. I think _Massachusetts_ is the same
word, plus a locative suffix and English sign of the plural. It was
formerly spelled in many ways: Mattachusetts, Massutchet, Matetusses,
etc. Dr. Trumbull read it as standing for _Mass-adchu-set,_ 'At the big
hills'; but I learn from history that Massachusetts was originally the
name of a _hillock_ situated in the midst of a salt marsh. It was a
locality selected by the sachem of his tribe as one of his places of
residence. He stood in fear of his enemies, the Penobscotts, and this
hillock, from its situation was a 'bad,' or difficult place to reach.
So Massachsat for Matsadchuset or Mat-adchu-set plainly means, 'On the
bad hillock.'" (Wm. R. Gerard.)
Cronomer's Hill and Cronomer's Valley, about three miles west of the city
of Newburgh, take their names from a traditionary Indian called Cronomer,
the location of whose wigwam is said to be still known as "The hut lot."
The name is probably a corruption of the original, which may have been
Dutch Jeronimo.
Murderer's Creek, so called in English records for many years, and by the
Dutch "den Moordenaars' Kil," is entered on map of 1666, "R. Tans Kamer,"
or River of the Dance Chamber, and the point immediately south of its
mouth, "de Bedrieghlyke Hoek" (Dutch, Bedrieglijk), meaning "a deceitful,
fraudulent hook," or corner, cape, or angle. Presumably the Dutch
navigator was deceived by the pleasant appearance of the bay, sailed into
it and found his vessel in the mouth of the Warrelgat. Tradition affirms
in explanation of the Dutch Moordenaars that an early company of traders
entered their vessel in the mouth of the stream; that they were enticed
on shore at Sloop Hill and there murdered. Paulding, in his beautiful
story, "Naoman," related the massacre of a pioneer family at the same
place. The event, however, which probably gave the name to the stream
occurred in August, 1643, when boats passing down the river from Fort
Orange, laden with furs, were attacked by the Indians "above the
Highlands" and "nine Christians, including two women were murdered, and
one woman and two children carried away prisoners," (Doc. Hist. N. Y.,
iv, 12), the narrative locating the occurrence by the name "den
Moordenaars' Kil," _i. e._ the kill from which the attacking party issued
forth or on which the murderers resided. The first appearance of the name
in English records is in a deed to Governor Dongan, in 1685, in which the
lands purchased by him included "the lands of the Murderers' Creek
Indians," the stream being then well known by the name. The present name,
Moodna, was converted to that form, by N. P. Willis from the Dutch
"Moordenaar," by dropping letters, an inexcusable emasculation from a
historic standpoint, but made poetical by his interpretation, "Meeting
of the waters."
Schunnemunk, now so written, the name of a detached hill in the town of
Cornwall, Orange County, appears of record in that connection, first, in
the Wilson and Aske Patent of 1709, in which the tract granted is
described as lying "Between the hills at Scoonemoke." Skoonnemoghky,
Skonanaky, Schunnemock, Schonmack Clove, Schunnemock Hill, are other
forms. In 1750 Schunnamunk appears, and in 1774, on Sauthier's map (1776)
Schunnamank is applied to the range of hills which have been described
as "The High Hills to the west of the Highlands." 'In a legal brief in
the controversy to determine finally the northwest line of the Evans
Patent, the name is written Skonanake, and the claim made that it was the
hill named Skoonnemoghky in the deed from the Indians to Governor Dongan,
in 1685, and therein given as the southeast boundmark of the lands of
"The Murderer's Creek Indians," and, later, the hill along which the
northwest line of the Evans Patent ran, which it certainly was not,
although the name is probably from the same generic. (See Schoonnenoghky.)
The hill forms the west shoulder of Woodbury Valley. It is a somewhat
remarkable elevation in geological formation and bears on its summit many
glacial scratches. On its north spur stood the castle of Maringoman, one
of the grantors of the deed to Governor Dongan, and who later removed to
the north side of the Otter Kill where his wigwam became a boundmark in
two patents. [FN] The traditionary word "castle," in early days of Indian
history, was employed as the equivalent of town, whether palisaded or
not. In this case we may read the name, "Maringoman's Town," which may or
may not have been palisaded. It seems to have been the seat of the
"Murderer's Creek Indians." The burial ground of the clan is marked on a
map of the Wilson and Aske Patent, and has been located by Surveyor Fred
J. McKnight (1898) on the north side of the Cornwall and Monroe line and
very near the present road past the Houghton farm, near which the castle
stood. The later "cabin" of the early sachem is plainly located.
* * * * *
[FN] Van Dam Patent (1709) and Mompesson Patent (1709-12). The late Hon.
George W. Tuthill wrote me in 1858: "On the northwestern bank of
Murderers' Creek, about half a mile below Washingtonville, stands the
dwelling-house of Henry Page (a colored man), said to be the site of
Maringoman's wigman, referred to in the Van Dam Patent of 1709. The
southwesterly corner of that patent is in a southwesterly direction from
said Page's house."
In the controversy in regard to the northwest line of the Evans Patent,
one of the counsel said: "It is also remarkable that the Murderers'
Creek extends to the hill Skonanaky, and that the Indian, Maringoman,
who sold the lands, did live on the south side of Murderers' Creek,
opposite the house where John McLean now (1756) dwells, near the said
hill, and also lived on the north bank of Murderers' Creek, where Colonel
Mathews lives. The first station of his boundaries is a stone set in the
ground at Maringoman's castle."
Winegtekonck, 1709--_Wenighkonck,_ 1726; _Wienackonck,_ 1739--is quoted
as the name of what is now known as Woodcock Mountain, in the town of
Blooming-Grove, It is not so connected, however, in the record of 1709,
which reads: "A certain tract of land by the Indians called
_Wineghtek-onck_ and parts adjacent, lying on both sides of Murderers'
Kill" (Cal. N. Y. Land Papers, 91), in which connection it seems to be
another form of Mahican _Wanun-ketukok,_ "At the winding of the river"--"A
bend-of-the-river-place." Presumably the reference is to a place where
the stream bends in the vicinity of the hill. The name appears in an
abstract of an Indian deed to Sir Henry Ashurst, in 1709, for a tract of
land of about sixteen square miles. The purchase was not patented, the
place being included in the Governor Dongan purchase of 1685, and in the
Evans Patent.
Sugar Loaf, the name of a conical hill in the town of Chester, Orange
County, is not an Indian name of course, but it enters into an enumeration
of Indian places, as in its vicinity were found by Charles Clinton, in
his survey of the Cheesec-ock Patent in 1738, the unmistakable evidences
of the site of an Indian village, then probably not long abandoned, and
Mr. Eager (Hist. Orange Co.) quoted evidences showing that on a farm then
(1846) owned by Jonathan Archer, was an Indian burying ground, the marks
of which were still distinct prior to the Revolution.
Runbolt's Run, a spring and creek in the town of Goshen, are said to have
taken that name from Rombout, one of the Indian grantors of the Wawayanda
tract. It is probable, however, that the name is a corruption of Dutch
_Rondbocht,_ meaning, "A tortuous pool, puddle, marsh," at or near which
the chief may have resided. _Rombout_ (Dutch) means "Bull-fly." It could
hardly have been the name of a run of water.
Mistucky, the name of a small stream in the town of Warwick, has lost
some of its letters. _Mishquawtucke_ (Nar.), would read, "Place of red
cedars."
Pochuck, given as the name of "A wild, rugged and romantic region" in
Sussex County, N. J., to a creek near Goshen, and, modernly, to a place
in Newburgh lying under the shadow of Muchhattoes Hill, is no doubt from
_Putscheck_ (Len.), "A corner or repress," a retired or "out-of-the-way
place." Eliot wrote _Poochag,_ in the Natick dialect, and Zeisberger, in
the Minsi-Lenape, _Puts-cheek,_ which is certainly heard in Pochuck.
Chouckhass, one of the Indian grantors of the Wawayanda tract, left his
name to what is now called Chouck's Hill, in the town of Warwick. The
land on which he lived and in which he was buried came into possession
of Daniel Burt, an early settler, who gave decent sepulture to the bones
of the chief. [FN]
* * * * *
[FN] The traditional places of residence of several of the sachems who
signed the Wawayanda deed is stated by a writer in "Magazine of American
History," and may be repeated on that authority, viz: "Oshaquememus,
chief of a village, near the point where the Beaver-dam Brook empties
into Murderers' Creek near Campbell Hall; Moshopuck, on the flats now
known as Haverstraw; Ariwimack, chief, on the Wallkill, extending from
Goshen to Shawongunk; Guliapaw, chief of a clan residing near Long Pond
(Greenwood Lake), within fifty rods of the north end of the pond;
Rapingonick died about 1730 at the Delaware Water-Gap." The names given
by the writer do not include all the signers of the deed. One of the
unnamed grantors was _Claus,_ so called from _Klaas_ (Dutch), "A tall
ninny"; an impertinent, silly fellow; a ninny-jack. The name may have
accurately described the personality of the Indian.
Jogee Hill, in the town of Minisink, takes its name from and preserves
the place of residence of Keghekapowell, alias Jokhem (Dutch Jockem for
Joachim), one of the grantors of lands to Governor Dongan in 1684. The
first word of his Indian name, _Keghe,_ stands for _Keche,_ "Chief,
principal, greatest," and defined his rank as principal sachem. The
canton which he ruled was of considerable number. He remained in
occupation of the hill long after his associates had departed.
Wawayanda, 1702--_Wawayanda_ or _Wocrawin,_ 1702; _Wawayunda,_ 1722-23;
_Wiwanda, Wowando,_ Index Col. Hist. N. Y.--the first form, one of the
most familiar names in Orange County, is preserved as that of a town, a
stream of water, and of a large district of country known as the
Wawayanda Patent, in which latter connection it appears of record, first,
in 1702, in a petition of Dr. Samuel Staats, of Albany, and others, for
license to purchase "A tract of land called Wawayanda, in the county of
Ulster, containing by estimation about five thousand acres, more or less,
lying about thirty miles backward in the woods from Hudson's River." (Land
Papers, 56.) In February of the same year the parties filed a second
petition for license to "purchase five thousand acres adjoining thereto,
as the petitioners had learned that their first purchase, 'called
Wawayanda' was 'altogether a swamp and not worth anything.'" In November
of the same year, having made the additional purchase, the parties asked
for a patent for ten thousand acres "Lying at Wawayanda or Woerawin."
Meanwhile Dr. John Bridges and Company, of New York, purchased under
license and later received patent for "certain tracts and parcels of
vacant lands in the county of Orange, called Wawayanda, and some other
small tracts and parcels of lands," and succeeded in including in their
patent the lands which had previously been purchased by Dr. Staats.
Specifically the tract called Wawayanda or Woerawin was never located,
nor were the several "certain tracts of land called Wawayanda" purchased
by Dr. Bridges. The former learned in a short time, however, that his
purchase was not "altogether a swamp," although it may have included or
adjoined one, and the latter found that his purchase included a number of
pieces of very fine lands and a number of swamps, and especially the
district known as the Drowned Lands, covering some 50,000 acres, in which
were several elevations called islands, now mainly obliterated by drainage
and traversed by turnpikes and railroads. Several water-courses were
there also, notably the stream now known as the Wallkill, and that known
as the Wawayanda or Warwick Creek, a stream remarkable for its tortuous
course.
What and where was Wawayanda? The early settlers on the patent seem to
have been able to answer. Mr. Samuel Vantz, who then had been on the
patent for fifty-five years, gave testimony in 1785, that Wawayanda was
"Within a musket-shot of where DeKay lived." The reference was to the
homestead house of Col. Thomas DeKay, who was then dead since 1758. The
foundation of the house remains and its site is well known. In adjusting
the boundary line between New York and New Jersey it was cut off from
Orange County and is now in Vernon, New Jersey, where it is still known
as the "Wawayanda Homestead." Within a musket-shot of the site of the
ancient dwelling flows Wawayanda Creek, and with the exception of the
meadows through which it flows in a remarkably sinuous course, is the
only object in proximity to the place where DeKay lived, except the
meadow and the valley in which it flows. The locative of the name at that
point seems to be established with reasonable certainty as well as the
object to which it was applied--the creek.
The meaning of the name remains to be considered. Its first two syllables
are surely from the root _Wai_ or _Wae;_ iterative and frequentive
_Wawai,_ or _Waway,_ meaning "Winding around many times." It is a generic
combination met in several forms--_Wawau,_ Lenape; _Wohwayen,_ Moh.; [FN]
_Wawai,_ Shawano; _Wawy, Wawi, Wawei,_ etc., on the North-central-Hudson,
as in _Waweiqate-pek-ook,_ Greene County, and _Wawayachton-ock,_ Dutchess
County. Dr. Albert S. Gatschet, of the Bureau of Ethnology, wrote me:
"_Wawayanda_, as a name formed by syllabic reduplication, presupposes a
simple form, _Wayanda,_ 'Winding around.' The reduplication is _Wawai,_
or _Waway-anda,_ 'many' or 'several' windings, as a complex of river
bends." As the name stands it is a participial or verbal noun. _Waway,_
"Winding around many times";--_-anda,_ "action, motion" (radical _-an,_
"to move, to go"), and, inferentially, the place where the action of the
verb is performed, as in _Guttanda,_ "Taste it," the action of the throat
in tasting being referred to, and in _Popachándamen,_ "To beat; to
strike." As the verb termination of _Waway,_ "Round about many times,"
it is entirely proper. The uniformity of the orthography leaves little
room for presuming that any other word was used by the grantors, or that
any letters were lost or dropped by the scribe in recording. It stands
simply as the name of an object without telling what that object was, but
what was it that could have had action, motion--that had many
windings--except Wawayanda Creek?
* * * * *
[FN] "_Wohwayen_ (Moh.), where the brook 'winds about,' turning to the
west and then to the east." (Trumbull.) _Wowoaushin,_ "It winds about."
(Eliot.) _Woweeyouchwan._ "It flows circuitously, winds about." (Ib.)
Mr. Ralph Wisner, of Florida, Orange County, recently reproduced in the
Warwick Advertiser, an affidavit made by Adam Wisner, May 19th, 1785,
at a hearing in Chester, in the contention to determine the boundary line
of the Cheesec-ock Patent, in which he stated that he was 86 years old
on the 15th of April past; that he had lived on the Wawayanda Patent
since 1715; that he "learned the Indian language" when he was a young
man; that the Indians "had told him that Wawayanda signified 'the
egg-shape,' or shape of an egg." Adam Wisner was an interpreter of the
local Indian dialect; he is met as such in records. His interpretations,
as were those of other interpreters, were mainly based on signs, motions,
objects. _Waway,_ "Winding about many times," would describe the lines
of an egg, but it is doubtful if the suffix, _-anda,_ had the meaning of
"shape."
The familiar reading of Wawayanda, "Away-over-yonder," is a word-play,
like Irving's "Manhattan, Man-with-a-hat-on." Dr. Schoolcraft's
interpretation, "Our homes or places of dwelling," quoted in "History of
Orange County," is pronounced by competent authority to be "Dialectically
and grammatically untenable." It has poetic merit, but nothing more.
Schoolcraft borrowed it from Gallatin.
Woerawin, given by Dr. Staats as the name of his second purchase, is also
a verbal noun. By dialectic exchange of _l_ for _r_ and giving to the
Dutch _æ_ its English equivalent _ü_ as in bull, it is probably from
the root _Wul,_ "Good, fine, handsome," etc., with the verbal termination
_-wi_ (Chippeway _-win_), indicating "objective existence," hence
"place," a most appropriate description for many places in the Wawayanda
or Warwick Valley.
Monhagen, the name of a stream in the town of Wallkill, is, if Indian as
claimed, an equivalent of _Monheagan,_ from _Maingan,_ "A wolf," the
totem of the Mohegans of Connecticut. The name, however, has the sound of
Monagan--correctly, _Monaghan,_ the name of a county in Ireland, and quite
an extensive family name in Orange County.
Long-house, Wawayanda, and Pochuck are local names for what may be
regarded as one and the same stream. It rises in the Drowned Lands, in
New Jersey, where it is known as Long-house Creek; flows north until it
receives the outlet of Wickham's Pond, in Warwick, Orange County, and
from thence the united streams form the Wawayanda or Warwick Creek, which
flows southwesterly for some miles into New Jersey and falls into Pochuck
Creek, which approaches from the northwest, and from thence the flow is
northwest into Orange County again to a junction with the Wallkill,
which, rising in Pine Swamp, Sparta, N. J., flows north and forms the
main drainage channel of the Drowned Lands. In addition to its general
course Wawayanda Creek is especially sinuous in the New Milford and
Sandfordville districts of Warwick, the bends multiplying at short
distances, and also in the vicinity of the De Kay homestead in Vernon.
In Warwick the stream has been known as "Wandering River" for many years.
The patented lands are on this stream. Its name, Long-house Creek, was,
no doubt, from one of the peculiar dwellings constructed by the Indians
known as a Long House, [FN] which probably stood on or near the stream,
and was occupied by the clan who sold the lands. _Pochuck_ is from a
generic meaning "A recess or corner." It is met in several places. (See
Wawayanda and Pochuck.)
* * * * *
[FN] The Indian Long House was from fifty to six hundred and fifty feet
in length by twenty feet in width, the length depending upon the number
of persons or families to be accommodated, each family having its own
fire. They were formed by saplings set in the ground, the tops bent
together and the whole covered with bark. The Five Nations compared
their confederacy to a long house reaching, figuratively, from Hudson's
River to Lake Erie.
Gentge-kamike, "A field appropriated for holding dances," may reasonably
have been the Indian name of the plateau adjoining the rocky point, at
the head of Newburgh Bay, which, from very early times, has been known
as _The Dans Kamer_ (Dance Chamber), a designation which appears of
record first in a Journal by David Pietersen de Vries of a trip made by
him in his sloop from Fort Amsterdam to Fort Orange, in 1639, who wrote,
under date of April 15: "At night came by the Dans Kamer, where there
was a party of Indians, who were very riotous, seeking only mischief;
so we were on our guard." Obviously the place was then as well known as
a landmark as was Esopus (Kingston), and may safely be claimed as having
received its Dutch name from the earliest Dutch navigators, from whom it
has been handed down not only as "The Dans Kamer," but as "t' Duivel's
Dans Kamer," the latter presumably designative of the fearful orgies
which were held there familiarly known as "Devil worship." During the
Esopus War of 1663, Lieut. Couwenhoven, who was lying with his sloop
opposite the Dans Kamer, wrote, under date of August 14th, that "the
Indians thereabout on the river side" made "a great uproar every night,
firing guns and Kintecaying, so that the woods rang again." There can be
no doubt from the records that the plateau was an established place for
holding the many dances of the Indians. The word _Kinte_ is a form of
_Géntge_ (Zeisb.), meaning "dance." Its root is _Kanti,_ a verbal,
meaning "To sing." _Géntgeen,_ "To dance" (Zeisb.), _Gent' Keh'n_ (Heck.),
comes down in the local Dutch records _Kinticka, Kinte-Kaye, Kintecaw,
Kintekaying_ (dancing), and has found a resting place in the English word
_Canticoy,_ "A social dance." Dancing was eminently a feature among the
Indians. They had their war dances, their festival dances, their social
dances, etc. As a rule, their social dances were pleasant affairs. Rev.
Heckewelder wrote that he would prefer being present at a social Kintecoy
for a full hour, than a few minutes only at such dances as he had
witnessed in country taverns among white people. "Feast days," wrote
Van der Donck in 1656, "are concluded by old and middle aged men with
smoking; by the young with a Kintecaw, singing and dancing." Every Indian
captive doomed to death, asked and was granted the privilege of singing
and dancing his Kintekaye, or death song. War dances were riotous; the
scenes of actual battle were enacted. The religious dances and rites were
so wonderful that even the missionaries shrank from them, and the English
government forbade their being held within one hundred miles of European
settlements. The holding of a war dance was equivalent to opening a
recruiting station, men only attending and if participating in the dance
expressed thereby their readiness to enter upon the war. It was probably
one of these Kantecoys that Couwenhoven witnessed in 1663.
There were two dancing fields here--so specified in deed--the "Large Dans
Kamer" and the "Little Dans Kamer," the latter a limited plateau on the
point and the former the large plateau now occupied in part by the site
of the Armstrong House. The Little Dans Kamer is now practically
destroyed by the cut on the West-shore Railroad. 'Sufficient of the Large
Dans Kamer remains to evidence its natural adaptation for the purposes
to which the Indians assigned it. Paths lead to the place from all
directions. Negotiations for the exchange of prisoners held by the Esopus
Indians were conducted there, and there the Esopus Indians had direct
connection with the castle of the Wappingers on the east side of the
Hudson. There are few places on the Hudson more directly associated with
Indian customs and history than the Dans Kamer.
Arackook, Kachawaweek, and Oghgotacton are record but unlocated names of
places on the east side of the Wallkill, by some presumed to have been
in the vicinity of Walden, Orange County, from the description: "Beginning
at a fall called Arackook and running thence northwesterly on the east
side of Paltz Creek until it comes to Kachawaweek." The petitioner for
the tract was Robert Sanders, a noted interpreter, who renewed his
petition in 1702, calling the tract Oghgotacton, and presented a claim
to title from a chief called Corporwin, as the representative of his
brother Punguanis, "Who had been ten years gone to the Ottowawas." He
again gave the description, "Beginning at the fall called Arackook," but
there is no trace of the location of the patent in the vicinity of
Walden.
Hashdisch was quoted by the late John W. Hasbrouck, of Kingston, as the
name of what has long been known as "The High Falls of the Wallkill" at
Walden. Authority not stated, but presumably met by Mr. Hasbrouck in
local records. It may be from _Ashp, Hesp,_ etc., "High," and _-ish,_
derogative. The falls descend in cascades and rapids about eighty feet
at an angle of forty-five degrees. Though their primary appearance has
been marred by dams and mills, they are still impressive in freshet
seasons.
Twischsawkin is quoted as the name of the Wallkill at some place in New
Jersey. On Sauthier's map it stands where two small ponds are represented
and seems to have reference to the outlet. _Twisch_ may be an equivalent
of _Tisch,_ "Strong," and _Sawkin_ may be an equivalent of Heckewelder's
_Saucon,_ "Outlet," or mouth of a river, pond, etc. Wallkill, the name
of the stream as now written, is an Anglicism of Dutch _Waal,_ "Haven,
gulf, depth," etc., and _Kil,_ "Channel" or water-course. It is the name
of an arm of the Rhine in the Netherlands, and was transferred here by
the Huguenots who located in New Paltz. (See Wawayanda.)
Shawangunk, the name of a town, a stream of water, and a range of hills
in Ulster County, was that of a specific place from which it was
extended. It is of record in many orthographies, the first in 1684, of
a place called _Chauwanghungh,_ [FN-1] in deed from the Indians to
Governor Dongan, in the same year, _Chawangon,_ [FN-2] and _Chanwangung_
in 1686, [FN-3] later forms running to variants of _Shawangunk._ The
locative is made specific in a grant to Thomas Lloyd in 1687; [FN-4] in
a grant to Severeign Tenhout in 1702, [FN-5] and in a description in
1709, "Adjoining Shawangung, Nescotack and the Palze." [FN-6] In several
other patent descriptions the locative is further identified by "near to"
or "adjoining," and finally (1723) by "near the village of Showangunck,"
at which time the "village" consisted of the dwellings of Thomas Lloyd,
on the north side of Shawangunk Kill; Severeign Tenhout on the south
side; and Jacobus Bruyn, Benjamin Smedes, and others, with a mill, at and
around what was known later as the village of Tuthiltown. In 1744,
Jacobus Bruyn was the owner of the Lloyd tract. [FN-7] The distribution
of the name over the district as a general locative is distinctly
traceable from this center. It was never the name of the mountain, nor
of the stream, and it should be distinctly understood that it does not
appear in Kregier's Journal of the Second Esopus War, nor in any record
prior to 1684, and could not have been that of any place other than that
distinctly named in Governor Dongan's deed and in Lloyd's Patent.
Topographically, the tract was at and on the side of a hill running north
from the fiats on the stream to a point of which Nescotack was the
summit, the Lloyd grant lying in part on the hill-side and in part on the
low lands on the stream. The mountain is eight miles distant. Without
knowledge of the precise location of the name several interpretations of
it have been made, generally from _Shawan,_ "South"--South Mountain,
South Water, South Place. [FN-8] The latter is possible, _i. e._ a place
lying south of Nescotack, as in the sentence: "Schawangung, Nescotack,
and the Paltz." From the topography of the locative, however, Mr. William
R. Gerard suggests that the derivatives are _Scha_ (or _Shaw_), "Side,"
_-ong,_ "hill," and _-unk,_ locative, the combination reading, "At (or
on) the hill-side." [FN-9] This reading is literally sustained by the
locative.
The name is of especial interest from its association with the Dutch and
Indian War of 1663, although not mentioned in Kregier's narrative of the
destruction of the Indian palisaded village called "New Fort," and later
Shawongunk Fort. The narrative is very complete in colonial records.
[FN-10] The village or fort was not as large as that called Kahanksan,
which had previously been destroyed. It was composed of ten huts,
probably capable of accommodating two or three hundred people. The
palisade around them formed "a perfect square," on the brow of a tract
of table-land on the bank of Shawongunk Kill. Since first settlement the
location has been known as "New Fort." It is on the east side of the
stream about three miles west of the village of Wallkill. [FN-11] In the
treaty of 1664 the site and the fields around it were conceded, with
other lands, to the Dutch, by the Indians, as having been "conquered by
the sword," but were subsequently included (1684) in the purchase by
Governor Dongan. Later were included in the patent to Capt. John Evans,
and was later covered by one of the smaller patents into which the Evans
Patent was divided. When the Dutch troops left it it was a terrible
picture of desolation. The huts had been burned, the bodies of the
Indians who had been killed and thrown into the corn-pits had been
unearthed by wolves and their skeletons left to bleach on the plain, with
here and there the half eaten body of a child. For years it was a fable
told to children that the place was haunted by the ghosts of the slain,
and even now the timid feel a peculiar sensation, when visiting the site,
whenever a strange cry breaks on the ear, and the assurance that it is
real comes with gratefulness in the shouts of the harvesters in the
nearby fields. It is a place full of history, full of poetry, full of
the footprints of the aboriginal lords, "Further down the creek," says
the narrative, "several large wigwams stood, which we also burned, and
divers maize fields which we also destroyed." On the sites of some of
these wigwams fine specimens of Indian pottery and stone vessels and
implements have been found, as well as many arrow-points of flint.
* * * * *
[FN-1] "Land lying about six or seven miles beyond ye Town where ye
Walloons dwell, upon ye same creek; ye name of ye place is Chauwanghungh
and Nescotack, two small parcels of land lying together." (N. Y. Land
Papers, 29, 30.)
[FN-2] "Comprehending all those lands, meadows and woods called
Nescotack, Chawangon, Memorasink, Kakogh, Getawanuck and Ghittatawah."
(Deed to Gov. Dongan.)
[FN-3] "Beginning on the east side of the river (now Wallkill), and at
the south end of a small island in the river, at the mouth of the river
Chauwangung, in the County of Ulster, laid out for James Graham and John
Delaval." (N. Y. Land Papers, 38.)
[FN-4] "Description of a survey of 410 acres of land, called by the
Indian name Chauwangung, laid out for Thomas Lloyd." (N. Y. Land Papers,
44.)
[FN-5] N. Y. Land Papers, 60.
[FN-6] Ib. 169. Other early forms are Shawongunk (1685), Shawongonck
(1709), Shawongunge (1712).
[FN-7] From Jacobus Bruyn came the ancient hamlet still known as
Bruynswick. He erected a stone mansion on the tract, in the front wall
of which was cut on a marble tablet, "Jacobus Bruyn. 1724." The house
was destroyed by fire in 1870 (about), and a frame dwelling erected on
its old foundation. It is about half-way between Bruynswick and
Tuthilltown; owned later by John V. McKinstry. The location is certain
from the will of Jacobus Bruyn in 1744.
[FN-8] The most worthless interpretation is that in Spofford's Gazeteer
and copied by Mather in his Geological Survey: "_Shawen,_ in the Mohegan
language, means 'White,' also 'Salt.' and _Gunk,_ 'A large pile of
rocks,' hence 'White Rocks' or mountain." The trouble with it is that
there is no such word as _Shawen,_ meaning "White" in any Algonquian
dialect, and no such word as _Gunk,_ meaning "Rocks."
[FN-9] The monosyllable _Shaw_ or _Schaw,_ radical _Scha,_ means "Side,
edge, border, shore," etc. _Schauwunuppéque,_ "On the shore of the
lake." _Enda-tacht-schawûnge,_ "At the narrows where the hill comes
close to the river." (Heck.) _Schajawonge,_ "Hill-side" (Zeisb.), from
which _Schawong-unk,_ "On the hill-side," or at the side of the hill,
the precise bound of the name cannot be stated.
[FN-10] Doc. Hist. N. Y., iv, 71, 72, _et. seq._ Col. Hist. N. Y.,
xiii, 272, 326.
[FN-11] Authorities quoted and paper by Rev. Charles Scott, D. D., in
"Proceedings Ulster Co. Hist. Soc."
Memorasink, Kahogh, Gatawanuk, and Ghittatawagh, names handed down in the
Indian deed to Governor Dongan in 1684, have no other record, nor were
they ever specifically located. The lands conveyed to him extended from
the Shawangunk range to the Hudson, bounded on the north by the line of
the Paltz Patent, and south by a line drawn from about the Dans Kamer.
_Ghittatawagh_ is probably from _Kitchi,_ "Great, strong," etc., and
_Towatawik,_ "Wilderness"--the great wilderness, or uninhabited district.
_Gatawanuk_ seems to be from _Kitchi,_ "Strong," _-awan,_ impersonal verb
termination, and _-uk,_ locative, and to describe a place on a strong
current or flowing stream. The same name seems to appear in Kitchawan,
now Croton River. It may have located lands on the Wallkill.
Nescotack, a certain place so called in the Dongan deed of 1684, is
referred to in connection with Shawongunk. It was granted by patent to
Jacob Rutsen and described as "A tract of land by the Indians called
Nescotack and by the Christians Guilford." (N. Y. Land Papers, 29, 30.)
Guilford was known for many years as Guilford Church, immediately west
of Shawongunk. The actual location of the name, however, is claimed for
a hamlet now called Libertyville, further north, which was long known as
Nescotack. The district is an extended ridge which rises gradually from
the Shawongunk River-bottoms on the east and falls off on the west more
abruptly. The name, probably, describes this ridge as "High lands," an
equivalent of _Esquatak_ and _Eskwatack_ on the Upper Hudson; _Ashpotag,_
Mass., and Westchester Co. _Esp, Hesp, Ishp, Hesko, Nesco,_ etc., are
record orthographies. (See Schodac and Shawongunk.)
Wishauwemis, a place-name in Shawongunk, was translated by Rev. Dr.
Scott, "The place of beeches," from _Schauwemi,_ "Beech wood"; but seems
to be an equivalent of Moh. _Wesauwemisk,_ a species of oak with yellow
bark used for dyeing. _Wisaminschi,_ "Yellow-wood tree." (Zeisb.)
Wickquatennhonck, a place so called in patent to Jacobus Bruyn and Benj.
Smedes, 1709, is described as "Land lying near a small hill called, in
ye Indian tongue, Wickqutenhonck," in another paper Wickquatennhonck,
"Land lying near the end of the hill." The name means, "At the end of
the hill," from _Wequa,_ "End of"; _-ateune_ (_-achtenne,_ Zeisb.),
"hill," and _-unk,_ "at." The location was near the end of what is still
known as the Hoogte-berg (Hooge-berg, Dutch), a range of hills, where
the proprietors located dwellings which remained many years.
Wanaksink, a region of meadow and maize land in the Shawongunk district,
was translated by Dr. Scott from _Winachk,_ "Sassafras" (Zeisb.); but
_Wanachk_ may and probably does stand for _Wonachk,_ "The tip or
extremity of anything," and _-sing_ means "Near," or less than. A piece
of land that was near the end of a certain place or piece of land. It is
not the word that is met in Wynogkee.
Maschabeneer, Masseks, Maskack, Massekex, a certain tract or tracts of
land in the present town of Shawongunk, appear in a description of
survey, Dec. 10, 1701, of seven hundred and ten acres "at a place called
_Maschabeneer Shawengonck,_" laid out for Mathias Mott, accompanied by an
affidavit by Jacob Rutsen concerning the purchase of the same from the
Indians. At a previous date (Sept. 22) Mott asked for a patent for four
hundred acres "at a place called Shawungunk," which was "given him when
a child by the Indians." Whether the two tracts were the same or not does
not appear; but in 1702, June 10, Severeyn Tenhout remonstrated against
granting to Mott the land which he had petitioned for, and accompanied
his remonstrance by an extract from the minutes of the Court at Kingston,
in 1693, granting the land to himself. He asked for a patent and gave
the name of the tract "Called by the Indians _Masseecks,_ near
Shawengonck," _i. e._ near the certain tract called Shawongunk which had
been granted to Thomas Lloyd. He received a patent. In 1709, Mott
petitioned "in relation to a certain tract of land upon Showangonck
River" which had been granted to Tenhout, asking that the "same be so
divided" that he (Mott) should "have a proportion of the good land upon
the said river"--obviously a section of low land or meadow, described by
the name of a place thereon called _Maskeék_ (Zeisb.), meaning "Swamp,
bog"; _Maskeht_ (Eliot), "Grass." The radical is _ask,_ "green, raw,
immature." The suffix _-eghs_ represents an intensive form of the
guttural formative, which the German missionaries softened to _-ech_ and
_-ck,_ and the English to _-sh,_ and is frequently met in _X._ Heckewelder
wrote that the original sound was that of the Greek X, hence Maskex and
x in Coxsackie. _Maschabeneer,_ the name given by Mott, is not
satisfactorily translatable.
Pitkiskaker and Aioskawasting appear in deed from the Esopus Indians to
Governor Dongan, in 1684, as the names of divisions of what are now
known as the Shawongunk Mountains south of Mohunk or Paltz Point. The
deed description reads: "Extending from the Paltz," _i. e._ from the
southeast boundmark of the Paltz Patent on the Hudson, now known as Blue
Point (see Magaat-Ramis), south "along the river to the lands of the
Indians at Murderers' Kill, thence west to the foot of the high hills
called Pitkiskaker and Aioskawasting, thence southwesterly all along the
said hills and the river called Peakadasink to a water-pond lying upon
said hills called Meretange." [FN-1] Apparently the general boundaries
were the line of the Paltz Patent on the north, the Hudson on the east,
a line from "about the Dancing Chamber" on the Hudson to Sam's Point on
the Shawongunk range on the southwest, and on the west by that range and
the river Peakadasank. The Peakadasank is now known as Shawangunk Kill.
The pond "called Meretange," is claimed by some authorities, as that now
known as Binnen-water in the town of Mount Hope, Orange County. On
Sauthier's map it is located on the southern division of the range noted
as "Alaskayering Mts.," and represented as the head of Shawongunk Kill.
The same distinction is claimed for Meretange or Peakadasank Swamp in
the town of Greenville, Orange County. A third Maratanza Pond is located
a short distance west of Sam's Point. The name of the hill has been
changed from _Aioskawasting_ to _Awosting_ as the name of a lake and a
waterfall about four miles north of Sam's Point, and translated from
_Awoss_ (Lenape), "Beyond," "On the other side," and claimed to have been
originally applied to a crossing-place in the depression north of Sam's
Point, neither of which interpretations is tenable. The prefix, _Aioska,_
cannot be dropped and the name have a meaning, and the adjectival,
_Awoss,_ cannot be used as a substantive and followed by the locative
_-ing,_ "at, on," etc. _Awoss_ means "Beyond," surely, but must be
followed by a substantive telling what it is that is "beyond." The
particular features of the Shawongunk range covered by the boundary line
of the deed are "The Traps," a cleft which divides the range a short
distance south of Mohunk, and Sam's Point, [FN-2] about nine miles south
of Mohunk. The latter stands out very conspicuously, its general surface
covered by perpendicular rocks from one hundred to two hundred and fifty
feet high, the point itself crowned by a wall of rock which rises 2200
feet above the valley below.
* * * * *
[FN-1] Meretange, Maretange, or Maratanza, is from Old English _Mere,_
"A pond or pool," and _Tanze,_ "Sharp" or offensive to the taste. The
name was transferred to this pond from the pond first bearing it in the
town of Greenville, Orange County, in changing the northwest line of
the Evans Patent. (See Peakadasank.) The pond is about a mile in
circumference and is lined with cranberry bushes and other shrubbery,
but the water is clear and sweet. It lies about three-quarters of a
mile west of Sam's Point. Long Pond, lying about four miles north of
Maratanza, is now called Awosting Lake. It is about two miles long by
possibly one-quarter of a mile wide and lies in a clove or cleft of the
hills. Its outlet was called by the Dutch Verkerde Kil, now changed to
Awosting. About one mile further north lies "The Great Salt Pond," so
called in records of the town of Shawongunk. It is now called Lake
Minnewaska, a name introduced from the Chippeway dialect, said to mean
"Colored water," which has been changed to "Frozen water." The lake is
particularly described as being "Set into the hills like a bowl." It
has an altitude of 1,600 feet and a depth of seventy to ninety feet of
water of crystal clearness through which the pebbly bottom can be seen.
The fourth pond is that known as Lake Mohonk.
[FN-2] Sam's Point is in the town of Wawarsing, about seven miles south
of the village of Ellenville and about nine miles south of Mohunk or
Paltz Point. It is the highest point on the Shawongunk range in New York
State. Its name is from Samuel Gonsaulus, who owned the tract.
Gertruyd's Nose, the name of another point, was so called from the
fancied resemblance of its shadow to the nose of Mrs. Gertrude, wife of
Jacobus Bruyn, who owned the tract. The pass, cleft or clove known as
"The Traps," was so called from the supposed character of the rock which
it divides. The rock, however, is not Trappean. The pass is 650 feet
wide and runs through the entire range. Its sides present the appearance
of the hill having slipped apart.
Peakadasank, so written in Indian deed to Governor Dongan in
1684--_Pachanasinck_ in patent to Jacob Bruyn, 1719; _Peckanasinck,
Pachanassinck,_ etc.--is given as the name of a stream bounding a tract
of land, the Dongan deed description reading: "Thence southwesterly all
along said hills and the river Peakadasank to a water-pond lying on said
hills called Meretange." The name is preserved in two streams known as
the Big and the Little Pachanasink, in Orange County, and in Ulster
County as the "Pachanasink District," covering the south part of the town
of Shawongunk. The Big Pachanasink is now known as Shawongunk Kill. In
1719, Nov. 26, a certain tract of land "called Pachanasink" was granted
to Jacobus Bruyn and described in survey as "on the north side of
Shawongunck Creek, beginning where the Verkerde Kill [FN] flows into
said river," indicating locative of the name at the Verkerde Branch. In
a brief submitted in the boundary contention, it is said that the line
of the Dongan purchase ran "along the foot of the hills from a place
called Pachanasink, where the Indians who sold the land had a large
village and place," and from thence "to the head of the said river, and
no where else the said river is called by that name." The evidence is
cumulative that the name was that of the dominant feature of the district,
from which it was transferred to the stream. It is a district strewn
with masses of conglomerate rocks thrown off from the hills and
precipitous cliffs. The two forms of the name, Peakadasank (1684) and
Pachanassink (1717), were no doubt employed as equivalents. They differ
in meaning, however. Wm. R. Gerard writes: "_Peakadasank,_ or
_Pakadassin,_ means, 'It is laid out through the effects of a blow,' or
some other action. The participial form is _Pakadasing,_ meaning, 'Where
it is laid out,' or 'Where it lies fallen.' The reference in this case
would seem to be to the stone which had fallen off or been thrown down
from the hills." _Pachanasink_ means, "At the split rocks"; _Pachassin,_
"Split stone." In either form the name is from the split rocks.
* * * * *
[FN] The Verkerde Kill falls over a precipice of about seventy feet.
The exposed surface of the precipice is marked by strata in the
conglomerate as primarily laid down. The entire district is a region
of split rocks. Verkerde Kill takes that name from Dutch _Verkeerd,_
meaning "Wrong, bad, angry, turbulent," etc. It is the outlet of
Meretange Pond near Sam's Point. It flows from the pond to the falls
and from the falls at nearly a right angle over a series of cascades
aggregating in all a fall of two hundred and forty feet. The falls are
in the town of Gardiner, Ulster County. (See Aioskawasting.)
The lands granted to Bruyn included the tract "Known by the Indian
name of Pacanasink," now in the town of Shawongunk, and also a tract
"Known by the Indian name of Shensechonck," now in the town of Crawford,
Orange County. The latter seems to have been a parcel of level upland.
It was about one mile to the southward of the stream.
Alaskayering, entered on Sauthier's map of 1774, as the name of the south
part of the Shawongunk range, was conferred by the English, possibly as
a substitute for Aioskawasting. The first word is heard in _Alaska,_
which is said, on competent authority, to mean, "The high bald rocks";
with locative _-ing,_ "At (or on) the high bald rocks." This
interpretation is a literal description of the hill, and Aioskawasting
may have the same meaning, although those who wrote the former may not
have had a thought about the latter. [FN] (See Pitkiskaker.)
* * * * *
[FN] High Point, the highest elevation in the southern division of the
range, is in New Jersey. It is said to be higher than Sam's Point, and
to bear the same general description.
Achsinink, quoted by the late Rev. Charles Soott, D. D., from local
records probably, as the name of Shawongunk Kill, is an apheresis
apparently of _Pach-achsün-ink,_ "At (or on) a place of split stones."
Many of the split rocks thrown off from the mountain lie in the bed of
the stream, in places utilized for crossing. "There are rocks in it, so
that it is easy to get across." (Col. Hist. N. Y., viii, 272.) _Achsün,_
as a substantive, cannot be used as an independent word with a locative.
An adjectival prefix is necessary. (See Pakadasink.)
Palmagat, the name of the bend in the mountain north of Sam's Point,
regarded by some as Indian, is a Dutch term descriptive of the growth
there of palm or holly (_Ilex opaca_), possibly of shrub oaks the leaf
of which resembles the holly. _Gat_ is Dutch for opening, gap, etc.
Moggonck, Maggonck, Moggonick, Moggoneck, Mohonk, etc., are forms of the
name given as that of the "high hill" which forms the southwest boundmark
of the Paltz Patent, so known, now generally called locally, Paltz Point,
and widely known as Mohunk. The hill is a point of rock formation on the
Shawongunk range. It rises about 1,000 feet above the plain below and
is crowned by an apex which rises as a battlement about 400 feet above
the brow of the hill, now called Sky Top. _Moggonck_ and _Maggonck_ are
interchangeable orthographies. The former appears in the Indian deed from
_Matseyay,_ and other owners, to Louis Du Bois, and others, May 26, 1677,
and is carried forward in the patent issued to them in September of the
same year. _Moggoneck_ appears in Mr. Berthold Fernow's translation of
the Indian deed in Colonial History of N. Y., xiii, 506. _Moggonick_ was
written by Surveyor Aug. Graham on his map of survey in 1709, and
_Mohunk_ is a modern pronunciation. The boundary description of the
tract, as translated by the late Dr. E. B. O'Callaghan, from the Dutch
deed (N. Y. Land Papers, 15), reads: "Beginning at the high hill called
Moggonck, then southeast to Juffrouw's Hook in the Long Reach, on the
Great River (called in Indian Magaat Ramis), thence north to the island
called Raphoos, lying in the Kromme Elbow at the commencement of the
Long Reach, thence west to the high hill to a place [called] Warachaes
and Tawarataque, along the high hill to Moggonck." The translation in
Colonial History is substantially the same except in the forms of the
names. "Beginning from the high hill, at a place called Moggonck," is a
translation of the deed by Rev. Ame Vaneme, in "History of New Paltz."
It seems to be based on a recognition of the locative of the name as
established by Surveyor Graham in 1709, rather than on the original
manuscript. In the patent the reading is: "Beginning at the high mountain
called Moggonck," and the southwest line is described as extending from
Tawarataque "To Moggonck, formerly so called," indicating that the
patentees had not located the name as they would like to have it located;
certainly, that they had discovered that a line drawn from the apex of
the hill on a southeast course to Juffrouw's Hook, would divide a certain
fine piece of land, which they called the Groot Stuk (great piece), lying
between the hill and the Wallkill and fertilized by that stream, which
they wished to have included in the grant as a whole. So it came about
that they hurried to Governor Andros and secured an amended wording in
the patent of the deed description, and Surveyor-General Graham, when he
came upon the scene in 1709, to run the patent lines, found the locatives
"fixed," and wrote in his description, "Beginning at a certain point on
the hill called Moggonick, . . . thence south, thirty-six degrees
easterly, to a certain small creek called Moggonck, at the south end of
the great piece of land, and from thence south, fifty-five degrees
easterly, to the south side of Uffroe's Hook." Thereafter "The south end
of the great piece," and the "certain small creek," became the "First
station," as it was called. Graham marked the place by a stone which was
found standing by Cadwallader Colden in a survey by him in 1729, and
noted as at "The west end of a small gully which falls into Paltz River,
. . . from the said stone down the said gully two chains and forty-six
links to the Paltz River." The "west end" of the gully was the east end
of the "Certain small creek" noted in Graham's survey. The precise point
is over three miles from the hill. In the course of the years by the
action of frost or flood, the stone was carried away. In 1892, from
actual survey by Abram LeFever, Surveyor, assisted by Capt. W. H. D.
Blake, to whom I am indebted for the facts stated, it was replaced by
another bearing the original inscription. By deepening the gully the
swamp of which the stream is the drainage channel, has been mainly
reclaimed, but the stream and the gully remain, as does also the Groot
Stuk. This record narrative is more fully explained by the following
certificate which is on file in the office of the Clerk of Ulster County:
"These are to certify, that the inhabitants of the town of New Paltz,
being desirous that the first station of their patent, named Moggonck,
might be kept in remembrance, did desire us, Joseph Horsbrouck, John
Hardenburgh, and Roeloff Elting, Esqs., Justices of the Peace, to
accompany them, and there being Ancrop, the Indian, then brought us to
the High Mountain, which he named Maggeanapogh, at or near the foot of
which hill is a small run of water and a swamp, which he called
Maggonck, and the said Ancrop affirmed it to be the right Indian names
of the said places, as witness our hands the nineteenth day of December,
1722."
Ancrop, or Ankerop as otherwise written, was a sachem of the Esopus
Indians in 1677, and was still serving in that office in 1722. He was
obviously an old man at the latter date. He had, however, no jurisdiction
over or part in the sale of the lands to the New Paltz Company in 1677.
His testimony, given forty-five years after the sale by the Indians, was
simply confirmatory in general terms of a location which had been made
in 1677, and the interpretation of what he said was obviously given by
the Justices in terms to correspond with what his employers wished him
to say. In the days of the locations of boundmarks of patents, his
testimony would have been regarded with suspicion. Locations of
boundmarks were then frequently changed by patentees who desired to
increase their holdings, by "Taking some Indians in a public manner to
show such places as they might name to them," wrote Sir William Johnson,
for many years Superintendent of Indian Affairs, adding that it was
"Well known" that an Indian "Would shew any place by any name you please
to give him, for a small blanket or a bottle of rum." Presumably Ankerop
received either "A small blanket or a bottle of rum" for his services,
but it is not to be inferred that the location of the boundmarks in 1677
was tainted by the "sharp practice" which prevailed later. It is
reasonable to presume, however, that the name would never have been
removed from the foot of the hill had not the Groot Stuk been situated
as it was with reference to a southeast line drawn from its apex to
Juffrouw's Hook.
Algonquian students who have been consulted, regard the name as it stands
as without meaning; that some part of the original was lost by mishearing
or dropped in pronunciation; that in the dialect which is supposed to
have been spoken here the suffix _-onck_ is classed as a locative and
the adjectival _Mogg_ is not complete. Several restorations of presumed
lost letters have been suggested to give the name a meaning, none of
which, however, are satisfactory. Apparently the most satisfactory
reading is from _Magonck_, or _Magunk_ (Mohegan), "A great tree,"
explained by Dr. Trumbull: "From _Mogki,_ 'Great,' and _-unk,_ 'A tree
while standing.'" It is met as the name of a boundmark on the Connecticut,
and on the east side of the Hudson, within forty miles of the locative
here, _Moghongh-kamigh_, "Place of a great tree," is met as the name of
a boundmark. _Mogkunk_ is also in the Natick dialect, and there is no
good reason for saying that it was not in the local dialect here. There
may have been a certain great tree at the foot of the hill, from which
the name was extended to the hill, and there may have been one on the
Wallkill, which Ankerop said "Was the right Indian name of the place."
It will be remembered that the deed boundmark was "The foot of the hill."
It is safe to say that the name never could have described "A small run
of water and a swamp," nor did it mean "Sky-Top." The former features
were introduced by the Justices to identify the place where the
boundary-stone was located and have no other value; the latter is a
fanciful creation, "Not consistent with fact or reason," but very good
as an advertisement.
Maggeanapogh, the name which Ankerop gave as that of the hill called
Moggonck, bears every evidence of correctness. It is reasonably pure
Lenape or Delaware, to which stock Ankerop probably belonged. The first
word, _Maggean,_ is an orthography of _Machen_ (_Meechin,_ Zeisb.;
_Mashkan,_ Chippeway), meaning "Great," big, large, strong, hard,
occupying chief position, etc., and the second, _-apogh,_ written in
other local names _-apugh, -apick,_ etc., is from _-ápughk_ (_-ápuchk,_
Zeisb.), meaning "Rock," the combination reading, literally, "A great
rock." In the related Chippeway dialect the formative word for rock is
_-bik,_ and the radical is _-ic_ or _-ick,_ of which Dr. Schoolcraft
wrote, "Rock, or solid formation of rock." No particular part of the
hill was referred to, the text reading, "There being Ankerop, the Indian,
then brought us to the High Mountain which he named Maggeanapogh." The
time has passed when the name could have been made permanent. For all
coming time the hill will bear the familiar name of Mohonk, the Moggonck
of 1677, the Paltz Point and the High Point of local history, from the
foot of which the place of beginning of the boundary line was never
removed, although the course from it was changed.
Magaat-Ramis, the record name of the southeast boundmark of the Paltz
Patent, is located in the boundary description at "Juffrou's Hook, in
the Long Reach, on the Great River (called in Indian Magaat-Ramis)."
(Cal. N. Y. Land Papers, 15.) Juffrouw's Hook is now known as Blue Point.
It is about two miles north of Milton-on-the-Hudson, and takes its
modern name from the color of the rock which projects from a blue-stone
promontory and runs for some distance under the water of the river,
deflecting the current to the northwest. The primal appearance of the
promontory has been changed by the cut for the West Shore Railroad, but
the submerged point remains. The Dutch name, _Juffrouw's Hook,_ was
obviously employed by the purchasers to locate the boundmark by terms
which were then generally understood. Juffrouw, the first word, means
"Maiden," one of the meanings of which is "Haai-rog"; "_rog_" means
"skate," or Angel-fish, of special application to a species of shark,
but in English shad, or any fish of the herring family, especially the
female. Hook means "Corner, cape, angle, incurved as a hook"; hence
"Maiden Hook," an angle or corner noted as a resort for shad, alewives,
etc.: by metonymie, "A noted or well-known fishing-place." The first
word of the Indian name, _Magaat,_ stands for _Maghaak_ (Moh.), _Machak_
(Zeisb., the hard surd mutes _k_ and _t_ exchanged), meaning "Great,"
large, extended, occupying chief position. The second word, _Ramis_ is
obscure. It has the appearance of a mishearing of the native word. What
that word was, however, may be inferred from the description, "Juffrou's
Hook, in the Long Reach, on the Great River (called in Indian
Magaat-Ramis)," or as written in the patent, "To a certain Point or
Hooke called the Jeuffrou's Hooke, lying in the Long Reach, named by the
Indians Magaat-Ramis." That the name was that of the river at that
place--the Long Reach--is made clear by the sentence which follows:
"Thence north along the river to the island called Rappoos, at the
commencement of the Long Reach," in which connection _Ramis_ would stand
for _Kamis_ or _Gamis,_ from _Gami,_ an Algonquian noun-generic meaning
"Water," frequently met in varying forms in Abnaki and Chippeway--less
frequently in the Delaware. In Cree the orthography is _Kume._ The final
_s_ is the equivalent of _k,_ locative, as in Abnaki _Gami-k,_ a
particular place of water. "On the Great Water," is probably the meaning
of Ramis. In Chippeway _Keeche-gummee,_ "The greatest water," was the
name of Lake Superior. As the name of the "Great Water," _Magaat-Ramis_
is worthy of preservation.
Rappoos, which formed the northeast boundmark of the Paltz Patent, is
specifically located in the Indian deed "Thence north [from Juffrou's
Hook] along the river to the island called Rappoos, lying in the Kromme
Elbow, at the commencement of the Long Reach." The island is now known
as Little Esopus Island, taking that name from Little Esopus Creek, which
flows to the Hudson at that point. It lies near the main land on the east
side of the river, and divides the current in two channels, the most
narrow of which is on the east. Kromme Elleboog (Crooked elbow), is the
abrupt bend in the river at the island, and the Long Reach extends from
the island south to Pollepel's Island. The name is of record Rappoos,
Raphoes, Raphos and Whaphoos, an equivalent, apparently, of _Wabose_ and
_Warpose,_ the latter met on Manhattan Island. It is not the name of the
island, but of the small channel on the east side of it from which it
was extended to the island. It means, "The narrows," in a general sense,
and specifically, "The small passage," or strait. The root is _Wab,_ or
_Wap,_ meaning, "A light or open place between two shores." (Brinton.)
Tawarataque, now written and pronounced _Tower-a-tauch,_ the name of the
northwestern boundmark of the Paltz Patent, is described in the Indian
deed already quoted: "Thence [from Rappoos] west to the high hills _to a
place_ called _Warachoes_ and _Tawarataque,_" which may refer to one and
the same place, or two different places. Surveyor Graham held that two
different places were referred to and marked the first on the east side
of the Wallkill at a place not now known, from whence by a sharp angle he
located the second "On the point of a small ridge of hills," where he
marked a flat rock, which, by the way, is not referred to in the name.
The precise place was at the south end of a clove between the hills,
access to which is by a small opening in the hills at a place now known
as Mud Hook. Probably _Warachoes_ referred to this opening. By dialectic
exchange of _l_ and _r_ the word is _Walachoes--Walak,_ "Hole," "A hollow
or excavation"; _-oes,_ "Small," as a small or limited hollow or open
place. "Through this opening," referring to the opening in the side of
the hill at Mud Hook, "A road now runs leading to the clove between the
ridges of the mountain," wrote Mr. Ralph LeFever, editor of the "New
Paltz Independent," from personal knowledge. _Tawarataque_ was the name
of this clove. It embodies the root _Walak_ prefixed by the radical _Tau_
or _Taw,_ meaning "Open," as an open space, a hollow, a clove, an open
field, etc., suffixed by the verb termination _-aque,_ meaning "Place,"
or _-áke_ as Zeisberger wrote in _Wochitáke,_ "Upon the house." The
reading in _Tawarataque_ is, "Where there is an open space"; _i. e.,_ the
clove. [FN] The late Hon. Edward Elting, of New Paltz, wrote me: "The
flat rock which Surveyor Graham marked as the bound, lies on the east
side of the depression of the Shawongunk Mountain Range leading
northwesterly from Mohunk, at the south end of the clove known as Mud
Hook, near the boundary line between New Paltz and Rosendale, say about
half a mile west of the Wallkill Valley R. R. station at Rosendale. I
think, but am not certain, that the rock can be seen as you pass on the
railroad. It is of the character known as Esopus Millstone, a white or
gray conglomerate. I cannot say that it bears the Surveyor's
inscription."
It is not often that four boundmarks are met that stand out with the
distinctness of those of the Paltz Patent, or that are clothed with
deeper interest as geological features, or that preserve more distinctly
the geographical landmarks of the aboriginal people.
* * * * *
[FN] The adjectival formative _-alagat,_ or _-aragat,_ enters into the
composition of several words denoting "Hole," or "Open space," as
_Taw-álachg-at,_ "Open space," _Sag-álachg-at,_ "So deep the hole." The
verb substantive suffix _-aque,_ or _-ake_ (_qu_ the sound of _k_),
meaning "Place," is entirely proper as a substitute for the verbal
termination _-at._
[Illustration: HUDSON'S RIVER FROM BUTTER HILL TO MAGDALEN ISLAND.
(From Map of 1666)]
Ossangwak is written on Pownal's map as the name of what is known as the
Great Binnenwater (Dutch, "Inland water") in the town of Lloyd. The
orthography disguises the original, which may have been a pronunciation
of _Achsün_ (Minsi), "Stone," as in _Otstónwakin_, read by Reichel, "A
high rock," or rocky hill. Perhaps the name referred to the rocky bluff
which bounds the Hudson there, immediately west of which the lake is
situated.
Esopus--so written on Carte Figurative of 1614-16, and also by De Laet
in 1624-5; _Sopus,_ contemporaneously; _Sypous,_ Rev. Megapolensis, 1657,
is from _Sepuus_ (Natick), "A brook"; in Delaware, _Sipoes_ (Zeisberger).
It is from _Sepu_, "River," and _-es,_ "small." On the Carte Figurative
it is written on the east side of the river near a stream north of
Wappingers' Creek, as it may have been legitimately, but in 1623 it came
to be located permanently at what is now Rondout Creek, from which it
was extended to several streams, [FN] to the Dutch settlement now
Kingston, to the resident Indians, and to a large district of country.
The chirographer of 1614-16 seems to have added the initial E from the
uncertain sound of the initial S, and later scribes further corrupted
it to the Greek and Latin Æ. (See Waronawanka.)
* * * * *
[FN] The streams entering the Hudson in proximity came to be known as
the Kleine Esopus, south of Rondout; the Groot Esopus, now the Rondout,
and the Esopus, now the Saugerties. In the valley west of old Kingston
was a brook, called in records the "Mill Stream."
Waronawanka, Carte Figurative 1614-16--_Warrawannan-koncks,_ Wassenaer,
1621-5; _Warranawankongs,_ De Laet, 1621-5, and _Waranawankcougys,_ 1633;
_Waranawankongs,_ Van der Donck, 1656; _Waerinnewongh,_ local, 1677--is
located on the Carte Figurative on the west side of the Hudson a few
miles north of latitude 42. On Van der Donck's map it is placed on the
west side between Pollepel's Island and the Dans Kamer. De Laet wrote
in his "New World" (Leyden edition): "This reach [Vischer's, covering
Newburgh Bay] extends to another narrow pass, where, on the west side
of the river, there is a point of land juts out covered with sand,
opposite a bend in the river on which another nation of savages called
the _Waoranecks,_ have their abode at a place called Esopus. A little
beyond, on the west side of the river, where there is a creek, and the
river becomes more shallow, the _Waranawankongs_ reside. Here are several
small islands." In his French and Latin edition, 1633-40, the reading
is: "A little beyond where projects a sandy point and the river becomes
narrower, there is a place called Esopus, where the _Waoranekys_ have
their abode. To them succeed, after a short interval, the
_Waranawancougys_, on the opposite side of the river." Read together
there would seem to be no doubt that the _Waoranecks_ were seated on or
around the cove or bay at Low Point and the estuary of Wappingers' Creek,
and that the _Waranatwankongs_ were seated at and around the cove or bay
at Kingston Point, "Where a creek comes in and the river becomes more
shallow."
Of the meaning of the name Dr. A. S. Gatschet, of the Bureau of
Ethnology, wrote me: "If the _Warana-wan-ka_ lived on a bay or cove of
Hudson's River, their name is certainly from _Walina,_ which means
'hollowing, concave site,' and 'cove, bay,' in several eastern languages.
A good parallel are the _Wawenocks_ of S. W. Maine, now living at St.
Francis, who call themselves _Walinaki,_ or those living on a cove--'cove
dwellers'--in referring to their old home on the Atlantic coast near
Portland. In the Micmac (N. S.) dialect _Walini_ is 'bay, cove,' and
even the large Bay of Fundy is called so. The meaning of _k_ or _ka_ is
not clear, but _ong,_ in the later forms, is the locative 'at, on, upon.'"
It is safe to say that at either the Dans Kamer, Low Point, or Kingston
Point, the clan would have been seated on a bay, cove, recess or
indentation shaped like a bay, and it is also safe to say that _Warona_
and _Walina_ may be read as equivalents, the former in the local dialect,
and the latter in the Eastern, and that its general meaning is "Concave,
hollowing site." Zeisberger wrote _l_ instead of _r_ in the Minsi-Lenape,
hence _Woalac,_ "A hollow or excavation"; _Walóh,_ "A cove"; _Walpecat,_
"Very deep water." The dialectic _r_ prevails pretty generally on the
Hudson and on the Upper Delaware. On the latter, near Port Jervis, is
met of record _Warin-sags-kameck,_ which is surely the equivalent of
_Walina-ask-kameck,_ "A hollowing or concave site, a meadow or field."
It was written by Arent Schuyler, the noted interpreter, as the name of
a field which he described as "A meadow or vly." _Vly_ is a contraction
of Dutch _Vallei,_ meaning "A hollow or depression in which water stands
in the rainy season and is dry at other times," hence "hollowing." _Ask_
(generic), meaning "Green, raw," is the radical of words meaning
"meadow," "marsh," etc., and _-kameck_ stands for an enclosed field, or
place having definite boundaries as a hollow. _Awan_ (_-awan, -wan,
-uan,_ etc.), as Dr. Gatschet probably read the orthography, is an
impersonal verb termination met on the Hudson in Matteawan, Kitchiwan,
etc. Mr. Gerard writes that it was sometimes followed by the participial
and subjunctive _k._ It may have been so written here, but it seems to
be a form of the guttural aspirate _gh,_ for which it is exchanged in
many cases, here and in Kitchiwangh. In Connecticut on the Sound
apparently the same name is met in _Waranawankek,_ indicating that
whoever wrote it on the Figurative of 1614-16 was familiar with the
dialect of the coast Indians. As it stands the name is one of the oldest
and most sonorous in the valley of Hudson's River.
Ponkhockie is the familiar form of the name of the point, cove or
landing-place on the south side of Kingston Point. It is from Dutch
_Punthoekje,_ meaning, "Point of a small hook, or angle." The local
interpretation, "Canoe harbor," is not in the name, except inferentially
from the fact that the cove was a favorite landing place for canoes.
[FN-1] After the erection of a stockaded redoubt there, the Dutch called
the place Rondhout, meaning. "Standing timber," and the English followed
with Redoubt, and extended the name to the creek, as of record in 1670.
The present form is substantially a restoration of the early Dutch
Rondhout. The stockade was erected by Director Stuyvesant, at the
suggestion of the Amsterdam Chamber of the West India Company, about
1660. There were Dutch traders here certainly as early as 1622, and
presumably as early as 1614, but no permanent settlement appears of
record prior to 1652-3, nor is there evidence that there was a Rondhout
here prior to 1657-8. Compare Stuyvesant's letter of September, 1657, and
Kregier's Journal of the "Second Esopus War" (Col. Hist N. Y., xiii, 73,
314, also page 189), showing that the Rondhout was not completed until
the fall and winter of 1660. De Vries wrote in 1639-40, referring to
Kingston Point probably: "Some Indians live here and have some corn-lands,
but the lands are poor and stony." When Stuyvesant visited the place, in
1658, he anchored his barge "opposite to the two little houses of the
savages standing near the bank of the kil." (Col. Hist. N. Y., xiii, 82.)
In the vicinity the war of 1658 had its initiative in an unwise attack by
some settlers on a party of Indians who had been made crazy drunk on
brandy furnished them by Captain Thomas Chambers. Two houses were burned
belonging to settlers, and hostilities continued for eight or nine days.
"At the tennis-court near the Strand," a company of eleven Dutch soldiers
"allowed themselves to be taken prisoners," by the Indians, in 1659. It
does not seem probable that the Dutch had a Tennis Court here at that
early date, but the record so reads. [FN-2] The hook or cove, was the
most desirable place for landing on the south side of the Point. It has
since been the commercial centre of the town and city. Punthoekje is
certainly not without interesting history.
* * * * *
[FN-1] In early times there were two principal landing places: One at
Punthoekje and one north of the present steamboat landing, or Columbus
Point as it is called. The Point is a low formation on the Hudson and
was primarily divided from the main land by a marsh. It was literally
"a concave, hollowing site." The marsh was later crossed by a corduroyed
turnpike connecting with the old Strand Road, now Union Avenue. A ferry
was established here in 1752 and is still operated under its original
charter. The Point is now traversed by rail and trolley roads.
[FN-2] Perhaps an Indian Football Court, resembling a Tennis Court. A
writer in 1609 says of the Virginia natives: "They use, beside, football
play, which women and boys do much play at. They have their goals as
ours, only they never fight and pull each other down." There was a
famous Tennis Court (Dutch _Kaatsbaan_) in the town of Saugerties, which
seems to have been there long before the Dutch settlement. The Tennis
Court referred to in the text is said to have been near the site of the
present City Hall in Kingston, but would that place be strictly "near
the Strand"? "Strand" means "shore, beach." It was probably on the
beach.
Atkarkarton, claimed by some local authorities as the Indian name of
Kingston, comes down to us from Rev. Megapolensis, who wrote, in 1657:
"About eighteen miles [Dutch] up the North River lies a place called by
the Dutch Esopus or Sypous, by the Indians Atkarkarton. It is an
exceedingly beautiful land." (Doc, Hist. N. Y., iii, 103.) The Reverend
writer obviously quoted the name as of general application, although it
would seem to have been that of a particular place. As stated in another
connection, Esopus, Sypous, and Sopus were at first (1623) applied to a
trading-post on the Hudson, from which it was extended inland as a
general name and later became specific as that of the first palisaded
Dutch village named Wildwijk, which was founded a year after Megapolensis
wrote. At the date of his writing the territory called Sopus included the
river front, the plateau on which Kingston stands, and the flats on the
Esopus immediately west, particularly the flat known as the Groot Plat,
and later (1662) as the Nieuw Dorp or New Village, [FN-1] as distinguished
from Sopus or Wildwijk, or the Old Village, the specific site of which
could not have been referred to. Of the site of the Old Village, Director
Stuyvesant wrote in 1658: "The spot marked out for the settlement has a
circumference of about two hundred and ten rods [FN-2] and is well
adapted for defensive purposes. When necessity requires it, it can be
surrounded by water on three sides, and it may be enlarged according to
the convenience and requirements of the present and of future
inhabitants." The palisaded enclosure was enlarged by Stuyvesant, in
1661, to over three times its original size. The precise spot was on the
northwest corner of the plateau. It was separated from the low lands of
the Esopus Valley by a ridge of moderate height extending on the north,
east, and west, and had on the south "a swampish morass" which was
required to be drained, in 1669, for the health of the town "and the
improvement of so much ground." The Groot Plat in the Esopus Valley was
a garden spot ready for the plough and was regarded as of size sufficient
for "fifty bouweries" (farms). From the description quoted, and present
conditions, it may be said with certainty that the site of the Old
Village of Wildwijk was a knoll in an area of prairie and marsh. Neither
of the village sites seem to have been occupied by the Indians except by
temporary huts and corn-lands. The Wildwijk site was given to Director
Stuyvesant by the Indians, in 1658, "to grease his feet with" after his
"long journey" from Manhattan. Of the Groot Plat one-half was given by
the Indians to Jacob Jansen Stoll in compensation for damages. A
commission appointed at that time to examine the tract, and to ascertain
what part of it the Indians wished to retain, reported that the Indians
had "some plantations" there, "but of little value"; that it was "only
a question of one or two pieces of cloth, then they would remove and
surrender the whole piece." (Col. Hist. N. Y., xiii, 86, 89.) Instead of
paying the Indians for the lands, however, the settlers commenced
occupation, with the result that the Indians burned the New Village,
June 7, 1663, attacked the Old Village, killed eighteen persons and
carried away thirty captives, women and children. The war of 1663
followed, the results of which are accessible in several publications,
but especially in Colonial History of New York, Vol. xiii. It is
sufficient to say here that the Indians lost the lands in controversy
and a much larger territory. Interpretation of the name can only be made
conjecturally. William R. Gerard wrote me: "I think _Atkarkarton_ simply
disguises _Atuk-ak-aten,_ meaning 'Deerhill,' from _Atuk,_ 'Deer'; _ak,_
plural, and _aten,_ 'hill.' The _r's_ in the name do not mean anything;
they simply indicate that the _a's_ which precede them were nasal." The
Delaware word for "deer" is _Achtuch._ Dr. Schoolcraft wrote the
tradition that the first deers were the hunters of men.
* * * * *
[FN-1] The land or place on the Esopus flat on which the New Village
was founded, is now known as Old Hurley Village. It is repeatedly and
specifically designated as "The Groot Plat"--"The large tract of land
called the New Village"--"The burnt village called the Groot Plat."
(Col. Hist. N. Y., xiii, 275, _et. seq._) Hurley was given to it by
Governor Lovelace in 1669, from his family, who were Barons Hurley of
Ireland.
[FN-2] A Dutch rod is twelve feet, which would give this circumference
at less than an English half mile. Schoonmaker writes in "History of
Kingston": "The average length of the stockade was about thirteen
hundred feet, and the width about twelve hundred feet." Substantially,
it enclosed a square of about one-quarter of a mile.
Wildwijk, Dutch--_Wiltwyck,_ modern--the name given by Governor
Stuyvesant, in 1650, to the palisaded village which later became Kingston,
and then and later called Sopus, is a composition of Dutch _Wild,_ meaning
"Wild, savage," and _Wijk,_ "Retreat, refuge, quarter"; constructively,
"A village, fort or refuge from the savages." The claim that the place
was so called by Stuyvesant as an acknowledgment of the fact that the
land was a gift from the Indians, is a figment. The English came in
possession, in 1664, and, in 1669, [FN] changed the early name to
Kingston. The Dutch recovered possession in 1673, and changed the name
to Swanendale, and the English restored Kingston in 1674. (See
Atkarkarton.)
* * * * *
[FN] "On this day (vizt 25th) the towne formerly called Sopez was named
Kingston." Date Sept. 25th, 1669. (Col. Hist. N. Y., xiii, 435.)
Nanoseck, Manoseck, forms of the name of a small island in Rondout Creek,
so "called by the Indians" says the record, may be from Natick
_Nohōōsik,_ "Pointed or tapering." The Dutch called it "Little Cupper's
Island." _Cupper,_ "One who applies a cupping glass." Another island in
the same stream, was "called by the Indians _Assinke,_" that is "Stony
land" or place. (See Mattassink.) Another island was called by the Dutch
_Slypsten Eiland,_ that is, "Whetstone Island"; probably from the quality
of the stone found on it. It lies in the Hudson next to Magdalen Island.
Wildmeet, an Indian "house" so called by the Dutch, means, in the Dutch
language, "A place of meeting of savages." It was not a palisaded village.
It was burned by the Dutch forces in the war of 1660, at which time, the
narrative states, some sixty Indians had assembled at or were living in
it. Its location, by the late John W. Hasbrouck, at the junction of the
Vernoy and Rondout kills, is of doubtful correctness, as is also his
statement that it was "The council-house of all the Esopus Indians." Its
location was about two (Dutch) miles from Wildwyck, or about six or seven
English miles. Judge Schoonmaker wrote: "Supposed to have been located
in Marbletown."
Preumaker's Land, a tract described as "Lying upon Esopus Kil, within
the bounds of Hurley," granted to Venike Rosen, April 1, 1686, was the
place of residence of Preumaker, "The oldest and best" of the Esopus
sachems, whose life was tragically ended by Dutch soldiers in the war
of 1660. The location of his "house" is described as having been "At the
second fall of Kit Davits Kil." [FN-1] A creek now bears the name of the
sachem, who was a hero if he was a savage.
* * * * *
[FN] "Kit Davits' Kil" or the Rondout was so called from Christopher
Davids, an Englishman, who was first at Fort Orange, and was an
interpreter. He obtained, in 1656, a patent for about sixty-five acres,
described as "Situate about a league (about three miles) inland from
the North River in the Esopus, on the west side of the Great Kil,
opposite to the land of Thomas Chambers, running west and northeast
halfway to a small pond on the border of a valley which divides this
parcel and the land of John de Hulter, deceased." Ensign Smith wrote:
"I came with my men to the second valley on Kit Davietsen's River.. . .
Further up in said valley I crossed the stream and found their house."
(Col. Hist. N. Y., xiii.) Supposed to have been at LeFever's Falls in
Rosendale. (Schoonmaker.)
Frudyachkamik, so written in treaty--deed of 1677 as the name of a place
on the Hudson at the mouth of Esopus (now Saugerties) Creek, is written
Tintiagquanneck in deed of 1767 (Cal. Land Papers, 454), and by the late
John W. Hasbrouck, _Tendeyachameck._ The deed orthography of 1677 is
certainly wrong as there is no sound of F in Algonquian. (See
Kerhonksen.)
* * * * *
{TN} {Unable to locate interlinear references to the following two notes
which appear on this page.}
[FN-1] _Saugerties_ is probably a corruption of Dutch _Zager's Kiltje,_
meaning in English, "Sawyer's little Kill." The original appears first
of record in Kregier's Journal of the Second Esopus War (1663), "They
were at Zager's Kiletje"; "To Sager's little Kill"; "To the Sager's
Killetje." (Col. Hist. N. Y., xiii, 342, 344.) The first corruption of
record also belongs to that period. It was by a Mohawk sachem who
visited Esopus and at a conference converted Zager's Kiltje to
Sagertjen. Some of the local Dutch followed with "de Zaagertje's." Other
corruptions were numerous until the English brought in Saugerties. The
original _Zager,_ however, seems to have held legal place for many
years. In 1683, in a survey of the Meals Patent, covering lands now
included in Saugerties, it is written: "Being part of the land called
Sagers," and in another, "Between Cattskill and Sager's Kill." It is
also of record that a man known by the surname of Zager located on the
stream prior to 1663, obtained a cession of the lands on the kill from
Kaelcop, an Esopus sachem, and later disappeared without perfecting his
title by patent. _Zager_ is now converted to _Sager,_ and in English to
_Sawyer._ The claim that Zager had a sawmill at the mouth of the stream
seems to rest entirely upon his presumed occupation from the meaning of
his name. A sawmill here, in 1663, would seem to have been a useless
venture. In 1750, ninety years later, one Burregan had a mill at the
mouth of the kill. "Burregan" stands for Burhans.
[FN-2] "To Freudeyachkamik on the Groote River." (Col. Hist. N. Y.,
xiii, 505.) It was probably the peninsular now known as Flatbush,
Glasco, etc., at the mouth of the creek. The orthographies of the name
are uncertain. An island south of the mouth of the creek was called
_Qusieries._ Three or four miles north is _Wanton_ Island, the site of
a traditionary battle between the Mohawks and the Katskill Indians. It
is now the northeast boundmark of Ulster County. Neither of these
islands could have been the boundmark of the lands granted by the
Indians. _Wanton_ seems to be from _Wanquon_ (_Wankon,_ Del.),
"Heel"--resembling a human heel in shape--pertuberant. The letter _t_
in the name is simply an exchange of the surd mutes _k_ and _l._ Modern
changes have destroyed the original appearance of the island.
Kerhonkson, now so written as the name of a stream of water and of a
village in the town of Wawarsing, Ulster County, is of record in several
forms--Kahanksen, Kahanghsen, Kahanksnix, Kahanckasink, etc. It takes
interest from its connection with the history and location of what is
known, in records of the Esopus Indian War of 1663, as the Old Fort as
distinguished from the New Fort. In the treaty of peace with the Dutch
in 1664, the fort is spoken of without name in connection with a district
of country admitted by the Indians to have been "conquered by the sword,"
including the "two captured forts." In the subsequent treaty (1665) with
Governor Nicolls the ceded district is described as "A certain parcel of
land lying and being to the west or southwest of a certain creek or river
called by the name of Kahanksen, and so up to the head thereof where the
Old Fort was; and so with a direct line from thence through the woods and
crosse the meadows to the Great Hill lying to the west or southwest,
which Great Hill is to be the true west or southwest bounds, and the said
creek called Kahanksen the north or northeast bounds of the said lands."
In a treaty deed with Governor Andros twelve years later (April 27,
1677), the boundary lines _"as they were to be thereafter,"_ are
described: "Beginning at the Rondouyt Kill, thence to a kill called
Kahanksnix, thence north along the hills to a kill called
Maggowasinghingh, thence to the Second Fall, easterly to Freudyachkamick
on the Groot River, south to Rondouyt Kill." In other words the district
conceded to have been "conquered by the sword" lay between the Esopus and
the Rondout on the Hudson, and extended west to the stream called
Kahanksen, thence north to a stream called Maggowasinghingh, thence
north, etc. The only stream that has been certainly identified as the
Maggowasinghingh is the Rondout, where it flows from the west to its
junction with the Sandberg Kill, east of Honk Falls, and this
identification certainly places Kahanksen _south_ of that stream. And in
this connection it may be stated that _the conquered lands did not extend
west of the Rondout._ The Beekman and the Beake patents were held
primarily by Indian deeds. After the conquest the Indians did not sell
lands _east_ of the boundary line, but did sell lands _west_ of that
line. The deed from Beekman to Lowe distinctly states that the lands
conveyed were "within the bounds belonging to the Indians." As the lands
on the west of the kill were not conquered and ceded to the Dutch, the
Old Fort could not have been on that side of the stream. In reaching
conclusions respect must be had to Indian laws, treaties, and boundary
descriptions. In the records of the town of Rochester, of which town
Wawarsing was a part, is the entry, under date of July 22, 1709, "Marynus
van Aken desired the conveyance of about one hundred acres of land lying
over against the land of Colonel Jacob Rutsen called Kahankasinck, known
as Masseecs," that is the land asked for by Van Aken took the name of
Masseecs from a swamp which the name means. Colonel Rutsen's land has not
been located; he held several tracts at different times, and one
especially on the west line of Marbletown known as Rosendale. Whatever
its location it shows that its name of Kahankasinck was extended to it
or from it from some general feature. Obviously from the ancient treaty
and deed boundaries the site of the Old Fort has not been ascertained,
nor has the Great Hill been located. Presumably both must be looked for
on Shawongunk Mountain.
The fort, as described by Kregier in his "Journal of the Second Esopus
War," was a palisaded village and the largest settlement of the Esopus
Indians. He made no reference to a stream or to a ravine, but did note
that he was obliged to pass over swamps, frequent kills, and "divers
mountains" that were so steep that it was necessary to "haul the wagons
and cannon up and down with ropes." His course was "mostly southwest"
from Wildwijk, and the fort "about ten miles" (Dutch), or from thirty to
thirty-five miles English. It was not so far southwest from Wildwijk
(Kingston) as the New Fort by "about four hours," a time measure equal
to nine or ten English miles. The Indians did not defend the fort; they
abandoned it "two days before" the Dutch troops arrived. No particular
description of it has been handed down. Under date of July 31, 1663,
Kregier wrote: "In the morning at dawn of day set fire to the fort and
all the houses, and while they were in full blaze marched out in good
order." And so disappeared forever the historic Indian settlement, not
even the name by which it was known certainly translatable in the absence
of knowledge of the topography of its precise location. [FN]
* * * * *
[FN] The name has the appearance of derivation from _Gahan_ (Del.),
"Shallow, low water"'; spoken with the guttural aspirate _-gks_
(Gahaks), and indefinite formative _-an._ As a generic it would be
applicable to the headwaters of any small stream, or place of low water,
and may be met in several places.
Magowasinghinck, so written in its earliest form in treaty deed of 1677
(Col. Hist. N. Y., xiii) as the name of an Indian family, and also as the
name of a certain kill, or river--"Land lying on both sides of Rondout
Kill, or river, and known by the name of Moggewarsinck," in survey for
Henry Beekman, 1685--"Land on this side of Rondout Kill named
_Ragowasinck,_ from the limits of Frederick Hussay, to a kill that runs
in the Ronduyt Kill, or where a large rock lies in the kill," grant to
George Davis, 1677. The Beekman grant was on both sides of Rondout Creek
west and immediately above Honk Falls, where a large rock lying in the
kill was the boundmark to which the name referred and from which it was
extended to the stream and place. The George Davis grant has not been
located, and may never have been taken up. Beekman sold to Peter Lowe in
1708, and the survey of the latter, in 1722, described his boundary as
running west from "the great fall called Heneck." In Mr. Lindsay's
History of Ulster County it is said that the grant was half a mile wide
on the southeast side of the stream and a mile wide on the northwest
side. Hon. Th. E. Benedict writes me: "The Rondout is eminently a river
of rocks. It rises on the east side of Peekamoose, Table, and Lone
mountains, and west side of Hanover Mountain of the Catskills, and flows
through chasms of giant rocks. All the way down there are notable rocks
reared in midstream. The rock above Honk Falls is hogback shape, a
hundred or more feet long. It lies entirely in the stream and divides
it into two swift channels which join together just above the falls.
Here, amid the roar, the swirl and dash of waters breaking through rocky
barriers, with the rapids at the falls, the Great Rock was an object to
be remembered as a boundmark."
Without knowledge of the locative of the name or of the facts of record
concerning it, the late Dr. D. G. Brinton, replying to inquiry, wrote
me: "I take _Magow_ or _Moggew-assing-ink_ to be from _Macheu_ (Del.),
'It is great, large'; _achsün,_ 'stone', and _ink_ locative; literally
'at the place of the large stone'." The name does not describe the place
where the rock lies. The Davis grant in terms other than the Indian name
located one as lying "in the kill," and the other is described in the
survey of the patent to Beekman: "Land situate, lying and being upon both
sides of Rondout Kill or river, and known by the name of Moggewarsinck,
beginning at a great rock stone in the middle of the river and opposite
to a marked tree on the south side of the river, between two great rock
stones, which is the bounds betwixt it and the purchase of Mr. William
Fisher," etc.; both records confirm Dr. Brinton's interpretation. As a
generic the name may, like Kahanksan, be found in several places, but the
particularly certain place in the Beekman grant was at the falls called
Honneck, now Honk.
Wawarasinke, so written by the surveyor as the name of a tract of land
granted to Anna Beake and her children in 1685, has been retained as the
name of a village situate in part on that tract, about four miles north
of Ellenville. The precise location of the southern boundmark of the
patent was on the west bank of the Rondout, south of the mouth of
Wawarsing Creek, or Vernooy Kill as now called, which flows to the
Rondout in a deep rocky channel, the southern bank forming a very steep,
high hill or point. It is claimed that the Old Fort was on this hill,
and that to and from it an Indian path led east across the Shawongunk
Mountain to the New Fort and is still distinctly marked by the later
travel of the pioneers. That there was an Indian path will not be
questioned, nor will it be questioned that there may have been at least
a modern Indian village on the hill, but the Old Fort was not there. At
the point where the boundmark of the patent was placed the Rondout turns
at nearly a right angle from an east and west course to nearly north,
winding around a very considerable point or promontory. The orthography
of the name is imperfect. By dialectic exchange of _n_ and _r,_ it may be
read _Wa-wa-nawás-ink,_ "At a place where the stream winds, bends,
twists, or eddies around a point or promontory." This explanation is
fully sustained by the topography. Hon. Th. E. Benedict writes me: "The
Rondout at that point (the corner of the Anna Beake Patent) winds around
at almost a right angle. At the bend is a deep pool with an eddying
current, caused by a rock in the bank below the bend. The bend is caused
by a point of high land. It is a promontory seventy-five feet high." The
inquiry as to the meaning of the name need not be pursued further. The
frequently quoted interpretation, "Blackbird's Nest," is puerile. (See
Wawayanda.)
Honk, now so written as the name of the falls on Rondout Creek at
Napanock, appears first in Rochester town records, in 1704, _Hoonek,_ as
the name of the stream. In the Lowe Patent (1722), the reading is:
"Beginning by a Great Fall called _Honeck._" The Rochester record is
probably correct in the designation of the name as that of the creek,
indicating that the original was _Hannek_ (Del.), meaning, "A rapid
stream," or a stream flowing down descending slopes. As now written the
name means nothing unless read from Dutch _Honck,_ "Home, a standing post
or place of beginning," but that could not have been the derivative for
the name was in place before the falls became the boundmark. The familiar
interpretation: "From _Honck_ (Nar.), 'Goose'--'Wild-goose Falls,'" is
worthless. The local word for Goose was _Kaak._ The falls descend two
hundred feet, of which sixty is in a single cataract--primarily a wild,
dashing water-fall.
Lackawack appears of record as the name of a stream in Sullivan County,
otherwise known as the West Branch of Rondout Creek, and also as the name
of the valley through which it passes. The valley passes into the town
of Wawarsing, Ulster County, where the name is met in the Beekman and in
the Lowe patents, with special application to the valley above Honk
Falls, and is retained as the name of a modern village. In the Lowe
Patent it is written Ragawack, the initials L and R exchanged; in the
Hardenberg Patent it is Laughawake. The German missionary orthography is
_Lechauwak_ (Zeisb.), "Fork, division, separation," that which forks or
divides, or comes together in the form of a fork; literally, "The Fork."
_Lechauwak,_ "Fork"; _Lechau-hanne,_ "Fork of a river," from which
Lackawanna; _Lechau-wiechen,_ "Fork of a road," from which
Lackawaxen--"abbreviated by the Germans to _Lecha,_ and by the English
to _Lehigh._" (Reichel.)
Napanoch, on the Rondout below Honk Falls, is probably the same word that
is met in _Nepeak,_ translated by Dr. Trumbull, "Water-land, or land
overflowed by water." At or near Port Jervis, Napeneck, Napenack, etc.
The adjectival is _Nepé, Napé,_ "Water."
Wassahawassing, in the Lowe Patent and also in the deed to Lowe from
Henry Beekman, is probably from _Awossi-newás-ing_ (Del.), "At the point
or promontory beyond," or on the other side of a certain place.
Mopochock--"A certain Great Kil called Mopochock," in patent to Joachim
Staats, 1688, is said to have been the name of what is now known as
Sandberg Kill, but was not, as that stream was in no way connected with
the Staats Patent.
Naversing is entered on Pownal's map between Rosendale and Fountain
creeks, in the old town of Rochester. The map location may not be
correct. The name is from _Newás-ing,_ (Del.), "At a point or
promontory." The familiar form is Neversink.
Mattachonts, a modern orthography, preserves the name of a place in the
town of Rochester, Ulster County, and not that of an Indian maiden as
locally stated. The boundary description refers to a creek and to a
swamp. The record orthographies are Magtigkenighonk and Maghkenighonk,
in Calendar of Land Papers, and "Mattekah-onk Kill," local.
Amangag-arickan, given as the name of an Indian family in western Ulster
(Col. Hist. N. Y., xiii, 505), is probably from _Amangak,_ "Large," with
the related meaning of terrible, and _Anakakan,_ "Rushes," or sharp
rushes. _Amangak_ is from _Amangi,_ "Big, large, powerful, dire," etc.,
and _-ak,_ animate plural.
Ochmoachk-ing, an unlocated place, is described as "Above the village
called Mombackus, extending from the north bound of the land of Anna
Beake southerly on both sides of the creek or river to a certain place
called Ochmoachking." (Patent to Staats, 1688.)
Shokan, the name of a village on Esopus Creek, in the town of Olive, has
been interpreted as a pronunciation of _Schokkan_ (Dutch), "To jolt, to
shake," etc., by metonymie, "A rough country." The district is
mountainous and a considerable portion of it is too rough for successful
cultivation, but no Hollander ever used the word _Schokken_ to describe
rough land. At or near the village bearing the name a small creek flows
from the west to the Esopus, indicating that _Shokan_ is a corruption of
_Sohkan,_ "Outlet or mouth of a stream." _Sohk_ is an eastern form and
_an_ is an indefinite or diminutive formative. Heckewelder wrote in the
Delaware, _Saucon,_ "The outlet of a small stream into a larger one."
_Ashokan_ is a pronunciation. The same name is met at the mouth of the
East or Paghatagan Branch of the Delaware. Shokan Point is an elevation
rising 3100 feet.
Koxing Kil, a stream so called in Rosendale, is of record _Cocksing_ and
_Cucksink_--"A piece of land; it lyeth almost behind Marbletown." It is
not the name of the stream but of a place that was at or near some other
place; probably from _Koghksuhksing,_ "Near a high place." (See
Coxackie.) On map of U. S. Geological Survey the name is given to the
outlet of Minnewaska Lake, which lies in a basin of hills on Shawongunk
Mountain, 1650 feet above sea level.
Shandaken, the name of a town in Ulster County, is not from any word
meaning "Rapid water," as has been suggested, but is probably from
_Schindak,_ "Hemlock woods"--_Schindak-ing,_ "At the hemlock woods," or
place of hemlocks. The region has been noted for hemlocks from early
times.
Mombackus, accepted as the name of a place in the present town of
Rochester, Ulster County, is first met in 1676, in application to three
grants of land described as "At ye Esopus at ye Mumbackers, lying at ye
Round Doubt River." In a grant to Tjerck Classen de Witt, in 1685, the
orthography is Mombackhouse--"Lying upon both sides of the Mumbackehous
Kill or brook." The stream is now known as Rochester Creek flowing from
a small lake in the town of Olive. The late John W. Hasbrouck wrote,
"Mombakkus is a Dutch term, literally meaning 'Silent head,' from _Mom,_
'silent,' and _Bak_ or _Bakkus,_ 'head.' It originated from the figure
of a man's face cut in a sycamore tree which stood near the confluence
of the Mombakkus and Rondout kills on the patent to Tjerck Classen de
Witt, and was carved, tradition says, to commemorate a battle fought
near the spot," that "for this information" he was "indebted to the late
Dr. Westbrook, who said the stump of the tree yet stood in his youthful
days." Although the evidence of the existence of a tree marked as
described is not entirely positive, the fact that trees similarly marked
were frequently met by Europeans in the ancient forests gives to its
existence reasonable probability. In his treatment of the name Mr.
Hasbrouck made several mistakes. "Place of death" is not in the word,
and Dutch _Mom_ or _Mum_ does not mean "Silent"; it means "Mask," or
covering, and _Bak_ or _Bakkes,_ does not mean "head," it is a cant term
for "Face, chops, visage." _Mombakkes_ is plainly a vulgar Dutch word
for "Mask." It describes a grotesque face as seen on a Mascaron in
architecture, or a rude painting. Usually trees marked in the manner
described included other figures commemorative of the deeds of a warrior
designed to be honored. Sometimes the paintings were drawn by a member
of the clan or family to which the subject belonged, and sometimes by
the hero himself, who was flattered by the expectation that his memory
would thereby be preserved, or his importance or prowess impressed upon
his associates, or on those of other clans, and perhaps handed down to
later generations.
Wieskottine, located on Van der Donck's map (1656), north of Esopus
Creek and apparently in the territory of the Catskill Indians, is a Dutch
notation of _Wishquot-attiny,_ meaning, literally, "Walnut Hill." A hill
and trees are figured on the map. The dialect of the Catskill Indians
was Mahican or Mohegan. It seems to have influenced very considerably
the adjoining Lenape dialect. On a map of 1666, the orthography is
_Wichkotteine,_ and the location placed more immediately north of the
stream. The settlement represented can be no other than that of the
ancient Wildwijk, now Kingston. The name has disappeared of record, as
has also _Namink_ on the Groot Esopus.
Catskill, now so written, primarily Dutch _Kat's Kil,_ presumably from
_Káterákts,_ or "Kil of the Katarakts," has come down from a very early
date in _Katskil._ On Van der Donck's map of 1656 it is written _Kats
Kill,_ but he never wrote Kil with two l's. Older than Van der Donck's
map it evidently was from the frequent reference to the "Kats Kil
Indians" in Fort Orange records. Its origin is, of course, uncertain.
Reasonably and presumably it was a colloquial form of Katerakts
Kil--reasonably, because the falls on that stream would have naturally
attracted the attention of the early Dutch navigators, as they have
attracted the attention of many thousands of modern travelers. It was
the absence of an authoritative explanation that led Judge Benson to
inflict upon the innocent streams which now bear them the distinguishing
names of _Kat's_ and _Kauter's,_ and to relate that as catamounts were
probably very abundant in the mountains there and were naturally of the
male and female species, the former called by the Dutch _Kauter,_ or "He
cat," and the latter _Kat,_ "She cat," the streams were called by those
names. His hypothesis is absurd, but is firmly believed by most of modern
residents, who do not hesitate to write _Kauter,_ "He cat," on their
cards and on their steamboats, although it is no older than Judge
Benson's application. He might have found a better basis for his
conjecture in the fact that in 1650, on the north side of the Kat's Kil
reigned in royal majesty, _Nipapoa,_ a squaw sachem, while on the other
side _Machak-nimano,_ "The great man of his people," held sway; that,
as they painted on their cabins a rude figure of a wolf, their totemic
emblem, easily mistaken for a catamount, the name of "He cat" was given
to one stream, and "She cat" to the other.
Katarakts Kil, as it is met of record--now Judge Benson's Kauter Kil--is
formed by the outlets of two small lakes lying west of the well-known
Mountain House. A little below the lakes the united streams leap over a
ledge and fall 175 feet to a shelf of rock, and a few rod's below fall
85 feet to a ravine from which they find their way to the Kat's Kil.
Beautiful are the falls and appropriate is the ancient name "The Kil of
the Kataracts." Compare it, please, with Judge Benson's "He cat kil."
The Kat's Kil Indians have an interesting history. They are supposed to
have been the "loving people" spoken of in Juet's Journal of Hudson's
voyage in 1609. They were Mahicans and always friendly in their
intercourse with the Dutch. In the wars with the Esopus Indians they took
no part. Their hereditary enemies were the Mohawks who adjoined them on
the west side of the mountains, their respective territories following
the line of the watersheds. They came to be more or less mixed with
fugitives from the eastern provinces, after the overthrow of King Philip.
A palisaded village they had north of the Esopus, and fierce traditional
battles with the Mohawks. They disappeared gradually by the sale of their
lands, and gave place to the Rip van Winkles of modern history.
[Illustration: The River at Hudson Looking South-West]
Quatawichnack and Katawichnack, record forms of the name given as that
of a fall on Kauter's Kill, now so written, supposed to be the fall near
the bridge on the road to High Falls, has been interpreted "Place of the
greatest overflow," from the overflow of the stream which forms a marsh,
which, however, the name describes as a "Moist, boggy meadow," or boggy
land. (See Quatackuaohe.)
Mawignack, Mawichnack, Machawanick, Machwehenoc, forms of the name given
as that of the meadow at the junction of the Kauter Kil and the Kat's
Kil, locally interpreted, "Place where two streams meet," means, "At the
fork of the river." (See Mawichnauk.)
Pasgatikook is another record name of the Katskill, varied in Pascakook
and Pistakook. It is an orthography of _Pishgachtigûk_ (Moh.), meaning,
"Where the river divides, or branches." (See Schaghticoke.) In patent to
John Bronck, 1705, the name is given to "A small piece of land called
Pascak-ook, lying on the north side of Katskil creek." The locative is
claimed by the village of Leeds.
Teteachkie, the name of a tract granted to Francis Salisbury and described
as "A place lying upon Katskill Creek," has not been located. _Teke,_ from
_Teke-ne,_ may stand for "Wood," and _-achkie_ stand for land--a piece
of woodland.
Quachanock, modern _Quajack,_ the name of a place described as the west
boundary of a tract sold to Jacob Lockerman, does not mean "Christian
corn-lands," as locally interpreted, although the Indians may have called
"the five great plains" the "Christian corn-land" after their occupation
by the purchasers. The original word was probably _Pahquioke,_ or
_Pohqu'un-auke_ (_-ock_), "Cleared, opened land," or land from which the
trees and bushes had been removed to fit it for cultivation.
Wachachkeek, of record as the name of the first of "five great flats,
with the woodland around them," which were included in the Catskill
Patent of 35,000 acres, is otherwise written _Machachkeek._ It is
described as "lying on both sides of Catskil Creek," and is claimed to
be known as a place west of the village of Leeds. Dr. O'Callaghan
interpreted the name from _Wacheu,_ "hill," and _-keag,_ "land" or
place--"Hill country," and Dr. Trumbull gave the same meaning from
_Wadchuauke._ The orthography of the second form, however, is probably
the most correct--_Machachkeek_--which pretty surely, from the locative,
stands for _Maskekeck,_ meaning, "Marsh or wet meadow."
Wichquanachtekok, the name of the second flat, is no doubt an equivalent
of _Wequan-achten-ûk,_ "At the end of the hill," from _Wequa,_ "the end";
_-achtene,_ "hill" or mountain, and _-ûk,_ locative.
Pachquyak, Pachquyak, Paquiage, etc., forms of the name of the third flat
(_Pachquayack,_ 1678), given also as the name of a flat "in the Great
Imbocht," [FN] is the equivalent of _Panqua-auke,_ Mass., "Clear land,
open country." Brodhead wrote _Paquiage_ as the name of the place on the
west side of the Hudson to which the followers of King Philip retreated
in 1675, but the name may have been that of any other open or unoccupied
land west of the Hudson. (See Potik.)
* * * * *
[FN] Dutch _Inbocht,_ "In the bend," "bay," etc. "Great" was added as
an identification of the particular bend spoken off.
Paskaecq--"a certain piece of land at Katskill, on the north side of the
kill, called by the Indians Paskaecq, lying under a hill to the west of
it." Conveyed to Jan Bronk in 1674-5. The name describes a vale, cleft
or valley. It is widely distributed. (See Paskack.)
Assiskowachok or Assiskowacheck, the name of record as that of the fourth
flat, is no doubt from _Assiskeu,_ "Mud"--_Assiskew-aughk-ûk,_ "At (or
on) a muddy place."
Potic, the name of the fifth flat, is also of record Potick, Potatik, and
Potateuck, probably an equivalent of _Powntuckûk_ (Mass.), denoting,
"Country about the falls." (Trumbull.) From the flat the name was
extended to a hill and to a creek in the town of Athens. Hubbard, in his
"History of Indian Wars," assigns the same name to a place on the east
side of Hudson's River. (See Pachquyak and Schaghticoke.)
Ganasnix and Ganasenix, given as the name of a creek constituting the
southern boundary of the Lockerman Patent (1686), seems to be an
orthography of Kaniskek, which see.
Waweiantepakook, Waweantepakoak, Wawantepekoak, are forms of a name given
as that of "a high round hill" near Catskill. The description reads: "A
place on the northeast side of a brook called Kiskatamenakook, on the
west side of a hill called Waweantepakoak." (Land Papers, 242.) The
location has not been ascertained. _Antpéch_ (_Antpek,_ Zeisb.), means
"Head." In Mass. (Eliot), _Puhkuk--Muppukuk,_ "A head." _Wawei_ is a
reduplicative of _Wai_ or _Way_; it means, "Many windings around," or
deviations from a direct line. The name is sufficiently explained by the
description, "On the west side of a hill," or a hill-side, but
descriptive of a hill resembling a head--"high, erect"--with the
accessory meaning of superiority. "Indian Head" is now applied to one
of the peaks of the Catskills. The parts of the body were sometimes
applied by the Indians to inanimate objects just as we apply them in
English--head of a cove, leg of a table, etc. (See Wawayanda.)
Kiskatom, a village and a stream of water so called in Greene County,
appears in two forms in original records, _Kiskatammeeche_ and
_Kiskatamenakoak._ The abbreviated form, _Kiskatom,_ appears in 1708,
more particularly describing "A certain tract by a place called
Kiskatammeeche, beginning at a turn of Catrick's Kill ten chains below
where Kiskatammeeche Kill watereth into Catrick's Kill," and "Under the
great mountain called Kiskatameck." Dr. Trumbull wrote:
"_Kiskato-minak-auke,_ 'Place of thin-shelled nuts,' or shag-bark hickory
nuts." He explained: "Shag-bark hickory nuts, 'nuts to be cracked by
the teeth,' are the 'Kiskatominies' and 'Kisky Thomas nuts' of the
descendants of the Dutch colonists of New Jersey and New York." (Comp.
Ind. Geographical Names.)
Kaniskek, or Caniskek, of record as the name of Athens, is described in
original deeds: "A certain tract of land on the west side of North River
opposite Claverack, called Caniskek, which stretches along the river from
the lands of Peter Bronck down to the valley lying near the point of the
main land behind the Barren Island, called Mackawameck," now known as
Black Rock, at the south part of Athens. The description covers the long
marshy flat in front of Athens, or between Athens and Hudson. The name
seems to be from _Quana_ (_Quinnih,_ Eliot), "Long"; _-ask,_ the radical
of all names meaning grass, marsh, meadow, etc., and _-ek,_
formative--literally, "Long marsh or meadow." The early settlement at
Athens was called Loonenburgh, from one Jan van Loon, who located there
in 1706. Esperanza succeeded this name and was followed by Athens. The
particular place of first settlement is described as running "from the
corner called Mackawameck west into the woodland to the Kattskill road
or path, which land is called Loonenburgh." Athens is from the capital
of the ancient Greek State of Attica.
Keessienwey's Hoeck, a place so called, [FN-1] has not been located. It
is presumed to have been in the vicinity of Kaniskek and to have taken
its name from the noted "chief or sachem" of the Katskill Indians called
Keessienwey, Keesiewey, Kesewig, Keeseway, etc. On the east side of the
river, south of Stockport, Kesieway's Kil is of record. Mr. Bernard
Fernow, in his translation of the Dutch text wrote, "_Keessienweyshoeck_
(Mallows Meadow Hook)," but no meadow of that character is of local
record. Kessiewey was a peace chief, or resident ruler, whose office it
was to negotiate treaties of peace for his own people, or for other clans
when requested, and in this capacity, with associates, announced himself
at Fort Orange, in 1660, as coming, "in the name of the Esopus sachems,
to ask for peace" with them. [FN-2] He was engaged in similar work in
negotiating the Esopus treaty of 1664; signed the deed for Kaniskek in
1665, and disappears of record after that date. In "History of Greene
County," he is confused with Aepjen, a peace chief of the Mahicans, and
in some records is classed as a Mahican, which he no doubt was tribally,
but not the less "a Katskil Indian." Beyond his footprints of record,
nothing is known of the noted diplomat. His name is probably from
_Keeche,_ "Chief, principal, greatest." _Keechewae,_ "He is chief." (See
Schodac.)
* * * * *
[FN-1] ". . . We have, therefore, gathered information from the
Mahicanders, who thought we knew of it, that more than fifteen days ago
some Esopus [Indians] had been at Keessienwey's Hoeck who wanted to come
up [to Fort Orange], but had been prevented until this time, and in
order to get at the truth of the matter, we have concluded to send for
two or three sachems of the Katskil Indians, especially Macsachneminanau
and Safpagood, also Keesienwey, to come hither." (Col. Hist. N. Y.,
xiii, 309.)
[FN-2] "May 24, 1660. To-day appeared [at Fort Orange] three Mahican
chiefs, namely, Eskuvius, alias Aepjen (Little Ape), Aupaumut, and
Keessienway, alias Teunis, who answered that they came in the name of
the Esopus sachems to ask for peace."
Machawameck, the south boundmark of Kaniskek, was not the name of
Barrent's Island, as stated in French's Gazetteer. It was the name of a
noted fishing place, now known as Black Rock, in the south part of
Athens. The prefix _Macha,_ is the equivalent of _Massa_ (Natick _Mogge_),
meaning "Great," and _-ameck_ is an equivalent of _-ameek_ (_-amuk,_
Del.), "Fishing-place." As the root, _-am,_ means "To take by the mouth,"
the place would seem to have been noted for fish of the smaller sort.
The Dutch called the place _Vlugt Hoek,_ "Flying corner," it is so
entered in deed. Qr. "Flying," fishing with a hook in the form of a fly.
Koghkehaeje, Kachhachinge, Coghsacky, now Coxsackie, a very early place
name where it is still retained, was translated by Dr. Schoolcraft from
_Kuxakee_ (Chip.), "The place of the cut banks," and by Dr. O'Callaghan,
"A corruption of Algonquin _Kaakaki,_ from _Kaak,_ 'goose,' and _-aki,_
'place.'" In his translation of the Journal of Jasper Dankers and Peter
Sluyter, in which the name is written _Koch-ackie_ (German notation;
Dutch, _Kok,_ "cook"), the late Hon. Henry C. Murphy wrote: "The true
orthography is probably _Koek's-rackie_ (the Cook's Little Reach), to
distinguish it from the Koek's Reach below the Highlands, near New York."
Unfortunately there is no evidence that there was a reach called the
Cook's north of the Highlands, while it is certain that the name is
Algonquian. Dankers and Sluyter gave no description of the place in
1679-80, but their notice of it indicates that it was familiar at that
date. In 1718 it was given as the name of a bound-mark of a tract
described as "having on the east the land called Vlackte and Coxsackie."
(Cal. N. Y. Land Papers, 124.) _Vlackte_ (Vlakte) is Dutch for "Plain or
flat," and no doubt described the Great Nutten Hoek Flat which lies
fronting Coxsackie Landing, and Coxackie described the clay bluff which
skirts the river rising about one hundred feet. The bluff and flat
bounded the tract on the east. From the locative the name may be
translated from Mass. _Koghksuhk-ohke,_ meaning "High land." The guttural
_ghks_ had the sound of Greek x, hence _Kox_ or _Cox._
Stighcook, a tract of land so called, now in Greene County, granted to
Casparus Brunk and others in 1743, is located in patent as lying "to the
westward of Koghsacky." In Indian deed to Edward Collins, in 1734, the
description reads, "Westerly by the high woods known and called by the
Indian name Sticktakook." Apparently from Mass. _Mishuntugkook,_ "At a
place of much wood." The district seems to have been famed for nut trees.
It is noted on Van der Donck's map "Noten Hoeck," from which it was
extended to Great Nutten Hook Island and Little Nutten Hook Island, on
which there were nut trees. (See Wieskottine, Kiskatom, etc.)
Siesk-assin, a boundmark of the Coeymans Patent, is described as a point
on the west side of the Hudson, "opposite the middle of the island called
_Sapanakock_ and by the Dutch called Barrent's Island." The suffix
_-assin,_ probably stands for _Assin,_ "Stone," but the prefix is
unintelligible. _Sapanak-ock_ means, "Place of wild potatoes," or bulbous
roots. (See Passapenoc.) Barrent's is from Barrent Coeymans, the founder
of the village of Coeymans. The earlier Dutch name was Beerin Island, or
"She-bear's Island," usually read Bear's Island.
Achquetuck is given as the name of the flat at Coeyman's Hollow. The
suffix _-tuck_ probably stands for "A tidal river or estuary," and
_Achque_ means "On this side," or before. The reference seems to have
been to land before or on this side of the estuary, or the side toward
the speaker.
Oniskethau, quoted as the name of Coeymans' Creek, is said to have been
the name of a Sunk-squa, or sachem's wife. Authority not given. The
stream descends in two falls at Coeymans' Village, covering seventy-five
feet. The same name is met in _Onisquathaw,_ now _Niskata,_ of record as
the name of a place in the town of New Scotland, Albany County.
Hahnakrois, or Haanakrois, the name of a small stream sometimes called
Coeymans' Creek, which enters the Hudson in the northeast corner of
Greene County, is Dutch corrupted. The original was _Haan-Kraait,_
meaning "Cock-crowing" Kill, perhaps from the sound of the waterfall.
Sankagag, otherwise written _Sanckhagag,_ is given, in deed to Van
Rensselaer, 1630, as the name of a tract of land described as "Situated
on the west side of the North River, stretching in length from a little
above Beeren Island along the river upward to Smack's Island, and in
width two days' journey inland." Beeren Island is about twelve miles
south of Albany, and Smack's Island is near or at that city. The western
limit of the tract included the Helderberg [FN] hills.
* * * * *
[FN] _Helder_ (Dutch) means "Clear, bright, light, clearly, brightly,"
and Berg means "hill" or mountain. It was probably employed to express
the appearance of the hills in the landscape. Some of the peaks of the
range afford fine view of the valley of Hudson's River.
Nepestekoak, a tract of land described, "Beginning at the northernmost
fall of water in a certain brook, called by the Indians Nepestekoak";
in another paper, Nepeesteegtock. The name was that of the place. It is
now assigned to a pond in the town of Cairo, Greene County. (See
Neweskeke.)
Neweskeke, -keek, about ten miles south of Albany, is described as "The
corner of a neck of land having a fresh water river running to the east
of it." In another paper the neck is located "near a pool of water called
Nepeesteek," and "a brook called Napeesteegtock." The name of the brook
and that of the pool is from _Nepé_, "Water," the first describing
"Water at rest," a pool or lake, and the second a place adjoining
extending to the stream. _Neweskeke_ means "Promontory, point or
corner," [FN]
* * * * *
[FN] This name appears to be a contraction of _Newas-askeg,_ "Marshy
promontory,' or a promontory or point near a marsh." (Gerard.)
Pachonahellick and Pachonakellick are record forms of the name of Long
or Mahikander's Island, otherwise known historically as Castle Island.
It is the first island south of Albany, and lies on the west side of the
river, near the main land opposite the mouth of Norman's Kill. On some
maps it is called Patroon's Island and Martin Garretson's Island. The
first Dutch traders were permitted to occupy it, and they are said to
have erected on it, in 1614, a fort or "castle," which they called Fort
Nassau. In the spring of 1617 this fort was almost wholly destroyed by
freshet. The traders then erected a fort on the west bank of the river,
on the north side of Norman's Kill, which they called Fort Orange. This
fort was succeeded, in 1623, by one on or near the present steamboat
landing in Albany, to which the name was transferred and which was known
as Fort Orange until the English obtained possession (1664), when the
name was changed to Fort Albany, from which the present name of the
capital of the State. [FN-1] In addition to the early history of the
island the claim is made by Weise, in his "History of Albany," that it
was occupied by French traders in 1540; that they erected a fort or
castle thereon, which they were forced to leave by a freshet in the
spring of 1542, and that they called the river, and also their trading
post, "Norumbega." These facts are also stated in another connection.
There is some evidence that French traders visited the river, and that
they constructed a fort on Castle Island, but none that they called the
river "Norumbega." (See Muhheak-unuk.) By the construction of an
embankment and the filling of the passage between the island and the
main land, the island has nearly disappeared. [FN-2]
* * * * *
[FN-1] Fort Albany was succeeded by a quadrangular fort called Fort
Frederick, built by the English (1742-3) on what is now State Street,
between St. Peter's Church and Geological Hall. It was demolished soon
after the Revolution. Wassenaer wrote, under date of 1625: "Right
opposite [Fort Orange] is the fort of the Maykans which they built
against their enemies the Maquas" [Mohawks]. "Right opposite" means
"directly opposite," _i. e._ directly opposite the present steamboat
landing at Albany, presumably on the bluff at Greenbush.
[FN-2] The name seems to have been that of the mouth of Norman's Kill
immediately west of the island, and to be from _Sacona-hillak._ "An
out-pour of water," the mouth of the stream serving to locate the
island. "Patroon's Island" and "Patroon's Creek" were local Dutch
names. (See Norman's Kill.)
Norman's Kill, so well known locally, took that name from one Albert
Andriessen, Brat de Noordman (the Northman), who leased the privilege
and erected a mill for grinding corn, sometime about 1638. On Van
Rensselaer's map of 1630 it is entered "Godyn's Kil and Water Val," a
mill stream, not a cataract. Brat de Noordman's mill was in the town of
Bethlehem, adjoining the city of Albany. The stream rises in Schenectady
County and flows southeast about twenty-eight miles to the Hudson. The
Mohawks called it _Tawalsontha._ In a petition for a grant of land near
Schenectady, in 1713, is the entry, "By ye Indian name Tawalsontha,
otherwise ye Norman's Kill"--"A creek called D'Wasontha" (1726)--from
the generic _Toowawsuntha_ (Gallatin), meaning, "The falls of a stream";
_Twasenta_ (Bruyas), "Sault d'eau," applied by the French to rapids in
a stream--a leaping, jumping, tumbling waterfall.
Aside from the names of the stream it has especial historic interest in
connection with early Dutch settlement and the location of Fort Orange
where Indians of all nations and tongues assembled for intercourse with
the government. (See Pachonahellick.) Dr. Schoolcraft wrote, without any
authority that I have been able to find, _Tawasentha_ as the name of the
mound on which Fort Orange was erected, with the meaning, "Place of the
many dead," adding that the Mohawks had a village near and buried their
dead on this hill; a pure fiction certainly in connection with the period
to which he referred. The Mohawks never had a village here, nor owned a
foot of land east of the Helderberg range. The Mahicans were the owners
and occupants, but neither Mahicans or Mohawks would have permitted the
Dutch to build a fort on their burial ground. Heckewelder wrote, in his
"Indian Nations," "_Gaaschtinick,_ since called by the name of Norman's
Kill," and recited a Delaware tradition, with the coloring of truth, that
that nation consented there, under advisement of the Dutch, to take the
rank of women, _i. e._ a nation without authority to make war or sell
lands. The tradition is worthless. The Dutch did make "covenants of
friendship" here with several tribes as early as 1625 (Doc Hist. N. Y.
iii, 51), but none of the character stated. All the tribes were treated
as equals in trade and friendship. Whatever of special favor there was
was with the Mahicans among whom they located. The first treaty,
"offensive and defensive," which was made was by the English with the
Five Nations in 1664-5. The Mahicans had then sold their lands and
retired to the Housatenuk, and the Mohawks and their alliant nations had
become the dominant power at Albany.
Nachtenak is quoted as the Mahican name of Waterford, or rather as the
name of the point of land now occupied by that city, lying between the
Mohawk and the Hudson. Probably the same as the following:
Mathahenaak, "being a part of a parcel of land called the foreland of the
Half-Moon, and by the Indians Mathahenaack, being on the north of the
fourth branch or fork of the Mohawk." _Matha_ is an orthography of
_Macha_ (Stockbridge, _Naukhu_; Del. _Lechau_), with locative _ûk,_ "At
the fork"--now or otherwise known as Half-Moon Point, Waterford.
Quahemiscos is a record form of the name of what is now known as Long
Island, near Waterford.
Monemius Island, otherwise Cohoes Island and Haver Island, just below
Cohoes Falls, the site of Monemius's Castle, or residence of Monemius or
Moenemines, a sachem of the Mahicans in 1630, so entered on Van
Rensselaer's map. Haver is Dutch, "Oat straw." (See Haverstraw.)
Saratoga, now so written, was, primarily, the name of a specific place
extended to a district of country lying on both sides of the Hudson,
described, in a deed from the Indian owners to Cornelis van Dyk, Peter
Schuyler, and others, July 26, 1683, as "A tract of land called
_Sarachtogoe_" (by the Dutch), "or by the Maquas _Ochseratongue_ or
_Ochsechrage,_ and by the Machicanders _Amissohaendiek,_ situated to the
north of Albany, beginning at the utmost limits of the land bought from
the Indians by Goose Gerritse and Philip Pieterse Schuyler deceased,
there being" (_i. e._ the bound-mark) "a kil called _Tioneendehouwe,_
and reaching northward on both sides of the river to the end of the
lands of _Sarachtoge,_ bordering on a kil, on the east side of the river,
called _Dionandogeha_ and having the same length on the west side to
opposite the kil (Tioneendehouwe), and reaching westward through the
woods as far as the Indian proprietors will show, and the same distance
through the woods on the east side." The boundary streams of this tract
are now known as the Hoosick (Tioneendehowe), and the Batten Kill
(Dionondehowe), as written on the map of the patent. The boundaries
included, specifically, the section of the Hudson known as "The Still
Water," [FN-1] noted from the earliest Dutch occupation as the Great
Fishing Place and Beaver Country, two elements the most dear to the
Indian heart and the most contributive to his support, inciting wars
for possession. Specifically, too, the locative of the name, from the
language of the deed and contemporary evidence, would seem to have been
on the east side of the river--"the end of the lands of Sarachtoge,
bordering on a kil on the east side of the river, called," etc., a place
which Governor Dongan selected, in 1685, on which to settle the Mohawk
Catholic converts, who had been induced to remove to Canada, as a
condition of their return, and which he described as a tract of land
"called Serachtogue, lying upon Hudson's River, about forty miles above
Albany," and for the protection of which Fort Saratoga was erected in
1709; noted by Governor Cornbury in 1703, as "A place called Saractoga,
which is the northernmost settlement we have"; topographically described,
in later years, as "a broad interval on the east side of the river, south
of Batten Kill," and as including the mouth of the kill and lake
Cossayuna. (Col. Hist. N. Y.; Fitch's Survey; Kalm's Travels.) On the
destruction of the fort, in the war of 1746, the settlement was removed
to the opposite side of the river and the name went with it, but to
which it had no legitimate title. (See Kayauderossa.)
Apparently the Mahican name, _Amissohaendiek,_ is the oldest. It carries
with it a history in connection with the wars between the Mohawks and
the Mahicans. At the sale of the lands, the Mahicans who were present
renounced claim to compensation "because in olden time the lands belonged
to them, before the Maquas took it from them." [FN-2] (Col. Hist. N. Y.,
xiii, 537.) It is this section of Hudson's River that the only claim was
ever made and conceded of Mohawk possession by conquest.
The Mohawk name, _Ochseratongue_ or _Ochsechrage,_ became, in the course
of its transmission, _Osarague_ and _Saratoga,_ and in the latter form,
without reference to its antecedents, was translated by the late Henry
R. Schoolcraft "From _Assarat,_ 'Sparkling water,' and _Oga,_ 'place,'
'the place of the sparkling water,'" the reference being to the mineral
springs, one of which. "High Rock," was, traditionally, known to the
Indians, who, it is said, conveyed Sir William Johnson thither, in 1767,
to test the medicinal virtues of the water; but, while the tradition may
recite a fact the translation is worthless.
With a view to obtain a satisfactory explanation of the record names,
the writer submitted them to the late eminent Iroquoian philologist,
Horatio Hale, M. A., of Clinton, Ontario, Canada, and to the eminent
Algonquian linguist, the late Dr. D. G. Brinton, of Philadelphia. In
reply, Mr. Hale wrote: . . . "Your letter has proved very acceptable,
as the facts you present have thrown light on an interesting question
which has heretofore perplexed me. I have vainly sought to discover the
origin and meaning of the name Saratoga. My late distinguished friend,
L. H. Morgan, was, it seems, equally unsuccessful. In the appendix of
local names added to his admirable 'League of the Iroquois,' Saratoga
is given in the Indian form as _Sharlatoga,_ with the addition,
'signification lost.' There can be no doubt that the word, as we have
it, and indeed as Morgan heard it, is, as you suggest, much abbreviated
and corrupted. One of the ancient forms, however, which you give from
the old Dutch authorities, seems to put us at once on the right track.
This form is _Ochsechrage._ The 'digraph' _ch_ in this word evidently
represents the hard guttural aspirate, common to both the Dutch and the
German languages. This aspirate is of frequent occurrence in the Iroquois
dialects, but it is not a radical element. As I have elsewhere said, it
appears and disappears as capriciously as the common _h_ in the speech
of the south of England. In etymologies it may always be disregarded.
Omitting it, we have the well-known word _Oserage_--in modern Iroquois
orthography _Oserake,_ meaning 'At the beaver-dam.' It is derived from
_osera,_ 'beaver-dam,' with the locative particle _ge_ or _ke_ affixed.
"In Iroquois _r_ and _l_ are interchangeable, and _s_ frequently sounds
like _sh._ Thus we can understand how in Cartier's orthography _Oserake_
(pronounced with an aspirate) became _Hochelaga,_ the well-known
aboriginal name of what is now Montreal. That this name meant simply
'At the beaver-dam' is not questioned. It is rather curious, though not
surprising, that two such noted Indian names as _Saratoga_ and
_Hochelaga_ should have the same origin. In _Ochseratongue_ the name is
lengthened by an addition which is so evidently corrupted that I hesitate
to explain it. I may say, however, that I suspect it to be a 'verbalized'
form. It may possibly be derived from the verb _atona,_ 'to become' (in
its perfect tense _atonk_), added to _osera,_ in which case the word
would mean, 'where a beaver-dam has been forming,' or, as we should
express it in English, 'where the beavers have been making a dam.'
"With regard to the Mahican name _Amissohaendiek_ or _Amissohaendick_
(whichever it is) I cannot say much, my knowledge of the Algonquin
dialects not being sufficient to warrant me in venturing on etymologies.
I remark, however, that 'beaver' in Mahican, as in several other
Algonquin dialects, is _Amisk_ or some variant of that word. This would
apparently account for the first two syllables of the name. In Iroquois
the word for 'beaver-dam' 'has no connection with the word 'beaver,' but
it may be otherwise in Mahican." . . .
Dr. Brinton wrote:
. . . "I have little doubt but that the Mahican term is practically a
translation of the Iroquois name. It certainly begins with the element
_Amik, Amisk_ or _Amisque,_ 'Beaver,' and terminates with the locative
_ck_ or _k._ The intermediate portion I am not clear about. There is
probably considerable garbling of the middle syllables, and this obscures
their forms. In a general way, however, it means 'Place where beavers
live,' or 'are found.'"
Father Le June wrote _Amisc-ou,_ "Beaver," an equivalent of _Amis-so_ in
the text. Dr. Trumbull wrote: "_Amisk,_ a generic name for beaver-kind,
has been retained in the principal Algonquian dialects." The district
was a part of Ochsaraga, "The beaver-hunting country of the Confederate
Indians," conquered by them about 1624. The evolution from
_Ochsera-tongue_ (deed of 1683) appears in Serachtogue (Dongan, 1685);
Serasteau (contemporary French); Saractoga (Cornbury, 1703); Saratoga
(modern). The _Ossarague,_ noted by Father Jogues, in 1646, as a famous
fishing-place, is now assigned to Schuylerville.
Aside from its linguistic associations, the Batten Kill is an interesting
stream. It has two falls, one of which, near the Hudson, is seventy-five
feet and preserves in its modern name, _Dionandoghe,_ its Mohawk name,
Ti-oneenda-houwe, for the meaning of which see Hoosick.
* * * * *
[FN-1] "At a place called the Still Water, so named for that the water
passeth so slowly as not to be discovered, yet at a little distance both
above and below is disturbed and rageth as in a sea, occasioned by great
rocks and great falls therein." (Col. Hist. N. Y., x, 194.)
[FN-2] The war in which the Mahicans lost and the Mohawks gained
possession of the lands here occurred in 1627, as stated in Dutch
records (Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii, 48), sustained by the deed to King
George in 1701. (Doc. Hist. N. Y., i, 773.) There was no conquest on
the Hudson south of Cohoes Falls.
Sacondaga, quoted as the name of the west branch of the Hudson, is not
the name of the stream but of its mouth or outlet at Warrensburgh,
Warren County. It is from Mohawk generic _Swe'ken,_ the equivalent of
Lenape _Sacon_ (Zeisb.), meaning "Outlet," or "Mouth of a river," "Pouring
out," and _-daga,_ a softened form of _-take,_ "At the," the composition
meaning, literally, "At the outlet" or mouth of a river. (Hale.)
_Ti-osar-onda,_ met in connection with the stream, means "Branch" or
"Tributory stream." (Hewitt.) The reference may have been to the stream
as a branch of the Hudson, or to some other stream. The stream comes
down from small lakes and streams in Lewis and Hamilton counties, and
is the principal northwestern affluent of the Hudson.
Scharon, Scarron, Schroon, orthographies of the name now conferred on a
lake and its outlet, and on a mountain range and a town in Essex County,
is said to have been originally given to the lake by French officers in
honor of the widow Scarron, the celebrated Madam Maintenon of the reign
of Louis XVI. (Watson.) The present form, _Schroon,_ is quite modern. On
Sauthier's map the orthography is Scaron. The lake is about ten miles
long and forms a reservoir of waters flowing from a number of lakes and
springs in the Adirondacks. Its outlet unites with the Hudson on the east
side at Warrensburgh, Warren County, and has been known for many years
as the East Branch of Hudson's River. The Mohawk-Iroquoian name of the
stream at one place is of record _At-a-te'ton,_ from _Ganawate^cton_
(Bruyas), meaning "Rapid river," "Swift current." (J. B. N. Hewitt.) A
little valley at the junction of the stream with the Hudson at
Warrensburgh, dignified by the name of "Indian Pass," bears the record
name of _Teohoken,_ from Iroquois generic _De-ya-oken,_ meaning "Where
it forks," or "Where the stream forks or enters the Hudson." (J. B. N.
Hewitt.) The little valley is described as "a picture of beauty and
repose in strong contrast with the rugged hills around." (Lossing.)
Oi-o-gue, the name given by the Mohawks to Father Jogues in 1646, at Lake
George, to what we now fondly call Hudson's River, is fully explained in
another connection. The stream has its sources among the highest peaks
of the Adirondacks, the most quoted springlet being that in what is known
as "Adirondack or Indian Pass," a deep and rugged gorge between the steep
slopes of Mt. Mclntyre and the cliffs of Wallface Mountain, in Essex
County. The level of this gorge is 2,937 feet above tide. [FN-1] The
highest lakelet-head sources, however, are noted in Verplanck Colvin's
survey of the Adirondack region as Lake Moss and Lake Tear-of-the-clouds
on Mount Marcy, [FN-2] the former having an elevation of 4,312 feet above
sea-level and the latter 4,326 feet, "the loftiest water-mirror of the
stars" in the State. The little streams descending from these lakes,
gathering strength from other small lakes and springlets, flow rapidly
into Warren County, where they receive the Sacondaga and Schroon. Between
Warrensburgh and Glen's Falls the stream sweeps, in tortuous course with
a wealth of rapids, eastward among the lofty hills of the Luzerne [FN-3]
range of mountains, and at Glen's Falls descends about sixty feet,
passing over a precipice, in cataract, in flood seasons, about nine
hundred feet long, and then separates into three channels by rocks piled
in confusion. In times of low water there is, on the south side of the
gorge, a perpendicular descent of about forty feet. Below, the channels
unite and in one deep stream flow on gently between the grained cliffs
of fine black marble, which rises in some places from thirty to seventy
feet. At the foot of the fall the current is divided by a small island
which is said to bear on its flat rock surface a petrifaction having the
appearance of a big snake, which may have been regarded by the Mohawks
with awe as the personification of the spirit of evil, according to the
Huron legend, "_Onniare jotohatienn tiotkon,_ The demon takes the figure
of a snake." (Bruyas.) Under the rock is a cave over which the serpent
lies as a keeper, extending from one channel to the other and which, as
well as the snake, comes down to us embalmed in Cooper's "Last of the
Mohegans," though some visitors with clear heads have failed to discover
the snake. In times of flood the cave is filled with water and all the
dividing rocks below the fall are covered, presenting one vast foaming
sheet.
At Sandy Hill the river-channel curves to the south and pursues a broken
course to what are known as Baker's Falls, where the descent is between
seventy and eighty feet--primarily nearly as picturesque as at Glen's
Falls, untouched by Cooper's pen. The bend to the south at Sandy Hill is
substantially the head of the valley of Hudson's River. Throughout the
mountainous region above that point several Indian names are quoted by
writers in obscure orthographies and very doubtful interpretations, the
most tangible, aside from those which have been noticed, being that which
is said to have been the name of Glen's Falls, but was actually the name
of the very large district known as _Kay-au-do-ros-sa._ In Mohawk, Sandy
Hill would probably be called _Gea-di-go,_ "Beautiful plain," but it has
no Indian name of record. The village stands upon a high sandy plain. It
has its traditionary Indian story, of course; in this section of country
it is easy to coin traditions of the wars of the Mohawks, the Hurons, and
the Algonquians; they interest but do not harm any one.
* * * * *
[FN-1] This famous Pass is partly in the town of Newcomb and partly in
the town of North Elba, Essex County. Wall-face, on the west side, is
a perpendicular precipice 800 to 1,000 feet high, and Mt. Mclntyre rises
over 3,000 feet. The gorge is seldom traversed, even adventurous
tourists are repelled by its ruggedness.
[FN-2] By Colvin's survey Mount Marcy has an elevation of 5,344.411 feet
"above mean-tide level in the Hudson." It is the highest mountain in the
State. Put four Butter Hills on the top of each other and the elevation
would be only a few hundred feet higher.
[FN-3] French, "Spanish Trefoil." "Having a three-lobed extremity or
extremities, as a cross." Botanically, plants having three leaves, as
white clover, etc. Topographically, a mountain having three points or
extremities.
[Illustration: GLENS FALLS: ABOVE LEATHERSTOCKING COVE.]
Kay-au-do-ros-sa (modern), _Kancader-osseras, Kanicader-oseras_ (primary),
the name given as that of a stream of water, of a district of country,
and of a range of mountains, was originally the name of the stream now
known as Fish Creek, [FN] the outlet of Saratoga Lake, and signifies,
literally, "Where the lake mouths itself out." Horatio Hale wrote me:
"Lake, in Iroquois, is, in the French missionary spelling, _Kaniatare,_
the word being sounded as in Italian. _Mouth_ is _Osa,_ whence (writes
the Rev. J. A. Cuoq in his Lexique de la langue Iroquois), _Osara,_ mouth
of a river, 'boudhe d'un fleure, embouchure d'une riviere.' This word
combined would give either _Kauicatarosa_ or _Kaniatarossa,_ with the
meaning of 'Lake mouth,' applicable to the mouth of a lake, or rather,
according to the verbalizing habit of the language, 'the place where the
lake disembogues,' literally, 'mouths itself out.'" To which J. B. N.
Hewitt added the explanation, "Or flood-lands of the lake--the overflow
of the lake."
* * * * *
[FN] "About Kayaderossres Creek and the lakes in that quarter." "The
chief tract of hunting land we have left, called Kayaderossres, with a
great quantity of land about it." (Doc. Hist. N. Y., ii, 110.) The
stream drains an extensive district of country, flows into and becomes
the outlet of Saratoga Lake, and is now known as Fish Creek and Fish
Kill, a very cheap substitute for the expressive Mohawk term.
Adirondacks, or Ratirontaks, a name now improperly applied to the
mountainous district of northern New York, is said to have been primarily
bestowed by the Iroquois on a tribe occupying the left bank of the St.
Lawrence above the present site of Quebec, who were called by the French
Algonquins specifically, as representatives of a title which had come to
be of general application to a group of tribes speaking radically the
same language. [FN-1] The term is understood to mean, "They eat trees,"
_i. e._ people Who eat the bark of certain trees for food, presumably
from the climatic difficulty in raising corn in the latitude in which
they lived. [FN-2] Horatio Hale analyzed the name: "From _Adi,_ 'they';
_aronda,_ 'tree,' and _ikeks,_ 'eat.'" The name was not that of the
district, nor is it convertible with _Algonquin_. The later is a French
rendering of _Algoumquin,_ from _A'goumak,_ "On the other side of the
river," _i. e._ opposite their neighbors lower down. (Trumbull.)
Schoolcraft gave substantially the same interpretation from the Chippewa,
"_Odis-qua-guma,_ 'People at the end of the waters,'" making its
application specific to the Chippewas as the original Algonquins, instead
of the Ottawas. The accepted interpretation, "Country of mountains and
forests," is correct only in that that it is descriptive of the country.
The record names of the district are _Cough-sagh-raga_ and
_Canagariarchio_, the former entered on Pownal's map with the addition
"Or the beaver--hunting country of the Confederate Indians," and the
latter entered in the deed from the Five Nations to the King in 1701.
(Col, Hist. N. Y., iv, 909.) _Cough-sagh-raga_ is now written _Koghsarage_
(Elliot) and _Kohserake_ (modern), and signifies "Winter" or "Winter
land"; but the older name, _Cana-gariarc-hio,_ means, "The beaver-hunting
country." [FN-3] It is not expected that this explanation will affect
the continuance, by conference, of _Adirondacks_ as the name of the
district; but it may lead to the replanting of the much more expressive
Iroquoian title, _Kohsarake,_ on some hill-top in the ancient wilderness.
* * * * *
[FN] The specific tribe called Algonquins by the French, were seated,
in 1738, near Montreal, and described as a remnant of "A nation the most
warlike, the most polished, and the most attached to the French." Their
armorial bearing, or totem, was an evergreen oak. (Doc. Hist. N. Y., i,
16.) It is claimed that they were principally Ottawas, residing on the
Ottawa River. (Schoolcraft.) The primary location of the language is
only measurably involved in the first application of the name, the honor
being claimed for the Chippewa, the Cree, and the Lenni-Lenape. The
Eastern Algonquins substituted for the Iroquois Adirondacks,
_Mihtukméchaick_ (Williams) with the same meaning.
[FN-2] The bark of the chestnut, the walnut, and of other trees was
dried, macerated, and rolled in the fat of bears or other animals, and
probably formed a palatable and a healthful diet. Presumably the eating
of the bark of trees was not confined to a particular tribe.
[FN-3] "_Coughsaghrage,_ or the Beaver-Hunting Country of the Confederate
Indians. The Confederates, called by the French Iroquois, surrendered
this country to the English at Albany, on the 19th day of July, 1701;
and their action was confirmed the 14th of September, 1724. It belongs
to New York, and is full of Swamps, Lakes, Rivers, Drowned Lands; a Long
Chain of Snowy Mountains which are seen. Lake Champlain runs thro' the
whole tract. North and South. This country is not only uninhabited, but
even unknown except towards the South where several grants have been
made since the Peace."
So wrote Governor Pownal on his map of 1775. There is no question that
Coughsaghraga means "Winter." It may also mean "At the Beaver-dam," or
"In the country of Beaver-dams." _Kohseraka_ may be a form of _Hochelaga_
or _Ochseraga._ _Osera_ means "Beaver-dam" as well as "Winter," wrote
Horatio Hale. (See Saratoga.) In explanation of _Canagariachio_ Mr. Hale
wrote: "_Kanagariarchio_ is a slightly corrupted form of the Iroquois
word _Kanna'kari-kario,_ which means simply 'Beaver.' It is a descriptive
term compounded of _Kannagare,_ 'Stick' or club, _Kakarien,_ To bite,'
and _Kario,_ 'Wild animal.' It is not the most common Iroquois word for
Beaver, which, in the Mohawk dialect is _Tsionuito,_ or _Djonuito._ That
the word should be understood to mean 'The Beaver-Hunting Country,' is
in accordance with Indian usage."
* * * * *
On the Mohawk.
Mohawk, the river so called--properly "the Mohawk's River," or river of
the Mohawks--rises near the centre of the State and reaches the Hudson
at Cohoes Falls. Its name preserves that by which the most eastern nation
of the Iroquoian confederacy, the Six Nations, is generally known in
history--the Maquaas of the early Dutch. The nation, however, did not
give that name to the stream except in the sense of occupation as the
seat of their possessions; to them it was the _O-hyoⁿhi-yo'ge,_ "Large,
chief or principal river" (Hewitt); written by Van Curler in 1635,
_Vyoge_ and _Oyoghi,_ and by Bruyas "_Ohioge,_ a la riviere," now written
_Ohio_ as the name of one of the rivers of the west, nor did they apply
the word Mohawk to themselves; that title was conferred upon them by
their Algonquian enemies, as explained by Roger Williams, who wrote in
1646, "_Mohowaug-suck,_ or _Mauquawog,_ from _Moho,_ 'to eat,' the
cannibals or men-eaters," the reference being to the custom of the nation
in eating the bodies of enemies who might fall into its hands, a custom
of which the Huron nations, of which it was a branch, seem to have been
especially guilty. To themselves they gave the much more pleasant name
_Canniengas,_ from _Kannia,_ "Flint," Which they adopted as their
national emblem and delineated it in their official signatures,
signifying, in that connection, "People of the Flint." When and why they
adopted this national emblem is a matter of conjecture. Presumably it
was generations prior to the incoming of Europeans and from the discovery
of the fire-producing qualities of the flint, which was certainly known
to them and to other Indian nations [FN-1] in pre-historic times. When
the flint and steel were introduced to them they added the latter to
their emblem, generally delineated it on all papers of national
importance, and called it _Kannien,_ "batte-feu," as written by Bruyas,
a verbal form of _Kannia,_ "a flint," or fire-stone, the verb describing
a new method of "striking fire out of a flint," or a new instrument for
striking fire, and a new emblem of their own superiority springing from
their ancient emblem. The Delawares called them _Sank-hikani,_ [FN-2] or
"The fire-striking people," from Del. _Sank_ or _San,_ "stone" (from
_Assin_), and _-hikan,_ "an implement," obviously a flint-stone implement
for striking fire, or, as interpreted by Heckewelder, "A fire-lock," and
by Zeisberger, "A fire-steel."
The French called them _Agnié_ and _Agniérs,_ presumably derived from
_Canienga_ (Huron, _Yanyenge_). The Dutch called them _Mahakuas_, by
contraction _Maquaas,_ from Old Algonquian _Magkwah_ (Stockbridge,
_Mquoh_), Bear, "He devours, he eats." As a nation they were Bears,
tearing, devouring, eating, enemies who fell into their hands. Bruyas
wrote in the Huron dialect, "_Okwari_, ourse (that is Bear);
_Ganniagwari,_ grand ourse" (grand, glorious, superb, Bear), and in
another connection, "It is the name of the Agniers," the characteristic
type of the nation. They were divided in three ruling totemic tribes,
the Tortoise (_Anowara_), the Bear (_Ochquari_), and the Wolf (_Okwaho_),
and several sub-tribes, as the Beaver, the Elk, the Serpent, the
Porcupine, and the Fox, as shown by deeds of record, of which the most
frequently met is that of the Beaver. On Van der Donck's map of 1656,
the names of four tribal castles are entered: _Carenay, Ganagero,
Schanatisse,_ and _t' Jonnontego._ In the recently recovered Journal of
a trip to the Mohawk country, by Arent van Curler, in the winter of
1634-5, the names are _Ouekagoncka, Ganagere, Sohanidisse,_ and _Tenotoge_
or _Tenotogehooge._ In 1643, Father Isaac Jogues, in French notation,
wrote the name of the first, _Osseruehon,_ and that of the last,
_Te-ononte-ogen._ Rev. Megapolensis, the Dutch minister at Fort Orange,
wrote, in 1644, the name of the first _Assarue,_ the second _Banigiro,_
and the last _Thenondiago._ On a map republished in the Third Annual
Report of the State Historian, copied from a map published in Holland
in 1666, the first is called _Caneray_ (Van der Donck's _Carenay_), and
the second, _Canagera._ [FN-3] The several names refer in all cases to
the same castles tribally, in some cases, apparently, by the name of a
specific topographical feature near which the castles were located, and
in some cases, apparently, by the name of the tribe. Cramoisy, in his
Relation of 1645-6, referring to the visit of Father Jogues to the
Mohawks, wrote: "They arrived at their first small village, called
_Oneugiouré,_ formerly _Osserrion._" (Relations, 29: 51), showing very
clearly that those two names referred to one and the same castle. What
_Oneugiouré_ stands for certainly, cannot be stated, though it seems to
read easily from _Ohnaway_ (Cuoq), "Current, swift river," indicating
that it may have referred to the long rapids. [FN-4] Chief W. H. Holmes,
of the Bureau of Ethnology, wrote me: "According to our best expert
authority, an Iroquoian, _Onekagoncka_ signifies 'At the junction of the
waters,' and _Osserueñon, Osserrion, Assarue,_ etc., signifies 'At the
beaver-dam.'" Accepting these interpretations, the particular place where
the two names seem to come together is at the mouth of Aurie's Creek
"where it falls into Mohawk's river." (See Oghracke.) As generic terms,
however, they would be applicable at any place where the features were
met and would only become specific here from other locative testimony,
which we seem to have.
The first castle or town was that of the Tortoise tribe; the second, that
of the Bear tribe; the third, that of the Beaver (probably), and the
fourth, that of the Wolf tribe. On Van der Donck's map there are four,
and Greenhalgh, in 1677, noted four. In a Schenectady paper of the same
year the names of two sachems are subscribed who acted "for themselves"
and as "the representatives of ye four Mohock's castles." The French
invaded the valley in 1666, and burned all the castles of the early
period, and the tribes retreated to the north side of river and
established themselves, the first at Caughnawaga; the second about one
and one-half miles west of the first; the third, west of the second, and
the fourth beyond the third, in their ancient order as Greenhalgh found
them in 1677. The French destroyed them again in 1693, [FN-5] and the
tribes returned to and rebuilt on the south side of the river in proximity
to their ancient seats. After the changes which had swept over the
nation, three castles are noted in later records--the "Upper" at
Canajohare, the "Lower" at the mouth of Schohare Creek, and the "Third"
on the Schohare some sixteen miles inland.
While the early castles were known to the Dutch traders prior to 1635,
and their locations marked, approximately, on their rude charts which
formed the basis of Van der Donck's and other early maps, it was not
until the recovery and publication in 1895, of Van Curler's Journal
[FN-6]that much was known concerning them prior to 1642-44, when the
Jesuit missionaries and the Dutch minister at Fort Orange, Rev.
Megapolensis, went into the field. Van Curler's Journal, supplemented by
the Relations of the Jesuit Fathers and Rev. Megapolensis's notes,
enables us now to almost look in upon the early homes of the "barbarians,"
as they were called.
The Mohawks were the most important factor in the "Five [Six] Nations
Confederacy," particularly from the standpoint of their proximity to and
relations with the Dutch and the English governments, primarily in trade
and later as alliants offensive and defensive under treaty of 1664 and
more definitely under treaty of 1683. (Doc. Hist. N. Y., i, 576.) Their
written history is graven in no uncertain colors on the valley which
still bears their name, as well as on northeastern New York, marred
though it may be by claims to pre-historical supremacy which cannot be
maintained. When Van Curler visited them the nation was at peace, and the
occupants of the towns and villages engaged in the duties of home life.
He wrote that "Most of the people were out 'hunting for deer and bear";
that "the houses were full of corn and beans"; that he "saw maize--yes,
in some of the houses more than three hundred bushels." He added that he
was hospitably entertained, was fed on "pumpkins cooked and baked,
roasted turkeys, venison and bear's meat," and altogether seems to have
fared sumptuously. Rev. Megapolensis wrote of them, that though they were
cruel to their enemies, they were very friendly to the Dutch. "We go with
them into the woods; we meet with each other, sometimes at an hour's walk
from any house, and think no more of it than if we met with Christians."
The dark side of their character may be seen in a single quotation from
Father Jogues's narrative, as related by Father Lalemant: "Happily for
the Father the very time when he was entering the gates, a messenger
arrived who brought news that a warrior and his comrades were returning
victorious, bringing twenty Abanaqois prisoners. Behold them all joyful;
they leave the poor Father; they burn, they flay, they roast, they eat
those poor victims with public rejoicings." Gentle and affable in peace,
with many evidences of a rude civilization, they were indeed "Demons in
war."
Faithful in their labors among them were the Jesuit Fathers. They were
men who were ready to suffer torture and death in the propagation of
their faith, as several of them did. The conflict of those heroes of the
Cross in the valley of the Mohawk, inaugurated by the capture and
martyrdom of Father Jogues and his companion, Rene Goupil, in 1646, did
not deter them; the wars of the nation with the French aided them. So
successful were they that many of the nation were drawn off to Canada
and became zealous partisans of the French and a scourge to English
settlements, especially emphasized in the massacre at Schenectady in
February, 1689-90. Those who remained true to the English became no
longer "barbarians" in the full sense of that word, but "Praying Maquas."
The subsequent story of the nation may be gleaned from the pages of
history. At the close of the Revolution the integrity of the Six Nations
had been effectually broken, and the castles of the Mohawks swept from
the valley proper. The history, of the latter nation especially, needs
to be studied, not in the wild glamour of fiction, but in the realm of
fact, as that of an original people, native to the soil of the New World,
clasping hands with the era of the origin of man; a people who, when they
were first met, had borrowed nothing, absolutely nothing, from the
civilizations or the languages of the Old World--the _Ougwe-howe,_ the
"real men" of the Mohawk Valley.
The locations of the castles or principal towns of the nation, as noted
in Van Curler's Journal, has given rise to considerable discussion,
particularly in regard to the location of the first of the series and
its identity under the different names by which it was called. Van Curler
was not an "ignorant Hollander wandering around in the woods," as one
writer states; on the contrary, he was an educated man and one of the
best equipped men then in the country for the trip he had undertaken,
and instead of "wandering around in the woods," he was conducted by
Mohawk guides. He wrote that he left Fort Orange in company with
Jeronimus la Crock, William Thomasson, and five Mohawks as guides and
bearers, "between nine and ten o'clock in the morning," December 12,
1634, and after walking "mostly northwest about eight miles" (Dutch),
stopped "at half-past twelve in the evening" (p. m.) "at a little
hunters' cabin near the stream that runs into their land, of the name
of Vyoge." His hours' travel and his miles' travel to this point were
either loosely stated in his manuscript or were misread by the
translator. [FN-7] A Dutch mile is one and one-quarter hours' walk and
the equivalent of three and one-half English miles and a fraction over.
Van Curler no doubt estimated his miles by this standard and not as
correct measurements of rough Indian paths. He certainly did not walk
eight Dutch miles in three hours. Twenty-four English miles would have
taken him to a point northwest of the later Schenectady stockade, which,
in 1690, was counted as twenty-four English miles from Fort Orange by
the road as then traveled. The "little hunters' cabin" at which he
stopped and which he located "near the Vyoge," he explained in his notes
of his second day's travel, as "one hour's walk" from the place where he
crossed the stream, which would have taken him to a crossing place west
of Schenectady, noted in a French Itinerary of 1757 as about one and
one-quarter leagues west of the then fort at that settlement, and,
presumably, by the canal survey of 1792, as at the first rift west of
the beginning of deep water one and one-half miles (English) east of the
rift referred to, from which point the survey gave the distance "to the
deep water at or above the mouth of Schohare creek" as twenty-five miles.
In going to, or from, the crossing-place he "passed Mohawk villages"
where "the ice drifted fast," and gave his later travel as "mostly along
the kill that ran swiftly," indicating very clearly that he passed along
the rapids. Why he crossed the Mohawk when there was a path on the south
side, is explained by Pearson's statement (Hist. Schenectady) that the
path on the north side "was the best and most frequently traveled path
to the Mohawk castles," and held that reputation for many years. It was
a trunk line from the Hudson with many connecting paths. In considering
his miles' travel the survey of 1792 may be safely referred to. [FN-8]
His miles' travel, which he wrote as "eleven" (Dutch) he wrote on his
return as "ten," which, counted as standard Dutch, would have been about
thirty-five English miles; if counted by General John S. Clark's average
of shrinkage, about thirty, which would have taken him from the hunters'
cabin to a point two or three miles west of the mouth of Schohare Creek.
Referring particularly to his Journal: On the morning of the 13th, at
three o'clock, he left the "little hunters' cabin" where he passed the
night, spent one hour in walking to the crossing-place, crossed "in the
dark," resumed his march on the north side "mostly along the aforesaid
kill that ran swiftly," and after marching ten miles arrived, "at one
o'clock in the evening" (p. m.) "at a little house half a mile" (Dutch)
"from their First Castle." When he stopped he was so exhausted by the
rough road that he could scarcely move his feet, and hence remained at
the "little house" until the next morning, when he recrossed the Mohawk
to the south side "on the ice which had frozen over the kill during the
night," and "after going half-a-mile" (Dutch), or say one and one-half
English, arrived "at their First Castle," which he found "built on a high
mountain." It contained "thirty-six houses in rows like streets." The
houses were "one hundred, ninety or eighty paces long," and were no doubt
palisaded as he called the castle a "fort." The name of the castle, he
wrote later, was _Onekagoncka._ The crossing was the only one which he
made to the south side of the Mohawk in going west. _Where,_ aside from
a fair computation of his miles' travel, _did he cross?_ Certainly he did
not cross on the ice which had frozen over the rapids east of the mouth
of Schohare Creek, for they were never known to freeze over in one night,
if at all. Certainly he did not cross east of the rapids, for they
extended three and one-half miles east of the mouth of the creek.
Obviously, if he crossed Schohare Creek on the ice and "did not know it,"
as one writer suggests, he must have crossed it in _going to the castle,_
which would surely locate the castle _west_ of the stream. There is not
the slightest notice of the stream in his Journal, nor is there any place
for it in the harmony of his narrative. The tenable conclusion, from the
comparison of his miles and from the natural facts, is that he crossed
"on the ice" which had frozen over the deep water "at or above the mouth
of Schohare Creek"; that his march took him to the vicinity of Aurie's
Creek, or substantially to the castle which Father Jogues called
_Osseruenon,_ the site of which is now marked by the Society of Jesus
with the Shrine, "Our Lady of Martyrs," whether that castle was east or
west of Aurie's Creek, evidences of Indian occupation having been found
on a hill on the west side of the creek as well as on a hill on the east
side. [FN-9] These evidences, however, prove very little in determining
the location of a particular castle three hundred years ago; they only
become important when sustained by distances from given points or by
natural features of record.
The locative conclusion stated above is more positively emphasized by
counting Van Curler's miles' travel and his landmarks in going west from
_Onekagoncka,_ and by the natural features which he noted in his Journal.
Leaving _Onekagoncka,_ he wrote that he walked "half a mile" (Dutch) "on
the ice" which had frozen over the kill, or say one and one-half English
miles, and in that distance passed "a village of six houses of the name
of _Canowarode._" It was near the river obviously. Walking on the ice
"another half mile" (Dutch), he passed "a village of twelve houses named
_Senatsycrossy._" After walking "another mile or mile and a half" on the
ice, he passed "great stretches of flat lands" and came to a castle which
he first called _Medatshet,_ and later _Canagere,_ which he denominated
"The Second Castle." His distances traveling west "on the ice" were
evidently more correctly computed than they were on his march on the
rough path "along the kill that ran swiftly." His miles from _Onekagoncka_
to _Canagere_ are given as two and a half (Dutch) or about nine miles
English. The actual distance is supposed to have been about eight. He
found the castle "built on a hill without any palisades or any defence."
He located it east of Canajohare Creek, a stream which has never lost its
identity. When Van Curler visited the castle it contained "sixteen
houses, fifty, sixty, seventy or eighty paces long."
Detained in this castle by a heavy fall of rain which broke up the
streams--the "January thaw" of 1635 in the Mohawk Valley--Van Curler
resumed his journey on the 20th, and "after marching a mile" (Dutch),
came to Canajohare Creek which he was obliged to ford. After crossing
and walking "half a mile" (Dutch), he came to what he called the "Third
Castle of the name of _Sohanidisse,_" later written by him _Rohanadisse,_
and by Van der Donck _Schanatisse,_ suggesting the name of the hill on
which it stood, which Van Curler described as "very high." It contained
"thirty-two houses like the others"; was not palisaded. The very high
hill, and the flat lands which he referred to, remain.
On the 21st, _before_ reaching the second stream which he noted later
as having crossed, he wrote that "half a mile" _west_ of Canajohare Creek
he came to a village of "nine houses of the name of _Osquage,_" which
gave name to the stream now known as the _Otsquage,_ which he also called
_Okquage_ and _Okwahohage,_ "Wolves"--a village of the Wolf tribe. On the
23d he forded the Otsquage, and after going "half a mile" (Dutch) _west_
of that stream, came "to a village named _Cawaoge._" It had fourteen
houses and stood "on a very high hill." On his return trip he wrote the
name _Nawaoga;_ on old maps it is _Canawadage,_ and has since 1635 been
known as the _Nowadage_ or Fort Plain Creek. _He did not cross this
stream,_ but after stopping at the village for a short time moved on "by
land," presumably inland either north or south, and "going another mile"
came to the "Fourth Castle," which he called _Tenotoge_ and _Tenotohage,_
and Father Jogues called _Te-ouonte-ogén,_ and also "the furthest castle."
It was no doubt the principal castle of the Wolf tribe, strongly palisaded
to defend the western approach to the seat of the nation, as was
_Onekagoncka_ to guard the east. It was, he wrote, composed of fifty-five
houses like the others. It stood in a valley evidently, probably on the
bank of the creek, as he wrote that the stream (Otsquaga) which he had
crossed in the morning "ran past" the castle; that he saw on the opposite
(east) "bank" of the stream "a good many houses filled with corn and
beans," and also extensive flat lands. Further than this topographical
description the location of the castle cannot be determined. [FN-10] Van
Curler's miles to the castle from _Onekagonka,_ as nearly as can be
counted from his Journal, were about six Dutch or about twenty-one
English, or as General Clark counted Dutch miles, about eighteen English.
As Van Curler traveled "on the ice" for the most considerable part of the
way from _Onekagoncka,_ and followed necessarily the bend in the river
and diverged at times from the shore line, exact computation of his miles
cannot be made. General Clark located the castle at Spraker's Basin,
thirteen miles by rail west of Aurie's Creek. Van Curler located it _on
the west side of Otsquage Creek._ On Simeon DeWitt's map of survey of
patents in 1790 (Doc. Hist. N. Y., i, 420), the direct line from the west
side of the mouth of Otsquage Creek to the west side of the mouth of
Aurie's Creek is fifteen and three-tenths miles; following the bend in
the Mohawk, as Van Curler did, it is seventeen and one-half miles.
Granting that the lithographic reproduction of the map may vary from the
original, it nevertheless shows conclusively that _Onekagoncka_ must have
been located at or near Aurie's Creek, The suggestion that it was located
on a hill on the east side of Schohare Creek is untenable, as is also the
suggestion that it was at Klein, eight miles east of Schohare Creek.
There may have been villages at a later date at the places suggested, but
never one of the ancient castles. Counted from the east or from the west
there is no location that meets Van Curler's miles, or Father Jogues'
"leagues," so certainly as does Aurie's Creek. (See Oghracke.)
In addition to the locations of the ancient castles, Van Curler's notes
supply interesting evidence of the strength of the Mohawks when the Dutch
first met them, which was then at its highest known point in number and
in the number of their settlements, namely: Two hundred and twenty-five
"long houses" in castles and villages, without including villages on the
lower Mohawk "where the ice drifted fast," which he passed without
particular note, and those in villages or settlements which he did not
see. Two hundred and twenty-five houses were capable of holding and no
doubt did hold a very large number of people, packed as they were packed.
Father Pierron reported, in 1669, after the French invasion of 1666, that
he visited every week "six large villages, covering seven and one-half
leagues distance," around Caughnawaga where he was stationed. In almost
constant wars with the French, and with the Hurons and other Indian
tribes as allies of the French, their number had dwindled to an estimate
of eighty warriors in 1735. The story of their greatness and of their
decay is of the deepest interest. No student of American history can
dispense with its perusal and be well-informed in the events of the
pioneer era.
* * * * *
[FN-1] Arent Van Curler, in 1635, in his "Journal of a Visit to the
Seneca Country," wrote: "I was shown a parcel of flint-stones with which
they make a fire when in the forest. These stones would do very well for
flint-lock guns."
Roger Williams wrote of the Narraganset Indians in 1643: "I have seen
a native go into the woods with his hatchet, carrying a basket of corn
with him, and stones to strike a fire." Father Le June wrote, in 1634:
"They strike together two metallic stones, just as we do with a piece
of flint and iron or steel. . . . That is how they light their fire."
The "Metallic stones" spoken of are presumed, by some writers, to have
been iron pyrites, as they may have been in some cases, but the national
emblem was the flint.
[FN-2] "_Sankhicani,_ the Mohawk's, from _Sankhican,_ a gun-lock."
(Heckewelder.) The name appears first on the Carte Figurative of 1614-16,
in application to the Indians of northern New Jersey (Delawares), who
were, by some writers, called "The Fire-workers." They seem to have
manufactured stone implements by the application of fire. Presumably
they were "Fire-strikers" as well as the Mohawks. Certainly they were
not Mohawks. Were the Mohawks the discoverers of the fire-striking
properties of the flint?
[FN-3] State Historian Hastings writes me: "The map of which you
inquire, appeared originally in a pamphlet published at Middleburgh,
Holland, at the Hague, 1666. It was first reproduced by the late Hon.
Henry C. Murphy in his translation of the 'Vertoogh van Nieu Nederland,'
etc. His reproduction gives _Canagere,_ as the name of the second
castle, and _Caneray_ as the name of the first, precisely as they appear
in order in our reproduction in our Third Report."
[FN-4] _Oneongoure_ is a form of the name in Colonial History. In the
standard translation of Jesuit Relations it is _Oneugiouré._ _Oneon_ is
a clerical error. The letters _u_ and _ou_ represent a sound produced
by the Indian in the throat without motion of the lips. Bruyas wrote it
8{_sic_ ȣ?}; it is now read _w-Onew._ Adding an _a,_ we have very nearly
M. Cuoq's _Ohnawah,_ "current," "swift river"; with suffix _gowa,_
"great," the reference being to the great rapids near which the castle
was located. The omission of the locative participle shows that it was
not "at" or "on" the great rapids.
[FN-5] "Their three castles destroyed and themselves dispersed." (Col.
Hist. N. Y., iv, 20, 22.) The castles referred to Caughnawaga, Canagora,
and Tiononteogen. A castle on the south side of the Mohawk, said to have
been about two miles inland, escaped. Presumably it was the village of
the Beaver family, but we have nothing further concerning it. The attack
was made on the night of Feb. 16, 1693. The warriors of the first two
castles were absent, and the few old men and the women made little
resistance. At the third, the warriors fought bravely but unsuccessfully.
The three castles were burned; that at Caughnawaga was given to the
flames on the morning of February 20, 1693.
[FN-6] Journal of Arent van Curler, of a visit to the Seneca country,
1634-5 O. S., translated by General James Grant Wilson, printed in "The
Independent," N. Y., Oct. 5, 1895. Republished by National Historical
Society.
[FN-7] General Wilson wrote me that the Journal was translated for him
by a Hollander, now (1905) dead, and that the manuscript had passed out
of his hands. The question of hours and miles is not important here. On
his return travel he gave the distance from the little hunters' cabin
(which in the meantime had been burned), as "A long walk," which will
not be disputed. It may be added that it is not justifiable to count
his two days' travel as one, and count the two as thirty-two English
miles from Fort Orange. The two days' travel are very distinct in the
Journal.
[FN-8] Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii, 1087.
[FN-9] Father Jogues noted in his narrative a "torrent" which passed
"At the foot of their village"--a brook or creek which was swollen by
rains into a torrent, and from which, on the later recedence of the
water, he recovered the remains of the body of his companion, Rene
Goupil, who had been murdered and his body thrown into it, probably with
the expectation that it would be carried down into the Mohawk, "At the
foot of their village," or at the foot of the hill on which the village
stood.
[FN-10] In the town of Minden, four miles south of Fort Plain, on a
tongue of land formed by the Otsquaga Creek and one of its tributaries,
are the remains of an ancient fortification, showing a curved line two
hundred and forty feet in length, inclosing an area of about seven
acres. The remains are, of course, claimed as belonging to the age of
the mound-builders, but with equal probability are the remains of the
ancient fort which Van Curler visited.
[Illustration: The Mohawk River]
* * * * *
Kahoos, Kahoes, Cohoes, Co'os, forms of the familiar name of the falls
of the Mohawk River at the junction of that stream with Hudson's River,
has had several interpretations based on the presumption that it is from
the Mohawk-Iroquoian dialect, but none that have been satisfactory to
students of that dialect, nor any that have not been purely conjectural.
One writer has read it: "From _Kaho,_ a boat or ship," commemorative of
Hudson's advent at Half-Moon Point in 1609. Beauchamp repeated from
Morgan: "A shipwrecked canoe," and, in another connection: "From _Kaho,_
a torrent." Another writer has read it: "Cahoes, 'the parting of the
waters,' the reference being to the separation of the stream into three
channels at its junction with the Hudson." The late Horatio Hale wrote
me: "Morgan gives, as the Iroquois form of the name, _Gä-hŏ-oose_ (in
which _ä_ represents the Italian _a_ as in father), with the signification
of 'ship-wrecked canoe.' This, I presume, is correct, though I cannot
analize the word to my satisfaction." The obvious reason for this
uncertainty is that the name is _not_ Mohawk-Iroquoian, but an early
Dutch orthography of the Algonquian generic _Koowa,_ "Pine"; _Koaaés,_
"Small pine," or "Small pine trees"; written with locative _it,_ "Place
of small pine trees"; now applied to a small island. On the Connecticut
River this generic is met in _Co'os_ and _Co'hos._ The "Upper Co-hos
Interval" on that stream (Sauthier's map) [FN-1] was a tract of low small
pine trees, between the hills and the river, corresponding with the
topography at the falls on the Hudson. The Dutch termination _-hoos,_
meaning in that language, "Water-spout," may have given rise to the
interpretation "The Great Falls," but if so the reading was simply
descriptive. The presumption that the name was Mohawk-Iroquoian was no
doubt from the general impression that the falls were primarily in a
Mohawk district, but the fact is precisely the reverse. The Hudson, on
both sides, was held by Algonquian-Mahicans when the Dutch located at
Albany, and for some years later, and the Dutch no doubt received the
name from them, as they did others. What few Mohawk names are met in this
district are of later introduction. It may be noted that there is no
element in the name in any dialect which refers to falls. [FN-2] When the
falls were first known they were regarded as the most wonderful in the
world, and even as late as 1680 they were so called by visitors. In early
days the stream poured a flood nine-hundred feet wide and eight feet deep
over a rocky declivity of seventy-eight feet, of which forty feet was
perpendicular, in addition to which are the rapids above and below. The
roar of the falling waters, and in the breaking up and precipitation of
ice, was very distinctly heard at Fort Orange, nine miles distant, and
the hills on which Albany now stands trembled under the impact. Primarily
the falls were much higher than they are now, the stream having cut its
way through one hundred feet of rock which rises on either side in
massive wall. Below the falls the water separates in four branches or
"Sprouts," the northerly and the southerly one reaching the Hudson five
miles apart, at Waterford and West Troy respectively.
* * * * *
[FN-1] "L. Intervale-Cowass or Kohas (Coas) meadows." (Pownal's Map.)
[FN-2] The name having been submitted to the Bureau of Ethnology for
interpretation, the late Prof. J. W. Powell, Chief, wrote me, as the
opinion of himself and his co-laborers: "The name is unquestionably
from the Algonquian _Koowa._"
Wathoiack, of record as the name of "The Great Rift above Kahoes Falls"
(Cal. Land Papers, 134, etc.) is also written _Wathojax, D'Wathoiack,_
and _DeWathojaaks,_ means, substantially, what it describes, a rift or
rapid. The cis-locative _De_ locates a place "On this side of the rapid,"
or the side toward the speaker. The flow of water is between walls of
rock over a rocky bed, and the rapids extend for a distance of
thirty-five or forty feet. (Ses Kahoes.)
Niskayune, now so written as the name of a town and of a village in
Schenectady County, is from _Kanistagionne,_ primarily located on the
north side of the Mohawk, _Canastagiowane_ (1667) being the oldest form
of record. The locative description reads: "Lying at a place called
_Neastegaione,_ . . . known by the name of _Kanistegaione._" West of
Schenectady the Mohawk is a succession of rapids. At or below Schenectady
it makes a bend to the northeast in the form of a crescent, around which
the water flows in a sluggish current. At the north point of the crescent
was, and probably is a place called by the Dutch the Aal-plaat
(Eel-place), marked on maps by a small stream from the north which still
bears the name, and which formed the eastern boundmark of the Schenectady
Patent. In Barber's collection it is stated that there was an Indian
village here called _Canastagaones,_ or "People of the Eel-place."
Naturally there would be fishing villages in the vicinity. The location
of the Aal-plaat is particularly identified in the Mohawk deed for five
small islands lying at Kanastagiowne, in 1667, and by the abstract of
title filed by one Evart van Ness in 1715. (Cal. Land Papers.) The name
is from _Keantsica,_ "Fish," of the larger kind, and _-gionni,
"Long"--tsi,_ "Very long"--constructively, "The Long-fish place," the
Aal-plaat, or Eel-place, of the Dutch. The suggestion by Pearson (Hist.
Schenectady) that the name "was properly that of the flat on the north
side of the river," is untenable from the name itself. The reading by
the late Dr. E. B. O'Callaghan: "From _Oneasti,_ 'Maize,' and _Couane,_
'Great'--'Great maize field'"--is also erroneous. The generic name for
the field or flat was _Shenondohawah,_ compressed by the Dutch to
_Skonowa._ In the vicinity of the Aal-plaat was the ancient crossing-place
of the path from Fort Orange to the Mohawk castles, in early days
regarded as the "Best" as it was the "Most traveled." The path continued
north from the crossing as well as west to the castles.
Schenectady, now so written, is claimed by some authorities to be an
Anglicism of a Mohawk-Iroquoian verbal primarily applied by them to Fort
Orange (Albany), with the interpretations, "The place we arrive at by
passing through the pine trees" (Bleecker); "Beyond the opening" (L. H.
Morgan); "Beyond (or on the other side) of the door" (O'Callaghan), and
by Horatio Hale: "The name means simply, 'beyond the pines.' from
_oneghta_ (or _skaneghet_), 'pine,' and _adi_ or _ati,_ a prepositional
suffix (if such an expression may be allowed), meaning 'beyond,' or 'on
the other side of.' The suffix is derived from _skati,_ side. It was
equally applicable to Albany or Schenectady, both being reached from the
Mohawk castles by passing through openings in the pine forest." Mr.
Hale's interpretation, from the standpoint of a Mohawk term, is
exhaustive and no doubt correct, and the correctness of the preceding
interpretations may be admitted from the combinations which may have
been employed to determine the object of which _askati_ was "one side,"
as in "_Skannátati,_ de un coste du village," or the end of, as in
"_Skannhahati,_ a l'autre bout de la cabane" (Bruyas). The word does not
appear to mean "beyond," but one side or one end of anything. Aside from
a critical rendering, it would seem to be evident that all the
interpretations are in error, not in the translation of the name as a
Mohawk word-sentence, but in the assumption that Schenectady was primarily
a Mohawk phrase, instead of a confusion of the Mohawk _Skannatati_ with
the original Dutch _Schaenhecstede,_ the primary application of which is
amply sustained by official record, while the Mohawk term is without
standing in that connection, or later except as a corrupt Mohawk-Dutch
[FN-1] substitution. The facts of primary application may be briefly
stated. The deed from the Mohawk owners of the Schenectady flats, in
1661, reads: "A certain parcel of land called in Dutch the Groote
Vlachte, lying behind Fort Orange, between the same and the Mohawk
country called in Indian _Skonowe._" _Skonowe_ is the equivalent of the
Dutch "great flat," and nothing more. Its Mohawk equivalent is written
on the section _Shenondohawah,_ which the Dutch reduced to _Skonowe._
(See Shannondhoi.) Van der Donck wrote on his map (1656), in pure Dutch,
_Schoon Vlaack Land,_ or "Fine flat land." It was not continued in
application to the Dutch settlement, the proprietors of which immediately
(1661) gave to it the Dutch name _Schaenechstede,_ "as the town came to
be called." (Munsell's Annals of Albany, ii, 49, 52; Brodhead's Hist.
N. Y., i, 691.) Under that name the tract was surveyed (1664), and it
has remained apparent in the synthesis of the many corrupt forms in which
it is of record. _Schaenechstede_ is a clear orthographic pronunciation
of the Dutch _Schoonehetstede,_ signifying, literally, "The beautiful
town." The syllable _het_ is properly _hek,_ "fence, rail, gate," etc.,
and in this connection indicates an enclosed or palisaded town. In 1680,
_Schaenschentendeel_ appears--a pronunciation of _Schoonehettendal,_
"Beautiful valley," or the equivalent of the German _Schooneseckthal,_
"Beautiful corner or turn of a valley." The German Labadists, Jasper
Bankers and Peter Sluyter, made no mistake in their recognition of the
name when they wrote _Schoon-echten-deel_ in their Journal in 1679-80,
describing the town as a square set off by palisades. [FN-2] Unfortunately
for the Dutch name it was conferred and came into use during the period
of the transition of the province from the Dutch to the English, with the
probability of its conversion to Mohawk-Dutch, as already noted. Certain
it is that the name is not met in any form until after its introduction
by the Dutch, and is not of record in any connection except at
Schenectady, the statement by Brodhead, on the authority of Schoolcraft,
that it was applied in one form, by the Mohawks, to a place some two
miles above Albany, as "the end of a portage path of the Mohawks coming
from the west," being without anterior or subsequent record, though
possibly traditional, and it may be added that it was never the name of
Albany, nor is there record that there ever was a Mohawk village "on the
site of the present city of Albany," nor anywhere near it. The Mohawks
did go there to trade and on business with the government and occupied
temporary encampments probably. The occupants primarily were Mahicans.
The evolution of the name from the original Dutch to its present form
may be readily traced in the channels through which it has passed. Even
though clouded by traditional and theoretical rendering, the truth of
history will ever rest in _Schoonehetstede_ (Schaenechstede) and in the
interpretation which it was designed to express by the intelligent men
who conferred it. It is not expected that the correction will be adopted,
now that the term has passed to the domain of a "proper name." With the
aroma of assumed Mohawk origin and the negative "beyond" clinging to it,
it will remain at least as a harmless fiction, although the honor due to
a Dutch ancestry would seem to warrant a different result. By ancient
measurements Schenectady is "about nine miles (English) above the falls
called Cahoes" (1792).
* * * * *
[FN-1] A considerable number of the early settlers had Indian wives.
(Dominie Megapolensis wrote: "The Dutch are continually running after
the Mohawk women.") The children, growing up with Indian relatives,
among the tribes and with men speaking so great a variety of tongues,
built up a patois of their own, the "Mohawk-Dutch," many words in it
defying the dictionaries of the schools. Many words are untranslatable
save by the context. (Hist. Schenectady Patent, 388.)
[FN-2] Memoirs Long Island Hist. Soc, i, 315.
Shannondhoi and Shenondohawah are record forms of the name of a section
of Saratoga County now embraced in Clifton Park, Half-Moon, etc. It is
a sandy plain running west from the clay bluffs on the Hudson to the foot
of the mountain, and extends across the Mohawk into Schenectady County.
The name is generic Iroquois, signifying "Great plain," and as such was
their name for Wyoming, Pa., where it is written _Schahandoanah_ (Col.
Hist. N. Y., vi, 48), and _Skehandowana_ (Reichel). Scanandanani,
Schenondehowe, Skenandoah, and Shanandoah, are among other forms met in
application. Skonowe is followed on Van der Donck's map of 1656, by the
Dutch legend _Schoon Vlaack Land,_ literally, "Fine, flat land," and for
all these years the name has been accepted as meaning, "Great meadow,"
or "Great plain." The late Horatio Hale wrote: "The name is readily
accounted for by the word _Kahenta_ (or _Kahenda_), meaning
'plain'--frequently abridged to _Kenta_ (or _Kenda_)--with the nominal
prefix _S_ and the augmentative suffix _owa_ (or _owana_)." "The great
flat or plain in Pennsylvania was called, in the Minsi dialect,
'_M'chewomink_, at (or on) the great plain.' From this word we have the
modern name Wyoming. The Iroquois word for this flat was _Skahentowane,_
'Great meadow (or plain),' a term which was applied also to extensive
meadows in other localities and became corrupted to Shenandoah."
(Gerard.)
Quaquarionu, of record, Calendar Land Papers, p. 6: "Bounds of a tract
of land above Schenectady purchased of the Mohawk Indians, extending from
Schenectady three miles westward, along both sides of the river, ending
at Quaquarionu, _where the last Mohawk castle stands._" The deed of same
date (1672) reads: "The lands lying near the town of Schenhectady within
three Dutch miles in compass on both sides of the river westward, which
ends at Kinaquariones, where the last battle was between the Mohawks and
the North Indians." (Col. Hist. N. Y., xiii, 465.) _Canaquarioeny_ is the
orthography in another deed. In Pearson's History of Schenectady: "Lands
lying near the town of Schonnhectade within three Dutch miles [about
twelve English miles] on both sides of the river westward, which ends at
Hinquariones [Towareoune], where the last battle was between the Mohoax
and North Indians." The last battle in that section of country explains
the text. Father Pierron, in 1669, located the battle "In a place that
was precipitous, . . . about eight leagues [French] east of Gandauague"
(Caughnawaga), or about sixteen miles English, and modern authorities
have added, "A steep rocky hill on the north side of the Mohawk, just
west of Hoffman's Ferry, now called Towareoune Hill, east of Chucktanunda
Creek, a stream which is supposed to have taken its name from the
overhanging rocks of the hill." [FN] Dr. Beauchamp, on the authority of
Albert Cusick, an educated Tuscarorian, translated: "_Kinaquarioune,_
'She arrow-maker,' the name of a person who resided there." Rev. Isaac
Bearfoot, an educated Onondagian, especially instructed in the Mohawk
dialect, and an educator on the Canada Reservation, supplied to W. Max
Reid of Amsterdam, N. Y., the reading: "_Ki-na-qua-ri-one_, 'He killed
the Bear,' or, the place where the Bears die, or any place of death. It
seems to have been used to denote the place of the last great battle with
the Mahicans." The battle referred to occurred on the 18th of August,
1669. An account of it is given in Jesuit Relations, iii, 137, by Father
Pierron, the Jesuit missionary, who was then stationed at Caughnawaga.
The war which was then raging was continued until 1673, when the Governor
of New York succeeded in negotiating peace and by treaty "linked
together" the opposing nations as allies of the English government, a
relation which they subsequently sustained until the war of the
Revolution, when the Mahicans united with the revolutionists.
* * * * *
[FN] In a deed of 1685 is the entry: "Opposite a place called
Jucktumunda, that is ye stone houses, being a hollow rock on ye river
bank where ye Indians generally lie under when they travel."
Onekee-dsi-enos is of record in a deed of land purchased by one Abraham
Cuyler of Albany, in 1714, "from the native owners of the land at
Schohare, on the west side of Schohare creek, beginning on the north by
a stone mountain called by the Indians Onekeedsienos." (Cal. N. Y. Land
Papers, 110.) The name is probably an equivalent of Bruyas'
_Onueja-tsi-entos,_ a composition from _Onne'ja,_ "Stone"; _tsi_ or
_dsi,_ augmentative, "Very hard," such as stones used for making
hatchets, axes, etc., and _entos,_ plural inflection--"very hard stones,"
or "where there are hard stones." The location has been claimed for Flint
Hill at Klein, Montgomery County, which, it is said, the name correctly
describes. Positive identification, however, can only be made from the
lines of the survey of Cuyler's purchase. It has also been claimed that
the Mohawk castle called _Onekagoncka_ by Van Curler in 1635, and the
_Osseruenon_ of 1642, was located at Klein, about eight miles east of
Schohare Creek. This claim is based on what is certainly an erroneous
computation of Van Curler's miles' travel, but particularly on the
location on Van der Donck's map of _Carenay_ directly north of a small
lake now in the town of Duane, Schenectady County. Van der Donck's map
locations are merely approximative, however, and of no other value than
as showing that the places existed. On an ancient map reprinted by the
War Department at Washington, the lake and the castle are both located
east of Schenectady. The old maps are from traders' descriptions in
general terms.
Onuntadass, _Onuntasasha,_ etc., "six miles west from Schoharie between
the mountains of Schoharie and the hill called by the Indians Onuntadass"
(Cal. N. Y. Land Papers), describes a hill or mountain--_Ononté_--with
adjective termination _es_ or _ese,_ meaning "long" or "high."
_Jonondese,_ "It is a high hill." The hill has not been located. The name
could be applied to any long or high hill.
Schoharie, now so written as the name of a creek and of a county and
town, would properly be written without the _i_. The stream came into
notice particularly after 1693-4, when the Tortoise tribe retreated from
Caughnawaga and located their principal town on the west side of the
stream a short distance south of its junction with the Mohawk, taking
with them their ancient title of "The First Mohawk Castle," and where its
location became known by the name of _Ti-onondar-aga_ and
_Ti-ononta-ogen;_ but later from the location on the creek about sixteen
miles above its mouth of what was known in modern times as "The Third
Mohawk Castle," more frequently called "The Schohare Castle," a mixed
aggregation of Mohawks and Tuscaroras who had been converted by the
Jesuit missionaries and persuaded to remove to Canada, but subsequently
induced to return. "A few emigrants at Schohare," wrote Sir William
Johnson in 1763. In the same district was also gathered a settlement of
Mahicans and other Algonquian emigrants. From the elements which were
gathered in both settlements came what were, long known as the Schohare
Indians. The early record name of the creek, _To-was-sho'hare,_ was
rendered for me by Mr. J. B. N. Hewitt, of the Bureau of Ethnology,
_T-yo^c-skoⁿ-hà-re,_ "An obstruction by drift wood." [FN] In Colonial
History, "_Skohere_, the Bear," means that the chief so called was of the
Bear tribe. He was otherwise known by the title, "He is the great
wood-drift."
* * * * *
[FN] "Schoharie, according to Brant, is an Indian word signifying drift
or flood-wood, the creek of that name running at the foot of a steep
precipice for many miles, from which it collected great quantities of
wood." (Spofford's Gazetteer.)
Ti-onondar-aga and Tiononta-ogen are forms of the name by which the
"First Mohawk Castle" was located after the Tortoise tribe was driven by
the French from Caughnawaga in 1693. The castle was located on the _west_
side and near the mouth of Schohare Creek, as shown by a rough map in
Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii, 902, and also by a French Itinerary in 1757, in
the same work, Vol. i, 526. [FN-1] For the protection of the settlement,
the government erected, in 1710, what was known as Fort Hunter, by which
name the place is still known. The settlement was ruled over for a number
of years by "Little Abraham," brother of the Great King Hendrick of the
"Upper Mohawk Castle," at Canajohare. Its occupants were especially
classed as "Praying Maquas," and had a chapel and a bell and a priest of
the Church of England. In the war of the Revolution they professed to be
neutral but came to be regarded by the settlers as being composed of
spies and informers. So it came about that General Clinton sent out, in
1779, a detachment, captured all the inmates, and seized their stock and
property. [FN-2] There were only four houses--very good frame
buildings--then standing, and on the solicitation of settlers, who had
been made houseless in the Brant and Johnson raids, they were given to
them. It was the last Mohawk castle to disappear from the valley proper.
_Ti-onondar-ága_ and _Te-ononte-ógen_ are related terms but are not
precisely of the same meaning. The first has the locative particle _ke,_
or _acu_, as Zeisberger wrote it, and the second, _ógen,_ means "A space
between," or "between two mountains," an intervale, or valley, a very
proper name for Schohare Valley. It is a generic composition and was also
employed in connection with the "Upper (Third) Mohawk Castle" (1635-'66).
* * * * *
[FN-1] The settlement included "Some thirty cabins of Mohawk Indians"
in 1757. as stated in the French Itinerary referred to, Rev. Gideon
Hawley described it, in 1753, as on the southwest side of the creek "Not
far from the place where it discharges its waters into Mohawk River."
The place is still known as "Fort Hunter," although the fort and the
Indian settlement disappeared years ago.
[FN-2] A detachment of one hundred men, sent out for that purpose,
surprised the castle on the 29th of October, 1779, making prisoners of
"Every Indian inmate." The houseless settlers took possession of the four
houses and of all the stock, grain and furniture of the tribe. The tribe
made claim for restitution on the ground of neutrality, which the
settlers denied. They had come to hate the very name of Mohawk.
Kadarode, of record in 1693 as the name of a tract of land "Lying upon
Trinderogues (Schohare) creek, on both sides, made over to John Petersen
Mabie by _Roode,_ the Indian, in his life time, [FN] principal sachem,
by and with the consent of the rest of the Praying Indian Castle in the
Mohawk country" (Land Papers, 61), is further referred to in grant of
permission to Mabie, in 1715, to purchase additional land "known as
Kadarode," on the _east_ side of the creek, and also lands "adjoining"
his lands on the _west_ side of the stream. (Ib. 118.) By the DeWitt map
of survey of 1790, Mabie's entire purchase extended east from the mouth
of Aurie's Creek to a point on the east side of Schohare Creek, a distance
of about four miles, the territory covering the presumed site of the
early Mohawk castle called by different writers from names which they had
heard spoken, Onekagoncka, Caneray, Osseruenon, and Oneugioure, now the
site of the Shrine, "Our Lady of Martyrs." The Mohawk River, west of the
long rapids, above and including the mouth of Schohare Creek, flows "in
a broad, dark stream, with no apparent current," giving it the appearance
of a lake--"a long stretch of still water in a river." The section was
much favored by the Tortoise tribe, whose castle in 1635 and again in
1693-4 was seated upon it. The record name, _Kadarode,_ has obviously
lost some letters. Its locative suggests its derivation from _Kanitare,_
"Lake," and _-okte_, "End, side, edge," etc. Van Curler wrote here, in
1635, _Canowarode,_ the name of a village which he passed while walking
on the ice which had frozen over the Mohawk; it was evidently on the side
of the stream. _Carenay_ or _Kaneray,_ Van der Donck's name of the
castle, may easily have been from _Kanitare._ The letters _d_ and _t_ are
equivalent sounds in the Mohawk tongue. The aspirate _k_ was frequently
dropped by European scribes; it does not represent a radical element. The
several record names which are met here is a point of interest to
students.
* * * * *
[FN] _Roode_ was living in 1683. An additional name was given to him in
a Schenectady patent of that year, indicating that the name by which he
was generally known was from his place of residence. He could easily
have been a sachem in 1635.
Oghrackee, Orachkee, Oghrackie, orthographies of the record name of what
is now known as Aurie's Creek, appear in connection with land patented
to John Scott, 1722. In the survey of the patent by Cadwallader Colden,
in the same year, the description reads: "On the south side of Mohawk's
river, about two miles above Fort Hunter, . . . beginning at a certain
brook called by the Indians Oghrackie, otherwise known as Arie's creek,
where it falls into Maquas river." (N. Y. Land Papers, 164.) In other
words the name was that of a place at the mouth of the brook. Near the
brook at Auriesville, which takes its name from that of the stream, has
been located the Shrine, "Our Lady of Martyrs," marking the presumed site
of the Mohawk castle called by Father Jogues _Osserueñon,_ in which he
suffered martyrdom in 1646. [FN] The Indian name, _Oghrackie,_ has no
meaning as it stands; some part of it was probably lost by mishearing.
The digraph _gh_ is not a radical element in Mohawk speech; it is
frequently dropped, as in _Orachkee,_ one of the forms of the name here.
Omitting it from Colden's _Oghrackie,_ and inserting the particle _se_ or
_sa,_ yields _Osarake,_ "At the beaver dam," from _Osara,_ "Beaver dam,"
and locative participle _ke,_ "At." (Hale.) This interpretation is
confirmed, substantially, by the Bureau of Ethnology in an interpretation
of _Osseruenon_ which Father Jogues gave as that of the castle. W. H.
Holmes, Chief of the Bureau, wrote me, under date of March 8, 1906, as
has been above stated, "The term _Osserueñon_ (or _Osserneñon, Asserua,
Osserion, Osserrinon_) appears to be from the Mohawk dialect of the
Iroquoian stock of languages. It signifies, if its English dress gives
any approximation to the sound of the original expression, 'At the beaver
dam.'" This expert testimony has its value in the force which it gives
to the conclusion that the castle in which Father Jogues suffered was at
or near Aurie's Creek. The relation between Megapolensis' _Assarue_ and
Jogues's _Osseru_ is readily seen by changing the initial _A_ in the
former to _O._
_Aurie's,_ the present name of the stream, otherwise written _Arie's,_ is
Dutch for _Adrian_ or _Adrianus_ (Latin) "Of or pertaining to the sea."
It is suggestive of the name _Adriochten,_ written by Van Curler as that
of the ruling sachem of the castle which he visited and called
_Onekagoncka_ in 1635. The only tangible fact, however, is that the
stream took its present name from Aurie, a ruling sachem who resided on
or near it.
In this connection the several names by which the castle was called, viz:
_Onekagoncka, Carenay_ or _Caneray, Osserueñon, Assarue,_ and
_Oneugiouré,_ may be again referred to. As already stated, the "best
expert authority" of the Bureau of Ethnology reads _Onekagoncka_ as
signifying, "At the junction of the waters," and _Osserueñon,_ in any of
its forms, as signifying "At the beaver-dam." Possibly the names might be
read differently by a less expert authority, but _Oneka_ certainly means
"Water," and _Ossera_ means "Beaver-dam." Add the reading by the late
Horatio Hale of _Oghracke,_ "At the beaver-dam," and the locative chain
is complete at the mouth of Aurie's Creek (Oghracke). _Tribally,_ the
names referred to one and the same castle, as has been noted, and the
evidence seems to be clear that the location was the same. There is no
evidence whatever that any other than one and the same place was occupied
by the "first castle" between the years 1635 and 1667. It is not strictly
correct to say that "castles were frequently removed." Villages that were
not palisaded may have been frequently changed to new sites, but the
evidence is that palisaded towns remained in one place for a number of
years unless the tribe occupying was driven out by an enemy or by
continued unhealthfulness, as the known history of all the old castles
shows; nor were they ever removed to any considerable distance from their
original sites.
Van Curler's description of the castle has been quoted. He did not say
that it was palisaded, but he did call it a "fort," which means the same
thing. Rev. Megapolensis wrote, in 1644: "These [the Tortoise tribe] have
built a fort of palisades and call their castle _Assarue._" It was not
an old castle when Van Curler visited it in 1635, or when Father Jogues
was a prisoner in it in 1642, but in its then short existence it had had
an incident in the wars between the Mohawks and the Mahicans of which
there is no mention in our written histories. On his return trip Van
Curler wrote that after leaving _Onekagoncka_ and walking about "two
miles," or about six English miles, his guide pointed to a high hill on
which the immediately preceding castle of the tribe had stood and from
which it had been driven by the Mahicans "nine years" previously, _i. e._
in 1627, when the war was raging between the Mohawks and the Mahicans of
which Wassenaer wrote. It was obviously about that time that the tribe,
retreating from its enemies, rallied west of Schohare Creek and founded
the castle of which we are speaking, and there it remained until it was
driven out by the French under De Tracey in 1666, when its occupants
gathered together at Caughnawaga on the north side of the Mohawk, where
they remained until 1693 when their castle was again destroyed by the
French, and the tribe found a resting place on the west side of the mouth
of Schohare Creek. The remarkable episode in the early history of the
castle, the torture and murder of Father Jogues in 1646, is available in
many publications. The location in Brodhead's and other histories of the
castle in which he suffered as at Caughnawaga, is now known to be
erroneous. Caughnawaga was not occupied by the tribal castle until over
twenty years later.
* * * * *
[FN] The site of the Shrine was approved by the Society of Jesus mainly
on examinations and measurements made by General John S. Clark, the
locally eminent antiquarian of Auburn, N. Y., who gave the most
conscientious attention to the work of investigation. The data supplied
by Van Curler's Journal, which he did not have before him, may suggest
corrections in some of his locations.
Senatsycrossy, written by Van Curler, in 1635, as the name of a Mohawk
Village west of _Canowarode,_ seems to have been in the vicinity of
Fultonville, where tradition has always located one, but where General
John S. Clark asserts that there never was one. It may not have remained
at the place named for a number of years. Villages that were not palisaded
were sometimes removed in a single night. Van Curler described it as a
village of twelve houses. It was, presumably, the seat of a sub-tribe or
gens of the Tortoise tribe. Its precise location is not important. A gens
or sub-tribe was a family of the original stock more or less numerous
from natural increase and intermarriages, and always springing from a
single pair--the old, old story of Adam and Eve, the founders of the
Hebrews. The sachem or first man of these gens was never a ruler of the
tribe proper. They did sign deeds for possessions which were admitted to
be their own, but never a treaty on the part of the nation.
Caughnawaga, probably the best known of the Mohawk castles of what may
be called the middle era (1667-93), and the immediate successor of
_Onekagoncka_ of 1635, was located on the north side of the Mohawk, on
the edge of a hill, near the river, half a mile west of the mouth of
Cayuadutta Creek, in the present village of Fonda. The hill on which it
was built is now known as Kaneagah, writes Mr. W. Max Read of Amsterdam.
Its name appears first in French notation, in Jesuit Relations (1667),
_Gandaouagué._ [FN] Contemporaneous Dutch scribes wrote it _Kaghnawaga_
and _Caughnawaga,_ and Greenhalgh, an English trader, who visited the
castle in 1677, wrote it _Cahaniaga,_ and described it as "about a bowshot
from the river, doubly stockaded around, with four ports, and twenty-four
houses." The most salient points in its history are in connection with
its wars with the French and with the labors of the Jesuit missionaries,
who, after the murder of Father Jogues and the destruction of the castle
in which he suffered and the peace of 1667, were very successful, so much
so that in 1671 the occupants of the castle erected in its public square
a Cross, and a year later a very large number of the tribe under the lead
of the famous warrior Krin, removed to Canada and became allies of the
French. The members of the tribe who remained occupied the castle until
the winter of 1693, when it was captured and burned by the French, and
the tribe returned to the south side of the river and located on the
flats on the west side of Schohare Creek, where they were especially
known as "The Praying Maquaas," and where they remained until 1779, when
they were dispersed by the Revolutionary forces under General Clinton.
_Caughnawaga_ is accepted as meaning "At the rapids," more correctly "At
the rapid current." It is from the Huron radical _Gannawa_ (Bruyas),
for which M. Cuoq wrote in his Lexicon _Ohnawagh,_ "Swift current," or
very nearly the Dutch _Kaghnawa_; with locative particle _-ge_ or _-ga,_
"At the rapids." It is a generic term and is met of record in several
places. As has been noted elsewhere, the rapids of the Mohawk extend at
intervals fifteen in number from Schenectady to Little Falls, the longest
being east of the mouth of Schohare Creek. The rapid or rift at
Caughnawaga extends about half a mile.
* * * * *
[FN] The letters _ou,_ in _Gandaouaga_ and in other names, represents
a sound produced by the Mohawks in the throat without motion of the
lips. Bruyas wrote it 8. {_sic_ ȣ?} It is now generally written
_w--Gandawaga._
Cayudutta, modern orthography; _Caniadutta_ and _Caniahdutta,_ 1752.
"Beginning at a great rock, lying on the west side of a creek, called by
the Indians Caniadutta." (Cal. Land Papers, 270.) The name was that of
the rock, from which it was extended to the stream. It was probably a
rock of the calciferous sandstone type containing garnets, quartz and
flint, which are met in the vicinity. "The name is from _Onenhia,_ or
_Onenya,_ 'stone,' and _Kaniote,_ 'to be elevated,' or standing" (Hale).
[FN] Dr. Beauchamp translated the name, "Stone standing out of the
water." The meaning, however, seems to be simply, "Standing stone," or
an elevated rock. Its location is stated in the patent description as
"lying on the west side of the creek." The place is claimed for Fulton
County. (See Caughnawaga.)
* * * * *
[FN] The same word is now written as the name of the Oneida nation. Van
Curler's trip, in 1635, extended to the castle of the Oneidas, which he
called' _Enneyuttehage,_ "The standing-stone town." (Hale.)
Canagere, written by Van Curler, in 1635, as the name of the "Second
Castle" or tribal town, was written _Gandagiro_ by Father Jogues, in
1643; _Banigiro_ by Rev. Megapolensis; _Gandagora_ in Jesuit Relations
in 1669, and _Canagora_ by Greenhalgh in 1677. The several orthographies
are claimed to stand for _Canajohare,_ from the fact that the castle was
"built on a high hill" east of Canajohare Creek. It was, however, the
castle of the Bear tribe, the _Ganniagwari,_ or Grand Bear of the nation,
and carried its name with it to the north side of the Mohawk in 1667.
_Ganniagwari_ and _Canajohare_ are easily confused. The creek called
_Canajohare_ gave a general locative name to a considerable district of
country around it. It took the name from a pot-hole in a mass of limestone
in its bed at the falls on the stream about one mile from its mouth.
Bruyas wrote "_Ganna-tsi-ohare,_ laver de chaudiere" (to wash the cauldron
or large kettle). Rev. Samuel Kirkland, the noted missionary to the
Oneidas, wrote the same word "_Kanaohare_, or Great Boiling Pot, as it is
called by the Six Nations." (Dr. Dwight.) The letter _j_ stands for
_tsi,_ augmentative, and the radical _ohare_ means "To wash." (Bruyas.)
The hole was obviously worn by a round stone or by pebbles, which, moved
by the action of the current, literally washed the kettle. Van Curler
described the castle as containing "sixteen houses, fifty, sixty, seventy,
or eighty paces long, and one of five paces containing a bear," which he
presumed was "to be fattened." No matter what may be said in regard to
precise location, this castle was _east_ of Canajohare Creek.
Sohanidisse, a castle so called by Van Curler, and denominated by him as
the "Third Castle," is marked on Van der Donck's map _Schanatisse._ It
is described by Van Curler as "on a very high hill," _west_ of Canajohare
Creek, was composed of thirty-two long houses, and was not enclosed by
palisades. "Near this castle was plenty of flat land and the woods were
full of oak trees." The "very high hill" west of Canajohare Creek and the
flat lands remain to verify its position. It is supposed to have been the
castle of the Beaver tribe--a sub-gens.
Osquage, Ohquage, Otsquage, etc., was written by Van Curler as the name
of a village of nine houses situated east of what has been known since
1635 as Osquage or Otsquage Creek. The chief of the village was called
"_Oguoho,_ that is Wolf." Megapolensis wrote the same term _Okwaho_; Van
Curler later wrote it _Ohquage,_ and in vocabulary "_Okwahohage,_ wolves,"
accessorily, "Place of wolves." From the form _Osquage_ we no doubt have
_Otsquage_ or _Okquage._
Cawaoge, a village so called by Van Curler, was described by him as on a
"very high hill" west of _Osquage._ On his return trip he wrote the name
_Nawoga;_ on old maps it is _Canawadoga,_ of which _Cawaoge_ is a
compression, apparently from _Gannawake._ For centuries the name has been
preserved in _Nowadaga_ as that of Fort Plain Creek.
Tenotoge and Tenotehage, Van Curler; _t' Jonoutego,_ Van der Donck;
_Te-onont-ogeu,_ Jogues; _Thenondigo,_ Megapolensis--called by Van Curler
the "Fourth Castle" and known later as the castle of the Wolf tribe, and
as the "Upper Mohawk Castle," was described by Van Curler as composed of
fifty-five houses "surrounded by three rows of palisades." It stood in a
valley evidently, as Van Curler wrote that the stream called the Osquaga
"ran past this castle." On the opposite (east) side of the stream he saw
"a good many houses filled with corn and beans," and extensive flat
lands. It was undoubtedly strongly palisaded to defend the western door
of the nation as was Onekagoncka on the east. _Te-onont-ogen,_ which is
probably the most correct form of the name, means "Between two mountains,"
an intervale or space between, from _Te,_ "two"; _-ononte,_ "mountain,"
and _-ogen,_ "between." The same name is met later at the mouth of
Schohare Creek. General John S. Clark located this castle at Spraker's
Basin, thirteen miles (railroad) _west_ of Auriesville and three miles
_east_ of Nowedaga Creek. The correctness of this location must be
determined by the topographical features stated by Van Curler and not
otherwise. General Clark did an excellent work in searching for the sites
of ancient castles from remaining evidences of Indian occupation, but the
remaining evidence of names and topographical features where they are met
of record must govern. In this case the creek that "ran past the door of
this castle," is an indisputable mark. The French destroyed the castle in
October, 1666. In the account of the occurrence (Doc. Hist. N. Y., ii,
70) it is described as being surrounded by "A triple palisade, twenty
feet in height and flanked by four bastions." The tribe did not defend
their possession, only a few old persons remaining who were too feeble to
follow the retreat of the warriors and kindred. The tribe rebuilt the
castle on the north side of the Mohawk under the name of _Onondagowa,_
"A Great Hill." The French destroyed it again in 1693, and the tribe
returned to the south side of the river and located on the flat at the
mouth of the Nowadaga or Fort Plain Creek, where the government built,
in 1710, Fort Hendrick for its protection, and where it became known as
the Upper or Canajohare Castle.
Aschalege, Oschalage, Otsgarege, etc., are record forms of the name given
as that of the stream now known as Cobel's Kill, a branch of Schohare
Creek in Schohare County. Morgan translated it from _Askwa_ or _Oskwa,_
a scaffolding or platform of any kind, and _ge,_ locative, the combination
yielding "At or on a bridge." Bruyas wrote _Otserage,_ "A causeway," a
way or road raised above the natural level of the ground, serving as a
passage over wet or marshy grounds. Otsgarage is now applied to a noted
cavern near the stream in the town of Cobel's Kill.
Oneyagine, "called by the Indians _Oneyagine,_ and by the Christians
Stone Kill," is the record name of a creek in Schohare County. J. B. N.
Hewitt read it from _Onehya_ (_Onne'ja,_ Bruyas), "stone"; _Oneyagine,_
"At the broken stone," from which transferred to the stream.
Kanendenra, "a hill called by the Indians Kanendenra, otherwise by the
Christians Anthony's Nose"--"to a point on Mohawk River near a hill called
by the Indians Kanandenra, and by the Christians Anthony's Nose"--"to a
certain hill called Anthony's Nose, whose point comes into the said
river"--"Kanendahhere, a hill on the south side of the Mohawk, by the
Christians lately called Anthony's Nose"--now known as "The Noses" and
applied to a range of hills that rises abruptly from the banks of the
Mohawk just below Spraker's. The name is an abstract noun, possessing a
specialized sense. The nose is the terminal peak of the Au Sable range.
The rock formation is gneiss, covered by heavy masses of calciferous
limestone containing garnets. "Anthony's Nose," probably so called from
resemblance to Anthony's Nose on the Hudson.
Etagragon, now so written, the name of a boundmark on the Mohawk, is of
record "_Estaragoha,_ a certain rock." The locative is on the south side
of the river about twenty-four miles above Schenectady. (Cal. N. Y. Land
Papers, 121.) The name is an equivalent of _Astenra-kowa,_ "A large
rock." Modern _Otsteara-kowa,_ Elliot.
Astenrogen, of record as the name of "the first carrying place," now
Little Falls, is from _Ostenra,_ "rock," and _ogen,_ "divisionem"
(Bruyas), literally, "Divided or separated rock." The east end of the
gorge was the eastern boundmark of what is known as the "German Flats,"
which was purchased and settled by a part of the Palatine immigrants who
had been located on the Livingston Patent in 1710. The patent to the
Germans here was granted in 1723. The description in it reads: "Beginning
at the first carrying place, being the easternmost bounds, called by the
natives _Astenrogen,_ running along on both sides of said river westerly
unto _Ganendagaren,_ or the upper end [_i. e._ of the flats, a fine
alluvial plain on both sides of the river], [FN] being about twenty-four
miles." (Cal. N. Y. Land Papers, 182.) The passage between the rocks, now
Little Falls, covered a distance of "about three-quarters of a mile" and
the rapids "the height of thirty-nine feet," according to the survey of
1792. The Mohawk here breaks through the Allegheny ridge which primarily
divided the waters of the Ontario Basin from the Hudson. The overflow
from the basin here formed a waterfall that probably rivaled Niagara and
gradually wore away the rock. The channel of the stream was very deep and
on the subsidence of the ice sheet, which spread over the northern part
of the continent, became filled with drift. The opening in the ridge and
the formation of the valley of the Mohawk as now known are studies in the
work of creation. The settlements known as the German Flats were on both
sides of the river. The one that was on the north side was burned by the
French in the war of 1756-7. It was then composed of sixty houses. The
one on the south side was known as Fort Kouari and later as Fort
Herkimer. The district shared largely in the historic events in the
Mohawk Valley during the Revolution. There are very few districts of
country in the nation in which so many subjects for consideration are
centered.
* * * * *
[FN] _Ganendagraen_ is probably from _Gahenta_ (Gahenda), "Prairie."
* * * * *
On the Delaware.
Keht-hanne, Heckewelder--_Kittan,_ Zeisberger--"The principal or greatest
stream," _i. e._ of the country through which it passes, was the generic
name of the Delaware River, and _Lenapewihittuck,_ "The river or stream
of the Lenape," its specific name, more especially referring to the
stream where its waters are affected by tidal currents. In the Minisink
country it was known as _Minisinks River,_ or "River of the Minisinks."
At the Lehigh junction the main stream was called the East Branch and the
Lehigh the West Branch (Sauthier's map), but above that point the main
stream was known as the West Branch to its head in Utsyantha [FN-1] Lake,
on the north-east line of Delaware County, N. Y., where it was known as
the Mohawk's Branch. It forms the southwestern boundary of the State from
nearly its head to Port Jervis, Orange County, Where it enters or becomes
the western boundary of New Jersey. At Hancock, Delaware County, it
receives the waters of what was called by the Indians the _Paghkataghan,_
and by the English the East Branch. The West Branch was here known to the
Indians as the _Namaes-sipu_ and its equivalent _Lamas-sépos,_ or "Fish
River," by Europeans, Fish-Kill, "Because," says an affidavit of 1785,
"There was great numbers of _Maskunamack_ (that is Bass) and _Guwam_
(that is Shad) [FN-2] went up that branch at Shokan, and but few or none
went up the East [Paghkataghan] Branch." [FN-3] In the course of time the
East or Paghkataghan [FN-4] Branch became known as the Papagonck from a
place so called. The lower part of the stream was called by the Dutch the
"Zuiden River," or South River. In early days the main or West Branch was
navigable by flat-boats from Cochecton Falls to Philadelphia and
Wilmington. Smith, in his "History of New Jersey," wrote: "From Cochecton
to Trenton are fourteen considerable rifts, yet all passable in the long
flat boats used in the navigation of these parts, some carrying 500 or
600 bushels of wheat." _Meggeckesson_ (Col. Hist. N. Y., xii, 225) was
the name of what are now known as Trenton Falls, or rapids. It means,
briefly, "Strong water." Heckewelder's _Maskek-it-ong_ and his
interpretation of it, "Strong falls at," are wrong, the name which he
quoted being that of a swamp in the vicinity of the falls, as noted in
Col. Hist. N. Y., and as shown by the name itself.
The Delaware was the seat of the _Lenni-Lenapé_ (_a_ as _a_ in father,
_é_ as _a_ in mate--_Lenahpa_), or "Original people," or people born of
the earth on which they lived, who were recognized, at the time of the
discovery, as the head or "Grandfather" of the Algonquian nations. From
their principal seat on the tide-waters of the Delaware, and their
jurisdiction on that stream, they became known and are generally met in
history as the Delawares. In tribal and sub-tribal organizations they
extended over Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, and
New York as far north as the Katskills, speaking dialects radically the
same as that of the parent stock. [FN-5] They were composed of three
primary totemic tribes, the _Minsi_ or Wolf, the _Unulachtigo_ or Turkey,
and the _Unami_ or Turtle, of whom the Turtle held the primacy. They were
a milder and less barbaric people than the Iroquoian tribes, with whom
they had little affinity and with whom they were almost constantly in
conflict until they were broken up by the incoming tide of Europeans, the
earliest and the succeeding waves of which fell upon their shores, and
the later alliance of the English with their ancient enemies, the
confederated Six Nations of New York, who, from their geographical
position and greater strength from their remoteness from the
demoralization of early European contact, offered the most substantial
advantages for repelling the advances of the French in Canada. Ultimately
conquered by the Six Nations, and made "Women," in their figurative
language, _i. e._ a people without power to make war or enter into
treaties except with the consent of their rulers, they nevertheless
maintained their integrity and won the title of "Men" as the outcome of
the war of 1754-6. Their history has been fully--perhaps too
favorably--written by Heckewelder and others. The geographical names
which they gave to the hills and streams of their native land are their
most remindful memorial. While western New York was Iroquoian, southern
New York was Lenni-Lenape or Algonquian.
* * * * *
[FN-1] Also written _Oteseontio_ and claimed as the name of a spring.
The lake is a small body of water lying 1,800 feet above tide level, in
the town of Jefferson, Schohare County. It is usually quoted as the head
of the West Branch of Delaware River.
[FN-2] "_Guwam;_ modifications, _Choam, Schawan._ The stem appears to be
_Shawano,_ 'South,' 'Coming from the south,' or from salt water."
(Brinton.)
[FN-3] Affidavit of Johannes Decker, Hist. Or. Co. (quarto) p. 699:
"Called by the Indians Lamas-Sepos, or Fish Kill, because they caught
the shad there." (Cal. N. Y. Land Papers, 698, _et. seq._)
[FN-4] _Paghkataghan_ means "The division or branch of a stream"--"Where
the stream divides or separates." The Moravian missionaries wrote the
name _Pachgahgoch,_ from which, by corruption, _Papagonck._ The
Papagoncks seem to have been, primarily, Esopus Indians, and to have
retreated to that point after yielding up their Esopus lands. (See
Schaghticoke.)
[FN-5] Two slightly different dialects prevailed among the Delawares,
the one spoken by the Unami and the Unulachtigo, the other the Minsi.
The dialect which the missionaries Learned, and in which they composed
their works, was that of the Lehigh Valley. We may fairly consider it
to have been the upper or inland Unami. It stood between the Unulachto
and Southern Unami and the true Minsi. (Dr. Brinton.) The dialects
spoken in the valley of Hudson's River have been referred to in another
connection.
Minisink, now so written and preserved as the name of a town in Orange
County, appears primarily, in 1656, on Van der Donck's map, "Minnessinck
ofte t' Landt van Bacham," which may be read, constructively, "Indians
inhabiting the back or upper lands," or the highlands. [FN] Heckewelder
wrote: "The Minsi, which we have corrupted to Monsey, extended their
settlements from the Minisink, a place named after them, where they had
their council seat and fire," and Reichel added, "The Minisinks, _i. e._
the habitation of the Monseys or Minsis." The application was both
general and specific to the district of country occupied by the Minsi
tribe and to the place where its council fire was held. The former
embraced the mountainous country of the Delaware River above the Forks
or junction of the Lehigh Branch; the latter was on Minnisink Plains in
New Jersey, about eight miles south of Port Jervis, Orange County. It was
obviously known to the Dutch long before Van der Donck wrote the name.
It was visited, in 1694, by Arent Schuyler, a credited interpreter, who
wrote, in his Journal, Minissink and Menissink as the name of the tribal
seat. Although it is claimed that there was another council-seat on the
East Branch of the Delaware, that on Minisink Plains was no doubt the
principal seat of the tribe, as records show that it was there that all
official intercourse with the tribe was conducted for many years.
Schuyler met sachems and members of the tribe there and the place was
later made a point for missionary labor. Their village was palisaded.
On one of the early maps it is represented as a circular enclosure. In
August, 1663, they asked the Dutch authorities at New Amsterdam, through
_Oratamy,_ sachem of the Hackinsacks, "For a small piece of ordnance to
use in their fort against the _Sinuakas_ and protect their corn." (Col.
Hist. N. Y., xiii, 290.) In the blanket deed which the tribe gave in
1758, to their territory in New Jersey they were styled "Minsis, Monseys,
or Minnisinks." _Minsis_ and _Monseys_ are convertible terms of which the
late Dr. D. G. Brinton wrote: "From investigation among living Delawares,
_Minsi,_ properly _Minsiu,_ formerly _Min-assin-iu,_ means 'People of the
stony country,' or briefly, 'Mountaineers.' It is the synthesis of
_Minthiu,_ 'To be scattered,' and _Achsin,_ 'Stone.' according to the
best native authority." Apparently from _Min-assin_ we have Van der
Donck's _Minn-essin;_ with locative _-k, -ck, -g, -gh, Minn-essin-ks,_
"People of the stony country," back-landers or highlanders.
Interpretations of less merit have been made. One that is widely quoted
is from Old Algonquian and Chippeway _Minnis,_ "Island," and _-ink,_
locative; but there is no evidence that _Minnis_ was in the dialect spoken
here; on the contrary the record name of Great Minnisink Island, which
is supposed to have been referred to, was _Menag'nock,_ by the German
notation _Menach'hen-ak._ Aside from this _Minnissingh_ is of record at
Poughkeepsie, in 1683, where no island is known to have existed, and in
Westchester County the same term is met in _Men-assink_ (_Min-assin-ink_),
"At a place of small stones." The deed description at Poughkeepsie
located the tract conveyed "On the bank of the river," _i. e._ on the
back or ridge lands. (See Minnis-ingh.) The final _s_ which appears in
many of the forms of the name, and especially in _Minsis,_ is a foreign
plural.
* * * * *
[FN] "Minnessinck ofte t' Landt Van Bacham," apparently received some
of its letters from the engraver of the map. _Ofte_--Dutch and Old Saxon,
_av_--English _of_--was probably used in the sense of identity or
equivalency. Bacham--Dutch, _bak;_ Old High-German, _Bahhoham_--describes
"An extended upper part, as of a mountain or ridge." In application to
a tribe, "Ridge-landers," "Highlanders," or "Mountaineers." On the
Hudson the tribe was generally known as Highlanders. The double _n_ and
the double _s,_ in many of the forms, show that _e_ was pronounced
short, or _i._
Menagnock, the record name of what has long been known as "The Great
Mennissincks Island"--"The Great Island of the Mennisinks"--is probably
an equivalent of _Menach'henak_ (Minsi) meaning "Islands." The island,
so called, is a flat cut up by water courses, forming several small
islands.
Namenock, an island so called by Rev. Casparus Freymout in 1737, is
probably an equivalent of Naman-ock and Namee-ock, L. I., which was
translated by Dr. Trumbull from Mass. _Namau-ohke,_ "Fishing place," or
"Fish country"--_Namauk,_ Del, "Fishing place." Perhaps it was the site
of a weir or dam for impounding fish. Such dams or fishing places became
boundmarks in some cases. The name was corrupted to _Nomin-ack,_ as the
name of a church and of a fort three or four miles below what is now
Montague, N. J. On Long Island the name is corrupted to _Nomin-ick._
(See Moriches.)
Magatsoot--A tract of land "Called and known by the name of Magockomack
and Magatsoot"--so entered in petition of Philip French for Minisink
Patent in 1703, is noted in petition of Ebenezer Wilson (same patent),
in 1702, "Beginning on the northwest side of the mouth of Weachackamack
Creek where it enters Minisink River." The creek was then given the name
of the field called Maghaghkamieck; it is now called Neversink.
_Magatsoot_ was the name of the mouth of the stream, "Where it enters
Minisink River," or the Delaware. It is an equivalent of _Machaak-sók,_
[FN] meaning, "The great outlet," or mouth of a river. Although specific
in application to the mouth of the river, it is more strictly the name
of the stream than that which it now bears. (See Magaat-Ramis.)
* * * * *
[FN] _Machaak,_ Moh., _Mechek,_ Len.; "Great, large"; _soot, sók, sóhk,
sauk,_ "Pouring out," hence mouth or outlet of a river.
Maghagh-kamieck, so written in patent to Arent Schuyler in 1694, and
described therein as "A certain tract of land at a place called
Maghaghkamieck," which "Place" was granted, in 1697, to Swartwout,
Coddebeck, and others, has been handed down in many orthographies. The
precise location of the "Place" was never ascertained by survey, but by
occupation it consisted of some portion of a very fine section of
bottom-land extending along the northeast side of Neversink River from
near or in the vicinity of the junction of that stream and the Delaware
at Carpenter's Point to the junction of Basha's Kill [FN-1] and the
Neversink, in the present county of Sullivan, a distance of about eleven
miles. In general terms its boundaries are described in the patent as
extending from "The western bounds of the lands called _Nepeneck_ to a
small run of water called by the Indian name _Assawaghkemek,_ and so along
the same and the lands of Mansjoor, the Indian." It matters not that in
later years it was reported by a commission that the patent "Contained
no particular boundaries, but appeared rather to be a description of a
certain tract of country in which 1,200 acres were to be taken up," the
name nevertheless was that of a certain field or place so distinct in
character as to become a general locative of the whole, as in the Schuyler
grant of 1694. It may reasonably be presumed that the district to which
it was extended began at Carpenter's Point (Nepeneck) and ended on the
north side of Basha's Kill. (See Assawaghkemek.) The same name is met in
New Jersey on the Peaquaneck River, where it is of record in 1649,
"_Mechgacham-ik,_ or Indian field" (Col. Hist. N. Y., xiii, 25); noted
as an Indian settlement in the Journal of Arent Schuyler, in 1694, giving
an account of his visit to the Minissinck country, in February of that
year, in which the orthography is _Maghagh-kamieck,_ indicating very
clearly that the original was _Maghk-aghk-kamighk,_ a combination of
_Maghaghk,_ "Pumpkin," and _-kamik,_ "Field," or place limited, where
those vegetables were cultivated, and a place that was widely known
evidently. [FN-2] The German missionaries wrote _Machg-ack,_ "Pumpkin,"
and Captain John Smith, in his Virginia notes of 1620, wrote the same
sound in _Mahcawq._ No mention is made of an Indian village here. If
there was one it certainly was not visited by Arent Schuyler in 1694,
as is shown by the general direction of his route, as well as by maps of
Indian paths. To have visited Maghaghkamik in Orange County would have
taken him many miles out of his way. Maghaghkamik Fork and Maghaghkamik
Church lost those names many years ago, but the ancient name is still
in use in some connections in Port Jervis, and most wretchedly spelled.
* * * * *
[FN-1] Basha's Kill, so called from a place called Basha's land, which
see.
[FN-2] _Kamik,_ Del., _Komuk,_ Mass., in varying orthographies, means
"Place" in the sense of a limited enclosed, or occupied space;
"Generally," wrote Dr. Trumbull, "An enclosure, natural or artificial,
such as a house or other building, a village, or planted field, a thicket
or place surrounded by trees"; briefly, a place having definite
boundaries. _Maghkaghk_ is an intense expression of quality--perfection.
Nepeneck, a boundmark so called in the Swartwout-Coddebeck Patent of
1697--Napenock, Napenack, Napenough, later forms--given as the name of
the western or southwestern bound of the Maghaghkamick tract, is
described: "Beginning at the western bounds of the lands called Nepeneck."
The place is presumed to have been at or near Carpenter's Point, on the
Delaware, which at times is overflowed by water. It disappears here after
1697, but reappears in a similar situation some twenty miles north at the
junction of the Sandberg and Rondout kills. It is probably a generic as
in _Nepeak,_ L. I., meaning, "Water land," or land overflowed by water.
"_Nepenit_ 'In a place of water.'" (Trumbull.) Carpenter's Point or
ancient Nepeneck, is the site of the famous Tri-States Rock, the boundmark
of three states.
[Illustration: On The Delaware, Tri-States Rock Port Jervis, N.Y.]
Assawaghkemek, the name entered as that of the northeast boundmark of
the Swartwout-Coddebeck Patent, and described therein, "To a small run of
water called Assawaghkemek . . . and so along the same and the lands of
Mansjoor, the Indian," is known by settlement, to have been _at_ and
_below_ the junction of Basha's Kill and the Neversink, from which the
inference seems to be well sustained that "the lands of Mansjoor, the
Indian" were the lands or valley of Basha's Kill, which the name describes
as an enclosed or occupied place "beyond," or "on the other side" of the
small run of water. The prefix _Assaw,_ otherwise written _Accaw, Agaw,_
etc., means "Beyond," "On the other side." The termination _agh,_ or
_aug,_ indicates that the name is formed as a verb. _Kemek_ (Kamik) means
an enclosed, or occupied place, as already stated. The translation in
"History of Orange County," from _Waseleu,_ "Light, bright, foaming," is
erroneous, as is also the application of the name to Fall Brook, near the
modern village of Huguenot. In no case was the name that of a stream,
except by extension to it.
Peenpack, (Paan, Paen, Pien, Penn) is given, _traditionally,_ as the name
of a "Small knoll or rise of ground, some fifty or sixty rods long, ten
wide, and about twenty feet high above the level of" Neversink River,
"on and around which the settlers of the Maghaghkamik Patent first
located their cabins." It has been preserved for many generations as the
name of what is known as the Peen-pach Valley, the long narrow flats on
the Neversink. Apparently it is corrupt Dutch from _Paan-pacht,_ "Low,
soft land," or leased land. The same name is met in _Paan-paach,_ Troy,
N. Y., and in _Penpack,_ Somerset County, N. J. The places bearing it
were primary Dutch settlements on low lands. (See Paanpaach.) Doubtfully
a substitution for Algonquian from a root meaning, "To fall from a height"
(Abn., _Paⁿna;_ Len. _Pange_), as in Abn. _Panaⁿk'i,_ "Fall of land,"
the downward slope of a mountain, suggested by the slope of the Shawongunk
Mountain range, which here runs southwest to northeast and falls off on
the west until it meets the narrow flats spoken of. The same feature is
met at Troy.
Tehannek, traditionally the name of a small stream on the east side of
the Peenpack Knoll, probably means "Cold stream," from _Ta_ or _Te,_
"cold," and _-hannek,_ "stream." It is a mountain brook.
Sokapach, traditionally the name of a spring in Deerpark, means, "A
spring." It is an equivalent of _Sókapeék,_ "A spring or pool."
Neversink, the name quoted as that of the stream flowing to the Delaware
at Carpenter's Point, is not a river name. It is a corruption of Lenape
_Newás,_ "A promontory," and _-ink,_ locative, meaning "At the
promontory." The particular promontory referred to seems to have been
what is now known as Neversink Point, in Sullivan County, which rises
3,300 feet. The name is generic and is met in several places, notably in
Neversink, N. J. (See Maghaghkameck.)
Seneyaughquan, given as the name of an Indian bridge which crossed the
Neversink, may have its equivalent in "_Tayachquano,_ bridge--a dry
passage over a stream." (Heckewelder.) The bridge was a log and the
location said to have been above the junction of the stream with the
Mamacottin.
Saukhekemeck, otherwise _Maghawam,_ so entered in the Schuyler Patent,
1697, apparently refer to one and the same place. The locative has not
been ascertained. The patent covered lands now in New Jersey. The tract
is described in the patent: "Situated upon a river called Mennissincks,
before a certain island called Menagnock, which is adjacent to or near a
tract of land called by the natives Maghaghkamek." (See Menagnock.)
Warensagskemeck, a tract also conveyed to Arent Schuyler in 1697,
described as "A parcel of meadow or vly, adjacent to or near a tract
called Maghaghkamek," is probably, by exchange of _r_ and _l_ and
transpositions, _Walenaskameck; Walen,_ "hollowing, concave"; _Walak,_
hole; _Waleck,_ a hollow or excavation; _-ask,_ "Grass"; _-kameck,_ an
enclosed or limited field; substantially, "a meadow or vly," [FN] as
described in the deed.
* * * * *
[FN] _Vly_ is a Dutch contraction of _Vallei,_ with the accepted
signification, "A swamp or morass; a depression with water in it in
rainy seasons, but dry at other times." A low meadow. _Walini,_
(Eastern), hollowing, concave site.
Schakaeckemick, given as the name of a parcel of land on the Delaware
described as "lying in an elbow," seems to be an equivalent of
_Schaghach,_ meaning "Straight." level, flat, and _-kamick,_ a limited
field. The tract was given to one William Tietsort, a blacksmith, who had
escaped from the massacre at Schenectady (Feb. 1689-90), and was induced
by the gift to settle among the Minisinks to repair their fire-arms. He
was the first European settler on the Delaware within the limits of the
old county of Orange. He sold the land to one John Decker, and removed
to Duchess County. No abstract of title from Decker has been made, and
probably cannot be. Decker's name, however, appears in records as one of
the first settlers, in company with William Cole and Solomon Davis, in
what was long known as "The Lower Neighborhood"; in New Jersey annals,
"Cole's Fort." The precise location is uncertain. In History of Orange
Co. (Ed. 1881, p. 701), it is said: "It is believed that further
investigation will show that Tietsort's land was the later Benj. van
Vleet place, near Port Jervis." In Eager's "History of Orange County"
(p. 396), Stephen St. John is given as the later owner of the original
farm of John Decker. Decker's house was certainly in the "Lower
Neighborhood." It was palisaded and called a fort.
Wihlahoosa, given, locally, as the name of a cavern in the rocks on the
side of the mountain, about three miles from Port Jervis, on the east
side of Neversink River, is probably from _Wihl_ (Zeisb.), "Head," and
_-hōōs,_ "Pot or kettle." The reference may have been to its shape, or
its position. In the vicinity of the cavern was an Indian burial ground
covering six acres. Skeletons have been unearthed there and found
invariably in a sitting posture. In one grave was found a sheet-iron
tobacco-box containing a handkerchief covered with hieroglyphics probably
reciting the owner's achievements. Tomahawks, arrow-heads and other
implements have also been found in graves. The place was long known as
"Penhausen's Land," from one of the grantors of the deed. The cavern may
have had some connection with the burial ground.
Walpack, N. J., is probably a corruption of _Walpeék,_ from _Walak_
(_Woalac,_ Zeisb.), "A hollow or excavation," and _-peék,_ "Lake," or
body of still water. The idea expressed is probably "Deep water." It was
the name of a lake.
Mamakating, now so written and preserved in the name of a town in Sullivan
County, is written on Sauthier's map _Mamecatink_ as the name of a
settlement and _Mamacotton_ as the name of a stream. Other forms are
_Mamacoting_ and _Mamacocking._ The stream bearing the name is now called
Basha's Kill, the waters of which find their way to the Delaware, and
Mamakating is assigned to a hollow. The settlement was primarily a trading
post which gathered in the neighborhood of the Groot Yaugh Huys (Dutch,
"Great Hunting House"), a large cabin constructed by the Indians for their
accommodation when on hunting expeditions, [FN-1] and subsequently
maintained by Europeans for the accommodation of hunters and travelers
passing over what was known as the "Mamacottin path," a trunk line road
connecting the Hudson and Delaware rivers, more modernly known as the
"Old Mine Road," which was opened as a highway in 1756. The Hunting House
is located on Sauthier's map immediately south of the Sandberg, in the
town of Mamakating, and more recently, by local authority, at or near
what is known as the "Manarse Smith Spring," otherwise as the "Great
Yaugh Huys Fontaine," or Great Hunting House Spring. [FN-2] The meaning
of the name is largely involved in the orthography of the suffix. If the
word was _-oten_ it would refer to the trading post or town, as in
"_Otenink,_ in the town" (Heckewelder), and, with the prefix _Mamak_
(_Mamach,_ German notation), root _Mach,_ "evil, bad, naughty" (_Mamak,_
iterative), would describe something that was very bad in the town; but,
if the word was _-atin,_ "Hill or mountain," the name would refer to a
place that was at or on a very bad hill. Presumably the hill was the
objective feature, the settlement being at or near the Sandberg. There
is nothing in the name meaning plain or valley, nor anything "wonderful"
about it. Among other features on the ancient path was the wigwam of
_Tautapau,_ "a medicine man," so entered in a patent to Jacob Rutzen in
1713. _Tautapau_ (Taupowaw, Powaw), "A priest or medicine man," literally,
"A wise speaker."
* * * * *
[FN-1] Indian Hunting-houses were met in all parts of the country. They
were generally temporary huts, but in some cases became permanent. (See
Cochecton.)
[FN-2] _Fontaine_ is French--"A spring of water issuing from the earth."
The stream flowing from the spring is met in local history as Fantine
Kill.
Kau-na-ong-ga, "Two wings," is said to have been the name of White Lake,
Sullivan County, the form of the lake being that of a pair of wings
expanded, according to the late Alfred B. Street, the poet-historian,
who embalmed the lake in verse years before it became noted as a
fashionable resort. (See Kong-hong-amok.)
"Where the twin branches of the Delaware
Glide into one, and in their language call'd
_Chihocken,_ or 'the meeting of the floods';" [FN-1]
The "Willemoc," [FN-2] and "The Falls of the Mongaup," are also among
Street's poetical productions.
* * * * *
[FN-1] "Formerly Shohakin or Chehocton." (French's Gaz.) In N. Y. Land
Papers, Schohakana is the orthography. Street's translation is a poetical
fancy. The name probably refers to a place at the mouth of the northwest
or Mohawk Branch of the Delaware, and the northeast or Paghkataghan
Branch, at Hancock, Del. Co.
[FN-2] _Willemoc_ probably stands for _Wilamauk,_ "Good fishing-place."
There were two streams in the town, one known as the Beaver Kill and the
other as the _Williwemack._ In Cal. N. Y. Land Papers, 699, occurs the
entry: "The Beaver Kill or Whitenaughwemack." The date is 1785. The
orthography bears evidence of many years' corruption. It may have been
shortened to Willewemock and Willemoc, and stand for _Wilamochk,_ "Good,
rich, beaver." It was, presumably, a superior resort for beavers.
Shawanoesberg was conferred on a hill in the present town of Mamakating,
commemorative of a village of the Shawanoes who settled here in 1694 on
invitation of the Minisinks. (Council Minutes, Sept. 14, 1692.) Their
council-house is said to have been on the summit of the hill.
Basha's Land and Basha's Kill, familiar local terms in Sullivan County,
are claimed to have been so called from a squaw-sachem known as Elizabeth
who lived near Westbrookville. "Basha's Land" was one of the boundmarks
of the Minisink Patent and Basha's Kill the northeast bound of the
Maghaghkemik Patent. Derivation of the name from Elizabeth is not
well-sustained. [FN-1] The original was probably an equivalent of
_Bashaba,_ an Eastern-Algonquian term for "Sagamore of Sagamores," or
ruling sachem or king of a nation. It is met of record Bashaba, Betsebe,
Bessabe, Bashebe, etc. Hubbard wrote: "They called the chief rulers,
who commanded the rest, Bashabeas. Bashaba is a title." "Chiefs bearing
this title, and exercising the prerogatives of their rank, are frequently
spoken of by the early voyagers." [FN-2] (Hist. Mag., Second Series, 3,
49.) The lands spoken of were the recognized territorial possession of
the chief ruler of the nation or tribe. The "squaw-sachem" [FN-3] may
have held the title by succession or as the wife of the Bashaba.
* * * * *
[FN-1] Basha's Kill was applied to Mamcotten Kill north of the village
of Wurtsboro, south of which it retained the name of Mamacotten, as
written on Sauthier's map. Quinlan, in his "History of Sullivan County,"
wrote: "The head-waters of Mamakating River subsequently became known
as Elizabeth's Kill, in compliment to Elizabeth Gonsaulus. We could
imagine that she was the original Basha, Betje, or Betsey, who owned the
land south of the Yaugh House Spring, and gave to the Mamakating stream
its present name; but unfortunately she was not born soon enough.
Twenty-five years before her family came to Mamakating, 'Basha's land'
was mentioned in official documents." It appears in the Minisink Patent
in 1704.
[FN-2] A. S. Gatschet, of the Bureau of Ethnology, wrote me: "The Bashas,
Bashebas and Betsebas of old explorers of the coast of Maine, I explain
by _pe'sks,_ 'one,' and _a'pi,_ 'man,' or person--'First man in the
land.'"
[FN-3] _Squaw,_ "Woman," means, literally, "Female animal." _Saunk-squa_
stands for "Sochem's squaw." "The squa-sachem, for so they call the
Sachem's wife." (Winslow.)
Mongaup, given as the name of a stream which constitutes in part the
western boundary of Orange County, is entered on Sauthier's map,
"Mangawping or Mangaup." Quinlan (Hist. Sullivan County) claimed for it
also Mingapochka and Mingwing, indicating that the stream carried the
names of two distinct places. _Mongaup_ is a compression of Dutch
_Mondgauwpink,_ meaning, substantially, "At the mouth of a small, rapid
river," for which a local writer has substituted "Dancing feather," which
is not in the composition in any language. _Mingapochka_ (Alg.), appears
to be from _Mih'n_ (_Mih'nall_ plural; Zeisb.), "Huckleberry," and
_-pohoka,_ "Cleft, clove or valley"--literally, "Huckleberry Valley."
Street, writing half a century ago, described the northern approach of
the stream as a valley wreathed (poetically) in whortle berries--
"In large tempting clusters of light misty blue."
The stream rises in the center of Sullivan County and flows to the
Delaware. The falls are said to be from sixty to eighty feet in four
cascades. (Hist. Sul. Co.) Another writer says: "Three miles above
Forestburgh village, the stream falls into a chasm seventy feet deep,
and the banks above the falls are over one hundred feet high."
Meenahga, a modern place-name, is a somewhat remarkable orthography of
_Mih'n-acki_ (aghki), "Huckleberry land" or place.
Callicoon, the name of a town in Sullivan County, and of a stream, is
an Anglicism of _Kalkan_ (Dutch), "Turkey"--_Wilde Kalkan,_ "Wild
turkey"--in application, "Place of turkeys." The district bearing the
name is locally described as extending from Callicoon Creek to the mouth
of Ten Mile River, on the Delaware. Wild turkeys were abundant in the
vicinage of the stream no doubt, from which perhaps the name, but as
there is record evidence that a clan of the Turkey tribe of Delawares
located in the vicinity, it is quite probable that the name is from them.
The stream is a dashing mountain brook, embalmed poetically by the pen
of Street. (See Cochecton.)
Keshethton, written by Colonel Hathorn in 1779, as the name of an Indian
path, is no doubt an orthography of Casheghton. In early years a
trunk-line path ran up the Delaware to Cochecton Falls, where, with other
paths, it connected with the main path leading to Wyoming Valley, [FN]
the importance of the latter path suggesting, in 1756, the erection of
a fort and the establishment of a base of supplies at Cochecton from
which to attack the Indians under Tedyuscung and Shingask in what was
then known as "The Great Swamp," from which those noted warriors and
their followers made their forays. (Doc. Hist. N. Y., ii. 715; Ib. Map,
i, 586.) Colonel Hathorn passed over part of this path in 1779, in pursuit
of Brant, and was disastrously defeated in what is called "The Battle of
Minnisink."
* * * * *
[FN] "The first well-beaten path that connected the Delaware and
Susquehanna Rivers, and subsequently the first rude wagon road leading
from Cochecton through Little Meadows, in Salem township, and across
Moosic Mountains." (Hist. Penn.) It was with a view to connect the
commerce from this section with the Hudson that the Newburgh and
Cochecton Turnpike was constructed in the early years of 1800.
Cochecton, the name of a town and of a village in Sullivan County,
extended on early maps to an island, to a range of hills, and to a fall
or rift in the Delaware River, is written Cashieghtunk and in other forms
on Sauthier's map of 1774; Cushieton on a map of 1768; _Keshecton,_ Col.
Cortlandt, 1778; _Cashecton,_ N. Y. Land Papers, 699; Cushietunk in the
proceedings of the Treaty of Easton, 1758, and in other New Jersey
records: Cashighton in 1744; Kishigton in N. Y. records in 1737, and
Cashiektunk by Cadwallader Colden in 1737, as the name of a place near
the boundmark claimed by the Province of New Jersey, latitude 41 degrees
40 minutes. "On the most northerly branch of Delaware River, which point
falls near Cashiektunk, an Indian village, on a branch of that river
called the Fish Kill." (Doc. Hist. N. Y., iv, 177.) In the Treaty of
Easton, 1758, the Indian title to land conveyed to New Jersey is
described: "Beginning at the Station Point between the Province of New
Jersey and New York, at the most northerly end of an Indian settlement
on the Delaware, known by the name of Casheitong." Station Point, called
also Station Rock, is about three miles southeast of the present village
of Cochecton, on a flat at a bend in the river, by old survey twenty-two
miles in a straight line from the mouth of Maghaghkamik Creek, now
Carpenter's Point, in the town of Deerpark, Orange County. Cochecton
Falls, so called, are a rocky rapid in a narrow gorge covering a fall
of two or three hundred feet, the obstruction throwing the water and the
deposits brought down back upon the low lands. The Callicoon flows to the
Delaware a few miles northeast of the falls. Between the latter and the
mouth of the Callicoon lies the Cochecton Flats or valley. The precise
location of "Station Point or Rock," described as "At the most northerly
end" of the Indian village, has not been ascertained, but can be readily
found. The late Hon. John C. Curtis, of Cochecton, wrote: "Our beautiful
valley, from Cochecton Falls to the mouth of the Callicoon, was called,
by the Indians, _Cushetunk,_ or low lands," the locative of the name
having been handed down from generation to generation, and an
interpretation of the name which is inferentially correct. There is no
such word as _Cash_ or _Cush_ in the Delaware dialect, however; it stands
here obviously as a form of _K'sch,_ intensive _K'schiecton_ (Len. Eng.
Dic.); _Geschiechton,_ Zeisberger, verbal noun, "To wash," "The act of
washing," as by the "overflow of the water of a sea or river. . . . The
river washed a valley in the plain"; with suffix _-unk_
(_K'schiechton-unk_--compressed to _Cushetunk_), denoting a place where
the action of the verb was performed, _i. e._ a place where at times the
land is washed or overflowed by water, from which the traditionary
interpretation, "Low land." [FN-1]
The Indian town spoken of was established in 1744, although its site was
previously occupied by Indian hunting houses or huts for residences while
on hunting expeditions. In Col. Mss. v. 75, p. 10, is preserved a paper
in which it is stated that the Indians residing at Goshen, Orange County,
having "Removed to their hunting houses at Cashigton," were there
visited, in December, 1744, by a delegation of residents of Goshen,
consisting of Col. Thomas DeKay, William Coleman, Benj. Thompson, Major
Swartwout, Adam Wisner, interpreter, and two Indians as pilots, for the
purpose of ascertaining the cause of the removal; that the delegation
found the residents composed of two totemic families, Wolves and Turkeys;
that, having lost their sachem, they were debating "Out of which tribe
a successor should be chosen"; that they had removed from Goshen through
fear of the hostile intention on the part of the settlers there, who
"Were always carrying guns." Later, a delegation from the Indian town
visited Goshen, and was there "Linked together" with Colonel De Kay, as
the representative of the Governor of the province, in their peculiar
form of locking arms, for three hours, as a test of enduring friendship.
[FN-2] It was the only treaty with the Indians in Orange County of which
there is record.
Aside from its Indian occupants the town is historic as the point forming
the old northwest boundmark of New Jersey (Lat. 41 degrees 40 minutes),
as recognized in the Treaty of Easton. (See Pompton.) From its association
with the history of three provinces, the story of the town is of more
than local interest. The lands were ultimately included in the Hardenberg
Patent, and most of the Indian descendants of its founders of 1744
followed the lead of Brant in the Revolution. They probably deserved a
better fate than that which came to them. They are gone. The long night
with its starless robe has enveloped them in its folds--the ceaseless
wash of the waters of the Delaware upon the beautiful valley of Cochecton,
hymns their requiem.
* * * * *
[FN-1] Probably the same name is met in _Sheshecua-ung,_ the broad flats
opposite and above the old Indian meadows, Wyoming Valley, where the
topography is substantially the same.
[FN-2] A belt was presented by the Indians to Col. De Kay, but what
became of it neither the records or tradition relates.
* * * * *
Here we close our survey of the only monuments which remain of races
which for ages hunted the deer, chanted songs of love, and raised fierce
war cries--the names which they gave and which remain of record of the
hills and valleys, the lakes and waterfalls, amid which they had their
abiding places. Wonderfully suggestive and full of inferential deductions
are those monuments; volumes of history and romance are linked with them;
the most controlling influences in making our nation what it is is graven
in their crude orthographies. Their further reclamation and restoration
to the geographical locations to which they belonged is a duty devolving
on coming generations.
* * * * *
THE DUTCH RACKS OF 1625-6.
[_From De Laet's "New World," Leyden Edition._]
"Within the first reach, where the land is low, there dwells a nation of
savages named Tappaans. . . . The second reach extends upward to a
narrow pass named by our people Haverstroo; then comes Seyl-maker's
(Zeil-maker's, sail-maker's) reach, as they call it; and next, a crooked
reach, in the form of a crescent, called Koch's reach (Cook's reach).
Next is Hooge-rack (High reach); and then follows Vossen reach (Foxes
reach), which extends to Klinckersberg (Stone mountain). This is
succeeded by Fisher's (Vischer's) reach, where, on the east bank of the
river, dwells a nation of savages called Pachamy. This reach extends to
another narrow pass, where, on the west side of the river, there is a
point of land that juts out covered with sand, opposite a bend in the
river, on which another nation of savages, called the Waoranecks, have
their abode, at a place called Esopus. A little beyond, on the west
side, where there is a creek, and the river becomes more shallow, the
Waronawankongs reside; _here are several small islands._ Next comes
another reach called Klaver-rack, where the water is deeper on the west
side, while the eastern side is sandy. Then follow Backer-rack, John
Playser's rack and Vaster rack as far as Hinnenhock. Finally, the
Herten-rack (Deer-rack) succeeds as far as Kinderhoek. Beyond Kinderhoek
there are several small islands, one of which is called Beeren Island
(Bear's Island). After this we come to a sheltered retreat named Onwee
Ree (_Onwereen,_ to thunder, _Ree,_ quick, sudden thunder storms), and
farther on are Sturgeon's Hoek, over against which, on the east side of
the river, dwell the Mohicans."
TO THE READER.
* * * * *
A work of the character of that which is herewith presented to you would
be eminently remarkable if it was found to be entirely free from
typographical and clerical errors. No apology is made for such as you
may find, the rule being regarded as a good one that the discoverer of
an error is competent to make the necessary correction. Whatever you may
find that is erroneous, especially in the topographical features of
places, please have the kindness to forward to the compiler and enable
him to correct.
Respectfully,
E. M. RUTTENBER,
Newburgh, N. Y.
INDEX.
{Transcriber's note: The page numbers indicated below refer to pages in
the separate article, "Footprints of the Redmen," and are not in sequence
with the complete published volume of proceedings. The HTML and e-book
versions of the article have hyperlinks to the names indexed.}
{Transcriber's Note: Some of the original index entries are incorrect.
The corrected page numbers are shown in braces {p.} Alphabetical placement
errors are left as in the original.}
Achquetuck 177
Achsinink 148
Ackinckes-hacky 104
Adirondacks 187
Aepjin (Sachem) 59
Agwam (Agawam) 83
Ahashewaghick 51
Ahasimus 106
Aioskawasting 146 {145}
Alaskayering 148
Albany 178
Alipkonck 26
Amagansett 83
Amangag-arickan 168
Anaquassacook 69
Anthony's Nose 31, 217
Apanammis 33
Appamaghpogh 30
Aquackan-onck 104
Aquassing 46
Aquebogue 98
Aquehung 32
Arackook 139
Arisheck 106
Armonck 33
Assawagh-kemek 224
Assawanama 98
Assiskowackok 173
Assinapink 126
Assup (Accup) 77
Aschalege 216
Aspetong 32
Astenrogan 217
Athens 174
Atkarkarton 158
Aupaumut, Hendrick 11
Aupauquack 98
Aurie's Creek 210
Basha's Land 229
Bergen 106
Callicoon 230
Canagere 214
Canajohare 214
Canarsie 88
Caneray (Carenay) 191
Caniade-rioit 70
Caniade-riguarunte 72
Canniengas 189
Canopus 36
Casperses Creek 44
Cataconoche 80
Catskill 170
Caughnawaga 213
Caumset 96
Cawaoge 215
Cayudutta 214
Cheesek-ook 117
Chihocken 229
Chouckhass 133
Ciskhekainck 56
Claverack 55
Cobel's Kill 216
Cochecton 231
Comae 92
Commoenapa 105
Connecticut 80
Copake 59
Cronomer's Hill 130
Cumsequ-ogue 81
Cussqunsuck 94
Cutchogue 84
Dans Kamer 183 {138}
DeKay, Colonel Thomas 232
Delaware River 219
Delawares, or Lenni-Lenape 219
Di-ononda-howe 70
Dutch Racks (Rechts) 234
Eaquoris-ink 45
Eauketaupucason 34
Esopus 155
Espating 111
Essawatene 121
Etagragon 217
Fall-kill 44
Fish-kill 37
Fort Albany 178
Fort Frederick 178
Fort Orange 178
Frudyach-kamik 162
Ganasnix 173
Gentge-kamike 183 {138}
German Flats 217
Gesmesseecks 61
Glens Falls 136 {186}
Gowanus 90
Greenwich Village 17
Hackingsack 104
Hahnakrois 177
Hashamomuck 99
Hashdisch 140
Haverstraw 124
Hoboken 107
Hog's Island 96
Hohokus 115
Honk Falls 166
Hoosick River 67
Hopcogues 85
Horikans 71
Hudson's River 12
Jamaica 88
Jogee Hill 134
Jogues (Father) 12, 185, 193
Kackkawanick 54
Kadarode 209
Kahoes (Kahoos) 200
Kakeout 32
Kakiate 116
Kanendenra 217
Kaniskek 174
Kapsee (Kapsick) 17
Katawamoke 97
Katonah (Sachem) 35
Kaphack 59
Kaunaumeek 58
Kau-na-ong-ga 228
Kay-au-do-ros-sa 187
Keessienwey's Hoeck 175
Keht-hanne 218
Kenagtiquak 58
Kerhonkson 162
Keschsechquereren 90
Keshethton 231
Kesieway's Kill 57
Keskeskick 22
Keskistk-onck 30
Kestateuw 88
Ketchepunak 85
Kewighec-ack 29
Kinderhook 54 {55}
Kingston 155
Kiosh 15
Kiskatom 174
Kitchaminch-oke 82
Kitchiwan 27
Kit Davit's Kil (Rondout) 161
Kittatinny 31
Koghkehaeje (Coxackie) 176
Koghsaraga 188
Koxing Kil 168
Lackawack 167
Lake Champlain 72
Lake George 71
Lake Tear-of-the-clouds 185
Little Falls 217
Longhouse Creek 137
Machackoesk 58
Machawameck 175
Magaat-Ramis 152
Magatsoot 222
Magdalen Island 46
Maggeanapogh 151
Maghagh-kamieck 223
Magopson 33
Magow-asingh-inck 164
Maharness 35
Mahask-ak-ook 52
Mahequa 122
Mahopack 36
Mahway 112
Mainaitanung 113
Mamakating 227
Mamaroneck 34
Manah-ackaquasu-wanock 101
Manahan 127
Manahawaghin 106 {126}
Manhaset 95
Manhattan 13
Mananosick 49
Manette 91
Manises 101
Mannhon-ake 100
Mannepies 23
Manowtassquott 99
Manuketesuck 35
Manussing 34
Marechkawick 91
Maretange Pond 145
Marsep-inck 93
Maschabeneer 144
Maskahn-ong 87
Maskutch-oung 84 {86}
Massaback 85 {84}
Massape-age 85
Masseks (Maskeks) 144
Mas-seps 86
Masspootapaug 99
Mastic 79
Mathahenaak 180
Matinnec-ock 95
Matouwackey (L. I.) 73
Mattachonts 168
Mattapan 44
Matteawan 37
Mattituck 84
Mawe-nawas-igh 38
Mawichnauk 53
Mawighanuck 58
Mawignack 171
Mattasink 120
Meenahga 230
Meghkak-assin 24
Menagnock 222
Menagh 29
Menisak-congue 122
Memanusack 94
Memorasink 143
Merick 87
Mespaechtes 94
Metambeson 46
Minasser-oke 81
Mingapochka 230
Minnahan-ock 17
Minnepaug 99
Minnischtan-ock 54
Minnissingh 45
Minnisais 15
Minisink 220
Mistucky 133
Mochgonneck-onck 78
Mochquams 33
Mogongh-kamigh 58
Moggonck (Maggonck) 148
Moharsic 35
Mohawk River 189
Mohawk Castles 191, 211
Mombackus 169
Mombasha 116
Monachnong 16
Monatun 16
Monemius Island 180
Mongaup 230
Monhagen 137
Monowautuck 80
Monsey 112
Montauk 75
Mopochock 169 {167}
Moriches 81
Muchito 96
Muhheakun'nuk 11
Murderer's Creek 130
Muscota 19
Much-Hattoes 129
Nachaquatuck 97
Nachawakkano 53
Nachtenack 180
Nahtonk (Recktauck) 18
Namaus 81
Namenock 222
Namke 85
Nanichiestawack 35
Nannakans 28
Nanapenahaken 49
Nanoseck 161
Napanoch 167
Napeak 76
Narranshaw 116
Narratschoan Errata
Narrioch 90
Navers-ing 165
Navish 28
Nawas-ink 124
Nepeneck 224
Nepah-komuk 23
Neperah (Nipproha) 23
Nepestek-oak 177
Nescotack 143
Neversink 102, 226
Neweskake 178
Newburgh 128
New Fort 142
Niamug (Niamuck) 82
Nickankook 49
Niskayune 201
Nissequague 93
Norman's Kill 179
Norumbega 179
Nowadaga 215
Nyack 92, 120
Ochabacowesuck 100
Ochmoach-ing 165
Oghrackee 210
Oi-o-gue 12, 189
Old Fort 164
Onekee-dsi-enos 206
Onekagoncka 191
Oneyagine 217
Oniskethau 177
Onuntadass 207
Orange 103
Oscawanna 26
Osquage (Ohquage) 215
Ossangwack 155
Osserrion 191
Osseruenon 191
Pachonahellick 178
Pachquyak 173
Pagganck 15
Pahhaoke 67
Palmagat 148
Pamerpock 115
Panhoosick 67
Paanpaach (Troy) 63
Papinemen 19
Paquapick 111
Pasgatikook 172
Paskaecq 173
Passaic 111
Passapenoc 61
Patchogue 81
Pattkoke 55
Peakadasank 146
Peconic 83
Peekskill 30
Peenpack 225
Peningo 33
Peppineghek 29
Pequaock (Oyster Bay) 98
Pequannock 111
Peram-sepus 112
Perth Amboy 102
Petuckqua-paug 35
Petuckqua-paen 62
Pietawickqu-assick 41
Pishgachtigok 42
Piskawn 63
Pitkiskaker 145
Pocanteco 25
Pochuck 133
Pockotessewacke 34
Podunk 69
Poesten Kill 62
Pollepel Eiland 127
Pompoenick 58
Pompton 113
Ponkhockie 157
Poosepatuck 79
Poplopen's Creek 125
Poquatuck 79
Potic 173
Potunk (L. I.) 100
Poughkeepsie 43
Poughquag 41
Preumaker's Land 161
Primary Explanations 3
Prince's Falls 126
Quachanock 172
Quahemiscos 180
Quantuck 87
Quaquarion 205
Quarepogat 42
Quarepos 33
Quaspeck 121
Quassaick 128
Quatackqua-ohe 69
Quatawichnack 171
Quauntowunk 78
Quequick 65 {66}
Quinnehung 31
Quissichkook 54
Quogue 87
Ramapo 114
Rapahamuck 94
Rappoos 153
Raritangs 102
Reckgawank 124
Rechqua-akie 87
Rennaquak-onck 92
Rockaway 87
Roelof Jansen's Kill 47
Ronkonkoma 100
Runboldt's Run 133
Sachus (Sachoes) 30
Sacondaga 184
Sacrahung 31
Sacut 88
Sagabon-ock 85
Sag-Harbor 85
Saghtekoos 83
Sahkaqua 54
Sam's Point 146
Sanckhaick 65
Sankagag 177
Sankapogh 125
Saponickan 17
Saratoga 180
Saaskahampka 49
Saugerties 162
Saukhenak 47
Schaghticoke 65
Schakaec-kemick 226
Scharon (Schroon) 184
Schenectady 202
Schodac 59
Schoharie 207
Schunnemunk 131
Scompamuck 59
Senasqua 29
Senatsycrossy 212
Seneyaughquan 226
Shannondhoi 204
Shandaken 169
Shappequa 32
Shaupook 53
Shawanoesberg 229
Shawangunk 140
She'kom'eko 42
Shenandoah 43
Sheepshack 63
Shildrake 27
Shinnec'ock 77
Shokan 165
Shorakkapoch 21
Sickajoock 61
Sickenekas 61
Sicktew-hacky 82
Siesk-assin 176
Sing-Sing 27
Siskakes 111
Sint-Sink 95
Skoonnenoghky 123
Sleepy Hollow 26
Sohanidisse 215
Sokapach 225
So'was'set 99
Speonk 79
Spuyten Duyvil 21
Stighcook 176
Stissing 43
Stoney Point 123
Succabonk 36
Succasunna 104
Sugar-Loaf 132
Suggamuck 94
Sunquams 84
Taghkanick 52
Tammoesis 29
Tauquashqueick 46
Tappans 117
Tawalsentha 13, 179
Tawarataque 154
Tehannek 225
Tenotoge (Tenotehage) 215
Tenkenas 15
Tete-achkie 172
Ticonderoga 71
Ti-oneenda-howe 69
Tionondar-aga 208
Titicus 28
Tomhenack 65
Torne 117
Tri-States Rock 224
Tuckahoe 27, 84
Tuxedo 116
Twastawekah 54
Twischsawkin 140
Tyoshoke 65
Unsheamuck 94
Valatie 59
Van Curler's Journal 193, 194
Vastrix Island 48
Verkerde Kill 147
Wachanekassick 47
Waichachkeekok 172
Wading River 98
Wahamanesing 39
Wallabout Bay 91
Wallam 41
Wallumsch-ack 64
Walpack 228 {227}
Wanaksink 144
Wapemwatsjo 58
Wappingers' Creek 39
Waragh-kameck 46
Waranawonkongs 155
Waranecks 38
Waronawanka 155
Warpoes 19
Wassahawassing 167
Wassaic 41
Watchunk 104
Wathoiack 201
Waumaniuck 34
Wawanaquasik 50
Wawarasinke 166
Wawayanda 134
Waweiantepakook 173
Wawyacbtanock 45
Wechquadnach 42
Wehawken 109
Wehtak 42
Weputing 42
Weque-hackhe 36
Wesegrorap 116
Whalefish Island 63
Wiocopee 36
Wickaposset 99
Wichquapakat 52 {53}
Wichquaskeck 24
Wickqu-atenn-honck 144
Wieskottine 170
Wildmeet 161
Wihlahoosa 227
Wildwijk (Wiltwyck) 160
Winegtekonck 132
Wishauwemis 143
Woerawin 137
Wompenanit 74
Wopowag 99
Wyandanch (Sachem) 79
Wynokie 115
Wynogkee 41
Yaphank 80
Yonkers 23
ERRATA.
Through an oversight in revising manuscript written several years ago,
_Narratschoan_ (page 121) was assigned to the Verdrietig Hoek Mountain.
It should have been assigned to Butter Hill, and _Klinkersberg_ should
have been assigned to the Donderberg. _Klinkers_ is from Dutch _Klinken,_
"To sound, to resound." It describes, with the suffix _-berg,_ a hard
stone mountain or hill that resounds or echoes--Echo Hill. _Narratschoan,_
the name of Butter Hill, is from _Nâï,_ "It is angular, it
corners"--"having corners or angles." (Trumbull.) The letters _-atscho_
stand for _-achtschu,_ Zeisb., _-adchu,_ Natick, "Hill or mountain," and
_-an_ is the formative. The combination may be read, "A hill that forms
an angle or corner." To recover the Indian name of Butter Hill compensates
in some degree for oversight referred to.
Brodhead (Hist. N. Y., i, 757, note), it will be seen by those who will
examine, made the same mistake in locating _Klinkersberg_ that is referred
to above. The "Vischer's Rack" or "Fisherman's Bend" was clearly the bend
around West Point. The Donderberg, or Klinkersberg is the elevation
immediately north of Stony Point.
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Footprints of the Redmen" ***
Copyright 2023 LibraryBlog. All rights reserved.