the Dutch had built a small village around the fort, which ihey
named New Amsterdam, after the city of Amsterdam in Holland.

The first governor mentioned in the Dutch records is Wouter
Van Twiller. It is intimated, in a letter of governor Kieft, that
Peter Minuii preceded Mr. Van Twiller.

All the powers of government, executive, legislative, and judi-
cial, civil, and ecclesiastical, were vested in the governor and coun-
cil. The governor had the sole prerogative over the public lands.
The Indian title was extinguislied by hfm, or by individuals with
his consent. — See Wood's Sketch of Long; Island.

The colony now began to assume a regular form. Lands in the
vicinity of the forts were purchased of the Mohiccons, Wabingas,
Mohawks, &.c. the original proprietors of the soil, and granted to
the settlers who commenced improvements. The friendship and
amity of liic natives were sought and studiously cultivated. A re-
gular intercourse was kept up at the different posts. The Dutch
purchased furs, venison, and other commodities from them, and
gave them in exchange knives, hatchets, blankets, beads, he. The
infant colony advanced in wealth and population.

Before, however, we proceed farther, we shall take a cursory
view of the country which the Dutch claimed, and of the numerous
iribes tiiat possessed it, together with their stptions, catastrophes,



STATE OF NEW-YORK. 287

&;c. We consider such a course necessary in order to obtain a
correct knowledge of the early history of the state.

The Dutch at this time claimed all that part of the continent of
North America which at the present day constitutes the states of
Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New- York, Connecticut?
and Vermont, together with the middle and western parts of the
state of Massachusetts. To this extensive tract, comprising nearly
one hundred and twenty thousand square miles, they had given the
appellation of New Netherlands, out of a tender regard to their na-
tive country. A dense and interminable forest overspread the
whole, a few very small spots excepted. Two nations, the Mohe-
akanneews and Aganuschioni, possessed this extensive tract. Each
nation had a language which its different members spoke and un-
derstood.* ' No affinity subsisted betvveen the languages of these
nations. Both nations were divided into tribes or cantons, while
these again were subdivided into clans. Among the Moheakan-
neews, in some instances,. each tribe formed a state or independent
community, while in others several were leagued. The confeder-
ated tribes of the Lenni Lenape is an instance of the latter kind.
The Aganuschionian cantons were united. The former inhabited
the coasts of the Adantic ocean and most of the interior, and were
the most numerous as well as most extensively spread. The latter
resided inland, and occupied the middle and western parts of the
state of New-York, together with the north-western part of the state
of Pennsylvania. They were the lords of the whole country, and
claimed and exercised savage sway over the former.

* There can be but little or no doubt that all the tribes on the coast,
from the shores of Labrador to the confines of North Carolina, spoke
the same languago, with some modifications or provincial differences.
The tribes of New England, the Lenni Lenape, the Shawnese, Nanti-
cokes, Powhatans, &c. could all converse together. The Penobscots,
Lenni Lonape, (Delawares,) Mohegans, Moheakanneews, &c. can at
this day.

All the Huron tribes, of which the Aganuschioni were portions, spoke
the same language.

The generic name adopted by the French for all the tribes of New
England, was Abenacjuis. The AbeuaquiB, and Lenni Lenape spoke
the same language



288 HISTORY OF THE

The Dutch, in the early period of tlieir settlements, had inter-
course with some of the tribes belonging to both of these nations.
It was with them that they traded. It was with them that they
formed alliances. It was from them that they bought lands, and
obtained permission to erect forts and trading-houses. It was from
them that they had leave to plant colonies, make improvements,
and convert wastes into well cultivated farms.

In noticing the aborigines we shall commence with the Pequods,
one of the Moheakanneew tribes, not that they were the first peo-
ple of this nation with whom the Dutch had correspondence, but
because order seems to require it.

The Pequods inhabited the country along the river Thames, in
the state of Connecticut, and the contiguous parts. Their princi-
pal stations were in the towns of New London, Groton, Stonington,
and VVaterford. They had seven himdred warriors.. The whole
number of souls might have been about three thousand five hun-
dred.

The Pequods were a warlike race, arid were dreaded and de-
tested by most of their neighbors. They had fought theii- way to
the coast some ages anterior to the colonization. Several of the
tribes adjoining them had been compelled to do homage. The
New England planters in the year 1637 conquered, dispersed, and
nearly annihilated them.

The Nehanticks occupied the country around the mouth of Con-
necticut river, and thence^ up that river a short distance. They
were in subjection to the Pequods. An intimacy and friendship,
however, subsisted between them, which neither the Dutch nor
English could shake. Lyme, on the east side of the river, was
their chief residence. The Nehanticks were mostly destroyed in
the Pequod war. In numbers they fell short of that people.

The Mohegans lived north of the Pequods and Nehanticks, and
owned most of the country on both sides of Connecticut river,
northwardly almost to the Massachusetts boundary. They were
divided into several tribes or cantons, iuch as the Mohegans, Po-
dunks, Wongungs, &ic.

We have intimated, that the Mohegans, Podunks, and some
others living in Connecticut, were clans belonging to the Mohiccons,



STATE OF NEW-YORK. 289

ono of the confederate tribes of the Lenni Lenape. The Mo-
hickanders or River Indians, who resided in villages among the
Mohegans, certainly were. These, had prior to the colonization,
emigrated from the west side of the Hudson.

The Dutch concluded a treaty with them, and purchased some
lands on the w^est side of the river, where Hartford now stands, on
which they built a trading house and fort, in 1623. Subsequently
they made improvements. The place they called Good Hope.

The English planters from Plymouth and Massachusetts, arrived
in the year 1636, and also settled at Good Hope (now Hartford,)
Windsor, Watertown, and Weathersfield. An alliance was also
formed between them and the English, which was lasting., They
assisted the latter in the war with the Pequods, and afterwards in
the Indian war of 1674, 1675, and 1676. Very few of the tribe
now remain in the state of Connecticut.

Some of ih.5 Mohickanders or River Indians lived in the country
of the Mohegans, in the towns of Windsor, Weatbersfield, Middle-
town, and Hartford.

The Mohickanders were one of the five cantons of the Lenni
Lonape. They lived west of the Hudson, in the states of New-
York and New Jersey. Those on Connecticut river we may
reasonably conclude were emigrants. The state of the Lenni
Lenape before its subversion, extended from the head of Chesa-
peake bay on the south, to beyond that river on the north-east. A
band of the IMohickanders resided near Stissic mountain, between
Hudson and Connecticut rivers. The confederate tribes of the
Lenni Lenape very often blended with one another. The Mohic-
cons and Mohickanders not unfrequently lived in the same towns.
They had the same language, laws, manners, and customs. The
incidental distinctions now and then found in books, never existed
out of books, and the heads of the compilers.

At the close of the Moheakanneew war in 1676, many of the
fugitives fled westwardly, and obtained sanctuary among the Mo-
hiccons and Mohickanders, their countrymen. From historical
fragments, we find tnat two hundred crossed the Hudson below Al-
bany, at one time, and that eighty halted at a Dutch village (not
named,) on the east side of that river. These fugitives had escaped
VOL. II. 38



290 HISTORy OF THE

from a place in Massachusetts, called Ausotunnoog (on Housatonic
river, near Stockbrid^^e, in Berkshire county.) The infuriated co-
lonists had pursued them to this place, where they attacked, defeat-
ed, and dispersed them. Little is known about the numbers that
escaped the vengeance of their inhuman conquerors ; but we may
reasonably conclude that these were not all.

The Nipnets occupied the greater part of the country between
Massachusetts bay, and the mountains west of Connecticut river.
They were divided into several clans. Their country hounded
that of the Mohegans on the south. They engaged in the war with
the rest of their countrymen against the colonists, and suffered
severely. There are now no remains of the tribe.

The Coos posst^ssed the state of Vermont, and the western part
of New Hampshire. They were divided into several bands, who
do not appear to have been united. In the years 1674, 1675, and
1676, they took part with the other tribes against the New Eng-
land colonies. Afterwards they made frequent incursions into the
colonial settlements on Connecticut river, and committed unheard
of cruelties. At present, little more remains to them than a name.

The Moheakanneews possessed Berkshire in Massachusetts, and
the adjoining parts, of New-York westwardly to the Hudson,
Stockbridge was their main residence. This people and the colo-
nies of New England entered into close bonds of amity and
friendship. They had on the north the Coos, on the east the
Nipnets, on the south the Mohiccons, and on the west the Mohawks,
from whom they were separated by the Hudson. The remnant of
this tribe after the revolution, removed into the country of Oneida, in
the state of New-York. Recently they have emigrated to Green
bay, on the west side of lake Michigan.

When the Dutch arrived at Albany, violent controversies existed
between the Moheakanneews and Mohawks, about the alluvial
lands on the cast side of the Hudson, and some of the islands in
the river. To end these controversies, the commander of fort
Orange invited the hostile chiefs into the fort, and persuaded them
to bury the hatchet.

The Lenni Lenape, or Delawares, as they were called by the
English, occupied the country from the head of the Chesapeake



STATE OF NEW-YORK. 291

bay, up to the Kittatinny or Blue mountain, and north-eastwardly to
the other side of Connecticut river, comprehending that part of the
state of New- York which lies between the Kaatskill mountains and
the ocean, the westerly and middle parts of the state of Connecticut,
all of the state of New Jersey, that part of the state of Pennsylvania
which is watered by the Delaware, and the branches of that river
which rise in that state, and the county of New Castle in the state,
of Delaware, as far as Duck creek. The countries of the Moheak-
anneews and Mohawks were on the north, and those of the Shawa-
nese and Susquehannocks on the west : the Nanticockes, Conoys,
and Tuteloes, were on the south. On the east they had the ocean, &c.

The Delawares called themselves Lenni Lenape, which we
understand means Indian men, or men born in the country. Lenno,
in the language of this people, is man.

They also called themselves Woapanachky, which signifies a
people living towards the rising sun. This name had applicability
to their situation. The sun appeared to rise in the Atlantic ocean,
which washed their country on the east, or rather south-east. Be-
yond the ocean, they imagined there was no land. To avoid con-
fusion, we shall use the word Lenni "Lenape. As to the word
clan, we intend to avoid it as much as possible ; had this been
done long ago, we should not be troubled now with the names of
thirty or forty tribes, where there were only five.

This nation or confederacy, consisted of five tribes or cantons,
to wit : the Mohiccons, the Wabingas or Mohickanders, the Mun-
seys, the Unami or Wanami, and the Chlhohocki. The latter tribe
took the lead.

Manhattans. — This name might be applied with some propriety
to a clan of the Mohiccons, but to call the tribe by this name ap-
pears to us an absurdity. In detached fragments of history we
find the word Mohiccon frequently used, but Manhattan never,
except it he in allusion to the island on which the city of New- York
stands, and its vicinity. The first Dutch settlers became acquainted
with a few families living on this island, and learned that they called
it Manhattan. Hence, the name of a tribe was given ; but the early
settlers did not intend it : for they never use the word, but in allu-
sion to the island and its vicinity. Mohiccon, in aftertimes ^was



292 HISTORY OF THE

applied to places on Susquelianna river, and in Ohio, where the re-
mains of this tribe retired and settled.

The Mohiccons occnj)ied the middle and western parts of the
state of Connecticut, the counties of Suffolk, Queens, Kings,
Richmond, New- York, Westchester, Putnam, and Dutchess, iti
New-York. They were subdivided into several bands, such as the
Mohiccons, Manhattans, Manhattae or IManathanes, Quinnipiacks,
Naugatucks, Mohegans, Podunks, VVongungs, Mantinicocks, Ni-
paquaugs, Sicatugs, Seatolcotts, Shinnacocks, Corchaugs, Montau-
ketts, &c. The seven latter bands possessed the eastern and
middle parts of Long Island. The Naugatucks, Quinnipiacks, &ic.
lived in Connecticut, the Manhattans on Staten and jNIanhattan
islands, the western parts of Long Island, and the southern parts of
Westchester county : the iMohiccons had the residue of West-
chester, and the counties of Putnam and Dutchess, and the con-
tiguous parts of Connecticut.^

According to Mr. Wood's Sketch of Long Island, the following
clans lived on it, to wit : (beginning on the west,) the Canarses,
Rockaways, Merikokes, Marsapeagues, Secatagues, Patchagues,
Mantinecocs, Nissaquagues, Sataukets, Corchaugs, Shinecocs, Man-
hattans, and Montauks.

The Wabingas or Mohickanders, had their dwellings mostly be-
tween the west or main branch of Delaware river, and Hudson's
river, and from the Kaatskill mountains southwardly to the Raritoii
in i\ew Jersey. They occujiied the counties of LTlster, Sullivan,
Orange, and Rockland, and part of Delaware in this state and the
counties of Bergen and Essex, and parts jof JNliddlesex, Morris,
Somerset, and Sussex in New Jersey. They constituted the fol-
lowing bands, viz. the Sankikani, Minisinks, Tomptons, Narriticongs,
Capibingasses, Gacheos, &;c.

The Munscys held the country on the upjicr parts of Delaware,
down to the Lehigh. In this state, they had the greater part of Dela-
ware county, and in Pennsylvania, they had the counties of Wayne,
Pike, and North Hnnipton.

The (Jnaini, or Wnnanii, dwelt south of the Wabingas, and pos-
sessed nil th(! r("?i(hic of ?<cw .Icrsnv Ivinc; sonlh of iho Ixariton,



STATE OF NEW-yORK. 293

and between the ocean and Delaware river and bay. The Mele-
tecunks, Mantaws, Sapoonies, ifcc were clans of this tribe.

The Chihohocki were south of the Munseys, and west of Dela-
ware river, and of Delaware bay. Their country extended from
the Lehigh down to Duck creek, and comprehended the south-
eastern part of the state of Pennsylvania, and the adjoining part of
the state of Delaware. They formed a number of bands ; namely,
the Neshaminies, the Passajonks, the Chihohocki, the Minquas,
Conestogas, he.

The Minquas and Conestogas, two clans belonging to the Chiho-
hocki, removed to Wechquetank, a place behind the Blue mountain
in Pennsylvania, where they were mostly massacred by the people
of Lancaster, in 1763, with vandalic fury, and this during a pro-
found peace. In the revoludon, the Americans completed the
destruction of these clans. Wechquetank is thirty miles north-west
hy west from Bethlehem.

The Lenni Lenape were conquered by the Aganuschioni, about
the time of the colonization.

As the colonists encroached upon them, they retired inland, and
seated themselves on the head waters of Delaware and Susque-
hanna rivers, rather on the latter. Their stations were mostly in
the counties of Delaware, Otsego, Broome, and Tioga in this state.
From these parts, or the flat parts of Pennsylvania, a branch mi-
grated westwardly to Ohio and Muskingum rivers. Since the revolu-
tion, those on the Delaware and Susquehanna rivers, have removed'
westwardly, and joined their countrymen. Subsequently they have
retired still farther west. Many of them have crossed the Missis-
sippi.

The Sapoonies who lived at Diahago, and other places on the
Susquehanna till after the revolution, were a family of the Unamj
or Wanami, a tribe of the Lenni Lenape. They removed from
New Jersey after the setdement of that country by our people.

The Mohiccons who dwelt on the upper parts of Susquehanna
river, and its branches in the county of Otsego, near the lake of
that name, emigrated from the east side of Hudson's river, some
time after the arrival of the Dutch. They were a portion of the
Lenni Lenape, residing east of the latter river.



294 HISTORY OF THE

The Nanticockes, Conoys, and Tuteloes, wb,o inhabited in the
same parts with the Lenni Lenape, originally lived between Dela-
ware and Chesapeake bays, in the states of Maryland and Dela-
ware. Tliey bordered on the Chihohocki, one of the Lenni
Lenapian tribes. The Conoys and Tuteloes were probably cantons
of the , Nanticockes. After the Aganuschioni had penetrated to
Chesapeake bay, and vanquished the Shawanese and Susquehan-
nocks, an alliance was formed with them and the Nanticockes,
Conoys and 'I'liteloes.

The latter have gone westwardly wiih the Lenni Lenape.

The Susqiiehannocks lived on the lower part of Susquehanna
river, and on the west side of Chesapeake bay. They do not exist
any longer as a tribe.

They probably blended with the Shawanese, a neighboring and
kindred tribe. They may have been only a canton.

' The Shawanese were north of the Susquehannocks, and west of
the Lenni Lenape. They dwelt along Susquehanna river, and
westwardly as far as the Alleghany mountain. The Shawanese
had a close alliance with the Lenni Lenape. They were con-
quered by the Agoneaseah. The Shawanese have retired west-
wardly as our people have intruded upon them. They now live in
the states of Ohio and Missouri.

The original seat of the Shawanese was in Pennsylvania, west of
Susquehanna river. Subsequent to the colonization, they removed
westwardly to the Alleghany, Monongahela, and Ohio rivers: since
then, to the Scioto, ^c. and laterly more west, some have even
passed the Mississippi. In Ohio, they lived on Muskingum, Scioto,
Sandusky, Miami, and other rivers. The Shawanese, Delawares,
Miamies, jNIingos, and Aganuschioni, often lived in the same villages.
The Erigas, a Huron tribe, occupied much of Ohio before their
dispersion by the Aganuschioni.

The Agoneaseah consisted of five tribes or cantons- They
' were called hy the English the Five Nations, and by the French,
Iroquois. These tribes were the Mohnwks, Oneidas, Onondagas,
Cayugns, and Senecas. Although divided into five independent
comuniiies or republics, yet they were confederated, and formed
only a single state. They possessed all the country from the



STATE OF NEW-YORK. 295

Hudson and head of lake Champlain, on the east, westwardly to
Niagara river and lake Erie. Their country was bounded on the
north by lake Ontario, and the country of the Adirondacks, or
Algonquins, on the east by that of the Coos and iMoheakanneews,
on the south by that of the Lenni Lenape and Shawanese, and on
the west by that of the Hurons, from which it was separated by
Niagara river, and lake Erie. On the south-west it touched upon
the Erigas. It comprehended about thirty thousand square miles,
and was mostly in this state.

The Aganuschioni sometimes styled their confederacy Kenunc-
tioni. Douglass estimates the extent of their empire at one thou-
sand two hundred miles from north to south, and seven or eight
hundred from easttov/est.

The Mohawks dwelt in the east, on the Mohawk and Hudson
rivers, and their waters. Their country was about one hundred
and ten miles in length from east to west, and about one hundred
and twenty-five in breadth from north to south. Ticonderoga on
the north, and Catskill creek on the south, were deemed boundaries.
The Adirondacks were northwardly, and the Wabingas southwardly.
It embraced nearly all of the counties of Greene, Albany, Schoharie,
Schenectady, Saratoga, Warren, Hamilton, Montgomery, Otsego,
and Herkimer, and parts of Oneida and Washington.

The Mohawks were divided into the following clans, namely :
the Schaunactadas along the Hudson, at Albany and southwardly ;
the Saratogas at Stillwater, Saratoga, &;c., on the same river; the
Connestigunes on the Mohawk, below Schenectady ; the Ohno-
walagantles at Schenectady, Rotterdam, and Glenville ; the
Chuchtononedas along the same river, westwardly almost to Scho-
harie creek ; the Icanderagoes on the Mohawk, at, and around the
mouth of Schoharie ; the Caughnewagas, at, and about Caugh-
newaga ; (the Caughnewagas emigrated to Canada anterior to 1690,
for some of them were with the French in the winter of 1690,
when Schenectady was burnt. They reside mostly at St. Regis,
on the confines of this stale. Their village contains eighty or one
hundred houses. They have thirty thousand acres of land, which
is partly in Lower Canada, and partly in this state.) The Oswe-
gatchies, lived about Anthony's Nose on the same river; the



29G HISTORY OF THF

Canajoharies at Canajoharie and Palatine ; the Osquakes at
Fort Plain, and on Osquake creek ; the Nowadagas, at, and around
the mouth of East Canada creek, and thence westwardly along the
river to Fall Hill ; the Kowogoconughariegugharies at Gennanflats
and about the mouth of West Canada creek, and the Schoharies
on Schoharie creek.

Icanderago at the mouth of Schoharie creek, was the capitol or
chief station of the tribe, when the Dutch first became acquainted
with the IMohawks, and continued to be such, for one hundred
years or upwards, afterwards. Con-nugh-ha-rie-gugh-ha-rie bad
been originally. It stood where Schenectady stands. Here the Mo-
hawks had a large town, which could send out eight hundred war-
riors, if tradition is true. Why they in a measure abandoned it,
and removed up to Icanderago, we have never been able to learn.
JMiglit it not have been on account of the hunting grounds.^ The
flats at Icanderago were extensive, rich, and beautiful. They
were surrounded by forests which abounded more with game.

In IGGG, tlie French burnt this town, and all the villages in the
neighboring parts.

The Mohawks, it is alleged, had two thousand warriors about the
year 1629.

In 1G88, twelve or fifteen hundred of die Aganuschioni made au
incursion into Canada, crossed the St. Lawrence, surprised the
town of Montreal, and murdered many of the inhabitauts. This
marauding band belonged mostly to the JMohawk canton, and it is
Irkely, that not over one-half of the able bodied men were engaged
in it. We mention this expedition merely to show, that the numbers
of the Mohawks have not been greatly overated. Even at this
period they were considerably reduced. Many had perished in the
long, an(^ almost uninterrupted wars between them and the Adiron-
dacks, Hurons, and French.

Towards the close of the seventeenth, and in the early part of
the eighteenth century, the Cauglinewagas,Oswegatchies and others,
emigrated to Canada, and seated themselves on, or near the banks
of the St. Lawrence. These emigrations comprised half or more
of the Mohawk canton. From this time they declined very fast.
Between 1730, and 1750, Nowadaga in the town of Danube, in



STATE OF NEW-YORK. 297

the county of Herkimer, became their main residence. The settle-
ment extended three or four miles along the river, and consisted of
several villages, or rather collections of huts erected at short inter-
vals, without order, and according to the convenience or caprice of
the occupants. Five hundred warriors could sally out of these
villages in 1754. Bands belonging to this tribe resided at Scho-
harie, Fort Hunter, and Germanflats till the revolution, or a few
years before. There are some persons now living, who remember
the time, when the numbers were considerable, at Schoharie and
Germanflats. In the valley of Schoharie, there were several vil-
lages and hamlets.

The Mohawks continued to reside here till 1776, when they broke
up their quarters and removed in a body to Upper Canada. They