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 AlgonquianSepus,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 fromWáro,orWaloh,meaning "Concave, hollowing," a depression in land, low land, the latter expressed inock (ohke),"land" or place. The same adjectival appears inWaronawankaat Kingston, and the same word inWoronakeon the Sound at Milford, Ct., where the topography is similar. The foreign pluralsextends 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 yardsbeyondthe 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 fromMawe,"To meet," andNewásek,[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.
Neversinkis a corruption ofNewas-ink,"At the point or promontory."
Wahamanesingis 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.Mahmeans "To meet,"Amhannesmeans "A small river," and the suffix-ingis locative. The composition reads: "A place where streams come together," which may have been on the Hudson at the mouth of the creek. In PhiladelphiaMoyamansingwas the name of a marsh bounded by four small streams. (N. Y. Land Papers, 646.) Dr. Trumbull in his "Indian Names on the Connecticut," quotedMahmansuck(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 genericWapan,"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 wasnot the sameas 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 nameWappingersseems to have been introduced by the Dutch from their wordWapendragers,"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 noOpossumin the name, as some writers read it, although some blundering clerk wroteOpingforWaping.
[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 fromApoquague,(Mass.), meaning, "A flaggy meadow," which is presumed to have adjoined the lake. It is fromUppuqui,"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 placeRust 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 ofP'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.), alternateWashiack,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 initialWdropped—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 ofQuenne,"long,"pog(paug), "pond," andattlocaaive—"Beginning at the (a) long pond." The name is met inQuine-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,modernChic'omi'co,from-she, -che(frommisheork'che), 'great,' andcomaco,'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'achmeans "At the end of the mountain" between which and the lake the Indian village stood.Pachquadn'achwas on the opposite side of the pond; it means "Clear bare mountain land."Wehtakmeans "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 PapersOwassitanuc,stands forA-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 DelawareScha-gach-we-u,"straight," andmeek"fish"—an eel—eel place—has been widely quoted. The translation by Dr. Trumbull is no doubt correct.
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 ofMistissing,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," fromApokeepsing,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 wordĀpuchkìpìsink,that is, 'At the rock-pool (or basin) of water.'Āpuchk-ìpìs-inkis a composition of-puchk,'rock';ipis,in composition, 'little water,' 'pool of water,' 'pond,' 'little lake,' etc."Pooghkis no doubt fromápughk(apuchk), "rock." The stream has long been known as the Fall Kill. Primarily there seems to have been three falls upon it, of whichMatapanwill 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,andWinnakeeare 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 areWinne,"good, fine, pleasant," and-aki(auke, ohke), "land" or place; literally, "land." [FN]
[FN] From the rootWulit,Del. From the same rootWinne, Willi, Wirri, Waure, Wule,etc. The name is met in equivalent forms in several places.WenaqueandWynackieare 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 ofMattappu,"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 LenapeAanis 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
Minnissinghis written as the name of a tract conveyed to Peter Lansing and Jan Smedes by gift deed in 1683. (See Poughkeepsie.)Minnissinghis, 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.)
Eaquorisinkis of record as the name of Crom Elbow Creek, andEaquaquanessìnckas 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 calledMansakìn[FN-1] and a small run of water calledMancapawìmick." 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 ofWequa,[FN-2] "end of";annes,"small stream," andink,"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, Wawigachtanockin Livingston Patent andWatwijachtonocksin 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 IndiansWayaughtanock." 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 fromWawai,"Round about," "Winding around," "eddying," as a current in a bend of a river. The second,-tan, -ten, -tonmeans "current," by metonymie, "river," andock,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'tandescribes 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 fromMatt,negative and depreciatory, "Small, unfavorable," etc., andM'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.Aquassingwas the end of the boundary line, and may be fromEnaughquasink,"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 ofPauqua-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.
SankhenakandSaukhenakare record forms of the name given as that of Roelof Jansen's Kil (Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii, 612; French's Gazetteer.)Sauk-hannekwould describe the mouth or outlet of the stream, andSank-hannekwould 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, calledWachhanekassik."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 Riversouthwardfrom Vastrix Island,at a placewhere 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., fromWakhu, "hill, mountain,"uhk,"end, point," andōōsic,"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]Vastrixis a compression of Dutcht'Vaste Rakas 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,KickuaandWeckqashakeare 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 fromNichánhkûk,"At the bend in front."Kickua,the second, is untranslatable.Wickquashaka, Wequakake,etc., is the equivalent ofWequaohke,"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;Suaskahampkapatent 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 writtenSaaska,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 writtenNanosick.Eliot wrote, in the Natick dialect,Nahōōsick,"Pinnacle," or high peak. The indefinite and impersonalM'orMa,prefixed, would add "a" or "the" high peak. The hill has not been located except in a general way as near the Massachusetts line.
NanapenahakanandNanipanihekanare 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;WawauaquassickandMawauapquassek,patent of 1715;Mawanaqwassik,surveyor's notation, 1715; now writtenMawanaquassick—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 placecalled 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 fromMiáe,orMiyáe,"Together"—Mawena,"Meeting," "Assembly"—frequently met in local names and accepted as meaning, "Where paths or streams or boundaries come together;" andQussuk,"stone"—"Where the stones are assembled or brought together," "A stone heap." This reading is of doubtful correctness. Dr. Trumbull wrote thatQussuk,[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 inMôhshe-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 theMawan-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 dialectQussuck,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 forHussimekDr. Trumbull wroteAssinekas an equivalent, andHussunorHussunash,stones, as identical withQussukqun,heavy. Eliot also wrote-pickor-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.)
AhashewaghickandAhashewaghkameck,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 fromNash-ané-komuk(Eliot), "A place between." Dr. Trumbull notedAshowugh-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 "behindPotkoke," is writtenTachkanickin the Indian deed of 1685;Tachhanickin the Indian deed of 1687-8; "Land calledTachhanickwhich the owners reserved to plant upon when they sold himTachhanick,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 IndiansSaukhenak,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,' fromTakone,'forest,' andûk,'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 thatTachk, Taghk, Tachh, Tahk,etc., representsTak(Taghk), with formativean, Taghkan,meaning "wood;" andek,animate plural added, "Woods," "trees," "forest." Dr. O'Callaghan'sûk(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," andTankkanné,"Little river," are without merit, althoughTankhannéwould 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 toKet-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.Wichquais surely an equivalent ofWequa(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 ofLéchau-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.)
ShaupookandSkaukookare 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 fromSóhk,Mass., "outlet," andûk,locative, "At the outlet" or mouth of the stream.
TwastawekahandTawastawekah,given, in the Livingston Patent, as the name of Claverack Creek, is described as a place that was below Shaukook, The root isTawa,an "open space," and the name apparently an equivalent of LenapeTawatawikunk,"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,Sahkaquadescribed "Land or place at the outlet or mouth of a stream," fromSóhk,"outlet," and-ohke,"land" or place. The second nameNakawaewick(Nakaouaewik, Nakawasick, Acawasik) is probably fromNashauewasuck,"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 landover againstMinnisichtanock, and from thence along a small hill to a valley," etc. The name has been interpreted "Huckleberry-hill place," fromMin,"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 fromKussuhkoc(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 writtenPot-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.Pautuckis 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 DutchKinder-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 totrefoilor 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.