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.)
AssiskowachokorAssiskowacheck,the name of record as that of the fourth flat, is no doubt fromAssiskeu,"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 ofPowntuckûk(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.)
GanasnixandGanasenix,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."Waweiis a reduplicative ofWaiorWay; 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,KiskatammeecheandKiskatamenakoak.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,orCaniskek,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 fromQuana(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 fromKeeche,"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 prefixMacha,is the equivalent ofMassa(NatickMogge), meaning "Great," and-ameckis 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 placeVlugt 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 fromKuxakee(Chip.), "The place of the cut banks," and by Dr. O'Callaghan, "A corruption of AlgonquinKaakaki,fromKaak,'goose,' and-aki,'place.'" In his translation of the Journal of Jasper Dankers and Peter Sluyter, in which the name is writtenKoch-ackie(German notation; Dutch,Kok,"cook"), the late Hon. Henry C. Murphy wrote: "The true orthography is probablyKoek'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 gutturalghkshad the sound of Greek x, henceKoxorCox.
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 calledSapanakockand by the Dutch called Barrent's Island." The suffix-assin,probably stands forAssin,"Stone," but the prefix is unintelligible.Sapanak-ockmeans, "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.
Achquetuckis given as the name of the flat at Coeyman's Hollow. The suffix-tuckprobably stands for "A tidal river or estuary," andAchquemeans "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 inOnisquathaw,nowNiskata,of record as the name of a place in the town of New Scotland, Albany County.
Hahnakrois,orHaanakrois,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 wasHaan-Kraait,meaning "Cock-crowing" Kill, perhaps from the sound of the waterfall.
Sankagag,otherwise writtenSanckhagag,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 fromNepé, "Water," the first describing "Water at rest," a pool or lake, and the second a place adjoining extending to the stream.Neweskekemeans "Promontory, point or corner," [FN]
[FN] This name appears to be a contraction ofNewas-askeg,"Marshy promontory,' or a promontory or point near a marsh." (Gerard.)
PachonahellickandPachonakellickare 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 fromSacona-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 itTawalsontha.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 genericToowawsuntha(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,Tawasenthaas 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.
Nachtenakis 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."Mathais an orthography ofMacha(Stockbridge,Naukhu; Del.Lechau), with locativeûk,"At the fork"—now or otherwise known as Half-Moon Point, Waterford.
Quahemiscosis 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 calledSarachtogoe" (by the Dutch), "or by the MaquasOchseratongueorOchsechrage,and by the MachicandersAmissohaendiek,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 calledTioneendehouwe,and reaching northward on both sides of the river to the end of the lands ofSarachtoge,bordering on a kil, on the east side of the river, calledDionandogehaand 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,OchseratongueorOchsechrage,became, in the course of its transmission,OsaragueandSaratoga,and in the latter form, without reference to its antecedents, was translated by the late Henry R. Schoolcraft "FromAssarat,'Sparkling water,' andOga,'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 asSharlatoga,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 isOchsechrage.The 'digraph'chin 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 commonhin the speech of the south of England. In etymologies it may always be disregarded. Omitting it, we have the well-known wordOserage—in modern Iroquois orthographyOserake,meaning 'At the beaver-dam.' It is derived fromosera,'beaver-dam,' with the locative particlegeorkeaffixed.
"In Iroquoisrandlare interchangeable, andsfrequently sounds likesh.Thus we can understand how in Cartier's orthographyOserake(pronounced with an aspirate) becameHochelaga,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 asSaratogaandHochelagashould have the same origin. InOchseratonguethe 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 verbatona,'to become' (in its perfect tenseatonk), added toosera,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 nameAmissohaendiekorAmissohaendick(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, isAmiskor 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 elementAmik, AmiskorAmisque,'Beaver,' and terminates with the locativeckork.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 wroteAmisc-ou,"Beaver," an equivalent ofAmis-soin 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 fromOchsera-tongue(deed of 1683) appears in Serachtogue (Dongan, 1685); Serasteau (contemporary French); Saractoga (Cornbury, 1703); Saratoga (modern). TheOssarague,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 genericSwe'ken,the equivalent of LenapeSacon(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 recordAt-a-te'ton,fromGanawatecton(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 ofTeohoken,from Iroquois genericDe-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 asKay-au-do-ros-sa.In Mohawk, Sandy Hill would probably be calledGea-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.
Glens Falls Above Leather Stocking 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.MouthisOsa,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 eitherKauicatarosaorKaniatarossa,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,orRatirontaks,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: "FromAdi,'they';aronda,'tree,' andikeks,'eat.'" The name was not that of the district, nor is it convertible withAlgonquin. The later is a French rendering ofAlgoumquin,fromA'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 areCough-sagh-ragaandCanagariarchio, 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-ragais now writtenKoghsarage(Elliot) andKohserake(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, ofAdirondacksas 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."Kohserakamay be a form ofHochelagaorOchseraga.Oserameans "Beaver-dam" as well as "Winter," wrote Horatio Hale. (See Saratoga.) In explanation ofCanagariachioMr. Hale wrote: "Kanagariarchiois a slightly corrupted form of the Iroquois wordKanna'kari-kario,which means simply 'Beaver.' It is a descriptive term compounded ofKannagare,'Stick' or club,Kakarien,To bite,' andKario,'Wild animal.' It is not the most common Iroquois word for Beaver, which, in the Mohawk dialect isTsionuito,orDjonuito.That the word should be understood to mean 'The Beaver-Hunting Country,' is in accordance with Indian usage."
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 theO-hyoⁿhi-yo'ge,"Large, chief or principal river" (Hewitt); written by Van Curler in 1635,VyogeandOyoghi,and by Bruyas "Ohioge,a la riviere," now writtenOhioas 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,orMauquawog,fromMoho,'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 nameCanniengas,fromKannia,"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 itKannien,"batte-feu," as written by Bruyas, a verbal form ofKannia,"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 themSank-hikani,[FN-2] or "The fire-striking people," from Del.SankorSan,"stone" (fromAssin), 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 themAgniéandAgniérs,presumably derived fromCanienga(Huron,Yanyenge). The Dutch called themMahakuas, by contractionMaquaas,from Old AlgonquianMagkwah(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,andt' 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 areOuekagoncka, Ganagere, Sohanidisse,andTenotogeorTenotogehooge.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 firstAssarue,the secondBanigiro,and the lastThenondiago.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 calledCaneray(Van der Donck'sCarenay), 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, calledOneugiouré,formerlyOsserrion." (Relations, 29: 51), showing very clearly that those two names referred to one and the same castle. WhatOneugiouréstands for certainly, cannot be stated, though it seems to read easily fromOhnaway(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,Onekagonckasignifies 'At the junction of the waters,' andOsserueñon, 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—theOugwe-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, wasOnekagoncka.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 ingoing to the castle,which would surely locate the castlewestof 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 calledOsseruenon,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 fromOnekagoncka,and by the natural features which he noted in his Journal. LeavingOnekagoncka,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 ofCanowarode." It was near the river obviously. Walking on the ice "another half mile" (Dutch), he passed "a village of twelve houses namedSenatsycrossy." 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 calledMedatshet,and laterCanagere,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 fromOnekagonckatoCanagereare 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 ofSohanidisse," later written by himRohanadisse,and by Van der DonckSchanatisse,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,beforereaching the second stream which he noted later as having crossed, he wrote that "half a mile"westof Canajohare Creek he came to a village of "nine houses of the name ofOsquage," which gave name to the stream now known as theOtsquage,which he also calledOkquageandOkwahohage,"Wolves"—a village of the Wolf tribe. On the 23d he forded the Otsquage, and after going "half a mile" (Dutch)westof that stream, came "to a village namedCawaoge." It had fourteen houses and stood "on a very high hill." On his return trip he wrote the nameNawaoga;on old maps it isCanawadage,and has since 1635 been known as theNowadageor 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 calledTenotogeandTenotohage,and Father Jogues calledTe-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 wasOnekagonckato 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 fromOnekagonka,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 fromOnekagoncka,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 iton 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 thatOnekagonckamust 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, fromSankhican,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 givesCanagere,as the name of the second castle, andCanerayas the name of the first, precisely as they appear in order in our reproduction in our Third Report."
[FN-4]Oneongoureis a form of the name in Colonial History. In the standard translation of Jesuit Relations it isOneugiouré.Oneonis a clerical error. The lettersuandourepresent a sound produced by the Indian in the throat without motion of the lips. Bruyas wrote it 8{sicȣ?}; it is now readw-Onew.Adding ana,we have very nearly M. Cuoq'sOhnawah,"current," "swift river"; with suffixgowa,"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.