HENRY HUDSON, WHOSE DISCOVERIES LED DUTCH TRADERS TO COLONIZE NEW
NETHERLAND
=34. Hudson's Explorations.= One year after the men of New France had
founded the city of Quebec the Dutch began the colony which became the
Empire State. About the time John Smith was working hard for Jamestown,
his friend Henry Hudson was sailing for some Dutch merchants in search
of a northern sea route to India (1609).
[Sidenote: =The discovery of the Hudson by the Dutch=]
One bright fall day Hudson sailed into the mouth of the great river
which now bears his name. He hoped that he had entered the arm of the
sea which might carry him to India. He turned the prow of his vessel,
the _Half Moon_, up stream.
[Sidenote: =What Hudson and his men saw=]
Soon the beauty of the river, the rich colors of the great forests, the
steep sides of the palisades, the slopes of the highlands, the strange
Indians in their bark canoes, so took the attention of Hudson and his
crew that, for a time, they forgot all about a route to India.
[Illustration: HENRY HUDSON
_From the painting by Count Pulaski in the Aldermanic Chamber of the
City Hall, New York_]
What a flutter of excitement the _Half Moon_ must have caused among the
Indians! They came on board to give welcome and presents to Hudson and
his men.
On the return, probably near the present city of Hudson, an old chief
came on board and invited Hudson to visit the little village of wigwams
located on the river. There these Dutchmen saw beautiful meadows,
fields of corn, and gardens of pumpkins, grapes, and plums.
The chief showed Hudson his palace of bark, and spread a feast of
roasted pigeons and other Indian food before him. In spite of such kind
treatment, Hudson would not stay over night with the Indians, who even
broke their bows and arrows and then threw them into the fire to prove
that they meant no harm to the white man, but Hudson and his men were
still afraid.
[Sidenote: =Indians kind but Hudson cruel=]
Indeed, Hudson had every reason to fear the Indians, for he had treated
them badly and his men had even murdered some. In less than a month,
Indian friendship had been turned into Indian hatred.
The next year Hudson sailed in an English vessel in search of the
long-wished-for passage. On he went, far to the northward, past Iceland
and Greenland, into the great bay which bears his name. In this
desolate region, surrounded by fields of ice and snow, Hudson and his
men spent a fearful winter.
[Illustration: INDIANS WELCOMING THE "HALF MOON," HUDSON'S SHIP]
[Sidenote: =Fate of Hudson and his men=]
In the spring his angry sailors threw him and a few faithful friends
into a boat and sent them adrift. Nothing more was ever heard of them.
In Irving's "Rip Van Winkle" the story tells of nightly scenes in the
Catskills in which the ghosts of Hudson and his friends were the actors.
[Sidenote: =A trading post on Manhattan=]
=35. Dutch Traders and the Indians.= Just as soon as the news of
Hudson's first voyage reached Holland, the Dutch merchants claimed all
the region explored by Hudson and his men and hastened to open up trade
with the Indians. As early as 1614 a trading post was established on
Manhattan Island--the beginning of a great city, New York.
Other posts were soon located: one up the Hudson became Fort Orange,
another on the Delaware was named Fort Nassau, and a fourth was placed
where Jersey City now stands. Later the Dutch traders went as far east
as the Connecticut Valley.
[Sidenote: =A lasting Indian treaty=]
The Dutchmen treated the Indians kindly and early made a great treaty
with the Iroquois, or Five Nations. The chiefs of many tribes came to
Fort Orange dressed for the event. Their bows and arrows and tomahawks
were decorated, their garments tasseled and fringed, and on their
heads they wore nodding plumes of many sorts, while their faces were
hideous with paint. A peace belt of deer skin covered with beads was
held at one end by the chiefs and at the other by the Dutch traders.
They "smoked the pipe of peace, buried the tomahawk," and made vows of
everlasting friendship.
[Sidenote: =The Indians liked the Dutch=]
[Sidenote: =The fur trade=]
The Indians liked the Dutch, who often visited them in their wigwams
and sat around their camp fires. The fur trade grew rapidly. The
Indians hunted and trapped as never before. They paddled up the Hudson,
and crossed over to lakes George and Champlain. They went up the Mohawk
far beyond where Schenectady now is, plunged deeper into the unbroken
forests, and even climbed the mountains in search of fur-coated
animals. The favorite fur-bearing animal was the beaver. Besides, the
otter, mink, and weasel were hunted.
[Illustration: THE TREATY BETWEEN THE DUTCH AND THE INDIANS AT FORT
ORANGE]
When the fur pack was made up the dusky hunters from every direction
made their way to the nearest trading post. There they traded their
furs for guns, powder, and ball, and for whatever else the white trader
had that pleased Indian fancy. Great Dutch ships came every year to
carry to Amsterdam and other Dutch cities rich cargoes of furs.
[Sidenote: =Peter Minuit bought Manhattan Island for twenty-four
dollars=]
=36. The Settlement of New Netherland.= Already a great company of
Amsterdam merchants were sending settlers, as well as fur traders, to
the new colony, which now was called New Netherland. Peter Minuit, the
first governor, bought the island of Manhattan from the Indians for
twenty-four dollars' worth of glass beads and other trinkets, built a
town of log cabins on the end of the island, and named it New Amsterdam.
[Illustration: THE HOME OF A PATROON
_The old Van Rensselaer House at Greenbush, New York_]
But settlers did not come rapidly enough, so the company offered its
members large tracts of land and the title of "patroon" or "patron,"
on the condition that they plant colonies at their own expense. Each
patroon was to govern the people on his own land.
[Illustration: THE SALE OF MANHATTAN TO THE DUTCH
_Peter Minuit, who made the trade with the Indians, is known as the
founder of New York City_]
[Sidenote: =The patroons and their way of living=]
The greatest of the patroons was Van Rensselaer, whose plantation
in the region of Fort Orange included one thousand square miles. The
farmers and servants on these plantations looked upon the patroon as
being much above them in authority and social position.
[Illustration: CHILD'S CHAIR AND CRADLE
_Furniture used by the patroons_]
Every year the farmers and their families came with their wagons filled
with what they had raised to pay the patroon for the use of the land.
He set them a great feast, and there was merrymaking all day long.
[Sidenote: =A wicked Indian war=]
The growth of New Netherland attracted bad men as well as good men.
Some mean traders robbed and murdered a number of Indians not of the
Five Nations. The Indians robbed and murdered in return. War broke out,
and before it ended many settlements were broken up, and hundreds of
settlers killed.
Parties of Indians roved day and night over Manhattan Island, killing
the Dutch even in sight of Fort Amsterdam. The people blamed their
governor, Kieft, and threatened to arrest him and send him to Holland.
He finally made peace with the Indians just before the new governor
arrived.