Section 6. The Board of Trustees shall have power to excuse the

nonpayment of dues, and to suspend or expel members for non-payment when

their dues remain unpaid for more than six months.

ARTICLE VII.

Meetings.

Section 1. The annual meeting of the Association shall be held on the

last Tuesday of July in each year. Notice thereof shall be sent to each

member at least ten days prior thereto.

Section 2. Special meetings of the Association may be called at any time

by the Board of Trustees, and must be called upon the written request of

ten members. The notice of such meeting shall specify the object thereof,

and no business shall be transacted thereat excepting that designated

in the notice.

Section 3. Ten members shall constitute a quorum at any meeting of the

Association.

Section 4. The Board of Trustees shall arrange for the holding of a

series of meetings at Lake George during the summer months, for the

readings of original papers on history and kindred subjects, and for

social intercourse between the members and their guests.

ARTICLE VIII.

Seal.

The seal of the Association shall be a group of statuary representing

the Mohawk Chief, King Hendrick, in the act of proving to Gen. William

Johnson the unwisdom of dividing his forces on the eve of the battle of

Lake George. Around this a circular band bearing the legend, New York

State Historical Association, 1899.

ARTICLE IX.

Amendments.

Amendments to the Constitution may be made at any annual meeting, or at

a special meeting called for that purpose. Notice of a proposed

amendment with a copy thereof must have been mailed to each member at

least thirty days before the day upon which action is taken thereon.

The adoption of an amendment shall require the favorable vote of

two-thirds of those present at a duly-constituted meeting of the

Association.

BY-LAWS.

* * * * *

ARTICLE I.

Members.

Candidates for membership in the Association shall be proposed by one

member and seconded by another, and shall be elected by the Board of

Trustees. Three adverse votes shall defeat an election.

ARTICLE II

Board of Trustees.

Section 1. The Board of Trustees may make such rules for its own

government as it may deem wise, and which shall not be inconsistent with

the Constitution and By-Laws of the Association. Five members of the

Board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

Section 2. The Board of Trustees shall elect one of their own number to

preside at the meetings of the Board in the absence of the President.

Section 3. The Board of Trustees shall at each annual meeting of the

Association render a full report of its proceedings during the year last

past.

Section 4. The Board of Trustees shall hold at least four meetings in

each year. At each of such meetings it shall consider and act upon the

names of candidates proposed for membership.

Section 5. The Board of Managers shall each year appoint committees to

take charge of the annual gathering of the Association at Lake George.

ARTICLE III

President.

The President shall preside at all meetings of the Association and of

the Board of Trustees, and perform such other duties as may be delegated

to him by the Association or the Board of Trustees. He shall be

ex-officio a member of all committees.

ARTICLE IV.

Vice-Presidents.

The Vice-Presidents shall be denominated First, Second, and Third

Vice-Presidents. In the absence of the President his duties shall

devolve upon the senior Vice-President present.

ARTICLE V.

Treasurer.

Section 1. The Treasurer shall have charge of all the funds of the

Association. He shall keep accurate books of account, which shall at all

times be open to the inspection of the Board of Trustees. He shall

present a full and comprehensive statement of the Association's

financial condition, its receipts and expenditures, at each annual

meeting, and shall present a brief statement to the Board of Trustees

at each meeting. He shall pay out money only on the approval of the

majority of the Executive Committee, or on the resolution of the Board

of Trustees.

Section 2. Before assuming the duties of his office, the Treasurer-elect

shall with a surety to be approved by the Board execute to the

Association his bond in the sum of one thousand dollars, conditioned

for the faithful performance of his duties as Treasurer.

Section 3. The President shall, thirty days prior to the annual meeting

of the Association, appoint two members of the Association who shall

examine the books and vouchers of the Treasurer and audit his accounts,

and present their report to the Association at its annual meeting.

ARTICLE VI.

Secretary.

The Secretary shall preserve accurate minutes of the transactions of

the Association and of the Board of Trustees, and shall conduct the

correspondence of the Association. He shall notify the members of

meetings, and perform such other duties as he may be directed to perform

by the Association or by the Board of Trustees. He may delegate any

portion of his duties to the Assistant Secretary.

ARTICLE VII.

Executive Committee.

The officers of the Association shall constitute an Executive Committee.

Such Committee shall direct the business of the Association between

meetings of the Board of Trustees, but shall have no power to establish

or declare a policy for the Association, or to bind it in any way except

in relation to routine work. The Committee shall have no power to direct

a greater expenditure than fifty dollars without the authority of the

Board of Trustees.

ARTICLE VIII.

Procedure.

Section 1. The following, except when otherwise ordered by the

Association, shall be the order of business at the annual meetings of

the Association:

Call to order.

Reading of minutes of previous annual, and of any special meeting, and

acting thereon.

Reports of Officers and Board of Trustees.

Reports of Standing Committees.

Reports of Special Committees.

Unfinished business.

Election.

New business.

Adjournment.

Section 2. The procedure at all meetings of the Association and of the

Board of Trustees, where not provided for in this Constitution and

By-Laws, shall be governed by Roberts' Rules of Order.

Section 3. The previous question shall not be put to vote at any meeting

unless seconded by at least three members.

Section 4. All elections shall be by ballot, except where only one

candidate is nominated for an office.

Section 5. All notices shall be sent personally or by mail to the

address designated in writing by the member to the Secretary.

ARTICLE IX.

Nominating Committee.

A committee of three shall be chosen by the Association at its annual

meeting, to nominate Trustees to be voted for at the next annual

meeting. Such Committee shall file its report with the Secretary of this

Association at least thirty days prior to the next annual meeting. The

Secretary shall mail a copy of such report to every member of the

Association with the notice of the annual meeting at which the report

is to be acted upon. The action of such Committee shall, however, in no

wise interfere with the power of the Association to make its own

nominations, but all such independent nominations shall be sent to the

Secretary at least twenty days prior to the annual meeting. A copy

thereof shall be sent to each member by the Secretary with the notice

of meeting, and shall be headed "Independent Nominations." If the

Nominating Committee fails for any reason to make its report so that it

may be sent out with the notice of the annual meeting, the Society may

make its own nominations at such annual meeting.

ARTICLE X.

Amendments.

These By-Laws may be amended at any duly-constituted meeting of the

Association by a two-thirds vote of the members present. Notice of the

proposed amendment with a copy thereof must have been mailed to each

member at least twenty days before the day upon which action thereon is

taken.

MEMBERS NEW YORK STATE

HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.

* * * * *

HONORARY MEMBERS.

*Dr. Edward Eggleston, Joshua's Rock, N. Y.

E. M. Ruttenber, Newburgh, N. Y.

[*Deceased.]

* * * * *

CORRESPONDING MEMBER.

Berthold Fernow, Trenton, N. J,

* * * * *

LIFE MEMBERS.

W. K. Bixby, Bolton, N. Y.

Mrs. Marcellus Hartley, 232 Madison Ave., N. Y. City.

Mrs. Oliver Livingston Jones, 116 W. 72d St., N. Y. City.

Mrs. Horace See, 50 W. 9th St., N. Y. City.

Gen. Henry E. Tremain, 105 E. 18th St., N. Y. City.

Dr. W. Seward Webb, 51 E. 44th St., N. Y. City.

*Samuel P. Avery, 4 E. 38th St., N. Y. City.

F. D. Howland, Sandy Hill, N. Y.

Frank S. Witherbee, Port Henry, N. Y.

Cortland de Peyster Field, Peekskill, N. Y.

*Deceased.

* * * * *

MEMBERS.

Abbott, Rev. Dr. Lyman "The Outlook," 287 Fourth Ave.,

New York.

Abrams, A. W. Illion.

Alexander, Hon. D. S. Buffalo.

Allen, Hiram Sandy Hill.

Ames, Edgar M. Fort Edward.

Applegate, Rev. Dr. Octavius Newburgh.

Arnold, Hon. Alvaro D. Sandy Hill.

Arthur, Miss L. Louise Woodside.

Atkins, Hon. T. Astley 73 Nassau St., N. Y.

Backus, Dr. Truman J. Packer Institute, Brooklyn.

Baker, Frederick I. Fort Ann.

Ballard, W. J. Jamaica.

Banker, Dr. Silas J. Fort Edward.

Bascom, Robert O. Fort Edward.

Bassinger, George H. Glens Falls.

Batcheller, George Clinton 237 W. 72d St., N. Y.

Benedict, George Grenville Burlington, Vt.

Benjamin, Rev. Dr. Wm. H. Irvington-on-Hudson.

Bishop, Charles F. 67 Wall St., N. Y.

Blake, Rev. Chas. W. Lake George.

Bloodgood, Clarence E. Catskill.

Brackett, Hon. Edgar Truman Saratoga Springs.

Brandow, Rev. John H. Schoharie.

Brown, Ernest C. 280 Broadway, N. Y.

Brook, James B. 1013 East Adams St., Syracuse.

Broughton, H. L. Sandy Hill.

Bullard, Dr. T. E. Schuylerville.

Bunten, Roland Garden City.

Burdge, Franklin 325 W. 57th St. N. Y.

Burnham, George, 3401 Powelton Ave., Philadelphia,

Pa.

Bushnell, Nathan Piatt Peekskill.

Cady, S. Rider Hudson.

Carter, Robert C. Glens Falls.

Cheney, Dr. Francis L. Cortland.

Clark, Walter A. 755 Main St., Geneva.

Clark, Rev. Joseph B. 4th Ave. and 22nd St., N. Y.

Clowe, Chas. Waldron 280 Broadway, N. Y.

Cole, Norman Glens Falls.

Conway, John B. Argyle.

Cook, Dr. Joseph Tottenham 636 Delaware Ave., Buffalo.

Cook, Joseph Mrs. Ticonderoga.

Cook, J. Hervey Fishkill-on-Hudson.

Cooke, Rev. Jere K. Hempstead.

Cooley, Dr. James S. Glen Cove.

Coolidge, Thomas S. Glens Falls.

Coon, Hon. Stephen Mortimer Oswego.

Cornell, S. Douglas Cobourg, Ont.

Cunningham, Col. J. L. Glens Falls.

Columbia University Library, 116th St., New York.

Davis, William Gilbert 32 Nassau St., N. Y.

Davis, Dr. Booth C. Alfred.

Day, Benjamin Hague.

DeLong, C. J. Glens Falls.

Demuth, William 507 Broadway, N. Y.

Denham, Edward New Bedford, Mass.

Denton, Mrs. Elizabeth B. Sandy Hill.

de Peyster, Mrs. Beekman 2345 Broadway, N. Y. (winter),

Johnstown (summer).

Derby, Hon. John H. Sandv Hill.

Derby, Archibald Stewart Sandy Hill.

Digney, John M. White Plains.

Doane, Rt. Rev. C. W. Albany.

Doolittle, C. M. Schuylerville.

Draper, Hon. A. S. Albany.

Dunnell, Rev. Dr. Wm. Nichols 292 Henry St., N. Y.

Durkee, James H. Sandy Hill.

Dwyer, Major John Sandy Hill.

Elting, Philip 278 Wall St., Kingston.

Eveleth, Dr. George S. Little Falls.

Fairley, William 195 Kingston Ave., Brooklyn.

Ferree, Barr 7 Warren Street, N. Y.

Ferris, Morris Patterson 676 West End Ave., N. Y.

Fowler, Albert N. C. Glens Falls.

Gillespie, Nelson Hoosick Falls.

Gilman, Hon. Theodore P. 425 West End Ave., N. Y.

Green, James Lake George.

Griffith, Prof. E. W. Glens Falls.

Gunnison, Hon. Royal A. Juneau, Alaska.

Hatch, Hon. Edward W. Appellate Division, New York.

Haight, Hon. Albert Albany (Court of Appeals).

Hall, Fred J. Tarrytown.

Halsey, Frances W. 146 W. 119th St., N. Y.

Hastings, Hon. Hugh Albany.

Hatch, Rev. W. H. P. South Hartford.

Hatfield, Addie E. 17 Linwood Place, Utica.

Hawkins, George H. Plattsburgh.

Hayden, Henry W. 120 Broadway, N. Y

Hewitt, Fred W. Granville.

Higgins, Hon. Frank W. Olean.

Hill, E. B. 49 Wall St., N. Y.

Holden, Mrs. J. A. Glens Falls.

Holden, James A. Glens Falls.

Hopson, Rev. Dr. George B. Annandale.

Horton, Mrs. John Miller 736 Main St., Buffalo.

Horton, Dr. Everest T. Whitehall.

Horton, Dr. Claude A. Glens Falls.

Howard, Hon. Harry A. Glens Falls.

Hull, Frank S. Newburgh.

Hull, Philip M. Clinton.

Heilner, Samuel Broad and Chestnut St., Phila. Pa.

Imrie, Daniel F. Lake George.

Ingalsbe, Miss Myra L. Hartford.

Ingalsbe, Grenville H. Sandy Hill.

Ingalsbe, Franc Groesbeck Sandy Hill.

Ingalsbe, Hon. Grenville M. Sandy Hill.

Ingalls, George A. Sandy Hill.

Ingraham, Dr. Charles A. Cambridge.

James, D. Willis 40 East 39th St., N. Y.

Jackson, Rev. Dr. T. G. 68 St. Paul's Place, Brooklyn.

Jessup, Morris K. 195 Madison Ave., N. Y.

Jessup, Rev. Charles A. Greenport.

Joline, Dr. Adrien H. 54 Wall St., N. Y.

Jordan, Warren S. 984 Main St., Peekskill.

Kellogg, Rev. Dr. Charles D. Sandy Hill.

Kellogg, J. Augustus Glens Falls.

King, Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Fort Edward.

King, Charles T. Glens Falls.

Kirby, Dr. R. M. Potsdam.

Knapp, George P. Lake George.

Kniel, T. R. Saratoga Springs.

Krotel, Rev. Dr. G. F. 65 Convent Ave., N. Y.

Ladd, Neil M. 646 Fulton St., Brooklyn.

Lansing, Mrs. Abraham 115 Washington Ave., Albany.

Lange, Gustave 257 Broadway, N. Y.

Lapham, Byron Glens Falls.

Law, Robert R. Cambridge.

Leary, Russell W. 147 W. 91st St., N. Y.

Lefferts, Marshall C. 30 Washington Place, N. Y.

Lewis, George C. Albany.

Little, Dr. George W. Glens Falls.

Little, Russell A. Glens Falls.

Lyttle, Dr. E. W. Albany.

Mace, Dr. William H. 127 College Place, Syracuse.

Mann, William D. Hague.

Marsh, Wallace T. Glens Falls.

Martin, John Plattsburgh.

Martine, Dr. G. R. Glens Falls.

Matthews, George E. Buffalo.

McAneny, George 19 E. 47th St., N. Y.

McCarthy, James Sandy Hill.

McLean, Mrs. Donald 186 Lenox Ave., N. Y.

Meredith, Mrs. Louise Hardenburgh San Luis Obispo, Cal.

Messer, L. Franklin 403 Main St., Buffalo.

Michael, Edward 741 Delaware Ave., Buffalo.

Mills, D. O. 634 Fifth Ave., N. Y.

Mills, Col. Stephen C. (U. S. A.) Governor's Island, N. Y. Harbor.

Moore, Commodore John W. Bolton Landing.

Morgan. Rev. Dr. D. Parker 3 E. 45th St., N. Y.

Morton, Hon. Levi Parsons 681 Fifth Ave., N. Y.

Mott, Dr. O. H. Fort Edward.

Munger, Rev. Dr. R. D. 105 Delaware St., Syracuse.

Near, Irwin W. Hornellsville.

Nelson, Venerable Dr. Geo. F. 29 Lafayette Place, N. Y.

Newcomb, Alvah S. 33 Washington Ave., Albany.

Nottingham, William 701 Walnut St., Syracuse.

O'Brien, M. J. 195 Broadway, N. Y.

Olmstead, Rt. Rev. Chas. Tyler 159 Park Ave., Utica.

Paige, Edward Winslow 44 Cedar St., N. Y.

Parry, Mrs. J. E. Glens Falls.

Payne, Silas H. Silver Bay.

Peabody, George Foster 54 William St., New York.

Peck, Gen. T. S. Burlington, Vt.

Peck, Reuben N. Glens Falls.

Pell, Howland 7 Pine St., N. Y.

Prince, Rev. Dr. Walter Franklin 16 S. Elliott Place, Brooklyn.

Potter, Delcour S. Glens Falls.

Pryer, Charles New Rochelle.

Ransom, Frank H. 137 Main St., Buffalo.

Ransom, Hon. Rastus S. 128 Broadway, N. Y.

Raymond, Rev. Dr. A. V. V. Schenectady.

Reid, W. Max Amsterdam.

Reid, Hon. Whitelaw New York.

Rhoades, W. C. P. 400 Putnam Ave., Brooklyn.

Richards, Frederick B. Ticonderoga.

Richardson, Rev. George L. Glens Falls.

Richards, A. N. Sandy Hill.

Roberts, Joseph Banks 141 Broadway, N. Y.

Roberts, Mrs. James A. 256 Broadway, N. Y.

Roberts, Hon. James A. 256 Broadway, N. Y.

Rogers, Howard J. Education Dept., Albany.

Rowell, George C. 81 Chapel St., Albany.

Samson, William H. 420 Oxford St., Rochester.

Sanford, Clarence T. Lake George.

Sawyer, W, L. Sandy Hill.

Sawyer, Dr. Edward R. Sandy Hill.

Schuyler, Miss Fanny New Rochelle.

Schuyler, Rev. Dr. Livingston Rowe 17 Lexington Ave., N. Y.

Schell, F. Robert 280 Broadway, N. Y.

Seabury, Rev. Dr. Wm. Jones 8 Chelsea Sq., N. Y.

Sebring, William C. Kingston, N. Y.

Seelye, Elwyn Lake George.

Sexton, Mrs. Pliny T. Palmyra.

Sexton, Hon. Pliny T. Palmyra.

Sidway, Mrs. Frank St. John 37 Oakland Place, Buffalo.

Sills, Dr. Charles Morton Geneva.

Sill, Dr. Frederick S. 169 Mohawk St., Cohoes.

Silver, Dr. John Archer Geneva.

Simpson, John Boulton 1170 Broadway, N. Y.

Sims, Charles N. Liberty, Indiana.

Shedden, Hon. Lucian L. Plattsburgh.

Shephard, Dr. Edward M. Lake George.

Slicer, Rev. Thomas R. New York City.

Smith, Wm. Alex. 412 Madison Ave., N. Y.

Smith, T. Guilford Buffalo.

Smith, James F. South Hartford.

Spencer, Dr. Chas. W. Princeton, N. J.

Stackpole, George F. Riverhead.

State Normal and Training School Plattsburgh.

Stearns, Rev. W. O. Glens Falls.

Steele, Mrs. Esther B. 352 W. Clinton St., Elmira.

Stevens, Rev. Dr. C. Ellis 111 Montague St., Brooklyn.

Stevens, Benjamin F. Boston, Mass.

Stieglitz, Edward Bolton.

Stilwell, Giles H. 1906 W. Genesee St., Syracuse.

Stillman, Dr. William Olin 287 State St., Albany.

Stone, Col. William L. Mt. Vernon.

Tefft, Richard C. Sandy Hill.

Temple, Truman R. Granville.

Upson, Mrs. Lvdia F. Glens Falls.

Vanderveer, Dr. A. 28 Eagle St., Albany.

Van Hee, Daniel L. Rochester

Vann, Hon. Irving G. Syracuse.

Van Wormer, Rodney Argyle.

Vynne, Mrs. Emma M. Hague.

Wait, William Kinderhook.

Wakeman, Abram 136 Front St., N. Y.

Wallander, A. W. Mt. Vernon.

Waller, Rev. Henry D. Flushing.

Warren, E. Burgess Lake George.

Watrous, Harry W. Hague.

Watrous, Mrs. Harry W. Hague and 352 Lexington Avenue,

N. Y.

Watson, Col. James T. Clinton.

Webster, Dr. W. B. Schuylerville.

Welch, Miss J. M. 76 Johnson Park, Buffalo.

West, Chandler A. Lake George.

West, Elmer J. Glens Falls.

Westover, Myron N. Schenectady.

Wetmore, Edmond 34 Pine St., N. Y.

Wicker, Miss Julia Frances Ticonderoga.

Willey, Rev. John H. 466 East 18th St., Brooklyn.

Williams, Dr. Sherman Glens Falls.

Williams, Charles H. 690 Delaware Ave., Buffalo.

Willis, James D. 40 East 39th St., N. Y.

Wilson, Henry Applegate 574 Madison St., Brooklyn.

Wing, Asahel R. Fort Edward.

Wright, Miss Abbie A. Sandy Hill.

Woodruff, Hon. Timothy L. 8th Ave. and 18th St., Brooklyn.

Woodard, Hon. John Appellate Division, Brooklyn.

Worden, Edwin J. Lake George.

Wyckoff, Alice Brooks Elmira.

The Secretary will thank members for corrections to this list.

[Illustration: Map of Hudson's River, part 1.]

[Illustration: Map of Hudson's River, part 2.]

[Illustration: Map of New Netherlands, part 1.]

[Illustration: Map of New Netherlands, part 2.]

FOOTPRINTS OF THE RED MEN.

* * * * *

Indian Geographical Names

IN THE VALLEY OF HUDSON'S RIVER,

THE VALLEY OF THE MOHAWK,

AND ON THE DELAWARE:

THEIR LOCATION AND THE PROBABLE

MEANING OF SOME OF THEM.

* * * * *

BY

E. M. RUTTENBER,

_Author of "History of the Indian Tribes of Hudson's River."_

* * * * *

"Indian place-names are not proper names, that is unmeaning words, but

significant appellatives each conveying a description of the locality

to which it belongs."--_Trumbull._

* * * * *

PUBLISHED UNDER THE AUSPICES

OF THE

New York State Historical Association.

* * * * *

Copyrighted by the

NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.

1906.

* * * * *

{INDEX p. 237}

Primary Explanations.

* * * * *

The locatives of the Indian geographical names which have been handed

down as the names of boundmarks or of places or tribes, are properly a

subject of study on the part of all who would be familiar with the

aboriginal geography of a district or a state. In many cases these names

were quite as designative of geographical centers as are the names of

the towns, villages and cities which have been substituted for them. In

some cases they have been wisely retained, while the specific places to

which they belonged have been lost. In this work special effort has been

made, first, to ascertain the places to which the names belonged as

given in official records, to ascertain the physical features of those

places, and carry back the thought to the poetic period of our

territorial history, "when the original drapery in which nature was

enveloped under the dominion of the laws of vegetation, spread out in

one vast, continuous interminable forest," broken here and there by the

opened patches of corn-lands and the wigwams and villages of the

redmen; secondly, to ascertain the meanings of the aboriginal names,

recognizing fully that, as Dr. Trumbull wrote, "They were not proper

names or mere unmeaning marks, but significant appellatives conveying a

description of the locatives to which they were given." Coming down to

us in the crude orthographies of traders and unlettered men, they are

not readily recognized in the orthographies of the educated missionaries,

and especially are they disguised by the varying powers of the German,

the French, and the English alphabets in which they were written by

educated as well as by uneducated scribes, and by traders who were

certainly not very familiar with the science of representing spoken

sounds by letters. In one instance the same name appears in forty-nine

forms by different writers. Many names, however, have been recognized

under missionary standards and their meanings satisfactorily ascertained,

aided by the features of the localities to which they were applied; the

latter, indeed, contributing very largely to their interpretation.

Probably the reader will find geographical descriptions that do not

apply to the places where the name is now met. The early settlers made

many transfers as well as extensions of names from a specific place to

a large district of country. It must be remembered that original

applications were specific to the places which they described even

though they were generic and applicable to any place where the same

features were referred to. The locatives in Indian deeds and original

patents are the only guide to places of original application, coupled

with descriptive features where they are known.

No vocabularies of the dialects spoken in the lower valley of the Hudson

having been preserved, the vocabularies of the Upper-Unami and the

Minsi-Lenape, or Delaware tongues on the south and west, and the Natick,

or Massachusetts, on the north and east, have been consulted for

explanations by comparative inductive methods, and also orthographies

in other places, the interpretations of which have been established by

competent linguists. In all cases where the meaning of terms has been

particularly questioned, the best expert authority has been consulted.

While positive accuracy is not asserted in any case, it is believed that

in most cases the interpretations which have been given may be accepted

as substantially correct. There is no poetry in them--no "glittering

waterfalls," no "beautiful rivers," no "smile of the Great Spirit," no

"Holy place of sacred feasts and dances," but plain terms that have

their equivalents in our own language for a small hill, a high hill, a

mountain, a brook, a creek, a kill, a river, a pond, a lake, a swamp,

a large stone, a place of small stones, a split rock, a meadow, or

whatever the objective feature may have been as recognized by the

Indian. Many of them were particular names in the form of verbals

indicating a place where the action of the verb was performed;

occasionally the name of a sachem is given as that of his place of

residence or the stream on which he resided, but all are from generic

roots.

To the Algonquian dialects spoken in the valley of Hudson's River at the

time of the discovery, was added later the Mohawk--Iroquorian, to some

extent, more particularly on the north, where it appears about 1621-6,

as indicated in the blanket deed given by the Five Nations to King

George in 1726. Territorially, in the primary era of European invasion,

the Eastern Algonquian prevailed, in varying idioms, on both sides of

the river, from a northern point to the Katskills, and from thence south

to the Highlands a type of the Unami-Minsi-Lenape or Delaware. That

spoken around New York on both sides of the river, was classed by the

early Dutch writers as Manhattan, as distinguished from dialects in the

Highlands and from the Savano or dialects of the East New England coast.

North of the Highlands on both sides of the river, they classed the

dialect as Wapping, and from the Katskills north as Mahican or Mohegan,

preserved in part in what is known as the Stockbridge. Presumably the

dialects were more or less mixed and formed as a whole what may be

termed "The Hudson's River Dialect," radically Lenape or Delaware, as

noted by Governor Tryon in 1774. In local names we seem to meet the

Upper-Unami and the Minsi of New Jersey, and the Mohegan and the Natick

of the north and east, the Quiripi of the Sound, and the dialect of the

Connecticut Valley. In the belt of country south of the Katskills they

were soft and vocalic, the lingual mute _t_ frequently appearing and

_r_ taking the place of the Eastern _l_ and _n._ In the Minsi (Del.)

Zeisberger wrote _l_ invariably, as distinguished from _r,_ which

appears in the earliest local names in the valley of the Hudson. Other

dialectic peculiarities seem to appear in the exchange of the sonant

_g_ for the hard sound of the surd mute _k,_ and of _p_ for _g,_ _s_

for _g,_ and _t_ for _d,_ _st_ for _gk,_ etc. Initials are badly mixed,

presumably due in part at least, to the habit of Indian speakers in

throwing the sound of the word forward to the penult; in some cases to

the lack of an "Indian ear" on the part of the hearer.

In structure all Algonquian dialects are Polysynthetic, _i. e.,_ words

composed wholly or in part of other words or generic roots. Pronunciations

and inflections differ as do the words in meaning in many cases. In all

dialects the most simple combinations appear in geographical names,

which the late Dr. J. H. Trumbull resolved into three classes, viz.:

"I. Those formed by the union of two elements, which we will call

_adjectival_ and _substantival,_ or ground-word, with or without a

locative suffix, or post-position word meaning 'at,' 'in,' 'on,' 'near,'

etc. [I use the terms 'adjectival' and 'substantival,' because no true

adjectives or substantives enter into the composition of Algonquian

names. The adjectival may be an adverb or a preposition; the

substantival element is often a verbal, which serves in composition as

a generic name, but which cannot be used as an independent word--the

synthesis always retains the verbal form.] II. Those which have a single

element, the _substantival,_ or ground-word, with locative suffix.

III. Those formed from verbs as participials or verbal nouns, denoting

a place where the action of the verb is performed. Most of these latter,

however," he adds, "may be shown by strict analysis to belong to one of

the two preceding classes, which comprise at least nine-tenths of all

Algonquian local names which have been preserved." For example, in Class

I, _Wapan-aki_ is a combination of _Wapan,_ "the Orient," "the East,"

and _aki,_ "Land, place or country," _unlimited;_ with locative suffix

(_-ng,_ Del., _-it,_ Mass.), "In the East Land or Country." _Kit-ann-ing,_

Del., is a composition from _Kitschi,_ "Chief, principal, greatest,"

_hanné,_ "river," and _ing_ locative, and reads, "A place at or on the

largest river." The suffix _-aki, -acki, -hacki,_ Del., meaning "Land,

place, or country, _unlimited,_" in Eastern orthographies _-ohke, -auke,

-ague, -ke, -ki,_ etc., is changed to _-kamik,_ or _-kamike,_ Del.,

_-kamuk_ or _-komuk,_ Mass., in describing "Land or place _limited,_" or

enclosed, a particular place, as a field, garden, and also used for

house, thicket, etc. The Eastern post-position locatives are _-it, -et,

-at, -ut;_ the Delaware, _-ng, -nk,_ with connecting vowel _-ing, -ink,

-ong, -onk, -ung, -unk,_ etc. The meaning of this class of suffixes is

the same; they locate a place or object that is at, in, or on some other

place or object, the name of Which is prefixed, as in Delaware _Hitgunk,_

"On or to a tree;" _Utenink,_ "In the town;" _Wachtschunk,_ "On the

mountain." In some cases the locative takes the verbal form indicating

place or country, Williams wrote "_Sachimauónck,_ a Kingdom or Monarchy."

Dr. Schoolcraft wrote: "From _Ojibwai_ (Chippeway) is formed

_Ojib-wain-ong,_ 'Place of the Chippeways;' _Monominikaun-ing,_ 'In the

place of wild rice,'" Dr. Brinton wrote "_Walum-ink,_ 'The place of

paint.'" The letter _s,_ preceding the locative, changes the meaning of

the latter to near, or something less than at or on. The suffixes _-is,

-it, -os, -es_ mean "Small," as in _Ménates_ or _Ménatit,_ "Small

island." The locative affix cannot be applied to an animal in the sense

of at, in, on, to. There are many formative inflections and suffixes

indicating the plural, etc.

Mohawk or Iroquoian names, while polysynthetic, differ from Algonquian

in construction. "The adjective," wrote Horatio Hale, "when employed

in an isolated form, follows the substantive, as _Kanonsa,_ 'house;'

_Kanonsa-kowa,_ 'large house;' but in general the substantive and

adjective coalesce." In some cases the adjective is split in two, and

the substantive inserted, as in _Tiogen,_ a composition of _Te,_ "two,"

and _ogen,_ "to separate," which is split and the word _ononté,_

"mountain," or hill, inserted, forming _Te-ononté-ogen,_ "Between two

mountains," "The local relations of nouns are expressed by affixed

particles, such as _ke, ne, kon, akon, akta._ Thus from _Onónta,_

mountain, we have _Onóntáke,_ at (or to) the mountain; from _Akéhrat_

dish, _Akehrátne,_ in or on the dish," etc. From the variety of its

forms and combinations it is a more difficult language than the

Algonquian. No European has fully mastered it.

No attempt has been made to correct record orthographies further than

to give their probable missionary equivalents where they can be

recognized. In many cases crude orthographies have converted them into

unknown tongues. Imperfect as many of them are and without standing in

aboriginal glossaries, they have become place names that may not be

disturbed. No two of the early scribes expressed the sound of the same

name in precisely the same letters, and even the missionaries who gave

attention to the study of the aboriginal tongues, did not always write

twice alike. Original sounds cannot now be restored. The diacritical

marks employed by Williams and Eliot in the English alphabet, and by

Zeisberger and Heckewelder in the German alphabet, are helpful in

pronunciations, but as a rule the corrupt local record orthographies

are a law unto themselves. In quoting diacritical marks the forms of the

learned linguists who gave their idea of how the word was pronounced,

have been followed. It is not, however, in the power of diacritical

marks or of any European alphabet to express correctly the sound of an

Algonquian or of an Iroquoian word as it was originally spoken, or write

it in European characters. Practically, every essential element in

pronunciation is secured by separating the forms into words or parts of

words, or particles, of which it is composed, (where the original

elements of the composition cannot be detected) by syllabalizing on the

vowel sounds. An anglicized vocalism of any name may be readily

established and an original name formed in American nomenclature, as

many names in current use amply illustrates. Few would suspect that

_Ochsechraga_ (Mohawk) was the original of Saratoga, or that _P'tuk-sepo_

(Lenape) was the original of Tuxedo.

A considerable number of record names have been included that are not

living. They serve to illustrate the dialect spoken in the valley as

handed down by European scribes of different languages, as well as the

local geography of the Indians. The earlier forms are mainly Dutch

notations. A few Dutch names that are regarded by some as Indian, have

been noticed, and also some Indian names on the Delaware River which,

from the associations of that river with the history of the State, as

in part one of its boundary streams, as well as the intimate associations

of the names with the history of the valley of Hudson's River, become

of especial interest.

In the arrangement of names geographical association has been adopted

in preference to the alphabetical, the latter being supplied by index.

This arrangement seems to bring together dialectic groups more

satisfactorily. That there were many variations in the dialects spoken

in the valley of Hudson's River no one will deny, but it may be asserted

with confidence that the difference between the German and the English

alphabets in renderings is more marked than differences in dialects. In

so far as the names have been brought together they form the only key

to the dialects which were spoken in the valley. Their grammatical

treatment is the work of skilled philologists.

Credit has been given for interpretations where the authors were known,

and especially to the late eminent Algonquian authority, J. Hammond

Trumbull. Special acknowledgment of valuable assistance is made to the

late Dr. D. G. Brinton, of Philadelphia; to the late Horatio Hale,

M. A., of Clinton, Ontario, Canada; to the late Prof. J. W. Powell, of

the Bureau of Ethnology, Washington, D. C, and his successor, William H.

Holmes, and their co-laborers, Dr. Albert S. Gatschet and J. B. N.

Hewitt, and to Mr. William R. Gerard, of New York.

The compilation of names and the ascertaining of their locatives and

probable meanings has interested me. Where those names have been

preserved in place they are certain descriptive landmarks above all

others. The results of my amateur labors may be useful to others in the

same field of inquiry as well as to professional linguists. Primarily

the work was not undertaken with a view to publication. Gentlemen of

the New York Historical Association, with a view to preserve what has

been done, and which may never be again undertaken, have asked the

manuscript for publication, and it has been given to them for that

purpose.

E. M. RUTTENBER.

Newburgh, January, 1906.

INDIAN GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES.

* * * * *

Hudson's River and Its Islands.

Muhheakun'nuk, "The great waters or sea, which are constantly in motion,

either ebbing or flowing," was written by Chief Hendrick Aupaumut, in

his history of the Muhheakun'nuk nation, as the name of Hudson's River,

in the Stockbridge dialect, and its meaning. The first word, _Muhheakun,_

was the national name of the people occupying both banks of the river

from Roelof Jansen's Kill, a few miles south of Catskill, on the east

side of the river, north and east with limit not known, and the second

_-nuk,_ the equivalent of Massachusetts _-tuk,_ Lenape _-ittuk,_ "Tidal

river, or estuary," or "Waters driven by waves or tides," with the

accessory meaning of "great." Literally, in application, "The great

tidal river of the Muhheakan'neuw nation." The Dutch wrote the national

name _Mahikan, Maikan,_ etc., and the English of Connecticut wrote

Mohegan, which was claimed by Drs. Schoolcraft and Trumbull to be

derived from _Maingan_ (Cree _Mahéggun_), "Wolf"--"an enchanted wolf,

or a wolf of supernatural powers." From their prevailing totem or

prevailing coat-of-arms, the Wolf, the French called them _Loups,_

"wolves," and also _Manhingans,_ including under the names "The nine

nations gathered between Manhattan and Quebec." While the name is

generic its application to Hudson's River was probably confined to the

vicinity of Albany, where Chief Aupaumut located their ancient capital

under the name of Pem-po-tow-wut-hut Muh-hea-kan-neuw, "The fire-place

of the Muh-hea-kan-nuk nation." [FN] The Dutch found them on both sides

of the river north of Catskill, with extended northern and eastern

alliances, and south of that point, on the east side of the river, in

alliance with a tribe known as Wappans or Wappings, Wappani, or

"East-side people," the two nations forming the Mahikan nation of

Hudson's River as known in history. (See Wahamensing.)

* * * * *

[FN] Presumed to have been at what is now known as Scho-lac, which see.

Father Jogues, the French-Jesuit martyr-missionary, wrote in 1646,

_Oi-o-gué_ as the Huron-Iroquoian name of the river, given to him at

Sarachtoga, with the connection "At the river." "_Ohioge,_ river;

_Ohioge-son,_ at the long river," wrote Bruyas. Arent van Curler wrote

the same name, in 1634, Vyoge, and gave it as that of the Mohawk River,

correcting the orthography, in his vocabulary, to "_Oyoghi,_ a kill" or

channel. It is an Iroquoian generic applicable to any principal stream

or current river, with the ancient related meaning of "beautiful river."

It is said that the Mohawks called the river _Cohohataton._ I have not

met that name in records. It was quoted by Dr. Schoolcraft as

traditional, and of course doubtful. He wrote it _Kohatatea,_ and in

another connection wrote "_-atea,_ a valley or landscape." It is

suspected that he coined the name, as he did many others. _Shate-muck_

is quoted as a Mohegan [FN-1] name, but on very obscure evidence,

although it may have been the name of an eel fishing-place, or a great

fishing-place (_-amaug_). Hudson called the stream "The River of the

Mountains." On some ancient maps it is called "Manhattans River." The

Dutch authorities christened it "Mauritus' River" in honor of their

Staat-holder, Prince Maurice. The English recognized the work of the

explorer by conferring the title "Hudson's River." It is a fact

established that Verrazano visited New York harbor in 1524, and gave to

the river the name "Riviere Grande," or Great River; that Estevan Gomez,

a Spanish navigator who followed Verrazano in 1525, called it "St.

Anthony's River," a name now preserved as that of one of the hills of the

Highlands, and it is claimed that French traders visited the river, in

1540, and established a _château_ on Castle [FN-2] Island, at Albany,

[FN-3] and called the river "Norumbega." It may be conceded that possibly

French traders did have a post on Castle Island, but "Norumbega" was

obviously conferred on a wide district of country. It is an Abnaki term

and belonged to the dialect spoken in Maine, where it became more or less

familiar to French traders as early as 1535. That those traders did

locate trading posts on the Penobscot, and that Champlain searched for

their remains in 1604, are facts of record. The name means "Quiet" or

"Still Water." It would probably be applicable to that section of

Hudson's River known as "Stillwater," north of Albany, but the evidence

is wanted that it was so applied. Had it been applied by the tribes to

any place on Hudson's River, it would have remained as certainly as

_Menaté_ remained at New York.

* * * * *

[FN-1] "_Mohegans_ is an anglicism primarily applied to the small band

of Pequots under Uncas." (Trumbull.) While of the same linguistic

stock, neither the name or the history of Uncas's clan should be

confused with that of the Mahicani of Hudson's River.

[FN-2] Introduced by the Dutch--_Kasteel._ The Indians had no such word.

The Delawares called a house or hut or a town that was palisaded,

_Moenach,_ and Zeisberger used the same word for "fence"--an enclosure

palisaded around. Eliot wrote _Wonkonous,_ "fort."

[FN-3] It is claimed that the walls of this fort were found by Hendrick

Christiansen, in 1614; that they were measured by him and found to

cover an area of 58 feet; that the fort was restored by the Dutch and

occupied by them until they were driven out by a freshet, occasioned by

the breaking up of the ice in the river in the spring of 1617; that the

Dutch then built what was subsequently known as Fort Orange, at the

mouth of the Tawalsentha, or Norman's Kill, about two miles south of

the present State street, Albany, and that Castle Island took that name

from the French _château_--all of which is possible, but for conclusive

reasons why it should not be credited, the student may consult

"Norumbega" in Winsor's "Narrative and Critical History of America."

Wrote Dr. Trumbull: "Theuet, in _La Cosmographie Universella,_ gives

an account of his visit, in 1656, to 'one of the finest rivers in the

whole world, which we call _Norumbeque,_ and the aboriginees _Agoncy,'_

now Penobscot Bay."

[Illustration: HUDSON'S RIVER, 1609. From Hudson's Chart.]

Manhattan, now so written, does not appear in the Journal of Hudson's

exploration of the river in 1609. On a Spanish-English map of 1610,

"Made for James I," and sent to Philip III by Velasco in letter of March

22, 1611, [FN-1] _Mannahatin_ is written as the name of the east side

of the river, and _Mannahata_ as that of the west side. From the former

_Manhattan,_ and from it also the name of the Indians "among whom" the

Dutch made settlement in 1623-4, otherwise known by the general name of

_Wickquaskecks,_ as well as the name of the entire Dutch possessions.

[FN-2] Presumably the entries on the Spanish-English map were copied

from Hudson's chart, for which there was ample time after his return to

England. Possibly they may have been copied by Hudson, who wrote that

his voyage "had been suggested" by some "letters and maps" which "had

been sent to him" by Capt. Smith from Virginia. Evidently the notations

are English, and evidently, also, Hudson, or his mate, Juet, had a chart

from his own tracing or from that of a previous explorer, which he

forwarded to his employers, or of which they had a copy, when he wrote

in his Journal: "On _that side_ of the river called _Mannahata,_" as a

reference by which his employers could identify the side of the river

on which the Half-Moon anchored, [FN-3] Presumably the chart was drawn

by Hudson and forwarded with his report, and that to him belongs the

honor of reducing to an orthographic form the first aboriginal name of

record on the river which now bears his name. Five years after Hudson's

advent Adriaen Block wrote _Manhates_ as the name of what is now New

York Island, and later, De Vries wrote _Manates_ as the name of Staten

Island, both forms having the same meaning, _i. e.,_ "Small island."

There have been several interpretations of Mannahatin, the most

analytical and most generally accepted being by the late Dr. J. H.

Trumbull: "From _Menatey_ (Del.), 'Island'--_Mannahata_ 'The Island,'

the reference being to the main land or to Long Island as the large

island. _Menatan_ (Hudson's _Mannah-atin,_ _-an_ or _-in,_ the

indefinite or diminutive form), 'The small island,' or the smaller of

the two principal islands, the Manhates of Adriaen Block. [FN-4]

_Manáhtons,_ 'People of the Island,' _Manáhatanesen,_ 'People of the

small islands.'" [FN-5] The Eastern-Algonquian word for "Island"

(English notation), is written _Munnoh,_ with formative _-an_

(Mun-nohan). It appears of record, occasionally, in the vicinity of

New York, presumably introduced by interpreters or English scribes. The

usual form is the Lenape _Menaté,_ Chippeway _Minnis,_ "Small island,"

classed also as Old Algonquian, or generic, may be met in the valley of

the Hudson, but the instances are not clear. It is simply a dialectic

equivalent of Del. _Ménates._ (See Monach'nong.) Van Curler wrote in his

Mohawk vocabulary (1635), "_Kanon-newaga_, Manhattan Island." The late

J. W. Powell, Director of the Bureau of Ethnology, wrote me: "In the

alphabet of this office the name may be transliterated _Kanoñnò'ge._ It

signifies 'Place of Reeds.'" Perhaps what was known as the "Reed Valley"

was referred to, near which Van Twiller had a tobacco plantation where

the Indians of all nations came to trade. (See Saponickan.) The lower

part of the island was probably more or less a district of reed swamps.

* * * * *

[FN-1] Brown's "Genesis of the United States," 327, 457, 459, ii, 80.

[FN-2] Colonial History of New York.

[FN-3] Hudson anchored in the bay near Hoboken. Near by his anchorage

he noticed that "there was a cliff that looked of the color of white

green." This cliff is near Elysian Fields at Hoboken. (Broadhead.)

The cliff is now known as Castle Point.

[FN-4] The reference to Adriaen Block is presumably to the "Carte

Figurative" of 1614-16, now regarded as from Block's chart.

[FN-5] "Composition of Indian Geographical Names," p. 22.

Pagganck, so written in Indian deed of 1637, as the name of Governor's

Island--Peconuc, Denton, is an equivalent of _Pagán'nak,_ meaning

literally "Nut Island." Also written _Pachgan,_ as in _Pachganunschi,_

"White walnut trees." (Zeisb.) Denton explained, "Because excellent nut

trees grew there." [FN] The Dutch called it "der Nooten Eilandt,"

literally "The Walnut Island," from whence the modern name, "Nutten

Island." The island was purchased from the Indian owners by Director

Wouter van Twiller, from whose occupation, and its subsequent use as a

demense of the governors of the Province, its present name.

* * * * *

[FN] Denton's "Description of New York," p. 29. Ward's and Blackwell's

islands were sold to the Dutch by the Marechawicks, of Long Island, in

1636-7. Governor's Island was sold in the same year by the Tappans,

Hackinsacks and Nyacks, the grantors signing themselves as "hereditary

owners." Later deeds were signed by chiefs of the Raritans and

Hackinsacks.

Minnisais is not a record name. It was conferred on Bedloe's Island by

Dr. Schoolcraft from the Ojibwe or Chippeway dialect, [FN] in which it

means "Small island."

* * * * *

[FN] The Objibwe (Objibwai) were a nation of three tribes living

northwest of the great lakes, of which the Ojibwai or Chippeway

represented the Eagle totem. It is claimed by some writers that their

language stands at the head of the Algonquian tongues. This claim is

disputed on behalf of the Cree, the Shawanoe, and the Lenape or

Delaware. It is not assumed that Ojibwe (Chippeway) terms are not

Algonquian, but that they do not strictly belong to the dialects of the

Hudson's river families. Rev. Heckewelder saw no particular difference

between the Ojibwe and the Lenape except in the French and the English

forms. Ojibwe terms may always be quoted in explanations of the Lenape.

Kiosh, or "Gull Island," was conferred on Ellis Island by Dr.

Schoolcraft from the Ojibwe dialect. The interpretation is correct

presumably.

Tenkenas is of record as the Indian name of what is now known as Ward's

Island. [FN] It appears in deed of 1636-7. It means "Small island,"

from _Tenke_ (Len.), "little."

* * * * *

[FN] The Dutch called the island _Onvruchtbaar,_ "Unfruitful, barren."

The English adopted the signification, "Barren," which soon became

corrupted to "Barrent's," to which was added "Great" to distinguish it

from Randal's Island, which was called "Little Barrent's Island." Barn

Island is another corruption. Both islands were "barren" no doubt.

Monatun was conferred by Dr. Schoolcraft on the whirlpool off Hallet's

Cove, with the explanation, "A word conveying in its multiplied forms

the various meanings of violent, forcible, dangerous, etc." Dr.

Schoolcraft introduced the word as the derivative of Manhatan, which,

however, is very far from being explained by it. _Hell-gate,_ a vulgar

orthography of Dutch _Hellegat,_ has long been the popular name of the

place. It was conferred by Adriaen Block, in 1614-16, to the dangerous

strait known as the East River, from a strait in Zealand, which,

presumably, was so called from Greek _Helle,_ as heard in Hellespont--"Sea

of Helle"--now known as the Dardanelles--which received its Greek name

from _Helle,_ daughter of Athamas, King of Thebes, who, the fable tells

us, was drowned in passing over it. Probably the Dutch sailors regarded

the strait as the "Gate of Hell," but that is not the meaning of the

name--"a dangerous strait or passage." In some records the strait is

called _Hurlgate,_ from Dutch _Warrel,_ "Whirl," and _gat,_ "Hole, gap,

mouth"--substantially, "a whirlpool."

Monachnong, deed to De Vries, 1636; _Menates,_ De Vries's Journal;

_Ehquaons_ (Eghquaous, Brodhead, by mistake in the letter _n_), deed of

1655, and _Aquehonge-Monuchnong,_ deed to Governor Lovelace, 1670, are

forms of the names given as that of Staten Island, and are all from

Lenape equivalents. _Menates_ means "Small island" as a whole;

_Monach'nong_ means a "Place on the island," or less than the whole, as

shown by the claims of the Indians in 1670, that they had not previously

sold all the island. (Col. Hist. N. Y., xiii, 453.) It is the equivalent

of _Menach'hen,_ Minsi; _Menach'n,_ Abn., "Island," and _ong,_ locative;

in Mass. _Mimnoh-han-auke._ (See Mannhonake.) _Eghquaons_ and _Aquehonga_

are equivalents, and also equivalents of _Achquoanikan-ong,_ "Bushnet

fishing-place," of which _Acquenonga_ is an alternate in New Jersey.

(Nelson's "Indians of New Jersey," 122.) In other words, the Indians

conveyed places on the island, including specifically their "bushnet

fishing-place," and by the later deed to Lovelace, conveyed all unsold

places. The island was owned by the Raritans who resided "behind the

Kol," and the adjoining Hackensacks. (Deed of 1655.) Its last Indian

occupants were the Nyacks, who removed to it after selling their lands

at New Utrecht. (See Paganck note.)

Minnahanock, given as the name of Blackwell's Island, was interpreted by

Dr. Trumbull from _Munnŏhan,_ Mass., the indefinite form of _Munnŏh,_

"Island," and _auke,_ Mass., "Land" or place. Dr. O'Callaghan's "Island

home," is not in the composition. (See Mannhonake.)

* * * * *

On Manhattan Island.

Kapsee, Kapsick, etc., the name of what was the extreme point of land

between Hudson's River and the East River, and still known as Copsie

Point, was claimed by Dr. Schoolcraft to be Algonquian, and to mean,

"Safe place of landing," which it may have been. The name, however,

is pretty certainly a corruption of Dutch _Kaap-hoekje,_ "A little cape

or promontory."

Saponickan and Sapohanican are the earliest forms of a name which

appears later Sappokanican, Sappokanikke, Saponican, Shawbackanica,

Taponkanico, etc. "A piece of land bounded on the north by the strand

road, called Saponickan" (1629); "Tobacco plantation _near_ Sapohanican"

(1639); "Plantation situate against the Reed Valley _beyond_

Sappokanican" (1640). Wouter van Twiller purchased the tract, in 1629,

for the use of the Dutch government and established thereon a tobacco

plantation, with buildings enclosed in palisade, which subsequently

became known as the little village of Sapokanican--Sappokanican, Van

der Donck--and later (1721) as Greenwich Village. It occupied very

nearly the site of the present Gansevort market. The "Strand road" is

now Greenwich Street. It was primarily, an Indian path along the shore

of the river north, with branches to Harlem and other points, the main

path continuing the trunk-path through Raritan Valley, but locally

beginning at the "crossing-place," or, as the record reads, "Where the

Indians cross [the Hudson] to bring their pelteries." [FN-1] "South of

Van Twiller's plantation was a marsh much affected by wild-fowl, and

a bright, quick brook, called by the Dutch 'Bestavar's Kil,' and by the

English 'Manetta Water.'" [FN-2] (Half-Moon Series.) _Saponickan_ was in

place here when Van Twiller made his purchase (1629), as the record

shows, and was adopted by him as the name of his settlement. To what

feature it referred cannot be positively stated, but apparently to the

Reed Valley or marsh. It has had several interpretations, but none that

fare satisfactory. The syllable _pon_ may denote a bulbous root which

was found there. (See Passapenoc.) The same name is probably met in

Saphorakain, or Saphonakan, given as the name of a tract described as

"Marsh and canebrake," lying near or on the shore of Gowanus Bay,

Brooklyn. (See Kanonnewage, in connection with Manhattan.)

* * * * *

[FN-1] "Through this valley pass large numbers of all sorts of tribes

on their way north and east." (Van Tienhoven, 1650.) "Where the Indians

cross to bring their pelteries." (De Laet, 1635.) The crossing-place

is now known as Pavonia. The path crossed the Spuyten Duyvil at Harlem

and extended along the coast east. To and from it ran many "paths and

roads" on Manhattan, which, under the grant to Van Twiller, were to

"forever remain for the use of the inhabitants." The evidence of an

Indian village at or near the landing is not tangible. The only village

or settlement of which there is any evidence was that which gathered

around Van Twiller's plantation, which was a noted trading post for

"all sorts of tribes."

[FN-2] Bestevaar (Dutch) means "Dear Father," and Manetta (Manittoo,

Algonquian), means, "That which surpasses, or is more than ordinary."

Water of more than ordinary excellence. (See Manette.)

Nahtonk, Recktauck, forms of the name, or of two different names, of

Corlear's Hook, may signify, abstractively, "Sandy Point," as has been

interpreted; but apparently, _Nahtonk_ [FN-1] is from _Nâ-i,_ "a point

or corner," and _Recktauck_ [FN-2] from _Lekau_ (Requa), "Sand gravel"--a

"sandy place." It was a sandy point with a beach, entered, on English

maps, "Crown Point."

* * * * *

[FN-1] Naghtonk (Benson); Nahtonk (Schoolcraft); Rechtauck (record).

It was to the huts which were located here to which a clan of Long

Island Indians fled for protection, in February, 1643, and were

inhumanly murdered by the Dutch. The record reads: "Where a few

Rockaway Indians from Long Island, with their chief, Niande Nummerus,

had built their wigwams." (Brodhead.) "And a party of freemen behind

Corlear's plantation, on the Manhattans, who slew a large number and

afterwards burned their huts." The name of the Chief, _Niande

Nummerus,_ is corrupted from the Latin _Nicanda Numericus,_ the name

of a Roman gens. De Vries wrote, "Hummerus, a Rockaway chief, who I

knew."

[FN-2] See Rechqua-hackie. "The old Harlem creek, on Manhattan Island,

was called Rechawanes, or 'Small, sandy river.'" (Gerard.)

Warpoes is given as the name of "a small hill" on the east side and

"near ye fresh water" lake or pond called the _Kolk_ (Dutch "pit-hole"),

which occupied several acres in the neighborhood of Centre Street. [FN-1]

The Indian name is that of the narrow pass between the hill and the

pond, which it described as "small" or narrow. (See Raphoos.)

In the absence of record names, the late Dr. Schoolcraft conferred, on

several points, terms from the Ojibwe or Chippeway, which may be

repeated as descriptive merely. A hill at the corner of Charlton and

Varick streets was called by him _Ishpatinau,_ "A bad hill." [FN-2] A

ridge or cliff north of Beekman Street, was called _Ishibic,_ "A bad

rock;" the high land on Broadway, _Acitoc;_ a rock rising up in the

Battery, _Abie,_ and Mount Washington, _Penabic,_ "The comb mountain."

The descriptions are presumably correct, but the features no longer

exist.

* * * * *

[FN-1] "By ye edge of ye hill by ye fresh water." (Cal. N. Y. Land

Papers, 17.) The Dutch name ran into _Kalch, Kolack_ and _Collect,_

and in early records "_Kalch-hock._" from its peculiar shape,

resembling a fish-hook.

[FN-2] "At ye sand Hills near the Bowery." (Cal. N. Y. Land Papers.

17.) _Ishpetouga_ was given by the same writer to Brooklyn Heights,

with the explanation "High, sandy banks," but the term does not

describe the character of the elevation. (See Espating.)

Muscota is given as the name of the "plain or meadow" known later as

Montagne's Flat, between 108th and 124th streets. (Col. Hist. N. Y.,

xiv.) It also appears as the name of a hill, and in Muskuta as that of

the great flat on the north side of the Spuyten Duivel. "The first

point of the main land to the east of the island Papirinimen, there

where the hill Muskuta is." The hill takes the name from the meadows

which it describes. "_Moskehtu,_ a meadow." (Eliot.)

Papinemen (1646), Pahparinnamen (1693), Papirinimen (modern), are forms

of the Indian name used interchangeably by the Dutch with Spuyten Duivel

to designate a place where the tide-overflow of the Harlem River is

turned aside by a ridge and unites with Tibbet's Brook, constituting

what is known as the Spuyten Duivel Kill, correctly described by Riker

in his "History of Harlem": "The narrow kill called by the Indians

Pahparinamen, which, winding around the northerly end of Manhattan,

connected the Spuyten Duyvil with the Great Kill or Harlem River, gave

its name to the land contiguous to it on either side." The locative of

the name is clearly shown in the boundaries of the Indian deed to Van

der Donck, in 1646, and in the subsequent Philipse Patent of 1693, the

former describing the south line of the lands conveyed as extending from

the Hudson "to Papinemen, called by our people Spuyten Duivel," and the

latter as extending to and including "the neck, island or hummock,

Pahparinnamen," on the north side of the passage, at which point, in the

early years of Dutch occupancy, a crossing place or "wading place" was

found which had been utilized by the Indians for ages, and of which

Jasper Bankers and Peter Sluyter wrote, in 1679-80, "They can go over

this creek, at dead or low water, upon the rocks and reefs, at a place

called Spuyt ten Duyvel." From this place the name was extended to the

"island or hummock" and to what was called "the Papirinameno Patent,"

at the same point on the south side of the stream, to which it was

claimed to belong in 1701. Mr. Riker's assignment of the name to the

Spuyten Duivel passage is probably correct. The "neck, island or

hummock" was a low elevation in a salt marsh or meadow. It was utilized

as a landing place by the Indians whose path ran from thence across the

marsh "to the main." Later, the path was converted to a causeway or

road-approach to what is still known as King's Bridge. A ferry was

established here in 1669 and known as "The Spuyten Duyvil passage or

road to and from the island to the main." In 1692 Governor Andros gave

power to the city of New York to build a bridge "over the Spiken devil

ferry," and the city, with the consent of the Governor, transferred the

grant to Frederick Philipse. In giving his consent the Governor made the

condition that the bridge "should thenceforth be known and called King's

Bridge." It was made a free bridge in 1758-9. The "island or hummock"

came to be the site of the noted Macomb mansion.

The name has not been satisfactorily translated. Mr. Riker wrote, "Where

the stream closes," or is broken off, recognizing the locative of the

name. Ziesberger wrote, Papinamen, "Diverting," turning aside, to go

different ways; accessorily, that which diverts or turns aside, and

place where the action of the verb is performed. Where the Harlem is

turned aside or diverted, would be a literal description.

[Illustration: The Sputen Duyvel]

Spuyten Duyvil, now so written, was the early Dutch nickname of the

Papirinimen ford or passage, later known as King's Bridge. "By our

people called," wrote Van der Donck in 1652, indicating conference by

the Dutch prior to that date. It simply described the passage as evil,

vicious, dangerous. Its derivatives are _Spui,_ "sluice;" _Spuit,_

"spout;" _Spuiten,_ "to spout, to squirt, to discharge with force," as

a waterspout, or water forced through a narrow passage. _Duyvil_ is a

colloquial expression of viciousness. The same name is met on the Mohawk

in application to the passage of the stream between two islands near

Schenectady. The generally quoted translation, "_Spuyt den Duyvil,_ In

spite of the Devil," quoted by Brodhead as having been written by Van

der Donck, has no standing except in Irving's "Knickerbocker History of

New York." Van der Donck never wrote the sentence. He knew, and Brodhead

knew, that _Spuyt_ was not _Spijt,_ nor _Spuiten_ stand for _Spuitten._

The Dutch for "In spite of the Devil," is _In Spijt van Duivel._ The

sentence may have been quoted by Brodhead without examination. It was a

popular story that Irving told about one Antony Corlear's declaration

that he would swim across the ford at flood tide in a violent storm,

"In spite of the devil," but obviously coined in Irving's brain. It may,

however, had for its foundation the antics of a very black and muscular

African who was employed to guard the passage and prevent hostile

Indians as well as indiscreet Dutchmen from crossing, and who, for the

better discharge of his duty, built fires at night, armed himself with

sword and firebrands, vociferated loudly, and acted the character of a

devil very well. At all events the African is the only historical devil

that had an existence at the ford, and he finally ran away and became

merged with the Indians. _Spiting Devil,_ an English corruption, ran

naturally into _Spitting Devil,_ and some there are who think that that

is a reasonably fair rendering of Dutch _Spuiten._ They are generally

of the class that take in a cant reading with a relish.

Shorakkapoch and Shorackappock are orthographies of the name of record

as that of the cove into which the Papirinemen discharges its waters at

a point on the Hudson known as Tubby Hook. It is specifically located

in the Philipse charter of 1693: "A creek called Papparinnemeno which

divides New York Island from the main land, so along said creek as it

runs to Hudson's River, which part is called by the Indians

Shorackhappok," _i. e._ that part of the stream on Hudson's River. In

the patent to Hugh O'Neil (1666): "To the Kill Shorakapoch, and then to

Papirinimen," _i. e.,_ to the cove and thence east to the Spuyten Duyvil

passage. "The beautiful inlet called Schorakapok." (Riker.) Dr. Trumbull

wrote "_Showaukuppock_ (Mohegan), a cove." William R. Gerard suggests

"_P'skurikûppog_ (Lenape), 'forked, fine harbor,' so called because it

was safely shut in by Tubby Hook, [FN-1] and another Hook at the north,

the current taking a bend around the curved point of rock (covered at

high tide) that forked or divided the harbor at the back." Dr. Brinton

wrote: "_W'shakuppek,_ 'Smooth still water;' _pek,_ a lake, cove or any

body of still water; _kup,_ from _kuppi,_ 'cove.'" Bolton, in his

"History of Westchester County," located at the mouth of the stream, on

the north side, an Indian fort or castle under the name of _Nipinichen,_

but that name belongs on the west side of the Hudson at Konstable's

Hook, [FN-2] and the narrative of the attack on Hudson's ship in 1609,

noted in Juet's Journal, does not warrant the conclusion that there was

an Indian fort or castle in the vicinity. A fishing village there may

have been. At a later date (1675) the authorities permitted a remnant

of the Weckquasgecks to occupy lands "On the north point of Manhattan

Island" (Col, Hist. N. Y., xiii, 494), and the place designated may

have been in previous occupation.

* * * * *

[FN-1] Tubby Hook, Dutch _Tobbe Hoeck,_ from its resemblance to a

washtub.

[FN-2] Called Konstabelshe's Hoek from a grant of land to one Jacobus

Roy, the Konstabel or gunner at Fort Amsterdam, in 1646.

[Illustration: THE PALISADES FROM YONKERS.]

* * * * *

Names on the East from Manhattan North.

Keskeskick, "a piece of land, situated opposite to the flat on the

island of Manhattan, called Keskeskick, stretching lengthwise along the

Kil which runs behind the island of Manhattan, beginning at the head of

said Kil and running to opposite of the high hill by the flat, namely

by the great hill," (Deed of 1638.) _Kaxkeek_ is the orthography of

Riker (Hist. of Harlem); and _Kekesick_ that of Brodhead (Hist. New

York), in addition to which may be quoted _Keesick_ and _Keakates,_

given as the names of what is now known as Long Pond, which formed the

southeast boundary of the tract, where was also a salt marsh or meadow.

In general terms, the name means a "meadow," and may have been that of

this salt marsh (a portion of the name dropped) or of the flat. The root

is _Kâk,_ "sharp;" _Kâkákes,_ "sharp grass," or sedge-marsh;

_Sik-kákaskeg,_ "salt sedge-marsh." (Gerard.) _Micûckaskéete,_ "a

meadow." (Williams.) _Muscota,_ now in use, is another word for meadow.

Mannepies is quoted by Riker (Hist. Harlem) as the name of the hilly

tract or district of Keskeskick, described as lying "over against the

flats of the island of Manhattan." It is now preserved as the name of

Cromwell Lake and creek, and seems to have been the name of the former.

The original was probably an equivalent of _Menuppek,_ "Any enclosed

body of water great or small." (Anthony.)

Neperah, Nippiroha, Niperan, Nepeehen, Napperhaera, Armepperahin, the

latter of date 1642 (Col. Hist. N. Y., xiii, 9), forms of record as the

name of Sawmill Creek, and also quoted as the name of the site of the

present city of Yonkers, has been translated by Wm. R. Gerard, from the

form of 1642: "A corruption of _Ana-nepeheren,_ that is, 'fishing

stream' or 'fishing rapids.'" _Ap-pehan_ (Eliot), "a trap, a snare."

There was an Indian village on the north side of the stream in 1642.

(Col. Hist. N. Y., xiii, 9.)

Nepahkomuk, Nappikomack, etc., quoted as the name of a place on Sawmill

Creek, and also as the name of an Indian village at Yonkers, may have

been the name of the latter by extension. It has been translated with

apparent correctness from _Nepé-komuk_ (Mass.), "An enclosed or occupied

water-place." [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] This translation is from _Nepe (Nepa, Nape, Nippe,_ etc.), meaning

"water," generally, and _Komuk,_ "place enclosed, occupied, limited," a

particular body of water. "The radical of _Nipe_ is _pe_ or _pa,_ which,

with the demonstrative and definitive _ne_ prefixed, formed the noun

_nippe,_ water." (Trumbull.) _Nape-ake (-auke, -aki)_ means "Water-land,"

or water-place. _Nape-ek,_ Del., _Nepeauk,_ Mass., means "Standing

water," a lake or pond or a stretch of still water in a river.

_Menuppek,_ "Lake, sea, any enclosed body of water, great or small."

(Anthony.) _Nebi, nabe, m'bi, be,_ are dialectic forms. The Delaware

_M'hi_ (Zeisb.) is occasionally met in the valley, but the Massachusetts

_Nepe_ is more frequent. _Gami_ is another noun-generic meaning "Water"

(Cree, _Kume_). _Komuk_ (Mass.), _Kamick_ (Del.), is frequently met in

varying orthographies. In general terms it means "Place, limited or

enclosed," a particular place as a field, garden, house, etc., as

distinguished from _auke,_ "Land, earth, unlimited, unenclosed."

Meghkeekassin, the name of a large rock in an obscure nook on the west

side of the Neperah, near the Hudson, is written _Macackassin_ in deed

of 1661. It is from _Mechek,_ Del., "great," and _assin_ "stone."

"_Meechek-assin-ik,_ At the big rock." (Heckewelder.) The name is also

of record _Amack-assin,_ a Delaware term of the same general

meaning--"_Amangi,_ great, big (in composition _Aman-gach_), with the

accessory notion of terrible, frightful." (Dr. Brinton.) Presumably, in

application here, "a monster," _i. e._ a stone not of the native

formation usually found in the locality. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] The Indians are traditionally represented as regarding boulders of

this class, as monuments of a great battle which was fought between

their hero myth Micabo and Kasbun his twin brother, the former

representing the East or Orient, and the latter the West, the imagery

being a description of the primary contest between Light and

Darkness--Light gleaming from the East and Darkness retreating to the

West before it. Says the story: "The feud between the brothers was

bitter and the contest long and doubtful. It began on the mountains of

the East. The face of the land was seamed and torn by the wrestling of

the mighty combatants, and the huge boulders that are scattered about

were the weapons hurled at each other by the enraged brothers." The

story is told in its several forms by Dr. Brinton in his "American Hero

Myths."

Wickquaskeck is entered on Van der Donck's map as the name of an Indian

village or castle the location of which is claimed by Bolton to have

been at Dobb's Ferry, where the name is of record. It was, however, the

name of a place from which it was extended by the early Dutch to a very

considerable representative clan or family of Indians whose jurisdiction

extended from the Hudson to or beyond the Armonck or Byram's River, with

principal seat on the head waters of that stream, or on one of its

tributaries, who constituted the tribe more especially known to the

Dutch settlers as the Manhattans. Cornelius Tienhoven, Secretary of New

Amsterdam, wrote, in 1654, "_Wicquaeskeck_ on the North River, five

miles above New Amsterdam, is very good and suitable land for

agriculture. . . . This land lies between the Sintsinck and Armonck

streams, situate between the East and North rivers." (Doc. Hist, N. Y.,

iv, 29.) "Five miles," Dutch, was then usually counted as twenty miles

(English). Standard Dutch miles would be about eighteen. The Armonck is

now called Byram River; it flows to the Sound on the boundary line

between New York and Connecticut. A part of the territory of this tribe

is loosely described in a deed of 1682, as extending--"from the rock

Sighes, on Hudson's River, to the Neperah, and thence north until you

come to the eastward of the head of the creek, called by the Indians

Wiequaskeck, [FN] stretching through the woods to a kill called

Seweruc," including "a piece of land about Wighqueskeck," _i. e._ about

the head of the creek, which was certainly at the end of a swamp. The

historic seat of the clan was in this vicinity. In the narrative of the

war of 1643-5, it is written, "He of Witqueschreek, living N. E. of

Manhattans. . . . The old Indian (a captive) promised to lead us to

Wetquescheck." He did so, but the castles, three in number, strongly

palisaded, were found empty. Two of them were burned. The inmates, it

was learned, had gathered at a large castle or village on Patucquapaug,

now known as Dumpling Pond, in Greenwich, Ct., to celebrate a festival.

They were attacked there and slaughtered in great numbers. (Doc. Hist.

N. Y., iv, 29.) Bolton's claim that the clan had a castle at or near

Dobb's Ferry, may have been true at some date. The name appears in many

orthographies; in 1621, _Wyeck;_ in treaty of 1645, _Wiquaeshex;_ in

other connections, _Witqueschreek, Weaquassick,_ and Van der Donck's

_Wickquaskeek._ Bolton translated it from the form, _Weicquasguck,_

"Place of the bark kettle," which is obviously erroneous. Dr. Trumbull

wrote: "From Moh. _Weegasoeguck,_ 'the end of the marsh or wet meadow.'"

Van der Donck's _Wickquaskeck_ has _the same meaning._ It is from Lenape

_Wicqua-askek--wicqua,_ "end of," _askek,_ "swamp," marsh, etc.: _-ck,

-eck,_ formative.

* * * * *

[FN] The creek now bearing the name flows to the Hudson through the

village of Dobb's Ferry. Its local name, "Wicker's creek," is a

corruption of Wickquaskeek. It was never the name of an individual.

Pocanteco, Pecantico, Puegkandico and Perghanduck, a stream so called

[FN-1] in Westchester County, was translated by Dr. O'Callaghan from

_Pohkunni,_ "Dark." "The dark river," and by Bolton from _Pockawachne,_

"A stream between hills," which is certainly erroneous. The first word

is probably _Pohk_ or _Pak,_ root _Paken_ (_Pákenum,_ "Dark," Zeisb.;

_Pohken-ahtu,_ "In darkness," Eliot). The second may stand for

_antakeu,_ "Woods," "Forest," and the combination read "The Dark Woods."

The stream rises in New Castle township and flows across the town of Mt.

Pleasant to the Hudson at Tarrytown, where it is associated with

Irving's story of Sleepy Hollow. The Dutch called it "Sleeper's-haven

Kil," from the name which they gave to the reach on the Hudson,

"Verdrietig Hoek," or "Tedious Point," because the hook or point was so

long in sight of their slow-sailing vessels, and in calms their crews

slept away the hours under its shadows, "Over against the Verdrietig

Hoek, commonly called by the name of Sleeper's Haven," is the record.

Pocanteco was a heavily wooded valley, and suggested to the early

mothers stories of ghosts to keep their children from wandering in its

depths. From the woods or the valley the name was extended to the

stream.[FN-2] (See Alipkonck.)

* * * * *

[FN-1] December 1st, 1680, Frederick Phillips petitioned for liberty to

purchase "a parcel of land on each side of the creek called by the

Indians Pocanteco, . . . adjoining the land he hath already purchased;

there to build and erect a saw-mill." (Col. Hist. N. Y., xiii, 546.)

[FN-2] "Far in the foldings of the hills winds this wizard

stream--sometimes silently and darkly through solemn woodlands.. . .

In the neighborhood of the aqueduct is a deep ravine which forms the

dreamy region of Sleepy Hollow." (Sketch Book.)

Alipkonck is entered on Van der Donck's map of 1656, and located with

the sign of an Indian village south of Sing Sing. Bolton (Hist. West.

Co.) claimed it as the name of Tarrytown, and translated it, "The place

of elms," which it certainly does not mean. Its derivative, however, is

disguised in its orthography, and its locative is not certain.

Conjecturally _Alipk_ is from _Wálagk_ (surd mutes _g_ and _p_ exchanged),

"An open place, a hollow or excavation." The locative may have been

Sleepy Hollow. _Tarrytown,_ which some writers have derived from _Tarwe_

(Dutch), "Wheat"--Wheat town--proves to be from an early settler whose

name was _Terry,_ pronounced _Tarry,_ as written in early records. The

Dutch name for Wheat town would be Tarwe-stadt, which was never written

here.

Oscawanna, an island so called, lying a short distance south of Cruger's

Station on N. Y. Central R. R., Hudson River Division, is of record, in

1690, _Wuscawanus._ (Doc. Hist. N. Y., ii, 237.) It seems to have been

from the name of a sachem, otherwise known as Weskora, Weskheun,

Weskomen, in 1685. _Wuski,_ Len., "New, young;" _Wuske'éne_ Williams, "A

youth."

[Illustration: SOUTHERN GATEWAY OF THE HIGHLANDS]

Shildrake, or Sheldrake, given as the name of Furnace Brook, takes that

name from an extended forest known in local records as "The Furnace

Woods." By exchange of _l_ and _n,_ it is probably from _Schind,_

"Spruce-pine" (Zeisb.); _aki,_ "Land" or place. _Schindikeu,_ "Spruce

forest" ("Hemlock woods," Anthony). (See Shinnec'ock.) Furnace Brook

takes that name from an ancient furnace on its bank. In 1734 it was

known as "The old-mill stream." _Jamawissa,_ quoted as its Indian name,

seems to be an aspirated form of _Tamaquese,_ "Small beaver." (See

Jamaica.)

Sing-Sing--Sinsing, Van der Donck; _Sintsing,_ treaty of 1645--usually

translated, "At the standing-stone," and "Stone upon stone," means "At

the small stones," or "Place of small stones"--from _assin_ "stone;"

_is,_ diminutive, and _ing,_ locative. _Ossinsing,_ the name of the

town, has the same meaning; also, Sink-sink, L. I., ind Assinising,

Chemung County. The interpretation is literally sustained in the

locative on the Hudson.

Tuckahoe, town of East Chester, is from _Ptuckweōō,_ "It is round."

It was the name of a bulbous root which was used by the Indians for food

and for making bread, or round loaves. (See Tuckahoe, L. I.)

Kitchiwan, modern form; _Kitchawanc,_ treaty of 1643; _Kichtawanghs,_

treaty of 1645; _Kitchiwan,_ deed of 1645; _Kitchawan,_ treaty of 1664;

the name of a stream in Westchester County from which extended to an

Indian clan, "Is," writes Dr. Albert S. Gatschet of the Bureau of

Ethnology, "an equivalent of _Wabenaki-ke'dshwan, -kidshuan,_ suffixed

verbal stem, meaning 'Running Swiftly,' 'Rushing water,' or current,

whether over rapids or not. _Sas-katchéwan,_ Canada, 'The roiley,

rushing stream'; _assisku,_ 'Mud, dirt.' (Cree.) The prefix _ki_ or

_ke,_ is nothing else than an abbreviation of _kitchi,_ 'great,'

'large,' and here 'strong.' Examples are frequent as -kitchuan,

-kitchawan, Mass.; kesi-itsooaⁿn or taⁿn, Abn., Kussi-tchuan, Mass., 'It

swift flows.' The prefix is usually applied to streams which rise in the

highlands and flow down rapidly descending slopes." The final _k_ in some

of the early forms, indicates pronunciation with the guttural aspirate,

as met in _wank_ and wangh in other local names. [FN] The final _s_ is a

foreign plural usually employed to express "people," or tribe. The

stream is now known as the _Croten_ from _Cnoten,_ the name of a

resident sachem, which by exchange of _n_ and _r,_ becomes _Croten,_ an

equivalent, wrote Dr. Schoolcraft of _Noten,_ Chip., "The wind."

"Bounded on the south by Scroton's River" (deed of 1703); "Called by

the Indians Kightawank, and by the English Knotrus River." (Col. N. Y,

Land Papers, 79.)

* * * * *

[FN] Dr. Trumbull wrote in the Natick (Mass.) dialect, "_Kussitchuan,

-uwan,_ impersonal verb, 'It flows in a rapid stream,' a current; it

continues flowing; as a noun, 'a rapid stream.'" In Cree, _Kussehtanne,_

"Flowing as a stream" In Delaware, _-tanne_ has its equivalent in

_-hanne._ "The impersonal verb termination _-awan, -uan,_ etc., is

sometimes written with the participial and subjunctive _k_" (_ka_ or

_gh._) (Gerard.) The _k_ or _gh_ appears in some forms of Kitchawan.

(See Waronawanka.)

Titicus, given as the name of a branch of the Croton flowing from

Connecticut, is of record Mutighticos and Matightekonks, translated by

Dr. Trumbull from _Mat'uhtugh-ohke,_ "Place without wood," from which

extended to the stream. (See Mattituck and Sackonck.)

Navish is claimed as the name of Teller's (now Croton) Point, on a

reading of the Indian deed of 1683: "All that parcel, neck or point of

land, with the meadow ground or valley adjoining, situate, lying and

being on the east side of the river over against Verdrietig's Hooke,

commonly called and known by the name of Slauper's Haven and by the

Indians Navish, the meadow being called by the Indians Senasqua."

Clearly, Navish refers to Verdrietig Hook, on the west side of the

river, where it is of record. It is an equivalent of _Newás_ (Len.),

"promontory." (See Nyack-on-the-Hudson.)

Nannakans, given as the name of a clan residing on Croton River, is an

equivalent of _Narragans_ (_s_ foreign plural), meaning "People of the

point," the locative being Croton Point. (See Nyack.) This clan, crushed

by the war of 1643-5, removed to the Raritan country, where, by

dialectic exchange of _n_ and _r,_ they were known as Raritanoos, or

Narritans. They were represented, in 1649, by Pennekeck, "The chief

behind the Kul, having no chief of their own." (Col. Hist. N. Y., xiii.)

The interpretation given to their removal, by some writers, viz., "That

the Wappingers removed to New Jersey," is only correct in a limited

sense. The removal was of a single clan or family. The Indians on both

sides of the Hudson here were of kindred stock and were largely

intermarried. (See Raritans and Pomptons.)

Senasqua, quoted as the name of Teller's Point (now Croton Point), and

also as the name of Teller's Neck, is described as "A meadow,"

presumably on the neck or point. It is an equivalent of Del.

_Lenaskqual,_ "Original grass," (Zeisb.), _i. e._ grass which was

supposed to have grown on the land from the beginning. (Heck.) Called

"Indian grass" to distinguish it from "Whitemen's grass." [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] _Askquall,_ or _Askqua,_ is an inanimate plural in the termination

_-all, -al,_ or _-a._ All grass was not described by _Maskik,_ in which

the termination _-ik_ is the animate plural.

Peppeneghek is a record form of the name quoted as that of what is now

known as Cross-river.

Kewighecack, the name of a boundmark of Van Cortlandt's Manor, is

written on the map of the Manor _Keweghteuack_ as the name of a bend in

the Croton west of Pine Bridge. It is from _Koua, Kowa, Cuwé,_

"Pine"--_Cuwé-uchac,_ "Pine wood, pine logs." (Zeisb.)

Kestaubniuk is entered on Van der Donck's map as the name of an Indian

place or village north of Sing Sing. On Vischer's map the orthography

is _Kestaubocuck._ Dr. Schoolcraft wrote _Kestoniuck,_ "Great Point,"

and claimed that the last word had been borrowed and applied to Nyack

on the opposite side of the river, but this is a mistake as Nyack is

generic and of local record where it now is as early as 1660, and is

there correctly applied. No one seems to know where Kestaubniuk was, but

the name is obviously from _Kitschi-bonok,_ "Great ground-nut place."

_Ketche-punak_ and _Ketcha-bonac,_ L. I., _K'schobbenak,_ Del.

Menagh, entered in Indian deed to Van Cortlandt, 1683, as the name of

what is now known as Verplanck's Point, is probably from _Menach'en_

(Del.), the indefinite form of _Menátes,_ diminutive, meaning "Small

island." The point was an island in its separation from the main land

by a water course. Monack, Monach, Menach, are other orthographies of

the name.

Tammoesis is of record as the name of a small stream north of Peekskill.

Appamaghpogh, now _Amawalk,_ seems to have been extended to a tract of

land without specific location. It is presumed to have been the name of

a fishing place on what is now known as Mohegan Lake _Appéh-ama-paug,_

"Trap fishing place," or pond. _Amawalk,_ is from _Nam'e-auke,_

"Fishing-place," (Trumbull.) In the Massachusetts dialect _-pogh_ stands

for "pond," or water-place.

Keskistkonck, Pasquasheck, and Nochpeem are noted on Van der Donck's map

in the Highlands. In Colonial History is the entry (1644),

"Mongochkonnome and Papenaharrow, chiefs of Wiquseskkack and Nochpeems."

On the east side of the river, apparently about opposite the Donderberg,

is located, on early maps, the _Pachimi,_ who, in turn, are associated

in records with the _Tankitekes._ Pacham is given as the name of a noted

chief of the early period. His clan was probably the Pachimi.

Keskistkonck was a living name as late as 1663, but disappears after

that date. "The Kiskightkoncks, who have no chief now, but are counted

among the foregoing savages." (Col. Hist. N. Y., xiii, 303.)

Sachus, Sachoes and Sackoack are quoted as names of Peekskill, and

_Magrigaries_ as the name of the stream. The latter is an orthography

of _MacGregorie's,_ from Hugh MacGregorie, an owner of lands on the

stream. [FN-1] Though quoted as the name of Peak's Kill, it was the name

given to a small creek south of that stream, as per map of 1776.

_Sachus_ and _Sachoes_ are equivalents, and probably refer to the mouth

or outlet of the small or MacGregorie's Creek--_Sakoes_ or _Saukoes._

_Sackonck_ has substantially the same meaning--_Sakunk,_ "At the mouth

or outlet of a creek or river." There was, however, a resident sachem

who was called _Sachoes,_ probably from his place of residence, but

which can be read "Black Kettle," from _Suckeu,_ "black," and _ōōs,_

"kettle." Peekskill is modern from Peak's Kill, so called from Jan Peak,

[FN-2] the founder of the settlement. The Indian name of the stream is

noted, in deed of 1695, "Called by the Indians _Paquintuk,_" probably

an equivalent of _Pokqueantuk,_ "A broad, open place in a tidal river or

estuary." Peekskill Bay was probably referred to. (See Sackonck.)

* * * * *

[FN-1] Hugh MacGregorie was son of Major Patrick MacGregorie, the first

settler in the present county of Orange. He was killed in the Leisler

rebellion in New York in 1691. The son, Hugh, and his mother, were

granted 1500 acres of land "At a place called John Peaches creek." No

fees were charged for the patent out of respect for the memory of Major

MacGregorie, as he then had "lately died in His Majesty's service in

defence of the Province." (Doc. Hist. N. Y., ii, 364.) MacGregories

sold to Van Cortlandt in 1696.

[FN-2] Peake, an orthography of _Peak,_ English; Dutch, _Piek_;

pronounced _Pek_ (_e_ as _e_ in wet); English, _Pek_ or _Peck._

Kittatinny, erroneously claimed to mean "Endless hills," and to describe

the Highlands as a continuation of the Allegheny range, belongs to

Anthony's Nose [FN-1] to which, however, it has no very early record

application. It is from _Kitschi,_ "Principal, greatest," and _-atinny,_

"Hill, mountain," applicable to any principal mountain peak compared

with others in its vicinity. [FN-2]

* * * * *

[FN-1] The origin of the name is uncertain. Estevan Gomez, a Spanish

navigator, wrote "St. Anthony's River" as the name of the Hudson, in

1525. The current explanation, "Antonius Neus, so called from fancied

resemblance to the nose of one Anthony de Hoages," is a myth. The name

as the early Dutch understood it, is no doubt more correctly explained

by Jasper Bankers and Peter Sluyter in their Journal of 1679-80: "A

headland and high hill in the Highlands, so called because it has a

sharp ridge running up and down in the form of a nose," but fails to

explain St. Anthony, or Latin Antonius. The name appears also on the

Mohawk river and on Lake George, presumably from resemblance to the

Highland peak.

[FN-2] The Indians had no names for mountain ranges, but frequently

designated certain peaks by specific names. "Among these aboriginal

people," wrote Heckewelder, "every tree was not the tree, and every

mountain the mountain; but, on the contrary, everything is

distinguished by its specific name." Kittatinny was and is the most

conspicuous or greatest hill of the particular group of hills in its

proximity and was spoken of as such in designating the boundmark.

Sacrahung, or Mill River, "takes its name from _Sacra,_ 'rain.' Its

liability to freshets after heavy rains, may have given origin to the

name." (O'Callaghan.) Evidently, however, the name is a corruption of

_Sakwihung_ (Zeish.), "At the mouth of the river." The record reads,

"A small brook or run called Wigwam brook, but by some falsely called

Sackwrahung." (Deed of 1740.)

Quinnehung, a neck of land at the mouth and west side of Bronx River, is

presumed to have been the name of Hunter's Point. The adjectival

_Quinneh,_ is very plainly an equivalent of _Quinnih_ (Eliot), "long,"

and _-ung_ or _-ongh_ may stand for place--"A long place, or neck of

land." (See Aquchung.)

Sackonck and Matightekonck, record names of places petitioned for by

Van Cortlandt in 1697, are located in general terms, in the petition,

in the neighborhood of John Peak's Creek and Anthony's Nose. (Cal. N. Y.

Land Papers, 49.) The first probably referred to the mouth of Peak's

Creek (Peekskill). _Sakunk_ (Heck.), "At the mouth or outlet of a creek

or river." _Saukunk_ (Donck) is another form. (See Titicus.)

Aquehung, Acqueahounck, etc., was translated by Dr. O'Callaghan, "The

place of peace." from _Aquene,_ Nar., "peace," and _unk,_ locative.

Dr. Trumbull wrote, "A place _on this side_ of some other place," from

the generic _Acq._ The description in N. Y. Land Papers reads, "Bounded

on the east by the river called by the Indians Aquehung," the river

taking its name from its position as a boundary "on this side" of which

was the land. The contemporary name, _Ran-ahqua-ung,_ means "A place on

the other side," corresponding with the description, "On the other side

of the Great Kil." Bolton assigns Acqueahounck to Hutchinson's Creek,

the west boundary of the town of Pelham. The "Great Kil" is now the

Bronx.

Kakeout, the name of the highest hill in Westchester County, is from

Dutch _Kijk-uit,_ "Look-out--a place of observation, as a tower, hill,"

etc. It appears also in Rockland and in Ulster County and on the Mohawk.

(See Kakiate.)

Shappequa, a name now applied to the Shappequa Hills and to a mineral

spring east of Sing-Sing, and destined to be remembered as that of the

home of Horace Greeley, was primarily given to locate a tract now

embraced in the towns of New Castle and Bedford, and, as in all such

cases, was a specific place by which the location could be identified,

but which in turn has never been identified. The name is apparently a

form of _Chepi_ written also _Chappa,_ signifying, "Separated, apart

from, a distinct place." [FN] (See Kap-hack.)

* * * * *

[FN] The word _Chippe_ or _Shappa,_ means not only separate, "The

separate place," but was employed to describe a future

condition--Chepeck, the dead. As an adjective, _Chippe_ (El.) signifies

separated, set apart. _Chepiohkomuk,_ the place of separation. The same

word was used for 'ghost,' 'spectre,' 'evil spirit.' (Trumbull.) The

corresponding Delaware word was _Tschipey._ It is not presumed that the

word was made use of here in any other sense than its literal

application, "A separate place." Bolton assigns the name to a Laurel

Swamp, but with doubtful correctness.

Aspetong, a bold eminence in Bedford, is an equivalent of _Ashpohtag,_

Mass., "A high place," "A height." (Trumbull.) See Ishpatinau.

Quarepos, of record as the name of the district of country called by the

English "White Plains," from the primary prevalence there of white

balsam (Dr. O'Callaghan), seems to have been the name of the lake now

known as St. Mary's. _Quar_ is a form of _Quin, Quan,_ etc., meaning

"Long," and _pos_ stands for _pog_ or _paug,_ meaning "Pond." The name

is met in _Quin'e-paug,_ "Long Pond." The pond lies along the east

border of the town of White Plains.

Peningo, the point or neck of land forming the southeastern extremity

of the town of Rye, [FN] was interpreted by Dr. Bolton, with doubtful

correctness: "From _Ponus,_ an Indian chief." The neck is some nine

miles long by about two miles broad and seems to have been primarily

a region of ridges and swamps.

* * * * *

[FN] Rye is from Rye, England. The derivative is _Ripe_ (Latin),

meaning, "The bank of a river." In French, "The sea-shore."

Apanammis, Cal. N. Y, Land Papers; Apauamis and Apauamin, Col. Hist.

N. Y.: Apawammeis, Apawamis, Apawqunamis, Epawames, local and Conn.

Records, is given as the name of Budd's Neck, between Mamaroneck River

and Blind Brook, Westchester County. Dr. Trumbull passed the name

without explanation. It is written as the name of a boundmark.

Mochquams and Moagunanes are record forms of the name of Blind Brook,

one of the boundary streams of the tract called Penningo, which is

described as lying "between Blind Brook and Byram River." (See Armonck.)

Magopson and Mangopson are orthographies of the name given as that of

De Lancey's Neck, described as "The great neck." (See Waumaniuck.) The

dialect spoken in eastern Westchester seems to have been _Quiripi_ (or

Quinipiac), which prevailed near the Sound from New Haven west.

Armonck, claimed as the name of Byram's River, was probably that of a

fishing place. In 1649 the name of the stream is of record, "Called by

the Indians _Seweyruck._" In the same record the land is called _Haseco_

and a meadow _Misosehasakey,_ interpreted by Dr. Trumbull, "Great fresh

meadow," or low wet lands. _Haseco_ has no meaning; it is now assigned

to Port Chester (Saw-Pits), and _Misosehasakey_ to Horse Neck. Armonck

has lost some of its letters. What is left of it indicates _Amaug,_

"fishing place." (Trumbull's Indian Names.)

Eauketaupucason, the name written as that of the feature in the village

of Rye known by the unpleasant English title of "Hog-pen Ridge," is,

writes Mr. William R. Gerard, "Probably an equivalent of Lenape

_Ogid-ápuchk-essen,_ meaning, 'There is rock upon rock,' or one rock

on another rock." Topography not ascertained.

Manussing--in will of Joseph Sherwood, _Menassink_--an island so called

in the jurisdiction of Rye, may be an equivalent of _Min-assin-ink,_

"At a place of small stones," _Minneweis,_ now City Island, is in the

same jurisdiction.

Mamaroneck, now so written as the name of a town in Westchester County,

is of record, in 1644, Mamarrack and Mamarranack; later, Mammaranock,

Mamorinack, Mammarinickes (1662), primarily as that of a "Neck or parcel

of land," but claimed to be from the name of an early sachem of the

Kitchtawanks whose territory was called Kitchtawanuck. [FN] Wm. R.

Gerard explains: "The dissyllabic root, _mamal,_ or _mamar,_ means 'To

stripe;' _Mamar-a-nak,_ 'striped arms,' or eyebrows, as the name of an

Indian chief who painted his arms in stripes or radiated his eyebrows,"

a custom noted by several early writers. There is no evidence that the

Kitchtawanuck sachem had either residence or jurisdiction here, nor is

his name signed to any deed in this district. The reading in one record,

"Three stripes or strips of land," seems to indicate that the name was

descriptive of the necks or strips of land. (See Waumaniuck.)

* * * * *

[FN] "Mamarranack and Waupaurin, chiefs of Kitchawanuck." (Col. Hist.

N. Y., xiii, 17.) The Kitchawan is now known as Croton river. It has

no connection whatever with Mamaroneck.

Waumaniuck and Maumaniuck, forms of the name of record as that of the

eastern part of De Lancey's Neck, or Seaman's Point, Westchester County,

as stated in the Indian deed of 1661, which conveyed to one John

Richbell "three necks of land," described as "Bounded on the east by

Mamaroneck River, and on the west by Gravelly or Stony Brook" (Cal.

N. Y. Land Papers, 5), the latter by the Indians called Pockotesse-wacke,

came to be known as Mamaraneck Neck, otherwise described as "The great

neck of land at Mamaroneck."

Pockotessewacke, given as the name of what came to be known as "Gravelly

or Stony Brook," and "Beaver-meadow Brook," [FN] has been translated by

Wm. R. Gerard, from "_Petuk-assin-icke,_ 'where there are numerous round

stones'"; a place from which the name was extended to the stream, or

the name of a place in the stream where there were numerous round

stones, _i. e._ paving stones or "hard-heads." _Esse (esseni)_ from

_assin,_ "stone," means "stony, flinty."

* * * * *

[FN] Pockotessewacke and Beaver-meadow Brook. (Cal. N. Y. Land Papers.)

[Illustration: Cro' Nest Mountain]

Manuketesuck, quoted by Bolton (Hist. West. Co.) as the name of Long

Island Sound and interpreted, "Broad flowing river," was more correctly

explained by Dr. Trumbull: "Apparently a diminutive of _Manunkatesuck,_

'Menhaden country,' from _Munongutteau,_ 'that which fertalizes or

manures land,' the Indian name for white fish or bony fish, which were

taken in great numbers by the Indians, on the shores of the Sound, for

manuring their corn lands."

Moharsic is said to have been the name of what is now known as

Crom-pond, in the town of Yorktown. The pond is in two parts, and the

name may mean, "Where two ponds meet," or come together. _Crom-pond_ is

corrupt Dutch from _Krom-poel,_ "Crooked pond."

Maharness, the name of a stream rising in Westchester County and flowing

east to the Sound, is also written _Mianus_ and _Mahanus,_ in Dutch

records _Mayane,_ correctly _Mayanno._ It was the name of "a sachem

residing on it between Greenwich and Stamford, Ct., who was killed by

Capt. Patrick, in 1643, and his head cut off and sent to Fort

Amsterdam." (Brodhead, i, 386.) Dr. Trumbull interpreted, "He who

gathers together." _Kechkawes_ is written as the name of the stream in

1640.

Nanichiestawack, given as the name of an Indian village on the southern

spur of Indian Hill (so called) in the town of Bedford, rests on

tradition.

Petuckquapaug, a pond in Greenwich, Ct., but originally under the

jurisdiction of the Dutch at Fort Amsterdam, signifies "Round Pond."

It is now called "Dumpling Pond." The Dutch changed the suffix to _paen,_

"soft land," and in that form described an adjacent district of low

land. (See Tappan.)

Katonah, the name of a sachem, is preserved in that of a village in the

town of Bedford. The district was known as "Katonah's land." In deed

of 1680, the orthography is Katōōnah--oo as in food.

Succabonk, a place-name in the town of Bedford, stands for Sagabonak-ong,

"Place of ground nuts," or wild potatoes. (See Sagabonock.)

Wequehackhe is written by Reichel ("Mem. Moravian Church") as the name

of the Highlands, with the interpretation, "The hill country"--"People

of the hill country." The name has no such meaning. _Weque_ or _Wequa,_

means "The end," and _-hackhe_ (hacki) means "Land," not up-land. In

other words, the boundary was the end of the Highlands.' [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] "_Hacki,_ land; _Len-hacki,_ up-land." (Zeisberger.) "When they

speak of highlands they say _Lennihacke,_ original lands; but they do

not apply the same name to low lands, which, being generally formed by

the overflowing or washing of streams, cannot be called original."

(Heckewelder.)

Mahopack, the modern form of the name of a lake in Putnam County, is of

record _Makoohpeck_ in 1765, and _Macookpack_ on Sauthier's map of 1774,

which seem to stand for _M'achkookpéeck_ (_Ukh-okpeck,_ Mah.), meaning

"Snake Lake," or "Water where snakes are abundant." (See Copake.) In

early years snakes were abundant in the region about the lake, and are

not scarce in present times. [FN] The lake is ten miles in circumference

and lies sixteen hundred feet above the level of Hudson's River. It

contains two or three small islands, on the largest of which is the

traditionally famous "Chieftain's Rock."

* * * * *

[FN] A wild, wet region among the hills, where the rattlesnake

abounded. They were formerly found in all parts of the Highlands, and

are still met frequently.

Canopus, claimed to have been the name of an Indian sachem and now

preserved in Canopus Hollow, Putnam County, is not Indian; it is Latin

from the Greek name of a town in Egypt. "_Can'pus,_ the Egyptian god

of water." (Webster.)

Wiccopee is of record as the name of the highest peak in the Fishkill

Mountains on the south border of East Fishkill. It is also assigned to

the pass or clove in the range through which ran the Indian path, now

the present as well as the ancient highway between Fishkill Village and

Peekskill, which was fortified in the war of the Revolution. An Indian

village is traditionally located in the pass, of which "one Wikopy" is

named as chief on the same authority. The name, however, has no

reference to a pass, path, village or chief; it is a pronunciation of

_Wecuppe,_ "The place of basswoods or linden trees," from the inner bark

of which (_wikopi_) "the Indians made ropes and mats--their tying bark

par excellence." (Trumbull.) "_Wikbi_, bast, the inner bark of trees."

(Zeisberger.) In Webster and The Century the name is applied to the

Leather-wood, a willowy shrub with a tough, leathery bark.

Matteawan, now so written, has retained that orthography since its first

appearance in 1685 in the Rombout Patent, which reads: "Beginning on

the south side of a creek called Matteawan," the exact boundmark being

the north side or foot of the hill known as Breakneck (_Matomps'k_). It

has been interpreted in various ways, that most frequently quoted

appearing in Spofford's Gazetteer: "From _Matai,_ a magician, and

_Wian,_ a skin; freely rendered, 'Place of good furs,'" which never

could have been the meaning; nor does the name refer to mountains to

which it has been extended. Wm. R. Gerard writes: "_Matáwan,_ an

impersonal Algonquian verb, meaning, 'It debouches into,' _i. e._ 'a

creek or river into another body of water,' substantially, 'a

confluence.'" This rendering is confirmed by Albert S. Gatschet, of the

Bureau of Ethnology, who writes: "Mr. Gerard is certainly right when he

explains the radix _mat--mata_--by confluence, junction, debouching,

and forming verbs as well as roots and nouns." _-A'wan, -wan -uan,_

etc., is an impersonal verb termination; it appears only in connection

with impersonal verbs. (See Waronawanka.) Matteawan is met in several

forms--Matawa and Mattawan, Ontario, Canada; Mattawan, Maine; Matawan,

Monmouth County, N. J.; Mattawanna, Pa.; Mattawoman, Maryland.

Fishkill, the English name of the stream of which Matteawan is the

estuary, is from Dutch _Vischer's Kil._ It was probably applied by the

Dutch to the estuary from _Vischer's Rak_ which the Dutch applied to a

reach or sailing course on the Hudson at this point. De Laet wrote:

"A place which our country-men call Vischer's Rack, [FN] that is

Fisherman's Bend." (See Woranecks.) On the earlier maps the stream, or

its estuary, is named _Vresch Kil,_ or "Fresh-water Kil," to distinguish

it from the brackish water of the Hudson. From the estuary extended to

the entire stream.

* * * * *

[FN] Rack is obsolete; the present word is _Recht._ It describes an

almost straight part of the river.

Woranecks, Carte Figurative 1614-16; _Waoranecks,_ 1621-25; _Warenecker,_

Wassenaer; _Waoranekye,_ De Laet, 1633-40; _Waoranecks,_ Van der Donck's

map, 1656--is located on the Carte Figurative north of latitude 42-15, on

the east side of the river. De Laet and Van der Donck place it between

what are now known as Wappingers' Creek and Fishkill Creek. De Laet

wrote: "Where projects a sandy point and the river becomes narrower,

there is a place called Esopus, where the Waoranekys, another barbarous

nation, have their abode." Later, Esopus became permanent on the west

side of the river at Kingston. It is a Dutch corruption of Algonquian

_Sepus,_ meaning brook, creek, etc., applicable to any small stream.

From De Laet's description, [FN] there is little room for doubt that the

"sandy point" to which he referred is now known as Low Point, opposite

the Dans Kamer, at the head of Newburgh Bay, where the river narrows,

or that Esopus was applied to Casper's Creek. On Van der Donck's map the

"barbarous nation" is given three castles on the south side of the

stream, which became known later (1643) as the Wappingers, who certainly

held jurisdiction on the east side of Newburgh Bay. The adjectival of

the name is no doubt from _Wáro,_ or _Waloh,_ meaning "Concave,

hollowing," a depression in land, low land, the latter expressed in

_ock (ohke),_ "land" or place. The same adjectival appears in

_Waronawanka_ at Kingston, and the same word in _Woronake_ on the Sound

at Milford, Ct., where the topography is similar. The foreign plural

_s_ extends the meaning to "Dwellers on," or inhabitants of. (See

Wahamenesing and {Waro?}nawanka.)

* * * * *

[FN] . . . "And thus with various windings it reaches a place which our

countrymen call Vischer's Rack, that is the Fisherman's Bend. And here

the eastern bank is inhabited by the Pachimi. A little beyond where

projects a sandy point and the river becomes narrower, there is a place

called Esopus, where the Waoranekys, another barbarous nation, have

their abode. To these succeed, after a short interval, the

Waranawankconghs, on the opposite side of the river." (De Laet.)

"At the Fisher's Hook are the Pachany, Wareneckers," etc. (Wassenaer.)

Mawenawasigh, so written in the Rombout Patent of 1684, covering lands

extending from Wappingers' Creek to the foot of the hills on the north

side of Matteawan Creek, was the name of the north boundmark of the

patent and not that of Wappingers' Creek. The Indian deed reads:

"Beginning on the south side of a creek called Matteawan, from thence

northwardly along Hudson's river five hundred yards _beyond_ the Great

Wappingers creek or kill, called Mawenawasigh." The stream was given

the name of the boundmark and was introduced to identify the place that

was five hundred yards north of it, _i. e._ the rocky point or

promontory through which passes the tunnel of the Hudson River R. R. at

New Hamburgh. The name is from _Mawe,_ "To meet," and _Newásek,_ [FN]

"A point or promontory"--literally, "The promontory where another

boundary is met." The assignment of the name to Wappingers' Falls is as

erroneous as its assignment to the creek.

* * * * *

[FN] _Nawaas,_ on the Connecticut, noted on the Carte Figurative of

1614-16, is very distinctly located at a point on the head-waters of

that river.

_Neversink_ is a corruption of _Newas-ink,_ "At the point or promontory."