* * * * *
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."
Wahamanesing is noted by Brodhead (Hist. N. Y.) as the name of
Wappingers' Creek--authority not cited and place where the stream was
so called not ascertained. The initial W was probably exchanged for M
by mishearing, as it was in many cases of record. _Mah_ means "To meet,"
_Amhannes_ means "A small river," and the suffix _-ing_ is locative. The
composition reads: "A place where streams come together," which may have
been on the Hudson at the mouth of the creek. In Philadelphia
_Moyamansing_ was the name of a marsh bounded by four small streams.
(N. Y. Land Papers, 646.) Dr. Trumbull in his "Indian Names on the
Connecticut," quoted _Mahmansuck_ (Moh.), in Connecticut, with the
explanation, "Where two streams come together." The name was extended
to the creek as customary in such cases. The Wahamanesing flows from
Stissing Pond, in northern Duchess County, and follows the center of a
narrow belt of limestone its entire length of about thirty-five miles
southwest to the Hudson, which it reaches in a curve and passes over a
picturesque fall of seventy-five feet to an estuary. From early Dutch
occupation it has been known or called Wappinck (1645), Wappinges and
Wappingers' Kill or creek, taking that name presumably from the clan
which was seated upon it of record as "Wappings, Wappinges, Wapans, or
Highland Indians." [FN-1] On Van der Donck's map three castles or
villages of the clan are located on the south side or south of the
creek, indicating the inclusion in the tribal jurisdiction of the lands
as far south as the Highlands. From Kregier's Journal of the "Second
Esopus War" (1663), it is learned that they had a principal castle in
the vicinity of Low Point and that they maintained a crossing-place to
Dans Kamer Point. Their name is presumed to have been derived from
generic _Wapan,_ "East"--_Wapani,_ "Eastern people" [FN-2]--which could
have been properly applied to them as residents on the east side of the
river, not "Eastern people" as that term is applied to residents of the
more Eastern States, but locally so called by residents on the west side
of the Hudson, or by the Delawares as the most eastern nation of their
own stock. They were no doubt more or less mixed by association and
marriage with their eastern as well as their western neighbors, but
were primarily of Lenape or Delaware origin, and related to the Minsi,
Monsey or Minisink clans on the west side of the river, though not
associated with them in tribal government. [FN-3] Their tribal
jurisdiction, aside from that which was immediately local, extended on
the east side of the river from Roelof Jansen's Kill (south of opposite
to the Catskill) to the sea. At their northern bound they met the tribe
known to the Dutch as the Mahicans, a people of eastern origin and
dialect, whose eastern limit included the valley of the Housatonic at
least, and with them in alliance formed the "Mahican nation" of Dutch
history, as stated by King Ninham of the Wappingers, in an affidavit in
1757, and who also stated that the language of the Mahicans was _not the
same_ as that of the Wappingers, although he understood the Mahicani.
Reduced by early wars with the Dutch around New Amsterdam and by contact
with European civilization, they melted away rapidly, many of them
finding homes in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, others at Stockbridge,
and a remnant living at Fishkill removing thence to Otsiningo, in 1737,
as wards of the Senecas. (Col. Hist. N. Y., vii, 153, 158.)
* * * * *
[FN-1] "Highland Indians" was a designation employed by the Dutch as
well as by the English. (Col. Hist. N. Y., viii, 440.)
[FN-2] The familiar historic name _Wappingers_ seems to have been
introduced by the Dutch from their word _Wapendragers,_ "Armed men."
The tribe is first met of record in 1643, when they attacked boats
coming down from Fort Orange. (Doc. Hist. N. Y., iv, 12.) A map of
1690 gives them a large settlement on the south side of the creek.
There is no _Opossum_ in the name, as some writers read it, although
some blundering clerk wrote _Oping_ for _Waping._
[FN-3] The relations between the Esopus Indians and the Wappingers were
always intimate and friendly, so much so that when the Mohawks made
peace with the Esopus Indians, in 1669, and refused to include the
Wappingers, it was feared by the government that further trouble would
ensue from the "great correspondence and affinity between them." (Col.
Hist. N. Y., xiii, 427.) "Affinity," relationship by marriage, kinship
generally.
Gov. Tryon, in his report in 1774, no doubt stated the facts correctly
when he wrote that the "Montauks and others of Long Island, Wappingers
of Duchess County, Esopus, Papagoncks, &c., of Ulster County, generally
denominated River Indians, spoke a language radically the same," and
were "understood by the Delawares, being originally of the same race."
(Doc Hist. N. Y., i, 765.)
Poughquag, the name of a village in the town of Beekman, Duchess County,
and primarily the name of what is now known as Silver Lake, in the
southeast part of the town, is from _Apoquague,_ (Mass.), meaning, "A
flaggy meadow," which is presumed to have adjoined the lake. It is from
_Uppuqui,_ "Lodge covering," and _-anke,_ "Land" or place. (Trumbull.)
Pietawickquassick, a brook so called which formed a bound-mark of a
tract of land conveyed by Peter Schuyler in 1699, described as "On the
east side of Hudson's River, over against Juffrou's Hook, at a place
called by the Christians Jan Casper's Creek." The creek is now known as
Casper's Creek. It is the first creek north of Wappingers' Kill.
Schuyler called the place _Rust Plaest_ (Dutch, Rust-plaats), meaning
"Resting place, or place of peace." The Indian name has not been
located. It is probably a form or equivalent of _P'tukqu-suk,_ "A bend
in a brook or outlet."
Wassaic, a village and a creek so called in the town of Amenia, Duchess
County, appears in N. Y. records in 1702, _Wiesasack,_ as the name of
a tract of land "lying to the southward of Wayanaglanock, to the
westward of Westenhoek creek." (Cal. N. Y. Land Papers, 58); later,
"Near a place called Weshiack" (Ib. 65), "and thence northerly to a place
called Wishshiag, and so on about a mile northwest of ye Allum rocks."
[FN] (Ib. 75.) The name seems to have been applied to the north end of
West Mountain, where is located the ravine known as the Dover Stone
Church, about half a mile west of the village of Dover Plains. The
ravine is 20 to 25 feet wide at the bottom, 1 to 3 feet at the top,
30 to 40 feet long, and 40 to 50 feet high, hence called a church. The
Webotuck, a tributary of Ten Mile River, flows through the ravine. Dr.
Trumbull ("Indian Names in Connecticut") wrote: "_Wassiog,_ (Moh.),
alternate _Washiack,_ a west bound of the Mohegan country claimed by
Uncas; 'the south end of a very high hill' very near the line between
Glastonbury and Hebron," a place near Hartford, Conn., but failed to
give explanation of the name.
* * * * *
[FN] _Wallam_--the initial _W_ dropped--literally, "Paint rocks," a
formation of igneous rock which, by exposure, becomes disintegrated
into soft earthy masses. There are several varieties. The Indians used
the disintegrated masses for paint. The name is met in some forms in
all Algonquian dialects. (See Wallomschack.)
Weputing, Weepitung, Webotuck, Weepatuck (N. Y. and Conn. Rec.), given
as the name of a "high mountain," in the Sackett Patent, was translated
by Dr. Trumbull, from Conn. Records: "_Weepatuck,_ 'Place of the narrow
pass,' or 'strait.'" (See Wassaic.)
Querapogatt, a boundmark of the Sackett Patent, is, apparently, a
compound of _Quenne,_ "long," _pog_ (paug), "pond," and _att_
locative--"Beginning at the (a) long pond." The name is met in
_Quine-baug,_ without locative suffix, signifying "Long Pond" simply.
She'kom'eko, preserved as the name of a small stream which rises near
Federal Square, Duchess County, and flows thence north to Roelof
Jansen's Kill, was primarily the name of an Indian village conspicuous
in the history of the labors of the Moravian missionaries. [FN-1] It was
located about two miles south of Pine Plains in the valley of the
stream. Dr. Trumbull translated: "_She'com'eko,_ modern _Chic'omi'co,_
from _-she, -che_ (from _mishe_ or _k'che_), 'great,' and _comaco,_
'house,' or 'enclosed place'--'the great lodge,', or 'the great
village.'" [FN-2] We have the testimony of Loskiel that the occupants
of the village were "Mahicander Indians."
* * * * *
[FN-1] The field of the labors of the Moravian missionaries extended
to Wechquadnach, Pachquadnach, Potatik, Westenhoek and Wehtak, on the
Housatenuc. _Wechquadnach_ (Wechquetank, Loskiel) was at the end of
what is now known as Indian Pond, lying partly in the town of North
East, Duchess County, and partly in Sharon, Conn. It was the Gnadensee,
or "Lake of Grace," of the missionaries. _Wequadn'ach_ means "At the
end of the mountain" between which and the lake the Indian village
stood. _Pachquadn'ach_ was on the opposite side of the pond; it means
"Clear bare mountain land." _Wehtak_ means "Wigwam place."
_Pishgachtigok_ (Pach-gat-gock, German notation), was about twenty
miles south of Shekomeko, at the junction of Ten Mile River and the
Housatonuc. It means, "Where the river divides," or branches. (See
Schaghticoke.) _Westenhoek,_ noted above, is explained in another
connection. _Housatonuc,_ in N. Y. Land Papers _Owassitanuc,_ stands
for _A-wass-adene-uc,_ Abn.; in Delaware, _Awossi,_ "Over, over there,
beyond," _-actenne,_ "hill or mountain," with locative _-uk,_ "place,"
"land"; literally, "A place beyond the hill." (Trumbull.) It is not
the name of either the hill or the river, to which it was extended,
but a verbal direction. An Indian village called Potatik by the
Moravian missionaries, was also on the Housatonuc, and is written in
one form, _Pateook._
[FN-2] A translation from the Delaware _Scha-gach-we-u,_ "straight,"
and _meek_ "fish"--an eel--eel place--has been widely quoted. The
translation by Dr. Trumbull is no doubt correct.
[Illustration: The Highlands West From Little Stony Brook]
Shenandoah (Shenandoah Corners, East Fishkill) is an Iroquoian name of
modern introduction here. It is met in place in Saratoga County and at
Wyoming, Pa. (See Shannondhoi.)
Stissing, now the name of a hill and of a lake one mile west of the
village of Pine Plains, Duchess County, is probably an apheresis of
_Mistissing,_ a "Great rock," and belongs to the hill, which rises 400
or 500 feet above the valley and is crowned with a mass of naked rock,
described by one writer as "resembling a huge boulder transported there."
Poughkeepsie, now so written, is of record in many forms of which
Pooghkeepesingh, 1683; Pogkeepke, 1702; Pokeapsinck, 1703; Pacaksing,
1704; Poghkeepsie, 1766; Poughkeepsie, 1767, are the earlier. The
locative of the name and the key to its explanation are clearly
determined by the description in a gift deed to Peter Lansing and Jan
Smedes, in 1683: "A waterfall near the bank of the river called
Pooghkeepesingh;" [FN-1] in petition of Peter Lansing and Arnout Velie,
in 1704: "Beginning at a creek called Pakaksing, by ye river side."
[FN-2] There are other record applications, but are probably extensions,
as Poghkeepke (1702), given as the name of a "muddy pond" in the
vicinity. Schoolcraft's interpretation, "Safe harbor," from
_Apokeepsing,_ is questioned by W. R. Gerard, who, from a personal
acquaintance with the locative, "A water-fall," writes: "The name refers
not to the fall, but to the basin of water worn out in the rocks at the
foot of the fall. Zeisberger would have written the word _Āpuchkìpìsink,_
that is, 'At the rock-pool (or basin) of water.' _Ā-puchk-ìpìs-ink_ is
a composition of _-puchk,_ 'rock'; _ipis,_ in composition, 'little
water,' 'pool of water,' 'pond,' 'little lake,' etc." _Pooghk_ is no
doubt from _ápughk_ (apuchk), "rock." The stream has long been known
as the Fall Kill. Primarily there seems to have been three falls upon
it, of which _Matapan_ will be referred to later.
* * * * *
[FN-1] "This fifth day of May, 1683, appeared before me . . . a
Highland Indian called Massang, who declared herewith that he has given
as a free gift, a bouwery (farm) to Pieter Lansingh, and a bouwery to
Jan Smeedes, a young glazier, also a waterfall near the bank of the
river, to build a mill thereon. The waterfall is called Pooghkeepesingh
and the land Minnisingh, situated on the east side of the river." (Col.
Hist. N. Y., xiii, 571.)
[FN-2] Cal. N. Y. Land Papers, 71. There are forty-nine record
orthographies of the term, from which a selection could be made as a
basis of interpretation. _Poghkeepke,_ for example, might be accepted
as meaning, "Muddy Pond," although there is neither a word or particle
in it that would warrant the conclusion.
Wynogkee, Wynachkee, and Winnakee are record forms of the name of a
district of country or place from which it was extended to the stream
known as the Fall Kill "Through which a kill called Wynachkee runs,
. . . including the kill to the second fall called Mattapan," is the
description in a gift deed to Arnout Velie, in 1680, for three flats
of land, one on the north and two on the south side of the kill. "A
flat on the west side of the kil, called Wynachkee" (Col. Hist. N. Y.,
xiii, 545, 572), does not mean that the kill was called Wynachkee, but
the flat of land, to which the name itself shows that it belonged. The
derivatives are _Winne,_ "good, fine, pleasant," and _-aki_ (auke,
ohke), "land" or place; literally, "land." [FN]
* * * * *
[FN] From the root _Wulit,_ Del. From the same root _Winne, Willi,
Wirri, Waure, Wule,_ etc. The name is met in equivalent forms in
several places. _Wenaque_ and _Wynackie_ are forms of the name of a
beautiful valley in Passaic county, N. J. (Nelson.) _Winakaki,_
"Sassifras land--rich, fat land." _Winak-aki-ng,_ "At the Sassifras
place," was the Lenape name of Eastern Pennsylvania. (See Wanaksink.)
Eliot wrote in the Natick (Mass.) dialect, "_Wunohke,_ good land."
The general meaning of the root is pleasurable sensation.
Mattapan, "the second fall," so called in the deed to Arnout Velie
(1680), was the name of a "carrying place," "the end of a portage,
where the canoe was launched again and its bearers reembarked."
(Trumbull.) A landing place. [FN] "At a place called Matapan, to the
south side thereof, bounded on the west by John Casperses Creek." (Cal.
Land Papers, 108.) (See Pietawick-quasick.)
* * * * *
[FN] _Mattappan,_ a participle of _Mattappu,_ "he sits down," denotes
"a sitting down place," or as generally employed in local names, the
end of a portage between two rivers, or from one arm of the sea to
another--where the canoe was launched again and its bearers reembarked.
(Trumbull.) In Lenape _Aan_ is a radical meaning, "To move; to go."
_Paan,_ "To come; to get to"; _Wiket-pann,_ "To get home"; _Paancep,_
"Arrived"; _Mattalan,_ "To come upto some body"; logically,
_Mattappan,_ "To stop," to sit down, to land, a landing place.
Minnissingh is written as the name of a tract conveyed to Peter Lansing
and Jan Smedes by gift deed in 1683. (See Poughkeepsie.) _Minnissingh_
is, apparently, the same word that is met in Minnisink, Orange County.
The locative of the tract has not been ascertained, but it was pretty
certainly on the "back" or upper lands. There was no island there. (See
Minnisink.)
Eaquorisink is of record as the name of Crom Elbow Creek, and
_Eaquaquanessìnck_ as that of lands on the Hudson, in patent to Henry
Beekman, the boundary of which ran from the Hudson "east by the side of
a fresh meadow called _Mansakìn_ [FN-1] and a small run of water called
_Mancapawìmick._" In patent to Peter Falconier the land is called
Eaquaquaannessìnck, the meadow Mansakin, the small creek Nanacopaconick,
and Crom Elbow (Krom Elleboog, Dutch, '"crooked elbow'") Creek.
Eaquarysink is a compression of Eaquaquaannessinck. It was not the name
of the creek, but located the boundmark "as far as the small creek."
The composition is the equivalent of _Wequa,_ [FN-2] "end of"; _annes,_
"small stream," and _ink,_ "at," "to," etc.
* * * * *
[FN-1] "A meadow or marsh land called Manjakan," is an equivalent
record in Ulster County. (Cal. N. Y. Land Papers, 133.) "A fresh
meadow," _i. e._ a fresh water meadow, or low lands by the side of the
creek.
[FN-2] Enaughqua, L. I.; _Yò anûck quaque,_ Williams; _Wequa, Weque,
Aqua, Ukwe, Echqu,_ etc., "end of." The word is met in many forms.
_Wehque,_ "as far as." (Eliot.)
Wawyachtanock, Indian deed to Robert Livingston, 1685; _Wawyachtanock,
Wawijachtanock, Wawigachtanock_ in Livingston Patent and
_Watwijachtonocks_ in association with "The Indians of the Long Reach"
(Doc. Hist. N. Y., 93, 97), is given as the name of a place--"The path
that leads to Wawyachtenock." In a petition for permission to purchase,
in 1702 (Col. Land Papers, 58), the description reads: "A tract of land
lying to the westward of Westenhoeks Creek [FN-1] and to ye eastward of
Poghkeepsie, called by ye Indians _Wayaughtanock._" It is presumed that
the locative of the name is now known as Union Corners, Duchess County,
where Krom Elleboog Creek, after flowing southwesterly, turns at nearly
a right angle and flows west to the Hudson, which it reaches in a
narrow channel between bluffs, a little south of Krom Elbow Point,
where a bend in the Hudson forms the north end of the Long Reach. The
first word of the name is from _Wawai,_ "Round about," "Winding around,"
"eddying," as a current in a bend of a river. The second, _-tan, -ten,
-ton_ means "current," by metonymie, "river," and _ock,_ means "land"
or place--"A bend-of-the-river place." The same name is met in
Wawiachtanos, in the Ohio country, [FN-2] and the prefix in many places.
(See Wawayanda.)
* * * * *
[FN-1] Westenhoek is Dutch. It means "West corner." It was given by
the Dutch to a tract of land lying in a bend of Housatonuk river, long
in dispute between New York and Massachusetts, called by the Indians
W-nagh-tak-ook, for many years the name of the capital town of the
Mahican nation.(Loskiel.) Rev. Dr. Edwards wrote it Wnoghquetookooke
and translated it from an intimate acquaintance of the Stockbridge
dialect, "A bend-of-the-river-place." Mr. Gerard writes it,
Wamenketukok, "At the winding of the river." Now Stockbridge, Mass.
[FN-2] "Tjughsaghrondie, alias Wawayachtenok." (Col. Hist. N. Y., iv,
900; La Trobe's Translation of Loskiel, i, 23.) The first name,
Tjughsaghrondie, is also written Taghsaglirondie, and in other forms.
It is claimed to be from the Wyandot or Huron-Iroquoian dialect. In
History of Detroit the Algonquin is quoted Waweatunong, interpreted
"Circuitous approach," and the claim made that the reference was to
the bend in the Strait at Detroit at an elevation "from which a view
of the whole broad river" could be had. In Shawano, _Wawia'tan_
describes bending or eddying water--with locative, "Where the current
winds about." The name is applicable at any place where the features
exist.
Metambeson, a creek so called in Duchess County, is now known as
Sawkill. It is the outlet of a lake called Long Pond. The Indian name
is from _Matt,_ negative and depreciatory, "Small, unfavorable," etc.,
and _M'beson,_ "Strong water," a word used in describing brandy,
spirits, physic, etc. The rapidity of the water was probably referred
to.
Waraughkameck--Waraukameck--a small lake in the same county, is now
known as "Fever Cot or Pine Swamp." The Indian name is probably an
equivalent of Len. _Wálagh-kamik,_ an enclosed hole or den, a hollow or
excavation.
Aquassing--"At a creek called by the Indians Aquassing, and by the
Christians Fish Creek"--has not been located. _Aquassing_ was the end of
the boundary line, and may be from _Enaughquasink,_ "As far as."
Tauquashqueick, given as the name of a meadow lying between Magdalen
Island [FN] and the main land, now known as "Radcliff's Vly," is
probably an equivalent of _Pauqua-ask-ek._ "Open or clear wet meadow
or vly."
* * * * *
[FN] Magdalen Island is between Upper and Lower Red-hook. The original
Dutch, Maagdelijn, supposed to mean "A dissolute woman," here means,
simply, "Maiden," _i. e._ shad or any fish of the herring family. (See
Magaat Ramis.) The name appears on Van der Donck's map of 1656.
Sankhenak and Saukhenak are record forms of the name given as that of
Roelof Jansen's Kil (Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii, 612; French's Gazetteer.)
_Sauk-hannek_ would describe the mouth or outlet of the stream, and
_Sank-hannek_ would read "Flint-stone creek." Sauk is probably correct.
The purchase included land on both sides of the creek from "A small kil
opposite the Katskil," on the north, called _Wachhanekassik._ "to a
place opposite Sagertyes Kil, called Saaskahampka." The stream is now
known as Livingston's Creek. [FN]
* * * * *
[FN] The creek was the boundmark between the Wappingers and the
Mahicans. (See Wahamanessing.)
Wachanekassik, Indian deed to Livingston, 1683; _Waghankasick,_ patent
to Van Rensselaer, 1649, and other orthographies, is written as the
name of a small creek which marked the place of beginning of the
northwest boundmark of the Livingston Patent and the place of ending of
the southwest boundmark of the prior Van Rensselaer Patent of Claverack.
The latter reads; ". . . And so along the said Hudson River southward
to the south side of Vastrix Island, by a creek called Waghankasick,
thence easterly to Wawanaquasik," etc. The deed to Livingston conveyed
lands "On both sides of Roelof Jansen's Kill, [FN-1] called by the
Indians Sauk-henak," including lands "along the river's bank from said
Roeloff Jansen's Kill, northwards up, to a small stream opposite
Catskill named Wachanekasseck, and southwards down the river to
opposite the Sagertjes Kill, called by the Indians Saaskahampka." In
the Livingston Patent of 1684: "Eighteen hundred acres of woodland
lying between a small creek or kill lying over against Catskill called
Wachanakasseck and a place called Suaskahampka," and in patent of 1686:
"On the north by a line to be drawn from a certain creek or kill over
against the south side of Vastrix Island in Hudson's River, called
Wachankasigh," to which Surveyor John Beatty added more precisely on
his map of survey in 1715: "Beginning on the east side of Hudson's
River _southward_ from Vastrix Island, _at a place_ where a certain run
of water watereth out into Hudson's River, called in ye Indian tongue,
Wachankassik." The "run of water" is not marked on Beatty's map, nor on
the map of survey of the patent in 1798, but it is marked, from
existence or presumed existence, on a map of the boundary line between
New York and Massachusetts and seems to have been one of the several
small streams that flow down the bluff from the surface, apparently
about two miles and a half north of Roelof Jansen's Kill, in the
vicinity of the old Oak Hill station [FN-2] on the H. R. R., later
known as Catskill station. While referred to in connection with the
boundmark to identify its location, its precise location seems to have
been lost. In early days boundmarks were frequently designated in
general terms by some well known place. Hence we find Catskill spoken
of and particularly "the south end of Vastrix Island," a point that
every voyager on the Hudson knew to be the commencement of a certain
"rak" or sailing course. [FN-3] Hence it was that Van Rensselaer's
first purchase (1630) was bounded on the south by the south end of
Beeren or Mahican Island, and the second purchase by the south end of
Vastrix Island, which became the objective of the northwest bound of
Livingston's Patent. While the name is repeatedly given as that of the
stream, it was probably that of a place or point on the limestone bluff
which here bounds the Hudson on the east for several miles. Surveyor
Beatty's description, "Beginning at a place where," and the omission of
the stream on his map, and its omission on subsequent maps of the manor,
and the specific entry in the amended patent of 1715, "Beginning at a
certain place called by the Indians Wahankassek," admit of no other
conclusion, and the conclusion is, apparently, sustained by the name
itself, which seems to be from Moh. _Wakhununuhkōōsek,_ "A high point,"
as a hill, mountain, peak, bluff, etc., from _Wakhu_, "hill, mountain,"
_uhk,_ "end, point," and _ōōsic,_ "peak, pinnacle." etc. The reference
may have been to a point formed by the channel of the little stream
flowing down from the bluff above, or to some projection, but certainly
to the bluff as the only permanent objective on the Hudson. The
connection of the "small run of water" with the boundmark should
entitle it to more particular description than has been given to it by
local writers.
* * * * *
[FN-1] Named from Roeloff Jansen, Overseer of the Orphan Court under
the Dutch Government. (French.)
[FN-2] Oak Hill station on the Hudson River R. R., about five miles
south of the city of Hudson, was so called from a hill in the interior
just north of the line of the town of Livingston, from which the land
slopes west towards the Hudson and south to Roelof Jansen's Kill.
[FN-3] _Vastrix_ is a compression of Dutch _t'Vaste Rak_ as written on
Van der Donck's map of 1656, meaning, "The fast or steady reach or
sailing course," which began here. The island is the first island
lying north of the mouth of the Katskill. It is now known as Roger's
Island.
Nickankook, Kickua and Weckqashake are given as the names of "three
flats" which, with "some small flats," were included in the first
purchase by Livingston, and described as "Situate on both sides" of the
kill called Saukhenak (Roelof Jansen's Kill). The Indian deed also
included all land "Extending along the bank of the river northwards
from Roelof Jansen's Kill to a small stream opposite Catskill named
Wachanekassik." The names of the three flats are variously
spelled--Nickankooke, Nickankook, etc. The first has been translated
by Mr. Wm. R. Gerard from _Nichánhkûk,_ "At the bend in front."
_Kickua,_ the second, is untranslatable. _Wickquashaka, Wequakake,_
etc., is the equivalent of _Wequaohke,_ "End land" or place. The kill
flows through a valley of broad and fertile flats, but near the Hudson
it breaks through the limestone bluff which forms the east line of the
Hudson, and its banks are steep and rocky.
Saaskahampka, Indian deed; _Suaskahampka_ patent of 1684--the southwest
boundmark of the Livingston Patent, is described as "A dry gully at
Hudson's River." It is located about opposite Sawyer's Creek, north of
the present Saugerties or Esopus Creek. _Sasco,_ or as written _Saaska,_
means "A swamp;" _Assisku_ (Del.), "Mud, clay"; _Asuskokámika,_ "Muddy
place," a gully in which no water was flowing. (Gerard.)
Mananosick--"Along the foot of a high mountain to the path that goes to
Wawyactanock to a hill called by the Indians Mananosick." Also written
_Nanosick._ Eliot wrote, in the Natick dialect, _Nahōōsick,_ "Pinnacle,"
or high peak. The indefinite and impersonal _M'_ or _Ma,_ prefixed,
would add "a" or "the" high peak. The hill has not been located except
in a general way as near the Massachusetts line.
Nanapenahakan and Nanipanihekan are orthographies of the name of a
"creek or brook" described as "coming out of a marsh lying near unto
the hills where the heaps of stones lye." The stream flows to Claverack
Creek. The outlet waters of Achkookpeek Lake unite with it, from which
it is now called Copake Creek. It unites with Kinderhook Creek north of
the city of Hudson.
Wawanaquasik, Claverack Patent, 1649; _Wawanaquassick,_ Livingston
Patent of 1686; _Wawauaquassick_ and _Mawauapquassek,_ patent of 1715;
_Mawanaqwassik,_ surveyor's notation, 1715; now written
_Mawanaquassick_--a boundmark of the Claverack Patent of 1649, and also
of the Livingston Patent, is described in the Claverack Patent, "To the
high woodland called Wawanaquasik," and in the Livingston Patent, "_To
a place_ called by the Indians Wawanaqussek, where the heapes of stone
lye, near to the head of a creek called Nanapenahaken, which comes out
of a marsh lying near unto the hills of the said heapes of stones, upon
which the Indians throw another as they pass by, from an ancient custom
among them." The heap of stones here was "on the south side of the path
leading to Wayachtanok," and other paths diverged, showing that the
place was a place of meeting. "To the high woodland," in the description
of 1649, is marked on the map of survey of 1715, "Foot of the hill,"
apparently a particular point, the place of which was identified by the
head of the creek, the marsh and the heap of stones. The name may have
described this point or promontory, or it may have referred to the
place of meeting near the head of the creek, or to the end of the marsh,
but it is claimed that it was the name of the heap of stones, and that
it is from _Miáe,_ or _Miyáe,_ "Together"--_Mawena,_ "Meeting,"
"Assembly"--frequently met in local names and accepted as meaning,
"Where paths or streams or boundaries come together;" and _Qussuk,_
"stone"--"Where the stones are assembled or brought together," "A stone
heap." This reading is of doubtful correctness. Dr. Trumbull wrote that
_Qussuk,_ [FN-1] meaning "stone," is "rarely, perhaps never" met as a
substantival in local names, and an instance is yet to be cited where
it is so used. It is a legitimate word in some connections, however,
Eliot writing it as a noun in _Môhshe-qussuk,_ "A flinty rock," in the
singular number. If used here it did not describe "a heap of stones,"
but a certain rock. On the map of survey of the patent, in 1798, the
second station is marked "Manor Rock," and the third, "Wawanaquassick,"
is located 123 chains and 34 links (a fraction over one and one-half
miles) north of Manor Rock, as the corner of an angle. In the survey of
1715, the first station is "the foot of the hill"--"the high
woodland"--which seems to have been the _Mawan-uhqu-ōōsik_ [FN-2] of the
text. To avoid all question the heap of stones seems to have been
included in the boundary. It now lies in an angle in the line between
the townships of Claverack and Taghkanic, Columbia County, and is by
far the most interesting feature of the locative--a veritable footprint
of a perished race. Similar heaps were met by early European travelers
in other parts of the country. Rev. Gideon Hawley, writing in 1758,
described one which he met in Schohare Valley, and adds that the
largest one that he ever saw was "on the mountain between Stockbridge
and Great Barrington." Mass. (Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii, 1039.) The
significance of the "ancient custom" of casting a stone to these heaps
has not been handed down. Rev. Mr. Sergeant wrote, in 1734, that though
the Indians "each threw a stone as they passed, they had entirely lost
the knowledge of the reason for doing so," and an inquiry by Rev.
Hawley, in 1758, was not attended by a better result. [FN-3] The heaps
were usually met at resting places on the path and the custom of
throwing the stone a sign-language indicating that one of the tribe had
passed and which way he was going, but further than the explanation
that the casting of the stone was "an ancient custom," nothing may be
claimed with any authority. A very ancient custom, indeed, when its
signification had been forgotten.
* * * * *
[FN-1] Williams wrote in the Narraganset dialect _Qussuck,_ stone;
_Qussuckanash,_ stones; _Qussuckquon,_ heavy. Zeisberger wrote in the
Minsi-Lenape, _Ksucquon,_ heavy; _Achsun,_ stone; _Apuchk,_ rock.
Chippeway, _Assin,_ stone; _Aubik,_ rock. Old Algonquian, _Assin,_
stone. Eliot wrote in the Natick (Mass.) dialect, _Qussuk,_ a rock;
_Qussukquanash,_ rocks; _Hussunash,_ stones; _Hussunek,_ lodge or ledge
of rocks, and for _Hussimek_ Dr. Trumbull wrote _Assinek_ as an
equivalent, and _Hussun_ or _Hussunash,_ stones, as identical with
_Qussukqun,_ heavy. Eliot also wrote _-pick_ or _-p'sk,_ in compound
words, meaning "Rock," or "stone," as qualified by the adjectival
prefix, _Onap'sk,_ "Standing rock."
[FN-2] Literally, "A meeting point," or sharp extremity of a hill.
[FN-3] Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii, 1039. The heap referred to by Rev. Hawley
was on the path leading to Schohare. It gave name to what was long
known as the "Stoneheap Patent." The heap is now in the town of
Esperance and near Sloansville, Schohare County. It is four rods long,
one or two wide, and ten to fifteen feet high. (French.)