Chapter VI: Part 6

[FN-3] The territory in which the Pomptons claimed an interest included northern New Jersey as bounded on the north by a line drawn from Cochecton, Sullivan County, to the mouth of Tappan Creek on the Hudson, thence south to Sandy Hook, thence west to the Delaware, and thence north to Cochecton, lat. 41 deg. 40 min., as appears by treaty deed in Smith's hist, of New Jersey.

Ramapo, now so written and applied to a village and a town in Rockland County, and also to a valley, a stream of water and adjacent hills, is written Ramepog in N. Y. Records, 1695; Ramepogh, 1711, and Ramapog in 1775. In New Jersey Records the orthographies are Ramopock, Romopock and Remopuck, and on Smith's map Ramopough. The earliest description of the locative of the name appears in N. Y. Records, 1695: "A certain tract of land in Orange County called Ramepogh, being upon Pompton Creek, about twenty miles above ye mouth of said creek where it falls into Pequanneck River, being a piece of low land lying at ye forks on ye west side of ye creek, and going down the said creek for ye space of six or seven miles to a small run running into said creek out of a small lake, several pieces of land lying on both sides of said creek, computed in all about ninety or one hundred acres, _with upland adjoining_ thereto to ye quantity of twelve hundred acres." In other words: "A piece of low land lying at the forks of said river, about twenty miles above the mouth of the stream where it falls into the Pequannock, with upland adjoining." The Pompton, so called then, is now the Ramapo, and the place described in the deed has been known as Remapuck, Romapuck, Ramopuck, Ramapock, Pemerpuck, and Ramapo, since the era of first settlement. The somewhat poetic interpretation of the name, "Many ponds," is without warrant, nor does the name belong to a "Round pond," or to the stream, now the Ramapo except by extension to it. Apparently, by dialectic exchange of initials L and R, _Reme, Rama,_ or _Romo_ becomes _Lamó_ from _Lomówo_ (Zeisb.), "Downward, slanting, oblique," and _-pogh, -puck,_ etc., is a compression of _-apughk_ (_-puchk_, German notation), meaning--"Rock." _Lamów-ápuchk,_ by contraction and pronunciation, _Ramápuck,_ meaning "Slanting rock," an equivalent of _Pimápuchk,_ met in the district in Pemerpock, in 1674, denoting "Place or country of the slanting rock." [FN] Ramapo River is supposed to have its head in Round Pond, in the northwest part of the town of Monroe, Orange County. It also received the overflow of eight other ponds. Ramapo Pass, beginning about a mile below Pierson's, is fourteen miles long. (See Pompton.)

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[FN] Dr. John C. Smock, late State Geologist of New Jersey, wrote me of the location of the name at Suffern: "There is the name of the stream and the name of the settlement (in Rockland County, near the New Jersey line), and the land is low-lying, and along the creek, and above a forks, _i. e._ above the forks at Suffern. On the 1774 map in my possession, Romapock is certainly the present Ramapo. The term 'Slanting rock' is eminently applicable to that vicinity." The Ramapock Patent of 1704 covered 42,500 acres, and, with the name, followed the mountains as its western boundary.

Wynokie, now so written as the name of a stream flowing to the Pequannock at Pompton, takes that name from a beautiful valley through which it passes, about thirteen miles northwest of Paterson. The stream is the outlet of Greenwood Lake and is entered on old maps as the Ringwood. The name is in several orthographies--Wanaque, Wynogkee, Wynachkee, etc. It is from the root _Win,_ "Good, fine, pleasant," and _-aki,_ land or place. (See Wynogkee.)

Pamerpock, 1674, now preserved in _Pamrepo_ as the name of a village in the northwest part of the city of Bayonne, N. J., is probably another form of _Pemé-apuchk,_ "Slanting rock." [FN] (See Ramapo.) The name seems to have been widely distributed.

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[FN] _Pemé_ is _Pemi_ in the Massachusetts dialect. "It may generally be translated by 'sloping' or 'aslant.' In Abnaki _Pemadené (Pemi-adené)_ denotes a sloping mountain side," wrote Dr. Trumbull. The affix, _-ápuchk,_ changes the meaning to sloping rock, or "slanting rock," as Zeisberger wrote.

Hohokus, the name of a village and of a railroad station, is probably from _Mehŏkhókus_ (Zeisb.), "Red cedar." It was, presumably, primarily at least, a place where red cedar abounded. The Indian name of the stream here is written _Raighkawack,_ an orthography of _Lechauwaak,_ "Fork" (Zeisb.), which, by the way, is also the name of a place.

Tuxedo, now a familiar name, is a corruption of _P'tuck-sepo,_ meaning, "A crooked river or creek." Its equivalent is _P'tuck-hanné_ (Len. Eng. Dic.), "A bend in the river"--"Winding in the creek or river"--"A bend in a river." The earliest form of the original appears in 1754--Tuxcito, 1768; Tuxetough, Tugseto, Duckcedar, Ducksider, etc., are later. Zeisberger wrote _Pduk,_ from which probably Duckcedar. The name seems to have been that of a bend in the river at some point in the vicinity of Tuxedo Pond to which it was extended from a certain bend or bends in the stream. A modern interpretation from _P'tuksit,_ "Round foot," is of no merit except in its first word. It was the metaphorical name, among the Delawares, of the wolf. It would be a misnomer applied to either a river or a pond. _Sepo_ is generic for a long river. (See Esopus.)

Mombasha, Mombashes, etc., the name of a small lake in Southfield, Orange County, is presumed to be a corruption of _M'biìsses_ (Zeisb.), "Small lake or pond," "Small water-place." The apostrophe indicates a sound produced with the lips closed, readily pronouncing _o_ (Mom). Charles Clinton, in his survey of the Cheesec-ook Patent in 1735, wrote Mount-Basha. Mombasa is an Arabic name for a coral island on the east coast of Africa. It may have been introduced here as the sound of the Indian name.

Wesegrorap, Wesegroraep, Wassagroras, given as the name of "A barren plain," in the Kakiate Patent, is probably from Wisachgan, "Bitter," sad, distressing, pitiable. Ziesberger wrote, "Wisachgak, Black oak," the bark of which is bitter and astringent. A black oak tree on "the west-southwest side" of the plain may have given name to the plain.

Narranshaw, Nanaschunck, etc., a place so called in the Kakiate Patent boundary, is probably a corruption of Van der Donck's _Narratschæn,_ "A promontory" or high point. (See Nyack-on-the-Hudson.)

Kakiate, the name of patented lands in Rockland County, is from Dutch _Kijkuit,_ meaning "Look out," or "Place of observation, as a tower, hill," etc. The highest hill in Westchester County bears the same name in _Kakcout,_ and _Kaykuit_ is the name of a hill in Kingston, Ulster County. The tract to which the name was extended in Rockland County is described, "Commonly called by the Indians _Kackyachteweke,_ on a neck of land which runs under a great hill, bounded on the north by a creek called Sheamaweck or Peasqua." Hackyackawack is another orthography. The name seems to be from _Schach-achgeu-ackey,_ meaning "Straight land," "Straight along," (Zeisb.); _i. e._ direct, as "A neck of land"--"A pass between mountains," or, as the description reads, "A neck of land which runs under a great hill." Compare Cal. N. Y. Land Papers, 48, 183, etc.

Torne, the name of a high hill which forms a conspicuous object in the Ramapo Valley, is from Dutch _Torenherg,_ "A tower or turret, a high pointed hill, a pinnacle." (Prov. Eng.) The hill is claimed to have been the northwest boundmark of the Haverstraw Patent. In recent times it has been applied to two elevations, the Little Torne, west of the Hudson, and the Great Torne, near the Hudson, south of Haverstraw. (Cal. N. Y. Land Papers, 46.)

Cheesek-ook, Cheesek-okes, Cheesec-oks, Cheesquaki, are forms of the name given as that of a tract of "Upland and meadow," so described in Indian deed, 1702, and included in the Cheesek-ook Patent, covering parts of the present counties of Rockland and Orange. It is now preserved as the name of a hill, to which it was assigned at an early date, and is also quoted as the name of adjacent lands in New Jersey. The suffix _-ook, -oke, -aki,_ etc., shows that it was the name of land or place (N. J., _-ahke;_ Len. _-aki_). It is probably met in _Cheshek-ohke,_ Ct., translated by Dr. Trumbull from _Kussukoe,_ Moh., "High," and _-ohke,_ "Land or place"--literally, high land or upland. The final _s_ in some forms, is an English plural: it does not belong to the root. (See Coxackie.) In pronunciation the accent should not be thrown on the letter _k_; that letter belongs to the first word. There is no _Kook_ about it.

Tappans, Carte Figurative of date (presumed) 1614-16, is entered thereon as the name of an Indian village in Lat. 41° 15', claimed, traditionally, to have been at or near the site of the later Dutch village known as Tappan, in Rockland County. In the triangulation of the locative on the ancient map is inscribed, "En effen veldt" (a flat field), the general character of which probably gave name to the Indian village. Primarily, it was a district of low, soft land, abounding in marshes and long grasses, with little variation from level, extending along the Hudson from Tappan to Bergen Point, a distance of twenty-seven miles. Wassenaer wrote, in 1621-25, _Tapants_; DeLaet wrote, in 1624, _Tappaans_; in Breeden Raedt, _Tappanders_; _Tappaen,_ De Vries, 1639; _Tappaen,_ Van der Horst deed, 1651: _Tappaens,_ official Dutch; "Savages of _Tappaen_"; _Tappaans,_ Van der Donck, are the early orthographies of the name and establish it as having been written by the Dutch with the long sound of _a_ in the last word--_paan_ (-paen)--which may be read _pan,_ as a pan of any kind, natural or artificial--a stratum of earth lying below the soil--the pan of a tap into which water flows--a mortar pit. [FN-1] The compound word _Tap-pan_ is not found in modern Dutch dictionaries, but it evidently existed in some of the German dialects, as it is certainly met in _Tappan-ooli (uli)_ on the west coast of Summatra, in application, to a low district lying between the mountains and the sea, opposite a fine bay, in Dutch possession as early as 1618, and also in _Tappan-huacanga,_ a Dutch possession in Brazil of contemporary date. It is difficult to believe that Tappan was transferred to those distant parts from an Indian name on Hudson's River; on the contrary its presence in those parts forces the conclusion that it was conferred by the Dutch from their own, or from some dialect with which they were familiar, precisely as it was on Hudson's River and was descriptive of a district of country the features of which supply the meaning. DeLaet wrote in his "New World" (Leyden Edition, 1625-6) of the general locative of the name on the Hudson: "Within the first reach, on the west side of the river, where the land is low, dwells a nation of savages named _Tappaans,_" presumably so named by the Dutch from the place where they had jurisdiction, _i. e._ the low lands. Specifically, De Vries wrote in 1639, _Tappaen_ as the name of a place where he found and purchased, "A beautiful valley of clay land, some three or four feet above the water, lying under the mountains, along the river," presumed to have been in the meadows south of Piermont, into which flows from the mountains Tappan Creek, now called Spar Kill, [FN-2] as well as the overflow of Tappan Zee, of which he wrote without other name than "bay": "There flows here a strong flood and ebb, but the ebb is not more than four feet on account of the great quantity of water that flows from above, overflowing the low lands in the spring," converting them into veritable soft lands. _Gamænapaen,_ now a district in Jersey City, was interpreted by the late Judge Benson, "Tillable land and marsh." Dr. Trumbull wrote: "_Petuckquapaugh,_ Dumpling Pond (round pond) gave name to part of the township of Greenwich, Ct. The Dutch called this tract _Petuck-quapaen._" The tract is now known as Strickland Plain, [FN-3] and is described as "Plain and water-land"--"A valley but little above tidewater; on the southwest an extended marsh now reclaimed in part." The same general features were met in _Petuckquapaen,_ now Greenbath, opposite Albany, N. Y. Dr. Trumbull also wrote, "The Dutch met on Long Island the word _Seaump_ as the name of corn boiled to a pap. The root is _Saupáe_ (Eliot), 'soft,' _i. e._ 'made soft by water,' as _Saupáe manoosh,_ 'mortar,' literally 'softened clay.' Hence the Dutch word _Sappaen_--adopted by Webster _Se-pawn._" Other examples could be quoted but are not necessary to establish the meaning of Dutch Tappaan, or Tappaen. An interpretation by Rev. Heckewelder, quoted by Yates & Moulton, and adopted by Brodhead presumably without examination: "From _Thuhaune_ (Del.), cold stream," is worthless. No Delaware Indian would have given it as the name of Tappan Creek, and no Hollander would have converted it into Tappaan or Tappaen.

The Palisade Range, which enters the State from New Jersey, and borders the Hudson on the west, terminates abruptly at Piermont. Classed by geologists as Trap Rock, or rock of volcanic origin, adds interest to their general appearance as calumnar masses. The aboriginal owners were not versed in geologic terms. To them the Palisades were simply _-ompsk,_ "Standing or upright rock."

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[FN-1] _Paen,_ old French, meaning _Pagan,_ a heathen or resident of a heath, from _Pagus,_ Latin, a heath, a district of waste land.

[FN-2] Tappan Creek is now known as the Spar Kill, and ancient Tappan Landing as Tappan Slote. _Slote_ is from Dutch _Sloot._ "Dutch, trench, moat." "Sloops could enter the mouth of the creek, if lightly laden, at high tide, through what, from its resemblance to a ditch, was called the Slote." (Hist. Rockl. Co.) The man or men who changed the name of the creek to Spar Kill cannot be credited with a very large volume of appreciation for the historic. The cove and mouth of the creek was no doubt the landing-place from which the Indian village was approached, and the latter was accepted for many years as the boundmark on the Hudson of the jurisdiction of New Jersey.

[FN-3] Strickland Plain was the site of the terrible massacre of Indians by English and Dutch troops under Capt. Underhill, in March, 1645. (Broadhead, Hist. N. Y., i, 390.) About eight hundred Indians were killed by fire and sword, and a considerable number of prisoners taken and sold into slavery. The Indian fort here was in a retreat of difficult access.

Mattasink, Mattaconga and Mattaconck, forms of names given to certain boundmarks "of the land or island called Mattasink, or Welch's Island," Rockland County, describe two different features. _Mattaconck_ was "a swampy or hassocky meadow," lying on the west side of Quaspeck Pond, from whence the line ran north, 72 degrees east, "to the south side of the rock on the top of the hill," called Mattasinck. In the surveyor's notes the rock is described as "a certain rock in the form of a sugar loaf." The name is probably an equivalent of _Mat-assin-ink,_ "At (or to) a bad rock," or a rock of unusual form. _Mattac-onck_ seems to be an orthography of _Maskék-onck,_ "At a swamp or hassocky meadow." Surd mutes and linguals are so frequently exchanged in this district that locatives must be relied upon to identify names. _Mattac_ has no meaning in itself. The sound is that of _Maskék._

Nyack, Rockland County, does not take that name from _Kestaub-niuk,_ a place-name on the east side of the Hudson, as stated by Schoolcraft, nor was the name imported from Long Island, as stated by a local historian; on the contrary, it is a generic Algonquian term applicable to any point. It was met in place here at the earliest period of settlement in application to the south end of Verdrietig Hoek Mountain, as noted in "The Cove or Nyack Patent," near or on which the present village of Nyack has its habitations. It means "Land or place at the angle, point or corner," from _Néïak_ (Del.), "Where there is a point." (See Nyack, L. I.) The root appears in many forms in record orthographies, due largely to the efforts of European scribes to express the sound in either the German or the English alphabet. Adriaen Block wrote, in 1614-16, _Nahicans_ as the name of the people on Montauk Point; Eliot wrote _Naiyag_ (_-ag_ formative); Roger Williams wrote _Nanhigan_ and _Narragan;_ Van der Donck wrote _Narratschoan_ on the Verdrietig Hoek Mountain on the Hudson; _Naraticon_ appears on the lower Delaware, and _Narraoch_ and _Njack_ (Nyack) are met on Long Island. The root is the same in all cases, Van der Donck's _Narratschoan_ on the Hudson, and _Narraticon_ on the Delaware, meaning "The point of a mountain which has the character of a promontory," kindred to _Néwas_ (Del.), "A promontory," or a high point. [FN] The Indian name of Verdrietig Hoek, or Tedious Point, is of record _Newas-ink_ in the De Hart Patent, and in several other forms of record--Navish, Navoash-ink, Naurasonk, Navisonk, Newasons, etc., and Neiak takes the forms of Narratsch, Narrich, Narrock, Nyack, etc. Verdrietig Hoek, the northeastern promontory of Hook Mountain, is a rocky precipitous bluff forming the angle of the range. It rises six hundred and sixty-eight feet above the level of the Hudson into which it projects like a buttress. Its Dutch-English name "Tedious Point," has been spoken of in connection with _Pocantico,_ which see.

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[FN] Dr. Trumbull wrote: "_Náï,_ 'Having corners'; _Náïyag,_ 'A corner or angle'; _Náïg-an-eag,_ 'The people about the point.'" William R. Gerard wrote: "The Algonquian root _Ne_ (written by the English _Náï_) means 'To come to a point,' or 'To form a point.' From this came Ojibwe _Naiá-shi,_ 'Point of land in a body of water.' The Lenape _Newás,_ with the locative affix, makes _Newás-ing,_ 'At the promontory.' The Lenape had another word for 'Point of land.' This was _Néïak_ (corrupted to Nyack). It is the participial form of _Néïan,_ 'It is a point.' The participle means, 'Where there is a point,' or literally, 'There being a point.'"

Essawatene--"North by the top of a certain hill called Essawatene," so described in deed to Hermanus Dow, in 1677--means "A hill beyond," or on the other side of the speaker. It is from _Awassi_ (Len.), "Beyond," and _-achtenne,_ "Hill," or mountain. _Oosadenighĕ_ (Abn.), "Above, beyond, the mountain," or "Over the mountain." We have the same derivative in _Housaten-ûk,_ now Housatonic.

Quaspeck, Quaspeek, Quaspeach, "Quaspeach or Pond Patent"--"A tract of land called in the Indian language Quaspeach, being bounded by the brook Kill-the-Beast, running out of a great pond." (Cal. N. Y. Land Papers, 53, 56, 70, 82.) The land included in the patent was described as "A hassocky meadow on the west side of the lake." (See Mattasink.) The full meaning of the name is uncertain. The substantival _-peék,_ or _-peach,_ means "Lake, pond or body of still water." [FN] As the word stands its adjectival does not mean anything. The local interpretation "Black," is entirely without merit. The pond is now known as Rockland Lake. It lies west of the Verdrietig Hoek range, which intervenes between it and the Hudson. It is sheltered on its northeast shore by the range. The ridge intervening between it and the Hudson rises 640 feet. It is a beautiful lake of clear water reposing on a sandy bottom, 160 feet above the level of the Hudson.

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[FN] The equivalent Mass. word is _paug,_ "Where water is," or "Place of water." (Trumbull.) Quassa-paug or Quas-paug, is the largest lake in Woodbury, Ct. Dr. Trumbull failed to detect the derivative of _Quas,_ but suggested, Kiche, "Great." Probably a satisfactory interpretation will be found in _Kussûk,_ "High." (See Quassaick.)

Menisak-cungue, so written in Indian deed to De Hart in 1666, and also in deed from De Hart to Johannes Minnie in 1695, is written _Amisconge_ on Pownal's map, as the name of a stream in the town of Haverstraw. As De Hart was the first purchaser of lands at Haverstraw, the name could not have been from that of a later owner, as locally supposed. Pownal's orthography suggests that the original was _Ommissak-kontu,_ Mass., "Where Alewives or small fishes are abundant." The locative was at the mouth of the stream at Grassy Point. [FN] Minnie's Falls, a creek so known, no doubt, took that name from Johannes Minnie. On some maps it is called Florus' Falls, from Florus Crom, an early settler. An unlocated place on the stream was called "The Devil's Horse Race."

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[FN] _Kontu,_ an abundance verb, is sometimes written _contee,_ easily corrupted to _cungue._ Dutch _Congé_ means "Discharge," the tail-race of a mill, or a strong, swift current. Minnie's Congé, the tail-race of Minnie's mill.

Mahequa and Mawewier are forms of the name of a small stream which constitutes one of the boundaries of what is known as Welch's Island. They are from the root _Mawe,_ "Meeting," _Mawewi,_ "Assembly" (Zeisb.), _i. e._ "Brought together," as "Where paths or streams or boundaries come together." The reference may have been to the place where the stream unites with Demarest's Kill, as shown on a map of survey in "History of Rockland County." Welch's Island was so called from its enclosure by streams and a marsh. (See Mattaconga and Mahway.)

Skoonnenoghky is written as the name of a hill which formed the southwest boundmark of a district of country purchased from the Indians by Governor Dongan in 1685, and patented to Capt. John Evans by him in 1694, described in the Indian deed as beginning on the Hudson, "At about the place called the Dancing Chamber, thence south to the north side of the land called Haverstraw, thence northwest along the hill called Skoonnenoghky" to the bound of a previous purchase made by Dongan "Called Meretange pond." (See Pitkiskaker.) The hill was specifically located in a survey of part of the line of the Evans Patent, by Cadwallader Colden, in 1722, noted as "Beginning at Stony Point and running over a high hill, part of which makes the Stony Point, and is called Kunnoghky or Kunnoghkin." (Cal. N. Y. Land Papers, 162.) The south side of Stony Point was then accepted as the "North side of the land called Haverstraw." The hills in immediate proximity, at varying points of compass, are the Bochberg (Dutch, _Bochelberg,_ "Humpback hill"), and the Donderberg, neither of which, however, have connection with Stony Point, leaving the conclusion certain that from the fact that the line had its beginning at the extreme southeastern limit of the Point on the Hudson, the hill referred to in the survey must have been that on which the Stony Point fort of the Revolution was erected, "Part of which hill" certainly "makes the Stony Point." Colden's form of the name, "Kunnoghky or Kunnoghkin," is obviously an equivalent of Dongan's Schoonnenoghky. Both forms are from the generic root _Gún,_ Lenape (_Qûn,_ Mass.), meaning "Long"--_Gúnaquot,_ Lenape, "Long, tall, high, extending upwards"; _Qunnúhqui_ (Mass.), "Tall, high, extending upwards"; _Qunnúhqui-ohke_ or _Kunn'oghky,_ "Land extending upwards," high land, gradual ascent. The name being generic was easily shifted about and so it was that in adjusting the northwest line of the Evans Patent it came to have permanent abode as that of the hill now known as Schunnemunk in the town of Cornwall, Orange County, to the advantage of the proprietors of the Minisink Patent. [FN] Reference to the old patent line will be met in other connections.

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[FN] The patent to Capt. John Evans was granted by Gov. Dongan in 1694, and vacated by act of the Colonial Assembly in 1708, approved by the Queen in 1708. It included Gov. Dongan's two purchases of 1784-85. {_sic_} It was not surveyed; its southeast, or properly its northwest line was never satisfactorily determined, but was supposed to run from Stony Point to a certain pond called Maretanze in the present town of Greenville, Orange County. Following the vacation of the patent in 1708, several small patents were granted which were described in general terms as a part of the lands which it covered. In order to locate them the Surveyor-General of the Province in 1722, propounded an inquiry as to the bounds of the original grant; hence the survey by Cadwallader Colden. The line then established was called "The New Northwest Line." It was substantially the old line from Stony Point to Maretanze Pond (now Binnenwater), in Greenville, and cut off a portion of the territory which was supposed to have been included in the Wawayanda Patent. Another line was projected in 1765-6, by the proprietors of the Minisink Patent, running further northeast and the boundmark shifted to a pond north of Sam's Point, the name going with it. The transaction formed the well-known Minisink Angle, and netted the Minisink proprietors 56,000 acres of unoccupied lands. (Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii, 986.) Compare Cal. N. Y. Land Papers, 164, 168, 171, 172, and Map of Patents in Hist. Orange Co., quarto edition.

Reckgawank, of record in 1645 as the name of Haverstraw, appears in several later forms. Dr. O'Callaghan (Hist. New Neth.) noted: "Sessegehout, chief of Rewechnong of Haverstraw." In Col. Hist. N. Y., "Keseshout [FN-1] chief of Rewechnough, or Haverstraw," "Curruppin, brother, and representative of the chief of Rumachnanck, alias Haverstraw." In the treaty of 1645: "Sesekemick and Willem, chiefs of Tappans and Reckgawank," which Brodhead found converted to "Kumachenack, or Haverstraw." [FN-2] The original is no doubt from _Rekau,_ "Sand, gravel," with verb substantive _wi,_ and locative _-ng,_ or _-ink_; written by Zeisberger, _Lekauwi._ The same word appears in _Rechqua-akie,_ now Rockaway, L. I. The general meaning, with the locative _-nk_ or _-ink,_ is "At the sandy place," and the reference to the sandy flats, at Haverstraw, where Sesegehout presumably resided. There is no reason for placing this clan on Long Island.

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[FN-1] _Sesehout_ seems to have been written to convey an idea of the rank of the sachem from the Dutch word _Schout,_ "Sheriff." _K'schi-sakima,_ "Chief, principal," or "greatest sachem." In Duchess County the latter is written _t'see-saghamaugh._

[FN-2] Haverstraw is from Dutch _Haverstroo._ "Oat straw," presumably so named from the wild oats which grew abundantly on the flats.

Nawasink, Yan Dakah, Caquaney and Aquamack, are entered in the Indian deed to De Hart as names for lands purchased by him at Haverstraw in 1666. The deed reads: "A piece of land and meadow lying upon Hudson's River in several parcels, called by the Indians Nawasink, Yan Dakah, Caquaney, and Aquamack, within the limits of Averstraw, bounded on the east and north by Hudson's River, on the west by a creek called Menisakcungue, and on the south by the mountain." The mountain on the south could have been no other than Verdrietig Hoek, and the limit on the north the mouth of the creek in the cove formed by Grassy Point, which was long known as "The further neck." Further than is revealed by the names the places cannot be certainly identified. Taken in the order in the deed, _Newasink_ located a place that was "At (or on) a point or promontory." It is a pure Lenape name. _Yan Dakah_ is probably from _Yu Undach,_ "On this side," _i. e._ on the side towards the speaker. _Caquancy_ is so badly corrupted that its derivative is not recognizable. _Aquamack_ seems to be the same word that we have in Accomack, Va., meaning, "On the Other side," or "Other side lands." In deed to Florus Crom is mentioned "Another parcel of upland and meadow known by the name of _Ahequerenoy,_ lying north of the brook called Florus Falls and extending to Stony Point," the south line of which was the north line of the Haverstraw lands as later understood. The tract was known for years as "The end place."

Sankapogh, Indian deed to Van Cortlandt, 1683--Sinkapogh, Songepogh, Tongapogh--is given as the name of a small stream flowing to the Hudson south of the stream called Assinapink, locally now known as Swamp Kill and Snake-hole Creek. The stream is the outlet of a pool or spring which forms a marsh at or near the foot of precipitous rocks. Probably an equivalent of Natick _Sonkippog,_ "Cool water."

Poplopen's Creek, now so written, the name of the stream flowing to the Hudson between the sites of the Revolutionary forts Clinton and Montgomery, south of West Point, and also the name of one of the ponds of which the stream is the outlet, seems to be from English _Pop-looping_ (Dutch _Loopen_), and to describe the stream as flowing out quickly--_Pop_, "To issue forth with a quick, sudden movement"; _Looping_, "To run," to flow, to stream. The flow of the stream was controlled by the rise and fall of the waters in the ponds on the hills, seven in number. The outlet of Poplopen Pond is now dammed back to retain a head of water for milling purposes. It is a curious name. The possessive _'s_ does not belong to the original--Pop-looping Creek.

Assinapink, the name of a small stream of water flowing to the Hudson from a lake bearing the same name--colloquially _Sinsapink_--known in Revolutionary history as Bloody Pond--is of record, "A small rivulet of water called _Assin-napa-ink_" (Cal. N, Y. Land Papers, 99), from _Assin,_ "stone"; _Napa,_ "lake, pond," or place of water, and _-ink,_ locative, literally, "Place of water at or on the stone." The current interpretation, "Water from the solid rock," is not specially inappropriate, as the lake is at the foot of the rocks of Bare Mountain. At a certain place in the course of the stream a legal description reads: "A whitewood tree standing near the southerly side of a ridge of rocks, lying on the south side of a brook there called by the Indians _Sickbosten_ Kill, and by the Christians Stony Brook." [FN] The Indians never called the stream _Sickbosten,_ unless they learned that word from the Dutch, for corrupted Dutch it is. The derivative is _Boos,_ "Wicked, evil, angry"; _Zich Boos Maken,_ "To grow angry," referring particularly to the character of the stream in freshets.

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[FN] Adv. in Newburgh Mirror, June 18, 1798.

Prince's Falls, so called in description of survey of patent to Samuel Staats, 1712: "Beginning at ye mouth of a small rivulet called by the Indians Assin-napa-ink, then up the river (Hudson) as it runs, two hundred chains, which is about four chains north of Prince's Falls, including a small rocky isle and a small piece of boggy meadow called John Cantton Huck; also a small slip of land on each side of a fall of water just below ye meadow at ye said John Cantonhuck." (Cal. N. Y. Land Papers, 99.) Long known as Buttermilk Falls and more recently as Highland Falls. In early days the falls were one of the most noted features on the lower Hudson. They were formed by the discharge over a precipice of the outlet waters of Bog-meadow Brook. They were called Prince's Falls in honor of Prince Maurice of Holland. The name was extended to the creek in the Staats survey--Prince's Kill.

Manahawaghin is of record as the name of what is now known as Iona Island, in connection with "A certain tract of land on the west side of Hudson's River, beginning on the south side of a creek called Assinapink, together with a certain island and parcel of meadow called Manahawaghin, and by the Christians Salisbury Island." The island lies about one mile south of directly opposite Anthony's Nose, and is divided from the main land by a narrow channel or marshy water-course. The tract of land lies immediately north of the Donderberg; it was the site of the settlement known as Doodletown in Revolutionary history. The name is probably from _Mannahatin,_ the indefinite or diminutive form of _Mannahata,_ "The Island"--literally, "Small island." The last word of the record form is badly mangled. (See Manhattan.)

Manahan, meaning "Island"--indefinite _-an_--is a record name of what is now known as Constitution Island, the latter title from Fort Constitution which was erected thereon during the war of the Revolution. The early Dutch navigators called it Martelaer's Rack Eiland, from Martelaer, "Martyr," and Rack, a reach or sailing course--"the Martyr's Reach"--from the baffling winds and currents encountered in passing West Point. The effort of Judge Benson to convert "Martelaer's" to "Murderer's." and "Rack" to "Rock"--"the Murderer's Rock"--was unfortunate.

Pollepel Eiland, a small rocky island in the Hudson at the northern entrance to the Highlands, was given that name by an early Dutch navigator. It means, literally, "Pot-ladle Island," so called, presumably, from its fancied resemblance to a Dutch pot-ladle. Jasper Dankers and Peter Sluyter wrote the name in their Journal in 1679-80, indicating that the island was then well known by that title. On Van der Donck's map of 1656 the island is named Kaes Eiland. Dutch _Kaas_ (cheese) _Eiland._ Dankers and Sluyter also wrote, "_Boter-berg_ (Butter-hill), because it is like the rolls of butter which the farmers of Holland take to market." Read in connection the names are Butter Hill and Cheese Island. The same writers wrote, "_Hays-berg_ (Hay-hill), because it is like a hay-stack in Holland," and "_Donder-berg_ (Thunder-hill), so called from the echoes of thunder peals which culminated there." The latter retains its ancient Dutch title. It is eminently the Echo Hill of the Highlands. The oldest record name of any of the hills is _Klinker-berg,_ which is written on the Carte Figurative of 1614-16 directly opposite a small island and apparently referred to Butter Hill. It means literally, "Stone Mountain." The passage between Butter Hill and Break Neck, on the east side of the river, was called "Wey-gat, or Wind-gate, because the wind often blowed through it with great force," wrote Dr. Dwight. The surviving name, however, is _Warragat,_ from Dutch _Warrelgat,_ "Wind-gate." It was at the northern entrance to this troublesome passage that Hudson anchored the Half-Moon, September 29th, 1609. Brodhead suggested (Note K, Vol. I) that Pollepel Island was that known in early Dutch history as Prince's Island, or Murderer's Creek Island, and that thereon was erected Fort Wilhelmus, referred to by Wassenaer in 1626. (Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii, 35.) The evidence is quite clear, however, that the island to which Wassenaer referred was in the vicinity of Schodac, where there was also a Murderer's Creek.

Hudson, on his exploration of the river which now bears his name, sailed into the bay immediately north of Butter Hill, now known as Newburgh Bay, on the morning of the 15th of September, 1709. After spending several days in the northern part of the river, he reached Newburgh Bay on his return voyage in the afternoon of September 29th, and cast anchor, or as stated in Juet's Journal, "Turned down to the edge of the mountains, or the northernmost of the mountains, and anchored, because the high lands hath many points, and a narrow channel, and hath many eddie winds. So we rode quietly all night." The hill or mountain long known as Breakneck, on the east side of the river, may be claimed as the northernmost, which would place his anchorage about midway between Newburgh and Pollepel Island.

Quassaick, now so written, is of record, _Quasek,_ 1709; "Near to a place called _Quasaik,_" 1709-10; _Quasseck,_ 1713; "_Quassaick_ Creek upon Hudson's River," 1714. It was employed to locate the place of settlement of the Palatine immigrants in 1709--"The Parish of Quassaick," later, "The Parish of Newburgh." It is now preserved as the name of the creek which bounds (in part) the city of Newburgh on the south. "Near to a place called Quasek," indicates that the place of settlement was located by the name of some other place which was near to it and generally known by the name. The late Dr. E. B. O'Callaghan read it, in 1856: "From _Qussuk,_ 'Stone,' and _-ick,_ 'Place where,' literally, 'A place of stone,'" the presumed reference being to the district through which the stream flows, which is remarkable for its deposit of glacial bowlders. The correctness of this interpretation has been questioned on very tenable grounds. _Qusuk_ is not in the plural number and _-uk_ does not stand for _-ick._ Eliot wrote: "_Qussuk,_ a rock," and "_Qussukquan-ash,_ rocks." _Qussuk,_ as a substantive simply, would be accepted as the name of a place called "A rock," by metonymie, "A stone." No other meaning can be drawn from it. It does not belong to the dialect of the district, the local terms being _-ápuch,_ "Rock," and _-assin,_ or _-achsûn,_ "Stone." Dr. O'Callaghan's interpretation may safely be rejected. William R. Gerard writes: "The worst corrupted name that I know of is _Wequaskeg_ or _Wequaskeek,_ meaning, 'At the end of the marsh.' It appears in innumerable forms--_Weaxashuk, Wickerschriek, Weaquassic,_ etc. I think that Quassaick, changed from Quasek (1709), is one of these corruptions. The original word probably referred to some place at the end of a swamp. The word would easily become Quasekek, Quasek, and Quassaick. The formative _-ek,_ in words meaning swamp, marsh, etc., was often dropped by both Dutch and English scribes." This conjecture would seem to locate the name as that of the end of Big Swamp, nearly five miles distant from the place of settlement. My conjecture is that the name is from Moh. _Kussuhkoe,_ meaning "High;" with substantive _Kussuhkohke,_ "High lands," the place of settlement being described as "Near the Highlands," which became the official designation of "The Precinct of the Highlands." _Kussuhk_ is pretty certainly met in _Cheesek-ook,_ the name of patented lands in the Highlands, described as "Uplands and meadows;" also in _Quasigh-ook,_ Columbia County, which is described as "A high place on a high hill." The Palatine settlers at _Quasek,_ wrote, in 1714, that their place was "all uplands," a description which will not be disputed at the present day. (See Cheesekook, Quissichkook, etc.)

Much-Hattoos, a hill so called in petition of William Chambers and William Sutherland, in 1709, for a tract of land in what is now the town of New Windsor, and in patent to them in 1712, a boundmark described as "West by the hill called Much-Hattoes," is apparently from _Match,_ "Evil, bad;" _-adchu,_ "Hill" or mountain, and _-es,_ "Small"--"A small hill bad," or a small hill that for some reason was not regarded with favor. [FN] The eastern face of the hill is a rugged wall of gneiss; the western face slopes gradually to a swamp not far from its base and to a small lake, the latter now utilized for supplying the city of Newburgh with water, with a primary outlet through a passage under a spur of the hill, which the Indians may have regarded as a mysterious or bad place. In local nomenclature the hill has long been known as Snake Hill, from the traditionary abundance of rattle-snakes on it, though few have been seen there in later years.

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[FN] "I think your reading of _Muchattoos_ as an orthography of original _Matchatchu's,_ is very plausible. I think _Massachusetts_ is the same word, plus a locative suffix and English sign of the plural. It was formerly spelled in many ways: Mattachusetts, Massutchet, Matetusses, etc. Dr. Trumbull read it as standing for _Mass-adchu-set,_ 'At the big hills'; but I learn from history that Massachusetts was originally the name of a _hillock_ situated in the midst of a salt marsh. It was a locality selected by the sachem of his tribe as one of his places of residence. He stood in fear of his enemies, the Penobscotts, and this hillock, from its situation was a 'bad,' or difficult place to reach. So Massachsat for Matsadchuset or Mat-adchu-set plainly means, 'On the bad hillock.'" (Wm. R. Gerard.)

Cronomer's Hill and Cronomer's Valley, about three miles west of the city of Newburgh, take their names from a traditionary Indian called Cronomer, the location of whose wigwam is said to be still known as "The hut lot." The name is probably a corruption of the original, which may have been Dutch Jeronimo.

Murderer's Creek, so called in English records for many years, and by the Dutch "den Moordenaars' Kil," is entered on map of 1666, "R. Tans Kamer," or River of the Dance Chamber, and the point immediately south of its mouth, "de Bedrieghlyke Hoek" (Dutch, Bedrieglijk), meaning "a deceitful, fraudulent hook," or corner, cape, or angle. Presumably the Dutch navigator was deceived by the pleasant appearance of the bay, sailed into it and found his vessel in the mouth of the Warrelgat. Tradition affirms in explanation of the Dutch Moordenaars that an early company of traders entered their vessel in the mouth of the stream; that they were enticed on shore at Sloop Hill and there murdered. Paulding, in his beautiful story, "Naoman," related the massacre of a pioneer family at the same place. The event, however, which probably gave the name to the stream occurred in August, 1643, when boats passing down the river from Fort Orange, laden with furs, were attacked by the Indians "above the Highlands" and "nine Christians, including two women were murdered, and one woman and two children carried away prisoners," (Doc. Hist. N. Y., iv, 12), the narrative locating the occurrence by the name "den Moordenaars' Kil," _i. e._ the kill from which the attacking party issued forth or on which the murderers resided. The first appearance of the name in English records is in a deed to Governor Dongan, in 1685, in which the lands purchased by him included "the lands of the Murderers' Creek Indians," the stream being then well known by the name. The present name, Moodna, was converted to that form, by N. P. Willis from the Dutch "Moordenaar," by dropping letters, an inexcusable emasculation from a historic standpoint, but made poetical by his interpretation, "Meeting of the waters."

Schunnemunk, now so written, the name of a detached hill in the town of Cornwall, Orange County, appears of record in that connection, first, in the Wilson and Aske Patent of 1709, in which the tract granted is described as lying "Between the hills at Scoonemoke." Skoonnemoghky, Skonanaky, Schunnemock, Schonmack Clove, Schunnemock Hill, are other forms. In 1750 Schunnamunk appears, and in 1774, on Sauthier's map (1776) Schunnamank is applied to the range of hills which have been described as "The High Hills to the west of the Highlands." 'In a legal brief in the controversy to determine finally the northwest line of the Evans Patent, the name is written Skonanake, and the claim made that it was the hill named Skoonnemoghky in the deed from the Indians to Governor Dongan, in 1685, and therein given as the southeast boundmark of the lands of "The Murderer's Creek Indians," and, later, the hill along which the northwest line of the Evans Patent ran, which it certainly was not, although the name is probably from the same generic. (See Schoonnenoghky.) The hill forms the west shoulder of Woodbury Valley. It is a somewhat remarkable elevation in geological formation and bears on its summit many glacial scratches. On its north spur stood the castle of Maringoman, one of the grantors of the deed to Governor Dongan, and who later removed to the north side of the Otter Kill where his wigwam became a boundmark in two patents. [FN] The traditionary word "castle," in early days of Indian history, was employed as the equivalent of town, whether palisaded or not. In this case we may read the name, "Maringoman's Town," which may or may not have been palisaded. It seems to have been the seat of the "Murderer's Creek Indians." The burial ground of the clan is marked on a map of the Wilson and Aske Patent, and has been located by Surveyor Fred J. McKnight (1898) on the north side of the Cornwall and Monroe line and very near the present road past the Houghton farm, near which the castle stood. The later "cabin" of the early sachem is plainly located.

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[FN] Van Dam Patent (1709) and Mompesson Patent (1709-12). The late Hon. George W. Tuthill wrote me in 1858: "On the northwestern bank of Murderers' Creek, about half a mile below Washingtonville, stands the dwelling-house of Henry Page (a colored man), said to be the site of Maringoman's wigman, referred to in the Van Dam Patent of 1709. The southwesterly corner of that patent is in a southwesterly direction from said Page's house."

In the controversy in regard to the northwest line of the Evans Patent, one of the counsel said: "It is also remarkable that the Murderers' Creek extends to the hill Skonanaky, and that the Indian, Maringoman, who sold the lands, did live on the south side of Murderers' Creek, opposite the house where John McLean now (1756) dwells, near the said hill, and also lived on the north bank of Murderers' Creek, where Colonel Mathews lives. The first station of his boundaries is a stone set in the ground at Maringoman's castle."

Winegtekonck, 1709--_Wenighkonck,_ 1726; _Wienackonck,_ 1739--is quoted as the name of what is now known as Woodcock Mountain, in the town of Blooming-Grove, It is not so connected, however, in the record of 1709, which reads: "A certain tract of land by the Indians called _Wineghtek-onck_ and parts adjacent, lying on both sides of Murderers' Kill" (Cal. N. Y. Land Papers, 91), in which connection it seems to be another form of Mahican _Wanun-ketukok,_ "At the winding of the river"--"A bend-of-the-river-place." Presumably the reference is to a place where the stream bends in the vicinity of the hill. The name appears in an abstract of an Indian deed to Sir Henry Ashurst, in 1709, for a tract of land of about sixteen square miles. The purchase was not patented, the place being included in the Governor Dongan purchase of 1685, and in the Evans Patent.

Sugar Loaf, the name of a conical hill in the town of Chester, Orange County, is not an Indian name of course, but it enters into an enumeration of Indian places, as in its vicinity were found by Charles Clinton, in his survey of the Cheesec-ock Patent in 1738, the unmistakable evidences of the site of an Indian village, then probably not long abandoned, and Mr. Eager (Hist. Orange Co.) quoted evidences showing that on a farm then (1846) owned by Jonathan Archer, was an Indian burying ground, the marks of which were still distinct prior to the Revolution.

Runbolt's Run, a spring and creek in the town of Goshen, are said to have taken that name from Rombout, one of the Indian grantors of the Wawayanda tract. It is probable, however, that the name is a corruption of Dutch _Rondbocht,_ meaning, "A tortuous pool, puddle, marsh," at or near which the chief may have resided. _Rombout_ (Dutch) means "Bull-fly." It could hardly have been the name of a run of water.

Mistucky, the name of a small stream in the town of Warwick, has lost some of its letters. _Mishquawtucke_ (Nar.), would read, "Place of red cedars."

Pochuck, given as the name of "A wild, rugged and romantic region" in Sussex County, N. J., to a creek near Goshen, and, modernly, to a place in Newburgh lying under the shadow of Muchhattoes Hill, is no doubt from _Putscheck_ (Len.), "A corner or repress," a retired or "out-of-the-way place." Eliot wrote _Poochag,_ in the Natick dialect, and Zeisberger, in the Minsi-Lenape, _Puts-cheek,_ which is certainly heard in Pochuck.

Chouckhass, one of the Indian grantors of the Wawayanda tract, left his name to what is now called Chouck's Hill, in the town of Warwick. The land on which he lived and in which he was buried came into possession of Daniel Burt, an early settler, who gave decent sepulture to the bones of the chief. [FN]

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[FN] The traditional places of residence of several of the sachems who signed the Wawayanda deed is stated by a writer in "Magazine of American History," and may be repeated on that authority, viz: "Oshaquememus, chief of a village, near the point where the Beaver-dam Brook empties into Murderers' Creek near Campbell Hall; Moshopuck, on the flats now known as Haverstraw; Ariwimack, chief, on the Wallkill, extending from Goshen to Shawongunk; Guliapaw, chief of a clan residing near Long Pond (Greenwood Lake), within fifty rods of the north end of the pond; Rapingonick died about 1730 at the Delaware Water-Gap." The names given by the writer do not include all the signers of the deed. One of the unnamed grantors was _Claus,_ so called from _Klaas_ (Dutch), "A tall ninny"; an impertinent, silly fellow; a ninny-jack. The name may have accurately described the personality of the Indian.

Jogee Hill, in the town of Minisink, takes its name from and preserves the place of residence of Keghekapowell, alias Jokhem (Dutch Jockem for Joachim), one of the grantors of lands to Governor Dongan in 1684. The first word of his Indian name, _Keghe,_ stands for _Keche,_ "Chief, principal, greatest," and defined his rank as principal sachem. The canton which he ruled was of considerable number. He remained in occupation of the hill long after his associates had departed.

Wawayanda, 1702--_Wawayanda_ or _Wocrawin,_ 1702; _Wawayunda,_ 1722-23; _Wiwanda, Wowando,_ Index Col. Hist. N. Y.--the first form, one of the most familiar names in Orange County, is preserved as that of a town, a stream of water, and of a large district of country known as the Wawayanda Patent, in which latter connection it appears of record, first, in 1702, in a petition of Dr. Samuel Staats, of Albany, and others, for license to purchase "A tract of land called Wawayanda, in the county of Ulster, containing by estimation about five thousand acres, more or less, lying about thirty miles backward in the woods from Hudson's River." (Land Papers, 56.) In February of the same year the parties filed a second petition for license to "purchase five thousand acres adjoining thereto, as the petitioners had learned that their first purchase, 'called Wawayanda' was 'altogether a swamp and not worth anything.'" In November of the same year, having made the additional purchase, the parties asked for a patent for ten thousand acres "Lying at Wawayanda or Woerawin." Meanwhile Dr. John Bridges and Company, of New York, purchased under license and later received patent for "certain tracts and parcels of vacant lands in the county of Orange, called Wawayanda, and some other small tracts and parcels of lands," and succeeded in including in their patent the lands which had previously been purchased by Dr. Staats. Specifically the tract called Wawayanda or Woerawin was never located, nor were the several "certain tracts of land called Wawayanda" purchased by Dr. Bridges. The former learned in a short time, however, that his purchase was not "altogether a swamp," although it may have included or adjoined one, and the latter found that his purchase included a number of pieces of very fine lands and a number of swamps, and especially the district known as the Drowned Lands, covering some 50,000 acres, in which were several elevations called islands, now mainly obliterated by drainage and traversed by turnpikes and railroads. Several water-courses were there also, notably the stream now known as the Wallkill, and that known as the Wawayanda or Warwick Creek, a stream remarkable for its tortuous course.

What and where was Wawayanda? The early settlers on the patent seem to have been able to answer. Mr. Samuel Vantz, who then had been on the patent for fifty-five years, gave testimony in 1785, that Wawayanda was "Within a musket-shot of where DeKay lived." The reference was to the homestead house of Col. Thomas DeKay, who was then dead since 1758. The foundation of the house remains and its site is well known. In adjusting the boundary line between New York and New Jersey it was cut off from Orange County and is now in Vernon, New Jersey, where it is still known as the "Wawayanda Homestead." Within a musket-shot of the site of the ancient dwelling flows Wawayanda Creek, and with the exception of the meadows through which it flows in a remarkably sinuous course, is the only object in proximity to the place where DeKay lived, except the meadow and the valley in which it flows. The locative of the name at that point seems to be established with reasonable certainty as well as the object to which it was applied--the creek.