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Glimpses of the Early History of Albany,

BY ALFRED B. STREET.

An Autumn day, in the year 1614, was brightening the boundless forests of a newly discovered region, as a Dutch vessel made its way up the "Great River of the Mountains," so named by Hudson, after the sails of the Half-Moon had been pictured on its surface. As the ship passed by promontory, cove, and island, the fierce Mohawk on his war-path, and the shrinking Mahikander

from his covert, beheld equally with amazement, this second apparition of the "Great Bird with white wings" upon their solitary waters. With equal wonder, blended with admiration, did the Schipper and crew behold the unusual and beautiful scenes around them. The forests were decked with those splendid tints, that, no where, gleam so brightly, as in our own bright land. As far, upon each side, as the sailor at the mast-head could see, were those colors glowing, a jewelled ocean. Before the prow, still stretched the river expanding

and contracting the gleaming sail frightening the duck sporting upon the water, and the deer drinking from the bank-side. The stories told by Hudson, and his men, of the wonders they had seen, although marvellous indeed to the ears of the staid and sober Hollanders, were found by the present voyagers, to be even exceeded by the reality. After passing the place where the "Half-Moon" dropped anchor, and sent its boats to explore the upper waters of the river, (which is supposed to be about the spot where the city of Hudson now stands,) the channel became narrower, and the islands more numerous, until, as the sunset fell, the Schipper looked for a spot to moor his vessel for the night. He had now reached nearly as far as the boats of the "Half-Moon" had penetrated; bars and shallow waters had, within a few miles, compelled him frequently to sound the lead-the banks approached still nearer, and every thing betokened that his voyage in his light yacht must speedily come to an end. As the last ray glittered upon the water, the vessel was turned towards the shore. Before the eye of the Schipper the land rose to a considerable elevation, leaving a strip of flat immediately upon the river side-which elevation was divided into several ravines, through which streams emptied into the river. The shore was winding. At the North, the channel made an elbow, with a back ground of mountain-on the East, the land was reared into a ridge-while, immediately in front of his prow, was a long low island. After gliding along the bushes of the latter place for a few moments, the grapnel was cast, the vessel stopped, and the Schipper with his mate, followed by his crew, planted their feet upon an earth which had never before received the print of civilized

man.

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Sent, together with Adrian Blok, by the Amsterdam Licensed Trading Company, to secure by fortifications the coveries in the neighboring region, he had sailed, in possession of the "Great River," and to prosecute discompany with the other, in the beginning of the year above stated, (1614.) Whilst about that part of the coast, called New-Holland by Hudson, and Cape Cod by the English, he was rejoined by Blok, who had arrived at Man-a-ha-ta, (so called by the natives,) and, losing his ship by fire, had built a yacht, and passed through Oost River or East River, to the place where he again found his comrade. Blok, leaving his yacht to fishing party, embarked in the vessel of Christianse, before their course was shaped for the Hudson river, the and, together they prosecuted some farther discoveries, destination of the two expeditions. No Man's Land, and Block Island, Narragansett Bay, the Connecticut, called by them the Fresh River, and the Housatonic,

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which they denominated the "River of the Red Mountain," were amongst the discoveries they made before they parted the waters encircling the Indian Paggank, now known as Governor's Island, and also washing the base of Long Island, named by the natives Sewanhacky, or the Island of Shells.

It was in the autumn of the same year, as before sta

ted, that Christianse made his way up the Hudson river, to the place where we left him, for this brief retrospective glance.

Upon the Island where he moored, he commenced immediately to raise a fortification. This caused, doubtless, great excitement amongst the red inhabitants of the region. The Iroquois trapper, snaring his beaver upon the little streams that coursed through the ravines of the spot, spread the tidings amongst his tribe at Connughharie gughharie, that beyond the Pine Plains, a company of Pale faces were erecting a fort; and the Delaware hunter, chasing the deer upon the hills of the opposite side, gave also the alarm to the members of his nation. Nevertheless, the work progressed-the warlike Mohawks or men of blood, having been propitiated by Hudson, and holding in subjection the neighboring tribes, not interfering. On the contrary, the wild chieftain, leaning upon his bow, and witnessing the skill and speed with which the "Charistooni" or "Iron Workers" (for so he had named the strangers,) erected their fortress, and, when completed, saw the strength with which it was built, and heard the thunder of its guns, whose bolts could prostrate the tallest trees of the forest, had his admiration, if not fears, excited, for those who possessed so much knowledge, and were gifted with such terrible means of power.

The fortification, when finished, was surrounded by a ditch or moat, eighteen feet wide, garrisoned by a The spot where the craft was moored, is the narrow dozen soldiers, and mounted by two brass pieces and flat island, immediately below the lower ferry of Alba- eleven "steen stucken," or stone guns, which consistny, and the Schipper was Hendrick Christianse, undered of iron bars, longitudinally laid, hooped, and so callwhose auspices the first permanent settlement, not only ed, because loaded with stone, instead of iron ball.in the vicinity of this city, but in our State, was made. Christianse now took upon himself the duties of his

station. He was called the "Opper Hoofdt" or Chief and from it sprung the Amsterdam Licensed Trading Commander of the licensed traders, and Jaques or Jacobus Elkans was made his Lieutenant, or Commissary. He exercised a supremacy over the whole river, a fort having also been erected upon the island of Man-a-hata. He probably divided his time between the two places, and bent his attention to the prosecution of the Fur trade.

Company, a part of the East India corporation. Under the auspices of this company, Blok and Christianse sailed upon their explorations, the result of which, among other things, were the founding of New-York and Albany. These explorations were, most probably, next to Hudson's, although it is asserted that adventu rers found their way to the river in 1611, the next year

The importance of this trade was deeply felt from the after the discoverer unlocked its waters. Be that as it beginning.

may, no permanent impression was made upon the region, until the successful voyages in 1614.

Fully alive then, to the importance of obtaining the control of the fur trade, Christianse bent his efforts in that direction. Soon, channels were opened to his wishes, through that great and powerful confederacy, the Iroquois, or Five Nations. The wild Seneca from the plunging waters of Niagara, the famed Onondaga, from the canton which held the central council fire of the nation, the Oneida and Cayuga, from their fertile fields and beautiful lakes, and the lordly Mohawk, from his green valley, all came laden to the Castle Island fort, with their rich furs, to exchange for the baubles and trinkets of civilized life. Nor these alone. Their minds were rankling with their defeat, upon the banks of Lake George, five years before, from the hands of the Adirondacks, caused by the fire arms of Champlain, and they naturally looked to these weapons, as a means of turning the tide of fortune against their hereditary foes, and building up their own power. The native sagacity of these wonderful tribes, which had induced them to form their wise confederacy, taught them that, with these instruments, whose voices of thunder and tongues of flame sent death quick as the lightning from Heaven, they might soon exercise uncontrolled supremacy over the wilderness. So thinking, they obtained the fire arms, which obtaining led to the most momentous results. It made the Iroquois, for a century, the most

About the period of which I write, Holland held, above all other nations in Europe, sway over the ocean. Her commerce was enormous. Twenty thousand vessels and over two hundred thousand mariners navigated the waters of the Mediterranean, Baltic and the Indian Ocean, as well as the coasts of Great Britain, Africa and the West Indies. Her republican flag drooped by the calm orange scented shores of the Pacific Islands, and fluttered wildly in the blasts and amid the ice-bergs of the Arctic circle. Standing upon her small domain of only 400,000 morgen, (nearly eight hundred thousand acres)-a domain which she had also wrested from Neptune, she wielded the trident of the discomfited God beyond all competition. Her own enterprise and industry, were also seconded by adventitious aids. Her thirty years war with Spain for independence, had brought within her borders many active and restless spirits, whom the peace, just concluded, deprived of occupation. These gladly embraced any opportunity whereby they could gain subsistence and have a theatre for the exercise of their martial and fiery qualities. No country was too distant, no enterprise too hazardous, for their daring and reckless courage. With such materials, added to her own resources, Holland was not slow in gaining the position we have just described. The city of Amsterdam, containing one-fifth of the population of the province of which it was the chief city, took the lead in the maritime operations of the peri-powerful people on the North American continent, enaod. In pursuance of these operations, a society called the Dutch East India Company had been formed, of whose directors those resident in Amsterdam were the most influential. The phantom of a north passage to India possessed, particularly, the minds of the commercial community. To test the reality of the supposition, the Amsterdam directors of this company had sent Hudson upon his voyage, who, though failing in this object, achieved the discovery of the river which bears his name, and brought back wonderful, but true, accounts of the region. Not only did he bring accounts, but he showed specimens of the riches of the country. at present known as "Kiddenhooghten," or Kidd's Amongst these specimens were the beautiful furs of the forests, streams and lakes of the magic land, which the talisman of his daring had made known to the world. They filled the minds of the sober Hollanders with astonishment and admiration. Obtained heretofore at great cost, and with much difficulty, from the traders in the north of Europe, they now saw them ready for those who had the energy and will to grasp them. Appreciating the advantages resulting from the traffic in these articles of luxury, the members of the East India Company obtained a monopoly of the trade upon the river, which they had been the means of discovering. This monopoly was to exist for four successive voyages,

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bling them to stretch their protection over the English colonies, to whom the Dutch bequeathed the friendship with which they had inspired the forest warriors.

In 1617, in consequence of the spring freshets in the river, inundating the island, Christianse found it nenessary to abandon the redoubt, and erect a new one upon a tongue of land forming the south bank of the Norman's, or, as it was then named, Noordtman's kill; a small stream emptying into the Hudson at the lower point of the island. This tongue of land was called by the Indians Ta-wass-a-gun-shee, or look-out hill, and is

heights, from the tradition that the celebrated pirate, whose achievements have been so often told, there secreted his money in one of his expeditions up the river. This tradition is still credited in the neighborhood, many a winter's hearth being cheered by its recital; and the lantern of the money-digger has often gleamed upon the hill at midnight, looking like a star to the eye of the steersman, as his sloop drifted, slowly, around the bold foot of Van Wie's Point. In summer, it is green with pleasant grass, its western side clothed in forest, the little Norman's kill stealing at its base, and mingling the dashing sounds of its dam, with the clack of the grist-mill, and the rumble of the waggon wheel, from

the winding hill, over its bridge. It is one of the many nakwak, by which title he designates the Dutch, who beautiful spots that surround Albany; and, in a summer afternoon, when the long brush of the sinking sun has painted the scene in picturesque tints, when each tree is casting its shadow, when the domes of the city sparkle in the light, and the opposite hills are bathed in purple with the glittering river in the midst, the heart leaps with gratitude to that God who has given life to His creatures, and intellect to enjoy His blessings.

had so suddenly appeared from the bosom of the great skimming-bird of the waters. Near the humbled Delaware, stand the haughty chiefs of the Aganuschioni, with their totems of the bear, wolf and turtle, tattooed upon their skin,—and, mingling freely with their tawny brethren, are the soldiers of Christianse, with their huge muskets, broad slouched hats and leathern doublets. The fort, with its cannon frowning upon the At the fort of the traders, upon this hill, a very im- scene, stands upon its sweeping glacis with a backportant event, as connected with the settlement of the ground of leafy forest, through the branches, of which city occurred. After Christianse planted himself upon are discovered bright glimpses of the river, and the the island, he found two distinct savage nations occu-winding stream. A few Indian canoes, lurk beside the pying the regions extending to the east and west banks hollow banks of the latter, and the yacht of Christianse of the Hudson river. These were the Iroquois, inha-is moored at the intersection with the former. biting the latter, and the Mahiccanni, a branch of the This treaty, though full of advantages to the Dutch, Lenni Lenape, the former. The Lenape, who styled and Iroquois, was productive of the most disastrous rethemselves the "Grandfather of Nations," had origi-sults to the Lenni Lenape or Delawares. They were ally been powerful, and their descendants had extended induced to place themselves under the protection of the themselves from the great council fire kindled upon the confederacy; in fact, to declare themselves women. In head waters of the Delaware to the Hudson, the Con- their metaphorical language, the belt of peace was laid necticut and the Atlantic coast, immediately east, under over their shoulders, one end of which was to be held the names of the Pequods, Wampanoags and Mahic-by the Dutch, the other by the Iroquois. The tomacanni, which in their turn were subdivded, into different tribes, under different appellations.

hawk was trod into the earth, the Dutch declaring they would build a church over it, and that none should dig it up without overthrowing the church and incurring the resentment of the builders. The consequence of this protection was the utter prostration of the Lenape spirit, and the resulting dismemberment, wasting away and destruction of the nation; while the Iroquois confederacy, grasping the musket and trampling upon its red neighbors, towered in strength, until its plumed head nodded its sway over the forests, from the pine trees of Maine to the magnolias of Florida. The Dutch also, nestling at its side, became more confident and more numerous, and prosecuted their principal object, the fur trade, with assiduity and success. Christianse continued to exercise authority over the two points of the river, his yacht gliding frequently up and down the channel-now dropping its sails to the sudden thundergust of the Highlands—now lazily lapsing along the calm waters, its creaking tiller waking the echoes of the shores, and now, lying at its anchor in the dark breathless nights, its long boom in

The Mahiccanni, or River Indians, being the nearest to the Kayingahaga or Mohawks, the most martial tribe of the Iroquois, were continually involved in war with them, and the flame of animosity extended to all the branches of the other nations. But the stern qualities, and the superior advantages of the confederated tribes, so far triumphed in the innumerable contests, that the Lenni Lenape were disposed to yield the supremacy, and particularly the Mahiccanni, who, by their position, were more exposed to the quintuple attacks of their united enemies. Wasted in numbers, and humbled by defeat, at last, about the year 1617, the remnants of the Lenni Lenape and Mahiccanni, listened to a proposal, whereby they glided, rapidly, downward to ruin and degradation. This was, to confirm a treaty between themselves, the Dutch and the Iroquois, establishing peace between the parties. For this purpose, the two Indian nations sent their deputies to the Fort of the Norman's Kill. So solemn and of such momentous importance, was this treaty considered by the Iroquois, that they sent as their re-terlocking with the forest branches upon the banks. A presentatives, chiefs, the highest in rank and authority, bearing the names of those delegates who, a century before, instituted the confederacy between the tribes. These chiefs were five in number, one from each of the five nations. These were,

Tekanawitagh of the Mohawks.
Otatsighte of the Oneidas.
T'hatodarho of the Onandagas.

S'hononawendowane of the Cayugas, and
Kanniadarioh of the Senecas.

voyage at that period, and for two centuries after, was a matter of days and sometimes weeks, instead of the few hours now taken by the dart-like and graceful steamboat.

At home, the public mind became more and more awakened to the subject of extending commerce-of colonization, and of improving the advantages of the discoveries that had been made. The regions of the Hudson river were particularly the object of attention. The noble avenue of waters penetrating, in navigable grandeur, through such a diversified extent of country, and the rich productions in which it abounded, particularly furs,-might well arouse a spirit of anxiety as to the farther development of such resources.

Let us for a moment fancy to ourselves the incidents attending the execution of this treaty. The warrior of the Lenape, with the totem of the tortoise upon his breast, looks around him with an air, the original boldness of which is chastened by misfortune. He sees These objects were more effectually obtained by a soupon the one hand, the dreaded "Sankhiccanni" or the ciety which was now organized, more comprehensive in 'fire-workers,” as he calls the Mohawks, from the fire-its outlines and perfect in its details, than any previously arms they had begun to carry-the other, the Swan- formed. This was the Dutch West India Company. It

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