Part 24

Minisink, now so written and preserved as the name of a town in Orange County, appears primarily, in 1656, on Van der Donck's map, "Minnessinck ofte t' Landt van Bacham," which may be read, constructively, "Indians inhabiting the back or upper lands," or the highlands. [FN] Heckewelder wrote: "The Minsi, which we have corrupted to Monsey, extended their settlements from the Minisink, a place named after them, where they had their council seat and fire," and Reichel added, "The Minisinks, _i. e._ the habitation of the Monseys or Minsis." The application was both general and specific to the district of country occupied by the Minsi tribe and to the place where its council fire was held. The former embraced the mountainous country of the Delaware River above the Forks or junction of the Lehigh Branch; the latter was on Minnisink Plains in New Jersey, about eight miles south of Port Jervis, Orange County. It was obviously known to the Dutch long before Van der Donck wrote the name. It was visited, in 1694, by Arent Schuyler, a credited interpreter, who wrote, in his Journal, Minissink and Menissink as the name of the tribal seat. Although it is claimed that there was another council-seat on the East Branch of the Delaware, that on Minisink Plains was no doubt the principal seat of the tribe, as records show that it was there that all official intercourse with the tribe was conducted for many years. Schuyler met sachems and members of the tribe there and the place was later made a point for missionary labor. Their village was palisaded. On one of the early maps it is represented as a circular enclosure. In August, 1663, they asked the Dutch authorities at New Amsterdam, through _Oratamy,_ sachem of the Hackinsacks, "For a small piece of ordnance to use in their fort against the _Sinuakas_ and protect their corn." (Col. Hist. N. Y., xiii, 290.) In the blanket deed which the tribe gave in 1758, to their territory in New Jersey they were styled "Minsis, Monseys, or Minnisinks." _Minsis_ and _Monseys_ are convertible terms of which the late Dr. D. G. Brinton wrote: "From investigation among living Delawares, _Minsi,_ properly _Minsiu,_ formerly _Min-assin-iu,_ means 'People of the stony country,' or briefly, 'Mountaineers.' It is the synthesis of _Minthiu,_ 'To be scattered,' and _Achsin,_ 'Stone.' according to the best native authority." Apparently from _Min-assin_ we have Van der Donck's _Minn-essin;_ with locative _-k, -ck, -g, -gh, Minn-essin-ks,_ "People of the stony country," back-landers or highlanders. Interpretations of less merit have been made. One that is widely quoted is from Old Algonquian and Chippeway _Minnis,_ "Island," and _-ink,_ locative; but there is no evidence that _Minnis_ was in the dialect spoken here; on the contrary the record name of Great Minnisink Island, which is supposed to have been referred to, was _Menag'nock,_ by the German notation _Menach'hen-ak._ Aside from this _Minnissingh_ is of record at Poughkeepsie, in 1683, where no island is known to have existed, and in Westchester County the same term is met in _Men-assink_ (_Min-assin-ink_), "At a place of small stones." The deed description at Poughkeepsie located the tract conveyed "On the bank of the river," _i. e._ on the back or ridge lands. (See Minnis-ingh.) The final _s_ which appears in many of the forms of the name, and especially in _Minsis,_ is a foreign plural.

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[FN] "Minnessinck ofte t' Landt Van Bacham," apparently received some of its letters from the engraver of the map. _Ofte_--Dutch and Old Saxon, _av_--English _of_--was probably used in the sense of identity or equivalency. Bacham--Dutch, _bak;_ Old High-German, _Bahhoham_--describes "An extended upper part, as of a mountain or ridge." In application to a tribe, "Ridge-landers," "Highlanders," or "Mountaineers." On the Hudson the tribe was generally known as Highlanders. The double _n_ and the double _s,_ in many of the forms, show that _e_ was pronounced short, or _i._

Menagnock, the record name of what has long been known as "The Great Mennissincks Island"--"The Great Island of the Mennisinks"--is probably an equivalent of _Menach'henak_ (Minsi) meaning "Islands." The island, so called, is a flat cut up by water courses, forming several small islands.

Namenock, an island so called by Rev. Casparus Freymout in 1737, is probably an equivalent of Naman-ock and Namee-ock, L. I., which was translated by Dr. Trumbull from Mass. _Namau-ohke,_ "Fishing place," or "Fish country"--_Namauk,_ Del, "Fishing place." Perhaps it was the site of a weir or dam for impounding fish. Such dams or fishing places became boundmarks in some cases. The name was corrupted to _Nomin-ack,_ as the name of a church and of a fort three or four miles below what is now Montague, N. J. On Long Island the name is corrupted to _Nomin-ick._ (See Moriches.)

Magatsoot--A tract of land "Called and known by the name of Magockomack and Magatsoot"--so entered in petition of Philip French for Minisink Patent in 1703, is noted in petition of Ebenezer Wilson (same patent), in 1702, "Beginning on the northwest side of the mouth of Weachackamack Creek where it enters Minisink River." The creek was then given the name of the field called Maghaghkamieck; it is now called Neversink. _Magatsoot_ was the name of the mouth of the stream, "Where it enters Minisink River," or the Delaware. It is an equivalent of _Machaak-sók,_ [FN] meaning, "The great outlet," or mouth of a river. Although specific in application to the mouth of the river, it is more strictly the name of the stream than that which it now bears. (See Magaat-Ramis.)

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[FN] _Machaak,_ Moh., _Mechek,_ Len.; "Great, large"; _soot, sók, sóhk, sauk,_ "Pouring out," hence mouth or outlet of a river.

Maghagh-kamieck, so written in patent to Arent Schuyler in 1694, and described therein as "A certain tract of land at a place called Maghaghkamieck," which "Place" was granted, in 1697, to Swartwout, Coddebeck, and others, has been handed down in many orthographies. The precise location of the "Place" was never ascertained by survey, but by occupation it consisted of some portion of a very fine section of bottom-land extending along the northeast side of Neversink River from near or in the vicinity of the junction of that stream and the Delaware at Carpenter's Point to the junction of Basha's Kill [FN-1] and the Neversink, in the present county of Sullivan, a distance of about eleven miles. In general terms its boundaries are described in the patent as extending from "The western bounds of the lands called _Nepeneck_ to a small run of water called by the Indian name _Assawaghkemek,_ and so along the same and the lands of Mansjoor, the Indian." It matters not that in later years it was reported by a commission that the patent "Contained no particular boundaries, but appeared rather to be a description of a certain tract of country in which 1,200 acres were to be taken up," the name nevertheless was that of a certain field or place so distinct in character as to become a general locative of the whole, as in the Schuyler grant of 1694. It may reasonably be presumed that the district to which it was extended began at Carpenter's Point (Nepeneck) and ended on the north side of Basha's Kill. (See Assawaghkemek.) The same name is met in New Jersey on the Peaquaneck River, where it is of record in 1649, "_Mechgacham-ik,_ or Indian field" (Col. Hist. N. Y., xiii, 25); noted as an Indian settlement in the Journal of Arent Schuyler, in 1694, giving an account of his visit to the Minissinck country, in February of that year, in which the orthography is _Maghagh-kamieck,_ indicating very clearly that the original was _Maghk-aghk-kamighk,_ a combination of _Maghaghk,_ "Pumpkin," and _-kamik,_ "Field," or place limited, where those vegetables were cultivated, and a place that was widely known evidently. [FN-2] The German missionaries wrote _Machg-ack,_ "Pumpkin," and Captain John Smith, in his Virginia notes of 1620, wrote the same sound in _Mahcawq._ No mention is made of an Indian village here. If there was one it certainly was not visited by Arent Schuyler in 1694, as is shown by the general direction of his route, as well as by maps of Indian paths. To have visited Maghaghkamik in Orange County would have taken him many miles out of his way. Maghaghkamik Fork and Maghaghkamik Church lost those names many years ago, but the ancient name is still in use in some connections in Port Jervis, and most wretchedly spelled.

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[FN-1] Basha's Kill, so called from a place called Basha's land, which see.

[FN-2] _Kamik,_ Del., _Komuk,_ Mass., in varying orthographies, means "Place" in the sense of a limited enclosed, or occupied space; "Generally," wrote Dr. Trumbull, "An enclosure, natural or artificial, such as a house or other building, a village, or planted field, a thicket or place surrounded by trees"; briefly, a place having definite boundaries. _Maghkaghk_ is an intense expression of quality--perfection.

Nepeneck, a boundmark so called in the Swartwout-Coddebeck Patent of 1697--Napenock, Napenack, Napenough, later forms--given as the name of the western or southwestern bound of the Maghaghkamick tract, is described: "Beginning at the western bounds of the lands called Nepeneck." The place is presumed to have been at or near Carpenter's Point, on the Delaware, which at times is overflowed by water. It disappears here after 1697, but reappears in a similar situation some twenty miles north at the junction of the Sandberg and Rondout kills. It is probably a generic as in _Nepeak,_ L. I., meaning, "Water land," or land overflowed by water. "_Nepenit_ 'In a place of water.'" (Trumbull.) Carpenter's Point or ancient Nepeneck, is the site of the famous Tri-States Rock, the boundmark of three states.

Assawaghkemek, the name entered as that of the northeast boundmark of the Swartwout-Coddebeck Patent, and described therein, "To a small run of water called Assawaghkemek . . . and so along the same and the lands of Mansjoor, the Indian," is known by settlement, to have been _at_ and _below_ the junction of Basha's Kill and the Neversink, from which the inference seems to be well sustained that "the lands of Mansjoor, the Indian" were the lands or valley of Basha's Kill, which the name describes as an enclosed or occupied place "beyond," or "on the other side" of the small run of water. The prefix _Assaw,_ otherwise written _Accaw, Agaw,_ etc., means "Beyond," "On the other side." The termination _agh,_ or _aug,_ indicates that the name is formed as a verb. _Kemek_ (Kamik) means an enclosed, or occupied place, as already stated. The translation in "History of Orange County," from _Waseleu,_ "Light, bright, foaming," is erroneous, as is also the application of the name to Fall Brook, near the modern village of Huguenot. In no case was the name that of a stream, except by extension to it.

Peenpack, (Paan, Paen, Pien, Penn) is given, _traditionally,_ as the name of a "Small knoll or rise of ground, some fifty or sixty rods long, ten wide, and about twenty feet high above the level of" Neversink River, "on and around which the settlers of the Maghaghkamik Patent first located their cabins." It has been preserved for many generations as the name of what is known as the Peen-pach Valley, the long narrow flats on the Neversink. Apparently it is corrupt Dutch from _Paan-pacht,_ "Low, soft land," or leased land. The same name is met in _Paan-paach,_ Troy, N. Y., and in _Penpack,_ Somerset County, N. J. The places bearing it were primary Dutch settlements on low lands. (See Paanpaach.) Doubtfully a substitution for Algonquian from a root meaning, "To fall from a height" (Abn., _Paⁿna;_ Len. _Pange_), as in Abn. _Panaⁿk'i,_ "Fall of land," the downward slope of a mountain, suggested by the slope of the Shawongunk Mountain range, which here runs southwest to northeast and falls off on the west until it meets the narrow flats spoken of. The same feature is met at Troy.

Tehannek, traditionally the name of a small stream on the east side of the Peenpack Knoll, probably means "Cold stream," from _Ta_ or _Te,_ "cold," and _-hannek,_ "stream." It is a mountain brook.

Sokapach, traditionally the name of a spring in Deerpark, means, "A spring." It is an equivalent of _Sókapeék,_ "A spring or pool."

Neversink, the name quoted as that of the stream flowing to the Delaware at Carpenter's Point, is not a river name. It is a corruption of Lenape _Newás,_ "A promontory," and _-ink,_ locative, meaning "At the promontory." The particular promontory referred to seems to have been what is now known as Neversink Point, in Sullivan County, which rises 3,300 feet. The name is generic and is met in several places, notably in Neversink, N. J. (See Maghaghkameck.)

Seneyaughquan, given as the name of an Indian bridge which crossed the Neversink, may have its equivalent in "_Tayachquano,_ bridge--a dry passage over a stream." (Heckewelder.) The bridge was a log and the location said to have been above the junction of the stream with the Mamacottin.

Saukhekemeck, otherwise _Maghawam,_ so entered in the Schuyler Patent, 1697, apparently refer to one and the same place. The locative has not been ascertained. The patent covered lands now in New Jersey. The tract is described in the patent: "Situated upon a river called Mennissincks, before a certain island called Menagnock, which is adjacent to or near a tract of land called by the natives Maghaghkamek." (See Menagnock.)

Warensagskemeck, a tract also conveyed to Arent Schuyler in 1697, described as "A parcel of meadow or vly, adjacent to or near a tract called Maghaghkamek," is probably, by exchange of _r_ and _l_ and transpositions, _Walenaskameck; Walen,_ "hollowing, concave"; _Walak,_ hole; _Waleck,_ a hollow or excavation; _-ask,_ "Grass"; _-kameck,_ an enclosed or limited field; substantially, "a meadow or vly," [FN] as described in the deed.

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[FN] _Vly_ is a Dutch contraction of _Vallei,_ with the accepted signification, "A swamp or morass; a depression with water in it in rainy seasons, but dry at other times." A low meadow. _Walini,_ (Eastern), hollowing, concave site.

Schakaeckemick, given as the name of a parcel of land on the Delaware described as "lying in an elbow," seems to be an equivalent of _Schaghach,_ meaning "Straight." level, flat, and _-kamick,_ a limited field. The tract was given to one William Tietsort, a blacksmith, who had escaped from the massacre at Schenectady (Feb. 1689-90), and was induced by the gift to settle among the Minisinks to repair their fire-arms. He was the first European settler on the Delaware within the limits of the old county of Orange. He sold the land to one John Decker, and removed to Duchess County. No abstract of title from Decker has been made, and probably cannot be. Decker's name, however, appears in records as one of the first settlers, in company with William Cole and Solomon Davis, in what was long known as "The Lower Neighborhood"; in New Jersey annals, "Cole's Fort." The precise location is uncertain. In History of Orange Co. (Ed. 1881, p. 701), it is said: "It is believed that further investigation will show that Tietsort's land was the later Benj. van Vleet place, near Port Jervis." In Eager's "History of Orange County" (p. 396), Stephen St. John is given as the later owner of the original farm of John Decker. Decker's house was certainly in the "Lower Neighborhood." It was palisaded and called a fort.

Wihlahoosa, given, locally, as the name of a cavern in the rocks on the side of the mountain, about three miles from Port Jervis, on the east side of Neversink River, is probably from _Wihl_ (Zeisb.), "Head," and _-hōōs,_ "Pot or kettle." The reference may have been to its shape, or its position. In the vicinity of the cavern was an Indian burial ground covering six acres. Skeletons have been unearthed there and found invariably in a sitting posture. In one grave was found a sheet-iron tobacco-box containing a handkerchief covered with hieroglyphics probably reciting the owner's achievements. Tomahawks, arrow-heads and other implements have also been found in graves. The place was long known as "Penhausen's Land," from one of the grantors of the deed. The cavern may have had some connection with the burial ground.

Walpack, N. J., is probably a corruption of _Walpeék,_ from _Walak_ (_Woalac,_ Zeisb.), "A hollow or excavation," and _-peék,_ "Lake," or body of still water. The idea expressed is probably "Deep water." It was the name of a lake.

Mamakating, now so written and preserved in the name of a town in Sullivan County, is written on Sauthier's map _Mamecatink_ as the name of a settlement and _Mamacotton_ as the name of a stream. Other forms are _Mamacoting_ and _Mamacocking._ The stream bearing the name is now called Basha's Kill, the waters of which find their way to the Delaware, and Mamakating is assigned to a hollow. The settlement was primarily a trading post which gathered in the neighborhood of the Groot Yaugh Huys (Dutch, "Great Hunting House"), a large cabin constructed by the Indians for their accommodation when on hunting expeditions, [FN-1] and subsequently maintained by Europeans for the accommodation of hunters and travelers passing over what was known as the "Mamacottin path," a trunk line road connecting the Hudson and Delaware rivers, more modernly known as the "Old Mine Road," which was opened as a highway in 1756. The Hunting House is located on Sauthier's map immediately south of the Sandberg, in the town of Mamakating, and more recently, by local authority, at or near what is known as the "Manarse Smith Spring," otherwise as the "Great Yaugh Huys Fontaine," or Great Hunting House Spring. [FN-2] The meaning of the name is largely involved in the orthography of the suffix. If the word was _-oten_ it would refer to the trading post or town, as in "_Otenink,_ in the town" (Heckewelder), and, with the prefix _Mamak_ (_Mamach,_ German notation), root _Mach,_ "evil, bad, naughty" (_Mamak,_ iterative), would describe something that was very bad in the town; but, if the word was _-atin,_ "Hill or mountain," the name would refer to a place that was at or on a very bad hill. Presumably the hill was the objective feature, the settlement being at or near the Sandberg. There is nothing in the name meaning plain or valley, nor anything "wonderful" about it. Among other features on the ancient path was the wigwam of _Tautapau,_ "a medicine man," so entered in a patent to Jacob Rutzen in 1713. _Tautapau_ (Taupowaw, Powaw), "A priest or medicine man," literally, "A wise speaker."

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[FN-1] Indian Hunting-houses were met in all parts of the country. They were generally temporary huts, but in some cases became permanent. (See Cochecton.)

[FN-2] _Fontaine_ is French--"A spring of water issuing from the earth." The stream flowing from the spring is met in local history as Fantine Kill.

Kau-na-ong-ga, "Two wings," is said to have been the name of White Lake, Sullivan County, the form of the lake being that of a pair of wings expanded, according to the late Alfred B. Street, the poet-historian, who embalmed the lake in verse years before it became noted as a fashionable resort. (See Kong-hong-amok.)

"Where the twin branches of the Delaware Glide into one, and in their language call'd _Chihocken,_ or 'the meeting of the floods';" [FN-1]

The "Willemoc," [FN-2] and "The Falls of the Mongaup," are also among Street's poetical productions.

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[FN-1] "Formerly Shohakin or Chehocton." (French's Gaz.) In N. Y. Land Papers, Schohakana is the orthography. Street's translation is a poetical fancy. The name probably refers to a place at the mouth of the northwest or Mohawk Branch of the Delaware, and the northeast or Paghkataghan Branch, at Hancock, Del. Co.

[FN-2] _Willemoc_ probably stands for _Wilamauk,_ "Good fishing-place." There were two streams in the town, one known as the Beaver Kill and the other as the _Williwemack._ In Cal. N. Y. Land Papers, 699, occurs the entry: "The Beaver Kill or Whitenaughwemack." The date is 1785. The orthography bears evidence of many years' corruption. It may have been shortened to Willewemock and Willemoc, and stand for _Wilamochk,_ "Good, rich, beaver." It was, presumably, a superior resort for beavers.

Shawanoesberg was conferred on a hill in the present town of Mamakating, commemorative of a village of the Shawanoes who settled here in 1694 on invitation of the Minisinks. (Council Minutes, Sept. 14, 1692.) Their council-house is said to have been on the summit of the hill.

Basha's Land and Basha's Kill, familiar local terms in Sullivan County, are claimed to have been so called from a squaw-sachem known as Elizabeth who lived near Westbrookville. "Basha's Land" was one of the boundmarks of the Minisink Patent and Basha's Kill the northeast bound of the Maghaghkemik Patent. Derivation of the name from Elizabeth is not well-sustained. [FN-1] The original was probably an equivalent of _Bashaba,_ an Eastern-Algonquian term for "Sagamore of Sagamores," or ruling sachem or king of a nation. It is met of record Bashaba, Betsebe, Bessabe, Bashebe, etc. Hubbard wrote: "They called the chief rulers, who commanded the rest, Bashabeas. Bashaba is a title." "Chiefs bearing this title, and exercising the prerogatives of their rank, are frequently spoken of by the early voyagers." [FN-2] (Hist. Mag., Second Series, 3, 49.) The lands spoken of were the recognized territorial possession of the chief ruler of the nation or tribe. The "squaw-sachem" [FN-3] may have held the title by succession or as the wife of the Bashaba.

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[FN-1] Basha's Kill was applied to Mamcotten Kill north of the village of Wurtsboro, south of which it retained the name of Mamacotten, as written on Sauthier's map. Quinlan, in his "History of Sullivan County," wrote: "The head-waters of Mamakating River subsequently became known as Elizabeth's Kill, in compliment to Elizabeth Gonsaulus. We could imagine that she was the original Basha, Betje, or Betsey, who owned the land south of the Yaugh House Spring, and gave to the Mamakating stream its present name; but unfortunately she was not born soon enough. Twenty-five years before her family came to Mamakating, 'Basha's land' was mentioned in official documents." It appears in the Minisink Patent in 1704.

[FN-2] A. S. Gatschet, of the Bureau of Ethnology, wrote me: "The Bashas, Bashebas and Betsebas of old explorers of the coast of Maine, I explain by _pe'sks,_ 'one,' and _a'pi,_ 'man,' or person--'First man in the land.'"

[FN-3] _Squaw,_ "Woman," means, literally, "Female animal." _Saunk-squa_ stands for "Sochem's squaw." "The squa-sachem, for so they call the Sachem's wife." (Winslow.)

Mongaup, given as the name of a stream which constitutes in part the western boundary of Orange County, is entered on Sauthier's map, "Mangawping or Mangaup." Quinlan (Hist. Sullivan County) claimed for it also Mingapochka and Mingwing, indicating that the stream carried the names of two distinct places. _Mongaup_ is a compression of Dutch _Mondgauwpink,_ meaning, substantially, "At the mouth of a small, rapid river," for which a local writer has substituted "Dancing feather," which is not in the composition in any language. _Mingapochka_ (Alg.), appears to be from _Mih'n_ (_Mih'nall_ plural; Zeisb.), "Huckleberry," and _-pohoka,_ "Cleft, clove or valley"--literally, "Huckleberry Valley." Street, writing half a century ago, described the northern approach of the stream as a valley wreathed (poetically) in whortle berries--

"In large tempting clusters of light misty blue."