Part 40

Van Curler's description of the castle has been quoted. He did not say that it was palisaded, but he did call it a "fort," which means the same thing. Rev. Megapolensis wrote, in 1644: "These [the Tortoise tribe] have built a fort of palisades and call their castle _Assarue._" It was not an old castle when Van Curler visited it in 1635, or when Father Jogues was a prisoner in it in 1642, but in its then short existence it had had an incident in the wars between the Mohawks and the Mahicans of which there is no mention in our written histories. On his return trip Van Curler wrote that after leaving _Onekagoncka_ and walking about "two miles," or about six English miles, his guide pointed to a high hill on which the immediately preceding castle of the tribe had stood and from which it had been driven by the Mahicans "nine years" previously, _i. e._ in 1627, when the war was raging between the Mohawks and the Mahicans of which Wassenaer wrote. It was obviously about that time that the tribe, retreating from its enemies, rallied west of Schohare Creek and founded the castle of which we are speaking, and there it remained until it was driven out by the French under De Tracey in 1666, when its occupants gathered together at Caughnawaga on the north side of the Mohawk, where they remained until 1693 when their castle was again destroyed by the French, and the tribe found a resting place on the west side of the mouth of Schohare Creek. The remarkable episode in the early history of the castle, the torture and murder of Father Jogues in 1646, is available in many publications. The location in Brodhead's and other histories of the castle in which he suffered as at Caughnawaga, is now known to be erroneous. Caughnawaga was not occupied by the tribal castle until over twenty years later.

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[FN] The site of the Shrine was approved by the Society of Jesus mainly on examinations and measurements made by General John S. Clark, the locally eminent antiquarian of Auburn, N. Y., who gave the most conscientious attention to the work of investigation. The data supplied by Van Curler's Journal, which he did not have before him, may suggest corrections in some of his locations.

Senatsycrossy, written by Van Curler, in 1635, as the name of a Mohawk Village west of _Canowarode,_ seems to have been in the vicinity of Fultonville, where tradition has always located one, but where General John S. Clark asserts that there never was one. It may not have remained at the place named for a number of years. Villages that were not palisaded were sometimes removed in a single night. Van Curler described it as a village of twelve houses. It was, presumably, the seat of a sub-tribe or gens of the Tortoise tribe. Its precise location is not important. A gens or sub-tribe was a family of the original stock more or less numerous from natural increase and intermarriages, and always springing from a single pair--the old, old story of Adam and Eve, the founders of the Hebrews. The sachem or first man of these gens was never a ruler of the tribe proper. They did sign deeds for possessions which were admitted to be their own, but never a treaty on the part of the nation.

Caughnawaga, probably the best known of the Mohawk castles of what may be called the middle era (1667-93), and the immediate successor of _Onekagoncka_ of 1635, was located on the north side of the Mohawk, on the edge of a hill, near the river, half a mile west of the mouth of Cayuadutta Creek, in the present village of Fonda. The hill on which it was built is now known as Kaneagah, writes Mr. W. Max Read of Amsterdam. Its name appears first in French notation, in Jesuit Relations (1667), _Gandaouagué._ [FN] Contemporaneous Dutch scribes wrote it _Kaghnawaga_ and _Caughnawaga,_ and Greenhalgh, an English trader, who visited the castle in 1677, wrote it _Cahaniaga,_ and described it as "about a bowshot from the river, doubly stockaded around, with four ports, and twenty-four houses." The most salient points in its history are in connection with its wars with the French and with the labors of the Jesuit missionaries, who, after the murder of Father Jogues and the destruction of the castle in which he suffered and the peace of 1667, were very successful, so much so that in 1671 the occupants of the castle erected in its public square a Cross, and a year later a very large number of the tribe under the lead of the famous warrior Krin, removed to Canada and became allies of the French. The members of the tribe who remained occupied the castle until the winter of 1693, when it was captured and burned by the French, and the tribe returned to the south side of the river and located on the flats on the west side of Schohare Creek, where they were especially known as "The Praying Maquaas," and where they remained until 1779, when they were dispersed by the Revolutionary forces under General Clinton. _Caughnawaga_ is accepted as meaning "At the rapids," more correctly "At the rapid current." It is from the Huron radical _Gannawa_ (Bruyas), for which M. Cuoq wrote in his Lexicon _Ohnawagh,_ "Swift current," or very nearly the Dutch _Kaghnawa_; with locative particle _-ge_ or _-ga,_ "At the rapids." It is a generic term and is met of record in several places. As has been noted elsewhere, the rapids of the Mohawk extend at intervals fifteen in number from Schenectady to Little Falls, the longest being east of the mouth of Schohare Creek. The rapid or rift at Caughnawaga extends about half a mile.

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[FN] The letters _ou,_ in _Gandaouaga_ and in other names, represents a sound produced by the Mohawks in the throat without motion of the lips. Bruyas wrote it 8. {_sic_ ȣ?} It is now generally written _w--Gandawaga._

Cayudutta, modern orthography; _Caniadutta_ and _Caniahdutta,_ 1752. "Beginning at a great rock, lying on the west side of a creek, called by the Indians Caniadutta." (Cal. Land Papers, 270.) The name was that of the rock, from which it was extended to the stream. It was probably a rock of the calciferous sandstone type containing garnets, quartz and flint, which are met in the vicinity. "The name is from _Onenhia,_ or _Onenya,_ 'stone,' and _Kaniote,_ 'to be elevated,' or standing" (Hale). [FN] Dr. Beauchamp translated the name, "Stone standing out of the water." The meaning, however, seems to be simply, "Standing stone," or an elevated rock. Its location is stated in the patent description as "lying on the west side of the creek." The place is claimed for Fulton County. (See Caughnawaga.)

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[FN] The same word is now written as the name of the Oneida nation. Van Curler's trip, in 1635, extended to the castle of the Oneidas, which he called' _Enneyuttehage,_ "The standing-stone town." (Hale.)

Canagere, written by Van Curler, in 1635, as the name of the "Second Castle" or tribal town, was written _Gandagiro_ by Father Jogues, in 1643; _Banigiro_ by Rev. Megapolensis; _Gandagora_ in Jesuit Relations in 1669, and _Canagora_ by Greenhalgh in 1677. The several orthographies are claimed to stand for _Canajohare,_ from the fact that the castle was "built on a high hill" east of Canajohare Creek. It was, however, the castle of the Bear tribe, the _Ganniagwari,_ or Grand Bear of the nation, and carried its name with it to the north side of the Mohawk in 1667. _Ganniagwari_ and _Canajohare_ are easily confused. The creek called _Canajohare_ gave a general locative name to a considerable district of country around it. It took the name from a pot-hole in a mass of limestone in its bed at the falls on the stream about one mile from its mouth. Bruyas wrote "_Ganna-tsi-ohare,_ laver de chaudiere" (to wash the cauldron or large kettle). Rev. Samuel Kirkland, the noted missionary to the Oneidas, wrote the same word "_Kanaohare_, or Great Boiling Pot, as it is called by the Six Nations." (Dr. Dwight.) The letter _j_ stands for _tsi,_ augmentative, and the radical _ohare_ means "To wash." (Bruyas.) The hole was obviously worn by a round stone or by pebbles, which, moved by the action of the current, literally washed the kettle. Van Curler described the castle as containing "sixteen houses, fifty, sixty, seventy, or eighty paces long, and one of five paces containing a bear," which he presumed was "to be fattened." No matter what may be said in regard to precise location, this castle was _east_ of Canajohare Creek.

Sohanidisse, a castle so called by Van Curler, and denominated by him as the "Third Castle," is marked on Van der Donck's map _Schanatisse._ It is described by Van Curler as "on a very high hill," _west_ of Canajohare Creek, was composed of thirty-two long houses, and was not enclosed by palisades. "Near this castle was plenty of flat land and the woods were full of oak trees." The "very high hill" west of Canajohare Creek and the flat lands remain to verify its position. It is supposed to have been the castle of the Beaver tribe--a sub-gens.

Osquage, Ohquage, Otsquage, etc., was written by Van Curler as the name of a village of nine houses situated east of what has been known since 1635 as Osquage or Otsquage Creek. The chief of the village was called "_Oguoho,_ that is Wolf." Megapolensis wrote the same term _Okwaho_; Van Curler later wrote it _Ohquage,_ and in vocabulary "_Okwahohage,_ wolves," accessorily, "Place of wolves." From the form _Osquage_ we no doubt have _Otsquage_ or _Okquage._

Cawaoge, a village so called by Van Curler, was described by him as on a "very high hill" west of _Osquage._ On his return trip he wrote the name _Nawoga;_ on old maps it is _Canawadoga,_ of which _Cawaoge_ is a compression, apparently from _Gannawake._ For centuries the name has been preserved in _Nowadaga_ as that of Fort Plain Creek.

Tenotoge and Tenotehage, Van Curler; _t' Jonoutego,_ Van der Donck; _Te-onont-ogeu,_ Jogues; _Thenondigo,_ Megapolensis--called by Van Curler the "Fourth Castle" and known later as the castle of the Wolf tribe, and as the "Upper Mohawk Castle," was described by Van Curler as composed of fifty-five houses "surrounded by three rows of palisades." It stood in a valley evidently, as Van Curler wrote that the stream called the Osquaga "ran past this castle." On the opposite (east) side of the stream he saw "a good many houses filled with corn and beans," and extensive flat lands. It was undoubtedly strongly palisaded to defend the western door of the nation as was Onekagoncka on the east. _Te-onont-ogen,_ which is probably the most correct form of the name, means "Between two mountains," an intervale or space between, from _Te,_ "two"; _-ononte,_ "mountain," and _-ogen,_ "between." The same name is met later at the mouth of Schohare Creek. General John S. Clark located this castle at Spraker's Basin, thirteen miles (railroad) _west_ of Auriesville and three miles _east_ of Nowedaga Creek. The correctness of this location must be determined by the topographical features stated by Van Curler and not otherwise. General Clark did an excellent work in searching for the sites of ancient castles from remaining evidences of Indian occupation, but the remaining evidence of names and topographical features where they are met of record must govern. In this case the creek that "ran past the door of this castle," is an indisputable mark. The French destroyed the castle in October, 1666. In the account of the occurrence (Doc. Hist. N. Y., ii, 70) it is described as being surrounded by "A triple palisade, twenty feet in height and flanked by four bastions." The tribe did not defend their possession, only a few old persons remaining who were too feeble to follow the retreat of the warriors and kindred. The tribe rebuilt the castle on the north side of the Mohawk under the name of _Onondagowa,_ "A Great Hill." The French destroyed it again in 1693, and the tribe returned to the south side of the river and located on the flat at the mouth of the Nowadaga or Fort Plain Creek, where the government built, in 1710, Fort Hendrick for its protection, and where it became known as the Upper or Canajohare Castle.

Aschalege, Oschalage, Otsgarege, etc., are record forms of the name given as that of the stream now known as Cobel's Kill, a branch of Schohare Creek in Schohare County. Morgan translated it from _Askwa_ or _Oskwa,_ a scaffolding or platform of any kind, and _ge,_ locative, the combination yielding "At or on a bridge." Bruyas wrote _Otserage,_ "A causeway," a way or road raised above the natural level of the ground, serving as a passage over wet or marshy grounds. Otsgarage is now applied to a noted cavern near the stream in the town of Cobel's Kill.

Oneyagine, "called by the Indians _Oneyagine,_ and by the Christians Stone Kill," is the record name of a creek in Schohare County. J. B. N. Hewitt read it from _Onehya_ (_Onne'ja,_ Bruyas), "stone"; _Oneyagine,_ "At the broken stone," from which transferred to the stream.

Kanendenra, "a hill called by the Indians Kanendenra, otherwise by the Christians Anthony's Nose"--"to a point on Mohawk River near a hill called by the Indians Kanandenra, and by the Christians Anthony's Nose"--"to a certain hill called Anthony's Nose, whose point comes into the said river"--"Kanendahhere, a hill on the south side of the Mohawk, by the Christians lately called Anthony's Nose"--now known as "The Noses" and applied to a range of hills that rises abruptly from the banks of the Mohawk just below Spraker's. The name is an abstract noun, possessing a specialized sense. The nose is the terminal peak of the Au Sable range. The rock formation is gneiss, covered by heavy masses of calciferous limestone containing garnets. "Anthony's Nose," probably so called from resemblance to Anthony's Nose on the Hudson.

Etagragon, now so written, the name of a boundmark on the Mohawk, is of record "_Estaragoha,_ a certain rock." The locative is on the south side of the river about twenty-four miles above Schenectady. (Cal. N. Y. Land Papers, 121.) The name is an equivalent of _Astenra-kowa,_ "A large rock." Modern _Otsteara-kowa,_ Elliot.

Astenrogen, of record as the name of "the first carrying place," now Little Falls, is from _Ostenra,_ "rock," and _ogen,_ "divisionem" (Bruyas), literally, "Divided or separated rock." The east end of the gorge was the eastern boundmark of what is known as the "German Flats," which was purchased and settled by a part of the Palatine immigrants who had been located on the Livingston Patent in 1710. The patent to the Germans here was granted in 1723. The description in it reads: "Beginning at the first carrying place, being the easternmost bounds, called by the natives _Astenrogen,_ running along on both sides of said river westerly unto _Ganendagaren,_ or the upper end [_i. e._ of the flats, a fine alluvial plain on both sides of the river], [FN] being about twenty-four miles." (Cal. N. Y. Land Papers, 182.) The passage between the rocks, now Little Falls, covered a distance of "about three-quarters of a mile" and the rapids "the height of thirty-nine feet," according to the survey of 1792. The Mohawk here breaks through the Allegheny ridge which primarily divided the waters of the Ontario Basin from the Hudson. The overflow from the basin here formed a waterfall that probably rivaled Niagara and gradually wore away the rock. The channel of the stream was very deep and on the subsidence of the ice sheet, which spread over the northern part of the continent, became filled with drift. The opening in the ridge and the formation of the valley of the Mohawk as now known are studies in the work of creation. The settlements known as the German Flats were on both sides of the river. The one that was on the north side was burned by the French in the war of 1756-7. It was then composed of sixty houses. The one on the south side was known as Fort Kouari and later as Fort Herkimer. The district shared largely in the historic events in the Mohawk Valley during the Revolution. There are very few districts of country in the nation in which so many subjects for consideration are centered.

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[FN] _Ganendagraen_ is probably from _Gahenta_ (Gahenda), "Prairie."

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On the Delaware.

Keht-hanne, Heckewelder--_Kittan,_ Zeisberger--"The principal or greatest stream," _i. e._ of the country through which it passes, was the generic name of the Delaware River, and _Lenapewihittuck,_ "The river or stream of the Lenape," its specific name, more especially referring to the stream where its waters are affected by tidal currents. In the Minisink country it was known as _Minisinks River,_ or "River of the Minisinks." At the Lehigh junction the main stream was called the East Branch and the Lehigh the West Branch (Sauthier's map), but above that point the main stream was known as the West Branch to its head in Utsyantha [FN-1] Lake, on the north-east line of Delaware County, N. Y., where it was known as the Mohawk's Branch. It forms the southwestern boundary of the State from nearly its head to Port Jervis, Orange County, Where it enters or becomes the western boundary of New Jersey. At Hancock, Delaware County, it receives the waters of what was called by the Indians the _Paghkataghan,_ and by the English the East Branch. The West Branch was here known to the Indians as the _Namaes-sipu_ and its equivalent _Lamas-sépos,_ or "Fish River," by Europeans, Fish-Kill, "Because," says an affidavit of 1785, "There was great numbers of _Maskunamack_ (that is Bass) and _Guwam_ (that is Shad) [FN-2] went up that branch at Shokan, and but few or none went up the East [Paghkataghan] Branch." [FN-3] In the course of time the East or Paghkataghan [FN-4] Branch became known as the Papagonck from a place so called. The lower part of the stream was called by the Dutch the "Zuiden River," or South River. In early days the main or West Branch was navigable by flat-boats from Cochecton Falls to Philadelphia and Wilmington. Smith, in his "History of New Jersey," wrote: "From Cochecton to Trenton are fourteen considerable rifts, yet all passable in the long flat boats used in the navigation of these parts, some carrying 500 or 600 bushels of wheat." _Meggeckesson_ (Col. Hist. N. Y., xii, 225) was the name of what are now known as Trenton Falls, or rapids. It means, briefly, "Strong water." Heckewelder's _Maskek-it-ong_ and his interpretation of it, "Strong falls at," are wrong, the name which he quoted being that of a swamp in the vicinity of the falls, as noted in Col. Hist. N. Y., and as shown by the name itself.

The Delaware was the seat of the _Lenni-Lenapé_ (_a_ as _a_ in father, _é_ as _a_ in mate--_Lenahpa_), or "Original people," or people born of the earth on which they lived, who were recognized, at the time of the discovery, as the head or "Grandfather" of the Algonquian nations. From their principal seat on the tide-waters of the Delaware, and their jurisdiction on that stream, they became known and are generally met in history as the Delawares. In tribal and sub-tribal organizations they extended over Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, and New York as far north as the Katskills, speaking dialects radically the same as that of the parent stock. [FN-5] They were composed of three primary totemic tribes, the _Minsi_ or Wolf, the _Unulachtigo_ or Turkey, and the _Unami_ or Turtle, of whom the Turtle held the primacy. They were a milder and less barbaric people than the Iroquoian tribes, with whom they had little affinity and with whom they were almost constantly in conflict until they were broken up by the incoming tide of Europeans, the earliest and the succeeding waves of which fell upon their shores, and the later alliance of the English with their ancient enemies, the confederated Six Nations of New York, who, from their geographical position and greater strength from their remoteness from the demoralization of early European contact, offered the most substantial advantages for repelling the advances of the French in Canada. Ultimately conquered by the Six Nations, and made "Women," in their figurative language, _i. e._ a people without power to make war or enter into treaties except with the consent of their rulers, they nevertheless maintained their integrity and won the title of "Men" as the outcome of the war of 1754-6. Their history has been fully--perhaps too favorably--written by Heckewelder and others. The geographical names which they gave to the hills and streams of their native land are their most remindful memorial. While western New York was Iroquoian, southern New York was Lenni-Lenape or Algonquian.

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[FN-1] Also written _Oteseontio_ and claimed as the name of a spring. The lake is a small body of water lying 1,800 feet above tide level, in the town of Jefferson, Schohare County. It is usually quoted as the head of the West Branch of Delaware River.

[FN-2] "_Guwam;_ modifications, _Choam, Schawan._ The stem appears to be _Shawano,_ 'South,' 'Coming from the south,' or from salt water." (Brinton.)

[FN-3] Affidavit of Johannes Decker, Hist. Or. Co. (quarto) p. 699: "Called by the Indians Lamas-Sepos, or Fish Kill, because they caught the shad there." (Cal. N. Y. Land Papers, 698, _et. seq._)

[FN-4] _Paghkataghan_ means "The division or branch of a stream"--"Where the stream divides or separates." The Moravian missionaries wrote the name _Pachgahgoch,_ from which, by corruption, _Papagonck._ The Papagoncks seem to have been, primarily, Esopus Indians, and to have retreated to that point after yielding up their Esopus lands. (See Schaghticoke.)

[FN-5] Two slightly different dialects prevailed among the Delawares, the one spoken by the Unami and the Unulachtigo, the other the Minsi. The dialect which the missionaries Learned, and in which they composed their works, was that of the Lehigh Valley. We may fairly consider it to have been the upper or inland Unami. It stood between the Unulachto and Southern Unami and the true Minsi. (Dr. Brinton.) The dialects spoken in the valley of Hudson's River have been referred to in another connection.