From the 12th to the 22nd of Sept. Hudson was engaged in ascending the river, and as he proceeded the land grew higher till it became mountainous on both sides, and the “channel narrow with many eddy winds.”  The natives were friendly and continued to come on board.  The further he went up the more friendly the natives were.  After they passed the Highlands his journal says, “they found a very loving people and very old men, and were well used."   He proceeded north to about where the city of Hudson now stands.  Hudson and his ship went no further, yet his boat explored it several leagues higher up, and from the description of the river probably as high as Albany.  The mate went ashore about twenty-five miles south of Albany with an old Indian, a governor of the country, who took him to his home and made him good cheer.  Here they came on board the ship, bringing corn, tobacco, pumpkins, grapes, beaver and other skins, and exchanged them for hatchets, knives, beads and other trifles.  Hudson made some of them drink to see how they would act.  Though many got merry yet only one got intoxicated.  This created suspicion and alarm among the rest, who did not know what to make of it, and were not composed till next day, when he became sober.— This is the first instance of intoxication among the Indians in this part of the continent.  This event is still preserved in the traditions of the Six Nations.  After the Indian got sober many came on board—one made a speech, and showed them the country all about, made the captain reverence and departed.  On the 22nd Sept. Hudson began to descend the river.  When the ship came below the Highlands the natives appeared of a different character, extremely troublesome—attempted to rob, and frequently shot at the crew with bows and arrows from points of the land.  Hudson’s men shot at them and killed ten of twelve men.  This was on the west side of the river.  The land on die east side near the month was called by the natives Mannahatta.  On the 4th of Oct. Hudson came out of the river which bears his name, and without anchoring in the bay stood out to the open ocean.      We pass over the early settlement of the colony, and remark, that in 1687 the French aimed a blow at the interests of EngIand in North America.  Denonville, with 1500 French and 600 Indians, took the field against the Seneca Indians, one of the five confederated nations who were the friends of the English.  An action took place near the principal Seneca village, in which 100 Frenchmen and so Senecas were killed.  The Senecas burnt their village, the French burnt others, and many things besides, and returned to Canada.  For these injuries the Senecas thirsted for revenge.  On the 26th July, 1688, 1200 of their number lamied at Montreal, while the French were in security, burnt their houses, sacked their plantations, and put all the men, women and children outside of the town to the sword.  The French loot 1000 men in this incursion, and 26 carried into captivity and burnt alive.  In October they made another descent and destroyed the lower part of the island.  The Senecas only lost three men in these bloody scenes.      In 1693, Count Fontenac, with a force of 600 or 700 French and Indians, made a descent on the Mohawk country, surprised an Indian village on the river, killed many of the inhabitants, and took 300 prisoners.  The five nations were friendly to the English, and Col. Schuyler hurried to assist his allies in their distress, and with about 300 Indians, principally young men, followed the track of the retreating foe and had several severe skirmishes with him.  When the French came to the north branch of the Hudson they crossed it on a cake of ice fortunately there, and Schuyler gave up the pursuit, having retaken some 50 of the Indians.  The French lost 80 men and such was the severity of their sufferings, they were forced to eat their shoes; the Iroquois, while following in pursuit, subsisted on the dead bodies of the enemy.

Page 12 Table of Contents Orange County AHGP/ALHN New York AHGP/ALHN AHGP ALHN