New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

Mohawk

Henry Hudson & The Founding of Albany

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Map of New Netherland and New England, with north to the rightIn 1565, the Spanish settled 600 soldiers and civilians at St. Augustine, Florida. In 1607, the English established their first settlement in North America at Jamestown, Virginia, but after a series of floods, Jamestown was abandoned in 1699. Today Jamestown is a national park and archaeological site.

In 1602, the States General of The Netherlands granted a charter to a powerful group of Dutch merchants creating the Dutch East India Company and giving them the exclusive right to develop and conduct trade with the markets in the Far East which included the Spice Islands and China. Soon, these merchants began bringing exotic silk, clothing, ceramics, teas and spices back to the Netherlands. In their travels, the Dutch ship captains discovered the continent of Australia and named it “New Holland.” [Read more…] about Henry Hudson & The Founding of Albany

Update On Grasse River Superfund Site Restoration

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freshwater mussels courtesy DECThe Alcoa Massena-West Plant is an aluminum production plant on the north shore of the lower Grasse River. In the 1950s, Alcoa began using and discharging polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) into the Grasse River, contaminating water and sediment. [Read more…] about Update On Grasse River Superfund Site Restoration

Kayaderosseras Patent Settlement: A Short History

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Kayaderosseras Patenty Survey Map – Don CarpenterThis year marks the 250th anniversary of the final settlement of a dispute between land owners and the Iroquois Confederacy over the rights to one of the largest land grants in colonial New York, the Kayaderosseras

Patent. Important in it own right, this dispute and its eventual resolution sheds light on the politics of land acquisitions from Native Americans in the colonial period. [Read more…] about Kayaderosseras Patent Settlement: A Short History

Lecture on the Mohawk Schoharie Indians March 7th

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De Wilden Hoek The second installment of the Old Stone Fort Museum’s winter lecture series will be held on Tuesday, March 7 at 7 pm in the museum’s Badgley Annex.

Local historian Jeff O’Connor will present “The Schoharie Indians – Who Were They and Why Were They Here?” His program will explore the appearance of Mohawk people in the Schoharie Valley before the arrival of the Palatines. [Read more…] about Lecture on the Mohawk Schoharie Indians March 7th

1950s: Mohawk, Kanatsiohareke History

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Mohawk_FilmPosterA film called “Mohawk” premiered in Amsterdam in 1956 and used some footage from the 1939 movie “Drums Along the Mohawk.” The 1956 movie was distributed by 20th Century Fox.

The movie tells the story of an artist assigned to the Mohawk Valley to paint frontier scenes. The artist is involved romantically with three women. There is a vengeful settler in the film trying to start a war with local Indian people. The film was directed by Kurt Neumann and starred Scott Brady and Rita Gam. [Read more…] about 1950s: Mohawk, Kanatsiohareke History

A Journey into Mohawk and Oneida Country, 1634-1635

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Journey into Mohawk and oneida CountryIn 1634, the Dutch West India Company was anxious to know why the fur trade from New Netherland had been declining, so the company sent three employees far into Iroquois country to investigate.

Harmen Meyndertsz van den Bogaert led the expedition from Fort Orange (present-day Albany). His journal includes the earliest known description of the interior of what is today New York State and its seventeenth-century native inhabitants and it is now issued in a revised edition as A Journey into Mohawk and Oneida Country, 1634-1635: The Journal of Harmen Meyndertsz van den Bogaert (Syracuse Univ. Press, 2013; Translated and Edited by Charles T. Gehring and William A. Starna). [Read more…] about A Journey into Mohawk and Oneida Country, 1634-1635

Colonial New York Scholar to Address NYSHA Meeting

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nysha_logo_press-release3Dr. Timothy Shannon, Professor of History at Gettysburg College, will address members of the New York State Historical Association (NYSHA) at its 110th Annual Meeting. The meeting, held Thursday, July 18, at 4:00 pm at the Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown, New York, is open to members of the association.

According to the Fenimore Art Museum’s webpage, NYSHA is “a private, non-governmental educational organization. It is closely affiliated with its sister organization, The Farmers’ Museum.” The website also publishes what it calls NYSHA’s “strategic plan”, as follows: [Read more…] about Colonial New York Scholar to Address NYSHA Meeting

Fort Hunter: ‘Who Owned The Fort?’ Talk Tuesday

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Tricia Shaw, the education coordinator at Schoharie Crossing, will share her latest research in a lecture entitled “Who Owned the Fort?” sponsored by the Friends of Schoharie Crossing on Tuesday.  The presentation will explain the Fort Hunter’s history and trace the families who lived at the confluence of the Mohawk River and Schoharie Creek including the Mabee, the Enders, the Putman, the Wemple and the Voorhees families. [Read more…] about Fort Hunter: ‘Who Owned The Fort?’ Talk Tuesday

The Interpreter: A Story of Two Worlds

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When it was first published The Interpreter: A Story of Two Worlds (SUNY Press, 1997) was called, “a vibrant tale of courage and adventure” by Booklist and, “rich in historical detail and meticulously researched” by Publishers Weekly. Written by Robert Moss, the book is the third in the Cycle of the Iroquois trilogy and will become the final book to be available in paperback from SUNY Press.

The book is a journey into the crucible in which America was born and a tale of love and war that shares the story of a master shaman and his twin apprentices — the Mohawk dreamer called Island Woman and the young immigrant Conrad Weise – who become critical players in their peoples’ struggle for survival.

Moss, a novelist, journalist, historian, and lifelong dream explorer, describes in his new preface how his Cycle of the Iroquois — Fire Along the Sky, The Firekeeper, and The Interpreter — began with dreams and visions in which an ancient Iroquois arendiwanen (woman of power) insisted on teaching him in her own language, until he was obliged to learn it.

The Interpreter is available from SUNY Press. You can order all three books in the trilogy by visiting www.sunypress.edu.

Moss will be speaking and signing copies of the work at Mabee Farm Historic Site (http://www.schist.org/mabee.htm) on March 31, 2012 at 2:00 pm. Admission is $5 or free for members of the Schenectady County Historical Society.

Note: Books noticed on this site have been provided by the publishers.

Schoharie Crossing to Host Mohawk Archaeology Talk

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Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site will host a lecture entitled “The Proof is in the Ground: Previous Archaeological Excavations at Schoharie Crossing” sponsored by the Friends of Schoharie Crossing and presented by Michael Roets, the Bureau of Historic Sites Archaeologist, responsible for ensuring the preservation of Archaeological resources at the 41 Historic Site and Historic Parks managed by the New York State Office of Parks and Historic Preservation. [Read more…] about Schoharie Crossing to Host Mohawk Archaeology Talk