The Indians, themselves loaded with the unpronounceable name of Meckquaskich, called a river between hills, that ran near AHpconc (shady place), now Tarry town, Pocantico or Pockhantes. Besightsick was Sunnyside brook, Ossin-ing -- "stone upon stone," appropriate prophecy of present State buildings -- was Sing Sing at a later day, though very recently the inhabitants have again restored the Indian name. Sackhoes was the site of Peekskill and Senasqua of Croton Point meadow. Kitchawan signified a swift

Introductory 11

and strong current and was the niime by which the Croton River was known to the red men who hunted game on its banks or drew the fish from its waters. It is to the credit of the Dutch settlers that they obtained their lands from the Indians by purchase. It is a threadbare stor}' that Peter Minuit bought the island of Manhattan for a sum al)out equivalent to twenty-four dollars; taking into account the relative values of land and money at that time and place, the |)urchase may be regarded as equitable. The oldest Indian deed to Westchester property that is now^ preserved is that covering a tract included in the town of Kingsbridge. All of the great manors and patroonships along the river were acquired by purchase and afterwards confirmed by grants. The earliest settlements on the Hudson River were, naturally, those surrotmding the several forts that afforded protection from the neighbouring savages. Albany claims the first of these, a palisaded enclosure antedating even that upon Manhattan Island. At the extreme ends of the navigable river, nearly a fortnight apart in ordinary weather and absolutely shut off from communication after the winter ice and snow appeared, they became each the centre of dependent communities. The settlements from New Amsterdam, or Manhattan, extended northward to Kitchawan, and those of Rensselaerwyk (or Albany) included th(^ more southerly posts of Kingston, Esopus, and Rondout.