Her affianced conceived abold design for her rescue, and proceeded immediately to execute it. In the character of a wizard he entered the Huron camp. The maiden was sick, and her captor employed the wizard to prolong her life until he should satisfy his revenge upon Uncas, her uncle, the great chief of the Mohegans. They eluded the vigilance of the Hurons, fled at night, with swift feet, towards the Hudson, and in the darkness shot out upon its bosom, in a light canoe, followed by bloodthirsty pursuers. The strong arm of the young Pequod paddled his beloved one safely to a deep, rocky nook near the mouth of the Winnakee,

426 The Hudson River

concealed her there, and with a few friendly Delawares, whom he had secured by a shout, he fought, conquered, and drove off the Huron warriors. The sheltered nook where the maiden lay was a safe harbour for her and the brave Pequod, and his friends joyfully confirmed its title of Apo-kcep-Siiick.

Should there be any so skejjtical as to question this ingenious tale, he must l:)e allowed to cherish his douljt unchallenged, for, unfortunately, there are no documents by which it may be verified. It was a long time afterwards, quite near the close of the seventeenth century, that the Dutch settled Poughkeepsie. They not only discovered the little safe harbour, but contrived more than twenty ways to spell it, ultimately choosing the most difficult. Near the spot where the Indians were supposed to have landed, Baltus Van Kleeck built a stone house in the year 1705. This house stood till after the Revolution, and was used by the Legislature of New York after the burning of Kingston. About 1835 it was torn down. Poughkeepsie was incorporated as a city in 1854. It early became the centre for the trade of Dutchess County, which, it must be confessed, was at first but meagre; but it was also connected by the Dutchess turninke with Sharon, Conn., and thence with Litchfield, and over this line the stages and market waggons travelled with profitable frequency.