The Dutchmen treated the Indians kindly and early made a great treaty with the Iroquois, or Five Nations. The chiefs of many tribes came to Fort Orange dressed for the event. Their bows and arrows and tomahawks were decorated, their garments tasseled and fringed, and on their heads they wore nodding plumes of many sorts, while their faces were hideous with paint. A peace belt of deer skin covered with beads was held at one end by the chiefs and at the other by the Dutch traders. They "smoked the pipe of peace, buried the tomahawk," and made vows of everlasting friendship. [Sidenote: =The Indians liked the Dutch=] [Sidenote: =The fur trade=] The Indians liked the Dutch, who often visited them in their wigwams and sat around their camp fires. The fur trade grew rapidly. The Indians hunted and trapped as never before. They paddled up the Hudson, and crossed over to lakes George and Champlain. They went up the Mohawk far beyond where Schenectady now is, plunged deeper into the unbroken forests, and even climbed the mountains in search of fur-coated animals. The favorite fur-bearing animal was the beaver. Besides, the otter, mink, and weasel were hunted. [Illustration: THE TREATY BETWEEN THE DUTCH AND THE INDIANS AT FORT ORANGE] When the fur pack was made up the dusky hunters from every direction made their way to the nearest trading post. There they traded their furs for guns, powder, and ball, and for whatever else the white trader had that pleased Indian fancy. Great Dutch ships came every year to carry to Amsterdam and other Dutch cities rich cargoes of furs. [Sidenote: =Peter Minuit bought Manhattan Island for twenty-four dollars=] =36. The Settlement of New Netherland.= Already a great company of Amsterdam merchants were sending settlers, as well as fur traders, to the new colony, which now was called New Netherland. Peter Minuit, the first governor, bought the island of Manhattan from the Indians for twenty-four dollars' worth of glass beads and other trinkets, built a town of log cabins on the end of the island, and named it New Amsterdam. [Illustration: THE HOME OF A PATROON _The old Van Rensselaer House at Greenbush, New York_] But settlers did not come rapidly enough, so the company offered its members large tracts of land and the title of "patroon" or "patron," on the condition that they plant colonies at their own expense. Each patroon was to govern the people on his own land. [Illustration: THE SALE OF MANHATTAN TO THE DUTCH _Peter Minuit, who made the trade with the Indians, is known as the founder of New York City_] [Sidenote: =The patroons and their way of living=] The greatest of the patroons was Van Rensselaer, whose plantation in the region of Fort Orange included one thousand square miles. The farmers and servants on these plantations looked upon the patroon as being much above them in authority and social position. [Illustration: CHILD'S CHAIR AND CRADLE _Furniture used by the patroons_]