Opening the text

Footprints of the Red Men: Indian geographical names in the valley of Hudson's river, the valley of the Mohawk, and on the Delaware: their location and the probable meaning of some of them.Ruttenber, Edward Manning

History

Footprints of the Red Men: Indian geographical names in the valley of Hudson's river, the valley of the Mohawk, and on the Delaware: their location and the probable meaning of some of them.

Name: Footprints of the Red Men: Indian geographical names in the valley of Hudson's river, the valley of the Mohawk, and on the Delaware: their location and the probable meaning of some of them.
Author: Ruttenber, Edward Manning

Ruttenber, Edward Manning

Indians of North America -- New York (State); Names, Geographical -- New York (State); Names, Indian -- North America

Astenrogen, of record as the name of "the first carrying place," now
Little Falls, is from _Ostenra,_ "rock," and _ogen,_ "divisionem"
(Bruyas), literally, "Divided or separated rock." The east end of the
gorge was the eastern boundmark of what is known as the "German Flats,"
which was purchased and settled by a part of the Palatine immigrants who
had been located on the Livingston Patent in 1710. The patent to the
Germans here was granted in 1723. The description in it reads: "Beginning
at the first carrying place, being the easternmost bounds, called by the
natives _Astenrogen,_ running along on both sides of said river westerly
unto _Ganendagaren,_ or the upper end [_i. e._ of the flats, a fine
alluvial plain on both sides of the river], [FN] being about twenty-four
miles." (Cal. N. Y. Land Papers, 182.) The passage between the rocks, now
Little Falls, covered a distance of "about three-quarters of a mile" and
the rapids "the height of thirty-nine feet," according to the survey of
1792. The Mohawk here breaks through the Allegheny ridge which primarily
divided the waters of the Ontario Basin from the Hudson. The overflow
from the basin here formed a waterfall that probably rivaled Niagara and
gradually wore away the rock. The channel of the stream was very deep and
on the subsidence of the ice sheet, which spread over the northern part
of the continent, became filled with drift. The opening in the ridge and
the formation of the valley of the Mohawk as now known are studies in the
work of creation. The settlements known as the German Flats were on both
sides of the river. The one that was on the north side was burned by the
French in the war of 1756-7. It was then composed of sixty houses. The
one on the south side was known as Fort Kouari and later as Fort
Herkimer. The district shared largely in the historic events in the
Mohawk Valley during the Revolution. There are very few districts of
country in the nation in which so many subjects for consideration are
centered.

                          * * * * *

 [FN] _Ganendagraen_ is probably from _Gahenta_ (Gahenda), "Prairie."



                          * * * * *



                       On the Delaware.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

History

Footprints of the Red Men: Indian geographical names in the valley of Hudson's river, the valley of the Mohawk, and on the Delaware: their location and the probable meaning of some of them.

Ruttenber, Edward Manning

Indians of North America -- New York (State); Names, Geographical -- New York (State); Names, Indian -- North America

Astenrogen, of record as the name of "the first carrying place," now
Little Falls, is from _Ostenra,_ "rock," and _ogen,_ "divisionem"
(Bruyas), literally, "Divided or separated rock." The east end of the
gorge was the eastern boundmark of what is known as the "German Flats,"
which was purchased and settled by a part of the Palatine immigrants who
had been located on the Livingston Patent in 1710. The patent to the
Germans here was granted in 1723. The description in it reads: "Beginning
at the first carrying place, being the easternmost bounds, called by the
natives _Astenrogen,_ running along on both sides of said river westerly
unto _Ganendagaren,_ or the upper end [_i. e._ of the flats, a fine
alluvial plain on both sides of the river], [FN] being about twenty-four
miles." (Cal. N. Y. Land Papers, 182.) The passage between the rocks, now
Little Falls, covered a distance of "about three-quarters of a mile" and
the rapids "the height of thirty-nine feet," according to the survey of
1792. The Mohawk here breaks through the Allegheny ridge which primarily
divided the waters of the Ontario Basin from the Hudson. The overflow
from the basin here formed a waterfall that probably rivaled Niagara and
gradually wore away the rock. The channel of the stream was very deep and
on the subsidence of the ice sheet, which spread over the northern part
of the continent, became filled with drift. The opening in the ridge and
the formation of the valley of the Mohawk as now known are studies in the
work of creation. The settlements known as the German Flats were on both
sides of the river. The one that was on the north side was burned by the
French in the war of 1756-7. It was then composed of sixty houses. The
one on the south side was known as Fort Kouari and later as Fort
Herkimer. The district shared largely in the historic events in the
Mohawk Valley during the Revolution. There are very few districts of
country in the nation in which so many subjects for consideration are
centered.

                          * * * * *

 [FN] _Ganendagraen_ is probably from _Gahenta_ (Gahenda), "Prairie."



                          * * * * *



                       On the Delaware.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Footprints of the Red Men: Indian geographical names in the valley of Hudson's river, the valley of the Mohawk, and on the Delaware: their location and the probable meaning of some of them.

Footprints of the Red Men: Indian geographical names in the valley of Hudson's river, the valley of the Mohawk, and on the Delaware: their location and the probable meaning of some of them.

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