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. — 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.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.
Ruttenber, Edward Manning
Indians of North America -- New York (State); Names, Geographical -- New York (State); Names, Indian -- North America
Gov. Tryon, in his report in 1774, no doubt stated the facts correctly
when he wrote that the "Montauks and others of Long Island, Wappingers
of Duchess County, Esopus, Papagoncks, &c., of Ulster County, generally
denominated River Indians, spoke a language radically the same," and
were "understood by the Delawares, being originally of the same race."
(Doc Hist. N. Y., i, 765.)
Poughquag, the name of a village in the town of Beekman, Duchess County,
and primarily the name of what is now known as Silver Lake, in the
southeast part of the town, is from _Apoquague,_ (Mass.), meaning, "A
flaggy meadow," which is presumed to have adjoined the lake. It is from
_Uppuqui,_ "Lodge covering," and _-anke,_ "Land" or place. (Trumbull.)
Pietawickquassick, a brook so called which formed a bound-mark of a
tract of land conveyed by Peter Schuyler in 1699, described as "On the
east side of Hudson's River, over against Juffrou's Hook, at a place
called by the Christians Jan Casper's Creek." The creek is now known as
Casper's Creek. It is the first creek north of Wappingers' Kill.
Schuyler called the place _Rust Plaest_ (Dutch, Rust-plaats), meaning
"Resting place, or place of peace." The Indian name has not been
located. It is probably a form or equivalent of _P'tukqu-suk,_ "A bend
in a brook or outlet."
Wassaic, a village and a creek so called in the town of Amenia, Duchess
County, appears in N. Y. records in 1702, _Wiesasack,_ as the name of
a tract of land "lying to the southward of Wayanaglanock, to the
westward of Westenhoek creek." (Cal. N. Y. Land Papers, 58); later,
"Near a place called Weshiack" (Ib. 65), "and thence northerly to a place
called Wishshiag, and so on about a mile northwest of ye Allum rocks."
[FN] (Ib. 75.) The name seems to have been applied to the north end of
West Mountain, where is located the ravine known as the Dover Stone
Church, about half a mile west of the village of Dover Plains. The
ravine is 20 to 25 feet wide at the bottom, 1 to 3 feet at the top,
30 to 40 feet long, and 40 to 50 feet high, hence called a church. The
Webotuck, a tributary of Ten Mile River, flows through the ravine. Dr.
Trumbull ("Indian Names in Connecticut") wrote: "_Wassiog,_ (Moh.),
alternate _Washiack,_ a west bound of the Mohegan country claimed by
Uncas; 'the south end of a very high hill' very near the line between
Glastonbury and Hebron," a place near Hartford, Conn., but failed to
give explanation of the name.
* * * * *
[FN] _Wallam_--the initial _W_ dropped--literally, "Paint rocks," a
formation of igneous rock which, by exposure, becomes disintegrated
into soft earthy masses. There are several varieties. The Indians used
the disintegrated masses for paint. The name is met in some forms in
all Algonquian dialects. (See Wallomschack.)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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