When the Dutch founded New Netherlands, the present site of Yonkers was occupied by an Indian village, known as Nappeckamack, or "town of the rapid water," and a great rock near the mouth of the Nepperhan creek (to the north of the station) was long a place of Indian Worship. In the early days, the Hudson River Valley from Manhattan to Albany was occupied by Algonquin tribes, while the central part of the state along the Mohawk Valley had been conquered by the famous Iroquois Confederation, of which the Mohawks were the most warlike. The Mohawks soon drove out the Mohicans, who claimed as their territory the east bank of the Hudson. On the whole, the Dutch lived peaceably with their Indian neighbors, but an attempt of Gov. Kieft to collect tribute from them led to an Indian war (1641), which resulted in the destruction of most of the outlying settlements. Later a treaty of alliance was made with the Iroquois Confederation, which protected the early settlements in N.Y. from those attacks which occurred so frequently elsewhere in this period. The treaty was renewed when the British took possession of New Netherlands, and lasted until the Revolutionary War. The land where Yonkers now stands was part of an estate granted in 1646 by the Dutch government to Adrian Van Der Donck, the first lawyer and historian of New Netherlands. The settlement was called the "De Jonkheer's land" or "De Yonkeer's"--meaning the estate of the young lord--- and afterwards Yonkers. Subsequently the tract passed into the hands of Frederick Philipse, the "Dutch millionaire," as the English called him, some of whom alleged that he owed a large part of his fortune to piratical and contraband ventures. The suspicion was strong enough to force Philipse out of the governing council of the colony, and he returned to his manor where he died (1702) at the age of 76. It was even charged that he was one of the backers of Capt. William Kidd (1645-1701), for whose buried treasure search has been made along the Hudson, as well as in countless places along the Atlantic Coast. Capt. Kidd began the career which made him notorious under a commission from the British Government to apprehend pirates. He sailed from Plymouth, England, in May 1696, filled up his crew in N.Y. in the following year, and then set out for Madagascar, the principal rendezvous of the buccaneers. Deserting his ship, he threw in his lot with theirs and captured several rich booties. Returning to N.Y., he was arrested, sent to London, found guilty and hanged. Of his "treasure" about L14,000 was recovered from his ship and from Gardner's Island, off the east end of Long Island. The stories of large hoards still undiscovered are probably mythical.