admin CHAPTER II.
EXPLORATION AND SETTLEMENT ON THE ATLANTIC COAST AND THE HUDSON RIVER.
THE discovery of America was the most important event of modern times. For the honor of this discovery several claims have been presented. Welsh historians have awarded it to Modoc, a prince of Wales, who went to sea in the twelfth century, and discovered land far to the west, to which he made several voyages, but who, with all his crew, was finally lost. This claim is founded on tradition, however, and unsubstantiated.
The Norwegians claim discovery and settlement on stronger evidence. Eric emigrated from Iceland to Greenland in 986 and founded a settlement. Leif, a son of Eric, embarked with a crew of men in the year 1000 on a voyage of discovery. He sailed to the southwest and discovered land; voyaging along the coast he finally entered a bay, where he remained through the winter, calling the region Vinland
In 1007 Thorfinn sailed from Greenland to Vinland. An account of this voyage is still extant. Other voyages were made, and the Antiquarian Society, after a careful examination of all the evidence, including the geography of the country described in these voyages, do not hesitate to locate this Vinland at the head of Narragansett Bay, in Rhode Island.
These discoveries, however, were so ineffectual that nothing was known in Europe of land beyond the ocean until 1492, when Christopher Columbus, believing that India might be reached by sailing westward, was, at his urgent solicitation, dispatched on a voyage of discovery by Ferdinand and Isabella, king and queen of Spain He sailed from Palos, and after stopping at the Canaries struck out upon the hitherto unknown sea, discovering first one of the Bahama islands; then proceeding toward the south he discovered Cuba and Haiti, and returned to Spain, thus opening a highway over the trackless Atlantic. He made other voyages, and in 1498 discovered the continent near the mouth of the Orinoco river. The discovery of land in the west promised large profits, and excited maritime enterprise throughout Europe. Henry VII commissioned John Cabot, a Venetian, in 1497, to sail on a voyage of discovery, and take possession of new lands in the name of England. Sailing westward, in company with his son Sebastian, he discovered Newfoundland, and while off the coast of Labrador saw the main-land of North America. The next year Sebastian set sail to discover a northwest passage to China. The frozen regions at the north compelled him to change his course, and sailing toward the south he visited various points along the coast as far as Albemarle sound, taking possession of the whole region for the crown of England. John Verazzani, a Florentine in the service of Francis I., of France, arrived on the coast of North Carolina in 1524, and sailed south as far as Georgia. Turning north, he explored the coast to about 41° north latitude, and entered a harbor, which, from his description, is believed to have been New York Bay, where he remained about fifteen days, and it is supposed that his crew were the first Europeans that landed on the soil of New York. He proceeded north as far as Labrador, giving to the whole country the name of New France, which was afterward confined to Canada.
Henry Hudson, an. English navigator, having failed in two expeditions to discover a passage to the East Indies, for a company of London merchants, by sailing westward, offered his services in 1609 to the Dutch East India Company of Holland, which was formed the preceding year for traffic and colonization. He left Amsterdam on the 4th of April with a small ship and a crew of about twenty English and Dutch sailors, and arrived on the American coast near Portland, in Maine, whence he proceeded south along the shore to the entrance of Chesapeake Bay. From this point he returned northward, discovered and entered Delaware Bay, and on the 3d of September anchored at Sandy Hook. From here he proceeded up New York Bay, sending his boats to the Jersey shore and receiving on board the natives, who came in great numbers to traffic. On the 12th he entered the river which bears his name, and ascended it to a point a little above where the city of Hudson now stands, having been frequently visited on the way by the Indians, who came to traffic, bringing maize, tobacco and other products native to the country. To them he imparted a knowledge of the effects of rum, to the drinking of which in later years they became greatly addicted. Not considering it safe to proceed further with his ship, he sent a boat with a part of his crew to explore the river higher up. It is supposed that they went a little above Albany. On the 23d he commenced to descend the river. When a little below the Highlands, the Indians made several attempts to attack his crew, who, in repulsing their attacks, shot ten or twelve of their number. Descending into the bay he immediately sailed for Europe. The following year he made a voyage for the discovery of a northwest passage to India, and discovered and entered the bay which bears his name. Continuing his search too long, he was compelled to remain through the winter. In the spring part of his crew mutinied, put him in a boat, together with his son and seven others, and left them to perish. In 1607 Samuel Champlain, a French navigator, ascended the St. Lawrence river, exploring its tributaries; and on the 4th of July discovered the lake which bears his name. Hence three nations, Holland, France and England, founding their titles upon discovery, claimed ownership in a region a part of which lies within the State of New York.
The accounts given by Hudson of his discoveries stimulated the Dutch to avail themselves of the advantages that might be gained by trading with the Indians, and accordingly in the following year another vessel was sent out to engage in the fur trade on the banks of the river he had discovered. In 16 12 two more vessels were fitted out by Hendrick Christiansen and Adrian Block, which were soon followed by others. The fur trade proving successful,
Christiansen was appointed agent of the traffic, and Manhattan Island made the chief depot. He erected a small fort and a few rude buildings at the southern extremity of the island, calling the place New Amsterdam. The island was covered with giant forest trees and dense thickets, which served as hiding places for reptiles and wild beasts. In 1714 the States General granted a charter to the merchants engaged in these expeditions, conferring the exclusive right of trade in this new territory, between the 40th and 45th parallels of north latitude, for four years, and giving the name of New Netherlands to the whole region. The trade flourished, and had become so profitable at the expiration of the charter that the States General refused to renew it, giving instead a special license for its temporary continuance.
In the meantime the surrounding country was being explored. Adrian Block had passed up the East river, Long Island sound and Connecticut river, and into the bays and along the islands eastward to Cape Cod. Cornelissen Jacobsen May had explored the southern coast of Long Island and southward to Delaware Bay, while Hendrick Christiansen had ascended the Hudson river to Castle Island, a few miles below Albany, where he had established a trading post and erected a small fort. This fort was so much damaged by a flood that it was removed to the Normans-kill, a little below. Here a council was held between the chiefs and warriors of the Five Nations and the representatives of the New Netherlands, and a treaty of peace and alliance was formed.
In 1620 James I. granted to Ferdinando Gorges and his commercial associates all the land between the fortieth and forty-eighth degrees of north latitude, and extending from ocean to ocean. Captain Dermer, in the service of Gorges, appeared at Manhattan, and laid claim to all the territory occupied by the Dutch. The English ambassador at the Dutch capital had been instructed to remonstrate against Dutch intrusion, but it seems his remonstrance was without effect; for in 162 1 the States General granted, a new charter to the Dutch West India Company, an armed mercantile association, giving them exclusive jurisdiction over the province of New Netherlands for twenty years, with power to appoint governors, subject to the approval of the States; to colonize the territory and administer justice. The executive management was intrusted to a board of directors, distributed through five separate chambers in the city of Holland. The charge of the province had been assigned to the Amsterdam chamber, which sent out a vessel in 1623, under the direction of Captain May and Adrien Joriszen Tienpont, with thirty families for colonization. A portion of these settled on the Connecticut river, and others as far up the Hudson as the present city of Albany, where they built Fort” Orange. A fort was also erected on the Delaware river; near Gloucester, and called Fort Nassau. Their number was shortly after augmented by other accessions and colonization fairly commenced. In May, 1626, Peter Minuit arrived in New Netherlands as director-general or governor of the province. He purchased the whole of Manhattan Island of the Indians for trinkets of the value of $24. Friendly courtesies were then exchanged with the Plymouth colony, and a brisk and profitable trade in furs was carried on.
SOURCE: History of Wyoming County, N.Y., with Illustrations, Biographical Sketches and Portraits of Some Pioneers and Prominent Residents; F. W. Beers & Co.; 1880