The first people of the river
Photo courtesy of Lenape Lifeways, Inc.
Lenape Map, The Salomon Collection, The Historical Society of Rockland County
Lenape mask, Photo: Tom Sobolik
Lenape tools
Petroglyph
Natives with dugout canoes
Stewards of the river
Links to more information
- The Lenape Center
- Lenape language guide
Henry Hudson arrives
The Lenape: the night before
Photo courtesy of Lenape Lifeways, Inc
In the darkness of the river valley, there have always been only three tiny sparks visible from here: the orange campfires of the Alipkonck, the Sintsinck, and the Kichtawanck bands. Tonight, there's been a fourth light reported, riding on the black water just downriver, already changing the world. All of these people are Lënape. On this, the side where kishux — the sun — goes down, is the camp of the Tappan who speak Munsee, a dialect of the Delaware language. There are other bands, of course. Upriver are the Haverstraw, the Esopus, and the Warranawankng. About four days hard walk that direction, Lënape land ends, and the main Iroquois nation begins. Going downriver, there are the Hackensack, the Navasink, and the Raritan. A half day's hard walk that direction brings you to the harbor, where the river meets the ocean. Tonight, the Wiechquaeskecks will have a fire going on the rocky north end of the island, Manhatta. But from here, on the shore of the Tappan bay, none of these can be seen or heard. Bands of a dozen families or more camp all up and down this river valley, and there is almost no sign of them.
Photo courtesy of Lenape Lifeways, Inc
But there's also the constant hum of mosquitoes that keep pressing in despite the protective layer of raccoon grease and the smoke off the small fire. Somewhere out in the dark, enormous rafts of kwikwinkëm — duck — mutter in their sleep; now and then, one startles awake, quacking, then settles back. Out beyond them, in deep water, the occasional booming splash is wisahosid — the sturgeon — twice the size of a grown man, leaping out of the water and crashing back down. Just inland off the beach, the dark forest of hickory and oak is tangled with vines as big around as an arm. A sweet smell wafts down from the ripe grapes and berries. Firewood has gotten scarce here — it'll be time to shift camp soon — but the chestnuts and black walnuts have started to drop. In the daytime, the women, and children collect them in woven baskets and store them for the coming winter.
The river during the American Revolution
Forcing a passage of the Hudson River, 1776, CC, National Maritime Museum
Trade and art in the Industrial Revolution
Erie Canal, Lockport New York, 1855
A stone aqueduct of the Erie Canal crosses the Mohawk River in Rexford, New York
The Erie Canal
Artists and writers
Colman, Storm King on the Hudson, 1886
John Frederick Kensett, 1857, MET
View of the Hudson River Valley from Olana, Frederic Edwin Church, Brigham Young University Museum of Art
From Washington Irving book Stories from the Hudson, 1912
Millionaires Row
Frederick and Louise Vanderbilt, 1898, CC, National Park Service
Conservation begins
Preservation in the Victorian Era
The modern environmental movement
Con Ed proposed hydroelectric project, courtesy Marist College
Storm King, Joeseph Squillante
Earth Day, NYC 1970
Hudson River fishermen