The Hudson Part 26

Autumn had given uniformity of coloring to the woods.

It varied now between copper and gold, and shone like an infinitely rich golden embroidery on the Indian veil of mist which rested upon the heights along the Hudson.

_Harriet Martineau._

According to Ruttenber, the names and location of the Indian tribes were not ascertained with clearness by the early Dutch settlers, but through doc.u.ments, treaties and information, subsequently obtained, it is now settled that the Mahicans held possession "under sub-tribal organizations" of the east bank of the river from an undefined point north of Albany to the sea, including Long Island; that their dominion extended east to the Connecticut, where they joined kindred tribes; that on the west bank of the Hudson they ran down as far as Catskill, and west to Schenectady; that they were met on the west by the territory of the Mohawks, and on the south by tribes of the Lenni Lenapes or Delawares, whose territory extended thence to the sea, and west to and beyond the Delaware River. The Mahicans had a castle at Catskill and at Cohoes Falls. The western side of the Hudson, above Cohoes, belonged to the Mohawks, a branch of the Iroquois. Therefore, as early as 1630, three great nations were represented on the Hudson--

=The Mahicans, the Delawares and the Iroquois.= The early French missionaries refer to the "nine nations of Manhinyans, gathered between Manhattan and the environs of Quebec." These several nations have never been accurately designated, although certain general divisions appear under the t.i.tles of Mohegan, Wappinger, Sequins, etc. "The government of the Mahicans was a democracy. The office was hereditary by the lineage of the wife; that is, the selection of a successor on the death of the chief, was confined to the female branch of the family." According to Ruttenber, the precise relation between the Mahicans of the Hudson and the Mohegans under Uncas, the Pequot chief, is not known. In a foot-note to this statement, he says: "The ident.i.ty of name between the Mahicans and Mohegans, induces the belief that all these tribes belonged to the same stock,--although they differed in dialect, in territory, and in their alliances." The two words, therefore, must not be confounded.

Round about the Indian village Spread the meadows and the cornfields, Stood the groves of singing pine trees, And beyond them stood the forest,

_Henry W. Longfellow._

It is also pleasant to remember that the Mahicans as a tribe were true and faithful to us during the war of the Revolution, and when the six nations met in council at Oswego, at the request of Guy Johnson and other officers of the British army, "to eat the flesh and drink the blood of a Bostonian," Hendrick, the Mahican, made the pledge for his tribe at Albany, almost in the eloquent words of Ruth to Naomi, "Thy people shall be our people, and whither thou goest we will be at your side."

=The Mourdener's Kill=, with its sad story of a girl tied by Indians to a horse and dragged through the valley, flows into the Hudson above Castleton. Two miles above this near the steamer channel will be seen Staats Island on the east, with an old stone house, said to be next in antiquity to the old Van Rensselaer House, opposite Albany. It is also a fact that this property pa.s.sed directly to the ancestors of the present family, the only property in this vicinity never owned by the lord of the manor. Opposite the old stone house, the point on the west bank is known as Parda Hook, where it is said a horse was once drowned in a horse-race on the ice, and hence the name Parda, for the old Hollanders along the Hudson seemed to have had a musical ear, and delighted in acc.u.mulating syllables. (The word pard is used in Spenser for spotted horse, and still survives in the word leopard.)

The Castleton Bar or "overslaugh," as it was known by the river pilots, impeded for years navigation in low water. Commodore Van Santvoord and other prominent citizens brought the subject before the State legislature, and work was commenced in 1863. In 1868 the United States Government very properly (as their jurisdiction extends over tide-water), a.s.sumed the completing of the d.y.k.es, which now stretch for miles along the banks and islands of the upper Hudson. Here and there along our route between c.o.xsackie and Albany will be seen great dredges deepening and widening the river channel. The plan provides for a system of longitudinal d.y.k.es to confine the current sufficiently to allow the ebb and flow of the tidal-current to keep the channel clear. These d.y.k.es are to be gradually brought nearer together from New Baltimore toward Troy, so as to a.s.sist the entrance of the flood-current and increase its height.

Where Hudson winds his silver way And murmurs at the tardy stay, Impatient at delay.

_William Crow._

The engineers report that the greater part of the material carried in suspension in the Hudson river above Albany is believed to come from the Mohawk river, and its tributary the Schoharie river, while the sands and gravel that form the heavy and obstinate bars near Albany and chiefly between Albany and Troy, come from the upper Hudson.

The discharge of the Hudson between Troy and Albany at its lowest stage may be taken at about 3,000 cubic feet per second. The river supply, therefore, during that stage is inadequate in the upper part of the river for navigation, independent of tidal flow.

The greatest number of bars is between Albany and Troy, where the channel is narrow, and at least six obstructing bars, composed of fine and coa.r.s.e gravel and coa.r.s.e and fine sand, are in existence. In many places between Albany and Troy the navigable depth is reduced to 7 feet by the presence of these bars.

From Albany to New Baltimore the depths are variable, the prevailing depth being 10 feet and over, with pools of greater depth separated by long cross-over bars, over which the greatest depth does not exceed 9 or 10 feet. Pa.s.sing many delightful homes on the west bank and the mouth of the Norman's Kill (Indian name Ta-wa-sentha, place of many dead) and the Convent of the Sacred Heart, we see Dow's Point on the east and above this the--

=Van Rensselaer Place=, with its port holes on either side of the door facing the river, showing that it was built in troublesome times.

It is the oldest of the Patroon manor houses, built in 1640 or thereabouts. It has been said that the adaptation of the old tune now known as "Yankee Doodle" was made near the well in the grounds of the Van Rensselaer Place by Dr. Richard Shuckberg, who was connected with the British army when the Colonial troops from New England marched into camp at Albany to join the British regulars on their way to fight the French. The tune was known in New England before the Revolution as "Lydia Fisher's Jig," a name derived from a famous lady who lived in the reign of Charles II, and which has been perpetuated in the following rhyme:

Lucy Locket lost her pocket, Lydia Fisher found it; Not a bit of money in it, Only binding 'round it.

The appearance of the troops called down the derision of the British officers, the hit of the doctor became known throughout the army, and the song was used as a method of showing contempt for the Colonials until after Lexington and Concord.

When life is old And many a scene forgot the heart will hold Its memory of this.

_Fitz-Greene Halleck._

=Rensselaer=, on the east bank of the river, was incorporated in 1896 by the union of Greenbush and East Albany. The old name of Greenbush, which still survives in East Greenbush, four miles distant, was given to it by the old Dutch settlers, and it was probably a "green-bushed"

place in early days. Now pleasant residences and villas look out upon the river from the near bank and distant hillsides. Two railroad bridges and a carriage bridge cross the Hudson at this point. During the French war in 1775, Greenbush was a military rendezvous, and in 1812 the United States Government established extensive barracks, whence troops were forwarded to Canada.

=Albany=, 144 miles from New York. (_New York Central & Hudson River Railroad_, _Boston & Albany_, _West Sh.o.r.e_, _Delaware and Hudson_, the _Hudson River Day Line_ and _People's Line_.) Its site was called by the Indians Shaunaugh-ta-da (Schenectady), or the Pine Plains. It was next known by the early Dutch settlers as "Beverwyck," "William Stadt," and "New Orange." The seat of the State Government was transferred from New York to Albany in 1798. In 1714, when 100 years old, it had a population of about 3,000, one-sixth of whom were slaves. In 1786 it increased to about 10,000. In 1676, the city comprised within the limits of Pearl, Beaver and Steuben streets, was surrounded by wooden walls with six gates. They were 13 feet high, made of timber a foot square. It is said that a portion of these walls were remaining in 1812. The first railroad in the State and the second in the United States was opened from Albany to Schenectady in 1831.

The pictures of these old coaches are very amusing, and the rate of speed was only a slight improvement on a well-organized stage line.

From an old book in the State Library we condense the following description, presenting quite a contrast to the city of to-day: "Albany lay stretched along the banks of the Hudson, on one very wide and long street, parallel to the Hudson. The s.p.a.ce between the street and the river bank was occupied by gardens. A small but steep hill rose above the centre of the town, on which stood a fort. The wide street leading to the fort (now State street) had a Market-Place, Guard-House, Town Hall, and an English and Dutch Church, in the centre."

I wandered afar from the land of my birth, I saw the old rivers renowned upon earth, But fancy still painted that wide-flowing stream With the many-hued pencil of infancy's dream.

_Oliver Wendell Holmes._

Tourists and others will be amply repaid in visiting the new Capitol building, at the head of State Street. It is open from nine in the morning until six in the evening. It is said to be larger than the Capitol at Was.h.i.+ngton, and cost more than any other structure on the American continent. The staircases, the wide corridors, the Senate chamber, the a.s.sembly chamber, and the Court of Appeals room, attest the wealth and greatness of the Empire State. The visitor up State Street will note the beautiful and commanding spire of "St. Paul." The Cathedral is also a grand structure. The population of Albany is now 100,000, and its growth is due to three causes: First, the Capitol was removed from New York to Albany in 1798. Then followed two great enterprises, ridiculed at the time by every one as the _Fulton Folly and Clinton's Ditch_--in other words, steam navigation, 1807, and the Erie Ca.n.a.l, 1825. Its name was given in honor of the Duke of Albany, although it is still claimed by some of the oldest inhabitants that, in the golden age of those far-off times, when the good old burghers used to ask the welfare of their neighbors, the answer was "All bonnie," and hence the name of the hill-crowned city.

Ca.n.a.ls, long winding, ope a watery flight, And distant streams and seas and lakes unite; From fair Albania toward the fading sun, Back through the midland lengthening channels run.

_Joel Barlow._

To condense from H. P. Phelps's careful handbook of "Albany and the Capitol:" in 1614 a stockaded trading-house was erected on an island below the city, well defended for trading with the Indians. In 1617 another was built on the hill, near Norman's Kill. The West Indian Company erected a fort in 1623 near the present landing of the Day Line. In 1664 the province fell into the hands of the English and the name was changed to Albany. In 1686 it was incorporated into a city.

It was the meeting place of the Const.i.tutional Congress 1754, the proposed Const.i.tution of which, however, was never ratified.

Was.h.i.+ngton visited it in 1783. The Erie Ca.n.a.l was opened in 1825, a railroad to Schenectady in 1832, the _Hudson River_ in 1851, a consolidated road to Buffalo in 1853, and the _Susquehanna Railroad_ to Binghamton in 1869. State Street at one time was said to be the widest city thoroughfare in the country, after Pennsylvania Avenue in Was.h.i.+ngton. The English and Dutch Churches and other public buildings, once in the midst of it, but long since removed, account for its extra width. The State Capitol has a commanding site. The old Capitol building was completed in 1808. The corner-stone of the present building was laid June 24, 1871, and it has been occupied since January 7, 1879. According to Phelps, "the size of the structure impresses the beholder at once. It is 300 feet north and south by 400 feet east and west, and with the porticoes will cover three acres and seven square feet. The walls are 108 feet high from the water-table, and all this worked out of solid granite brought, most of it, from Hallowell, Me."

The impression produced varies with various persons. One accomplished writer finds it "not unlike that made by the photographs of those gigantic structures in the northern and eastern parts of India, which are seen in full series on the walls of the South Kensington, and by their barbaric profusion of ornamentation and true magnificence of design give the stay-at-home Briton some faint inkling of the empire which has invested his queen with another and more high-sounding t.i.tle. Yet when close at hand the building does not bear out this connection with Indian architecture of the grand style; it might be mere chance that at a distance there is a similarity; or it may be that the smallness of size in the decorations as compared to the structure itself explains fully why there is a tendency to confuse the eye by the number of projections, arches, pillars, shallow recesses, and what-not, which variegate the different facades. The confusion is not entirely displeasing; it gives a sense of unstinted riches, and represents the spirit that has reared the pile."

Nor let the dear love of its children grow cold Till the channel is dry where its waters have rolled.

_Oliver Wendell Holmes._

The Governor's room, the golden corridor, the Senate staircase, the Senate chamber, the a.s.sembly chamber, and the Court of Appeals room are interesting alike for their architectural stone work, decorations and general finish. The State Library, dating from 1818, contains about 150,000 volumes. The Clinton papers, including Andre's doc.u.ments captured at Tarrytown, are the most interesting of many valuable ma.n.u.scripts. Here also are a sword and pistol once belonging to General Was.h.i.+ngton. The Museum of Military Records and Relics contains over 800 battle flags of State regiments, with several ensigns captured from the enemy. Near the Capitol are the State Hall and City Hall, and on the right, descending State Street, the Geological Hall, well worthy an extended visit. The present St. Peter's Episcopal Church, third upon the site, is of Schenectady blue stone with brown tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs. Its tower contains "a chime of eleven bells and another bell marked 1751, which is used only to ring in the new year."

Was.h.i.+ngton Park, consisting of eighty acres and procured at a cost of one million dollars, reached by a pleasant drive or by electric railway, is a delightful resort. It is noted for its grand trees, artistic walks and floral culture. Several fine statues are also worthy of mention, notably that of Robert Burns (Charles Calverley, sculptor), erected by money left for this purpose by Mrs. McPherson, under the careful and tasteful supervision of one of Albany's best-known citizens, Mr. Peter Kinnear. A view from Was.h.i.+ngton Park takes in the Catskills and the Helderberg Mountains.