Henry Hudson and the Algonquins of New York by Evan T. Pritchard

Author:Evan T. Pritchard
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Published: 2009-02-18T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

PEOPLE OF THE UPPER RIVER

JUET’S JOURNAL: WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16 : The sixteenth, fair and very hot weather. In the morning our boat went again to fishing, but could catch but few, by reason their canoes had been there all night. This morning the people came aboard and brought us ears of Indian corn and pompions and tobacco, which we bought for trifles. We rode still all day, and filled fresh water; at night we weighed and went two leagues higher, and had shoal water so we anchored till day.

“The sixteenth, fair and very hot weather” At the mouth of the Esopus, there are prongs of land that extend far into the Hudson River on each side, with a narrow slice of land in the middle, although the terrain has changed slightly since Hudson’s visit. There was a Native American village site just to the south of this formation, and now the location of the largest mussel shell midden still to be found along the Hudson. The midden is one acre in size and 40 to 60 feet deep, and was discovered “under Glunt’s lawn.”364 (A shell midden is located at the tip of the spit which extends into the middle of the river, property of Chester and Ruth Reynolds Glunt.365)Today the Saugerties Lighthouse sits firmly in the palm of the hand of the upper arm, as if the land were holding out a lantern or torch for the benefit of riverboat sailors. The spit of land is narrow and inundates at high tide, but lies on solid rock.

“… In the morning our boat went again to fishing, but could catch but few, by reason their canoes had been there all night.” By telling us they sent the rowboat “there” but the fish were gone, Juet seems to be referring to a small nook rather than the middle of “the greatest estuary.” This must have been the popular fishing spot that is now below Cantine Dam. Algonquins of the northeast are famed for their night fishing, often using torches to attract the fish and then spearing them with three pronged spears, two wooden spring clamps on the outside and a nail-like spike in the center. Their night fishing techniques were reputed to be excellent and so it is not surprising they had fished out the Esopus creek below the rapids. However unfortunate for Henry Hudson, the supply would probably have recovered by the next day. There are still today a wide variety of fish living in the long, curving body of sea-level waters that make up the entrance-way of the Esopus. Here one finds both seagoing and freshwater fish, well protected from storms. One sees large fishing boats below the falls at all seasons of the year, but in 1609, shallow water and mud flats would have prevented the Half Moon from entering the Esopus.

The mouth of Sawyers Creek is north of the two arms of the Esopus and forms a small secondary estuary where it empties into the Hudson. The saw-mill which gave the creek and the town its name can still be found at Seamans’ Park.

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