To Dutch explorers, peaceable natives, fur-bearing animals, and navigable waterways meant profit. Adriaen Block, after Hudson’s 1609 voyage, led four expeditions and mapped the region with remarkable accuracy.
Fort Good Hope, circa 1639 L. F. Tantillo, 2023 © By Historical Artist, Len Tantillo Since no one alive today has seen Fort Good Hope—once...
He was the Yonkheer-the squire or "young sir." Adriaen Van der Donck was one of New Netherland's most distinguished residents, and a notable American who has been unjustly forgotten by history.
The site of Mason’s massacre of Pequots in 1637 Pequot village diorama, from the Mashantucket Peqout Museum. Source: The tribe-owned Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research...
In 1614, Adriaen Block named Rodenbergh after red hills near a promising harbor. Though Dutch traders visited, English settlers soon dominated, founding a town led by minister John Davenport.
In 1633, Dutch forces at House of Hope watched as Englishman William Holmes defied threats and sailed upriver to found Windsor—the first permanent European settlement in Connecticut.
The capital city of New York has an unusually patchwork history. Needless to say, the area was under Dutch control before it fell into English hands, but even in the Dutch period there were three distinct entities that vied with one another over territory and rights.
In 1614, Dutch traders built Fort Nassau on Castle Island for fur trade with inland natives. Despite strategic placement, flooding forced its abandonment by 1618, delaying permanent Dutch settlement.
In 1624, the Dutch built Fort Orange on the mainland near Fort Nassau’s site, securing key fur trade routes. It became the foundation for Albany and a vital hub for beaver exports.
In 1631, Killiaen van Rensselaer founded Rensselaerswijck near Fort Orange, establishing the only successful Dutch patroonship. His private farming colony endured for generations, shaping early New York settlement.
