The Bronx River: Boundary of Indian Tribes, Colonies, Manors, Cities and Villages

By Barbara Shay MacDonald

When, in 1609, Henry Hudson sailed up the river, that would later bear his name, the first Indians he saw were the people of the large fishing village of Nappeckamack at the mouth of the Nepperham River in Yonkers. This is just four miles north of the Manhattan's fortress at Spuyten Duyvil Creek. As he sailed farther up the river he was astonished to find Indian villages at the mouth of nearly all the smaller streams flowing into it. Five miles further he found the western capital village of the Weckquaeskeck tribe at the mouth of what is now known as Wickers Creek in present day Dobbs Ferry. He passed other villages in Ossining, Tarrytown, Peekskill and Croton Point. These Indians were part of the Wappinger Confederation of eight tribes, who resided on the banks of the Hudson at its tributaries. These were the Nepperham (Saw Mill River), the Sprain, Tibbet's Brook (the Mosholu), the Bronx (Aquehung). Historians estimate that the population of the entire confederation was only 5,000 in 1600.

 

The eastern boundary line for the largest tribe, the Weckquaeskeck, was the west bank of the Bronx, the same line that would emerge much later when Manors were given to the Dutch and the English and again when towns, cities and villages were designated after the Revolution. The east bank of the river was the boundary for the Siwanoys, clammers and fishermen, who were also part of the confederation. Their land extended along the Sound from Norwalk to Hellgate. Early settlers reported that Davenport Neck was covered with wigwams. There were villages at Rye Pond, Rye Neck, Parsonage Point, Wampus Pond, the mouth of the Mamaroneck, and Bronxville. Their large burying ground was at Pelham Neck. Since Scarsdale was on the east bank of the Bronx and belonged to the salt water loving Siwanoys, it never did have a settlement, but was certainly used as a hunting ground for local tribes.

 

Weckquaeskeck Villages

All the nearby Weckquaeskeck villages, Quorropos (White Plains), Tuckahoe (Yonkers) and Aquehung (nearby to Scarsdale in Strathmore, Cedar Knolls and close to Bronxville) were on the west bank of the river. Another nearby village was in present-day Bronxville, atop what is known as "Sunset Hill", the former site of the Hotel Gramatan, named for its Siwanoy Sachem. Several years ago a journal article told of Scarsdale children and adults entering a traditional wild race of washtubs in the Bronxville section of Eastchester on the fourth of July in the mid 19^th century. In December 1948, the directional flow of the Bronx River was changed to eliminate a curve in its course in Bronxville, to create land in the old riverbed on which to construct an addition to Lawrence Hospital.

 

During the excavations a large sand bar was uncovered, and that indicates that when the river was wider, sand accumulated at the bend over hundreds of years and made a sandy beach, perfect for beaching Indian canoes. Perhaps that is also just the spot where the washtubs inevitably overturned at the end of the race!

 

Bronx River Valley

The Bronx River Valley, called "Laaphawachking; the place of the stringing beads", by the Indians, was aptly named because its most prominent feature was a series of beaver dams that turned the river into a place of stringing lakes. Trout, sunfish, suckers minnows and snapping turtles abounded, as did wolves, bears, wildcats, deer, otter, weasels, beavers and muskrats. An occasional herd of bison from the Highlands and the North Salem area wandered to graze in open areas created by forest fires. Rattlesnakes were a continuing problem for the early European settlers, as were wolves. In Eastchester in 1665, the settlers drew up 27 rules in articles of agreement. Number 21 stated that one day every spring would be set aside for the destroying of rattlesnakes. Wolf pits abounded, and in 1672 the Provincial Assembly issued a payment of 20 shillings for a grown wolf killed by a Christian, and 10 shillings for such a wolf killed by an Indian.

 

The river starts at a hill about 650 feet above sea level in what is now the Town of New Castle. Since there was no Kensico Dam, this portion of the valley was a wide plain surrounded by hills, called Quoropos, meaning white marshes. This referred to die ever-present mists caused by the convergence of four large streams from the west and the east. There were eight beaver dams in the County, more in the Bronx, all later made into mills by the settlers. Three will be familiar to Scarsdalians, as the first was near the Hartsdale Railroad Station where the Hart's Brook joins the Bronx. The next, at Popham Bridge, became Crawford's Mill, and the third was Underhill's Mill in Bronxville. The river, only 30 miles long as the crow flies, finally squeezes through the narrow gorge at the Bronx Botanical gardens, then widens, becomes tidal, and empties into the East River and finally the ocean.

 

Edgemont Settlements

After the Europeans began to push the Weckquaeskeck from their villages, and after most of the tribe was decimated in the Dutch Indian Wars, some of the survivors chose to move inland and two small settlements were made in Greenburgh, in the area we know as Edgemont. Bolton, in his History of Westchester County, writes:

 

"Hart's Corner's, formerly Barnes' Corners, is a small hamlet in Greenburg. A fine line of hills extend south from Hart's Corner's to the foot of Thirty Deer ridge in Yonkers, watered on the east and west by the two branches of the Spraine, called by Indians Armenperal. These hills were formerly so covered with thick woods as to be impassable, and abounded in deer, wolves, bears, wildcats and rattlesnakes. One of the earliest settlers (1731) of the place was John Tompkins of Eastchester. Tompkins was in the constant practice of spending the week here and returning to his family on Saturday. During the whole of this period he was surrounded by Indians, but they never once offered to molest him. A small hill to the southeast of the present Mr. John Tompkins, still bears the name of Indian Hill, and the adjoining spring is called the Indian Spring."

 

Of great interest to Scarsdale readers is that John Tompkins of Eastchester bought farmland on the west side of the Post Road. He had four sons, and some of them farmed the land in Scarsdale. After his death, and several family wills and sales, the land was eventually sold to Thomas Hadden, and became the beginnings of Wayside Cottage. One of Tompkins's sons, Thomas, married Abigail Heddy (Hadden, Haddan), the daughter of Thomas Haddan of Wayside. They had seven sons, one of whom, Nathaniel, settled in Greenburgh.

 

Louise Clark, Edgemont historian, tells us that the there were two Indian encampments as late as 1746, and the Tompkins "Indian Hill" encampment is now the property of Hillard Day Camp at 26 Elizabeth Street in Hartsdale. The second encampment stood on the farm of James McChain along the Sprain Brook near 380 Underhill Road (Greenville).

 

One by one, the Westchester tribes began to dwindle, and eventually fade away as the settlers encroached on their land. As late as 1694-1695 Indians were in the habit of coming from the White Plains area to New Rochelle to join in a fall cider frolic. In 1667 a small group visited, and were never seen again. At about the same time, a clergyman in Rye said that their 20 Indian families had dwindled to 10, and then disappeared entirely. By 1756 most of the Indians who were left had joined a tribe in Broome County, or moved to Stockbridge, Massachusetts. The remnants of those Stockbridge Indians moved in 1785 to join the Oneidas in Madison County, New York and about 1818 they moved again to Ohio. The last spot in Westchester that was occupied by Indians was Indian Hill in Yorktown, where they remained until 1804. According to the census, only 15 "civilized" Indians were living in Westchester in 1880, and in 1890 there were only four. All that is left today is legend, and the wondrous Indian names throughout our County.

 

Barbara Shay MacDonald was honored at the Society's April 2^nd  Diner-Dance and is a member of the Scarsdale Historical Society's Board of Trustees.