Seventeenth Century Maps that Depict the Pelham Region
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The accuracy and reliability of such maps must be considered with extreme care, however. Most were drawn and engraved in Holland or England and were crafted by reliance on earlier maps supplemented with interpretations of carefully recorded information from the logs of ships that since had visited the same region. Indeed, many maps of the New York region included images of Natives, Native canoes and dugouts, Native palisades, and other such cultural resources but placed the locations erroneously. As one example, some showed birch bark canoes off the shores of Manhattan, an unlikely scenario since the Natives of the region crafted dugout canoes, not birch bark canoes which were far more prevalent near Massachusetts.
Many, many maps were crafted simply by beginning with a copy of an earlier map. Thus, errors were repeated over and over in many instances for decades. Still, much can be learned from reasoned consideration of such maps and the ways they depict particular areas.
Today's Historic Pelham Blog article presents details from a handful of important 17th century maps that included depictions of the region that later became Pelham. In each instance, the detail is followed by a brief commentary that summarizes a little about the historical significance of the map viz-a-viz the Pelham region.
There are far too many such 17th century maps to discuss in a single article. Indeed, some already have been discussed in other Historic Pelham Blog articles. See, e.g., Mon., Aug. 13, 2018: There Seems To Be Another Early 17th Century Map that References Siwanoys. Today's article, however, will begin what is planned as a series of intermittent discussions of such maps in an effort to document such material as it relates to the history of the little Town of Pelham, New York. Each detail, on which visitors can click to see a higher resolution of the image, is followed by a citation to its source and a link to an image of the full map which, typically, can be magnified to very large size for study.
This map is considered a landmark work. It was prepared in 1630, barely five years after the founding of New Amsterdam and the construction of Fort Amsterdam. The detail above shows the region that became Pelham just left of center. There are three significant references important to the history of the region. There is a reference to "Helle gat" (today's Hell Gate where the so-called East River enters Long Island Sound, once a treacherous, boulder infested area where many vessels foundered). There also is a reference to "Wecké" in the region which clearly is an early reference to Wiechquaeskeck. The reference may have been a reference to the geographical feature referenced so often as "Wickers Creek" (and by many spelling variants). However, because other nearby references on the map clearly indicate local Native peoples, this most likely is a reference to the Wiechquaeskeck Natives in the region. If so, it is significant to note that it is the only such Native reference on the map in the Pelham region -- there is no reference to Siwanoys.
A third significant aspect of the detail is the reference in the Long Island Sound waters off the shores of the Pelham region to "Aechipelago" (i.e., Archipelago) and the depiction of a host of islands off the shores. This group of islands clearly would include the myriad such islands, islets, and rocky outcroppings off the shores of Pelham including City Island, Hart Island, Hunter's Island, Travers Island, Davids Island, the Blauzes, the Chimney Sweeps, and dozens of other such islets.
Though published in 1635, this is an enhanced, engraved, and published version of Adriaen Block's early 1614 manuscript map of New Netherland and New England. Unlike most of the other maps, this one is oriented with north depicted to the right on the map as seen by the viewer.
This early map references "Wecke" (i.e., Wiechquaeskecks) roughly in the region of today's Pelham (with no reference in that region to Siwanoys). The map also shows "Hellegat" and three references in the area to "Archipelagus" (or other spelling variants).
This detail immediately above is from a significant 17th century Dutch map that illustrates the Atlantic coast of America from Cape Cod to Cape Hatteras with, of course, an emphasis on the Dutch Colony of New Netherland. Cartographer Pieter Goos published the map in De Zee Atlas ofter Water-Weereld, first published by Goos in 1666.
There are a number of notable features in the region that became today's Pelham depicted on this map. First, it once again includes a reference to "Hellegat" (similar to the earlier-referenced 'Helle gaet" references described above. It also references the Pelham region as "Freedlant," a Dutch term that translates very roughly as "Freedom Land." Not only did the Dutch know today's Pelham region as Freedlandt (with many variant spellings reflected in 17th century records) but also in the 1960s a massive amusement park operated in the same area (including the area where today's Co-op City stands) that was named "Freedom Land." Additionally, it shows the Long Island Sound off of Pelham shores as "Oost Rivier" (i.e., "East River"). Finally, this map shows the "Archipelago" as an area of islands off Connecticut shores, although it continues to show many small, untitled islands and islets off the shore of "Freedlant."
This detail from a 1676 edition of a map first published by cartographer Pieter Groos in 1666 (see above) includes two interesting elements depicted in the region that became today's Pelham. First, it once again includes a reference to "Hellegat" (similar to the earlier-referenced 'Helle gaet" references described above. It also references the Pelham region, once again, as "Freedlant."
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Labels: 1614, 1630, 1635, 1636, 1656, Adriaen Block, Adriaen van der Donck, Dutch, English, Hell Gate, Map, Pelham Maps, Siwanoys, VreedLandt, Wiechquaeskecks