An Unusual Account of the Dark Spirit of the Devil and His Stepping Stones: A Pelham Legend

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The legend of the Devil's Stepping Stones has been told in Pelham for eons.  It is said to date to ancient times when Native Americans populated the region.  Famed American author Washington Irving even referenced the legend in his book published in 1824 entitled "Tales of a Traveller."  

Last year, Historic Pelham included an article recounting the legend of the Devil's Stepping Stones.  See Mon., Sep. 19, 2016:  The Dark Spirit of the Devil and His Stepping Stones:  A Pelham Legend.  Some in Pelham, however, remain skeptical that the legend could be true.  They have demanded proof.  Today, Historic Pelham will provide that proof.

Some seem to consider the legend a little far fetched.  The legend, as previously recounted by Historic Pelham, goes as follows.

Long, long ago when Native Americans roamed our region, things turned bad for them.  They suffered many misfortunes including failed crops, poor fishing, brutal snows, and raging storms.  It was time for action. 

The Native Americans knew that the wicked giant devil, known as Habboamoko, long had roamed the region including Pelham, today's Pelham Bay Park (once part of Pelham), Westchester County, and portions of southeastern Connecticut.  The giant devil was known to create mayhem and to bring periodic misfortune on the Native peoples. 

Concluding that Habboamoko was, once again, the source of their misfortune, warriors gathered from throughout the region to use strength, medicine, and magic to chase Habboamoko out of the region across the Long Island Sound onto Long Island where he would be left to torment others.  The warriors located and rousted Habboamoko and began to battle him. 

Because Habboamoko was a giant, the battle was difficult and raged for a long time.  Slowly, though, the warriors gained the upper hand.  As the Habboamoko began his retreat, he gathered every glacial boulder he could find in the countryside, loading his long, menacing arms with many such boulders.  He retreated to Pelham Neck and then onto City Island.  When he reached the southern tip of City Island with the Native American warriors in pursuit, however, he was not big enough to hop across the waters to the shores of Long Island (where today's Steppingstone Park stands).

Though Habboamoko was a giant, Long Island Sound was deep.  This the giant devil knew.  As the warriors closed in, Habboamoko began tossing the boulders he had collected into the Sound, using them as stepping stones to make his escape across the deep waters.  Once he had crossed the deep waters, he stood on the shores of Long Island and looked back.  Native American warriors lined the shores of today's City Island, Pelham Bay Park and Pelham laughing and taunting him.  Angrily, Habboamoko took every last boulder still cradled in his arms and, one at a time, threw them across Long Island Sound at the warriors.  

The giant boulders thrown by Habboamoko landed throughout the countryside, though each missed the warriors.  Occasionally Habboamoko threw the boulders with such anger that he flung them great distances, covering much of today's Pelham Bay Park, Westchester County, and lower Connecticut.  

One giant boulder flung by Habboamoko broke in half when it landed.  We know that boulder today as the famous Pelham landmark "Split Rock."  Many others of the boulders likewise have become famous. They became known as Glover's Rock, the Kemble House Rocking Stone, the Priory Rocking Stone, The Grey Mare, and Mishow, to name a few.  Many of the boulders were never given names.  Nevertheless, they still stand throughout the countryside as silent reminders of the blind anger of the giant devil as he vengefully tried one last time to bring more misery on the Native American lands in and around what later became Pelham.

Wise Pelhamites accept the Stepping Stones Legend for what it is:  fact.  A few jaded souls, however, have demanded proof.  They want evidence!  Such jaded and cynical souls unwilling to face the facts ask "What more can you show me besides a few boulders to convince me that there is even a kernel of truth to the legend of the Devil's Stepping Stones?"

Admittedly, for many years, the legend simply had to be taken at face value.  How could there be proof of such an event that occurred eons before any recorded history of our little Town?  

That changed, however, during the 19th century when the first real evidence of the actual event emerged.  Explorers in the little Village of Bronxville near the Pelham border were the first to find the evidence.  On a giant rock outcropping in that village, they discovered a giant impression of a human foot -- a right foot to be exact.  Though the footprint was utterly massive, it was perfect with the heel and sole of a right foot and all five toes from big on the left to small on the right.  More astonishingly, the giant footprint pointed in the correct direction.  It pointed toward Long Island Sound!  Search was made throughout the area but, sadly, no print of the giant devil's left foot could be found.

Soon an identical footprint was found near Fort Schuyler on Throggs Neck in the Bronx.  Once again, it was a print of a giant right foot on a large rock outcropping.  Once again, it pointed in the right direction, toward Long Island Sound.

As news of the giant footprints spread, the final piece of the puzzle was found.  On a large rock outcropping on Long Island, a third print of a giant right foot was found.  In each instance, the print was depressed deep into rock and was a perfect imprint of a right foot, albeit a massive one.  No imprints of left feet were found near any of the three footprints.

"Aha!" you may think.  "You have been hoisted by your own petard!  Everyone knows that the devil has cloven hooves -- not feet!  Any such giant footprints could not conceivably have been left by the cloven-hoofed devil!"

Not so fast dear skeptic!  As long ago as 1902, a "corrected" version of the ancient Pelham legend that supposedly dates almost to the "Stone Age" was recorded and published.  That corrected version follows.

It seems that as times grew desperate for local Native Americans long ago, it became apparent that the giant wicked devil who roamed the region was responsible for their misfortunes including failed crops, poor fishing, brutal snows, and raging storms.  The Native Americans hatched a plan to rid themselves of the devil.  They concluded that if they only could cut off his tail, he would leave in disgrace, never to be heard from again.

The group selected their two most powerful men capable of wielding giant stone axes.  They then began a search for the evil giant devil.

The search took days.  Finally, however, the men found the giant devil asleep.  To their dismay, however, they discovered that the devil slept with his tail tucked beneath his body.  In a change of plans, the two powerful men used their axes to cut off the devil's two cloven hooves.  

When the giant devil awoke from his long slumber, he had his tail but neither of his cloven hooves.  In the place of his right cloven hoof, however, a large foot had grown on the stump of the leg.  But. on the left leg he had neither hoof nor foot.

The devil exploded in anger.  He recognized his vulnerability.  He knew he had to leave the region or, with his new disability, might not be able to defend himself from local warriors.  He grabbed every boulder nearby and began a series of mighty jumps, landing each time on his new right foot as he tossed boulders into the Long Island Sound to create the small islets and rock outcroppings that came to be known as Devil's Stepping Stones.  He finally landed on his right foot on Long Island, never to return to Pelham or Westchester County.

The giant footprints remain to this day and still can be seen.  Certainly the truth of the matter is now free from doubt. . . . . 

Giant "Footprint" in Granite Similar to the Ones to Be Found

in the Pelham Region.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

*          *          *          *          *

"Old Pelham Legend.

When those who lived a hundred years or more ago found the prints of huge human feet on rocks at various places they decided that they had been left by the devil in his flight through the country.  The first print was discovered in East Chester, and another, pointing in the same direction, was near Fort Schuyler.  Across the Sound, on Long Island, they found the third footprint in solid rock, and there the trail was lost.  Long Islanders have said that if the devil could jump from East Chester across Pelham to Fort Schuyler, a distance of nine miles, he would not find it difficult to step across the island into the sea.  In Pelham they hint that perhaps the devil liked Long Island and stayed there.  Anyway, when they found the footprints the imagination of the residents was called upon to furnish an explanation for the devil's flight, and, as a result, two traditions have been handed down.  The good people of Connecticut had been casting devils out of witches a little while before the discovery, and it is only natural that they accepted that explanation.

The other story is more elaborate, and goes back to the Stone Age.  In that time the people who lived here were like wolves, and the hand of the devil was heavy upon them.  They tried in every way to rid themselves of their oppressor.  Some thought that if they could only cut off his tail the devil would feel the disgrace and leave them.  Accordingly, two of the strongest men, famous wielders of great stone axes, were appointed to perform the task.  They waited many days before they found him asleep.  Great was their dismay when they found that he slept with his tail tucked under his body.  They decided to cut off his cloven hoofs.  When the devil awoke from his long slumber he found that a human foot had grown on the stump of his right leg and that he had neither foot nor hoof on the other.  Accordingly, he made haste to leave the country by a series of mighty jumps.  

The redeeming feature of this tale is that it explains the absence of cloven hoof, and the fact that all of the prints are those the right foot.  The footprints are really there, and are as plain today as they ever were."

Source:  Old Pelham Legend, The Bronxville Review [Bronxville, NY], Apr. 24, 1902, p. 7, col. 2.

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The Dark Spirit of the Devil and His Stepping Stones: A Pelham Legend

Archive of the Historic Pelham Web Site.
Home Page of the Historic Pelham Blog.
Order a Copy of "Thomas Pell and the Legend of the Pell Treaty Oak."

A legend has been told around Pelham for eons.  It dates to ancient times when Native Americans populated the region.  Famed American author Washington Irving referenced the legend in his book he published in 1824 entitled "Tales of a Traveller."  Although the legend seems dark and foreboding, it is actually a story of triumph over the darkest evil spirit that ever has existed in Pelham:  the devil.

The legend has many, many versions, some involving Connecticut which is nowhere near The Devil's Stepping Stones area south of City Island, once part of the Town of Pelham.  Only one version of the legend makes sense, geographically, circumstantially, and otherwise.  Only one version can possibly be true based on all the evidence.  That version, of course, is the Pelham version of the legend of The Devil's Stepping Stones, recounted here.  All other versions, most certainly, are corrupted versions of the "true" story.

Long, long ago when Native Americans roamed our region, things turned bad for them; very, very bad.  Local Native Americans suffered many misfortunes including failed crops, poor fishing, brutal snows, and raging storms.  It was time for action.  

The Native Americans knew that the wicked giant devil, known as Habboamoko, long had roamed the region including today's Pelham Bay Park, Westchester County, and portions of southeastern Connecticut.  His giant footprints may still be found in some of the rock outcroppings in places throughout Westchester County and Connecticut.  The giant devil was known to create mayhem and to bring periodic misfortune on the Native peoples.

Concluding that Habboamoko was, once again, the source of their misfortune, warriors gathered from throughout the region to use strength, medicine, and magic to chase Habboamoko out of the region across the Long Island Sound onto Long Island where he would be left to torment others.  The warriors located and rousted Habboamoko and began to battle him.  

Because Habboamoko was a giant, the battle was difficult and raged for a long time.  Slowly, though, the warriors gained the upper hand.  As the Habboamoko began his retreat, he gathered every glacial boulder he could find in the countryside, loading his long, menacing arms with many such boulders.  He retreated to Pelham Neck and then onto City Island.  When he reached the southern tip of City Island with the Native American warriors in pursuit, however, he was not big enough to hop across the waters to the shores of Long Island (where today's Steppingstone Park stands).  

Though Habboamoko was a giant, Long Island Sound was deep.  This the giant devil knew.  As the warriors closed in, Habboamoko began tossing the boulders he had collected into the Sound, using them as stepping stones to make his escape across the deep waters.  Once he had crossed the deep waters, he stood on the shores of Long Island and looked back.  Native American warriors lined the shores of today's City Island, Pelham Bay Park and Pelham laughing and taunting him.  Angrily, Habboamoko took every last boulder still cradled in his arms and, one at a time, threw them across Long Island Sound at the warriors.  

The giant boulders thrown by Habboamoko landed throughout the countryside, though each missed the warriors.  Occasionally Habboamoko threw the boulders with such anger that he flung them great distances, covering much of today's Pelham Bay Park, Westchester County, and lower Connecticut.  

One giant boulder flung by Habboamoko broke in half when it landed.  We know that boulder today as the famous Pelham landmark "Split Rock."  Many others of the boulders likewise have become famous.  They became known as Glover's Rock, the Kemble House Rocking Stone, the Priory Rocking Stone, The Grey Mare, and Mishow, to name a few.  Many of the boulders were never given names.  Nevertheless, they still stand throughout the countryside as silent reminders of the blind anger of the giant devil as he vengefully tried one last time to bring more misery on the Native American lands in and around what later became Pelham.

The many boulders that the Habboamoko threw into Long Island Sound to use as stepping stones to make his escape became known as "The Devil's Stepping Stones."  As the centuries passed, The Devil's Stepping Stones became the bane of mariners who navigated Long Island Sound.  Countless ships were lost trying unsuccessfully to maneuver around these rocky reefs that skipped across Long Island Sound.  

During the 1850s, the Army Corps of Engineers began blasting away many of The Devil's Stepping Stones.  Not all were removed, however.  Thus, the area remained treacherous for mariners.  In 1876 and 1877, authorities built the Stepping Stones Light on one of the few remaining Devil's Stepping Stones.  The square-shaped Second Empire-style lighthouse is built of red brick and is one-and-a-half stories high.  The lighthouse continues to operate and stands many hundreds of yards off the southern tip of City Island.  It is operated by the United States Coast Guard and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Thankfully the Army Corps of Engineers blasted away most of The Devil's Stepping Stones beginning in the 1850s with a second wave of blasting beginning in 1885.  As a consequence, Habboamoko can never return to Pelham.  Instead, the devil has had to remain on Long Island ever since.  This likely explains a lot about Long Island, including its hellish traffic. . . . . . . . 

The Stepping Stones Light on September

4, 2006.  Source:  "Stepping Stones Light"

in Wikipedia -- The Free Encyclopedia (visited

Aug. 27, 2016).  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

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"In fact, the whole of this neighborhood [the neighborhood of Hell Gate and beyond], was like the straits of Pelorus of yore, a region of fable and romance to me.  From the strait to the Manhattoes, the borders of the Sound are greatly diversified, being broken and indented by rocky nooks overhung with trees, which give them a wild and romantic look.  In the time of my boyhood, they abounded with traditions about pirates, ghosts, smugglers, and buried money which had a wonderful effect upon the young minds of my companions and myself.  

As I grew to more mature years, I made diligent research after the truth of these strange traditions; for I have always been a curious investigator of the valuable but obscure branches of the history of my native province.  I found infinite difficulty, however, in arriving at any precise information.  In seeking to dig up one fact, it is incredible the number of fables that I unearthed.  I will say nothing of the devil's stepping-stones, by which the arch-fiend made his retreat from Connecticut [sic] to Long Island, across the Sound; seeing the subject is likely to be learnedly treated by a worthy friend and contemporary historian, whom I have furnished with particulars thereof.*  [Footnote "*" reads as follows:  "*  For a very interesting and authentic account of the devil and his stepping-stones, see the valuable Memoir read before the New York Historical Society, since the death of Mr. Knickerbocker, by his friend, an eminent jurist of the place."

Source:  Irving, Washington, Tales of a Traveller, pp. 186-87 (NY, NY and London:  G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1824) (from reprint by The Knickerbocker Press, New Rochelle, NY:  1895).  

"THE DEVIL'S STEPPING-STONES 

When the devil set a claim to the fair lands at the north of Long Island Sound, his claim was disputed by the Indians, who prepared to fight for their homes should he attempt to serve his writ of ejectment. Parley resulted in nothing, so the bad one tried force, but he was routed in open fight and found it desirable to get away from the scene of action as soon as possible. He retreated across the Sound near the head of East River. The tide was out, so he stepped from island to island, without trouble, and those reefs and islands are to this day the Devil's Stepping-Stones. On reaching Throgg's Neck he sat down in a despairing attitude and brooded on his defeat, until, roused to a frenzy at the thought of it, he resolved to renew the war on terms advantageous entirely to himself. In that day Connecticut was free from rocks, but Long Island was covered with them; so he gathered all he could lay his hands on and tossed them at the Indians that he could see across the Sound near Cold Spring until the supply had given out. The red men who last inhabited Connecticut used to show white men where the missiles landed and where the devil struck his heel into the ground as he sprang from the shore in his haste to reach Long Island. At Cold Spring other footprints and one of his toes are shown. Establishing himself at Coram, he troubled the people of the country for many years, so that between the devil on the west and the Montauks on the east they were plagued indeed; for though their guard at Watch Hill, Rhode Island, and other places often apprised them of the coming of the Montauks, they never knew which way to look for the devil."

Source:  Skinner, Charles Montgomery, Myths and Legends of Our Own Land, Vol. I, pp. 122-23 (4th ed., Philadelphia & London:  J.B. Lippincott Co., 1896).  

"STEPPING STONES LIGHTHOUSE 

An old Native American legend tells of how the Siwanoy Indians duked it out with Habboamoko, the devil, for possession of Connecticut [sic; as has always been said, Stepping Stones were south of City Island, far from Connecticut].  While Habboamoko had many tricks, the Siwanoy, through their own potions and wizardry were able to back the old devil up against Long Island Sound.  Things looked rather bleak for Habboamoko, when he happened to look over his shoulder at low tide toward Long Island and noticed a trail of stepping stones.  He danced across the rocks and fled to Long Island.  So angry at the Siwanoy was he, that he flung every boulder he could find back across the sound.  His aim was not true, but his power was strong and the boulders were flung as far as Maine, littering New England with rock formations. 

Perhaps due to the legend, or the deadly nor'easters which sneak up on the sound, Colonial maps of the area named Long Island Sound, “Devil’s Belt,” and the reefs skipping across it, “Devil’s Stepping Stones.” 

During the 1860s, shipping commerce through Long Island Sound greatly increased, and with it, the need for a lighthouse to define a clear channel.  Congress appropriated $6,000 in 1866 for a light station to replace a buoy on Hart Island, about 1 mile north of Stepping Stones.  Difficulties arose in obtaining land on Hart Island, and in 1874, the Lighthouse Board opted instead to build the light station at Stepping Stones, which lies about 1600 yards offshore. 

Construction of the Second Empire style lighthouse, a sister to the Hudson-Athens lighthouse on the Hudson River, began in 1875.  Under the direction of A. D. Cook, the Stepping Stones Lighthouse was constructed by Irish bargemen and stonemasons from Throggs Neck.  The red brick keeper's dwelling is topped by a mansard roof and attached to a square tower.  Every outside corner of the structure is decorated with quoins.  900 tons of boulders were barged to the site to form the foundation on the reef, which lies just below the water's surface.  The riprap foundation, encased in rough-hewn blocks, has a base diameter of 48 feet, and the lighthouse rises to a height of 49 feet above sea level. 

On March 1, 1877, Findlay Fraser lit the fifth-order Fresnel lens for the first time.  The original characteristic of the light was fixed red, an appropriate choice for the Devil's Stepping Stones.  In 1932, the light was changed to a fourth order-Fresnel lens with a fixed green light.  A modern optic, which produces a flashing green light, was placed in the lantern room when the lighthouse was automated in 1964. 

A ship approaching New York City’s East River can take a clear channel by keeping south of the Great Captain Island and Execution Rocks lighthouses and then staying north of Stepping Stones Lighthouse.  

A couple of notable keepers served at the Stepping Stones Lighthouse over the years.  Ernest Bloom, who started his service at the station on April 20, 1910, was awarded the Lighthouse Service's efficiency pennant for the meticulous manner in which he maintained the lighthouse.  The pennant was flown next to the Stars and Stripes at the lighthouse to honor Bloom.  Keeper Stephen Holm served at Stepping Stones in the early 1920s and during his time rescued several unfortunate mariners.  One example of his lifesaving skills occurred on July 18, 1923 when two men ran the sailboat Mistral onto the rocks just east of the lighthouse.  Holm hurried to rescue the two men, and later towed their damaged boat to Long Island. 

Devil’s Belt has a tricky way of stirring up unexpected storms.  On the morning of February 9, 1934, the mercury at Stepping Stones Lighthouse hit 14 degrees below zero.  With the Sound frozen, Keeper Charles A. Rogers, could not row ashore for supplies.  The weather only got worse.  On February 20, the wind blew in a blizzard, which dumped 17 inches of snow overnight, the worst storm since 1888.  Trapped and with only two days worth of food for his small family, Rogers hung the flag upside down on March 1 hoping someone would notice the distress signal.  Captain Sioss of the tug Muxpet spotted the signal and gradually broke the Muxpet through the ice to the lighthouse.  The captain offered Rogers food, but Rogers refused stating that it was the Lighthouse Service’s responsibility, and asked that the depot at St. George, Staten Island be notified of the situation.  Shortly after being apprised of the situation, the depot dispatched the lighthouse tender Hickory to the station with supplies. 

Today, wicked storms still race across the Sound and mariners continue to be safely guided through a clear channel, past the hidden reef, by the faithful beam of the lighthouse.  

In 2006, the lighthouse, deemed excess by the Coast Guard, was offered at no cost to eligible entities, including federal, state, and local agencies, non-profit corporations, and educational organizations.  The Town of North Hempstead submitted a letter of interest along with five non-profit organizations:  Asian Americans for Equality in Manhattan; Beacon Preservation Inc. of Ansonia, Conn.; Crabber Cup of Greenwich, Conn.; Historic Preservation Society of America of Washington, D.C.; and Korstad Marine Preservation Society of Brooking, Conn.  Eventually all suitors save North Hempstead withdrew their applications, deciding it was too big an undertaking.  The the National Park Service has yet to announce if the town will gain ownership of the lighthouse.  

References 

1.  Lights & Legends, A Historical Guide to Lighthouses of Long Island Sound, Fishers Island Sound, and Block Island Sound, Harlan Hamilton, 1987. 

2.  Northeast Lights: Lighthouses and Lightships, Rhode Island to Cape Mary, New Jersey, Robert Bachand, 1989. 

3.  Lighthouses of New York, Greater New York Harbor, Hudson River & Long Island, Jim Cowley, 2000."

Source:  United States Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, "Stepping Stones Lighthouse" in ANT NY Lighthouses (visited Aug. 27, 2016).  

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