History of Westchester County, New York, Volume 1. Frederic Shonnard

      CHAPTER III. DISCOVERY AND PRELIMINARY VIEW

      THE alluring hypothesis of the discovery and settlement of portions of this continent by the Northmen far back in the Middle Ages, formerly received with quite general consideration, finds few supporters at this day among the loading authorities on the early history of America. That the Norse colonized Greenland at a very early period is unhesitatingly admitted, abundant proofs of their occupancy of that country being afforded by authentic ruins, especially of churches and baptistries, and collateral testimony to the fact being furnished by old ecclesiastical annals, which seem to indicate that as early as the eleventh century Greenland belonged to the jurisdiction of the Catholic bishops of Iceland. It is also conceded to be not impossible that accidental Norse descents from Greenland upon the continent were made in the centuries that followed. But this is merely an amiable concession to academic conjecture. It is insisted that no reliable Norse remains have ever been found south of Davis Straits: and one by one the various relics thought to be of Norse origin that have been brought forward, including certain supposed Runic inscriptions, have been pronounced incapable of acceptation as such.

      Several years ago there was found at Inwood, just below the limits of Westchester County, by Mr. Alexander C. Chenoweth (whose Indian excavations in the same locality are noticed in the preceding chapter), a stone curiously marked, which was the subject of some archaeological discussion at the time. The markings were claimed to be rude Runic characters constituting an inscription, out of which one writer, by ingeniously interpolating missing letters, formed the words Kirkjussynir akta, which translated are " Sons of the Church tax (or rake a census)." " I suppose it to mean," added this writer, " that representatives of the Church of Rome had been there to tax, or number the people, and that this stone was inscribed to commemorate the event." Thus it is seen that the general region of which our county forms a part has been connected with the fabled ages of Norse habitation of America— whatever may be thought of the specific ground for the connection. The Inwood stone is possibly as plausible a specimen of "Runic" lettering as other so-called inscribed stones which have been scrutinized and repudiated by archaeologists from time to time. The all-sufficient argument against the Norse theory is that no satisfactory traces of Norse residence, aside from the doubtful inscriptions, have ever been discovered — no ruins of dwellings or works of any kind, no personal relics, and no indisputable graves, — whereas such a people could not conceivably have dwelt here without transmitting to us some more visible tokens of their presence than laboriously carved memorials.

      The authentic history of Westchester County begins in the month of September, 1609, when Henry Hudson, in his little ship the " Half Moon," entered the harbor of New York and ascended the great river which now bears his name. But there are strong reasons for believing that Hudson was not the first navigator to appear on our shores, or at least in their immediate vicinity.

      In 1524 Juan Verrazano, an Italian in the French service, sailing northward along the coast, came to anchor at a place apparently outside the Narrows. In a letter dated July 8, 1521, to Francis I., king of France, he reports that he " found a very pleasant situation among some steep hills, through which a very large river, deep at its mouth, forced its way to the sea; to the estuary of the river, any ship heavily laden might pass with the help of the tide, which rises eight feet. But as we were riding at anchor in a good berth we would not venture up in our vessel, without a knowledge of the mouth; therefore we took the boat, and entering the river we found a country on its banks well peopled. . . . We passed up this river about half a league, when we found it formed a most beautiful lake three leagues in circuit. . . . All of a sudden, as is wont to happen to navigators, a violent contrary wind blew in from the sea, and forced us to return to our ship, greatly regretting to leave this region which seemed so commodious and delightful, and which we supposed must also contain great riches, as the hills showed mam T indications of minerals." This description, although perplexing in some of its statements, and therefore suggesting caution as to conclusions, reasonably admits of the belief (allowing for the inaccuracies in detail which nearly always occur in the reports of the early explorers) that Verrazano entered and inspected the Upper Bay. But it hardly justifies the opinion that he passed up the river; the "lake three leagues in circuit " could have been no other body of water than the Upper Bay, and the " river " up which he went " about half a league " to reach it was evidently the Narrows.

      In the following year (1525) Estevan Gomez, a Portuguese sailor employed by Spain to seek a passage to India, explored the coast, which, he says, "turns southward twenty leagues to Bay St. Chripstapel in 39°. From that bend made by the land the coast turns northward, passing said bay thirty leagues to Rio St. Antonio, in 41°, which is north and south with said bay." Gomez's "Bay St. Chripstapel" was unquestionably the Lower New York Bay, and his "Rio St. Antonio" (so named in honor of the saint on whose day he beheld it) the Hudson River. The latter conclusion is clearly established by his description of the river as "north and south with said bay," which, taken in its connections, cannot possibly apply to any other stream. To have established the north and south direction of the river he must have explored it for some distance. It hence becomes an entirely reasonable inference that in 1525, eighty-four years before Hudson's appearance, the Portuguese Gomez, sailing under a commission from Spain, entered Westchester County waters. It has even been suggested that Anthony's Nose, the peak which guards the entrance to the Highlands, owes its name to this first voyager of the river.

      Aside from the records of these early discoveries of Verrazano and Gomez, there is much historical evidence indicating that at least the general coast conformation in the latitude of New York was well understood by European cartographers and navigators long before Hudson made his memorable voyage in the " Half-Moon." This is strikingly illustrated by Hudson's own statement, that in seeking a way to India in this region he was partly influenced by a hint received from his friend, Captain John Smith, of Virginia, to the effect that somewhere about 40 north there was a strait conducting to the Pacific, similar to Magellan's Strait. Indeed, it was in studied violation of the instructions laid down for him by his employers at his setting out that he turned his vessel hitherward. His instructions were to sail past Nova Zembla and the north coast of Siberia, through the Bering Strait into the Pacific, and so southward to the Dutch Indies. The famous "Sailing Directions " of Ivar Bardsen that he took with him to guide his course related exclusively to far northern latitudes.

      Thus it is likely that neither the honor of the original discovery of the Hudson River, nor such merit as attaches to the conception of the availability of this latitude for adventurous quest, belongs to Henry Hudson. Proper recognition of these historical facts does not, however, involve any diminishing from the uniqueness and greatness of his achievement. He found a grand harbor and a mighty and beautiful river, previously unknown, or only vaguely known, to the civilized world. He thoroughly explored both, and, returning to Europe, gave accounts of them which produced an immediate appreciation of their importance and speedily led to measures for the development of the country. Judged by its attendant results, Hudson's exploit stands unrivaled in the history of North American exploration. No other single discovery on the mainland of this continent was so quickly, consecutively, and successfully followed by practical enterprise.

      Henry Hudson was of English birth and training. Apart from this, and from the facts of his four voyages, which were made in as many years, nothing is known of him. His first voyage was undertaken in 1607 for the Muscovy Company, having for its object the discovery of a northeast route to China along the coast of Spitzbergen. His second, in 1608, to a like end, took him to the region of Nova Zembla. It was on his third, in 1609, still looking for a short way to the Orient, that he came to these shores. His fourth and last, in pursuit of the same chimera, was in 1610-11, the expense being borne by three English gentlemen. He explored the bay and strait to which his name has since been given, passed the winter in the southern part of the bay, and on the 21st of June, 1611, was, with his sou and seven companions, set adrift in an open boat by his mutinous crew, never to be heard of more.

      When Hudson adventured forth on his momentous voyage of 1609 he flew from the mast of his vessel the flag of the new-born Republic of the United Netherlands. Just at that