evelop
electric power. The Mohawk valley is noted for its beauty and the
fertility of its soil. The name Mohawk is probably derived from
an Indian word meaning "man-eaters"; but the Mohawks' own name
for their tribe was Kaniengehaga, "people of the flint." They
lived in the region bounded on the north by the Lake of Corlear,
on the east by the Falls of Cohoes, on the south by the sources
of the Susquehanna, and on the west by the country of the
Oneidas. The dividing line between the Mohawk and Oneida tribes
passed through the present town of Utica. The Mohawks had the
reputation of being the bravest of the Iroquois; they furnished
the war chief for the Six Nations and exercised the right to
collect tribute in the form of wampum from the Long Island tribes
and to extend their conquests along the sea coast. The tribes,
along both banks of the Hudson River, it is said, shrank before
their war cry. In the War of Independence they fought with the
English, and finally took refuge in Canada, where most of them
have remained.

The first settlement at Schenectady was made in 1642 by Arendt Van
Corlear and a band of immigrants who had become dissatisfied with
conditions on the Manor of Rennselaerwyck where Corlear was manager of
the estates of his cousin, Killiaen van Rennselaer.

Van Corlear had emigrated to America about 1630 and while manager
of Rennselaerwyck he earned the confidence of the Indians, among
whom "Corlear" became a generic term for the English governors
and especially the governors of N.Y. The name Kora, derived from
the same source, is said to be used even today by surviving
Iroquois in Canada to designate the English king.

To each of the 15 original proprietors, except Van Corlear who was to
receive a double portion, was assigned a village lot of 200 sq. ft., a
tract of bottom land for farming purposes, a strip of woodland, and
common pasture rights. Many of the early settlers were well-to-do and
brought their slaves with them, and for many years the settlement,
originally known as Dorp, was reputed the richest in the colony.

Schenectady was spelled in a great variety of ways in the early records.
Its Indian equivalent signified "Back Door" of the Long House--the
territory occupied by the Six Nations.

In an early map (1655) the name appears as Scanacthade. As late
as 1700 the spelling was still uncertai