ttan to
Albany was occupied by Algonquin tribes, while the central part
of the state along the Mohawk Valley had been conquered by the
famous Iroquois Confederation, of which the Mohawks were the most
warlike. The Mohawks soon drove out the Mohicans, who claimed as
their territory the east bank of the Hudson. On the whole, the
Dutch lived peaceably with their Indian neighbors, but an attempt
of Gov. Kieft to collect tribute from them led to an Indian war
(1641), which resulted in the destruction of most of the outlying
settlements. Later a treaty of alliance was made with the
Iroquois Confederation, which protected the early settlements in
N.Y. from those attacks which occurred so frequently elsewhere in
this period. The treaty was renewed when the British took
possession of New Netherlands, and lasted until the Revolutionary
War.

The land where Yonkers now stands was part of an estate granted in 1646
by the Dutch government to Adrian Van Der Donck, the first lawyer and
historian of New Netherlands. The settlement was called the "De
Jonkheer's land" or "De Yonkeer's"--meaning the estate of the young
lord--- and afterwards Yonkers. Subsequently the tract passed into the
hands of Frederick Philipse, the "Dutch millionaire," as the English
called him, some of whom alleged that he owed a large part of his
fortune to piratical and contraband ventures. The suspicion was strong
enough to force Philipse out of the governing council of the colony, and
he returned to his manor where he died (1702) at the age of 76.

It was even charged that he was one of the backers of Capt.
William Kidd (1645-1701), for whose buried treasure search has
been made along the Hudson, as well as in countless places along
the Atlantic Coast. Capt. Kidd began the career which made him
notorious under a commission from the British Government to
apprehend pirates. He sailed from Plymouth, England, in May 1696,
filled up his crew in N.Y. in the following year, and then set
out for Madagascar, the principal rendezvous of the buccaneers.
Deserting his ship, he threw in his lot with theirs and captured
several rich booties. Returning to N.Y., he was arrested, sent to
London, found guilty and hanged. Of his "treasure" about L14,000
was recovered from his ship and from Gardner's Island, off the
east end of Long Island. The stories of large hoards stil