INDIANS OF MANHATTAN ISLAND 



45 



on old maps, emptied into the Hudson 

 or East River, there were small, 

 temporary Indian camps. It is likely 

 that these camps were used only in 

 summer, while the primitive occupant 

 of Manhattan retreated to the more 

 protected part of the Island, as at 

 Inwood and Cold Spring, during the 

 winter. Or it may be possible that, 

 as Ruttenber 1 states, the villages on 

 Manhattan Island were only occupied 

 when the Indians were on hunting and 

 fishing excursions, while their per- 

 manent villages were on the mainland. 

 Bolton, 2 however, says their principal 

 settlement was on Manhattan Island. 

 Fort Washington Point. There is a 

 small deposit of shells on the southern 

 edge of the point, in which the writer 

 found some small pieces of pottery and 

 a few flint chips, thus proving its 

 Indian origin. This was probably a 

 summer camp, as it was too exposed 

 for winter use. 



Zerrenner's Farm. A favorable slop- 

 ing field at 194th Street and Broadway 

 now used for truck farming, was 

 utilized as a camp site. Camp debris 

 of varied character has been ploughed 

 up here. Perhaps the overhanging 

 rocks below Ft. Washington, between 

 194th and 198th Streets on Bennett 

 Avenue afforded the Indians some 

 shelter in winter. 



Inwood Station Site. At the foot of 

 Dyckman Street and Hudson River, 

 there existed a large deposit of shells, 

 most of which were removed, when the 

 rocks on which they lay were blasted 

 away for grading the street. A few 

 arrow points and bits of pottery, as 

 well as several Revolutionary objects 



1 Indian Tribes of Hudson's River, p. 78. 



2 History of Westchester County, p. 25. 



were found here. There are photo- 

 graphs of this deposit in the Museum. 

 Seaman Avenue Site. This site, 

 between Academy and Hawthorne 

 Streets, running through from Seaman 

 Avenue to Cooper Street, is the most 

 extensive village site from which 

 remains have been collected. It was a 

 British camp site during the Revolu- 

 tion, and a number of buttons, gun- 

 flints and bullets have been found there 

 as well as numerous Indian remains. 

 It seems to have been the workshop for 

 a red jasper-like stone of which numer- 

 ous chips but no finished implements 

 have been found. The shells at this 

 point were first noticed by Mr. Calver 

 in 1890. They may not all be of 

 Indian origin, as some may be due to 

 Revolutionary soldiers. 



Harlem River Deposit. Mr. Calver 

 says, ' 'Extending from 209th Street to 

 211th Street on the west bank of the 

 Harlem River and almost on a line 

 with Ninth Avenue was another large 

 deposit of oyster shells lying just 

 beneath the top soil of the field. These 

 shells had nearly all been disturbed by 

 the plow and are interesting only for 

 their color, which was red. Pieces of 

 horn of deer and split bones of the same 

 animal were common among the shells ; 

 but, in spite of the apparent antiquity 

 of the deposit, there were, even in the 

 lowest strata of it, some small frag- 

 ments of glass which proved that either 

 the whole mass had been disturbed or 

 else the shells had been left during the 

 historic period. There are several 

 stone sinkers and hammerstones from 

 this spot in Mr. Calver's collection and 

 at the Museum. 



Isham Park Site. On the knolls 

 along the south side of Isham Park, 

 and particularly in Isham 's Garden, 



