lO SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 82 



reproduced in the articles cited, are believed to represent Monacan 

 Indians as described by him, however the sketches are not mentioned 

 in the journal and for that reason are not positively identified. 



The Indians of the village, or those who frequented the settlement, 

 had been in possession of guns for many years. When Lederer ^ and 

 his party reached the village of the " Monakins," May 22, 1670, they 

 were, so he wrote : " welcomed by them with volleys of shot." But 

 the village at that time was already much reduced and undoubtedly 

 many of the people had wandered away to seek new homes elsewhere. 

 In 1669, the year before Lederer's visit, the Monacan could bring 

 together only 30 warriors. 



MASSINACACK 



Massinacack was the second native village reached by Newport 

 in 1608 after having entered the Monacan territory. It is shown 

 on the Smith map of 1624 as situated south of the James. Strachey 

 mentioned it being some 14 miles distant from Mowhemcho, or 

 Monacan Town, which would place it on the right bank of the river 

 about the mouth of the present Mohawk Creek, a mile or more south 

 of the town of Goochland, on the opposite side of the James. 



Lederer was at the Monacan village late in May, 1670. A crude 

 map, part of which is now reproduced in figure 3, accompanied the 

 narrative of his journey and shows the James, or Pawathan fJ. from 

 near the falls westward. A dotted line passes up the right bank of 

 the river and is evidently intended to represent the trail which he 

 followed. This reached Monakin and continued to Mahock. The 

 former was the Mowhemcho of Smith, the latter was undoubtedly 

 another form of Massinacack, from which the present name of the 

 creek has been derived. Two streams are represented coming together 

 at Mahock and at once suggest the confluence of the James and the 

 Rivanna, but it probably indicates the creek now bearing the name 

 Mohawk flowing into the James. This was, without doubt, the site 

 of the ancient village of Massinacack. 



Lederer's narrative is vague and uncertain, the distances given 

 are not reliable, but the names of streams and of places which appear 

 on the map and are repeated in the text may be quite accurate. For 

 this reason the present Mohawk Creek is believed to have been the 

 Mahock of Lederer. By continuing due westward from this creek 

 the party would have reached the James flowing in a northerly 



'Lederer, John, The discoveries of ... . Begun in March 1669, and ended 

 in September 1670. London, 1672. Reprint, Rochester, 1902. 



