﻿1 
  8 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  attainments 
  ; 
  of 
  great 
  credulity, 
  and 
  with 
  strong 
  personal 
  attach- 
  

   ments 
  to 
  the 
  Indians. 
  His 
  entire 
  life 
  was 
  passed 
  among 
  the 
  Dela- 
  

   ware 
  s, 
  and 
  his 
  knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  Indian 
  history 
  and 
  character 
  was 
  

   derived 
  wholly 
  from 
  them. 
  The 
  Delaware 
  tribe 
  was 
  the 
  first 
  and 
  

   last 
  object 
  of 
  his 
  hopes. 
  Every 
  legendary 
  story 
  of 
  their 
  former 
  

   power, 
  and 
  of 
  their 
  subsequent 
  fall, 
  such 
  as 
  the 
  old 
  men 
  repeated 
  

   to 
  the 
  boys 
  in 
  the 
  long 
  winter 
  evenings, 
  was 
  received 
  by 
  him 
  in 
  

   good 
  faith, 
  and 
  has 
  been 
  recorded 
  with 
  all 
  the 
  gravity 
  of 
  history. 
  

   It 
  appears 
  never 
  to 
  have 
  occurred 
  to 
  him 
  that 
  these 
  traditional 
  

   stories, 
  orally 
  repeated 
  from 
  generation 
  to 
  generation, 
  may 
  have 
  

   finally 
  borne 
  very 
  little 
  resemblance 
  to 
  the 
  events 
  they 
  commemo- 
  

   rate, 
  nor 
  that 
  a 
  Delaware 
  could 
  sacrifice 
  the 
  love 
  of 
  truth 
  to 
  the 
  

   love 
  of 
  his 
  tribe. 
  Cass, 
  22 
  165 
  

  

  All 
  this 
  must 
  be 
  taken 
  with 
  reasonable 
  allowance 
  but 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  

   added 
  that 
  the 
  best 
  authorities 
  sometimes 
  err, 
  Indians 
  themselves 
  

   often 
  differing 
  widely 
  in 
  the 
  interpretation 
  of 
  names, 
  and 
  that 
  while 
  

   some 
  are 
  certain, 
  very 
  many 
  must 
  always 
  be 
  matters 
  of 
  opinion, 
  

   whoever 
  sustains 
  them. 
  Most 
  nouns 
  have 
  been 
  shortened 
  for 
  con- 
  

   venience 
  and 
  others 
  have 
  been 
  insensibly 
  changed, 
  so 
  that 
  the 
  true 
  

   forms 
  and 
  meanings 
  of 
  m/any 
  are 
  hard 
  to 
  determine. 
  

  

  LOCAL 
  NAMES 
  

  

  In 
  giving 
  and 
  defining 
  local 
  names, 
  when 
  this 
  can 
  be 
  done, 
  

   perhaps 
  no 
  better 
  or 
  more 
  convenient 
  arrangement 
  can 
  be 
  made 
  

   than 
  the 
  arbitrary 
  one 
  of 
  classing 
  them 
  by 
  counties. 
  The 
  general 
  

   and 
  logical 
  territorial 
  grouping 
  has 
  been 
  mentioned, 
  and 
  on 
  Long 
  

   Island 
  might 
  be 
  preferred. 
  Names 
  might 
  be 
  grouped 
  in 
  linguistic 
  

   families, 
  but 
  a 
  little 
  practice 
  soon 
  enables 
  most 
  persons 
  to 
  distin- 
  

   guish 
  between 
  Iroquois 
  and 
  Algonquin 
  names, 
  wherever 
  found, 
  

   though 
  a 
  few 
  are 
  barely 
  separated 
  in 
  sound. 
  It 
  will 
  be 
  seen 
  that 
  

   many 
  places 
  have 
  more 
  than 
  one 
  name, 
  or 
  that 
  it 
  appears 
  in 
  several 
  

   forms. 
  At 
  first 
  it 
  seemed 
  best 
  to 
  group 
  all 
  the 
  names 
  of 
  any 
  place 
  

   under 
  one 
  head. 
  'While 
  this 
  is 
  occasionally 
  done 
  it 
  seemed 
  better 
  

   to 
  separate 
  the 
  more 
  important 
  names 
  or 
  forms, 
  giving 
  them 
  a 
  

   nearly 
  alphabetical 
  arrangement 
  in 
  the 
  several 
  counties. 
  A 
  few 
  

   doubtful 
  names 
  will 
  appear, 
  where 
  writers 
  have 
  differed 
  as 
  to 
  their 
  

   origin. 
  It 
  is 
  remarkable 
  that 
  they 
  are 
  so 
  few. 
  

  

  ALBANY 
  COUNTY 
  

  

  The 
  Indian 
  title 
  was 
  so 
  soon 
  extinguished 
  in 
  most 
  of 
  Albany 
  

   county 
  that 
  few 
  local 
  names 
  remain. 
  It 
  belonged 
  to 
  the 
  Mahicans, 
  

  

  