Under the Dutch 41 



lands in the fertile valley of the Connecticut on both sides of 

 the river, and Commissary Van Curler established a fort at 

 the junction of a small stream (now the Park River) with 

 the "Fresh" River, as the Connecticut was then called. The 

 fort was near the site of the present city of Hartford, and was 

 called "Fort Good Hope." The arms of the States-General 

 were also nailed to a tree at Kievet's Hoeck (Saybrook Point) 

 on the west bank of the mouth of the river. An Englishman 

 named Holmes visited the river on behalf of the Massachu- 

 setts Colony, and, though threatened by the commandant at 

 Fort Good Hope, sailed his sloop past the fort and inspected 

 the land beyond. His report was so favorable that a colony 

 was established at Hartford, within a mile of the Dutch fort, 

 whose garrison the English treated with derision. One of the 

 Dutch complaints reads: 



"Those of Hartford have not only usurped and taken the 

 lands of Connecticut, but have also beaten the servants of 

 their high mightinesses, the honored Company, with sticks 

 and plow staves, laming them." — 1640. 



For a humorous account of this whole transaction, one 

 should read the history by " Diedrich Knickerbocker. " 



Remonstrances from the Dutch followed continuously until 

 1663, when, for the purpose of adjusting the conflicting claims, 

 Governor Stuyvesant went in person to Boston, where he 

 stated before the New England commissioners who had been 

 appointed to meet him, that "he wished a friendly and 

 neighborly settlement of differences concerning Eastdorp, by 

 the English called Westchester, and all other disputes, that 

 the parties may live in peace in the wilderness where many 

 barbarous Indians dwell." His negotiations were fruitless, 

 as the New England commissioners demanded more than his 

 duty to his superiors would permit him to grant. The loss 



