EARLY HISTORY 5 



whether she was friend or foe, their curiosity would not down, and 

 presently they put out from the shore in several canoes and boldly 

 headed for the Half Moon. Their dread of the supernatural powers 

 the strange craft might possess apparently had forsaken them and 

 they came aboard and inspected her with the greatest interest. 

 As they started to return to their canoes, an attempt was made 

 to detain two of their number. The Indians vigorously resented 

 this breach of hospitality. Before the Half Moon got under way 

 they leaped overboard and made their escape, and when they 

 reached shore they shrieked disdain and scorn at Hudson. 



It may have been a coincidence, but it is an established fact 

 that the next stop Hudson made after leaving Spuyten Duyvil was 

 Yonkers, then the Indian village of Nappeckamok, and the 

 present northern boundary line of The Bronx. It will thus 

 be seen that he practically outlined the Borough. Be that as it 

 may, The Bronx citizens, at the suggestion of Wm. C. Muschenheim, 

 have commemorated that event by erecting a beautiful monument 

 on the brow of the hill which overlooks the scene of his first 

 anchorage. 



The monument, designed by Walter Cook, is in the shape of a 

 Roman Doric column, 100 feet in height, and it stands on an 

 elevation of 200 feet from the river. The shaft is to be sur- 

 mounted by a sixteen-foot statue of Henry Hudson, sculptured by 

 Karl Bitter. There is to be a balcony at the top of the column, 

 to be reached by means of a spiral stairway within the shaft, 

 from which a magnificent panoramic view of The Bronx can 

 be had. 



Another tribute paid to the memory of this great admiral is 

 the Hudson Memorial Bridge now in process of construction. This 

 magnificent structure is to span Spuyten Duyvil Creek at its con- 

 fluence with the Hudson River and is to connect the Boulevard 

 Lafayette with the beautiful Spuyten Duyvil Parkway. The bridge 

 was to have been constructed by 1909, the three hundredth anni- 

 versary of Hudson's explorations, but the plans did not meet with 

 the approval of the Municipal Art Commission. 



Hudson ascended the river to Albany, holding communication 

 with the Indians along the way, and so kind and friendly was their 

 uisposition toward him that he wrote of them as the "loving peo- 

 ple." On September 23d, he began his return voyage, sailing 

 thru the Highlands, and on October 1st he anchored the Half 



