THE PARKS 



61 



and in summer is dotted by those who love to go out in small boats. 

 It was made in 1700 by throwing an embankment across Tippett's 

 Brook, the Mosholu of the Indians. 



No spot of ground around New York is so hallowed by Revolu- 

 tionary memories as this. It was on Vault Hill, to the northwest 

 of the Van Cortlandt mansion, that Washington in 1781 kept a 

 string of camp fires blazing for several days to deceive Clinton 

 across Spuyten Duyvil Creek, while the allied French and American 

 armies were speeding across the Jerseys on their way to Philadel- 



Van Cortlandt Mansion, Van Cortlandt Park 



phia and Yorktown. Vault Hill derived its name from the ancient 

 burial place of the Van Cortlandts. It was in this vault that the 

 records of the City of New York were hidden by Augustus Van 

 Cortlandt, then City Clerk, when the City was evacuated by the 

 Americans in 1776, and preserved until peace was restored. 



In the lower part of Van Cortlandt Park, in front of the 

 Parade Ground, still stands the historic mansion erected in 1748 

 by Frederick Van Cortlandt, who married Frances Jay, daughter 

 of the ancestor of Chief Justice John Jay. Frederick Van Cort- 

 landt refers to it in his will, written in 1749 as "the large stone 

 dwelling house which I am about finishing." 



