About Putnam Valley, New York

Native Americans

Before the Europeans came, the people who lived in this area belonged to the Canopus group of the Nochpeem band of the “Wappinger Indian Confederacy”. As part of the Mohican nation, they spoke the Algonkian language.

In 1600 an estimated 4,700 members of this confederacy ranged over an area that spread from Manhattan to Poughkeepsie, along the Hudson River and extending eastward toward Connecticut.

The footpaths made by the Native Americans usually followed the stream valleys.  The first settlers followed these footpaths and in the course of time, they became the roads we know today as Peekskill Hollow, Canopus Hollow and Oscawana Lake roads.

Native American villages were usually positioned on the side hill, facing south, and within easy access to water.  The principal settlement in Putnam Valley is thought to have been in the hollow at Canopus Hill and one of the largest villages in the entire region.  Other campsites might have been located at Roaring Brook, Tompkins Corners and Adam Corners.

The Native Americans left us a legacy of their names. The name Oscawana seems to have been a Native American personal name.  One of the signers of the deed dated 1682 at Croton was a Native American named “Askawanes”.  In 1683, one “Oskewana” sold a tract of land to the Van Cortlandt family.  Wiccopee is said to mean “house by the water”.