Drive Through History: Dutch & Mohican History

Henry Hudson, an English captain exploring for the Dutch, sailed to North America in 1609 in search of a Northwest Passage. Though he did not find a route to Asia, he did discover an untapped supply of “soft gold” — beaver pelts — that would help make the Netherlands a major power in the global fur trade.

The Dutch did not do this alone, however. Shortly after Hudson’s voyage, the Europeans formed crucial trade relationships with the region’s Indigenous peoples, including the Mohicans who lived and hunted in what is now Columbia County. But Dutch gains brought devastating losses, and within 150 years the local Native population was reduced to virtually zero.

This driving tour follows the rise and fall of both the Dutch colony of New Netherland and the Mohican peoples—two cultures that are forever entwined in the history of Columbia County.