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Fort Orange�
LESSON 2:�Trade at Fort Orange
“…to plant a colony among the Maikans”�Historisch Verhael by Nicolaes van Wassenaer, 1624
Fort Orange, a Dutch trading post, was constructed in 1624 near traditional Mohican settlements, on the west bank of the Hudson River. It replaced an earlier nearby Dutch fort, Nassau, which was destroyed in 1617 by a flood, about four years after it was built.
The wealthy Dutch East India Company hired Henry Hudson to explore the globe in search of new trade routes in 1609. Hudson sailed across the Atlantic Ocean and found his way up the Hudson River, where he was amazed to discover an abundance of beavers, the furs of which made warm, water-resistant hats and coats that were popular in Europe.
In 1621 the Dutch government founded the Dutch West India Company to manage the fur trade, and in 1629 set up the patroon system to promote settlement in the colony of New Netherland. Kiliaen van Rensselaer, a Dutch diamond and pearl merchant, began acquiring Mohican land in 1630 for the vast patroonship of Rensselaerswijck (RENS-laarz-vike). Rensselaerswijck was originally established as a farming settlement, but officials seized opportunities presented by the fur trade. Trading extended far to the north and west, including a network of Five Nations and Algonquian groups.
In the peak years of the trade in the mid-1650s, tens of thousands of pelts were shipped annually from Fort Orange downriver to Manhattan and then to Europe. But as the beaver population diminished and the trade network was disrupted by war between Native groups, Fort Orange lost its prominence and entered a long period of decline.
Historical Background for Teachers and Students
Setting the Stage
Castle Island, 1645 by Len Tantillo
Observe these two paintings illustrating early Dutch settlements along the Hudson River.
The Trading House by Len Tantillo
The first recorded European structure in New York State, built in 1614, known to the Dutch as Fort Nassau
Dutch and Native American Trade
The Dutch and Native Americans both valued glass beads. Unique, colorful, and costly, beads served the Dutch as trade items that Native peoples used for artistic and cultural purposes. ��Let’s learn more about some of the types of beads and other items the Dutch would use to trade with Native Americans.
CHECK THE SOURCE:�Before Albany�Glass Beads: Styles and Seriation, p. 43�http://exhibitions.nysm.nysed.gov/publications/bulletin/509-20360.pdf�
Group 1: Glass Beads
Featured Trade Items
Glass beads were important to Dutch fur traders because they were highly valued by Native trappers and traders.
More about Glass Beads:
The Dutch began to offer German opaque black glass buttons for trade by the 1600s. These buttons are found on Haudenosaunee archaeological sites throughout New York.
Featured Trade Items
Group 2: Wampum
Wampum, also called sewan, was first made by Algonquian-speaking peoples who lived along Long Island Sound. Native groups in the Northeast placed a high value on these shell-made beads, which were strung together to create a medium of exchange in the fur trade. Natives could exchange wampum for European trade goods and receive it for the furs they trapped and delivered to Europeans. Beads were also strung into belts that were used to communicate messages or played a part in ritual activities. Finally, wampum beads were used to decorate clothing or were fashioned into necklaces and earrings. As time went on, European settlers made wampum too.
CHECK THE SOURCE:�Before Albany�Wampum and Its Relations, p. 76�http://exhibitions.nysm.nysed.gov/publications/bulletin/509-20360.pdf�
Wampum were small tubular beads made from shells.
Featured Trade Items
Group 3: European Smoking Pipes
Trumpet/funnel-shaped clay tobacco pipe produced by Edward Bird in Amsterdam
Large ball clay tobacco pipes with tulip maker’s mark, The Netherlands
Tobacco pipe bowls from the early 1600s were small with a distinctive bulb-shaped body that narrowed at the rim. Around 1625, pipe makers in the Netherlands began producing clay pipes in shapes that appealed to Native American fur traders. Unusually large pipe bowls (top right) occur on several Native American sites in New York.
Edward Bird began making funnel-shaped pipes like the one to the right in the late 1640s specifically for the New Netherland fur trade. These Dutch pipes likely mimicked the same general shape as Native American pipes.
CHECK THE SOURCE:�Before Albany�European Smoking Pipes, p. 72�http://exhibitions.nysm.nysed.gov/publications/bulletin/509-20360.pdf�
Activity 1: Assessment
2. Select one of the trade items above and learn more about it using the description in Before Albany.� Imagine you need or want beaver furs or any of the objects above. Without money, why and how� would you use these items to get what you need?
Before Albany, p. 76�http://exhibitions.nysm.nysed.gov/fortorange/BeforeAlbany/BeforeAlbany-p76-77.pdf�
Wampum
European Smoking Pipe
Glass Beads
Before Albany, p. 42�http://exhibitions.nysm.nysed.gov/fortorange/BeforeAlbany/BeforeAlbany-p42-43.pdf�
Before Albany, p. 72�http://exhibitions.nysm.nysed.gov/fortorange/BeforeAlbany/BeforeAlbany-p72-74.pdf�
FEATURED SOURCES:�The beaver trade was controlled by the West India Company until 1639. After that, it was opened to all, but traders had to pay a 10 percent fee on furs to the company. An Official Inventory of Pieter Pietersz Wijncoop’s Pelts (1646) is an example of the way traders kept track of their inventory and shows how pelts were assigned quality levels. As today, the higher the quality level, the more valuable the commodity.
� �TRANSLATION:
VIEW THE ORIGINAL DOCUMENT�http://www.archives.nysed.gov/education/official-inventory-pieter-pietersz-wijncoops-pelts-july-3-1646
Activity 2: Documenting the Trade
Official Inventory of Pieter Pietersz Wijncoop’s Pelts�On this date, the 3rd of July, 1646, the [ ] members [of the court] of this colony [of Rensselaerswijck], have tallied the beaver [pelts] in [Wijncoop’s ] possession, and [packed them into] trunks [and] nailed [the trunks shut]. [What] we found [is] as follows:��Summer [beaver] pelts 11 items�Inferior [beaver] pelts 29�Good, whole [beaver pelts] 103�Half [beaver pelts] 50�Pieces [of beaver pelts] 14�Otter [pelts] 20� In total: 227 items��In addition, Wijncoop will show his accounts to us this coming Thursday or Friday, [so we can see] what still remains, and act further in the interests of our masters.� In the name of all,� A. de Hooges
Activity 2: Documenting the Trade
3. What did the Dutch gain from trade with the Mohawks and Mohicans, and what kind of system did � the Dutch develop to track the trade?
Summative Assessment
4. Imagine you are one of the first Europeans to arrive at the site of Fort Orange. Write a persuasive
letter or create an advertisement encouraging people to come to the area and build the fort for
trade with the Native Americans. Be sure to include information about the items Native Americans
prefer in trade and the abundance of resources.
Setting the Stage:
1. Using your observations of the two paintings, describe what the beginning of Dutch presence in North America was like.
Q&A RESPONSE:
Activity 1: Assessment
Q&A RESPONSE:
2. Select one of the trade items above and learn more about it using the description in Before Albany.
Imagine you need or want beaver furs or any of the objects above. Without money, why and how
would you use these items to get what you need?
Activity 2: Documenting the Trade
Q&A RESPONSE:
3. What did the Dutch gain from trade with the Mohawks and Mohicans, and what kind of system did
the Dutch develop to track the trade?
Summative Assessment
Q&A RESPONSE:
4. Imagine you are one of the first Europeans to arrive at the site of Fort Orange. Write a persuasive letter or create an advertisement encouraging people to come to the area and build the fort for trade with the Native Americans. Be sure to include information about the items Native Americans prefer in trade and the abundance of resources.