Esquatak

Esquatak, remembered as the fireplace of the Mohican nation, was a principal village and council place near the Hudson River. Mohican communities occupied both banks of the river and lands extending eastward into the Housatonic River valley. The river that they called Mahicannituck carried their canoes and connected their villages long before the arrival of Dutch traders.

After Henry Hudson's voyage upriver in 1609, Dutch merchants came seeking furs and established Fort Orange in 1624. Rivalry over trade contributed to war between the Mohican and Mohawk. By 1629 the Mohawk had taken former Mohican territory west of the Hudson, and many Mohicans moved east. Dutch tenants established farms in the Esquatak area from 1630, bringing further change to the homeland around the council fire.