The
Colonists, instead of making a treaty with the Indians, gave their
adhesion to one already made, thereby securing safety and a practical
monopoly of the fur trade on the upper Hudson. They sent annual presents
to the Iroquois General Council, which were doubtless received as
tribute in recognition of sovereignty, but the Walloon Nation did not
seem to care very much about the sovereignty business so long as the fur
business continued to prosper, as it did for the next half century.
Two score or so of Walloons did not constitute a very formidable nation
but the men were reinforced by the women who had an equal voice not only
in local affairs but in the General Council of the Federation.
The settlers built their houses on the Indian trail leading Westward to
which they gave the name of Beaver street--their grand boulevard which
must have been two or three squares long. Beaver Street was the main
highway of the Walloon Nation and was the center of the "Old Colonie" as
the Dutch neighborhood was subsequently called.
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