Henry Hudson missed his mark while searching for a passage to China. Sailing up a large river the local Indians called Shatemuch, he anchored off Hook Mountain in 1609. Hudson renamed the river for himself, yet the British called it the "North River" for decades.
Delaware Indians from the Munsee tribe lived all around the Nyack area using the shores along the river to collect oysters. The first European to settle permanently in our village was a Dutchman names Harman Douwensen Tallman; he began trading with the Indians in 1675 near the present site of the Tappan Zee Bridge. Clausland Mountain is named after the Indian Chief Towachack, who later took the name of Jan Claus. Towachack was among the chiefs who signed over the Waywanda and Cheesecote patents to Dutch Settlers.
For decades the folks in Nyack were proud of the Indian history surrounding our community. They adopted the name"Nyack Indians" for the public mascot, a tradition that remained until recently when some felt Indians were being maligned and insulted. While the "official" school mascot has changed, what has not changed is the wonderful history of the Indians that hundreds of years ago made the area their home!
