Van Cortlandt Park East,                                                                                                                               Bronx, NY 10470                                                                                                                                             Indian Field

“This tract of land honors Chief Abraham Ninham and the 17 Mohican Indians who died here during a mission to aid the Americans in the Revolutionary War.”

Van Cortlandt Park is one of my favorite places to run in New York. I love jogging through this exquisitely beautiful woodlands each morning. It’s New York City’s fourth largest park and has the largest freshwater lake in the Bronx.  I’m definitely more of a lake gal; the lake plays a major role in my life. However, after going here for so long, it didn’t occur to me till now that this park is a historic landmark.

Before, I ever enjoyed the solitude and beauty of this private woodlood such as hiking, biking, fishing, wildlife viewing, and picnicking, Weckquaesgee Indians.lived in the Van Cortlandt Park area and hunted the forested upland, fished in its wooded swamps and enjoyed this serenity before anyone else. They were the first known original  inhabitants.

After Van der Donck death, the land changed hands several times until 1694, when Jacobus Van Cortlandt (of what is now Van Cortlandt Park) purchased it. In 1888, the City of New York took title to Van Cortlandt Park.

At the outbreak of the revolutionary war in 1778, Chief Abraham Ninham and 17 Mohicans from Stockbridge, Massachusetts, were killed or captured for the defense of American liberty. This park serves as a reminder of the attack on Stockbridge Indians by the Hessian mercenaries (British forces). “The clash was the only revolutionary battle to occur entirely within the bounds of today’s Van Cortlandt Park.”  (http://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/VanCortlandtPark/highlights/11610)

Van CortlantPark Lake (although not located on the Indian Field)