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by Judith Kelley-Moberg
Early man first moves into this region after the retreat of the Wisconsin lobe of the continental glacier that covered the North East during the last Ice Age. The southern region of New York was probably ice free around 15 thousand years ago. In this postglacial period the climate was tundra-like and melt waters created vast shallow lakes and bogs. Layers of clay found several feet below the surface in the Patterson area suggest that at this early date the Swamp was probably a shallow lake, whose still waters allowed the fine day sediments to settle out.
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We have no hard evidence of the earliest herd hunters who leave their distinct fluted points on the high ridges as they followed wandering herds of mammoth and mastodon across the frozen swamps and lakes in the swamp area, but many mastodon and mammoth remains have been unearthed in ancient swampy (bog) areas in North Salem and Shrub Oak. The earliest evidence we have of inhabitants of the Great Swamp region come from a rock shelter adjoining the Muddy Brook branch in Patterson . A preliminary report by Kurt Tompkins in The New York State Archaeological Journal,1979, indicates that early Archaic people were on site about 8,000 years ago. In the Cultural Resource Survey done for Hart Associates in 1987-88, the "Rosebud Site", on a knoll off Route 311 in the Town of Patterson, was found to contain not only middle and late archaic artifacts (6000-1000 B.C.) but also evidence of post holes for dwellings, which would indicate occupation up through the Woodland period. Pottery, also associated with the Woodland Period, has been found along many of the rocky ridges with suitable overhangs that run in north-east to south-west folds throughout the swamp. A dugout canoe was pulled out of the Swamp near Pine Island and is currently housed in the Putnam County Historians Office in Brewster.
The Great Swamp either as a swamp or shallow lake defined where settlement and passage through the region would occur. The ridges offered easier travel routes than the bottomlands and we have found evidence of primitive people along them. The well drained mounds of glacial till dotting the edges of the swamp offered areas for camps and settlements. The archaic hunters and gatherers were attracted to the area because the wetland provided root plants like cattail, arrowroot, and sweet flag, all starch sources, as well as attracting migratory water fowl, fish, and desirable fur bearing mammals like the beaver. In an article by Horace Hillery, The Great Swamp, he states that, "The Indian-Dutch treaty of 1617 said furs from The Great Swamp in Patterson were most desirable. The Indian Cemetery at the mouth of Haviland Hollow was probably near the Indian winter trapping camp." The early Beaver trade in New York probably caused the Swamp to be trapped out by the beginning of the 18th century either by the local Algonquin speaking people who were members of the Wappinger Confederacy, or white trappers.
The earliest white settlers in the region seemed to be involved in endless arguments over land ownership. Connecticut and New York fought over ownership of the eastern edge of the Swamp as did settlers who bought land from Nimham sachem of the Wappingers and the Patent owners who had been granted the land by European monarchs, who had no knowledge of previous Indian owners or who could identify local landmarks.
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| The Great Swamp is featured prominently in this 1867 map of Patterson |
In 1732 the line between New York and Connecticut. was defined by a line of stone heaps (monuments) that ran along the hills to the east of the Great Swamp. In Pelletreau's History Of Putnam County, p. 113, the 12 mile marker was, "a stake and heap of stones being at the east side of a hill near a point of rocks to the west of a great swamp and boggy meadow in said swamp in Croton River". This was along the eastern boundary of the town of Patterson, the northern section of what was called the "Oblong". The eastern ridge that runs along the length of the Great Swamp was settled by Quakers and has come to be known as Quaker Hill, while the swampy lowlands to the east seemed to be settled by tenants of lesser means. The Prendergast Rebellion in 1766 was a reaction to the rents paid by the tenants and their dispossession at the whim of the landlord. This conflict ranged back and forth between Quaker Hill and the Western end of the main street in Patterson.
The Great Swamp was clearly an obstacle to the laying out of the early highways through the region. In Horace Hillery's supplement to the Pawling Chronicle, The Settling of the Lower Harlem Valley, written in 1933, he states that, "Between 1745-52 two important north and south highways were laid out. One ran the entire length of the high ridge that marks the center of the 'Oblong'. The other ran through Carmel and Ludingtonville. These two highways were to become two of the most important north and south highways in the state. Two east highways were laid out: one from De Forest Corners to Carmel, the other from the Oblong road on Quaker Hill west through Patterson to Ludingtonville and then north to join the main highway". The swamp made east-west roads clearly confine themselves to the few areas where the highland came close enough to the Croton River to be bridged. The Town of Patterson was on such a ridge and as passage moved back and forth from Connecticut to the Hudson towns along this route, it flourished enough in the late 18th and early part of the 19th century to be referred to as "The City". A map of the Quaker Hill area from the De Witt Clinton collection, drawn in 1778-1780 to show the Fishkill to Danbury Road, shows all the branches of the Croton as they meander through the Great Swamp. A swamp between Patterson and Pawling is marked "where the waters divide", an unusual drainage pattern which sends the waters above this location into the Ten Mile River and the southern outlet into the Croton. The settlement of Patterson and Pawling occurred along these limited passage areas.
The local streams that dropped into the Swamp from the surrounding upland and ridge areas formed some excellent mill seats in both Towns. Along Route 292 in Patterson the mills provided military stores for the revolution, even requiring a blockhouse to be built and guards stationed at the mill. The commerce passing along the eastern edge of the Swamp and through the east - west links encouraged many early inns and taverns along the routes. Drovers from New England passed through on the way to New York City with their herds of swine and cattle. The railroad found that the vacant and fairly flat Swamp area was perfect for laying track; linking the dairy farmers of the region to markets in the city. The earliest rail connections were made around 1830 through the Swamp.
Farmers were not all that delighted with the loss of all that potential farm land to the wild and unfarmable marsh. On page 646 in Pelletreau we find that a petition was sent to the Legislature in 1797, by Matthew Paterson and others, to drain the swamp and clear out ancient beaver dams. Three hundred pounds was collected but the effort met with little success. In 1840, draining was again suggested but nothing came of the idea. In the early 1900s the City of New York cast its eyes on the Swamp as a potential reservoir, which also never came to pass.
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| The Swamp was to have been submerged in the early 20th Century to create a new reservoir for New York City. |
Pine Island, a rocky hill of about 30 acres in the middle of the Swamp in Patterson, is covered with pines and has always inspired romantic stories. According to Horace Hillery, between 1744 and 1757 a band of counterfeiters operated in the swamp; their leader was caught and hung. In recent time, legends of the Island being used as a hideout persist. Local towns people have, in recent memory, built hunting camps on its shores.
Today, aside from canoeists, hunters, and fishermen who use the swamp for recreation, the swamp is home to only one industrial use. Open pit mining of limestone in the Town of Patterson is an industry that has gone on for a long period of time in the region, as exhibited by the huge abandoned blocks of limestone near the Town Environmental Park. The limestone was probably used in some building projects years ago. The foundations of many 19th century dwellings in the town were quarried limestone. The local families who have lived in the Great Swamp area have been called "swamp rats" by their upland neighbors, a nickname with some unpleasant connotations.
The Area today has been a backwater in relation to the growth of the surrounding regions in Putnam, Westchester, and Dutchess Counties due to the vast swamp that forms the greater part of the center of Patterson and Pawling. This should be seen as an asset and not a problem. It has made the area unique, and perhaps has given the towns time to plan for the future. The swamp should be seen as the jewel in the crown.