1639

Dutch plantations now thinly line East River.

Jonas Bronck is 1st settler in the Bronx, which is named after him. He leases land from Dutch West India Company on the neck of the mainland just north of Dutch settlement at Harlem, and buys more land from local tribes.

Director General Kieft attempts to tax Native Americans but meets violent resistance.

January 5th
Captain de vries establishes a plantation on Staten Island but abandons it a year later, leasing rights to Thomas Smythe. To encourage settlers, West India Company ends fur trade restrictions. Also, 200 acres are offered to each new head of household. Native Americans, Ranaque and Tackamuck, want 2 guns, 2 kettles, 2 coats, 2 adzes, 2 shirts, 1 barrel of cider and 6 bits of money for the 500 acres between the Harlem and Bronx Rivers north of Port Morris. Governor Kieft buys land from the Rockaways east to Fire Island and north to Cow Bay (Huntingdon) - which will become Queens County. In August, West India Company purchases Keskweskeck tract north of Manhattan between the Hudson and Harlem Rivers from Tequeemet, Rechgawac and Pachimiens.