Peach Tree War

The Peach Tree War (1655-1660) took place in the province of New Netherland. According to popular belief it began when a young squaw, detected stealing peaches from the orchid of a Dutch farmer on Manhattan, was shot. Her family sought "blood atonment", and enlisted a group of Wappingers to help them find the perpetrator in a zealous "house to house" search. Much to the consternation of residents of New Amsterdam, they did so without violence (and without success). While preparing to depart they were attacked, and fled in their canoes across the Hudson River. In the following days, settlements at Pavonia and Staten Island were raided, forcing settlers there to abandon their farms. [E.M Ruttenber, "Indian Tribes of Hudson's River to 1700", 3rd ed., ISBN0-910746-98-2, (Hope Farm Press, 2001)] One hundred fifty hostages were taken and held at Paulus Hook. When later ransomed most went to New Amsterdam and the settlements on the west shore of the river were de-populated. [http://www.njcu.edu/Programs/jchistory/Pages/P_Pages/Peach_Tree_War_1655.htm Peach Tree War]

At the time, Director-General of New Nederland, Peter Stuyvesant, and his troops were on an expedition to the Zuydt Rivier (Delaware Bay). It has been argued that the recapture of New Sweden by the Dutch at the direction of Peter Stuyvesant was instead the real cause of the war. The Indians were allies of the Swedes, who were their trading partner. The Indians wanted to take revenge on the Dutch for their lost trading partner who they thought of as being the weaker and needing Indian protection. Patroon Adriaen van der Donck is believed to have been killed at the outset this war, so ironically Stuvesant's actions directly led to his nemesis, van der Donck's death, although Stuvesant did not connect his actions with the Swedes with the Indian attacks.

ources

*cite book|author=Russell Shorto|title=The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony that Shaped America|year=2004|publisher=Random House|id=ISBN 1-4000-7867-9

References