Portrait of Gertrude Bruyn attributed to Nehemiah Partridge (Courtesy Senate House State Historic Site, Kingston).

"Gertrude Bruyn's deed of 1682 is the first record of any kind that uses the name Shawangunk," Marc B. Fried says. Fried (pronounced Freed) and I are speaking at the Elting Memorial Library Book Fair in New Paltz, where he is promoting Shawangunk Place Names, an exploration of the collision of Indian, Dutch, French Huguenot, and English languages in the Wallkill and Rondout Valleys that frame the Shawangunk Ridge. Why place names? As Fried writes in new book, "Place names are the crossroads where history, geography, and linguistics intersect."

Shawangunk—originally spelled Sawonkonck—once referred to the creek that still bears that name and the lowlands around it, and only later came to refer to the ridge of sparkling exposed-quartz conglomerate. The strong-willed three-time widower who lent her name to the hamlet of Bruynswick, lives on in the names of Bruynswick Road (which passes through her original tract of land  in present-day Gardiner) and Gertrude's Nose, the promontory that mimics her stern brow and shadows the parcel she purchased from five Esopus Indians near the site of the last Indian fort.

Perhaps living most of his life with a fantastic view of Gertrude's Nose has fueled Fried's desire to learn about the rich area lore. In the 1930s, his father bought a 10-acre piece of land with a cottage outside of Gardiner for $3,000 to escape the summer heat of Queens. After a childhood summering upstate, Fried attended SUNY New Paltz and like so many of us, never left the Hudson Valley. A self-proclaimed Luddite, and a man of simple means, he still lives in the family cottage, and doesn't own a cell phone or use the Internet. Fried is also never seen without his signature floppy hat. 

On his Gardiner parcel Fried farms a large garden, buying only staples such as grains, bread, cooking oil, and peanut butter. "I am a subsistence farmer of sorts, and grow much of my own food, organically, of course. That is a very creative process that really adds to your relationship with the earth," he says. "You need time for yourself, time to be bored. That's when you get inspired to create and plan what you want to do."

What Fried has spent much of his time doing is learning about the land that he lives on and writing five books about it (his debut was the 1975 Early History of Kingston and Ulster County), in the process becoming a prominent local historian. His latest work is the product of laborious research, reading and interpreting hundreds of historical deeds and documents stored in Kingston, Albany, and New York City, as well as conducting extensive correspondence with several linguistic experts.

As Fried explained, the Dutch and Indian names, which were originally phonetically Dutchified, primarily designate places in the valleys and drainages for it was the habitable and fertile floodplains of the two major rivers that were coveted both by Indians and the original settlers. Some Indian names still used to this day are Kerhonkson, Awosting, Napanoch, and Wawarsing, while words of Dutch origin include Kyserike, Mombaccus, and Rosendale. Fried unravels each etymological puzzle in a folksy down to earth manner while communicating a deep respect for the local landscape and its legends.

Relating some highlights of his historical sleuthing Fried recounts, "With Rosendale I found one of my favorite discoveries. The earliest document of that transaction was recorded in the Indian deed to Jacob Rutsen in 1677. When I found this deed on microfiche it was still in Dutch and had never been translated for the public." After having the document translated, using references to earlier purchases by Rutsen, Fried was able to determine that this 40-acre tract of Esopus lands between "Koxsinck" and "the Nieuwe Pals" was one of the original land purchases that would eventually become Rosendale. By 1685 the valley was commonly called Blumendaal, in reference to the abundant wild flowers, and eventually anglicized to Rosendale. 

Marc Fried, author of Shawangunk Place Names, pointing to the cliffs above his farm, site of the rock promontory known as "Gertrude's Nose."

The Trapps, Dutch for steps, were probably named in reference to an old Indian footpath that crossed the ridge where Route 44/55 does so today, which is a natural breach in the landscape. It would also later become the name of a small hamlet on the Coxing Kill. Today the Trapps, or the Gunks, as the cliffs are also popularly known, are world renowned as the birthplace of American rock climbing and a popular destination for hiking and biking.

Most of the points and promontories got their English names in the 19th century when the Smiley brothers opened resorts at Lake Mohonk and Lake Minnewaska and began naming places for guests and friends and from the community of huckleberry pickers who squatted on the ridge. Although "Moggunk" is an original Indian word which probably meant "hill of bears," Lake Minnewaska, meaning "good water" in Chippewa, was named by Alfred Smiley to help market his hotel. Minnie, as locals now affectionately call it, was originally known as Coxing or Cocksinck Pond, a word of Indian origin, as the headwaters of the Coxing Kill which flows through the Coxing Clove (a blend of Indian and Dutch) before emptying into the Rondout.

"My love of the landscape gives me a very intimate feel for geography and that is an essential tool when talking about the relationship of people to the land," Fried explains. And place names are a product of people's relationship to the land. You don't just need to know it, you need to love it, to see details in these ambiguous historical documents that might not occur to others." He continued "The important thing about this book is that it is not about just place names. I use the place names as a jumping off point to talk about the places themselves, the patentees, the history, as well as the natural features." He is particularly fond of the Badlands, the highest and wildest part of the of the ridge. This name for this trailless region of the ridge south of Lake Awosting that extends to Mud Pond and beyond was bestowed on this place by the author in the 1960s when it was a large blank spot on most maps. He proudly notes that it is now commonly accepted on most accredited maps and in guidebooks, rightfully earning Marc Fried a place in the historical mélange of names on the Shawangunk Ridge.

Fried will be discussing his latest book at a series of talks around the area in August. August 6 at Sam's Point, August 13 at the Colonial Street Fair, August 20 at the Bevier House, August 27 at the Ellenville Blueberry & Huckleberry festival. Contact the author at (845) 895-3756 for more details.