The first castle or town was that of the Tortoise tribe; the second, that of the Bear tribe; the third, that of the Beaver (probably), and the fourth, that of the Wolf tribe. On Van der Donck's map there are four, and Greenhalgh, in 1677, noted four. In a Schenectady paper of the same year the names of two sachems are subscribed who acted "for themselves" and as "the representatives of ye four Mohock's castles." The French invaded the valley in 1666, and burned all the castles of the early period, and the tribes retreated to the north side of river and established themselves, the first at Caughnawaga; the second about one and one-half miles west of the first; the third, west of the second, and the fourth beyond the third, in their ancient order as Greenhalgh found them in 1677. The French destroyed them again in 1693, [FN-5] and the tribes returned to and rebuilt on the south side of the river in proximity to their ancient seats. After the changes which had swept over the nation, three castles are noted in later records--the "Upper" at Canajohare, the "Lower" at the mouth of Schohare Creek, and the "Third" on the Schohare some sixteen miles inland.
While the early castles were known to the Dutch traders prior to 1635, and their locations marked, approximately, on their rude charts which formed the basis of Van der Donck's and other early maps, it was not until the recovery and publication in 1895, of Van Curler's Journal [FN-6]that much was known concerning them prior to 1642-44, when the Jesuit missionaries and the Dutch minister at Fort Orange, Rev. Megapolensis, went into the field. Van Curler's Journal, supplemented by the Relations of the Jesuit Fathers and Rev. Megapolensis's notes, enables us now to almost look in upon the early homes of the "barbarians," as they were called.
The Mohawks were the most important factor in the "Five [Six] Nations Confederacy," particularly from the standpoint of their proximity to and relations with the Dutch and the English governments, primarily in trade and later as alliants offensive and defensive under treaty of 1664 and more definitely under treaty of 1683. (Doc. Hist. N. Y., i, 576.) Their written history is graven in no uncertain colors on the valley which still bears their name, as well as on northeastern New York, marred though it may be by claims to pre-historical supremacy which cannot be maintained. When Van Curler visited them the nation was at peace, and the occupants of the towns and villages engaged in the duties of home life. He wrote that "Most of the people were out 'hunting for deer and bear"; that "the houses were full of corn and beans"; that he "saw maize--yes, in some of the houses more than three hundred bushels." He added that he was hospitably entertained, was fed on "pumpkins cooked and baked, roasted turkeys, venison and bear's meat," and altogether seems to have fared sumptuously. Rev. Megapolensis wrote of them, that though they were cruel to their enemies, they were very friendly to the Dutch. "We go with them into the woods; we meet with each other, sometimes at an hour's walk from any house, and think no more of it than if we met with Christians." The dark side of their character may be seen in a single quotation from Father Jogues's narrative, as related by Father Lalemant: "Happily for the Father the very time when he was entering the gates, a messenger arrived who brought news that a warrior and his comrades were returning victorious, bringing twenty Abanaqois prisoners. Behold them all joyful; they leave the poor Father; they burn, they flay, they roast, they eat those poor victims with public rejoicings." Gentle and affable in peace, with many evidences of a rude civilization, they were indeed "Demons in war."