Island

By 1634, a year into the chaotic administration of the sniveling Wouter van Twiller, the mood on the Manhattans was edgy. It was tense. It was strained. And the only thing that the beleaguered colonists of this vastly disparate and sputtering civilization seemed to be able to agree on, was that it was desperately in need of reform . Reform in structure, and reform in spirit. Our dramatic conclusio...

Griet's smile widened at the prospect of these 53 combat mariners and 104 Company soldiers disembarking de Soutbergh, having accompanied the incoming Governor and incoming Minister to this Island, as she readies herself for a bit of a business boom... And with this morning's arrival, Supercargo Hans Jorisz Hontom certainly promises to continue imposing his own special brand of chaos on this Island...

A young revolutionary once wrote that "... in the big lie, there is always a certain force of credibility. " And with the insurgence of Marcus de Vogelaer's vehemently anti-patroon faction, his planted Provincial Secretary Jan Remunde wasted no time in teaming up with the increasingly embittered first Minister in order to effect that very big lie . And in short order, scored a decisive victory, by...

As Walloon Pierre Minuit stared into the dark eyes of those twenty-two displaced Angolans, huddled together along de Heere Wegh, alongside that fledgling " construction project " of sorts at the Island's southern tip, his refugee heart wrestled with the dutiful commitment that he had made to his employer. Because this Walloon, whose family had been in exile his entire life, had never enslaved anyo...

In doing anything and everything he can to see to it that this fledgling "colony" survives, Minuit suddenly finds himself facing a reckoning - a moral stranglehold that forces the pious Calvinist, but devoted public servant to re-evaluate his every move. Because by late summer 1627, when the " possessions " being taken from their Iberian enemies transition from silver and timber to twenty-two huma...

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions " (ancient Portuguese proverb) London Dispatch 1828 Ten years before Henry Hudson ever sailed up the river that now bears his name, the six chief Dutch captains occupying the Strait of Magellan at the southern tip of South America formed "The Brotherhood of the Unleashed Lion" - a fraternity in which these defiantly stoic men vowed that no danger, th...

The spirit of the Walloons rises to new heights, when Walloon Pierre Minuit goes from unpaid volunteer to Governor of this fledgling "colony" in a matter of a year. And when tragedy strikes the northern reaches of that colony, Minuit, a man of action, does what no one had ever thought to do before -- and suddenly this Island has more significance and importance to this colony than ever before. Epi...

The Dutch West India Company finally find their boots on the ground in the fierce and passionate race of refugees who would not only become our bonafide " Manhattan Pilgrims ", but would in fact forge the most impactful society ever known to man. And by 1626, these Walloons would make their mark on this incredible Island , for evermore. Episode 7 - ISLAND: Part One (of Two parts) Climb aboard. His...

"To every time, there is a season." And while Ecclesiastes' prophetic words sounded a bit different out of the mouths of the original settlers of this incredible place that we now call " New York ", it meant the same thing in the seventeenth century as it does today. And faced with the horrors of the Spanish Inquisition, these bold, intrepid servants of God refused to accept the tyranny and oppres...

After toiling away in this fertile new land for the entirety of his young adult life, Jacob Eelkens was certain that the advent of this " New Netherland Company " would be his opportunity to shine in this priceless market. But upon Captain Hendrick Carstyaensen's return to the Hudson, Jacob would be shattered to learn that not only was he and his uncle Hendrick Eelkens not included in the exclusiv...

Over the long winter of 1613, Manhattan's first immigrant, Juan Rodrigues, becomes an integral component of the Sachem's trade and in the process an invaluable asset to the Dutch traders upon their return. But, Rodrigues' choice of Dutchmen to trade with is certainly NOT the ones who brought him to this island, Thijs Volkertz Mossel and the despicable Hans Jorisz Hontom. Rather, Rodrigues, now tho...

Following two successful voyages to this fertile new land called "Manna-hata", Lambert van Tweenhuysen recognizes the inevitable reality of the competition developing over this lucrative new fur trade. And as Adriaen Block and Hendrick Carstyaensen race back to their Sachem at Sapokanikan for a third time, the rude encroachment of this new wave of poachers creates newfound trouble on this otherwis...

In the tattered wake of Henry Hudson, Adriaen Block navigates the onrust that develops amongst both the Algonquins and the Dutch alike. And in the process, he becomes ward to two Algonquin teens whose Sachem father has requested that the Captain take boys to Amsterdam to further educate them in this growing fur trade. But the unintended consequences of this undertaking would darken the efforts of...

In 1609, the Dutch East India Company hired who they thought was the right navigator to go find the fabled waterway shortcut to Asia. But while they not only mis-calculated the ulterior designs of the slippery Englishman named Henry Hudson, they were also very interested to learn about the magnificent trove of beaver skins that his Dutch crewmen just happened to have received in trade -- directly...