Painting by L F Tantillo

– The first Dutch settlement in North America

– On Castle Island, in Mahican Indian Country, and site of a previous French Fortification from 1540 (presently Westerlo Island, annexed by Albany in 1926)

– Named for the House of Orange-Nassau of Holland

– Abandoned and rebuilt on more secure ground after flooding in 1617 and then abandoned altogether when the new site floods again in 1618

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Nassau_(North_River)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Island_(New_York)

https://www.nysm.nysed.gov/albany/na/castle.html

https://www.newnetherlandinstitute.org/history-and-heritage/digital-exhibitions/a-tour-of-new-netherland/albany/fort-nassau/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Orange-Nassau

Mohawks attack Mahicans to force open a corridor to a Dutch trading post at Fort Orange. The Mohawk have grown dependent on the trade goods they obtain there. They also wish to control access to trade at Fort Orange for surrounding Indians.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Orange_(New_Netherland)

https://muse.jhu.edu/journals/eth/summary/v051/51.4starna.html