Name
Saggodryochta was the head chief of the Maquaas (Mohawk) near Fort Orange in 1633.[1]
“Saggodryochta” may have been a contraction of sachem [chief] Adriochten. The diary of Harmen Meynderts van den Bogaert mentioned Adriochten as the principal chief of the Mohawks near Fort Orange in December 1634.[2] Van den Bogaert may have already known Adriochten, since he was familiar with his rank among the chiefs. It is unlikely there were two men with similar names and ranks near Fort Orange in 1633–34.
Origin
Saggodryochta was a Native American chief who belonged to the Mohawk tribe.[3]
Settlement
If he was the same man as Adriochten, Saggodryochta lived in a small cabin about a quarter of a mile from an unnamed fort, described by the Dutch as a castle, two days west of Fort Orange. He had moved away from the castle after several residents died from smallpox.[4]
Biographical Details
A chief in 1633, Saggydrochta was probably born before 1608. He died at an unknown date after 1634.
Offices
Saggodryochta was the principal chief of the Maquaas (Mohawks) in 1633.[5] That matches the description by Harmen Meynderts van den Bogaert, who described “Adriochten” as the principal chief.[6]
Associations
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Saggodryochta knew Hans Jorissen Hontom, commander of Fort Orange.[7] If he was the same person as Adriochten, he also met Harmen Meynderts van den Bogaert, Jeronimus dela Croix, and Willem Thomassen, who were visiting the Mohawk tribes in December 1634.[8]
Additional Details
In 1633, Saggodryochta went to Fort Orange to trade. When he saw Hans Jorissen Hontom, the fort’s commander, he called Hontom a scoundrel and refused to trade with him. He collected his furs and departed.[9]
A deposition by Bastiaen Jansz Crol, the former director-general of New Netherland, who was at Fort Orange when Saggodryochta saw Hontom, explains Saggodryochta’s anger. Crol was interrogated about the events at Fort Orange in June 1634, after his return to the Netherlands. Crol had heard that Hans Jorissen Hontom had captured a chief but refused to release him after the ransom was paid. Instead, Hontom cut off the chief’s manhood and killed him.[10]
After Saggodryochta discovered that Hontom had been placed in command of Fort Orange, the Native Americans besieged the fort in retaliation, but the Dutch managed to hold the fort.[11] In April 1634 Hontom was killed by another Dutchman.[12] In December of that year, the new commander sent three men to journey west to try and repair relations with the Native Americans and encourage trade.[13] It would make sense for these men to attempt to speak to the chief whose meeting with Hontom started the hostilities.
On 13 December 1634, Harmen Meynderts van den Bogaert and the other two men arrived at a castle on a high hill. The castle contained 36 houses, made from tree bark, about 80–100 steps long and 22 or 23 feet high. Most of the people were out hunting, and none of the chiefs were home, except Adriochten, the principal chief, then living nearby. Adriochten visited with the Dutch men and invited them to come with him. They followed him until they were called away by another chief and returned to the castle.[14]
The description in the diary suggests that the other chief deliberately prevented Adriochten from talking to the Dutch men. If Adriochten was indeed Saggodryochta, the other chiefs may have been hesitant to let him meet Dutch people and risk another outbreak of violence.
Literature
Eekhof, A. Bastiaen Jansz. Krol, krankenbezoeker, kommies en Kommandeur van Nieuw-Nederland (1595-1645). The Hague, Netherlands: M. Nijhoff, 1910. Biography of Bastiaen Jansz. Krol, including his encounter with Saggodryochta, and a (Dutch) abstract of Krol’s interrogation about the situation in New Netherland.
O’Grady, James. “Trade and Diplomacy on the North River: Contextualizing Early Dutch-Mohawk Relations.” Halve Maen 93, no. 3 (2020): 49–61. Mentions Saggodryochta and his encounter with Hontom.
Parmenter, Jon. The Edge of the Woods: Iroquoia, 1534-1701. East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan State University Press, 2010. Discusses Van den Bogaert’s journey and meeting with Adriochten (Saggodryochta), and Saggodryochta’s discovery of Hontom at Fort Orange and the resulting violence.
Van Laer, A. J. F., ed. Van Rensselaer Bowier Manuscripts: Being the Letters of Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, 1630–1643, and Other Documents Relating to the Colony of Rensselaerswyck. Translated by A. J. F. Van Laer. Albany, New York: University of the State of New York, 1908. Pp. 302–304. Translation of the examination of Bastiaen Jansz Krol, 30 June 1634.
Van Schaick, John H. “Showdown at Fort Orange.” Halve Maen 65, no. 3 (Fall 1992): 37–45. Discusses the confrontation between Hans Jorissen Hunthum (Hontom) and Saggodriochta at Fort Orange in 1633, and the events leading up to that.
Source Editions
Gehring, Charles T. and William A. Starna, eds. A Journey into Mohawk and Oneida Country, 1634–1635: The Journal of Harmen Meyndertsz Van Den Bogaert. Revised. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2013. Van Laer, A. J. F., ed. Van Rensselaer Bowier Manuscripts: Being the Letters of Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, 1630–1643, and Other Documents Relating to the Colony of Rensselaerswyck. Albany, New York: University of the State of New York, 1908. P. 302–304 has a translation of the examination of Bastiaen Jansz Krol, where he recounts the meeting between Saggodryochta and Hans Joris Hontom at Fort Orange. The translation appears to be based on the Dutch abstract in Eekhof’s book about Crol (see above), and is not a full translation of the original record.
Citations
[1] Interrogation of Bastiaen Jansz Crol, 30 June 1634, in Joost van de Ven, notary (Amsterdam), minutes, 26 March 1633–June 1634, fol. 150–156; imaged, Gemeente Amsterdam Stadsarchief (https://archief.amsterdam/inventarissen/file/569db09b-03a4-f138-e3b7-2d…), images 163–8 of 189; citing call no. 1039, Record Group 5075: Archief van de Notarissen ter Standplaats Amsterdam [Records of the Notaries Residing in Amsterdam], Stadsarchief Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands. For the identification, see John H. Van Schaick, “Showdown at Fort Orange,” Halve Maen 65 (Fall 1992): 37–45 (p. 45).
[2] Charles T. Gehring and William A. Starna, eds., A Journey into Mohawk and Oneida Country, 1634–1635: The Journal of Harmen Meyndertsz Van Den Bogaert, Revised (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2013), 4.
[3] Gehring and Starna, A Journey into Mohawk and Oneida Country, 1634–1635, 4.
[4] Gehring and Starna, A Journey into Mohawk and Oneida Country, 1634–1635, 4.
[5] Interrogation of Bastiaen Jansz Crol, 30 June 1634.
[6] Gehring and Starna, A Journey into Mohawk and Oneida Country, 1634–1635, 4.
[7] Interrogation of Bastiaen Jansz Crol, 30 June 1634.
[8] Gehring and Starna, A Journey into Mohawk and Oneida Country, 1634–1635, 4.
[9] Interrogation of Bastiaen Jansz Crol, 30 June 1634.
[10] Interrogation of Bastiaen Jansz Crol, 30 June 1634.
[11] Arend van Buchel, "Notae Quotidianae," circa 1620–1640, p. fol. 67r–v; imaged, Universiteit Utrecht (https://objects.library.uu.nl/reader/index.php?obj=1874-391090), image 79; citing Hs 5 L 25, Bibliotheek Universiteit Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands. For Van Buchel, see John H. Van Schaick, “Showdown at Fort Orange,” Halve Maen 65, no. 3 (Fall 1992): 37–45.
[12] Van Schaick, “Showdown at Fort Orange.”
[13] Gehring and Starna, A Journey into Mohawk and Oneida Country, 1634–1635, xxvii.
[14] Gehring and Starna, A Journey into Mohawk and Oneida Country, 1634–1635, 4.
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