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By Frank R. Stockton
Originally published in 1896
We do not hear that these two great tribes of early
Indians interfered with each other; but when the
Lenni-Lenape investigated the other side of the Mississippi,
they found there still another nation, powerful,
numerous, and warlike. These were called the Alligewi,
from which we have derived the name Allegheny.
At first the latter tribe was inclined to allow
the Lenape to pass the river; but after a time, finding
that the newcomers were so numerous, they fell upon
them and drove them back.
But the Indians at that remote period must have
been as doggedly determined to move eastward as are
our pioneers to move westward ; and they were not to
be stopped by rivers, mountains, or savage enemies.
The Lenape were not strong enough to fight the
Alligewi by themselves, and so they formed an alliance with the Mengwe; and these two nations together
made war upon the Alligewi, and in the course
of time overcame them, and drove them entirely from
their country.
After years, or perhaps centuries (for there are no
definite statements of time in these Indian traditions),
the Mengwe and the Lenape, who had been living
together in the country of the Alligewi, separated;
and the Mengwe emigrated to the lands near the
Great Lakes, while the Lenape slowly continued their
progress eastward.
They crossed the Alleghanies, and discovered a
great river, which they called Susquehanna, and then
they moved on until they came to the Delaware.
This grand stream pleased them so much, that they
gave it a name of honor, and called it the Lenape-wihittuck, or "The River of the Lenape." Then they
crossed the river and discovered New Jersey.
Here they found a pleasant climate, plenty of
game, and no human inhabitants whatever. They
therefore appropriated it as their own, and gave it
the name of Scheyichbi; and any one who endeavors
to pronounce this name will be likely to feel
glad that it was afterwards changed by the white
settlers.
Before this first discovery of New Jersey, the Lenni-Lenape had settled themselves in the beautiful and
fertile country about the Susquehanna and the west
shore of the Delaware, and here established their
right to their name, which signifies "original people;"
and if their stories are correct, they certainly are the
original inhabitants of this region, and they discovered
New Jersey from the west, and took rightful possession of it
This Web version, edited by GET NJ, COPYRIGHT 2003
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