You probably don't notice them but there are several islands sitting in the Hudson River between Troy and the other side.

While they seemingly serve no purpose - other than breaking up the width of the river - in days past many of the islands were important as living space and farms, and there were more of them.

When Hudson sailed up our river, it was shallow and slow moving, with sand bars giving navigators a rough time. There may have been up to 16 islands on a stretch from Albany to the Burgh. Today most of the islands have been filled in and attached to the western shore, or submerged due to the construction of the State Dam/Sloop Lock in 1823, and later the Federal Dam built in 1913.

These islands were all owned by members of the Mohican Nation who lived here before the Europeans settled. In fact, all of the land in Rensselear County was "owned" by the Mohicans who slowly sold it off.

Green Island, called Pachanhanit or Nehanenesick, and a small island situated to the eastward was owned by Amanhanit, Aepjen and Wanapet and sold it in 1665 to the Dutch. To the south tip of Green Island lay Goose Egg Island where the south branch of the Mohawk emptied into the river (adjacent to Broadway). The island is now gone. A small island known as Round island, of five or six acres, near Green Island, with a fresh water brook on each side was deeded in 1665 but the owner is not known.

Three islands in the River between the first and second forks of the Mohawk River, opposite "the Green Island," were owned by Ansinaneth and Squischecan. These are probably Starbuck's Island (also known as Centre, Big Stoney and Fish Island), Hay Island, and Pompey, or Adams Island.

Today's Van Schaick Island, called Quahemesicos by the Mohicans, and commonly known as Long Island by the Dutch, was deeded over by Hamenet (Itamenet), Anemhameth (Amenhamit), and Knaep, also in 1665.

The land around Cohoes, including the falls, was called Turkeyan by the Dutch and Nachawinasick by the Mohicans and was owned by Apananos and his wife, Sowasqua.

An island "situated between Cahoos and the plowed land of Turkeyan," was owned by Amehanit [Anemehanit] and Aioot. This may have been Peebles Island.

A large island, Breaker Island, was directly across from the Burden Iron Works in South Troy along with two other islands. These are now part of 1 787 Interchange.

Center Island, Hay and Gravel Island were joined, probably by garbage as the City of Troy used the islands as part of their solid waste removal system during the 19th and perhaps early 20th centuries. As a kid, I remember seeing adults and kids over on the island digging around for bottles. Center Island was also the site of the Starbuck Iron foundry on the south tip and was one of Troy's earliest iron foundries producing cast iron store fronts and other iron products. Later, a baseball field was constructed on the island for the Troy Haymakers, the predecessor of the New York Giants.

By 1927, Middle, Pompey, and Adams islands were joined leaving one island. A small portion of Long island lies to the north of Center Island.

All of these islands were important to the Mohicans who owned and lived on them, as well as grew maize, beans, and squash on them for food.

Many of these islands were large enough for seasonal or permanent settlements and we know that on Peeble's Island, Moenemins Castle (fortified village) was settled there for many years. Monemin was a Mohican Chief who was killed in 1626 when they joined with the Dutch and battled with the Mohawks.

While most folks drive over the Green Island bridge each day, they only see Center island as a repository for oil tanks, and a good place for bridge pilings. If they happen to notice the other smaller islands to the north, it's only a passing notice.

Back in the 1970's, as a young lad, high school teacher and amateur archeologist Bill Kirby from Cohoes took me on a tour of most of these islands and we found quite a bit of chipped flint and Native artifacts. Bill had scoured the islands as a boy and had a great collection of artifacts.

I often think about what it was like to be Henry Hudson and crew viewing this area for the first time, or what an average day was like for a Mohican family living along the river and on the islands. Certainly the pace of life was much slower than today.