| Adriaen Block came to Connecticut from Long Island. He sailed up the Connecticut River, as it is now known. But he called the river Varshe, which means fresh. On his trip up the river, he did a lot of trading. The Indians say that he was always drawing maps. There is an interesting mystery for me about his map of Connecticut. You can see there are X’s all along coast. Some people, well actually, many people think the X’s mean that you could get wampum there. His trip up the river ended when he ran into waterfalls, so he turned around and went back down the river. |
| -- Ben Wormser |
| When Adriaen Block found the Connecticut River, or Varshe River, he traveled along in his shallow-bottomed boat until he came to the Suckiaug Village (near Hartford). He anchored there and traded with the natives. He let them know that he wanted some furs. He got many furs and they were pleased with the trinkets he gave them. When he got back, he told the Dutch that it was a rich land with many furs. |
| -- Jonathan Lee |
| Adriaen Block was talking to the River Indians and found out that there was a tree, a large oak, that told them when to plant their corn by its leaves. For some reason, he marked X’s around the Connecticut coast. Some Pequots say that he marked X’s in good trading places and he was only after the money! |
| -- Ethan Frei |
| When Adriaen Block sailed along the Connecticut coast, he probably saw Guilford and then sailed over to the Connecticut River which he called the Varshe River. [Ver-sh]. He also explored Rhode Island and found an island that became named Block Island. |
| -- Ben Helfand |
| I wonder what he was thinking as he sailed up the Varshe River and finally saw those waterfalls? And how he felt when he traded? I mean, how did he get the Indians to trade? |
| -- Jessie Karsif |
[Old Saybrook] [New Haven] [Guilford]
