Steamboat Dock Essex 1881
artist: Richard Brooks courtesy CT River Museum
| "Museums are here to tell a story, hopefully a true story. This museum tells the story of the Connecticut River." |
| -- Emily Stearns |
| The Dutch Are Left Out of History! If you are studying colonial periods of time and are looking for Dutch information, you aren't going to much at all! The Dutch have been left out of history! And why? Because the English wrote it! The English people thought that the most important thing to tell about in history was themselves! (Of course!) Just about the only thing the English people wrote about the Dutch, is the following: The Dutch sailed up the Connecticut river first and traded for beaver skins. But then we got there and that's when the fun started! |
| -- Jonathan Lee |
| When we went to Connecticut River Museum, I learned that the Dutch and the native people were very different from each other. The natives wanted to make houses very quickly and not so sturdy, they wanted to be able to move their villages closer to good hunting or to more sheltered areas in winter. The Dutch built huge forts. These forts were very strong and sturdy. They took a very long time to build. The Dutch didn't want to move, they planned to stay right there on the land they claimed as theirs. The Indians didn't need to use many tools to build their homes. They used rocks and bones as tools. The Dutch needed all the tools they could get to build such large forts with so many large, tall trees. They had metal tools. |
| -- Vanessa Simiola |
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| Onrust Courtesy of Cy Kirby / CT River Museum |
Oliver CromwellCourtesy of CT River Museum |
| Oliver Cromwell The first war ships name was Oliver Cromwell. It was ordered to be built in 1776, January 31. They named it that because Oliver Cromwell was a general and one of the people who ordered the execution of King Charles I. So when other people saw the name of the boat, they knew it was named for freedom against the king. It was like a message that just because they were lower in ranks, it didn't mean they weren't as powerful. |
| -- Jonathan Lee |
