rt his wishes. The governor soon arrived and, with his
customary explicitness, informed the authorities there, that the
territory by the Exemptions, allowed to the patroon, was to extend
sixteen miles on one side of the river, or eight miles if both banks
were occupied. He called upon them to define their boundaries, saying
that he should recognize the patroons' jurisdiction only to that
extent. These limits would include but a small portion of the
territory which the patroons claimed by right of purchase from the
Indians.

The authorities were not prepared to act upon this question without
instructions from Holland. Stuyvesant would admit of no delay. He sent
a party of fourteen soldiers, armed with muskets, to the patroon's
house, who entered the enclosure, fired a volley, and hauled down the
flag of the patroon. He then issued a decree that Beaverswyck, which
included the region now occupied by the city of Albany, was
independent of the patroon's government, and was brought under the
jurisdiction of the colony of fort Amsterdam.

Van Slechtenhorst, the patroon's bold and efficient Commissary at
Rensselaerswick, ordered the governor's placards, announcing this
change, to be torn down, and a counter proclamation, affirming the
claims of the patroon to be posted in its stead. The governor arrested
him, imprisoned him for a time in fort Orange, and then removed him to
New Amsterdam, where he was held in close custody, until his
successor, John Baptist Van Rensselaer, was formally appointed in his
place.

At this time, 1652, there were no settlements, and but a few scattered
farmhouses between the island of Manhattan and the Catskill mountains.
Thomas Chambers had a farm at what is now Troy. With a few neighbors
he moved down the river to "some exceedingly beautiful lands," and
began the settlement of the present county of Ulster.

Stuyvesant returning to Manhattan, forbade any persons from buying
lands of the Indians without his permission. The large sales which had
been made to prominent individuals were declared to be void, and the
"pretended proprietors," were ordered to return the purchase money.
Should they however petition the governor, they might retain such
tracts as he and his council should permit.

By grant of the governor several new settlements were commenced on
Long Island, one at Newton, one at Flatbush. The news had now reached
the Directors of the Company in Holland, of the governor's very
energet