LANDMARKS
BARTHLOMEW’S COBBLE
Bartholomew’s Cobble is a prominent and unique natural landmark, known for its plant life and scenery.
BRACE-EVERETT-FRISSELL MTS. TRAIL
The summit of Brace Mountain offers superb views of the Mohican homelands in the valley of the Hudson River (or the Mahhicannituck), much as they would have appeared at the time of European contact.
BIDWELL HOUSE MUSEUM
The Bidwell House Museum tells the story of the early English settlement of the Berkshires. This story includes the Mohicans who were here when the English arrived. The house is the original parsonage for Township No. 1 (now the towns of Tyringham and Monterey), and the grounds include the site of the town’s first meetinghouse at the original center of the settlement.
THE FOREIGN MISSION SCHOOL
The Foreign Mission School in Cornwall Village was the first foreign missionary school in the United States. It was created by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) in 1817, during the religious revival known as the Second Great Awakening. LEARN MORE
HOUSATONIC RIVER ROAD
The River Road is an unpaved thoroughfare that trends northward along the west side of the Housatonic River, upstream from Pawachtuek (the Great Falls). LEARN MORE
INDIAN TRAIL, NORTH EGREMONT
The trail was an important path for Native Americans traveling from the Hudson River to the Connecticut River and beyond. It is also likely the trail taken by General Jeffery Amherst immediately after his visit with Sachem Ben Kokhkewaunaunt (King Ben) referenced by Bernard Drew in his writing. LEARN MORE
INDIAN HILL
Indian Hill, also called Fort Hill (a fortification called Ashley’s Fort had been constructed there in 1754, during the French & Indian War), west of former Gov. George N. Briggs’ homestead, southeast of Onota Lake ( once called Ashley’s Pond) in Pittsfield. LEARN MORE
KAMPOOSA BOG
Kampoosa Bog is a large wetland and wildlife habitat area, covering more than 1,300 acres. Technically “Kampoosa” is not a bog; rather, it is the largest and most diverse calcareous fen in the state. LEARN MORE
KONKAPOT RIVER
This watercourse was named after the Stockbridge Mohican sachem, Captain John Konkapot, who was an influential Tribal leader during the early and mid‐eighteenth century. He was central to the founding of the Indian town of Stockbridge. LEARN MORE
LAKES AND HILLS
The mountains and valleys of Central and Southern Berkshire and Northern Litchfield counties are little changed since the peak of Native American occupancy, more than two centuries ago. LEARN MORE
MONUMENT TO THE MORAVIAN MISSION AMONG THE MOHICANS
The Mohican and Schaghticoke peoples of the Upper Housatonic used Christianity, including Moravian missions that were active in the mid‐1700s, to protect their shrinking homelands and to revitalize their communities, which had been devastated by colonial encroachment. LEARN MORE
MONUMENT MOUNTAIN
Monument Mountain is a famous landmark that looms over the Housatonic River Valley on the north side of Great Barrington. LEARN MORE
PLACE NAMES
Mohican or Schaghticoke place names are affixed to locations throughout Berkshire and Litchfield counties. LEARN MORE
PISHGATIKUK (PACHGATGOCH)
“Pishgatikuk” is an Eastern Algonquian word meaning “at the meeting of two waters”. This definition was given to W.C. Reichel by Schaghticoke culture keeper Eunice Mauwee, the granddaughter of the tribe’s first known sachem Mauwehue, aka Gideon Mauwee, when Reichel visited her on the Schaghticoke reservation in 1859. LEARN MORE
THE PINNACLE
The Pinnacle is the top of a small mountain in Warren, Connecticut that provides a panoramic view of Lake Waramaug, the second largest natural lake in the state and the location of the summer village of the historic Weantinock tribe. LEARN MORE
RIVER WALK- WESTENHUC
A formal public pathway along the west bank of the Housatonic River in Great Barrington enables visitors to view the flowing waters. A stone marker is located at the southern end of the river walk, next to Bridge Street. It commemorates an “Old Indian Fordway”, which was purportedly the scene of a massacre of Indians who were heading westward out of southern New England during the conflict known as King Philip’s War, or Metacom’s Rebellion, in 1676. LEARN MORE
ROBBIN’S SWAMP
Robbins Swamp is an extensive wetland complex, comprising more than 1,500 acres. The stony edifice of Canaan Mountain rises above the swamp, which is the largest freshwater wetland in Connecticut. LEARN MORE
SKATEKOOK
In 1724, white settlers and Mohican Native Americans executed a deed for land encompassing the Lower Housatonic Township (now Sheffield and Great Barrington). At this time, an Indian Reservation known as “Skatekook” was also established for continued use by the tribe. LEARN MORE
SKATICOOK ROCK, KENT
Ezra Stiles in his memoir of 1789 described the discovery in Kent of a curious rock inscribed with curious figures including what looked to be letter combinations EI and BH. The letters might be modern, “The rest however is not of English Fabrick, but a sculpture I believe of very high & remote antiquity. LEARN MORE
SCHAGHTICOKE RESERVATION AND TRIBES
The Schaghticoke Reservation (also referred to by the name Scaticook) was created by the Connecticut General Assembly in 1736 in response to a petition by the indigenous community already living on the floodplain and terraces along the Housatonic River, and the mountain now known as Schaghticoke, adjacent to present Schaghticoke Road and the town of Kent. LEARN MORE
THE TWIN LAKES – HOKONKAMOK AND PANAHECONNOK
The Twin Lakes were important landscape features and resource areas for the Native Americans of the Weatogue area. The lakes were also known as Hokonkamok (Washinee, the southernmost lake) and Panaheconnok (Washining). “Washinee” and “Washining” are not believed to be original Eastern Algonqquian names. Archaeological evidence indicates that Native American settlement began near the lakes more than 5,000 years ago. LEARN MORE
UNKAMET’S CROSSING
Pittsfield historian J.E.A. Smith said a major Native American archaeological site exists “at Unkamet’s Crossing, around the Canoe Meadows,” where “upon the eastern bank of the river, rises a knoll which was once used as a burial‐place by the Mohegans [sic], who, after they were collected in one community at Stockbridge, were accustomed to make pious pilgrimages to this spot, leaving the birch‐canoes, in which they had ascended the river, in the Meadows to which they thus gave name.” LEARN MORE
UMPACHENE FALLS, NEW MARLBOROUGH
Umpachene River — perhaps more correctly a brook — cascades over Umpachene Falls before joining Konkapot River south of Mill River village. LEARN MORE
WECHQUADNACH AND INDIAN LAKE
Indian Lake (sometimes called Indian Pond or Wechquadnach Lake) is located in the northwest corner of the Township of Sharon. The western extremity of the lake extends into New York State. Prior to the incorporation of Sharon in 1739, members of the Native American community of Wechquadnach occupied a settlement on the eastern shores of the lake. LEARN MORE
WETAUWANCHU HILL
Wetauwanchu Hill is a steep‐sided, wooded ridge located on the east side of Route 44, north of Salisbury’s central village. The Appalachian Trail ascends the spine of the ridge. The name “Wetauwanchu” is likely derived from the name for the nearby Mohican community of Weataug (Weatogue), whose main settlement was in the northeastern part of the town during the early to mid‐eighteenth century. LEARN MORE
WEATOGUE AND WEATOGUE ROAD
Weatogue is a locality on the Housatonic River in the northeastern part of present‐day Salisbury. It is at the northern end of Weatogue Road, just south of the Massachusetts border and the landmark of Bartholomew’s Cobble. Archaeological evidence suggests that Native American settlement occurred in this area for at least 7,000 years prior to European contact. LEARN MORE
WACHOCASTINOOK BROOK
A picturesque stream with the Algonquin name Wachocastinook originates from mountain lakes on the Taconic Plateau, more than one thousand feet in elevation above Salisbury’s central village. A lovely waterfall known as Wachocastinook Falls can be seen before the brook begins its descent from the plateau. LEARN MORE
YOKUN’S SEAT, LENOX
Yokun Seat is on the mountain above Bousquet’s Ski Area — a popular place to shoot off fireworks in the 1940s. Yokun Brook, once called “Small River,” had sufficient water flow and drop to support saw, grist and other mills, according to Lenox historian David Wood. LEARN MORE