"I didn't have any problem accepting the idea that Native Americans long ago camped on Kinderhook Farm, a couple of miles to the east of us upstate. That information came from an employee of the farm, Harold Lobdell, who said it was based on the dozens of arrowheads and other evidence that he had discovered there. He said that another close neighbor, to our west, had also uncovered evidence of Native American habitation. "He told me a long time ago they were digging around the yard to fix a septic line and dug into a fire pit," Mr. Lobdell said, referring to a spot that could have served as anything from a cooking pit to a place where tribal elders gathered. "All the rocks would turn red because of the heat. That was a central location for a campsite. They found bunches of arrowheads."

It was logical that Native Americans would have traversed our property, if only to get from point A to point B. "When the resources got depleted," Mr. Lobdell explained, or due to the challenges of the seasons, "they'd move on to the next spot.""

Get the Story:
Ralph Gardner / Urban Gardner: Indians and the Weekender (The Wall Street Journal 2/28)