The Brownsville daily herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1897-1910, 1898-11-22
4 SINGULAR PEOPLE.
ODD SPECIMENS CT suMSNFTY Az
RAmseo McaN7 sENEsRs.

AiH'aos OF the s-ilkicst Easrssi ard Pink
est s.ysa v-cIess are Common -szuons
Taen.-rhey Are tbs Fest Hunters znd
EizsIez-ns,s n the Lard.
People. who have never been up IN
fhe Ramapo mountains can have little
idea Of how strange race CT psopls
live back in those high ana rooky bills.
miles from any village. and with not
rod Of read by which their huts may be
reached By WAGONS In other words, il
is not generally known that within s.
miles. Of the heart Of New York city
there is q comm unity Rs curious almost
as ean De found IL the remote mountain
recesse5 CT Tennessee or Eortn CARROLL
ma 1t is a sort CT lost tribe, o., rather,
an amaigamation Of two lost tribes.
If one can imagine what sort Of beings
would resals from mere than century
intermnrryi8g Of a American Indians and
{ Guinea negroes. with an occasional dash
of white blood added to the mixture, he
may form notion Of the people that
live back IN the ragged hills Stat rise
abont SuIes1, Ranapo. SloatsbCrg,
{ Woodbaurne. Tuxedo and other places
in the Ramapo valley. But it would
take a pretty brisk Imagination to pic
f tuTe some CT tie queer specimens Of hu-
mainly that have resulted from this
mixture.
+ Albinos Of tie milkisst haired and
pinkess eyed variety axe commcsi. and
! the dime museums recruit their curio
halls in that line from amcng these
monutaineers, az did the great and only
Barueln before them.
Back in the last century and during
/ the FIRST quarter of the present centGry
slaves we're common in that part OF
| New York state and she adjacent region
Of New Jersay. These slaves were treat
! ed no better ty their old Dutch masters
/ than were their fellow bondsmen IN the
south. They were worked lcng and
hard. and tie lash was not spared. Con-
sequently runaway slaves were many.
! These runaways invariably sought the
/ fastnessas Of the surrounding mountains
1t is very difficult thing TO make
! ones way I'D and aneDg the Raniapo
mountains egen at this day, and it was
eImoss an ilnPossi5iiity in the slavery
I deys As result. s hen q negro cnce
1 succeeded IN hiding there no was IS safe
from recapture as Il he had gone TO
Canada, although 10 might be within
+ sight and soaad OF his masters home.
Scores OF runaweys IN tine peopled the
inaccessible hills, aud in the spots
where they threw up their first SHELTER
ing huts Of hsrk or fallen trees CT found
refuge IN caves their descendants dwell
today
The woods had thsir Indian dwellers
already, and the two races mingled.
These are the strange people who are
seen now and then IN the little villages
along the Erie railway IL Recklaad and
the adjoining towns OF Bergen aud
Orange counties, and whose homes are
far back n the bills. 4 characteristic
! Of thsse people is that the names Of the
old Dutch families in which the orig
inal blacks were slaves have been re-
| tanned By them, generation after sener-
atioa. TIE most numerous family Of
the race gee. by the name Of no Groat.
but there arose Eresses,- Van Hoeyens
! and maBy Cher Des and Vans.
IL tie summer time you might climb
| and clan be- and stumble up the steep
sides ard over the rocky SUBMITS Of the
Ranlaro mountains all Day and rot see
a solitary sign Of habitatien, although
there would DO many on all sides OF
you. They are SO deity tueke! in
| among the rocks and hidden by the trees
and foliage that only one acquainted
with the ways of the mountaiueers could
find them. In the fall, when the trees
are bare, the hUts stand rsTealed TO any
who may pass that way, and such ara
few. for although there IS 10 better
ruled grouse shooting anywhere than
in these mountain Businesses the weary
climbing necessary to get to the hannts
Of these birds is mere than the averase
Sportsman cares to undergo.
There is nc ground that might grow
| anything about. any of these hutsi not q
chicken CT a fowl of any kind; not
even a pig. Bat there are dogs without
limit-mongreI ~ol6sh lcokiag doss,
such as might hang EEoat Indian camps
-and always from one TO half a dozen
1 HAL uGASGy CLASH -OCHtAE S-1--
dren, who. et sight or sonnd CT stra1i-
ger, scamrer TO cover il the Int. II the
brush or among tho rocks, disappearing
as completely as startled brood o.
youug quail
How 90 these people suhsissl They
are the hest hunters and fishermen IN
the land, and game aud front are abun-
dant all about them. They hunt aud
snare grease ana rabbits and catch trout
for the market during the season. The
women and children pick berries. For
the products CT the forest. streams and
berry patches these people obtain stors
goods at the villages, beth the laxEEies
and the necessaTies-the latter beng
chiefly whisky and tobacco, tie foFRer
-four. meal and cheap dress goods Fer
their own home providing tie possEm
and the econ are plentiful at their very
doors, and the chicken eooPs or t5s cns-
! lying farms and Villages are net entire
i, ;.,,oor-r--t ,fo Eo0r s1t3 tre7 2 D.