Daniel Nimham Daniel Nimham ( 1726 – 1778 ) was the last chief or sachem of the Wappinger and was the most prominent Native American of his time in the Hudson Valley . Prior to Henry Hudson ' s arrival in 1609 , the Wappinger People lived on the eastern shore of the Muhheakantuck " the river that flows both ways " from the City of Manhattan , New York north to the Town of Rhinebeck , New York , east as far as the Norwalk River Fairfield County , Connecticut . The Wappinger were allied with the Mohican People in the north , and by the mid 18th century many had been relocated north to the mission at Stockbridge , Massachusetts . Although some of the Wappinger lands were sold justly , many landgrabbers took advantage of the native people and exaggerated the amount of land agreed upon . Daniel Nimham may have learned to speak English through the family of Catherina Brett who lived in what is now the City of Beacon , New York . She was friends with the Nimhams and allowed the Wappinger to stay on her land after they had been sold . Most historians suggest Daniel Nimham was born in the Fishkill Creek Region near the hamlet of Wiccopee , New York . Because of Nimham ' s multicultural skills , he went to court on several occasions to defend his people ' s land rights . Daniel Nimham took over as sachem of the Wappinger People around 1760 following two Nimham sachems before him . Land grabbers had taken tribal ancestral lands in eastern New York during the French - Indian War and relocated many of the native people ( the woman and children ) to Stockbridge , Mass . while the men were fighting the war . In 1766 , Nimham and three Mohican chiefs : Jacob Cheeksaunkun , John Naunauphtaunk and Solomon Uhhaunauwaunmut from the Stockbridge area and three of their wives traveled to England to speak with King George III of Great Britain . The London Chronicle describes the Nimham group of four chiefs as tall and strong , one being " six and a half feet without shoes . . . dressed in the Indian manner " . Although he and his group were treated very well , he never had a meeting with the King directly , however he did speak with someone who was in the parliament who agreed to contact the governor in Albany , New York . When he returned he went to court but lost the case . His son Abraham Nimham ( born in 1745 ) was appointed captain of a company of Indian scouts serving with the Continental Army , a confederacy of Mohicans , Wappingers , Munsee and other local tribes . Stockbridge Militia by General George Washington . Daniel and Abraham Nimham and his fellow Stockbridge Warriors fought for the American cause during the Revolution and were some of America ' s first Veterans . They served with Washington at Valley Forge and later with General Marquis de Lafayette ' s troops . It is noted that Daniel " faithfully served in the army as a soldier at Cambridge . . . In 1775 " . On August 31 , 1778 , the Nimhams and fifty of their fellow Wappinger were surrounded then killed by Loyalist , British Dragoons and Hessian Soldiers under the command of Lt . Colonel Simcoe in the Battle of Kingsbridge Cortlandt Ridge in what is now Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx . A stone monument to the Stockbridge Warriors who sacrificed their lives for the American cause marks a trail to the battlefield . Mohican Sachem Hendrick Aupaumut and others of the tribe petitioned the General Court for compensation for the losses at the Bronx Massacre , dated September 22 , 1778 . " Our young men have been employed in the present War against the common Enemy and many have lately fell in Battle . Their Widows are now left to care of themselves and their children ; without help from their husbands , who at this season of the year provided for their families by hunting . We Indians depend on hunting to clothe ourselves and families . But when we get skins we know not where to go to trade for clothing . We are not able to make any ourselves . Our way of living is very different from our english breathren . And by this , we the subscribers , in behalf of our Tribe now earnestly pray you to consider our circumstances , and open your hearts , by providing such way by which we may be able to procure some coarse cloathing particularly Blankets . " By the early 1800s many of the local native people from Stockbridge had joined the Oneida Nation in New York , eventually journeying west to Ontario and Wisconsin . References . Sculptural tribute to Daniel Nimham http : / / www . keropiansculpture . com / daniel _ nimham . html