Kinderhook Creek is a 49 miles (78.9 km) tributary to Stockport Creek

Stockport Creek

Stockport Creek is a tributary to the Hudson River in the town of Stockport, New York, in the United States. Its source is the confluence of Kinderhook Creek and Claverack Creek near the village of Stockport. Its mouth is at the Hudson River at the western boundary of Stockport...

, an inlet of the Hudson River

Hudson River

The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...

 in the United States. From its source in Hancock, Massachusetts

Hancock, Massachusetts

Hancock is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 717 at the 2010 census.- History :...

, the creek runs southwest through the Taconic Mountains

Taconic Mountains

The Taconic Mountains or Taconic Range are a physiographic section of the larger New England province and part of the Appalachian Mountains, running along the eastern border of New York State and adjacent New England from northwest Connecticut to western Massachusetts, north to central western...

 into Rensselaer County, New York

Rensselaer County, New York

Rensselaer County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 159,429. Its name is in honor of the family of Kiliaen van Rensselaer, the original Dutch owner of the land in the area. Its county seat is Troy...

, and then into Columbia County

Columbia County, New York

Columbia County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 63,096. The county seat is Hudson. The name comes from the Latin feminine form of the name of Christopher Columbus, which was at the time of the formation of the county a popular proposal...

. It flows through the towns of Stephentown

Stephentown, New York

Stephentown is a town in Rensselaer County, New York, United States. The population was 2,873 at the 2000 census. The town is named after Stephen Van Rensselaer. The town is in the southeast corner of the county...

, New Lebanon

New Lebanon, New York

New Lebanon is a town in Columbia County, New York, U.S., southeast of Albany. In 1910, 1,378 people lived in New Lebanon, New York. The population was 2,454 at the 2000 census.The town of New Lebanon is in the northeast part of Columbia County...

, Nassau

Nassau (town), New York

Nassau is a town in Rensselaer County, New York, USA. The population was 4,818 at the 2000 census.The Town of Nassau is at the southern border of the county.- History :The region was first settled around 1760....

, Chatham

Chatham (town), New York

Chatham is a town in Columbia County, United States. New York, United States. The population was 4,249 at the 2000 census.The Town of Chatham has a village also called Chatham on its south town line...

, Kinderhook

Kinderhook (town), New York

Kinderhook is a town in the northern part of Columbia County, New York, United States. The population was 8,296 at the 2000 census. The name of the town means "Children's Corner" in the language of the original Dutch settlers . The town of Kinderhook contains two villages, one of which is also...

 and Stuyvesant

Stuyvesant, New York

Stuyvesant is a town in Columbia County, New York, United States. The population was 2,188 at the 2000 census.The Town of Stuyvesant is in the northwest part of Columbia County...

 to its mouth at Stockport Creek in the town of Stockport

Stockport, New York

Stockport is a town in Columbia County, New York, United States. The population was 2,933 at the 2000 census.The Town of Stockport is in the northwest part of the county.- History :The region was settled around 1657....

.

Kinderhook Creek has a drainage area of over 329 square miles (852.1 km²).

History

Kinderhook Creek was known as Pasanthkack by the Mahican

Mahican

The Mahican are an Eastern Algonquian Native American tribe, originally settling in the Hudson River Valley . After 1680, many moved to Stockbridge, Massachusetts. During the early 1820s and 1830s, most of the Mahican descendants migrated westward to northeastern Wisconsin...

 Native Americans. Prior to 1667 it was known as "Major Abram's (Staats) Kill" and "Third Falls." In 1823 it was called Stuyvesant Falls (now referring to a village on the creek) and after 1845 "Kinderhook Creek".

The name "Kinderhook" has its root in the landing of Henry Hudson

Henry Hudson

Henry Hudson was an English sea explorer and navigator in the early 17th century. Hudson made two attempts on behalf of English merchants to find a prospective Northeast Passage to Cathay via a route above the Arctic Circle...

 in the area around present-day Stuyvesant, where he was greeted by Native Americans with many children. With the Dutch Kinder meaning "child" and Hoeck meaning "bend" or "hook" [in the river], the name literally means "bend in the river where the children are".

The area around Kinderhook Creek was called Machackoesk by the Native American Mahican Tribe.

Tributaries

• Valatie Kill - Native American, Tsat-sa-was-sa or Tack-a-was-ick creek (and lake) are placed in the town of Nassau
  Nassau (town), New York
  Nassau is a town in Rensselaer County, New York, USA. The population was 4,818 at the 2000 census.The Town of Nassau is at the southern border of the county.- History :The region was first settled around 1760....
  
   by the French. The name may refer to a stone mortar
  Mortar and pestle
  A mortar and pestle is a tool used to crush, grind, and mix solid substances . The pestle is a heavy bat-shaped object, the end of which is used for crushing and grinding. The mortar is a bowl, typically made of hard wood, ceramic or stone...
  
  .
• Kline Kill - Native American Mahican
  Mahican
  The Mahican are an Eastern Algonquian Native American tribe, originally settling in the Hudson River Valley . After 1680, many moved to Stockbridge, Massachusetts. During the early 1820s and 1830s, most of the Mahican descendants migrated westward to northeastern Wisconsin...
  
   name Scom-pa-muck or Squampanoc
  • Indian Creek
  • Punsit Creek
• Stony Kill
  • Frisbee Creek
  • Queechy Lake
    Queechy Lake
    Queechy Lake is a lake in Canaan, Columbia County, New York. Situated near the Massachusetts state border, the lake is deep and contains a surface area of .The name comes from the Native American Mahican name Quis-sich-kook, of unknown meaning....
    
     Brook - Mahican name Quis-sich-kook, unknown meaning
• Green Brook
• Tackawasick Creek
  • Cranberry Vly
    Vlaie
    Vlaie, Vly or Fly is the Dutch vlaie, meaning a swamp. It also applies to creeks and mountains in the vicinities. The term appears in place names in areas of Dutch influence in North America, such as the Hudson Valley...
    
    
• Black Brook
  • Huff Brook
• Hollow Brook
• Wyomanock Creek - Native American name for the creek. Also known as Lebanon Creek.
  • South Branch Wyomanock Creek
  • Berry Pond Creek
    • Red Oak Brook
• Taplin Bourn (from Middle English bourne, a brook)
• Black River
• Roaring Brook
• East Brook
  • West Brook
• Bentley Brook
• Whitman Brook
• Jones Brook
• Rathburn Brook

See also

• List of rivers of New York
• List of rivers of Massachusetts
• Kinderhook (town), New York
  Kinderhook (town), New York
  Kinderhook is a town in the northern part of Columbia County, New York, United States. The population was 8,296 at the 2000 census. The name of the town means "Children's Corner" in the language of the original Dutch settlers . The town of Kinderhook contains two villages, one of which is also...