Footprints of the Red Men: Indian Geographical Names — Passage 72 (part 2)
[Edward Manning Ruttenber (1906)] Soc." Memorasink, Kahogh, Gatawanuk, and Ghittatawagh, names handed down in the Indian deed to Governor Dongan in 1684, have no other record, nor were they ever specifically located. The lands conveyed to him extended from the Shawangunk range to the Hudson, bounded on the north by the line of the Paltz Patent, and south by a line drawn from about the Dans Kamer. _Ghittatawagh_ is probably from _Kitchi,_ "Great, strong," etc., and _Towatawik,_ "Wilderness"--the great wilderness, or uninhabited district. _Gatawanuk_ seems to be from _Kitchi,_ "Strong," _-awan,_ impersonal verb termination, and _-uk,_ locative, and to describe a place on a strong current or flowing stream. The same name seems to appear in Kitchawan, now Croton River. It may have located lands on the Wallkill. Nescotack, a certain place so called in the Dongan deed of 1684, is referred to in connection with Shawongunk. It was granted by patent to Jacob Rutsen and described as "A tract of land by the Indians called Nescotack and by the Christians Guilford." (N. Y. Land Papers, 29, 30.) Guilford was known for many years as Guilford Church, immediately west of Shawongunk. The actual location of the name, however, is claimed for a hamlet now called Libertyville, further north, which was long known as Nescotack. The district is an extended ridge which rises gradually from the Shawongunk River-bottoms on the east and falls off on the west more abruptly.