Daniel Nimham (also spelled Ninham), born around 1726, served as the final sachem of the Wappinger people. He was described as "the most prominent Native American of his time in the lower Hudson Valley." His father, known as "One Shake" or Cornelius Nimham, likely taught him English, supplemented by education at the Stockbridge Mission in Massachusetts during the 1740s. The Wappinger had occupied territory from Manhattan Island north to Columbia County and east to Connecticut's Fairfield County before European contact decimated their population from thousands to approximately 1,000 by 1700. Nimham led a nomadic group of 200-300 individuals — Mahican and Munsee speakers — across the borderlands of five colonies. They survived through basket weaving, broom crafting, and seasonal farm labor. After 1746, he resided near Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Nimham maintained annual pilgrimages to Mount Nimham in Putnam County, surveying lands he claimed remained Wappinger territory. THE LAND DISPUTE In 1697, merchant Adolphus Philipse had purchased land with questionable legitimacy from Dutch settlers, then obtained a confirmation deed from Wappinger representatives — arguably through fraud. Nimham challenged this deed in court, arguing the Wappinger had been "defrauded of their lands." New York's manor-dominated Council rejected his claim. THE 1766 LONDON MISSION Nimham, three Mohican chiefs (Jacob Cheeksaunkun, John Naunauphtaunk, and Solomon Uhhaunauwaunmut), and their wives traveled to England in 1766, financed by sympathetic rent rioters. The London Chronicle described one chief as "six and a half feet without shoes...dressed in the Indian manner." Though not granted an audience with the King, Nimham addressed a Parliament member. The Lords of Trade acknowledged "sufficient cause to investigate frauds and abuses" but no land was restored. REVOLUTIONARY WAR SERVICE Nimham's son Abraham (born 1745) became captain of Indian scouts in the Continental Army, commanding the Stockbridge Militia — a confederacy of Mohicans, Wappingers, Munsee, and other tribes. Both father and son served under George Washington at Valley Forge and later with General Lafayette. DEATH AT KINGSBRIDGE On August 31, 1778, fifty Stockbridge Militia led by Nimham faced the Queen's Rangers, a Loyalist unit commanded by Lt. Colonel John Graves Simcoe, in the Battle of Kingsbridge. The engagement occurred in present-day Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. Nimham died in this battle, aged 51-52. His death was described as "an irrevocable blow to the tribe." LEGACY Memorials to Nimham include: the 1906 Daughters of the American Revolution memorial at Van Cortlandt Park; New York State historical markers in Kent and Fishkill; Nimham Mountain (1,260 feet), Lake Nimham, and the Nimham Mountain Fire Tower in Putnam County; the annual Daniel Nimham Intertribal Pow Wow; and a 2022 eight-foot bronze statue by sculptor Michael Keropian in Fishkill. The surviving Stockbridge community members joined the Oneida Nation, eventually forming the Stockbridge-Munsee Nation in Wisconsin.