Researcher Greta Wagle studies Dutch history and participated in the Onrust Project. Using her knowledge of Dutch maritime history and shipbuilding, Greta Wagle and other historians recently built a replica of New York’s first sailing vessel not constructed by Native Americans, the Onrust, originally constructed in 1614.

1. The Historical Sailing Vessel
Onrust, A Piece of New York
History
By Greta Wagle

2. Introduction

Researcher Greta Wagle studies
Dutch history and participated in the
Onrust Project. Using her knowledge
of Dutch maritime history and
shipbuilding, Greta Wagle and other
historians recently built a replica of
New York’s first sailing vessel not
constructed by Native Americans, the
Onrust, originally constructed in 1614.

3. About The Onrust Project

The Onrust Project participated in 2013 in the
commemoration of the 400-year anniversary
of the treaty signed between Europeans and
Native American tribes on Turtle Island, an
Iroquois name for North America. The
agreement, called the Two Row Wampum
Treaty, comprised three parts: peace,
friendship, and co-existence. A Dutch trader
by the name of Hendrick Christiaensen, who
worked for the captain of the original Onrust,
was at the center of the agreement and part
of the Two Row Wampum Treaty.

4. Conclusion

Construction of the Onrust replica took
place over a three-year period on the
Mabee Farm, a historic site belonging to
the Schenectady County Historical
Society. Launched on May 20, 2009, the
Onrust docks during part of the summer
at the Waterford Visitor’s Center in
upstate New York. Updates regarding the
ship and the dedicated individuals that
helped build it, can be found on the
Onrust Project’s official Facebook page.