http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/maps/historical/exploration/bogaert.jpg/image_view Fort Orange was built of wood in 1624. The surrounding land had to be cleared of trees to build this trading fort and the buildings inside of it. The trees also had to be cleared to prevent Indians or others from hiding near the fort if they were going to attack it. Fort Orange was built on the short, flat flood plain of the Hudson River where, naturally, it periodically became flooded. Fort Orange was located approximately at the northwest corner of present-day Broadway and Madison Ave. Close behind the fort, the river valley wall began its ascent. The cleared land on three sides of the fort were probably used to grow food for the traders. Imported labor was used at first in the gardens, but after two years had to be sent to Manhattan because of danger from the Indians. In 1659, a complaint was made to some Indian chiefs that "some of your people... sometimes kill the horses, cows, hogs and goats of our people. We request you, brothers, to forbid your people doing it. We give you hereupon two beavers' worth of knives." Almost all of the land in Albany County today, as well as the southern two-thirds of Rensselaer County, were owned by one man, Killian Van Rensselaer. He was called the patroon of the land. The land on which the fort was built was owned by the Dutch West India Company, not the patroon, but he supposedly owned everything else including the land around Fort Orange. Nevertheless, houses began to spring up on the north side of the fort, which is probably why the Tantillo painting depicting a 1635 view is looking southward (to avoid having to include any houses). The home builders were seeking the protection of the fort, but for security reasons, nothing should have been built so close to the fort. The patroon's representative in the colony was adamant that the houses were being built on the patroon's land, but the colony's governor was not sympathetic. In 1652 a palisaded village called Beverwyck was begun about 3/8ths of a mile (a few modern blocks) to the north of the fort. This was also constructed on the patroon's land. The fort and the houses north of it were left outside the village of Beverwyck (which would be renamed Albany in 1664 when the Dutch colony fell into the hands of the English). The painting shows cleared land west and south of the fort. It is probably what early became known as the Pastures. However, there was cleared land uphill from the houses north of Fort Orange. It was probably also part of the Pastures, because it was no doubt part of the garden land needed to feed the city of Albany. Which exact land the Pastures contained probably depends on when the term was coined, and the blocks that were part of it probably became further and further south as the city of Albany expanded to the south onto garden land. Look at the following 1698 map by Wolfgang Wilhelm Roemer. Fort Orange is in the lower left corner of the map. Albany has a stockade around it. The Hudson River is at the bottom of the map. Streets can be seen in the area of the houses north of the fort. http://www.genealogy.clifflamere.com/Aid/History/Img-Hist/map-albany-1698-Roemer.jpg Interestingly, there is a part of one block which is currently used as gardens in the South End of Albany (just downhill from Lincoln Park). It appears that 1695 Albany also had gardens in the centers of the city blocks (in other words, in the backyards of the houses surrounding the block) where individuals could grow crops for their own personal use. The houses probably had root cellars to keep vegetables cool, but unfrozen, through the winter. The area might also have been used as pasture for a goat or cow. The Dutch name for the fort was Oranje, which was pronounced or-ON-ee-uh. Some English-speaking authors wrote it as Fort Aurania, which had the same pronunciation, although modern US English speakers would pronounce it or-AY-nee-uh. Some later writers, including some of the present dedade, have mistakenly thought that it was a separate fort. Modern descriptions of Fort Aurania and where it was located tend to be very wrong. Cliff Lamere Albany, NY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~