Hudson River

The Hudson River, called Muh-he-kun-ne-tuk in Mahican, is a river that runs through the eastern portion of New York State and, along its southern terminus, demarcates the border between the states of New York and New Jersey. It is named for Henry Hudson, an Englishman sailing for the Dutch East India Company, who explored it in 1609. Hudson originally named the river the Mauritius River in honor of Prince Maurice of Nassau. Early European settlement of the area clustered around the river. The area inspired the Hudson River school of painting, a sort of early American pastoral idyll.