History :

Long before the white man came to the area now known as Copake, it was inhabited by Mohican Indians, who found its many lakes, streams, woodlands and lush countryside a fine place to establish their camps.

Their arrowheads, spears and axes can still occasionally be found in the Copake area.

White settlers, mainly Dutch and German, began to come in numbers around 1750, although a 1714 map shows a settlement near the lake by a family named Whitbeck.

The Brusies were also early settlers.  It takes only a quick look at a current telephone book to verify that other families not only came early but stayed, as did many of the descendants of the first settlers.

Some of the arrivals were accidental.  In the spring of 1753 the captain of a Dutch vessel enticed a number of men aboard his ship for an "excursion".

After consuming a considerable amount of food and drink, they found instead that they were on the high seas, bound for the New World.

Landing in New York and unable to pay their passage, they were sold to the highest bidder to earn the money.