This ethnographic study focuses on one strong component of the American mosaic. Its sociohistorical data narrate briefly the fate of two generations of early "Dutch", that is, Low-German speaking immigrants from the Northwestern German Territories. Tables and maps illustrate the traces left by these settlers from the time of their early arrival in 1607, rather than later on in 1683. The areas of settlement stretch from Virginia to Maine. Mostly coastal dwellers, quite often of Friesian extraction, they had less trouble communicating in 17th century Seaboard English than was hitherto assumed. This lively written study aims at readers interested in roots, in genealogical and technological heritage, in a stream of proto-Americans, and in early Americana in general. In short, it is for students and teachers of the New World, where the English sea captain John Smith once swore about "those damn' Dutch" who, behind his back in 1608, would build homes for the Indians near Fort James, Virginia
