Meniolagomeka, the name of the Lenape settlement meant "The fat lands in the midst of the barren"...an apt description considering the fertile farming land between Blue Mountain and Chestnut Ridge.  Not only was the land rich farming land, but the creek was rich with fish.  Yet a short way up either slope, the soil was quite rocky and hard to "till" by hand.

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This monument is a reminder of the attempt of missionaries to bring Jesus to the Native Americans, and also a clear example of the brutality visited upon these unsuspecting people for greed.

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The following is from the Monroe Historical Association:
"Native Americans were the first inhabitants of the Pocono Mountains, having settled in the area over 10,000 years ago. The name Lenni Lenape translates into “the original peoples,” and the term Pocono in the native Lenape tongue means “a river between two mountains."

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Three clans comprised the Lenni Lenape nation: Wolf, Turtle and Turkey. Often, the Lenape have been referred to as the “Delaware” because they lived along the Delaware River. The Wolf Clan occupied the land in what is now Monroe County. This clan was referred to as the Munsee or Minsi, the name of their spoken dialect of the Algonquin language. 

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Every four years, members of the Lenape Nation take a canoe ride down the Delaware and stop at various points to host a Treaty of Friendship signing with local groups.

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We took part in the treaty signing recently and were permitted to host an additional treaty signing among our members and friends, adding an additional 174 signers to the treaty.

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My favorite Lenape legend, in a very brief telling, is the story of the crow.  The story tells how the crow was the most beautiful of all animals with all the colors of the rainbow in its feathers.  And its song was the most delightful sound to ever fall upon our ears.  But one day, at a meeting of the animals, a great problem was raised - the Earth was getting colder and colder and the animals wanted a representative to go to Most Powerful to ask that this be ended.  Numerous animals volunteered to go, but for each one there was a reason why they could not.  In the end, the crow agreed to go.  The journey was an arduous one.  The crow met with the Most Powerful, and was given a burning branch to bring back - it would warm the Earth.  But along the way home, the smoke from the fire destroyed the crow's beautiful singing voice and the embers burned the crow's colorful feathers until they were all black.  And the heat "spoiled" the "meat" of the crow making its flesh tough and unsavory.  The crow completed his mission, but at great personal loss.  In the end, the Most Powerful tells the crow - you have actually been rewarded for saving the Earth. Now that your flesh is unsavory, no one will hunt you to eat.  Without your pleasant song, no one will seek to capture you and keep you in a cage to sing for them. And without your colorful feathers you will go unnoticed and not be disturbed.

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Continue south on Chestnut Ridge Drive, towards Lower Smith Gap Road.  Pull off the road adjacent to the bridge railing, just before reaching Lower Smith Gap Road.  Here you will be close to the base of Blue Mountain - soon we will take you to the very peak of the mountain.