First Settlers

Some of the earliest settlers in the Town of Olive include: Joris Middagh, the first person to build a home in Olive in 1740; Samuel Cox and Martin Delemater in 1742 near the Esopus Creek; William Nottingham in 1745 to Shokan; Thomas Bush in 1755 to Winchell's Falls; Hendrick Crispell in 1760 to West Shokan; Conradt Dubois in 1762 to Tongore; and Lemuel Winchell in 1772 to Wichell's Falls.

After the Revolutionary War settlers include: Samuel Turner, West Shokan; Jacob Bishop, Bishop's Falls, Andrew Hill, who built the first house in Shokan; and the Palen and Shurter families in Samsonville.  Decendants of these first settlers still reside in the Town of Olive.

- From Vera Sickler's, "History of the Town of Olive"

The outbreak of the American Revolution brought about difficult decisions to the Indians.  Most of the Iroquois took the British side, while those still hanging on here and there in the valleys around the Catskills were divided, with most remaining neutral or taking the part of the rebellious colonists.  Iroquis raiders swooped down upon the Catskill region, looting, burning, killing, and carrying prisoners off to Canada.

The Revolution ended with hostility against Indians on the part of settlers whose families had suffered at Indian hands in wartime actions.  The Indians nursed feelings of injury when they realized that the United States government was no more likely than the British to listen to their claims for justice.

- "In Catskill Country", by Alf Evers