Dutch colonization of the Americas In 1624, the first colonists, mostly Walloons and their slaves-bound servants, arrived to New Netherland by the shipload, landing at Governors Island and initially dispensed to Fort Orange, Fort Wilhelmus and Kievets Hoek. In 1626, Director of the WIC Peter Minuit purchased the island of Manhattan from the Lenape natives and started construction of Fort Amsterdam, which grew to become the main port and capital, New Amsterdam. The colony expanded to outlying areas at Pavonia, Brooklyn, Bronx, and Long Island. On the Connecticut River, Fort Huys de Goede Hoop was completed in 1633 at present day Hartford. By 1636, the
The Museum of the American Cocktail group of spirits experts, writers, and cocktail historians including David Wondrich, drink correspondent for "Esquire;" and Gaz Regan, among others. The Museum provides education in mixology through its exhibits, monthly seminars, publications, and events. Visitors are treated to the history of the cocktail and the way it has influenced music, theater, art, film, and politics around the world during its two-hundred-year history. The exhibit includes antique and vintage cocktail shakers, Prohibition-era literature, recorded music, bar tools, photographs, and cocktail memorabilia from the collections of the Museum's friends and founders. The Museum of the American Cocktail publishes a website, a monthly