In 1675, Governor Andros, governor of the colony of New York, planted a tree of Welfare near the junction of the Hoosic River and Tomhannock Creek, an area already known as Schaghticoke, "the place where the waters mingle." This tree symbolized the friendship between the English and the Dutch, and the Schaghticoke Indians. The Native Inhabitants were Mohican refugees from New England welcomed to Schaghticoke because they agreed to help protect the English from the French and the Iroquois. They stayed until 1754.