The Gowanus neighborhood originally surrounded Gowanus Creek. It consisted of a tidal inlet of navigable creeks in original saltwater marshland and meadows that contained wildlife. The Dutch government issued the first land patents within Breukelen (modern-day Brooklyn), including the land of the Gowanus, from 1630 to 1664. In 1636, the leaders of New Netherland bought the area around the Gowanus Bay. In 1639, the inhabitants swapped land claims with each other to build a tobacco plantation. The area's early settlers named the waterway "Gowanes Creek" after "Gouwane", sachem (chief) of the local Lenape tribe called the Canarsee, who farmed on the shores.