The Dutch explorer who became America’s alleged first ever victim of anti-gay violence in 1647

The “Bad Fate” of Harmen Meyndertsz van den Bogaert

The man who wrote the first ethnographic account of the Mohawks in 1634 died fleeing Dutch law thirteen years later.

Harmen van den Bogaert, a married father of four, was caught in sexual relationships with his slave and another boy. When sodomy meant death, he chose exile among the very people he’d studied.

Here’s what happened at Fort Orange, now commemorated through exhibits you can visit in downtown Albany.

Young surgeon arrives with big ambitions

Harmen van den Bogaert stepped off the ship Eendracht in 1630 at just 18, ready to make his fortune in Dutch America. The West India Company posted him to Fort Orange, their trading post where Albany sits today.

The isolated outpost sat surrounded by Mohawk and Mohican tribes who could turn hostile without warning. As the settlement’s barber-surgeon, van den Bogaert cut hair, treated wounds, and performed amputations when colonists got hurt or injured.

Marriage and money bring colonial success

Van den Bogaert married Jelisje and built a prosperous life while raising four children. He owned a house on Stone Street, acquired a plantation, and invested in La Garce, a privateer that raided Spanish ships in the Caribbean.

For nearly twenty years, the surgeon established himself as one of New Amsterdam’s most successful citizens. His medical skills and business sense earned him wealth and respect throughout the Dutch colony.

Fur trade crisis demands dangerous mission

By 1634, Dutch fur profits were collapsing as Iroquois tribes stopped trading. Company officials suspected French competitors were stealing their business in native territory.

The memory of Captain van Crieckenbeeck’s disaster eight years earlier still haunted colonists – Mohawks had killed him and three others, then cannibalized one victim.

Despite the dangers, the company chose van den Bogaert to investigate because his proven courage made him their best option for the risky assignment.

Winter expedition penetrates Mohawk heartland

Van den Bogaert departed Fort Orange on December 11, 1634, with companions Jeronimus de la Croix and Willem Thomassen. Their six-week journey carried them over 100 miles through Mohawk villages into completely uncharted territory.

At Lake Oneida, Iroquois warriors crowded around them so tightly they could barely move while making threatening gestures that reduced Willem to tears. Yet many Mohawk families welcomed them into longhouses with meals of pumpkin, beans, and venison.

Detailed journal captures Mohawk culture

Van den Bogaert documented everything he observed, creating the first comprehensive account of Mohawk life and language.

His careful notes recorded native words for body parts, sexual acts, and daily activities, plus the prophetic phrases “When shall you return?” and “I do not know.”

The journal captured healing rituals, village organization, and customs that no European had ever witnessed. His ethnographic work would prove invaluable to future scholars and diplomats.

Mission success masks hidden desires

The expedition restored Dutch-Iroquois trade relations and earned van den Bogaert command of Fort Orange. Behind his public triumph, however, the surgeon harbored dangerous secrets that could destroy everything he had built.

He was having sexual relationships with his young African slave Tobias and another boy named Swist Jan. While Dutch law made sodomy punishable by death, van den Bogaert believed his status and discretion would protect him from discovery.

Discovery brings imprisonment and terror

In late 1647, authorities caught van den Bogaert with Tobias and threw both men into Fort Orange’s jail. Merchant Govert Loockermans wrote that “Master Herman has had to do with his black boy and with another boy, Swist Jan.”

The surgeon knew that Dutch law meant execution for homosexual acts, regardless of his former reputation. The respected father and businessman now faced death for relationships he had hidden for years.

Desperate escape leads to Mohawk refuge

Van den Bogaert and Tobias broke out of prison and fled north to Mohawk territory, where the surgeon hoped his diplomatic friendships would provide sanctuary. Native tribes didn’t share European attitudes about homosexuality, making them his best hope for survival.

Dutch authorities quickly recaptured Tobias but van den Bogaert remained hidden among his former hosts. Woodsman Hans Vos received orders to bring the fugitive back to face execution.

Cornered fugitive destroys Mohawk winter supplies

Hans Vos tracked van den Bogaert to a Mohawk longhouse, where the desperate surgeon set the building on fire during the confrontation.

The blaze consumed the tribe’s entire winter food supply, shell money, and valuable furs while Dutch soldiers dragged their prisoner from the flames.

Mohawks watched helplessly as provisions crucial for surviving winter turned to ash and smoke. Soldiers hauled van den Bogaert and the recaptured Tobias back to Fort Orange’s prison.

Stuyvesant promises spring execution

Director-General Peter Stuyvesant promised to travel north for van den Bogaert’s trial when spring ice melted on the Hudson River. The stern leader had vowed to govern colonists like a father, but his own father was a Calvinist minister who viewed homosexuality as sin.

Meanwhile, angry Mohawks demanded compensation for their destroyed longhouse and winter supplies. Knowing Stuyvesant would order their deaths, van den Bogaert and Tobias escaped prison again.

Ice breaks under fleeing surgeon

Van den Bogaert attempted to cross the frozen Hudson during his final escape but the ice gave way beneath him. Soldiers watched from the shore as he disappeared into the frigid water near where Interstate 90 crosses today.

Tobias was recaptured while his companion drowned in the current below. Merchant Govert Loockermans recorded the end: “Mr. Harmen got stuck under the ice and drowned near Fort Orange as people chased him. In the end he did meet a bad fate.”

Visiting Little Falls NY Historical Society Museum

You’ll find the museum in an 1833 Greek Revival bank building at 319 South Ann Street with the original vault still intact.

Their current exhibits focus on Little Falls’ cheese market history, Native American artifacts, and local athletics, but don’t include specific van den Bogaert materials.

You can request research assistance about Dutch colonial connections to the Mohawk Valley through their research request form, since van den Bogaert traveled through this region in 1634-35.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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