The Mohawk name, Ochseratongue or Ochsechrage, became, in the course of its transmission, Osarague and Saratoga, and in the latter form, without reference to its antecedents, was translated by the late Henry R. Schoolcraft "From Assarat, 'Sparkling water,' and Oga, 'place,' 'the place of the sparkling water,'" the reference being to the mineral springs, one of which. "High Rock," was, traditionally, known to the Indians, who, it is said, conveyed Sir William Johnson thither, in 1767, to test the medicinal virtues of the water; but, while the tradition may recite a fact the translation is worthless.
With a view to obtain a satisfactory explanation of the record names, the writer submitted them to the late eminent Iroquoian philologist, Horatio Hale, M. A., of Clinton, Ontario, Canada, and to the eminent Algonquian linguist, the late Dr. D. G. Brinton, of Philadelphia. In reply, Mr. Hale wrote: . . . "Your letter has proved very acceptable, as the facts you present have thrown light on an interesting question which has heretofore perplexed me. I have vainly sought to discover the origin and meaning of the name Saratoga. My late distinguished friend, L. H. Morgan, was, it seems, equally unsuccessful. In the appendix of local names added to his admirable 'League of the Iroquois,' Saratoga is given in the Indian form as Sharlatoga, with the addition, 'signification lost.' There can be no doubt that the word, as we have it, and indeed as Morgan heard it, is, as you suggest, much abbreviated and corrupted. One of the ancient forms, however, which you give from the old Dutch authorities, seems to put us at once on the right track. This form is Ochsechrage. The 'digraph' ch in this word evidently represents the hard guttural aspirate, common to both the Dutch and the German languages. This aspirate is of frequent occurrence in the Iroquois dialects, but it is not a radical element. As I have elsewhere said, it appears and disappears as capriciously as the common h in the speech of the south of England. In etymologies it may always be disregarded. Omitting it, we have the well-known word Oserage—in modern Iroquois orthography Oserake, meaning 'At the beaver-dam.' It is derived from osera, 'beaver-dam,' with the locative particle ge or ke affixed.
"In Iroquois r and l are interchangeable, and s frequently sounds like sh. Thus we can understand how in Cartier's orthography Oserake (pronounced with an aspirate) became Hochelaga, the well-known aboriginal name of what is now Montreal. That this name meant simply 'At the beaver-dam' is not questioned. It is rather curious, though not surprising, that two such noted Indian names as Saratoga and Hochelaga should have the same origin. In Ochseratongue the name is lengthened by an addition which is so evidently corrupted that I hesitate to explain it. I may say, however, that I suspect it to be a 'verbalized' form. It may possibly be derived from the verb atona, 'to become' (in its perfect tense atonk), added to osera, in which case the word would mean, 'where a beaver-dam has been forming,' or, as we should express it in English, 'where the beavers have been making a dam.'
"With regard to the Mahican name Amissohaendiek or Amissohaendick (whichever it is) I cannot say much, my knowledge of the Algonquin dialects not being sufficient to warrant me in venturing on etymologies. I remark, however, that 'beaver' in Mahican, as in several other Algonquin dialects, is Amisk or some variant of that word. This would apparently account for the first two syllables of the name. In Iroquois the word for 'beaver-dam' 'has no connection with the word 'beaver,' but it may be otherwise in Mahican." . . .
Dr. Brinton wrote:
. . . "I have little doubt but that the Mahican term is practically a translation of the Iroquois name. It certainly begins with the element Amik, Amisk or Amisque, 'Beaver,' and terminates with the locative ck or k. The intermediate portion I am not clear about. There is probably considerable garbling of the middle syllables, and this obscures their forms. In a general way, however, it means 'Place where beavers live,' or 'are found.'"
Father Le June wrote Amisc-ou, "Beaver," an equivalent of Amis-so in the text. Dr. Trumbull wrote: "Amisk, a generic name for beaver-kind, has been retained in the principal Algonquian dialects." The district was a part of Ochsaraga, "The beaver-hunting country of the Confederate Indians," conquered by them about 1624. The evolution from Ochsera-tongue (deed of 1683) appears in Serachtogue (Dongan, 1685); Serasteau (contemporary French); Saractoga (Cornbury, 1703); Saratoga (modern). The Ossarague, noted by Father Jogues, in 1646, as a famous fishing-place, is now assigned to Schuylerville.
Aside from its linguistic associations, the Batten Kill is an interesting stream. It has two falls, one of which, near the Hudson, is seventy-five feet and preserves in its modern name, Dionandoghe, its Mohawk name, Ti-oneenda-houwe, for the meaning of which see Hoosick.
[FN-1] "At a place called the Still Water, so named for that the water passeth so slowly as not to be discovered, yet at a little distance both above and below is disturbed and rageth as in a sea, occasioned by great rocks and great falls therein." (Col. Hist. N. Y., x, 194.)