In a letter dated at Amsterdam, June 15, 1636,[912] borne home by Spiring, Minuit offered “to make a voyage to the Virginias, New Netherland, and other regions adjoining, certain places well known to him, with a very good climate, which might be named Nova Suedia;” and this proposal, or one grounded on it, was read in the Swedish Råd, the 27th of September. Soon afterward Spiring was again sent out to Holland as minister; and on further consultation with Minuit and Blommaert, now Swedish Commissary (or consul-general) at Amsterdam, it was determined to form a Swedish-Dutch Company to carry on trade with, and establish colonies on, portions of the North American coast not previously taken up by the Dutch or English. The cost of the first expedition was estimated at twenty-four thousand (it actually amounted to over thirty-six thousand) Dutch florins, half of which was to be contributed by Minuit and Blommaert and their friends, and the remaining half to be subscribed in Sweden. Minuit was to be the leader of it, and Blommaert the commissioner in Amsterdam. After these stipulations had been concluded, in February, 1637, Minuit set out for Stockholm. The Government embraced the scheme, and promised to place two fully-equipped vessels at the disposal of the Company, while the contribution of money required from Sweden was subscribed by Axel Oxenstjerna, his brother Gabriel Gustafsson Oxenstjerna, their cousin Gabriel Bengtsson Oxenstjerna, and Clas Fleming (Royal Councillors and Guardians of Queen Christina), and Peter Spiring.
Fleming, like the Chancellor, was a very zealous promoter of the project, and, as virtual chief of the admiralty (the head-admiral was aged and disqualified for service), obtained a commission to fit out the ships, concerting the details with Minuit and Blommaert, who procured an experienced crew and suitable cargo in Holland. The vessels were sent over to Gottenburg during the spring, when the expedition was to start. Delays occurred, however, and the vessels,—the “Kalmar Nyckel” (Key of Calmar), a man-of-war, under Captain Anders Nilsson Krober, and the sloop “Gripen” (the Griffin), Lieutenant Jacob Borben commander, both belonging to the United South and Ship Company,—did not receive their passports before the 9th of August, and were not ready to sail until late in the autumn. Soon after leaving, they encountered severe storms, and were obliged to put into the Dutch harbor of Medemblik for repairs and fresh provisions, but set out once more in December for their place of destination.
Here they arrived not later than March, 1638, Minuit exercising his discretion as commander of the expedition to direct his course to the River Delaware, with which, under the name of the South River of New Netherland, he had become acquainted during his former sojourn in America. According to Campanius, the colonists first landed on the west side of Delaware Bay, below the Mordare Kil (Murderkill Creek), at a place they called Paradis Udden (Paradise Point), “probably,” says he, “because it seemed so grateful and agreeable.” They afterward proceeded up the river, and on the 29th of March Minuit concluded a purchase of land from five chiefs of the Minquas (belonging to the great Iroquois race), appropriately rewarding them with articles of merchandise. The territory thus acquired embraced the west shore of the Delaware, from Bomtiens Udden (near Bombay Hook) northward to the River Schuylkill, no limit being assigned towards the interior.[913] At its boundaries Minuit erected posts bearing the insignia of his sovereign, designating the country as New Sweden, and immediately built a fort, called, in honor of the queen,[914] Christina, at a point of rocks about two miles from the mouth of the Minquas (now Christeen) Creek, to which stream he gave the name of Elbe.
Soon after his arrival he despatched “Gripen” to Jamestown, in Virginia, for a cargo of tobacco to carry to Sweden free of duty,—a privilege which the governor declined to grant, out of regard to the instructions of the English king, while the Treasurer of the Province wrote to Sir Francis Windebanke, Principal Secretary to Charles I., suggesting the removal of the Swedes from the neighborhood of the Delaware, which he described as “the confines of Virginia and New England,” claiming it as appertaining to his sovereign. The sloop was suffered to remain “ten days, to refresh with wood and water,” and then returned to Minuit. Subsequently the Swedish commander sent her up the river for purposes of traffic, when he was summarily challenged by the Dutch at Fort Nassau, a stronghold built in 1623, by Cornelis Jacobsen Mey, at Timber Creek on the east side of the Delaware, which had afterward been abandoned and reoccupied several times, and was then in the possession of traders from New Amsterdam. The actions of Minuit were also reported by the Assistant-Commissary at that place to Willem Kieft, the Director-General of New Netherland, and were in turn communicated by Kieft, in a letter of the 28th of April, to the Directors of the West India Company in Holland, and were made the subject of a formal protest, addressed by Kieft to Minuit, the 6th of May, claiming jurisdiction over the South River for the Dutch. No heed was paid, however, to remonstrances of either Hollanders or English; and Minuit proceeded to improve his fort by building two log-houses in the inclosure for the accommodation of the garrison, while he stocked it plentifully with provisions, leaving a portion of his cargo to be used in barter with the Indians, “all whose peltries,” says Governor Kieft, “he had attracted to himself by liberal gifts.”
The colonists who remained in New Sweden numbered twenty-three men, under the command of Lieutenant Måns Kling (the only Swede expressly named as taking part in this first expedition to the Delaware), who had charge of the military affairs, and Hendrick Huygen, a relative of Minuit, likewise born in Cleves, who was intrusted with the civil and economical duties of the direction. Minuit himself departed for the West Indies, probably in July, on board the “Kalmar Nyckel,” having sent “Gripen” thither before him. After disposing of his merchandise, and securing a cargo of tobacco at the Island of St. Christopher, while paying a visit to a Dutch ship lying near by, he perished by the destruction of that vessel in a sudden and violent storm. The “Kalmar Nyckel” had the good fortune to escape, and soon afterward sailed for Sweden, but was forced by November gales to take refuge in a port of Holland; while “Gripen” returned to the Delaware, and, obtaining a load of furs, acquired by traffic with the Indians, set out for Gottenburg, where she arrived at the close of May, 1639.
