The Indian Chief ~ APT Traditional Cache

The Indian Chief cache is located along the Allamuchy Pond Trail which is located along the grounds of Rutherfurd Hall, one of the last extant large country estates in New Jersey.

Allamuchy Township, named from its principal town, was formed from a part of Independence, in 1872. Allamuchy has the proud distinction of bearing its name longer than any other town in Warren County. Here from time immemorial was an Indian village called Allamuchahokkingen, or Allamucha, which is mentioned by the earliest surveys of this region, made in 1715. The earliest white settlers were Quakers. Among the early merchants were James Shotwell, Stephen Kennedy and Paul Angle. In 1834 it had a grist mill, a saw mill, a grain distillery, a store, a tavern and a dozen dwellings. It is a station on the Lehigh and Hudson River railroad, is situated near a beautiful lake bearing its name, and has in its vicinity two of the finest country seats in America.

John Rutherford, a grandson of James Alexander, surveyor-general, and one of the proprietors of New Jersey, settled on the estate at Tranquility and Allamuchy, still occupied by his descendants. He became a member of the Legislature in 1788, and in 1790 and again in 1796 was elected to the Senate of the United States. Mr. Rutherford Stuyvesant, a descendant of Peter Stuyvesant and of John Rutherford, added hundreds of acres to the ancestral estate and called the whole Tranquility Farms. His kennels won many prizes, and his sheep could not be equalled in America. His game preserve first made the English phcasant known in our county. A deer park of hundreds of acres is part of the estate.

The Rutherfurd - Stuyvesant geocache series give an in depth history of this important and distinguished american family and the gilded age in NJ. There are two locations showcased in the geotrail. The Stuyvesant Mansion and Rutherfurd Mansion located within Tranquility Farms massive estate was divided by the construction on interstate 80.