Before Europeans settled in the current New York State capital of Albany, it was home to a tribe of Native Americans, known as the Mohicans. In 1609, Henry Hudson visited the region. Hudson was an English traveler employed by the Dutch to explore what is now known as the Hudson River. Within the next five years, the Dutch established Fort Nassau, but the trading post didn't last very long.
In
1624, they built a new post nearby, called Fort Orange. The settlement
served as a permanent home to a group of French-speaking people, called
Walloons. Conflict arose between the Dutch and the British settlers in
the area. The English captured Fort Orange and renamed it Albany in honor
of the Duke of York and Albany, James II. New York's governor eventually
chartered it as a city. Albany became the center for fur trading among
the English colonies.