Why you're living on legendary land

An undated Times Union article tells the tale of Diamond Rock.

Did you know you live near a very historic piece of land, filled with legends arising from the time before Europeans arrived on the scene?

Thanks to Janice Dessingue who shared a yellowed newspaper clipping with The Terrace Times, here's an opportunity to revisit a story published in the Times Union about the tales of Diamond Rock, the granite outcropping overlooking the Mohawk Valley and, in the distance, the Helderbergs. The clipping, while not dated, probably was published just before construction began on the Terrace in 1995. It refers to the Highponte development's opening in 1990. It also provides a clue to the namesake of the Moneta Overlook group of homes abutting the Terrace and built well after the Terrace community was created.

Here is the full text of the story.

By TIM O'BRIEN
Staff writer

TROY -- High on a hill above Lansingburgh, hidden away behind the Highpointe housng development, is a large rock where a Mohawk legend says an Indian chief's wife once mourned and waited for her sons. And if you take a good look at its face, they say it's easy to trace the tracks of her tears.

Diamond Rock is the name of this natural feature, once a popular romantic spot for couples to park and now part of the walking path behind the Highpointe town houses.

The legend is recounted in the book "Body, Boots & Britches," by Harold W. Thompson, published in 1940, and in the 1971 history of Lansingburgh, according to information provided by the Rensselaer County Historical Society.

Moneta was the most beautiful woman in tribe and the wife of the old sachem Hohadora, the legend says. Her son Onasqua was captured by a band of Adirondack warriors and taken to the north as a prisoner.

Brokenhearted, Hohadora died and was buried by the riverside overlooking the Hudson River in Lansingburgh. According to custom, Moneta then lit a fire over his grave for four days to guide his spirit home.

Taendra, Moneta's other son, swore vengeance and set out to recover his brother.

At the end of the four days, Moneta moved from the spot where she had buried her husband, traveling through a swamp and up a hill to a large rock that overlooked the whole valley. As her second child left, Moneta kindled a fire on this rock and vowed to keep the fire burning as long as her son was away to guide him back to the camp.

She kept the vigil throughout her life, at the end being helped each day to the spot by younger Mohawks. One night, when she was very old, Taendra reappeared at last, carrying the remains of his brother as he had vowed. As mother and son tearfully greeted each other, their god Manitou sent a bolt of lightning to strike the rock. At dawn, the Mohawks followed the trail to the rock and found only the bones of Onasqua. Mother and son had had their spirits carried away in the lightning and the rock remained, glistening like a diamond.

"Look," cried one woman. "See Moneta's tears!"

Today, Moneta's tears are more difficult to see. They are located on private property, inside the Highpointe development, where one of the streets is named Diamond Rock Circle.

The way to the rock is just off the development's walking path, where a small dirt trail leads to the rocky surface. It looks more like granite than diamond, although a few chipped spots still shine in the afternoon sun. Where once Moneta cried, graffiti that announce "Bill + Caryl 5/23/89 4 Ever in Love" now dots the rocks.

Joseph Manupella, Lansingburgh native and a longtime public official, said the spot was once next to the Dawes Mansion, where gangster Legs Diamond allegedly once stayed.

"We'd go up there when we were kids," Manupella said. "You'd look over the city. Kids would go up in high school, to smoke a cigarette or have a Coke. Diamond Rock was kind of sparkly, nothing that would make you go up there with a pick and shovel."

When building the housing development in 1990, site coordinator Steve Coccetti said, the Michaels Group deliberately made certain that the rock was not only untouched, but that the path to it was reachable. "We brought the path around it," he said.

When the first homes opened in 1990, he said, Troy residents regularly stopped by to share their memories of Diamond Rock.

"I think a ton of them used to come up here and park," he said. "Most people don't even know there is a story behind why it's called that."

Though graffiti-spattered, Diamond Rock still boasts a magnificent, 180-degree view of the Mohaw Valley.

"You can see all the way to the Helderbergs and the Adirondacks," Coccetti said. "It is amazing how beautiful it is up here."

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