Knickerbocker's History of New York Vol. 1 Book I Chapter IV

In which an earnest yet amused inquiry is made into the mysterious origins of the early inhabitants of this vast country, surveying a multitude of learned—and often contradictory—theories proposed by scholars of various persuasions and epochs. Amidst a comical array of suppositions ranging from the biblical to the fantastical, the narrative gently concludes that, despite the uncertainties and disputes, the land is indeed peopled, albeit by a motley multitude of progenitors whose precise identities may forever elude us.