The recorded story of the of Teaneck Creek’s wetlands begins in the 1600s, when Lenape Indian leader Sachem Oratam deeded more than 2,000 acres to Dutch colonist Sarah Kiersted. The English Governor Philip Carteret granted a “patent” to Sarah Kiersted, a deed confirming her ownership of land that included the current Conservancy site. At the time Oratam deeded the property to Kiersted, a diverse ecosystem existed there with a wealth of water resources, including, according to the words of the English deed, “woods, pastures, fields, Meadows, Pools, Ponds, Islands, Creeks, Marshes, River.” The water-rich ecosystem contained tributaries to the Hackensack River and provided habitat that the deed describes as conducive to “Hawking, Hunting fowling, fishing.”