Toto We're Not in DUMBO Anymore.

 Rapelje skyline

As far as I can tell, there is no town or city, river or or park, named for Joris and Catalina Rapelje in New York State. This despite the fact that they were among the very first European settlers and landowners in New Netherlands and then New Amsterdam, which would become New York State and City. There's the little street in Red Hook I wrote about in my post yesterday, a couple of portraits and paintings of their farm on Wallabout Bay in Brooklyn, and their daughter Sarah's chair, in the City Museum of New York. Sarah, by the way, is thought to be the first New Netherlander-American born in the New World.

You have to go to Montana to find a place name honoring the Rapelje legacy. That's the Rapelje Church in northern Stillwater County. Rapelje is actually an unincorporated ranching community (pop. 110), named for J.M. Rapelje, general manager and vice president of the Northern Pacific Railway, which no doubt has a lot to do with it being there at all. Lewis and Clark came close, but I'm not sure if they made it to what would become today's Rapelje.

If you are planning your summer vacation, Rapelje is not far from both the Hailstone and Halfbreed Lake National Wildlife Refuges. And before you go, check out some of the other beautiful Montana churches on the Montana Film Office site. Damn, now they're trying to steal the movie business from us!

Where the Devil says Goodnight?

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