The Washington Irving and Palenville NY Connection. Early draft- Matt Bua Edited jan 20th 2025
Quick Synopsis– Washington Irving left America for 17 years (1815-1832) in order to travel, help his brother with the family business and live abroad- Before leaving America he had never visited Palenville or the Kaaterskill Falls-Yet he placed Rip’s fictional home in this area and made the Kaaterskill Falls the true star and redeemer/ hero of the Post- Script to Rip Van WInkle! This story “popped out” of Irving seemingly fully formed one sleepless night in June of 1818 while he was at his sister’s house in England where earlier in the eve he had been reminiscing about some good ol days in Tarrytown with his brother in Law- Henry Van Wort. This happens to be one year after Palenville “incorporated” in 1817 and 3 years after the Cataclysmic eruption of Mount Tambora which led to the “Year with out summer” in 1816- where the snow that fell in June in Palenville which led to the area’s complete crop failure that year.
It turns out The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon made Irving $9,000 dollars-which was a good sum for a published work at this time. He returns to America in 1832 after his 17 years abroad- and on his ‘must see’ list was the spot where his Rip character was birthed from.(His traveling companions included Martin Van Buren, William Clark (1/2 of Lewis and Clark) and others) After his historic 1st visit to Palenville- he heads out west to see Black Hawk-the Sauk chief- who was still causing trouble for the Europeans out in the “Wild West”- while in parallel- a young 19 year old Abe Lincoln was making his way to find Black Hawk himself after he was elected as captain of the group who was formed to capture the Native Chief- but before Irving or Lincoln could get to him- he was already in captivity - (due to being ‘sold out’ but another Native American)--in some barracks outside of the barely formed area of St. Louis.(see drawing)
When Palenville’s new postmaster Hiram Smith took over in October 29th 1833 a year after Irving’s very 1st visit to the area- he helps to officially change the name of Palenville to ‘Irvingsville’– What was Irving visit really like? Was he mostly incognito? Or was there any fanfare?
This name change remained in place until around the time when Richard Hardwick took over as postmaster on july 28th 1841 and Rufus Palen returned home after serving as a Whig in congress for 2 years in 1941. I speculate that Rufus carried alot of political weight and was instrumental in changing the hamlets name back to Palenville once he got out of office and returned home.
I was rereading parts of the Andrew Burnstein's The Original Knickerbocker- The Life of Washington Irving- to see if there were any clues to these questions around his 1st Palenville visit.
I was so pleased to find on page 256 a reference to a letter Washington wrote his brother Peter about visiting the "veritable haunts of Rip Van Winkle" for the 1st time- in his life!. He went up to stay at The Mountain House which had opened in 1823 and he made a point to go see "the glen" and not just any waterfall, but "the Water fall" meaning the true star of Rip Van Winkle--- or at least the Post script- The Kaaterskill Falls, who, as we remember, smashed the water thief to bits after he tried to make off with the sacred water -gourd found in the crotch of a tree at the tip top of the mountain- at that place called " Garden Rock". Remember-
The letter of Irving gets even better...
"The wild scenery of these mountains outdoes all my conception of it...In fact, one appears to be wafted from place to place in this country as if by magic."
“We enter the beautiful pass through the mountains called the Clove, on either hand the mountain rise majestically thousands of feet, on the left the High Peak, on the right the South Mountain, on whose side the sun shown with golden splendor, and the huge precipices that rise a thousand feet above the village of Palensville (now Irvingsville) frowned on the valley like towers and battlements of Cyclopean structure.”
from- Thoughts and Occurrences- The Journal of Thomas Cole (1838) p.69
Earlier sept 2023 version at Objects in the Round on Main Street Catskill - Thank you Christen Ripley for the space and a chance to bring it to LIFE!
Setting up at the Mountain Top Historical Society’s old train depot. October 13, 2024 Photo :Alexandra Prince
Traveling Museum Press Release****
Step right up - and Let It RIP! —-A Tiny RIP VAN WINKLE Museum On Wheels
JOIN ARTIST and Time Traveling Impressionist, MATT BUA!
Don't miss this chance to experience his newest work ....A common silver mini- van has been retro-fitted by Bua.
With a fully functioning Time Traveling Rip Van Winkle Museum inside, and a pop out display table, the artist has brought an old "dad van" into his wonderfully mystical mythos with him.
Creating almost a Chitty Chitty Bang Bang- meets the ‘Back to the Future’ DeLorean- style car character and his own tour guide persona, Matt Bua launches his new work by driving up and down the Catskills, giving history lessons and creating select Studio Tours and Adventures in a non- linear Time Zone for the whole family.
Whatever aspect of Washington Irving’s most beloved supernatural napping slacker one is interested in- this mobile presentation will take you deeper.
Artist, Arm Chair Historian, Tiny Museum Curator, Catskills T-shirt Maker, and Time Traveling Impressionist - Matt Bua, will hold down his rolling fort.
"The Fun dad" and Glen Fall's House resident woodworker by day, artist, armchair historian and historical impressionist by night - Matt Bua has put together and truly Rip loving exhibition- in the wake of a decade of stand still roadside attractions, : the Catamount Peoples’ Museum, The Awakened Rip Statue, The Trickster Coyote Museum, a massive replica of the head of the Statue of Liberty etc.
Matt has suddenly decided to go mobile!
The Time Traveling Rip Van Winkle Museum is something to chase down, find- get the tour and have your picture taken with. You may be given a tour by Bua's impressionist self - ie: his version of Abraham Lincoln/ Thoreau? or even one of his own original comedic characters...
Through large format images, themed collections, cultural objects and reference material- the maximal Rip celebration will draw the passerby’s in to learn more.
The museum will spotlight the “Time Traveling Rip” as he rip’s new fabrics in time - to get to the bottom of what happened in the past- and helps us remember what happens moving forward.
If you’re lucky one of Rip’s friends from the past will be your tour guide - or you may get the download from Matt Bua as himself - who’s sincere interest in the Rip tale has catapulted him into this wild experiment in DIY Time Travel.
Celebrating the Mysteries of History- Pre-historic clarities — and sneak peeks at future victories. Some of the questions this museum will aim to answer or at least dance around…..
• Did the Romantic era actually die out as generally understood? Or is it, in fact, very much alive and well?
• What did Washington Irving gain by using those 9 plus pen names though out his career which allowed him to publish his works anonymously?
•Who exactly was Washington Irving’s “Dame Nature” character he reference in his writing over the years.
•And much much MORE!
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Bibliography for Washington Irving and the Great Manitou Transmission of 1818 (2018) (Selected)
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Black, Nancy and Weidman, Bette S., White on Red : Images of the American Indian, Kennikat Press, 1976
Brevoort, Henry, Letters to Washington Irving, 1811
Bua, Matt, Talking Walls: Casting Out the Post Contact Stone Wall Building Myth, PS Hudson , 2015
Burstein, Andrew. The Original Knickerbocker: The Life of Washington Irving. Persus Books, 2007
Colum, Padraic. Nordic Gods and Heroes(The Children of Odin).1920, Macmillan Company,NY
Dundes, Alan, article: Washington Irving's Vision of the Seminole Origin of Races, U.C Berkeley, 1962
Ferguson, Robert A, Rip Van Winkle and the Generational Divide in American, Columbia University
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Haien, Jeannette Michael, Rip Van Winkle's Dream, Doubleday, 1947
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Heinberg, Richard, Memories and Visions of Paradise: Exploring the Universal Myth of a Lost Golden Age
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Irving , Washington: History, Tales and Sketches, etc bio of the Prophet Muhammad. Bio of Margret Davidson
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Richardson, Judith, Possessions: The History and Uses of Haunting In the Hudson Valley
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Shinn, Everett, (illustrator) Rip Van Winkle
Suba, Suzzane, (illustrator) Rip Van Winkle and other Stories, Nelson Doubleday,MCMLV
Van Zandt, Roland, The Catskill Mountain House, Hope Farm Press, 1982
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Wyman, Sarah, article: Washington Irving's Dangerous Critique of a New Nation, SUNY New Paltz
Added 2025
Bruce, Wallace, Along the Hudson With Washington Irving, 1913
Cole, Thomas, Thoughts and Occurrences, Journals 1834-1848
Savell, Isabelle K, Martin Van Buren and Washington Irving in Rockland County,
Spataro, Barbara Krug,- Palenville: The Gem of the Catskills, April 2002
The Rambler in North America:1832-1833, Irving, Ellsworth, LaTrobe, and Pourtales Expedition, Encyl. of Oklahoma History and Culture