years. The Lenape referred to the area near the park as or , meaning 'place of rushes'. Dutch settlers occupied Manhattan in the early 17th century and called the area around Morningside Park , meaning 'peaceful dale'. The lowlands to the east were called by the Dutch, and were later translated to "Flats" in English. The land to the east was not settled initially because of its marshy topography. The area became known as Montagne's (or Montayne's) Flat after Johannes de la Montagne, who was among the first European settlers of New Harlem in 1658; he owned about between what is now 109th and 124th Streets. The western boundary of the area was the cliff, while the eastern boundary was a creek that emptied east into the East River. Montagne's Flat was subdivided into lots in 1662, and four years later a new charter for New Harlem was given to the English, who had seized New Netherland, renaming it New York. Through the 17th and 18th centuries, the cliff formed a geopolitical boundary between Harlem to the east and the heights to the west. The western boundary of New Harlem was drawn through the present-day Morningside Park in 1666, running from 74th Street at the East River to 124th Street at the North River (now the Hudson River). To the west of the line were the common lands of the Province of New York, which were sold to Jacob De Key in 1701. Following Harman Vandewater's acquisition of part of the De Key farm by 1735, it was called Vandewater Heights by 1738. Vandewater Heights would then be sold by 1785 to James W. De Peyster. There were disputes over the De Key farm throughout the 18th century, disputes which eventually resulted in the cliffside's being named as the farm's eastern boundary. Meanwhile, Montagne's Flat was owned by several families in the 17th and 18th centuries, some of whom were slaveholders, according to censuses taken in 1790, 1800, and 1810. British Army colonial forces used a road on the farm to retreat during the September 16, 1776, Battle of Harlem Heights, one of the battles of the American Revolutionary War. In the Commissioners' Plan of 1811, which laid out a grid system for Manhattan island, little regard was given to the topography of the area. Shortly afterward, during the War of 1812, several blockhouse fortifications were built in the area.