"Schunnemunk, now so written, the name of a detached hill in the town of Cornwall, Orange County, appears of record in that connection, first, in the Wilson and Aske Patent of 1709, in which the tract granted is described as lying 'Betweenj the hills at Scoonemoke.' Skoonnemoghky, Skonanaky, Schunnemock, Schonmack Clove, Schunnemock Hill, are other forms. In1750 Schunnamunk appears, and in 1774, on Sauthier's map (1776) Schunnamank is applied to the range of hills which have been described as 'The High Hills to the west of the Highlands.' In a legal brief in the controversy to determine finally the northwest line of the Evans Patent, the name is written Skonanake, and the claim made that it was the hill named Skoonnemoghky in the deed from the Indians to Governor Dongan, in 1685, and therein given as the southeast boundmark of the lands of 'The Murderer's Creek Indians,' and later, the hill along which the northwest line of the Evans Patent ran, which it certainly was not, although the name is probably from the same generic. (See Schoonnenoghky). The hill forms the west shoulder of Woodbury Valley. It is a somewhat remarkable elevation in geological formation and bears on its summit many glacial scratches. On its north spur stood the castle of Maringoman, one of the grantors of the deed to Governor Dongan, and who later removed to the north side of the Otter Kill where his wigwam became a landmark in two patents. The traditionary word 'castle,' in early days of Indian history, was employed as the equivalent of town, whether palisaded or not. In this case we may read the name, 'Maringoman's Town,' which may or may not have been palisaded. It seems to have been the seat of the 'Murderer's Creek Indians.' The burial ground of the clan is marked on a map of the Wilson and Aske Patent, and has been located by Surveyor Paul Fred J. McKnight (1898) on the north side of the Cornwall and Monroe line and very near the present road past the Houghton farm, near which the castle stood. The later 'cabin' of the early sachem is plainly located."
Footnote: "Van Dam Patent (1709) and Mompeson Patent (1709-12). The late Hon. George ?W. Tuthill wrote me in 1858: 'On the northwestern bank of Murderers' Creek, about half a mile below Washingtonville, stands the dwelling-house of Henry Page (a colored man), said to be the site of Maringoman's wigman, referred to in the Van Dam Patent of 1709. The southwesterly corner of that patent is in a southwesterly direction from said Page's house.'
In the controversy in regard to the northwest line of the Evans Patent, one of the counsel said: 'It is also remarkable that the Murderers' Creek extends to the hill Skonansky, and that the Indian, Maringoman, who sold the lands, did live on the south side of Murderers' Creek, opposite the house where John McLean now (1756) dwells, nearthe said hill, and also lived on the north bank of Murderers' Creek, where Colonel Mathews lives. The first station of his boundaries is a stone set in the ground at Maringoman's castle.'"
Source: Ruttenber, E. M. "Footprints of the Red Men." Indian Geographical Names in the Valley of Hudson's River, the Valley of the Mohawk, and on the Delaware: Their Location and the Probable Meaning of Some of Them." In: Proceedingsof theNewYorkStateHistorical Association.: the Seventh Annual Meeting, with Constitution, By-laws and List of Members. New York State Historical Association, 1906.
"Indian place-names are not proper names, that is unmeaning words, but significant appellatives each conveying a description of the locality to which it belongs." --- Trumbull.
History
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A local historian, Dwight Akers, wrote about Grandfather Skoonenoghy: "too lazy to be roused from his sleep." Thanks to Daniel Case (courtesy of Wikipedia Commons), who took this photo from the eastbound lanes of I-84 near Fishkill, where we can see him as he lies.