Civil-War Reconstruction Era: Joe Two Trees and Endurance

Two Trees Island’s most poignant chapter centers on Joe Two Trees (“The Last Algonquin”), an Indigenous man who reportedly lived on the island and surrounding parkland from the Civil War era into the early 20th century. Ostracized from Manhattan and facing persistent racism, Joe Two Trees lived in the woods, hunting, fishing, and teaching survival skills to a young Kazimiroff, who would later become a champion for Bronx environmental preservation. Their unique friendship—bridging centuries of history, prejudice, and social change—is celebrated in the Bronx to this day through memorials and trails named for both men.

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Colonial Encounters, Dispossession, and the Pell Treaty

By the mid-17th century, Two Trees Island and its neighbors were included in the controversial 1654 Pell purchase of over 50,000 acres from Siwanoy leaders, finalized at the Treaty Oak by the Bartow-Pell Mansion. This land seizure, occurring in the aftermath of earlier Dutch-Siwanoy violence and the tragic Anne Hutchinson massacre, overturned longstanding Indigenous stewardship. Colonial land disputes and jurisdictional battles between Dutch and English authorities left a patchwork of contested ownership throughout the Pelham Islands. By the 18th and 19th centuries, the land was incorporated into manorial estates before passing into city hands for park creation.

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Ecological Mapping and Biodiversity

Now entirely part of the protected Hunter Island Marine Sanctuary, Two Trees Island features rocky coastlines, oak and maritime forest, and salt marsh habitat indicative of a rare northern New England ecosystem. Ecological inventories reveal a mix of native hardwoods, areas of coastal grassland, and thriving populations of intertidal invertebrates and birds such as egrets, herons, and raptors. The boulder fields and exposed bedrock on and around Two Trees Island are remnants of the Wisconsin Glacier, formative to the region’s biodiversity and rare flora such as marsh orchids and wild grasses.

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Education, Memory, and Cultural Ackowledgment

The Kazimiroff Nature Trail, local signage, and educational programming preserve the memory of Joe Two Trees, drawing visitors, students, and scholars to reflect on Native survival and historic injustice as well as ongoing natural restoration. The island stands as both an ecological refuge and a site of living memory honoring the region’s first peoples and their descendants.

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Environmental Threats and Community Activism

In the early 1960s, landfill and development plans for Tallapoosa Point threatened to engulf Two Trees Island and its neighboring outcrops. Grassroots opposition—led by future Bronx District Attorney Mario Merola, Bronx activists, and the Kazimiroff family—resulted in the creation of the sanctuary by local law in 1967, preserving this unique ecological and cultural landscape for future generations.

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Future Prospects

Ongoing management plans focus on invasive species control, native plant restoration, ecological research, and continued education about both the natural and human heritage of Two Trees Island. There are no development plans; the sanctuary’s preservation remains a key priority for Bronx and New York City conservation.

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Indigenous Presence and Significance

Two Trees Island, located within the Hunter Island Marine Zoology and Geology Sanctuary, sits on lands originally stewarded by the Lenape—specifically the Siwanoy, who named the surrounding region Rananchqua. The area around Hunter Island, Twin Island, and Two Trees Island was essential for shellfishing, fishing, and gathering resources, and is dotted with glacial erratics and boulders that held spiritual significance for local peoples. Oral and scholarly histories affirm that these islands were not just seasonal food sources, but also sites for ceremony, burial, and the making of wampum beads used for trade and diplomacy. Notably, Two Trees Island’s modern name and aura owe much to the story of “Joe Two Trees,” believed to be the last Algonquin Native American known to have lived a traditional life on these lands into the 20th century—his life was recorded by Bronx historian Theodore Kazimiroff.

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Modern Conservation, Sanctuary Status, and Access

Today, Two Trees Island and its nearby islets are at the heart of the Hunter Island Marine Sanctuary, protected against development and managed by NYC Parks’ Natural Resources Group. The area is closed to unsupervised public visitation to protect sensitive plants and wildlife, but is an important research site for local biodiversity, climate resilience studies, and Indigenous acknowledgment projects.

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Transition to Public Parkland

When New York City aggregated Pelham Bay Park after the consolidation of the Bronx in the 1890s, significant legal and physical disputes occurred as the city moved to evict squatters and claim former estate lands—an era that saw legal wrangling and intense activism by conservationists and historians. By 1967, these conflicts helped prompt the sanctuary designation that protected Two Trees Island from landfill expansion and urban encroachment.

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Uncover the unique character and hidden corners of the harbor.

Community Organizations

NYC Department of Parks & Recreation

Friends of Pelham Bay Park

Articles and Books

Gotham Unbound: The Ecological History of Greater New York — Ted Steinberg

Waterfront & Natural Areas - Randall's Island Park Alliance — 2024

Joe Two Trees and Native Bronx History — The Bronx Chronicle, 2024

Joe Two Trees: The Last Algonquin — Bronx River Alliance, 2023

Pelham Bay Park - Forever Wild Program — NYC Parks, 2007

Natural Area Mapping and Inventory of Pelham Bay Park — NYC Parks Department, 2008

Hunter Island Outer Loop – Pelham Bay Park — Scenes From The Trail, 2020

Revisiting the Last Algonquin — Knight Center, 2016

Tribal History - Tribal Council of the Siwanoy Nation, 2025

Mysterious Rock Construction on Two Trees Island — Historic Pelham Blog, 2017

Pelham Bay Park Highlights — NYC Parks, 1998

Two Trees Island – Pelham Bay Park Timeline — Friends of Pelham Bay Park, 2019