 Their name is an exonym taken from the territory and is translated as "place of stony ground"  which describes the diminishing Hudson Palisades as they descend into the Meadowlands becoming the "ridgefield" that is part of Hackensack River flood plain.In 1642, Myndert Myndertsen received a patroonship as part of the New Netherland colony for much the land in the Hackensack and Passaic valleys.He called his settlement Achter Kol, or "rear mountain pass", which refers to its accessibility to the interior behind the Palisades.