The first inhabitants of Northport were indigenous peoples known as the Matinecocks, whose camp perched on a lakeshore site now occupied by the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA). In 1650 the first white men came to the territory from New Amsterdam and reported their discovery to the Dutch government at The Hague. The report described "good fishing, fine meadowlands and mostly level ground suitable for farms and cattle". Six years later, this area, which would be called Great Cow Harbor, was purchased from Chief Asharoken by three Englishmen for seven quarts of liquor, two coats, four shirts and eleven ounces of powder. Relations between the settlers and the Indians were friendly, and the small colony flourished with farming and shell-fishing.