The Hudson Valley patroons had acted before…

The Hudson Valley patroons had acted before the Revolutionary War as feudal lords, with the right to make laws.

The patroons own all the land on which the tenants in the Hudson Valley live, and use feudal leases to maintain control of the region.

The patroon of the region in the 1830s, Stephen Van Rensselaer III, a direct descendant of Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, the first patroon, had been been described as "[having] ... proved a lenient and benevolent landowner".

Following his death in 1839, his estate had been divided among his heirs.

These, still great Catskills landlords, refuse to test their titles in court or to offer their land to the farmers at a fair market price.

Instead, they send land agents and sheriffs into the hills and mountains of the Catskills to conduct court-ordered sales of farmers' properties to pay the rent.

However, sheriffs and deputies attempting to serve writs on delinquent farmers find themselves surrounded by fifty to a thousand hooded, calico-clad riders summoned by the blowing of tin horns blared from one farm to another, and are sometimes tarred and feathered after their writs are seized and burned.

On the increasingly rare occasions that a sale goes forward, the presence of the “Indians” makes it unlikely that anyone will bid for the farmer's possessions.

Any animals sold are shot by the “Indians” after leaving the property, and farmers compensated by the Anti-Rent associations.