One of the most romanticized incidents in early American history may have simply been a tribal initiation.
 Deseret Morning News graphic Captain John Smith & PocahontasRequires Adobe Acrobat. | |
The legend begins with three Englishmen, led by Captain John Smith, being lured ashore by Indian women during a trading and exploration mission. An ambush quickly followed. Smith, the sole survivor, was then dragged before chief Powhatan to decide his fate. According to Smith, his life hung in the balance. His head was placed on a stone while Indian warriors prepared to pummel his brains out. At the last moment, Pocahontas, a young Indian princess, rushed forward and laid her head on Smith, saving his life. Was this young love or something else? Scholars now believe Pocahontas' actions were probably part of an elaborate adoption ritual. It seems the self-confident English captive had managed to impress his captors and was adopted into the tribe through the execution ritual.
Smith would later recount the episode in his books, and although the validity of the story has been questioned, the relationship between Pocahontas and John Smith would prove invaluable in the survival of the Jamestown colony.
Captain John Smith
Born: 1580, Wiloughby, England
"An ambityous unworthy and vayneglorious fellowe" — George Percy describing John Smith
Smith left home at age 16 after the death of his father. In the years that followed he would find himself involved in a number of professions including soldier, cartographer, ethnographer, trader, governor, sailor and writer. Though talented in many areas, Smith was also an ambitious, proud self-promoter. Many scholars believe he was one of the key reasons Jamestown managed to survive its early years, while others point out his almost constant problems with other settlers and the colony's authorities. He escaped the gallows for various misdeeds (including accusations of mutiny) more than once. Smith could be a charming negotiator or a cruel adversary and was not above using force to achieve his goals.
1596: Served as a mercenary with the Dutch army against the Spanish
1598: Served as merchant sailor
1601: Joined European armies fighting Turks in Transylvania
Sold into slavery
During the campaign against the Turks, Smith was wounded, captured and sold into slavery. His master's sweetheart is said to have fallen in love with him during his captivity. He managed to escape while being trained for Turkish imperial service. His flight took him through Russia, Poland and eventually North Africa before he returned to England.
Jamestown
Smith was among the first settlers in Jamestown. His encounter with Pocahontas occurred in December 1607 when he was 27. Between 1607 and 1609 Smith acted as a stabilizing force as the colony experienced its worst period of starvation, disease and Indian attacks. In 1609, a bag of gunpowder Smith was carrying on a belt ignited and burned him severely. He returned to England to recover. He would never see Virginia again.
Smith returned to America in 1614, spending several months exploring the coast of Massachusetts and the area he would name "New England."
He died in 1631 at age 51.
Pocahontas
Born: 1595
Pocahontas was one of the many children of Chief Powhatan. Her real name was Matoaka, although she is more commonly known as Pocahontas, which means frisky or playful. Pocahontas developed a close bond with John Smith and became a frequent visitor to Jamestown following her life-saving encounter with the adventurer. Through Pocahontas, Jamestown realized a period of relative peace. On her visits she brought food and trade goods that were essential for the survival of the settlement.
Relations between the Indians and the English deteriorated, and with Smith's departure in 1609, Pocahontas' visits became less frequent. In 1610 she married an Indian named Kocoum, who died soon after. Two years later, at age 17, she was kidnapped and ransomed by Captain Samuel Argall in an attempt to recover eight Englishmen held by Chief Powhatan. During her one-year captivity, Pocahontas converted to Christianity and fell in love with John Rolfe. Pocahontas was baptized Rebecca and married Rolfe in 1614. A year later she gave birth to a son, Thomas.
London
Pocahontas, her son and a dozen Powhatan Indians accompanied Rolfe and Sir Thomas Dale on a Virginia Company promotional voyage in 1616. The well-publicized visit was a smashing success. Pocahontas was presented to James I and the cream of London society. During her visit she had an unexpected meeting with John Smith, who she had been told was dead.
After a seven-month stay in England, a return voyage was arranged, but Pocahontas' health had begun to deteriorate. She was put ashore at Gravesend, England, either dead or dying. The cause of death is unclear. It has been speculated that she died from pneumonia, tuberculosis or smallpox. The 22-year-old was buried in Gravesend at St. George's parish church.
Her son, Thomas, would remain in England until age 20 and would never see his father again. He would later marry and return to Virginia.
Survival
Of 900 settlers who arrived in Jamestown between 1607 and 1610 only 150 survived.
The massacre of 1622 killed 350 settlers, one-third of the colony's population.
Jamestown: A short history
Jamestown was the brainchild of a group of London entrepreneurs whose goal was a permanent settlement that could provide a way station during passage to the Orient (North America was thought to be only a narrow strip of land) and a new source of gold. Investors also looked to cash in on a lucrative fur trade and perhaps corner the market on sassafras. A charter was granted by King James I in June of 1606, and a group of 104 settlers on three ships (Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery) sailed to the Chesapeake area from London in December of that year.
The new settlement was plagued by problems from the beginning. A swampy area with poor drinking water was chosen for the fort, and the settlers, mostly gentlemen, were ill prepared or unwilling to engage in the labor needed to provide basic food and shelter. Malnutrition, malaria, pneumonia and dysentery were a part of daily life along with the constant threat of Indian attack. Of the 104 original settlers, only 38 survived the first year.
Tobacco
A major reason for the eventual success of Jamestown was tobacco. John Rolfe is credited with bringing the tobacco seeds from Trinidad that saved the colony's economy.
The production of tobacco proved to be a great source of contention between the English and the Indians. Tobacco cultivation requires large plots of land because it can wear out the land quickly in two to three years. The settlers found it much easier to take over Indian fields than to clear farmland themselves.
Powhatan Indians
Language: Algonquian ("tomahawk," "skunk," "squash," "wampum" and "succotash" are Algonquian words used today)
Habitat: Coastal plains of Virginia
Society: Hunters and farmers. Jobs were divided according to gender.
Women built shelters, raised children and grew corn, beans, squash and sunflower seeds
Transportation: Dugout canoes with a capacity of 10-30 people
Confederation: The Powhatan Indians belonged to a loose confederation of 32 tribes (200 villages and 10,000 people) when Jamestown was established. It was led by 60-year-old Chief Wahunsenacawh (commonly known as Chief Powhatan, father of Pocahontas).
Interaction: From the beginning, relations between the settlers and Indians was uneasy. Interaction vacillated between minor skirmishes and amicable trading. The Indians, while having the ability to crush the English at any time, seemed to prefer the uneasy coexistence. Within 15 years, the settlers had become too numerous and well-established to expel. A coordinated attack by the Powhatans in 1622, headed by Opechancanough (Chief Powhatan's successor and brother), was ineffective in eliminating the English. Wahunsenacawh used the name Chief Powhatan because of a belief that an individual could gain control of your soul by speaking your name.
The height of the average Powhatan Indian was 6 feet.
John Smith is said to have taken one year to clear 40 acres of land. English settlers seized 2,000 to 3,000 acres of farm land from the Indians that same year.
The English considered the Powhatan men to be lazy because hunting (their primary chore) was considered a sporting pastime and the Powhatan women performed most of the other vital tasks.
James I wrote a tract against the evils of smoking, while Sir Walter Raleigh (the man who introduced tobacco to England) is said to have puffed a pipe before his execution to show his disdain for the king.
West Indian tobacco was smoother and sweeter than the native Virginia variety.
Sassafras tonic had a number of medicinal uses in the early 1600s, including a cure for syphilis.
During the 17th century, crossing the Atlantic Ocean was a four-month ordeal.
SOURCES: Books — "Indians," "The Indian Wars," "Powers of the Crown," "The New World World/Before 1775," "Arms and Armor."
Web sites — Colonial Williamsburg Journal, www.history.org;
Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, www.apva.org;
The Bowyer's Den, Colonial National Historic Park (Jamestown), www.nps.gov; Matchlock, www.silcom.com; The Story of Pocahontas, www.stgeorgesgravesend.org.uk, Matchlock, www.silcom.com.