|
|
|
A resource you can try! Ancestry.com
Copyright©, all rights |
Pocahontas: Fact & Fiction Helen Rountree, an anthropologist at Old Dominion University whose expertise is based on long study of Virginia Indians, has been widely quoted with refreshingly unadorable information, including the fact that Pocahontas, who was about eleven or twelve years old when John Smith met her, would have had a shaved head. Further, she would probably have been "built like a piano mover," Dr. Rountree asserts, because the women of her tribe did the hard physical labor. As for the deerskin mini, the real Pocahontas would more likely have been naked. One Account: Pocahontas probably saw white men for the first time in May 1607 when Englishmen landed at Jamestown. The one she found most likable was Captain John Smith. The first meeting of Pocahontas and John Smith is a legendary story, romanticized (if not entirely invented) by Smith. He was leading an expedition in December 1607 when he was taken captive by some Indians. Days later, he was brought to the official residence of Powhatan at Werowocomoco, which was 12 miles from Jamestown. According to Smith, he was first welcomed by the great chief and offered a feast. Then he was grabbed and forced to stretch out on two large, flat stones. Indians stood over him with clubs as though ready to beat him to death if ordered. Suddenly a little Indian girl rushed in and took Smith's "head in her arms and laid her owne upon his to save him from death.” The girl, Pocahontas, then pulled him to his feet. Powhatan said that they were now friends, and he adopted Smith as his son, or a subordinate chief. Actually, this mock "execution and salvation" ceremony was traditional with the Indians, and if Smith's story is true, Pocahontas' actions were probably one part of a ritual. At any rate, Pocahontas and Smith soon became friends. Relations with the Indians continued to be generally friendly for the next year, and Pocahontas was a frequent visitor to Jamestown. She delivered messages from her father and accompanied Indians bringing food and furs to trade for hatchets and trinkets. She was a lively young girl, and when the young boys of the colony turned cartwheels, "she would follow and wheele some herself, naked as she was all the fort over." She apparently admired John Smith very much and would also chat with him during her visits. Her lively character and poise made her appearance striking. Several years after their first meeting, Smith described her: "a child of tenne yeares old, which not only for feature, countenance, and proportion much exceedeth any of the rest of his (Powhatan's) people but for wit and spirit (is) the only non-pariel of his countrie. Unfortunately, relations with the Powhatans worsened. Necessary trading still continued, but hostilities became more open. While before she had been allowed to come and go almost at will, Pocahontas' visits to the fort became much less frequent. In October 1609, John Smith was badly injured by a gunpowder explosion and was forced to return to England. When Pocahontas next came to visit the fort, she was told that her friend Smith was dead. Pocahontas apparently married an Indian "pryvate Captayne" named Kocoum in 1610. She lived in Potomac country among Indians, but her relationship with the Englishmen was not over. When an energetic and resourceful member of the Jamestown settlement, Captain Samuel Argall, learned where she was, he devised a plan to kidnap her and hold her for ransom.
With the help of Japazaws, lesser chief of the Patowomeck Indians, Argall lured Pocahontas onto his ship. When told she would not be allowed to leave, she “began to be exceeding pensive and discontented," but she eventually became calmer and even accustomed to her captivity. Argall sent word to Powhatan that he would return his beloved daughter only when the chief had returned to him the English prisoners he held, the arms and tolls that the Indians had stolen, and also some corn. After some time Powhatan sent part of the ransom and asked that they treat his daughter well. Argall returned to Jamestown in April 1613 with Pocahontas.
She eventually moved to a new settlement, Henrico, which was under the leadership of Sir Thomas Dale. It was here that she began her education in the Christian Faith, and that she met a successful tobacco planter named John Rolfe in July 1613. Pocahontas was allowed relative freedom within the settlement, and she began to enjoy her role in the relations between the colony and her people. After almost a year of captivity, Dale brought 150 armed men and Pocahontas into Powhatan’s territory to obtain her entire ransom. Attacked by the Indians, the Englishmen burned many houses, destroyed villages, and killed several Indian men. Pocahontas was finally sent ashore where she was reunited with two of her brothers, whom she told that she was treated well and that she was in love with the Englishman John Rolfe and wanted to marry him. Powhatan gave his consent to this , and the Englishmen departed, delighted at the prospect of the “peace-making” marriage, although they didn’t receive the full ransom. Sir Thomas Dale made an important voyage back to London in the spring of 1616. His purpose was to seek further financial support for the Virginia Company and, to insure spectacular publicity, he brought with him about a dozen Algonquian Indians, including Pocahontas. Her husband and their young son, Thomas, accompanied her. The arrival of Pocahontas in London was well publicized. She was presented to King James I, the royal family, and the rest of the best of London society. Also in London at this time was Captain John Smith, the old friend she had not seen for eight years and whom she believed was dead. According to Smith at their meeting, she was at first too overcome with emotion to speak. After composing herself, Pocahontas talked of old times. At one point she addressed him as "father," and when he objected, she defiantly replied: "'Were you not afraid to come into my father's Countrie, and caused feare in him and all of his people and feare you here I should call you father: I tell you I will, and you shall call mee childe, and so I will be for ever and ever your Countrieman."' This was their last meeting.
After seven months Rolfe decided to return his family to Virginia, In March 1617 they set sail. It was soon apparent, however, that Pocahontas would not survive the voyage home. She was deathly ill from pneumonia or possibly tuberculosis. She was taken ashore, and, as she lay dying, she comforted her husband, saying, "all must die. 'Tis enough that the child liveth." She was buried in a churchyard in Gravesend, England. She was 22 years old. Upon Rolfe's return to Virginia, he assumed more prominence in the colony. He became a councilor and sat as a member of the House of Burgesses. He married again to Jane Pierce, daughter of a colonist. He continued his efforts to improve the quality and quantity of Virginia tobacco. In 1617 tobacco exports to England totaled 20,000 pounds. The next year shipment more than doubled. Twelve years later, one and a half million pounds were exported. The first great American enterprise had been established. John Rolfe died sometime in 1622. Although a third of the colony was killed in the Indian uprising of that year, it is not known how Rolfe died. In a life that held much personal tragedy, he had given the colony its economic base. Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities http://www.apva.org/ Rolfe's Dilemma Rolfe was a pious man who agonized for many weeks over the decision to marry a heathen. He composed a long, laborious letter to Governor Dale asking for permission to marry Pocahontas. The wedding took place in the spring of 1614. It resulted in peace with the Indians long enough for the settlers to develop and expand their colony and plant themselves permanently in the new land. Excerpt from Rolph's Letter to Sir Thomas Dale Chronology 105 men and boys land at Jamestown. Secret orders opened upon landing name Smith as one of the Councillors. 1607-05-26: Paspahegh Indians attack settlers, killing two, wounding ten. 1607-06-15: James Fort completed 1607-06-22: Chistopher Newport sets sail for London, loaded with treasure--fool's gold. 1607-08: Disease is rampant. The sixt of August there died John Asbie of the bloudie Fluxe. The ninth day died George Flowre of the swelling. The tenth day died William Bruster Gentleman, of a would given by the Savages.--George Percy 1607-12-10: Smith leads food-gathering expedition up the Chickahominy. Under attack, his men killed by Indians, he ties his Indian guide to his arm as a shield. Becomes stuck in swamp, is captured. Shows Powhatan's half-brother Opechancanough the wonders of his compass, which apparently saves his life. 1607-12-29: John Smith is brought before Powhattan, where the Pocahontas incident is said to have taken place. The possible ritual grants him Powhattan's acceptance. 1608-01-02: Smith returns to find the situation at the fort deperate. Only 38 of the original 105 colonists remain. Some are about to leave for home on the Discovery, but Smith aims one of the fort's cannons at the litle ship and and threatens to blow it out of the water. Smith is accused of causing the deaths of his men; is deposed from his position, tried, and condemned to hang, but by end of this very eventful day, the First Supply arrives--Newport on the John and Francis, carrying food & 60 new settlers. He puts a stop to Smith's execution. 1608-01-07: FIRE. Hope turns to desperation. Almost the whole town of thatch/wattle houses goes up in flames; everyone's clothes are burned, leaving colonists little protection during one of the century's most frigid winters. 1608-02: Smith brings his "father" (Christopher Newport) up the York to meet Powhattan. Newport almost botches the trading session by acceding unqualifiedly to Powhattan's desires; Smith salvages the situation by trading blue beads for substantial provisions. "Sons" are traded--young Thomas Savage is sent to live with the Indians; Namontack is sent to live with the English. These and others similarly traded will serve as interpreters and communications links between the two peoples. 1608-09: Christopher Newport arrives with the Second Supply, the Mary and Margaret. On board--besides an Elizabethan bed as a present for Powhatan and a 5-piece supposedly-portable barge with which to explore past the Richmond falls--are two women--"Mistresse Forest and Anne Buras her maide." Forest came over with her husband; Buras was unmarried. In the annals of Jamestown, we hear no more about Mrs. Forest.. . 1609-09: John Smith, injured in gunpowder accident; is sent back to London 1609-09: Now-President Ratcliffe sails up the Pamunkey to bargain with Powhatan for food; he fails to keep his guard up, and is tortured to death by the Indian women. 1612: John Rolfe Tries A Tobacco Crop To Help Save The Desperately Struggling Jamestown Settlement. 1613-04-13: The captured Pocahontas is brought to Jamestown as a hostage by Capt. Argall. 1614-06-28: John Rolfe ships his first cargo of tobacco to England.. 1614-04-24(?): John Rolfe and Pocahontas (Rebecca) are married 1616-06-03: ENGLAND: John Rolfe and Pocahontas arrive in London 1617-03-17 - ENGLAND - Pocahontas dies in Gravesend 1618-04: Powhatan dies.. 1622: John Rolfe dies (unknown causes) 1631: ENGLAND: John Smith dies at the age of 51.
|
The legend of Pocahontas has enjoyed wide
popularity in American culture in a number of versions and in various genres since the
early 17th century. Although little is known with any certainty about Pocahontas' life,
stories, images, poems, songs, and dramas have been produced on all levels of culture
celebrating the Indian Princess. Born in 1595, Pocahontas was the eldest daughter of the
powerful Indian leader, Chief Powhatan. She is said to have saved Captain John Smith from
execution in 1607. Later she married John Rolfe (1614), bore him a son, and died in 1617.
Writers and artists have added to this skeletal biography such a rich array of deeds and
feelings in their versions of her story that it is difficult to separate fact from
fantasy. The story first appeared in Smith's Generall Historie of Virginia (1624) long
after. Pocahontas died at the age of 22 and, barely fluent in English, never wrote or told
her own story. She has remained a maddeningly illusive figure for historians, yet a
fertile subject for the multitudes over nearly four hundred years who have claimed to
intuit her story. 
The Abduction of Pocahontas,
The Baptism of Pocahontas, by John Chapman, 1840
Pocahontas,
by Richard Norris Brooke, 1905