BRAVE WOMEN IN HISTORY: POCAHONTAS

POCAHONTAS

POCAHONTAS WAS THE DAUGHTER OF INDIAN CHIEF POWHATAN WHO RULED OVER THE TSENACOMMACAH TRIBE IN VIRGINIA.

JAMESTOWN, VIRGINIA

WHEN ENGLISH SETTLERS ESTABLISHED JAMESTOWN IN 1607 UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH, POCAHONTAS WAS A LITTLE GIRL ABOUT 12 YEARS OF AGE.

BRITISH SETTLERS BUILDING JAMESTOWN, NAMED AFTER KING JAMES I OF ENGLAND

KING JAMES I OF ENGLAND

FOR SEVERAL YEARS, SHE ENJOYED COMING TO PLAY WITH THE ENGLISH CHILDREN OF JAMESTOWN.

AS DAUGHTER OF CHIEF POWHATAN, SHE ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS BROUGHT FOODS FOR THE FAMISHED AND STARVING ENGLISH SETTLERS ATTEMPTING TO SURVIVE IN THE NEW WORLD.

CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH AND BRITISH SETTLERS EXCHANGING GARDENING TOOLS FOR CORNS WITH AMERICAN INDIANS

IT WAS REPORTED THAT WHEN THE BRITISH SETTLERS WERE WITHOUT FOODS AND STARVING, POCAHONTAS BROUGHT FOODS TO CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH.

" EVERY ONCE IN FOUR OR FIVE DAYS, POCAHONTAS WITH HER ATTENDANTS BROUGHT HIM SO MUCH PROVISION THAT SAVED MANY OF THEIR LIVES THAT ELSE FOR ALL OF THIS HAD STARVED OF HUNGER."

CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH

SHE ALSO DEVELOPED A CORDIAL AND FRIENDLY RELATIONSHIP WITH CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH WHO WAS AT THAT TIME NEARING 30 YEARS OF AGE.

SINCE CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH WAS MUCH OLDER THAN POCAHONTAS AND WAS THE ENGLISH EQUIVALENT OF HER FATHER CHIEF POWHATAN, IT IS BELIEVED THAT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POCAHONTAS AND CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH WAS A PLATONIC AND INNOCENT ADULT-CHILD FRIENDSHIP AND NOT A ROMANTIC ONE.

POCAHONTAS AS A YOUNG GIRL

IMAGE ENGRAVED BY CRISPIJN VAN DE PASSE IN 1616

CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH WAS HIMSELF A VERY BRAVE ADVENTURER WHO POSSESSED A RATHER TEMPESTUOUS CHARACTER.

HE WAS BORN IN THE YEAR 1580 IN WILLOUGHBY, ENGLAND AND AT THE AGE OF 16 YEARS SAILED ACROSS THE CHANNEL TO FRANCE, WHERE HE SERVED AS MERCENARY IN THE ARMY OF THE FRENCH KING HENRY IV.

AFTER HAVING FOUGHT IN THE BATTLE FOR DUTCH INDEPENDENCE FROM SPAIN, HE BECAME ENGAGED IN BOTH SEA TRADE AND PIRACY IN THE MEDITERRANEAN AND LATER FOUGHT WITH THE ARMIES OF THE RULERS OF HUNGARY AND ROMANIA AGAINST THE INVADING TURKS OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE.

HE IS REPUTED TO HAVE DECAPITATED 3 TURKS IN COMBAT DUELS AND WAS CONSEQUENTLY KNIGHTED BY THE PRINCE OF TRANSYLVANIA WITH COAT OF ARMS BEARING 3 TURKISH HEADS.

HE WAS INJURED IN ONE BATTLE AGAINST THE OTTOMAN TURKS, WAS CAPTURED AND SOLD AS SLAVE TO A TURKISH NOBLEMAN WHO GAVE HIM TO HIS GREEK MISTRESS IN CONSTANTINOBLE.

THE GREEK MISTRESS FELL IN LOVE WITH HIM AND TOOK HIM TO CRIMEA WHERE HE ESCAPED FROM SLAVERY.

HE TRAVELED THROUGH LITHUANIA AND POLAND BACK TO ENGLAND AND JOINED A BRITISH SEAFARING EXPEDITION TO THE NEW WORLD.

THE EXPEDITION WAS ARRANGED BY THE VIRGINIA COMPANY OF LONDON IN THE YEAR 1607.

THE VIRGINIA COMPANY OF LONDON

IT CONSISTED OF 3 SHIPS, THE DISCOVERY, THE GODSPEED AND THE SUSAN CONSTANT, UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF CAPTAIN CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT.

DURING THE 4 MONTHS VOYAGE TO THE NEW WORLD, CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH WAS ACCUSED OF MUTINY AND PLACED IN IRONS, TO BE EXECUTED UPON ARRIVAL TO VIRGINIA.

WHEN THE SHIPS REACHED THE COAST OF AMERICA, CAPTAIN CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT UNSEALED THE DIRECTIONS OF THE VIRGINIA COMPANY OF LONDON AND WAS SURPRISED TO READ AN ORDER INDICATING THAT CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH WAS TO BE APPOINTED A PRINCIPAL LEADER OF THE JAMESTOWN COLONY.

WITH HIS EXECUTION CANCELLED, CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH EVENTUALLY ASSUMED LEADERSHIP OF JAMESTOWN AND ENTERED INTO PRECARIOUS RELATIONSHIP WITH CHIEF POWHATAN AND THE TSENACOMMACAH INDIANS.

THE BUSTLING ENGLISH SETTLEMENT OF JAMESTOWN

CHIEF POWHATAN AND HIS INDIAN WARRIORS INITIALLY TREATED THE BRITISH SETTLERS WITH KINDNESS AND TOLERANCE, GIVING THEM FOODS AND TEACHING THEM HOW TO HUNT AND GROW PLANTS ON VIRGINIAN SOIL.

BUT AS MORE ENGLISHMEN AND WOMEN ARRIVED, TENSIONS AND CONFLICTS BECAME INEVITABLES. ATTACKS AND BELLICOSE ACTIVITIES BY BOTH SIDES AROSE.

AS LEADER OF THE VIRGINIA COLONY, CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH HIMSELF CONSTANTLY ENGAGED IN FIGHTING THE NEIGHBORING POWHATAN INDIANS.

CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH CONFRONTING CHIEF POWHATAN

ONE DAY WHILE HUNTING ALONG A RIVER, CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH WAS CAPTURED BY THE NATIVE WARRIORS AND BROUGHT TO CHIEF POWHATAN.

CHIEF POWHATAN DECIDED TO KILL HIM BY PLACING HIM ON A LARGE STONE AND CEREMONIALLY CLUBBING HIS HEAD. HIS LIFE WAS SAVED BY THE INTERVENTION OF POCAHONTAS.

POCAHONTAS SAVING THE LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH

IN THE YEAR 1616, CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH WROTE A LETTER TO QUEEN ANNE, WIFE OF KING JAMES I OF ENGLAND, STATING THAT POCAHONTAS HAD SAVED HIM FROM CEREMONIAL EXECUTION BY PLACING HERSELF OVER HIM AND CONVINCING HER FATHER CHIEF POWHATAN TO SPARE HIS LIFE.

QUEEN ANNE

" AT THE MINUTE OF MY EXECUTION, SHE HARZARDED THE BEATING OUT OF HER OWN BRAINS TO SAVE MINE AND NOT ONLY THAT BUT SO PREVAILED WITH HER FATHER THAT I WAS SAFELY CONDUCTED TO JAMESTOWN."

SOME MODERN HISTORIANS HAVE QUESTIONED THE VERACITY OF THIS INCIDENT BECAUSE CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH DID NOT MENTION IT IN HIS FIRST 2 BOOKS ABOUT HIS VOYAGES TO THE NEW WORLD.

TWO BOOKS WRITTEN BY CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH

MOST HISTORIANS BELIEVE THIS ACCOUNT TO BE TRUE AND THAT THE OMISSION OF THIS EVENT IN HIS TWO BOOKS IN NO WAY DIMINISHES ITS VERACITY.

CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH CONTINUED HIS LEADERSHIP OF JAMESTOWN FOR 3 YEARS.

IN 1609 HE WAS INJURED IN A GUNPOWDER EXPLOSION AND RETURNED TO ENGLAND IN ORDER TO RECUPERATE.

HE RETURNED TO AMERICA AGAIN IN 1614 TO EXPLORE THE NORTHERN REGIONS OF MAINE AND MASSACHUSETTS BAY TO WHICH HE GAVE THE NAME NEW ENGLAND.

CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH MADE TWO ADDITIONAL ATTEMPTS TO SAIL TO AMERICA IN THE YEARS 1614 AND 1616.

IN THE FIRST SEAFARING ATTEMPT, HIS SHIP WAS DEMASTED IN A STORM AND HE HAD TO RETURN TO ENGLAND.

IN THE SECOND ATTEMPT, HE WAS CAPTURED BY FRENCH PIRATES IN THE AZORES.

HE SUCCESSFULLY ESCAPED SEVERAL WEEKS LATER AND RETURNED TO BRITAIN WHERE, ABANDONING FURTHER ATTEMPTS TO SAIL TO AMERICA, HE PUBLISHED BOOKS ABOUT HIS TWO VOYAGES TO THE NEW WORLD.

HE DIED IN LONDON IN 1631 AT THE AGE OF 51 YEARS.

CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH

CONFLICTS BETWEEN CHIEF POWHATAN AND THE ENGLISH OF JAMESTOWN CONTINUED AFTER THE DEPARTURE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH.

POCAHONTAS HERSELF WAS HERSELF CAPTURED BY THE BRITISH FOR RANSOM IN THE YEAR 1613.

WITH THE HELP OF LOPASSUS, CHIEF OF THE PATAWOMECKS, CAPTAIN SAMUEL ARGALL LURED POCAHONTAS ONTO HIS SHIP, THEN INFORMED CHIEF POWHATAN THAT HIS DAUGHTER WOULD BE EXCHANGED FOR ALL THE CAPTURED ENGLISHMEN AS WELL AS ALL OF THEIR ARMAMENTARIUM.

WHEN CHIEF POWHATAN RELEASED THE CAPTURED ENGLISHMEN BUT RETURNED JUST A FEW PIECES OF THEIR ARMAMENT, THE BRITISH RENEGED ON RETURNING POCAHONTAS TO HER FATHER.

POCAHONTAS WAS HELD IN THE TOWN OF HENRICUS IN CHESTERFIELD COUNTY. SHE WAS WELL TREATED BY THE ENGLISH SETTLERS AND INTRODUCED TO CHRISTIANITY BY THE TOWN MINISTER ALEXANDER WHITTAKER. SHE WAS SUBSEQUENTLY BAPTISED AND TOOK THE CHRISTIAN NAME OF REBECCA.

POCAHONTAS AND MINISTER ALEXANDER WHITTAKER

THE BAPTISM OF POCAHONTAS

IN THE YEAR 1614, AFTER HAVING TOLD SENIOR INDIAN NATIVES THAT SHE DID NOT WISH TO RETURN TO HER TRIBE BECAUSE HER FATHER HAD VALUED HER LIFE LESS THAN A FEW PIECES OF OLD SWORDS AND AXES, POCAHONTAS MARRIED ENGLISHMAN JOHN ROLFE.

MARRIAGE OF POCAHONTAS TO JOHN ROLFE

JOHN ROLFE WAS A WEALTHY TOBACCO GROWER IN VIRGINIA. HE WAS THE FIRST TO SUCCEED IN GROWING TOBACCO FOR EXPORT BACK TO ENGLAND.

JOHN ROLFE WORKING ON HIS PLANTATION

HE FELL GENUINELY IN LOVE WITH POCAHONTAS AND WAS DEEPLY TROUBLED BY HIS PASSIONATE AFFECTION FOR A NATIVE AMERICAN WOMAN, EVEN AFTER SHE HAD BEEN BAPTISED AND HAD CHANGED HER NAME TO REBECCA,

JOHN ROLFE PREVIOUSLY HAD AN ENGLISH WIFE AND CHILD WHO BOTH DIED DURING HIS JOURNEY TO AMERICA. HE WROTE A LETTER TO THE GOVENOR OF VIRGINIA REQUESTING PERMISSION TO MARRY POCAHONTAS, HE STATED THAT HE WAS

" MOTIVATED NOT BY THE UNBRIDLED DESIRE OF CARNAL AFFECTION, BUT FOR THE GOOD OF THIS PLANTATION, FOR THE HONOR OF OUR COUNTRY, FOR THE GLORY OF GOD, FOR MY OWN SALVATION....NAMELY POCAHONTAS TO WHOM MY HEARTY AND BEST THOUGHTS ARE AND HAVE BEEN A LONG TIME SO TANGLED AND ENTHRALLED IN SO INTRICATE A LABYRINTH THAT I WAS EVEN AWEARIED TO UNWIND MYSELF THEREOUT."

JOHN ROLPH PRAYING

JOHN ROLFE AND POCAHONTAS WERE MARRIED IN1614 WITH REVEREND RICHARD BUCK, MINISTER OF THE VIRGINIA COLONY AT JAMESTOWN PRESIDING.

JOHN ROLFE AND HIS WIFE POCAHONTAS

THEY LIVED HAPPILY TOGETHER AT THEIR LARGE PLANTATION CALLED VERONA FARMS WHERE POCAHONTAS GAVE BIRTH TO A SON, THOMAS ROLFE, THE FOLLOWING YEAR.

POCAHONTAS AND SON

IT IS HOWEVER REPORTED BY SOME HISTORIANS THAT JOHN ROLFE WAS NOT THE FIRST HUSBAND OF POCAHONTAS. HISTORIANS WHO ALSO RELY ON THE ORAL ACCOUNTS OF THE NATIVE TSENACOMMACAHS RELATE THAT WHEN POCAHONTAS WAS CAPTURED BY CAPTAIN SAMUEL ARGALL, SHE WAS MARRIED TO AN INDIAN WARRIOR NAMED KOCOUM AND HAD A DAUGHTER BY HIM.

CAPTAIN SAMUEL ARGALL ORDERED THAT KACOUM BE KILLED. THEIR DAUGHTER KA OKEE WAS SUBSEQUENTLY RAISED BY THE NATIVES AFTER THE DEATH OF HER FATHER AND THE CAPTURE OF HER MOTHER.

IT WAS ALSO REPORTED THAT WHILE IN CAPTIVITY, POCAHONTAS WAS RAPED AND BECAME PREGNANT AND WAS FOR THAT REASON MOVED FROM JAMESTOWN TO THE TOWN OF HENRICUS IN ORDER TO KEEP HER PREGNANCY A SECRET. WHETHER A CHILD WAS BORN

FROM THIS RAPE IS UNKNOWN.

IN THE YEAR 1616, AFTER TWO YEARS OF MARRIAGE TO JOHN WOLFE, THE VIRGINIA COMPANY OF LONDON DECIDED THAT IT WOULD BE GOOD PUBLICITY FOR THE COMPANY TO BRING POCAHONTAS AND SOME MEMBERS OF HER TRIBE TO ENGLAND AND INTRODUCE THIS PRINCESS DAUGHTER OF POWERFUL CHIEF POWHATAN TO THE BRITISH ROYALTY AND THE HIGH SOCIETY OF LONDON.

THE VIRGINIA COMPANY OF LONDON FELT THAT KING JAMES I AND THE BRITISH NOBILITY WOULD BE MOST INTERESTED IN HER CONVERSION TO CHRISTIANITY AND IN THE FACT THAT HER MARRIAGE TO JOHN ROLFE HAD BROUGHT AN END TO THE ANGLO-POWHATAN WAR AND CESSATION OF ALL HOSTILITIES BETWEEN THE BRITISH SETTLERS AND THE POWHATAN INDIANS.

PREPARATION OF SHIP TO BRING JOHN ROLFE AND POCAHONTAS TO ENGLAND

THAT YEAR, JOHN ROLFE, POCAHONTAS AND THEIR SON THOMAS SAILED TO ENGLAND ACCOMPANIED BY HOLYMAN TOMOCOMO, POCAHONTAS' SISTER AND 9 OTHER POWHATANS.

THEY WERE PRESENTED AT COURT TO KING JAMES I AND WERE WELL RECEIVED AND ENTERTAINED BY THE BRITISH ARISTOCRACY. CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH HAD WRITTEN TO THE QUEEN ABOUT HOW PRINCESS POCAHONTAS HAD SAVED HIS LIFE.

PRINCESS POCAHONTAS BOWING TO KING JAMES I

PRESENTATION OF AMERICAN INDIAN PRINCESS POCAHONTAS TO KING JAMES I

CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH ALSO PERSONALLY MET POCAHONTAS BUT BECAME EMBARASSED WHEN SHE CALLED HIM FATHER. POCAHONTAS THEN SAID TO HIM:

" WERE YOU NOT AFRAID TO COME INTO MY FATHER'S COUNTRY AND CAUSED FEAR IN HIM AND ALL HIS PEOPLE BUT ME AND FEAR YOU HERE THAT I SHOULD CALL YOU FATHER ?

I TELL YOU THEN I WILL AND YOU SHALL CALL ME CHILD AND SO I WILL BE FOREVER AND EVER YOUR COUNTRYMAN."

IN THE YEAR 1617 POCAHONTAS AND HER HUSBAND JOHN ROLFE EMBARKED ON A SHIP ALONG WITH HER TRIBAL ENTOURAGE AND SAILED BACK TO AMERICA.

WHEN THE SHIP REACHED THE TOWN OF GRAVESEND ON THE RIVER THAMES, POCAHONTAS BECAME GRAVELY ILL. SHE DIED IN HER HUSBAND'S ARMS AT THE AGE OF 23 YEARS. HER LAST WORDS WERE

" ALL MUST DIE BUT TIS ENOUGH THAT HER CHILD LIVETH."

DEATH OF POCAHONTAS

HISTORIANS SPECULATE THAT SHE MAY HAVE DIED FROM SMALLPOX, PNEUMONIA OR TUBERCULOSIS BUT IT IS REPORTED IN AMERICAN INDIAN ORAL HISTORY THAT SHE MAY HAVE BEEN POISONED.

HER SISTER SUSPECTED POISONING BECAUSE POCAHONTAS WAS PERFECTLY WELL AND STRONG ON THE DAY OF HER DEATH.

SHE AND HER HUSBAND HAD DINNER WITH CAPTAIN SAMUEL ARGALL, RETURNED FROM THE DINNER VIOLENTLY ILL AND DIED WITHIN A FEW HOURS.

CHIEF POWHATAN DIED IN THE SAME YEAR, SADDENED BY THE LOSS OF HIS FAVORITE DAUGHTER. FOLLOWING HIS DEATH, THE PEACE CREATED BY THE MARRIAGE OF POCAHONTAS TO JOHN ROLFE DETELIORATED AND HOSTILITY BETWEEN THE BRITISH SETTLERS OF JAMESTOWN AND THE POWHATAN INDIANS RESUMED.

POCAHONTAS WAS BURIED IN ST.GEORGE CHURCH, GRAVESEND WHERE A STATUE OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN PRINCESS STILL STANDS. ANOTHER STATUE OF POCAHONTAS WAS ERECTED IN JAMESTOWN IN THE YEAR 1922.