INTRODUCTION I n the spring of 1606 King James I of England granted a charter to the Virginia Company of London The charter granted to the company the rights to settle explore and govern limited parts of the New World On December 20 of that year an expedition of about one hundred men sailed from London Five months later they anchored their three small ships the Godspeed the Discovery and the Susan Constant off the coast of a marshy peninsula 30 miles 48 kilometers up the James River in what is now the state of Virginia There they established the first permanent English set tlement in America Jamestown named after King James The location they had chosen appeared to have many advantages For instance their ships could pull up close to it in deep water for easy loading and unloading Also it was easy to defend Unfortunately the site was low damp swampy and unhealthful A combination of bad water from the river and disease-bearing mosquitoes sickened the settlers and many soon died Famine caused by limited food supplies added to the settlers difficulties in the early months of Jamestown’s founding At the same time in the same general area a young Native American princess named Matoaka was learning how to be a young woman of her tribe Nicknamed Poca hontas which means playful one in her native language she was a younger daughter of Powhatan chief of a feder ation of Algonquian Indian tribes As a young girl of ten or eleven Pocahontas would have been taught how to grow 6
INTRODUCTION 7 After issues of distrust were calmed the Jamestown settlers often traded with the Powhatan a nearby Native American tribe One of the regulars during these meetings was a young Pocahontas and collect food which in addition to whatever game the men hunted kept the tribe fed Before long the two groups would be forced to cross paths Pocahontas first became acquainted with the col onists who settled in the Chesapeake Bay area in 1607 A familiar story tells how she saved the life of Jamestown settler Captain John Smith Many historians doubt that the incident took place at least not in the way Smith told
8 POCAHONTAS the story Regardless many other accounts by Smith and his fellow settlers make clear Pocahontas did have a rela tionship with the people of Jamestown As a youngster she came along when members of her tribe went to the settle ment to conduct trade The Native Americans brought corn and other food to the hungry colonists who gave them beads and other items in return A bit later she would lead such visits as a representative of her father Pocahontas’s relationship with the Jamestown colonists was complicated There were times when her attempts to help the English put her in conflict with her own tribe particularly her father Usually the colonists were grateful But sometimes they took advantage of her kindness One Englishman kidnapped Pocahontas and kept her until her father gave the settlers what they wanted The world will probably never know why Pocahontas felt the need to help the strangers who had invaded her home land But without her help and that of her tribe Jamestown may have vanished and the settlers returned to England An important piece of American history could have been lost forever were it not for Pocahontas
A YOUNG PRINCESS LEADS THE WAY H istorians do not know what day Pocahontas was born and they are not even sure of the exact year Most guesses put her birthday in or around 1596 She was the daughter of a powerful Native American chief named Powhatan At the peak of his power Powhatan is estimated to have ruled between thirteen thousand and thirty-four thousand people He pre sided over an empire named for him at the time the English established the Jamestown Colony Little is known about her mother who was one of Powhatan’s numerous wives 9 Sketch depicting Powhatan chief of a Native American confederacy that bore his name Pocahontas was rumored to be his favorite daughter CHAPTER ONE
