Famous Indian Chiefs / Their Battles, Treaties, Sieges, and Struggles with the Whites for the Possession of America

by Charles H. L. Johnston

While a slave in the Crimea Smith had an iron collar fastened about his neck, was clothed in the skin of a wild beast, and was beaten and kicked about like a dog, until his life was nearly unbearable. But one day he seized a flail for separating wheat from chaff, broke his master's skull with it, and then put on his clothes and fled to Poland. Here he was aided by friends until he reached Morocco, where he joined an English man-of-war, and, after a sanguinary sea battle, arrived in England in time to aid the adventurers setting sail for the shore of Virginia. They left Blackwall, and dropped down to the Thames in December, 1606, with three ships, one of which, the Discovery, was a mere sail boat of but twenty tons, manned by an equal number of staunch souls, sailing over unknown seas to unknown lands.

It took them five full months to cross the Atlantic to the shores of the New World, and jealousy, discord and mutiny had played havoc with the spirits of the crew by the time that land was sighted. The ships loitered along, and at the Canary Isles and the West Indies had remained so long that the provisions were well nigh exhausted. At one time it was proposed to hang the restless Captain John Smith to the yard-arm because he railed at their delay and declared the majority of the crew, "merely projecting, verbal and idle contemplators," who expected to find "feather beds and down pillows, taverns, ale-houses in every breathing place," and not the "dissolute liberty that they had expected." As luck would have it, a storm drove the vessels into the mouth of the James River, Virginia, and past two jutting promontories of land which they called Cape Henry, after the Prince of Wales, and Cape Charles, for the second son of the reigning English Monarch—afterwards Charles I.

All were overjoyed to see the long-sought-for Continent. A landing was made on Cape Charles by thirty men, but they were suddenly attacked by five Indians, who dangerously wounded two of the soldiers and drove the rest back to the ships. In spite of this, the spirits of the adventurers were mightily cheered by the sight of the beautiful bay, encompassed by a fruitful and delightful land, and covered with forests which were magnificent with the blossoms of red wood and dog wood. A place was soon selected for a settlement, called Jamestown, which was on such low ground that it was not considered wholesome by many, and thus a famous debate ensued. Finally it was decided to here build a blockhouse, and all turned to with some will to erect the first habitation of white settlers among Powhatan's people. Gosnold had strongly opposed the selection of this place, while Captain John Smith had approved of it, but the former's advice was correct, as the current of the river has turned the peninsula of Jamestown into an island, and now, only a ruined church tower remains to mark the situation of the first colony of Englishmen in the United States.

Although the whites fell to, with spirit and enthusiasm, to build up their town, unfortunately most of them were "gentlemen" and unaccustomed to any form of work or sustained labor. There were ruined spendthrifts, broken tradesmen, fortune-hunters, tipsters, and gamblers, in excess of some real workmen in the shape of four carpenters, one bricklayer, one blacksmith, and one sailor. A barber also figured in the rolls, a tailor, a drummer, and four half-grown boys. The majority expected to find nuggets of gold lying around in profusion, and not danger, disappointment, severe toil, starvation, and malaria.

When upbraided by Captain John Smith for not showing more enthusiasm in their labor, some said, "We did not come here to work, but to explore and find gold."

"Then you shall not eat," answered the quick-tempered Captain, "for the labor of a few industrious men shall not be utilized to support idle loiterers like yourselves."

A number of these settlers were also most profane, and so the Captain kept a daily account of every man's oaths, and, as proper punishment, had a can of cold water poured down an offender's sleeve for each foul word. This had some effect, but Smith was well disgusted with their lack of ability to do anything, and wrote to the company in England who had furnished the resources to the colony: "When you send again, I entreat you to send thirty carpenters, husbandmen, gardeners, fishermen, blacksmiths, or diggers-up of roots, who would be better than a thousand of such as we have."

The Indians meanwhile had become aware of the purposes of the whites to dispossess them of their territory, so they turned treacherous, and, although they entered into no open hostilities, began to skulk about the fort. After bringing in presents of corn and venison, they would often steal anything which they could safely carry off. They showed by their looks and dispositions that they were extremely jealous of the whites, and, when exploring parties were sent into the interior, suddenly attacked the fort with about two hundred braves. These were driven away by means of the guns of the ship, after an hour's fight, and after subjecting the defenders of Jamestown to a loss of eleven men wounded and one boy killed. The noise of the cannon really frightened the attackers away, and for some days they hung around the stockade, so that it was not safe to venture beyond the range of the muskets, unless one wished to be tomahawked by some lurking savage.

Powhatan had received word of the coming of the whites through scouts and runners, and he was soon to make the acquaintance of the hardiest and most enterprising of them all, an acquaintance that was to mark the turning point in his career of undisputed sovereign over tide-water Virginia; for the adventurous and ambitious spirit of Smith had prompted him to make several expeditions both along the coast and into the interior of this densely wooded country. A few months after the settlement of Jamestown came a time of threatened starvation, but the gallant Captain discovered the tribe of Chickahominy Indians, and from them gained a large store of corn which revived the fainting spirits of those in the little fort upon the malarial peninsula.