Outdoor Life and Indian Stories / Making open air life attractive to young Americans by telling them all about woodcraft, signs and signaling, the stars, fishing, camping, camp cooking, how to tie knots and how to make fire without matches, and many other fascinating open air pursuits. Also, stories of noted hunters and scouts, great indians and warriors, including Daniel Boone, Kit Carson, General Custer, Pontiac, Tecumseh, King Philip, Black Hawk, Brandt, Sitting Bull, and a host of others whose names are famous; all of them true and interesting

by Edward Sylvester Ellis

THE FAITHFUL INDIAN GUARD.

The Powhatans lived in the lowland region, reaching from the Carolinas on the south to the Patuxent on the north, and between the sea to the falls of the rivers. They had more tribes than either of the other families, ten being between the Potomac and the Rappahannock; five between the Rappahannock and the York; eight between the York and James; and five between the James and the Carolinas.

The Powhatan League was one of the most powerful on the continent and occupied what is now Henrico county, on the shores of the James, and about two days' journey from Jamestown.

You will see that the head of this league or confederacy ruled over thousands of warriors, most of whom he had conquered and compelled to accept him as sovereign, whose will the bravest under-chief dared not dispute. In order to give him his proper importance, historians generally refer to him as "Emperor," a title which it would seem was proper. He is known as Powhatan, which is the same as his special tribe, or rather as his chief seat or capital. This old town had a dozen houses which stood a short distance below the present city of Richmond, on the banks of the river. Fronting it were three islets.

At the time of the settlement of Jamestown, Powhatan was about sixty years old. He was gaunt and tall, and as vigorous in body and mind as a man of half his years, and the gray hair, which was plentifully sprinkled through the black locks, gave a majesty to his looks. His head-dress was made of a mass of feathers, and his robe of state was of raccoon skins. The wooden bench or form upon which he was accustomed to sit, might be taken as a throne, and his reign over many tribes, most of whom he had conquered, gave a certain fitness to the name of emperor. It should be noted that never did his son follow to the throne, but instead his brothers, then his sisters, and then the heirs of the oldest sister, all in turn were to inherit power.

Powhatan usually kept two-score of his bravest warriors as a body-guard about him, but when he learned of the coming of the pale faces to the mouth of the river, he made the number two hundred. He had favorite places where he passed the different seasons, a fashion that was often followed by the Indian chiefs in New England.

The settlement of Jamestown brings forward the name of the most remarkable pioneer connected with our early history, Captain John Smith, the "Father of Virginia." Could we believe one-half that this man told about himself, we should have to admit that he was one of the greatest heroes in history. He was a great boaster, and many of the things he told were simple invention. More than one of the most daring exploits that he claimed to have performed in the Old World have been proved impossible. None the less, Captain John Smith was brave, enterprising, unselfish, tactful, industrious and far-seeing, and but for him Jamestown would have perished from the earth within a few months after building the first cabins. Enough of him is known to prove that he was not only the founder, but the saviour of Jamestown.

Smith was a native of Lincolnshire, England, and when he reached Virginia, was not thirty years old. He had a powerful physique, and did not hide his disgust with the "gentlemen" of the colony, who thought themselves too good to work. He gave them the choice of working or starving, and he set the good example of toiling as hard as any of them. The settlers with whom he came did not reach Virginia until the planting season was over, and, before long, all were suffering for food. The only thing left to do was to get it from the Indians, and Smith set out to do so. But the red men knew of the needs of the pale faces, and despised them therefor Smith tried to get them to sell, but they refused, or at the most would give but a handful of corn for a gun or a sword. Seeing no other means left, Smith and his men opened fire on the churlish fellows, drove them into the woods, and marching into their village, carried a good supply of corn back to Jamestown.

For many years after the discovery of America, it was thought that it was only a narrow strip of land, and that a short journey to the westward would take one to the South Sea on the other side. As late as 1609, when Henry Hudson sailed up the stream named for him, it was in the belief that he had not far to go to reach that vast body of water. Captain Smith was ordered to explore the streams in the neighborhood of Jamestown. In obedience to this command, he set out to learn the sources of the Chickahominy. He went up that stream until the waters became too shallow to allow the barge to go farther, when he stepped with two of his men and two friendly Indians into a canoe and paddled away. He told those left in the boat to stay in the middle of the stream, and forbade them to approach either bank until he came back. But he had not been gone long, when those that remained became tired of sitting motionless in the barge, knowing that their leader could not join them for many hours, and mayhap not for two or three days. Peering into the woods and listening, they saw and heard nothing to cause fear. So after talking for a little time, they paddled to shore and stepped out on land. They had hardly done so, when they were attacked by Indians and one killed, the others escaping with great difficulty. The news they took back to Jamestown made every one believe they would never again see Smith or his companions.