GLOUCESTER


words Smith described Powhatan as an emperor of sorts, a statuesque and well- proportioned man with a strong, lean body capable of any sort of work. Smith was obviously respectful of the man and the personal presence that characterized this great native King, who lived to be seventy years old and died in 1618. It is estimated that Powhatan’s chiefdom numbered somewhere between 12,000 and 21,000 persons. Descendents of the Powhatan confederacy still dwell among us in the Middle Peninsula and Tidewater Regions of Virginia. Indeed, they are the true “first families” of Virginia. It is safe to say that Powhatan and his people were the key ingredient in the survival of the first permanent English settlement in America. Pocahontas figured prominently in all of this.


The Brave and Immortal Pocahontas Pocahontas statue


Throughout our lives we have all heard stories, whether real or embellished about Pocahontas. She was named Matoaka by her uncle Openchancanough. A life-sized bronze statue of her graces Main Street at Gloucester Courthouse as a continual


reminder of her importance to the early founding of our nation and the saving of the early colonists from starvation. She was used as a pawn by the English who captured her around 1613 and held her hostage at Jamestown, where she met and was educated by John Rolfe, a widower. They later married resulting in a temporary peace between the English settlers and the Powhatan Confederation. In 1616, upon hearing that Pocahontas would be coming to England with her husband John Rolfe and young son Thomas, Smith took it upon himself to write the Queen of England a letter regarding his experience with Pocahontas, in the New World. His words are as follows:


“Most admired Queen— …So it is, that some ten years ago being


in Virginia, and taken prisoner by the power of Powhatan their chief King, I received from this great Salvage exceeding great courtesy, especially from his son Nantaquaus…and his sister Pocahontas, the Kings most dear and well-beloved daughter, being but a child of twelve or thirteen years of age…she hazarded 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: where I found about eight and thirty miserable poor and sick creatures, to keep possession of all those large territories of Virginia; such was the weakness of this poor commonwealth, as had the salvages not fed us, we directly had starved. And this relief, most gracious Queen, was commonly brought us by this Lady Pocahontas.” Speculation has run rampant regard-


ing the relationship that existed between Pocahontas and Captain Smith, which was most likely one of curiosity and a mere acquaintance. Much has been made about Captain Smith’s intentions and hidden agenda in writing this letter to Queen Anne. Could it be in a nostalgic moment, that Smith merely wanted Pocahontas, as Lady Rebecca, to receive as gracious a welcome from Queen Anne as she herself, her brother and her father had shown to him and his co-horts so many years before in Virginia? Or perhaps he was shamelessly promoting himself and trying to attach himself to her coat-tails. Pocahontas’ life story is still inspiring


four hundred years after her death. Her personal dignity in the face great tribulation, her resilience, generosity of heart and ability to build bridges with


40 March/April 2011


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