The peace which had subsisted since the marriage of Pocahontas had
lulled the English into security, and disposed them to extend their
plantations along the banks of the rivers, as far as the Potomac, in
situations too remote from each other. Their houses were open and free
to the natives, who became acquainted with their manner of living,
their hours of eating, of labor and repose, the use of their arms
and tools, and frequently borrowed their boats, for the convenience
of fishing and fowling, and to pass the rivers. This familiarity was
pleasing to the English, as it indicated a spirit of moderation,
which had been always recommended, by the Company in England, to the
planters; and, as it afforded a favourable symptom of the civilization
and conversion of the natives; but by them, or their leaders, it was
designed to conceal the most sanguinary intentions.
In the spring of the next year, (1622) an opportunity offered, to
throw off the mask of friendship, and kindle their secret enmity into
a blaze. Among the natives who frequently visited the English, was a
tall, handsome, young chief, renowned for courage and success in war,
and excessively fond of finery in dress. His Indian name was Nematanow;
but by the English he was called Jack of the Feather. Coming to the
store of one Morgan, he there viewed several toys and ornaments, which
were very agreeable to the Indian taste; and persuaded Morgan to carry
them to Pamunky, where he assured him of an advantageous traffic.
Morgan consented to go with him; but was murdered by the way.
In a few days, Nematanow came again to the store, with Morgan’s cap on
his head; and being interrogated by two stout lads, who attended there,
what was become of their master, he answered that he was dead. The
boys seized him, and endeavoured to carry him before a magistrate; but
his violent resistance, and the insolence of his language, so provoked
them, that they shot him. The wound proved mortal; and when dying, he
earnestly requested of the boys, that the manner of his death might be
concealed from his countrymen, and that he might be privately buried
among the English.
As soon as this transaction was known, Opechancanough demanded
satisfaction; but being answered that the retaliation was just, he
formed a plan for a general massacre of the English, and appointed
Friday, the twenty-second day of March, for its execution; but he
dissembled his resentment to the last moment. Parties of Indians were
distributed through the Colony, to attack every plantation, at the same
hour of the day, when the men should be abroad and at work. On the
evening before, and on the morning of that fatal day, the Indians came
as usual to the houses of the English, bringing game and fish to sell,
and sat down with them to breakfast. So general was the combination,
and so deep the plot, that about one hour before noon, they fell on the
people in the fields and houses; and, with their own tools and weapons,
killed, indiscriminately, persons of all ages, sexes and characters;
inhumanly mangling their dead bodies, and triumphing over them, with
all the expressions of frantic joy.
Where any resistance was made, it was generally successful. Several
houses were defended, and some few of the assailants slain. One of
Captain Smith’s old soldiers, Nathaniel Causie, though wounded, split
the skull of an Indian, and put his whole party to flight. Several
other parties were dispersed by the firing of a single gun, or by the
presenting of a gun, even in the hands of a woman.
James-Town was preserved by the fidelity of Chanco, a young Indian
convert, who lived with Richard Pace, and was treated by him as a son.
The brother of this Indian came to lie with him, the night before the
massacre, and revealed to him the plot, urging him to kill his master,
as he intended to do by his own. As soon as he was gone in the morning,
Chanco gave notice of what was intended, to his master; who, having
secured his own house, gave the alarm to his neighbours, and sent an
express to James-Town. Three hundred and forty-nine people fell in this
general massacre; of which number, six were members of the Council.