ill-advised schemes of the company or their controversies, and the
suspicions and hatred of the Indians, had defeated every enterprise
hitherto. But one man, Captain Smith, by his sagacity and heroism, at
length accomplished the object. Of his adventures, no particular account
needs to be given here, as these have been narrated in another part of
this work. But his connection with Powhatan affords the occasion of
bringing the latter more especially into view in this place. This chief
is described as being tall and well-proportioned, wearing an aspect of
sadness--exceedingly vigorous, and possessing a body fitted to endure
great hardships. At the time of the settlement of Jamestown, he was
about sixty years of age, and rendered the more majestic by the grayness
of his hair. He inspired the awe of beholders as he was seated on his
wooden form, and adorned with his robe of racoon skins, and his
headdress of various feathers having the appearance of a crown. He
governed many nations, and many of them by the right of conquest. The
place of his residence, at first, was at Powhatan, near the falls of
James river; but, afterwards, when he had extended his conquests north,
it was at a place called Werowocomoco. His dominion included the country
upon James river, from its mouth to the falls, and all its tributary
streams. This was the boundary of his country southerly, and thus across
the territory, "nearly as high as the falls of all the great rivers over
the Potowmack, even to Patuxet in Maryland."
[Illustration: SMITH SELLING BLUE BEADS TO POWHATAN.]
He usually kept a guard, consisting of forty or fifty of his bravest
men, especially when he slept, but this number was four-fold after the
arrival of the English. His wives were numerous, and taken or
dismissed at his pleasure. When he slept, one sat at his head and
another at his feet. His places for temporary residence, or at certain
seasons of the year, were numerous. At these places he had victuals
provided against his coming, in spacious wigwams thirty or forty yards
in extent. His manner of attack upon his neighbors, was stealthy and
fiercely cruel. An instance is given, in his surprisal, on one
occasion, of the people of Payankatank, who were his neighbors and
subjects. To effect his barbarous purpose, he sent several of his men
to lodge with them the night on which he designed an attack; then,
secretly surrounding them in their wigwams, commenced a horrid
massacre. Many of the men were killed, their scalps taken, and the
women and children made prisoners. The scalps were exhibited upon a
line between two trees as a trophy, and the chief of Payankatank and
his wife Powhatan became servants to the emperor.
Through Captain Smith's address, this prince was now brought completely
into the English interest; although eventually, through the imprudent
conduct of Newport, who soon after arrived from England, he was induced
to practice deception upon his new friends, in the way of trade. Smith,
however, in his turn, took advantage of the emperor, to the no great
credit of his moral principles. The revenge was complete, as the
following example shows; Smith gained his end fully, by pretending to
set a great value on a few blue beads, which he had exposed to Powhatan
as if by accident, and which he professed to be very unwilling to part
with, as they were worn, according to his account, only by great kings.
This fired the emperor with the wish to secure them, at whatever
sacrifice on his part. In the infatuation produced, he parted with two
or three hundred bushels of corn, for a pound or two of beads. Thus the
intercourse of the whites with these simple children of nature, in the
early period of our history, was not always marked with that delicate
regard of right and veracity, with which every transaction of this
nature should be attended. The consequences very naturally appeared in
the many plots and counter-plots which were contrived to embarrass one
another, or to effect unlawful objects.
On one occasion Powhatan became offended with Smith, because he could
not procure swords from him in the manner in which he procured them from
Newport. When the latter was about leaving the country, Powhatan sent
him twenty turkeys, for which he demanded and obtained twenty swords in
return. He supposed that he could do the same with Smith, but was
disappointed; and, accordingly he ordered his men to seize the English
wherever they could find them. The consequence was, that many of the
latter, in the vicinity of the forts, were robbed of their swords. These
depredations were continued until Smith surprised a number of the
Indians, from whom he learned that Powhatan was endeavoring to get all
the arms in his power, with a view to massacre the whites. When the
chief found that his plot was discovered, he sent Pocahontas, his
daughter, with gifts, in order to apologize for his conduct, and
pretended that the mischief was done by some of his chiefs. He directed
her to use her influence in effecting the release of his men, in which
she succeeded, and thus the parties became at peace again.
The friendship which Powhatan manifested towards the English at any
time, was short-lived, and seems not to have been at all sincere.
Constant deceptions were practised by him to gain his ends; and, so long
as he lived, difficulties existed between him and the English. The noble
Pocahontas was a sort of mediator between them, and often brought
important intelligence, as seasonable aid, to the latter. On one
occasion, after a long conference, in regard to a trade in provisions,
in which deceptions were employed on both sides, and in which Powhatan
endeavored to persuade Captain Smith and his men to treat with him in a
friendly manner, and to throw aside their arms, Smith was about to
resort to force in order to effect his object. Powhatan, however,
succeeded in escaping from the conference, and in conveying his women,
children, and effects into the woods. Even then he attempted to allure
Smith into his presence unarmed, if possible, by sending him a present.
Finding, at last, all artifices without effect, Powhatan resolved to
fall upon the English in their cabins on the following night. But here
Pocahontas interposed her kind offices, and was the means, most
probably, of saving the life of Smith and his attendants. She came
alone, in a dark night, through the woods, and apprised Smith of her
father's design. For such a favor, Smith offered her whatever articles
she would please to accept; but she declined taking any thing, and, with
tears in her eyes, remarked, that if her father should see her with any
thing, he would suspect what she had done, and instantly kill her. She
then retired as she came, through the dismal forest.
[Illustration: Pocahontas coming in the night to tell Smith of the
intended Massacre.]
After Smith's final departure from Virginia, the emperor's animosity
against the whites was confirmed, as the English successor in the
government, Lord De la War, was much less cautious and moderate in his
measures with the Indians, severe as Smith's treatment of them was at
times. The new governor, finding Powhatan not disposed to yield to his
demands, proceeded to an act of horrid barbarity. Having got into his
power an Indian prisoner, his lordship caused his right hand to be
cut off. In this shocking condition he sent the poor creature to
Powhatan. At the same time he gave the sachem to understand, that he
would serve all the Indians in that manner, if they refused obedience
any longer, and that he would destroy all the corn, which was then
near to the harvest. Powhatan, consequently, could not but feel the
most burning indignation against the Englishman.
Two years after Smith left Virginia, that is, in 1611, Captain Argal
treacherously took the king's daughter prisoner, with a view to
prevent him from doing injury to the English, as also to extort a
large ransom from him, and such terms of peace as they should
prescribe. On being informed of the captivity of Pocahontas, connected
with the demand that he should restore to the English their men, guns,
and tools, taken at different times by the Indians, the stern and wary
chief became greatly embarrassed, and knew not what to do. They did
not hear from him until at the expiration of three months, when he
complied with their demand only in part. This did not satisfy Argal;
the demand in full was reiterated; but Powhatan was again, for a long
time, silent. The result was, that, in a year or two, Sir Thomas Dale
took Pocahontas to the residence of her father, in hopes to effect an
exchange, and bring about a peace. Powhatan was absent from home, and
the party met with no kindly reception from the Indians, who seemed to
take the presence of the English in dudgeon. The latter burned many of
their Indian habitations, and gave out threats of other vengeance.
This had the effect of inducing some of the Indians to come and make
peace, as they called it. Pocahontas had then an opportunity of seeing
two of her brothers, which gave her unbounded joy. After the marriage
of this excellent Indian woman to Mr. Rolfe, the whites experienced
less trouble from Powhatan; though it is believed that they were never
entirely exempt from the effects of his policy or his power.
The successors of Powhatan were, first, Opitchapan, and, next,
Opecancanough, both brothers of the emperor. Such was the law of the
succession. The first-named chief seems never to have been noted for
any distinguishing quality, but is spoken of as being feeble and
decrepid. He compared unfavorably with his brother, who, in the
council and in the field, was the most conspicuous personage among the
Powhatans. He had, during the life-time of the late emperor, procured
from the free tribe of the Chickahominies the title of their king.
It was Opecancanough who figured so disastrously in the great massacre
of the whites, on the 22d March, 1622, which has been narrated in
another place. It was kept a profound secret during four years, and
burst upon the settlement like a bolt from heaven. In the vengeance,
with which the English followed this act of treachery and blood, it was
for some time supposed that Opecancanough was among the killed; but if
history does not misguide us, the same sachem, twenty-two years
afterwards, executed a still greater massacre upon the English. It is
not known how long he had been plotting the extirpation of the whites,
but in 1644, all the Indians over the space of country six hundred miles
in extent, were joined in the enterprise. The governor and council had
appointed a fast-day to be kept through the country upon Good-Friday for
the success of the king. On the day before the intended fast,
Opecancanough, borne in a litter, led his warriors forward, and
commenced the work of death. He was supposed to be near one hundred
years old at this time. The massacre commenced in the out-parts of the
circumjacent country, and continued two days. The Indians fell suddenly
upon the inhabitants, and killed all indiscriminately, to the number of
three hundred. Their progress was checked by the arrival of Sir William
Berkley, at the head of an armed force.
[Illustration: Opecancanough borne in a litter to the Massacre of the
Whites.]
Subsequently to this massacre (the date has not been ascertained),
this bloody chief was taken prisoner. Sir William intended to send him
as a present to the king of England. He was, however, prevented from
doing it, by the assassination of Opecancanough. The soldier who was
appointed to guard him, fired upon him, and inflicted a mortal wound,
it having been, as was supposed, an act of private revenge. Just
before the old chief expired, hearing a great noise and crowd around
him, he ordered an attendant to lift up his eye-lids, as from age and
fatigue the elasticity of his muscles was in a great degree impaired,
when he discovered a multitude pressing around him, to gratify the
morbid desire of beholding a dying sachem. Aroused with indignation,
and little fearing death, he seemed to disregard the crowd; but
raising himself from the ground in the spirit of his wonted authority,
commanded that the governor should be called to him. When the latter
came, the chief uttered in his hearing the impassioned remark: "Had it
been my fortune to have taken Sir William Berkley prisoner, I would
not meanly have exposed him as a show to my people," and soon after
expired. An Indian, whom they afterwards had seized as prisoner,
confessed that they attempted this destruction of the English,
because they saw the latter "took up all their lands from them, and
would drive them out of the country, and they took this season, for
that they understood that they were at war in England, and began to go
to war among themselves." These intrusions upon the Indian territory
were, however, conformable to the grants of the proprietors, the
Indians. Opecancanough could hardly have expected an entire conquest,
as his people had already begun to melt away, and the villages of the
English planters were springing up over an extent of country of over
five hundred miles, with a comparatively large population.
Nickotawance succeeded Opecancanough as a tributary to the English. In
1648, he came to Jamestown in company with several other chiefs, and
brought a number of beaver-skins to be sent to the English king. He
delivered a prolonged address, which he concluded with the protestation,
"that the sun and moon should first lose their glorious lights and
shining, before he or his people should ever more wrong the English."
The successor of this chief is supposed to have been Totopotomoi, as
he was king of Pamunkey in 1656. In that year, a body of western or
inland Indians, to the number of six or seven hundred, came down from
the mountainous country, and took possession of the territory about
the falls of James river. This fact coming to the knowledge of the
legislature of Virginia, which was then in session, it was resolved to
dislodge the Indians from their new location, as their situation and
proximity were considered dangerous to the whites. The war seems not
to have been attended with any success on the part of the colony. The
English leader, with one hundred men, and Totopotomoi with one hundred
of his warriors, suffered extremely in an engagement. It appears,
however, that a peace was not long after concluded with the Indians.
A renowned warrior, Nemattanow, not having been mentioned in the proper
order of time, may be introduced here. He was supposed to have had an
agency in bringing about the great massacre of 1622. He was, however,
an object of jealousy to Opecancanough, the leader in that tragedy, on
account of his popularity among his countrymen. He is said to have been
an eccentric and vain person, being wont "to dress himself up in a
strange attire and barbaric fashion with feathers," on which account he
obtained the name of Jack-of-the-feather. As he had been engaged in many
fights with the English, and, though particularly exposed, had never
received a wound, he was considered by the Indians to be invulnerable.
The cause and manner of his fate were the following: "Only about
fourteen days before the massacre, Jack-of-the-feather went to the house
of one Morgan, where he saw many such articles exhibited as were
calculated to excite admiration in such people. Jack, perhaps, had not
the means to purchase, but it seems he was resolved some how or other to
possess them. He therefore told Morgan that if he would take his
commodities to Pamunkey, the Indians would give him a great price for
them. Not in the least mistrusting the design of Nemattanow, the simple
Englishman set out for Pamunkey, in company with this Indian. This was
the last the English ever heard of Morgan. However strange it may seem,
Jack's ill-directing fate sent him to the same place again; and, what
was still more strange, he had the cap of the murdered Morgan upon his
head. Morgan's servants asked him where their master was, who very
deliberately answered that he was dead. This satisfied them that he had
murdered him. They therefore seized him, in order to take him before a
magistrate at Berkley; but he made a good deal of resistance, which
caused one of the captors to shoot him down. The singular part of the
tragedy is yet to be related. Though mortally wounded, Nemattanow was
not killed outright, and his captors, which were two stout young men,
got him into a boat to proceed to Mr. Thorp's, the magistrate. As they
were going, the warrior became satisfied that he must die, and with the
most extraordinary earnestness, besought that two things might be
granted him. One was, that it should never be told to his countrymen
that he was killed by a bullet; and the other, that he should be buried
among the English, so that it should never be discovered that he had
died, or was subject to death like other men. Such was the pride and
vanity exhibited by an Indian at his death."[18]
From the preceding brief notices of the hostile bearing of the savage
tribes towards the early Southern planters, it will be apparent that
the colonization of that portion of America was no easy matter. The
jealousy of the Indians towards their new neighbors was soon excited;
nor did the conduct of the colonists serve to allay, but rather to
increase it. The cruelty and vindictiveness of the Indians cannot be
justified; but in their circumstances may be found, perhaps, some
small apology. This was their country: they were proprietors of the
soil. Here they lived: here were their altars: here their fathers'
sepulchres; and they regarded them with the veneration and love of
which they were capable. Who can blame them? Who censure those
feelings--that patriotism--that love of liberty, which, when found
among civilized nations, are highly extolled? Among the Indian chiefs,
there were men of no small sagacity; who, foreseeing the consequences
to themselves and people of the thrift and extension of the
English--can it be deemed strange that their anticipations were most
sad? or that they should adopt every expedient which seemed likely to
avert calamities to them most fearful?
[Illustration]
[Illustration: N.E. INDIAN WARS.]
FOOTNOTE:
[18] Book of the Indians.
IV. PLYMOUTH COLONY AND THE INDIANS.
EARLY Rencontre at Plymouth--Friendly intercourse established by
means of Samoset--Kindness of Squanto--Intercourse with
Massasoit--Contemplated Massacre defeated--Jealousy of
Caunbitant--Notice of Hobomok.
In the early period of the settlements of New England, the
difficulties with the Indians were of less frequent occurrence, than
those which took place in the Virginia colony. The providence of God
had prepared the way for the pilgrims to enter upon their wilderness
inheritance. The power of the Indians had been weakened by sickness,
or their dispositions softened, perhaps, in some cases, by their
adversities. There were instances, certainly, of singular friendship
toward the whites, on the part of these children of nature, as was
manifested in Samoset, Massasoit, and others. But the character,
objects, and policy of the pilgrims will account, in part, for the
comparative freedom from Indian hostility which marked the early era
of their settlement in this land. As they came to enjoy and
disseminate their religion, they had no motive to irritate or disturb
the aboriginal inhabitants. Wealth was not sought from them, nor any
greater portion of the soil than would suffice for their wants, at the
same time leaving to the Indian behind the boundless wilderness, which
alone he cared for. They would have reclaimed him from heathenism, and
taught him religion, science, and the arts of civilised life, had he
been pleased to learn them. This was attempted, in some instances, but
the success, though a matter of gratitude, was not at any time very
considerable. The policy of the fathers was to cultivate peace with
all the Indian tribes; and during many years, so far as the settlement
of the eastern shore was concerned, the object generally was effected.
Still occasionally difficulties would occur, and at length, under a
new set of chiefs, the notes of savage warfare rung loud and long over
the hills and vales of New England. But we will here speak more
particularly of the earliest colony, Plymouth.
The first encounter had with the Indians, preceded the disembarkation
of the company of adventurers. It was a select party of some fifteen
or sixteen, who had landed with a view to explore the country.
Overtaken by night, they set their watch, hoping doubtless to pass the
night unmolested; but about midnight they heard a hideous cry. The cry
then ceased, and it was then supposed that it had been the noise only
of wolves and foxes. About five o'clock, however, they again heard a
sudden and strange noise, which they knew to be the same voices,
though they varied their notes. One of the company being abroad, came
running in, and cried, "They are men, Indians! Indians!" and with this
announcement came a shower of arrows. The whites ran out with all
speed to recover their arms. The cry of the enemy was terrific,
especially when they perceived what the whites were about to do. Their
arms being secured, the Indians were ready to make an assault. One,
who appeared to be the leader of the latter, a stout athletic man,
stood behind a tree within a musket-shot, and there let his arrows fly
at the English. Three several shots were poured in upon him without
touching him--at length, one seemed to take effect, as he bounded off,
and his company with him, yelling most hideously. It is not known that
any blood was shed in this encounter, though the probability is, that
the chief was wounded. Of the arrows that were left on the field,
several were picked up, and sent as a curiosity to friends in England.
Some of them were ingeniously headed with brass, some with harts'
horn, and some with the claws of eagles.
An intercourse of an agreeable character between the pilgrims and the
natives soon commenced, by means of _Samoset_, whose manner of
introducing himself to the settlement has been mentioned in another
portion of this work. The hospitality with which he was treated, secured
his friendship and confidence, and he communicated to the settlers, in
answer to their inquiries, whatever information he possessed respecting
the Indians and the country. He is described by an early historian as
having been a tall, strait man, the hair of his head black, long behind,
and short before, none at all on his face. He ate and drank freely of
that which was offered him; and, although they wished his absence at
night, yet he was unwilling to leave, and they could not do otherwise
than keep and watch him. This visit of the kind Samoset was an augury of
good to the colony. It seemed purely a providential event.
The visit continued only until the next morning, but was repeated in the
course of a day or two. His return then brought to the acquaintance of
the colony other Indians who accompanied him. They were some of
Massasoit's men, whose object was to trade with the English. As Samoset
was charged not to let any who came with him bring their arms, these,
therefore, left their bows and arrows at a distance from the place. They
were entertained in a fitting manner; they ate liberally of the English
victuals, and appeared very friendly; "sang and danced after their
manner like antics." They were dismissed as soon as it could be done
conveniently, without effecting any trade. Samoset, either being sick,
or feigning himself so, would not depart, and contrived to continue
several days longer. In this visit, some stolen articles were returned
by the Indians, through Samoset's influence.