Captain John Smith is best known as one of the early American explorer and settler of Jamestown. His name and the story of being saved by Pocahontas appear in writings of American history. The idea that Captain John Smith was saved by Pocahontas is doubted by many historians. This is due in large part that Smith failed to mention the event of being saved by Pocahontas in earlier writings regarding the colonization of Jamestown. In 1624, in later writings, the description of the events surrounding the Pocahontas rescue were documented. This event has placed Captain John Smith and Pocahontas in American folklore.
As the story goes, Smith and two companions were ambushed by Indians while on an expedition from Jamestown. The two companions were killed and Smith was taken to their chief, Powhatan. Smith was in captivity for two months. Powhatan decided to have him clubbed to death in a ritual ceremony. This ceremony has been said by doubters of the "rescue" to have been a ritual of acceptance into the tribe. According to Smith, Pocahontas throws herself between him and his attackers to prevent him being clubbed to death. Powhatan decides to let him live and within a few days returns Smith to Jamestown [http://womenshistory.about.com/od/Pocahontas/p/Pocahontas.htm?p=1][http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/pfjohnsmith.htm].
Pocahontas then at the age of 10-12, would go to Jamestown frequently. She would accompany Indians bringing supplies to the settlers of Jamestown. She was interested in the white man and their ways. Captain John Smith found her pleasant to be with and looked forward to her return. They became close, even though he thought of her as a child. "Smith found great pleasure in her company, a relief from the grumbling, quarreling colonists...." (32). "Pocahontas was fascinated with John Smith. He was good-natured. He was cheerful with her, but he did not laugh at her like many of his companions. He did not laugh at her people either" (32, 33). Pocahontas involvement with Jamestown helped to insure the survival of the colonists.
Powhatan trade relations with the Jamestown settlement deteriorated when Smith returned to England in 1609, following a gunpowder explosion in his lap. The English informed Pocahontas that Smith had died. She did not return to the colony for the next four years. In 1613, Sir Samuel Argall took her prisoner, hoping to use her to procure the release of English prisoners, weapons and tools from Powhatan. The prisoners were released but no weapons or tools were returned. Pocahontas was then taken from Jamestown to another English settlement known as Henricus. Pocahontas was treated well in captivity. She was converted to Christianity and was baptized Rebecca. She met John Rolfe during this time and eventually accepted a proposal of marriage. Both the Virginia governor, Sir Thomas Dale and Chief Powhatan agreed to the marriage. Following the marriage in 1614, peace prevailed between the English and the Indians as long as Powhatan lived [http://www.biography.com/print/profile/johnrolfe-9462712].
In the spring of 1616, Pocahontas, her husband, their one-year-old son Thomas, and a group of Native Americans, men and women, sailed with Governor Dale to England. Pocahontas was entertained at royal festivities. She met Captain John Smith while in England. According to Smith, she was too overcome with emotion to speak. Once she composed herself, she spoke of earlier times in New England. The Virginia Company saw her visit as a way to publicize the colony and to win support from King James I and investors. She became ill before her return to New England and died at the age of 22 in the town of Gravesend.
Pocahontas played a significant role in American history. As a compassionate little girl. She saw to it that the colonists received food from the Indians, so Jamestown would not suffer the fate of the "Lost Colony" on Roanoke Island. In 1616 John Smith wrote that Pocahontas was the instrument to preserve the colony from death, famine, and utter confusion. Pocahontas not only served as a representative of the Virginia Indians, but also as a vital link between the Native Americans and the Englishmen. Whatever her contributions, the romantic aspects of her life will ultimately stand out in Virginia history forever [http://www.preservationvirginia.org/rediscovery/page.php?page_id=26].
Barbour, Philip. Pocahontas and Her World. Houghton Mifflin Company Boston, 1970.
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