Читать книгу Famous Indian Chiefs - Charles H. L. Johnston - Страница 5

Starting for We-ro-woco-moco by boat, Smith landed, and, with four companions, went through the woods for about twelve miles, until he arrived at Powhatan's village. He found that the renowned chief was absent, but he soon returned and listened with great gravity to the speech of the subtle Englishman, who not only invited him to come to Newport, but also to join with the whites in a campaign against the Monocans. To this the King of the Powhatans replied:

"If your King has sent me presents, I also am a King and this is my land. Here I will stay eight days to receive these gifts. Your Father must come to me, not I to him, nor yet to your fort. I will not bite at such a treacherous bait. As for the Monocans, I can avenge my own injuries. As for Atquanachuck, where you say your brother was slain, it is a country away from those parts you say it is, and as for salt water behind the mountains, the stories which my people have told you to this effect, are false." Whereupon he began to draw the geography of these regions upon the ground with a stick, and, after further talk, Smith returned to Jamestown and told Newport to bring the presents to We-ro-woco-moco.

The various gifts from King James were therefore sent to the Indian village by water, while the Captain with a guard of fifty men went by boat. The day following the arrival of the whites was agreed upon for the coronation and so the presents were brought ashore, the bed and furniture were set up, and, in spite of his struggles, the scarlet cloak and other apparel was put upon the unwilling Powhatan. He feared, indeed, that it would injure him, but his servant Namontack, who had been to England with Newport, assured him that no harm would come to him, and so he allowed the clothing to be hung upon his body, although he absolutely refused to kneel and receive the crown upon his head. Finally the patience of the Englishmen became exhausted, one leaned upon his shoulder so as to cause him to stoop a little, and three more clung to him and pushed him downward, while one had the crown in his hand. Suddenly it was slapped on his head, a pistol shot rang out, and, in token of the coronation, the soldiers discharged their muskets in salute. Immediately Powhatan leaped upright with an expression of terror and fear upon his countenance, for he believed that an attack was to be made upon him, but, seeing that all was well, he recovered his usual composure, generously gave his old shoes and deerskin mantle to Newport in acknowledgment of appreciation for these presents, and, turning to him, told him that he absolutely refused to lend him any of his men, except Namontack, to go against the Monocans. He was most courteous and civil, and presented Newport with seven or eight bushels of corn ears in recognition of his kindness and politeness.

Little was now heard of Powhatan, but it became evident that he was not on friendly terms with the English, as the neighboring tribes refused to keep up their trade with those at Jamestown, some stating that they had been so advised by the great Emperor.

This naturally made Smith very angry. At one time he contemplated falling upon We-ro-woco-moco by surprise and seizing all of the stores of corn which he would find there, but, feeling that discretion was the better part of valor, he restrained his wild intentions and in December, 1608, accepted an invitation of Powhatan's to visit him. The Emperor had asked him to assist in building a house and requested him to bring a grindstone, fifty swords, a few muskets, a cock and a hen, and a quantity of beads and of copper. Forty-six Colonists accompanied the bold Captain on this expedition, and at the first stopping place, Werrasqueake, the chief Sachem of the place, endeavored to dissuade the Englishmen from continuing the trip. "Powhatan will use you kindly, but he has sent for you only to cut your throat," said he. "Trust him not and give him no opportunity to seize your arms." In spite of this the unhesitating Englishmen kept on, and when at length they arrived at We-ro-woco-moco and asked for provisions, they were promptly supplied with bread, venison and turkeys, while the Emperor stated, with some energy, that he and his people had very little corn, though if the English would present him with forty swords he felt that about forty baskets could be collected. Smith found that Powhatan would take nothing but guns and swords in exchange for provisions and that he valued a basket of corn higher than a basket of copper, and thus became quite angry when he saw how anxious the savage was to secure possession of the arms of the whites. "I will spare you what corn I can," said the Emperor, "and that within two days, but, Captain Smith, I have some doubts as to your object in this visit. I am informed that you wish to conquer more than to trade, and, at all events, you must know that my people must be afraid to come near you with their corn, as long as you are armed with such a retinue. Lay aside your weapons, then. Here they are needless. We are friends. All Powhatans."

"You mistake our intentions," said Smith. "We come not to conquer, but to gain provisions."

"I am old, Captain Smith," answered the great chief, "and I know well the difference between peace and war. I wish to live quietly with you, and I wish the same for my successors. Now the rumors which reach me on all sides make me uneasy. What do you expect to gain by destroying us who provide you with food? And what can you get by war if we escape you and hide our provisions in the woods? We are unarmed, too, you see. Do you believe me such a fool as not to prefer eating good meat, sleeping quietly at home, laughing and making merry with you, having copper and hatchets and anything else, as your friend, to flying from you as your enemy, lying cold in the woods, eating acorns and roots and being so hunted by you meanwhile, that if but a twig break my men will cry out, 'There comes Captain Smith!' Let us be friends then. Do not invade us with such an armed force. Lay aside these arms!"

But Smith refused to accede to this request, for he feared that he was about to be attacked by the followers of Powhatan who were clustered about, and so gave secret orders for hauling his boat ashore through the ice and landing many of his men who were on board. In the endeavor to detain Powhatan, he started a vigorous conversation with the old Sachem. Appreciating Smith's ruse, the witty warrior left two or three of his women to talk with him while he left the house in which they were very hurriedly, with all of his attendants. Captain Smith now found himself completely surrounded by Indians. Fearing an attack, he drew his sword, and, brandishing it about his head, cut his way through the crowd of savages, who, as soon as he fired his pistol, fled in all directions.

In spite of this show of hostility upon the part of Smith, the Indians again flocked around him, while Powhatan sent a large and handsome bracelet by the hand of one of his chief orators, who made a long speech, full of complimentary remarks and excuses for their conduct. The savages also furnished baskets for carrying the corn, and offered to guard the Englishmen's firearms, an offer which was of course declined, as Smith feared they would steal these necessary possessions. As the fall of the tide made it impossible for them to continue their journey that night, the English knew that they must remain where they were. It was true that there was treachery afoot, for Pocahontas soon came to Smith's quarters in the woods and told him that her father Powhatan was collecting all of his men to make an assault upon his force, unless the Indians who would bring in the supper should themselves be able to kill him.

The Captain was consequently on his guard an hour afterwards, when ten, strapping, big fellows came into camp bearing great platters of venison and other victuals. They asked the English to put out the matches of their muskets, for the smoke of them was most annoying. But Smith appreciated their ruse, made them taste every dish that had been brought in, so that if there was any poison inside it would first take hold of those who brought it, and, telling them to inform Powhatan that the English were all prepared for him whenever he wished to start hostilities, he sent them back to the chief of the most powerful tribe in Virginia. There was no attack, so the English sailed away on their journey of exploration, leaving behind them one Englishman to kill game for Powhatan, and two or three Germans to assist him in building a house.

Today, on a high hill near the spot where once stood the town of We-ro-woco-moco, is a stone chimney called "Powhatan's Chimney," and, according to tradition, this is the chimney of the house which the German artisans erected for the great Virginia Sachem.

The English pushed onward in search of corn, for they were sorely in need of it for the colony at Jamestown, and at length came to the lodges of Opechancanough, king of the Pamunkies, and a younger brother of Powhatan. From him Captain Smith secured a certain amount of supplies, only after a severe personal scuffle. Thus, after an absence of six weeks, the Colonists reached Jamestown with a cargo of four hundred seventy-nine bushels of corn and two hundred pounds of deer suet, in exchange for which they had given but twenty-five pounds of copper and fifty pounds of iron and beads.

The Powhatans seemed also to be on fairly good terms with the English and traded with them most amicably until Smith departed for England. Then, realizing that their most intelligent adversary had left, they fell upon the six hundred settlers who remained behind, with such success, that at the end of six months, only sixty men, women, and children were alive at Jamestown. These were almost reduced to starvation and were living on roots, herbs, acorns, walnuts, berries and an occasional fish, when supplied by two ships which arrived at Jamestown early in 1613 with some food-stuffs for the colony. But what they brought was insufficient for the needs of the starving people, and so Captain Argall, who commanded, sailed up the Potomac to trade with the natives for corn. Powhatan was now extremely hostile to the colony; his men had captured and stolen many English arms and had secured a number of white prisoners.

Meanwhile Pocahontas had left her father's home and had gone to reside temporarily with the Potomacs—a friendly tribe which had its hunting ground upon the Potomac River. Contemporary historians differ as to the reason for this; one account being that she had gone there merely upon a visit among friends; another that she had been sent by Powhatan to trade with them; and still another that her father did not like her friendship for the whites and so dispatched her there to get her away from any possible intimacy with them. At any rate when Captain Argall had been informed by friendly Indians that Pocahontas was near by, a plan for making peace with Powhatan immediately suggested itself to his unscrupulous mind. He, therefore, sent for one of the Indian chiefs and told him that if he did not give Pocahontas into his hands they would no longer be "brothers and friends." And when the Potomacs, fearing war with Powhatan, seemed unwilling to do this, Captain Argall assured them that he would take their part if any war should occur.

But how could he secure the Indian maiden, for she appeared to manifest no desire to go on board the vessel? This was indeed a problem, and, after thinking the matter over for some time, he decided that he would make use of a little strategy in order to gain his end. So he offered an old Indian, called Japazaws, the irresistible bribe of a copper kettle, if he would bring Pocahontas to the ship. This was too much for the old Indian to withstand. With the aid of his wife, who begged her husband to allow her to go aboard, he managed to get Pocahontas to visit the anchored vessel, an accomplishment which was effected by appealing to the tender heart of the Indian girl, who was so moved to pity when she saw Japazaws refuse to take his wife aboard unless she had some female with her, that she offered to accompany her to the English ship. The old Indian and his wife were highly pleased at the success of their stratagem; so much so, that all through dinner they kept treading on the toes of Captain Argall and laughing aloud. But after supper the Captain sent Pocahontas to the gun room while he pretended to have a private conversation with Japazaws. He soon recalled the Indian Princess and told her that she must remain with him and that she could not again see her father, Powhatan, until she had effected a peace between his noble sire and the English. Japazaws and his wife immediately set up a great howling and crying, but Pocahontas was exceedingly pensive and downcast. She even shed a few tears as the old people who had betrayed her were rowed to shore, happy, smiling, and holding tightly their copper kettle and other trinkets which the witty Captain had given them.

Soon afterwards the English sent an Indian messenger to Powhatan and informed him that his dear daughter Pocahontas was a prisoner, and that, if he would send home the Englishmen whom he had detained in slavery with such arms and tools as his subjects had stolen, and also a great quantity of corn, then his daughter would be restored to him; otherwise she would be kept and treated with kindness and consideration. Powhatan loved his daughter dearly, but he apparently had still greater love for the English weapons that he possessed, for, although he replied that he would perform the conditions laid down by the English so that he might regain his daughter, he did not do so, and it was a very long time before anything was heard of him.

After three months of silence seven Englishmen were sent to the Governor of Jamestown, three muskets, a broad-axe, a whip-saw, and a canoe full of corn, and, accompanying them was a message to the effect that if Pocahontas were returned, a large quantity of corn would be dispatched to the Colonists. But this did not entirely meet with the approval of Argall.

"Your daughter shall be well used, but we cannot believe that the rest of our arms are either lost or stolen from you, and, therefore, till you send them we will keep Pocahontas with us," said he to the emissaries.

To this answer the sagacious Powhatan did not reply, and it was a long time before anything was again heard of him. Finally, as he remained silent for such a length of time, Sir Thomas Dale, with one hundred and fifty men, embarked in the Colonists' vessels for a visit to the Emperor. Pocahontas was taken along, and when the party sailed up the York River, Powhatan was not to be found, while those followers of his who did appear received them with scornful threats, taunts, and open hostility. The English replied with musket shots, and, after a sharp fight, some of the Indian houses were burned to the ground.

This angered Powhatan greatly, and when they asked why it had been done, the English answered by asking why they had shot at them with their arrows. To this the savage replied that they had meant no harm, that they were the white man's friends, and that the blame lay upon some straggling savage. A peace was, therefore, declared and messengers were sent to Powhatan in the persons of Mrs. John Rolfe and Mrs. Sparks, who were kindly received and hospitably entertained, but were not admitted to the great Sachem's presence. Instead, his brother Opechancanough saw them and promised to do the best that he could to persuade Powhatan to negotiate a treaty, and that "all might be well." This was slight satisfaction indeed, but, as it was now April and time to sow corn, the English were obliged to return to Jamestown.

Pocahontas went with them with great unwillingness and not without tears. For a year she was a prisoner at Jamestown, and, as her feelings had always been warm for the white strangers, they treated her with the greatest friendliness and kindness. She was now about eighteen years of age, with an oval, pleasant, interesting face, large black eyes and straight, black hair. Mr. John Rolfe—a young Colonist of honesty and purpose—took a great interest in her, and, in the endeavor to convert her to Christianity, fell in love with this sweet and simple Indian Princess. Pocahontas adopted Christianity, and, when marriage was suggested by good John Rolfe, readily accepted his proposal. Powhatan, himself, seemed to be well pleased with the match when informed of it, and within ten days of this announcement an old Uncle of Pocahontas and two of her brothers arrived at Jamestown as deputies from Powhatan to witness the marriage of his daughter and to show the amiability of the father. Pocahontas was first baptized, was christened Rebbeca, and, as she was a King's daughter, was known sometimes thereafter as the Lady Rebbeca, sometimes as the Lady Pocahontas. The ceremony took place about April the first, 1618. In the little Colonial Church at Jamestown, with its wide-open windows, the cedar pews, and its plainly hewed pulpit, with a canoe-like front, the copper-hued Princess was united in marriage to John Rolfe, while Colonists and three Indians looked on in solemn but cheerful silence, amid the scent of wild flowers, the trilling of birds, and the soft wind-gusts from the river.

From now on friendly intercourse and trade was re-established with Powhatan and his people. Thus the marriage was of great import to the Colonists, for it relieved them from worry and alarm. And in another way, also, the marriage of this sweet Indian maiden benefitted the colony, for the nearest neighbors of the English—the Chickahominys—were powerful, free from the yoke of Powhatan, and had taken advantage of the feud between the Colonists and the Great Sachem to keep independent of both. Now they began to have doubts of their own liberty, when the English were at peace with Powhatan, so they sent a deputation to Sir Thomas Dale, and concluded a treaty with him, to the effect that they would furnish three hundred men in case of a Spanish attack upon the Colony, bring a tribute of corn at harvest time (for which they were to receive payments in hatchets) and that each of the eight of their chief men, who were to see to the performance of this treaty, should have a red coat and a copper chain with the picture of King James upon it, and be called the King's noblemen.

The marriage of the good Pocahontas to John Rolfe seems to have put an end to aggressive interference with the Colonists on the part of Powhatan. From that moment until his death, a few years later, Indian warfare was at an end, and serious difficulty between the white settlers and the savages did not again break out until the reign of Opechancanough, King of Pamunkies, and Powhatan's successor. The Indian tribes are democracies and he who rules must acquire and sustain his influence by his absolute ability and energy. The head Sachem had to be brave, hardy, patient, indefatigable, and had to show talents for controlling the fortunes and commanding the respect of the community which he governed. Powhatan had every requisite for success, and Opechancanough, who succeeded him, possessed the same characteristics. Numerous sons of the great chief could have stepped into his shoes, had they had sufficient ability to do so.

Powhatan exacted implicit obedience from his subjects, and, as an old writer says, "His will was law and had to be obeyed." His followers esteemed him not only as a king, but as half a God. What he commanded they dare not disobey in the least. At his feet they presented whatever he gave orders for, and, at the least frown of his brow their great spirits trembled for fear. He possessed great tact and diplomacy, and his long and artful conversations with Captain Smith in order to gain time; the promptness with which he refused the proposal to march with the English against the Monocans; and his refusal to listen to the proposal of two German deserters who fled to him from Jamestown with the offer of bringing Captain Smith to him securely bound; shows him to have been a man of no small honesty. To the Germans he replied that, "Men who betrayed their captain would betray their emperor," and forthwith ordered the scoundrels to be dispatched with war clubs.

It is on record that no acts of thieving or aggression against the white settlers at Jamestown were done by the Powhatans, until Smith, driven to use aggression upon his own part because starvation stared him in the face, intimidated the Indians by a show of armed force, and made them give him boatloads of corn by threatening an attack unless they delivered the much-needed provisions. From then on the Indians became more suspicious of the whites, more aggressive, and more troublesome. There is no doubt that the more hot-headed spirits would have openly attacked the settlers on more than one occasion, had not Powhatan's restraining voice held them in check. At the beginning of the settlement at Jamestown the savages could have put an end to every white man in Virginia had they so wished and had Powhatan so ordered. But these Indians met the whites peaceably, gave them, at first, plenty of provisions, and not until they appreciated that the men with "thundering-sticks" (muskets) had come to remain among them and to gradually despoil them of their land, did they show that resentment, vindictiveness, or cruelty, which afterwards characterized their actions toward the settlers. And, as has always occurred, the red men gave way before the all-compelling advance of the whites.

When Sir Thomas Dale, who had been governor of Virginia for five years, left for England, he took with him Pocahontas, John Rolfe—her husband—and Tomocomo, one of Powhatan's chief men, who had been told by the Emperor to count the people of England and give him an exact idea of their strength. The Great Indian Emperor had a strong suspicion, also, that England had no corn or lumber, because great shiploads of both these commodities continually left the James River for the Mother Country, and so Tomocomo was requested to observe whether or no the white men had trees or grain fields. The vessel reached Plymouth on June 12th, 1616, and, on leaving the vessel, Tomocomo prepared a long stick upon which he was to cut a notch whenever he saw a man. He kept this up for a day and then said, "Ugh! Ugh! Too many! Stick not long enough." He also saw that England was not lacking in either lumber or grain fields.

The popular interest in Pocahontas was very great. Persons followed her about for hours, and crowds attended her every appearance. She was presented at Court to King James Ist, and his Queen, and made a most satisfactory impression; for all were charmed by her kindness, simplicity, and sweetness of manner. But the noise, confusion and smoke of London tired the timid Indian girl, so she was moved to Brentford, where Captain John Smith—who had returned to England because of a wound—went to see her very often and talked to her of Virginia, of Powhatan, and of the great sweeping waters of the Chesapeake Bay. It could be easily seen that the kind-hearted Princess was homesick. After the birth of a son, whom they christened Thomas Rolfe, she longed to return to her native land and to once more see her people, her father, and the waving cornfields of the Powhatans, the Potomacs and the Pamunkies. So preparations were made for her journey. She accompanied her husband to Gravesend where a vessel was being fitted for Virginia, but, catching a severe cold, she died on the very eve of her departure, and at the early age of twenty-two. No one showed more sorrow at her unexpected demise than did the gallant Captain Smith whom she had saved, whose followers she had often warned of impending danger, and whose kind intervention in behalf of the starving Colonists had, on many occasions, moved the fierce distrust of Powhatan to compassion and to concessions of the life-sustaining and much needed corn.

One year later, in 1618, her father—the Great Powhatan—also went to "the happy hunting grounds," as the Indian says of those who have departed to another world. Peace reigned in Virginia; his own tribe was on friendly terms with both the neighboring Indians and with the white settlers, who were gradually taking possession of plantations upon the James; his cornfields were being well tilled; and his people were contented and happy. As a warrior he undoubtedly had been of superior mettle in his youth, for without this he could never have arisen to the position which he held. As a counsellor, director, and advisor of the destinies of his people, the fact that he kept them contented, rich, and prosperous, is sufficient tribute to his ability as a great Sachem. His dealings with the English were not treacherous, save where he expected aggression on the part of the whites; and honesty, integrity and intellectuality governed his words and public utterances. For an Indian he was notable, and, had he been brought up in the same civilization and refinement which surrounded the white invaders of his territory, there is no doubt that he would have been as much respected by the first settlers at Jamestown as he was by his own people, who gave full credit to the talents of any man of superior ability. His self-command and chivalrous courtesy were quite worthy of the best of Englishmen, and thus his title to greatness is secure.