The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1882-11-17
The Trne Romance Of porahnnta.

Inc true Romance OF B0cahOntas,
From her first meeting with Smith she
became devotedly attached to the -,n
glish, and rendered the settlers r,anv
services. She often secured sunnlies for
them, and indeed seems to have bann+ed
the fort, utterly naked as she was aftar
the manner of little girls AMONG her
/ people, who wore no clothes and s5oured
no modesty until they were twelve ar
thirteen years of age, at which time tbav
| put on deerskin apron, and wera ,,erv
careful not to be seen without Il Tbp
agile little barbarian would persuade the
English lads to make wheels of them
selves by turning upon their hands and
feet, whereupon she would follow tbem
wheeling as they did, all through the fort
Her real name was Matoax. bnt Inv
order of Powhatan, this was carefully
concealed from the whites, lest nv tbeir
supernatural entertainments they should
work her some harm. When Richard
Nyiiin was sent from Jamestown 10 an
I prise the endangered Captain Smith.
environed by foes among Powbatan's
/ people, OF the death of his deputy. Mr..
ocrivener, and his ten Companions bv
drowning. Pocahontas hid him. misdi-
/ rected those who sought him and nv
extraordinary brides and maneuvers.
/ brought him safely TO Smith, after three
/ days travel in the midst of extreme
/ peril. So, also, when RatclifFe was cnt
/ off with thirty men, she saved the lad
/ Spilman, who was then living with Pow
/ hatan, and sent him TO the PotomacS
/ But the most touching story of All nre-
/ cedes in order of time the other two In
the same difficult adventure among
! Powhatan's people, in which Captain
/ Smith was engaged when Scripner was
! drowned, the treacherous chief had ar
ranged to surprise Smith ut supper. and
1 cut off the whole party. wheneeocahon-
| taS. the dearest jewel and Eughter'
/ Of the aged chief, Sin that ofrk night
came through the irksOme Woods TO
/ warn the Captain of Powhatan's design.
/ Captain Smith offered to repay her kind
ness with such trinkets as the heart of an
/ Indian maiden delights in; '-but, with
/ the tears running down her checks, she
said she burst not be seen TO have any,
for, if Powhatan should know it, she
were but dead; and so she ran away by
/ herself as she came
In 1913 PocahOntaS was among the
Potomac Indians Captain Argell a
man of much shrewdness and executive
| force, but infamous for his dishonest
/ practices, happened to be trading in the
river at that time. He quickly saw the
/ advantage the English would gain in
negotiations with Powhatan for the re
/ turn of the white prisoners held by him,
1 if he could secure so valuable hostage
as the chiefs daughter. With copper
kettle he bribed Japazaws, the chief
with whom she was staying, to entice
/ her on board the vessel, where he de-
tanned her, much to the sorrow of the
daughter of the wilderness, whose life
hitherto had been as free as that of the
wild creatures of the woods. To James
/ town, where she had frolicked as child,
and whittier she had so often come as a
friend with food she was now carried as
an enemy and prisoner. She had re-
fused to enter the town since the de-
( parture of Captain Smith.
This transaction not very creditable
10 the gratitude of the English, accom-
( plished its purpose in causing Powhatan
to return the white men held in slavery
by him, with the least useful of the
/ stolen arms But he still contriyed TO
evade some of the demands Of the En-
/ glish who therefore retained his daughter
until the affair took a new turn. John
/ Rolfe, who seems to have been n widower
( became enamored Of Pocahontas, now
/ growing to womanhood, and wrote a
1 letter TO Sir Thomas Dale, proposing to
I convert her to Christianity and marry
/ her, which pleased the Governor, as
/ tending TO promote peace with the In
/ dians, and was likewise acceptable to
/ Powhatan. The chief sent an old uncle
/ of Pocahontas and two of her brothers
/ to witness the marriage.
This marriage brought about peace
/ during the life of Powhatan, who, on one
I occasion at least. sent a present of buck
/ skins to his daughter and her husband
/ free intermingling of the two races
took place, and Englishmen were accus-
/ toned to hire Indians to live in their
4 houses and hunt for them. This amity
lasted eight years.
In 1916. more than two years after
/ their marriage, Rolfe and PocahOntas
I went to England with Sir Thomas Dale.
Powhatan sent some Indians with his
/ daughter. one OF whom was commits
stoned to count the number Of the En-
0lish. The arrival of the Lady Rebecca,
/ as Pocahontas was called after her bap
/ tism, produced great sensation. She
( was received by the King and many dis
! tinguished people, went to see a play,
/ and. by help of her naturally quick wit,
/ bore herself very we'll But 1t became
necessary to desist from sailing her the
/ wife of John Rolfe. for the King was very
/ Jealous. and il was seriously debated in
/ the privy council whether, by marrying
/ the daughter of foreign potentate with
i out the Kings consent, Role had not
4 committed treason.
The climate of London. and perhaps
/ also the uncongenial habits of civiliza-
! ton, affected Pocahontas very untavor-
I ably, and she was taken to Brentford.
where Smith. then busy with his prep
arations to sail for New England, visited
/ her. In the successful efforts of Rolfe
and others to win her to the Christian
/ faith and to marriage, they had not
scrupled to deceive her, by telling her
that Captain Smith was dead, PROBABLY
! because they knew that she would not
marry another white man while she be-
: lieved that great warrior alive. When,
therefore, she saw the ''braye VINO had
been the object of her maidenly admlra-
ton, she turned her face away and re
4 fused to speak for the space OF two or
three hours. When she did, 1t was to
claim the privilege of calling him father,
which Smith granted only after impor-
tunity. afraid, perhaps, of inculring the
Kings displeasure. Pocahonias went to
Grayesend to take ship for her return TO
America, much against her will, for she
had become weaned from her savage life
and greatly attached to the &lish- At
/ Gravesend she died of smaFNpON three
wears after her marriage, leaving one
son, from whom some of the most promi-
nent Virginia families trace their descent.
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