The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-04-14
P0WHATAN'S TRIBE TRACED
Some Yet Living Under the Pro-
tecting Wing of Mormonism.

Indians That Once Held Sway Along
the Banks of the Potomac-PInces
That Deserved Their Names From
Aboriginal Fishers and Hunters.
1t is not generally known perhaps, that
the descendants of the Powhatan tribe of
Indians which once inhabited the shores
of Chesapeake Bay as far north as the
FatuXent, in Maryland, are now living
quietly by the shores % the Great Salt
Lake under the wing Of MormOHism. This
assertion is based upon the statement OF
! a Traveller who CHANGED, on a recent visit
/ to the Cherokee Reservation in North
/ Carolina. to meet a Catawba squaw the
widow of one Samuel OWL a Cherokee
In talking one day with this woman about
her own people. the visitor ELECTED the
fact that a number of Indians formerly
! lived with them who were different from
the Catawbas. and were called Pam
| inks On further questioning she stat
&c that they were all descendants of, or
related to- an Indian named John Marsh
who had come from Virginia about fifty
| years before. They We're" says the trav-
eler, 'unquestionably some of the Pa
| munkeys, descendants of the Powhatans
! who resided near Richmond Va on
asking her. he continues, what had be-
come OF them, she said that they were
! constantly quarreling with the Catawbas
/ for the old tribe hatred still lives on
/ until some Mormon missionaries from the
| West arrived in that vicinity a few years
! ago, when the Pamunks,' glad of an op-
| portunity to escape from their persecu-
| tors, embraced the new doctrines, and
! followed their deliverers to the far-dis-
| tant land of Utah, where the last de-
| read their lonely destiny in the waters of
/ the Great Salt Lake. .
| 1t is stated, on the authority of the ear
ly settlers of Maryland, that the valley at
the foot of Capitol Hill, in the city of
! Washington. formerly drained by the I'll
| Der Creek, the Potomac, and the Eastern
Branch, was for some years periodically
visited by the Indians. who named it their
fishing ground to distinguish it from
! their hunting ground, and that in the
spring of the year especially they assem-
| bled there in great numbers to procure
J fish. The principal camp of the Indians
and the residence of their chief were at
/ Greenleafs Point, and their councils were
held among the various tribes thus gath
cred together. This. if not strictly his
torical, is at least traditional and il is
supposed by some writer's that George
ton, and it has been further intimated
that this knowledge had something to do
with his determination to locate the Cap
ital of the Nation on its present site. 1t
may be remarked, however, that if by his
so doing he meant to insure the future in
habitants an abundant supply of fish
from the part of the river alluded to his
plan in this wise can scarcely be consid- /
cred perfect success.
According TO Schooicraft, the Indian
tribes, in most cases, dwelt on the banks
of the rivers, and the Indian geographical
names are at once appropriate and Gu
phonic- The rivers were denoted by an /
infection 10 the root form of the name;
as annah. annock, any, hany. phany, etc.
Thus came the name of Allegheny, Rap !
pah-annock, Susqueh-annah, etc In diff /
ferent languages there were, of course /
different terminal infections The Della
wares, or Lenapes. used the term ittuk
for the same purpose; hence, in their
language Lenapeh-ittuk meant the Len
ape River. or the Delaware River.
According to Mr.. James Mooney. there /
was, on the Virginia side, directly across
the Long Bridge and opposite Washing !
ton. another settlement called Manner !
oughquena. and between it and Tauxenent |
Mount Vernon were two others, known. !
respectively, as Assaomeck (about Alex !
andria) and Narnassingakent (below AL !
eXandria). Several other small settle /
ments existed about the mouth of the Pts |
Getaway on the Maryland side Nacoch-
tank, which was the residence of a chief 1
and contained eighty warriors was the /
principal settlement within or adjoining {
the District
The Jesuits. who came out later with |
Lord Baltimore. Latinized the name as .
Anacostan, whence We get Anacostia the !
modern name of the Eastern Branch at /
washington, and of the postoffice at !
Uniontown, on its southeastern bend and I
perhaps also Analostan, the name of the
island opposite Georgetown
The Indians of Maryland and those of
Virginia closely resembled each other |
Those of the former State were descend
ants Of the same race with the Powhatans |
and spoke dialects OF the great Algonquin |
language. Powhatan himself claimed iu- |
risdiction over the PatuXeut but it is !
doubtful TO whether he ever enforced |
his claim The name of Chesapeake Bay
Is in all proba bility, of Algonquin origin. !
AS a general thing. the accounts of the |
Maryland Indians represent them as a
simple. open appreciatiye, and conhding
people, filled with wonder at the appear
ance of their European visitors Father
White, who accompanied Caleb Calvert.
says they were endowed with an ingen-
uous and liberal disposition, and an
acuteness of sight and taste and smell
that even surpassed the Europeans. and
that they lived mostly on an article OF
food which they called 'pene,' or hon.
my. etc
The Susquehannas claimed the territory
between the Potomac and the Susquehan-
ma rivers. when jamestown was settled
as their hunting ground and it marked
the boundary between their lands and the
POwhatanic kingdom. Subsequently they
moved their council fire down the western
shore to the PatuXent to avoid conflicts
with the Iroquois; but, on the other hand
they came in contact with a class of I
white people from whom they contractsl
the habit of usiu galcoholic liquors. which
proved a more powerful and insidiouS en- !
envy than the Iroquois, Like the coast
tribes of Virginia, they exchanged all the
products of their streams and
forests for tirewater. and when these were |
gone they sold their lands. They Jared
bad in battles which they had with the !
whites and with other tribes and uniting !
with another tribe, gradually lost their I
and became extinct
Besides the POwhatans in Virginia !
there were the Iriquois and the Chicka-
hominies. The POWhatans We're won over ,
to tho English. especially by the marriage |
of PocahOntas to Rolfe; but this mar
riagc though a remarkable event in his
tory. nothing more. The blending of
the English and Indian races. which some
hoped and believed they saw foreshadow-
ed by this marriage, was, in reality. an