Part 5

The chief showed Hudson his palace of bark, and spread a feast of roasted pigeons and other Indian food before him. In spite of such kind treatment, Hudson would not stay over night with the Indians, who even broke their bows and arrows and then threw them into the fire to prove that they meant no harm to the white man, but Hudson and his men were still afraid.

[Sidenote: =Indians kind but Hudson cruel=]

Indeed, Hudson had every reason to fear the Indians, for he had treated them badly and his men had even murdered some. In less than a month, Indian friendship had been turned into Indian hatred.

The next year Hudson sailed in an English vessel in search of the long-wished-for passage. On he went, far to the northward, past Iceland and Greenland, into the great bay which bears his name. In this desolate region, surrounded by fields of ice and snow, Hudson and his men spent a fearful winter.

[Sidenote: =Fate of Hudson and his men=]

In the spring his angry sailors threw him and a few faithful friends into a boat and sent them adrift. Nothing more was ever heard of them. In Irving's "Rip Van Winkle" the story tells of nightly scenes in the Catskills in which the ghosts of Hudson and his friends were the actors.

[Sidenote: =A trading post on Manhattan=]

=35. Dutch Traders and the Indians.= Just as soon as the news of Hudson's first voyage reached Holland, the Dutch merchants claimed all the region explored by Hudson and his men and hastened to open up trade with the Indians. As early as 1614 a trading post was established on Manhattan Island--the beginning of a great city, New York.

Other posts were soon located: one up the Hudson became Fort Orange, another on the Delaware was named Fort Nassau, and a fourth was placed where Jersey City now stands. Later the Dutch traders went as far east as the Connecticut Valley.

[Sidenote: =A lasting Indian treaty=]

The Dutchmen treated the Indians kindly and early made a great treaty with the Iroquois, or Five Nations. The chiefs of many tribes came to Fort Orange dressed for the event. Their bows and arrows and tomahawks were decorated, their garments tasseled and fringed, and on their heads they wore nodding plumes of many sorts, while their faces were hideous with paint. A peace belt of deer skin covered with beads was held at one end by the chiefs and at the other by the Dutch traders. They "smoked the pipe of peace, buried the tomahawk," and made vows of everlasting friendship.

[Sidenote: =The Indians liked the Dutch=]

[Sidenote: =The fur trade=]

The Indians liked the Dutch, who often visited them in their wigwams and sat around their camp fires. The fur trade grew rapidly. The Indians hunted and trapped as never before. They paddled up the Hudson, and crossed over to lakes George and Champlain. They went up the Mohawk far beyond where Schenectady now is, plunged deeper into the unbroken forests, and even climbed the mountains in search of fur-coated animals. The favorite fur-bearing animal was the beaver. Besides, the otter, mink, and weasel were hunted.

When the fur pack was made up the dusky hunters from every direction made their way to the nearest trading post. There they traded their furs for guns, powder, and ball, and for whatever else the white trader had that pleased Indian fancy. Great Dutch ships came every year to carry to Amsterdam and other Dutch cities rich cargoes of furs.

[Sidenote: =Peter Minuit bought Manhattan Island for twenty-four dollars=]

=36. The Settlement of New Netherland.= Already a great company of Amsterdam merchants were sending settlers, as well as fur traders, to the new colony, which now was called New Netherland. Peter Minuit, the first governor, bought the island of Manhattan from the Indians for twenty-four dollars' worth of glass beads and other trinkets, built a town of log cabins on the end of the island, and named it New Amsterdam.

But settlers did not come rapidly enough, so the company offered its members large tracts of land and the title of "patroon" or "patron," on the condition that they plant colonies at their own expense. Each patroon was to govern the people on his own land.

[Sidenote: =The patroons and their way of living=]

The greatest of the patroons was Van Rensselaer, whose plantation in the region of Fort Orange included one thousand square miles. The farmers and servants on these plantations looked upon the patroon as being much above them in authority and social position.

Every year the farmers and their families came with their wagons filled with what they had raised to pay the patroon for the use of the land. He set them a great feast, and there was merrymaking all day long.

[Sidenote: =A wicked Indian war=]

The growth of New Netherland attracted bad men as well as good men. Some mean traders robbed and murdered a number of Indians not of the Five Nations. The Indians robbed and murdered in return. War broke out, and before it ended many settlements were broken up, and hundreds of settlers killed.

Parties of Indians roved day and night over Manhattan Island, killing the Dutch even in sight of Fort Amsterdam. The people blamed their governor, Kieft, and threatened to arrest him and send him to Holland. He finally made peace with the Indians just before the new governor arrived.

SUGGESTIONS INTENDED TO HELP THE PUPIL

=The Leading Facts.= _1._ Henry Hudson, searching for a shorter route to India, discovered the river which now bears his name. _2._ Dutch traders built trading posts throughout the region, made a treaty with the Indians, purchased Manhattan Island, and built the town of New Amsterdam.

=Study Questions.= _1._ Tell the story of Henry Hudson and the _Half Moon_. _2._ What was the fate of Hudson? _3._ When was a trading post planted on Manhattan? _4._ Make a mental picture of the treaty with the Indians. _5._ How did the Dutch treatment of the Indians compare with the Spanish? _6._ What three things did Peter Minuit do? _7._ Who were the patroons?

=Suggested Readings.= HUDSON: Williams, _Stories from Early New York History_, 1-4, 32-36; Wright, _Children's Stories in American History_, 292-299; Griffis, _Romance of Discovery_, 233-245.

FAMOUS PEOPLE IN EARLY VIRGINIA

JOHN SMITH THE SAVIOR OF VIRGINIA, AND POCAHONTAS ITS GOOD ANGEL

=37. The First Permanent English Settlement.= Raleigh had made it impossible for Englishmen to forget America. They sent out ships every year to trade with the Indians. In 1606 a great company was formed of London merchants and other rich men to plant a colony in Virginia.

[Sidenote: =Raleigh's wish comes true=]

King James gave them a charter, ministers preached sermons about Virginia, and poets sang her praises. At Christmas time one of Raleigh's old sea captains, Newport, sailed with a colony of more than one hundred settlers. They went by way of the West Indies, and the Spaniards, although watching, did not dare to attack them.

[Sidenote: =Jamestown settled, 1607=]

In the spring, when Virginia is in her gayest dress, the ships sailed up Chesapeake Bay into the James River, and landed on a peninsula. Here they began to plant Jamestown, named in honor of their king, the first permanent English settlement in the New World.

[Sidenote: =Settlers still hunt for gold=]

They first built a fort to protect them from any attacks of Indians and Spaniards. But most of the settlers wanted to get rich quick, go back to England, and spend the rest of their days in ease. Therefore, instead of building comfortable houses and raising something to eat, they spent their time in searching for gold.

The result was that most of them fell sick and food grew scarce. Within a few months more than half of the settlers were dead, and the others were discouraged and homesick. Would this colony fail, too, as Raleigh's colony had?

=38. John Smith.= There was one man, however, in the colony who could make Jamestown a success. He bore the plain name of John Smith. But he was no common man. John Smith had already had as wonderful adventures as the knights of old.

[Sidenote: =John Smith, a soldier=]

While yet a young man he went to the land of dikes and windmills to help the brave Hollanders fight against the Spaniards. But he grew tired of seeing Christians fighting one another, and resolved to go and fight the Turks. On his way he was robbed in France and left half dead in a great forest, but was rescued and made his way to the sea. Then he sailed with a colony of pilgrims going to the Holy Land. After many adventures John Smith found himself in eastern Europe. He was made captain of a troop of cavalry and was soon fighting the Turks. In three hand-to-hand combats, Captain Smith slew his enemies, cut off their heads, and presented them to his commander.

[Sidenote: =Smith wins a queer coat of arms=]

The Christian army looked on Smith as a hero, and the ruler of the land gave him a shield with three Turks' heads painted on it as a coat of arms. The Turks afterwards captured Smith and made a slave of him. His master's cruelty was so great that Smith slew him, mounted his horse, and rode away to Russia. He finally returned to England in time to talk with Captain Newport about America. Just such a man was needed in founding Jamestown.

[Sidenote: =Fails to gain his position but works instead of sulking=]

The king had made Smith an officer of the new colony, but the other officers would not permit him to take part in governing Virginia. John Smith was not a man to sulk and idle his time away, but resolved to do something useful, by visiting the Indians and gathering food for the colony.

[Sidenote: =Taken prisoner by the Indians=]

While on an expedition up the Chickahominy, Smith's party was attacked by two hundred Indians. Smith seized his Indian guide, tied him in front for a shield, and with his gun was able to hold the Indians at bay until he fell into a swamp and had to surrender.

He immediately showed the red men his ivory pocket compass. They saw the little needle tremble on its pivot, but could not touch it. He wrote a letter to Jamestown. An Indian took it and returned with the articles asked for in the letter. This was still more mysterious than the compass.

[Sidenote: =Smith learns how Indians live=]

The Indians marched him from one village to another to show off their prisoner. This gave Smith a chance to learn a great deal about the Indians. Some of them lived in houses made of the bark and branches of trees; others had rude huts to shelter them. Now and then a wigwam was seen large enough to hold several families.

The Indian warriors painted their bodies to make themselves look fierce. They carried bows and arrows and clubs as weapons, for they had no guns at that time. The men did the hunting and fighting, but in other things they were lazy. The Indian women not only cared for the children, did the cooking, and made the clothes, but also gathered wood, tilled the soil, and built the wigwams. The Indian wife was the warrior's drudge.

[Sidenote: =An Indian council tries Smith=]

Smith saw a more wonderful sight still, when he was led to the village where lived Powhatan. The old chief had prepared a real surprise for this Englishman. Powhatan, tall, gaunt, and grim, was wrapped in a robe of raccoon skins. He sat upon a bench before the wigwam fire. His wives sat at his side. Along the walls stood a row of women with faces and shoulders painted bright red, and with chains of white shells about their necks. In front of the women stood Powhatan's fierce warriors. This council of Indians was to decide the fate of Smith.

[Sidenote: =Smith's rescue by Pocahontas=]

Two big stones were rolled in front of Powhatan, and a number of powerful warriors sprang upon Smith, dragged him to the stones, and forced his head upon one of them. As the warriors stood, clubs in hand, ready to slay Smith, Pocahontas, the beautiful twelve-year-old daughter of Powhatan, rushed forward, threw her arms around the prisoner, and begged for his life.

Pocahontas had her way. Powhatan adopted Smith as a son and set him to making toys for the little maid. This was strange work for the man who had fought the Spaniards and slain the Turks, and who was to save a colony. This story is doubted by some people, but is believed by many good historians.

[Sidenote: =Pocahontas proves a friend in need=]

After a time Smith returned to Jamestown only to find the settlers facing starvation, and the officers planning to escape to England in the colony's only vessels. He promptly arrested the leaders and restored order. In a few days a band of Indians, led by Pocahontas, entered the fort. They were loaded down with baskets of corn.

The fear of starvation was now gone, because every few days the little maiden came with food for the settlers. Ever afterwards they called her "the dear blessed Pocahontas." She was the good angel of the colony.

[Sidenote: =Powhatan refuses to give any more corn=]

When winter came on, Smith resolved to secure another supply of corn. But Powhatan had noticed the increase of settlers and the building of more houses. He feared that his people might be driven from their hunting grounds. Smith knew that Powhatan's women had raised plenty of corn, so immediately sailed up the river to the old chief's village.

[Sidenote: =Pocahontas shows her friendship=]

Powhatan bluntly told Smith he could have no corn unless he would give a good English sword for each basketful. Smith promptly refused, and compelled the Indians to carry the corn on board his boat. That very night, at the risk of her life, Pocahontas stole through the woods to tell Smith of her father's plot to kill his men. They kept close watch all night, and next morning sailed safely away.

But Smith needed still more corn, and stopped at another Indian town. Suddenly he found himself and his men surrounded by several hundred Indian warriors. A moment's delay, and all would have been over. Smith rushed into the chief's wigwam, seized him by the scalp-lock, dragged him out before his astonished warriors, pointed a pistol at his breast, and demanded corn. He got it; and the English sailed back to Jamestown with three hundred bushels of corn on board.

[Sidenote: =Smith induces the settlers to go to work=]

[Sidenote: =Industry brings contentment=]

When spring came Smith resolved that the settlers must go to work. He called them together and made a speech declaring that "he that will not work shall not eat. You shall not only gather for yourself, but for those that are sick. They shall not starve." The people in the colony not only planted more grain, but repaired the fort and built more and better houses. Thus they grew happier and more contented with their home in the Virginia woods.

[Sidenote: =Smith returns to England=]

Unfortunately for the colony, Smith was wounded so badly by an explosion of gunpowder that he had to return to England for medical treatment. The settlers again fell into idleness after he left, and many of them died. Still the colony had gained such a foothold that it was strong enough to live.

Some years later, Smith sailed to America again, explored the coast from Penobscot Bay to Cape Cod, drew a map of it, and named the region New England. This was his last visit to America.

=39. Pocahontas.= After John Smith left, Pocahontas did not visit the English any more. One time she was seized by an Englishman, put on board a vessel, and carried weeping to Jamestown.

Before long an English settler, John Rolfe, fell in love with her and she with him. What should they do? Did not this beautiful maiden of eighteen years have a strange religion? But she was anxious to learn about the white man's religion, so the minister at Jamestown baptized her and gave her the Christian name of Rebecca.

The wedding took place in the little wooden church. No doubt it was made bright with the wild flowers of Virginia and that all the settlers crowded to see the strange event. Powhatan gave his consent, but would not come to the wedding himself. But we may be sure that the sisters and brothers and the Indian friends of Pocahontas were there.

[Sidenote: =Pocahontas marries John Rolfe=]

[Sidenote: =Settlers and Indians become good friends=]

It was a happy day in Jamestown, for all the people, white and red, loved Pocahontas. The marriage of Pocahontas and John Rolfe was taken to mean the uniting of the Indians and settlers by ties of peace and friendship. For several years white men and red men lived as good neighbors. Rolfe took Pocahontas to England, where she was received "as the daughter of a king." The fine people, lords and ladies, called on her; and the king and queen received her at court as if she were a princess of the royal blood.

[Sidenote: =Lady Rebecca treated like a princess=]

How different the rich clothes, the carriages, and the high feasting from her simple life in the woods of Virginia! Here, too, she met her old friend, John Smith. He called her "Lady Rebecca," as did everybody. But the memory of other days and other scenes came before her mind. She covered her face with her hands for a moment, and then said he must call her "child," and that she would call him "father." Smith must have thought of the days when she brought corn to Jamestown to feed his starving people.

[Sidenote: =Pocahontas dies in England=]

When about to sail for her native land, Pocahontas became ill and died (1617). Her son, Thomas Rolfe, was educated in England by his father's brother, but later he returned to the land of his mother. He became the ancestor of many noted Virginians; among these the best known was the famous orator and statesman, John Randolph of Roanoke.

So ended the life of one who had indeed been a good and true friend of the people of Virginia. Her name, Pocahontas, meant "Bright Stream between Two Hills."

LORD BALTIMORE, IN A PART OF VIRGINIA, FOUNDS MARYLAND AS A HOME FOR PERSECUTED CATHOLICS (1634) AND WELCOMES PROTESTANTS

[Sidenote: =Religious disputes drove people to America=]

=40. A Colony of Catholics and Protestants.= When the people of England began to change their religion, some became Puritans, others members of the English Church, and still others Catholics. Great disputes arose among the religious sects. There was much persecution. To escape this, many English people fled to the New World. The Puritans settled in New England, and the Cavalier members of the English Church found new homes in Virginia.

George Calvert desired to find a home for his people, the Catholics. He had studied at Oxford University, and had been secretary to one of Queen Elizabeth's great statesmen. When James I became king, he made Calvert Baron of Baltimore.

[Sidenote: =Charles I gives Baltimore a part of Virginia=]

His successor, Charles I, was also Baltimore's friend, and when the latter asked the king for permission to found a colony of Catholics in America, Charles gave him the whole of what is now Maryland. He also declared that the colony should bear the name of Maryland in honor of his queen, Henrietta Maria.

[Sidenote: =All permitted to worship as they pleased=]

Lord Baltimore immediately began to gather a colony of emigrants. He welcomed Protestants as well as Catholics, for it was decided that in the colony of Maryland all Christians were to have the same rights. Very few nations in the world at that time permitted people to worship as they pleased.

Lord Baltimore died before the expedition was ready, and according to the custom of England, Cecil Calvert, his eldest son, fell heir to his estate and titles. The new Lord Baltimore sent more than three hundred persons in two ships, the _Ark_ and the _Dove_. The long voyage had a happy ending; the immigrants reached the mouth of the Potomac in the springtime, when Maryland is at the height of its beauty (1634).

[Sidenote: =The Indians are friendly=]

Governor Calvert, in the _Dove_, sailed up the Potomac. He decided to locate his little village, which was to be called St. Mary's, on land occupied by the Indians. He paid for the land on which the wigwams and cornfields stood, and the Indians invited the settlers to live with them until their log cabins could be built. This good feeling lasted a long time, and these settlers escaped the savage wars from which many of the colonists suffered in the early days.

[Sidenote: =Annapolis founded=]

Many Puritans came into Maryland and settled a town afterwards named Annapolis. A number of interesting events took place there in the early days. Later the city became the home of the famous training school for the American navy, the United States Naval Academy.

Once Baltimore's authority was taken away because there were some disputes with a Virginian high in authority. The Puritans joined him and overthrew Baltimore's rule. Later, however, his authority was restored and religious freedom reëstablished.

[Sidenote: =Baltimore settled=]

Baltimore, named after the founder of the colony, and afterward the most important town of Maryland, was settled in 1720.

INDUSTRIES, MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS OF FIRST SETTLERS OF VIRGINIA

[Sidenote: =The Jamestown colony prospers=]

=41. How the Virginia Colonists Lived.= After the first hardships the colony grew and prospered. Ships continued to bring settlers from England and other countries of Europe. In a few years the little settlement at Jamestown was surrounded on all sides by newly cleared farms.

[Sidenote: =The planters grow rich=]

To any one living to-day the old colony would seem strange indeed. There were practically no towns; almost every one lived on a large farm, called a plantation. On these plantations were great fields of tobacco, whose broad leaves in summer almost concealed the ground. Here and there a field of corn could be seen, but little else was grown. After a time the owners, or planters, built themselves great houses and kept an army of servants to grow the crops and do the work about the house. The planters did no work with their hands, but looked after their estates and enjoyed such pleasures as hunting and horseback riding. Many of these old places were the scenes of brilliant dinners and balls at which the fine ladies and gentlemen of the colony gathered.

[Sidenote: =Negro slaves are brought to Virginia=]