Part 2

RED CLOUD 410

AMERICAN HORSE 436

DEATH OF SITTING BULL 440

FAMOUS INDIAN CHIEFS

POWHATAN: THE GREAT SACHEM OF VIRGINIA

In the year 1603 the white wings of an English vessel were reflected in the blue waters of Chesapeake Bay, Virginia, as some hardy voyageurs upon the deck of the ungainly-looking craft took soundings of the depth of the water, admired the broad expanse of fertile country, and, after making expeditions into the many coves and estuaries, sailed away again for their native heath. Hidden by the overhanging branches of the trees which grew near the gleaming ocean, some suspicious natives watched the fair-skinned strangers with awe and apprehension. They were followers of Powhatan--Chief of the Indians of seacoast Virginia, and one of the most remarkable warriors of history. They had never before seen the features of a white man, and, although rumors of these strange people who came from far-distant lands had reached them from the natives who lived to the south, these were the first palefaces upon whom their eyes had ever rested. As the new, strange vision of a rakish hull and flapping canvas disappeared upon the horizon, they turned to each other, and said, with smiling countenances, "It is well, they will not return."

These savages lived in villages that were on, or near, the banks of the many rivers which here coursed slowly to the Atlantic. Their wigwams were made of saplings tied together and covered with reeds, bark, or mats woven from native grasses. They were warmed by means of a fire in the centre, the smoke from which passed through a hole in the roof. Thus they were comfortable in the coldest weather, but very smoky when the wind was blowing with any speed. A mat was hung across the doorway to keep off the drafts from the exterior, and the floor was covered with tanned deer hides, or with mats of considerable thickness. Sometimes a collection of these cabins was surrounded by palisades, ten or twelve feet in height, and thus a stout resistance could be made to invading bands of hostile Indians.

The dress of these natives was scanty enough, except in the months of December, January, and February, when the weather was really cold. Those of rank wore a mantle of skin embroidered with beads, during the warm months, and a fur covering in winter. Their feet were enclosed in moccasins of deer hide, tanned by a long and tedious process. The women wore a long apron of deer skin and deerskin leggins, while the less prosperous members of a tribe had little to clothe themselves with but woven grasses and turkeys' feathers. In summer the men discarded everything but a breech clout, while the women practically went without clothing. Both sexes colored their heads and shoulders a brilliant red, with a mixture of powdered puccoon-root and oil, while the belles of a tribe added to this decoration by tattooing their skins with figures of beasts and of serpents. Besides this, they would punch three large holes in each ear and from these would hang chains, bracelets, and copper ornaments. Sometimes strings of pearls would be suspended from their ears and wound about their waists, while the warriors would often wear small green and yellow snakes, which were alive, and would be attached to their ears so that they could crawl and wrap themselves around their necks.

A quantity of Indian corn, or maize, was grown by these Indians, and this was their chief means of subsistence. Corn bread was the staple food, although another kind of bread was often made of wild oats mixed with sunflower seed. Their meat consisted of fish, deer, wild turkeys and other game; while grubs, locusts, and snakes were also a portion of their bill-of-fare. From dried hickory nuts, pounded in a stone basin, and mixed with water, they made a drink called Pawcohicora, which was much relished at feasts and banquets. They lived a simple, peaceful life; fought little with the surrounding tribes; and were noted for the great age which they attained.

When called to battle the warriors went forth with tomahawks, arrows, knives and war clubs. Their tomahawks were made either of a deer's horn, or of a long, sharpened stone set in a handle like a pickaxe. Their knives were made, for the most part, of stone, but sometimes shells and reeds were sharpened for this purpose. A stone point was put on the end of their arrows and they were winged with turkey feathers which were fastened with a glue made from deers' horns. They often carried bark shields into the fray, which were woven together with thread, and to make these round in shape, a file was used, which was fashioned from a beaver's tooth set in a forked stick. War clubs were of round stones, pointed at the ends, and held by a long wooden handle, while bow strings were of deer hide and sinews. Thread was made by the women from bark, deer sinews, or from grass.

There were three nations in the country which extended from the Atlantic seacoast to the Alleghenys, and from the southern waters of the James River to the Patuxent (now in the State of Maryland), and each nation was a confederacy of larger and smaller tribes, subdivided into towns, families, and clans. These were the Mannahoaks, the Monocans, and the Powhatans; the first two being highland, or mountain Indians who lived on the banks of various small streams which course through the hilly country between the falls of the rivers which ran to the Atlantic and the Allegheny ridge.

The Powhatan nation comprised a much larger number of tribes than the others and inhabited the lowland nation of Virginia from North Carolina, on the south, to the Patuxent on the north, occupying a territory of approximately 8,000 square miles; there were about 2,400 warriors in all and about 8,000 women and children, not a large number, by any means, for such a great extent of territory.

Their great chief Powhatan had been a splendid warrior in his younger days, and, although he was hereditary chief of but eight tribes, through conquest his dominions had expanded until they reached from the James to the Potomac River, and included thirty or forty tribes. He was called "King" or "Emperor," his principal warriors were lords of the Kingdom, his wives were queens, his daughter was a princess.

He was a tall and well-proportioned man, and, when the English settlers at Jamestown first saw him, was nearly sixty years of age, sinewy, strong, his head somewhat gray, with a thin beard, and a sour look on his countenance. He lived sometimes at a village called Powhatan, near where Richmond now stands, and sometimes at We-ro-woco-moco, on the York River.

Pocahontas, Powhatan's favorite daughter, was born about the year 1594 and was one of eleven girls and twenty sons. We know nothing about any of his sons except Nateguas, whom the English claimed to be the handsomest, comeliest and boldest among all the savages. Powhatan had many wives--exactly how many is difficult to state--and when tired of one he would present her to that one of his subjects whom he considered to be the most deserving.

At each of the villages was a house built like a long arbor for Powhatan's especial reception, and when he visited one of his towns, a feast would already be spread in this reception hall, so that he could immediately seat himself, with his companions, and partake of what was in store for him. Besides these he had a hunting lodge in the wilderness called Orapax, and a mile from this, deep in the woods, he had another arbor-like house, where he kept furs, copper, pearls, and beads--treasures which he was saving to be placed in his grave at the time of his burial.

A large number of canoes, or "dug-outs" were also a part of Powhatan's possessions, and of these he was very proud. The boats were manufactured from trees which were felled by fire and were hollowed out by means of burning and scraping with shells and tomahawks.

Forty or fifty warriors were always in attendance on this powerful monarch, as his body guard, while every night four sentinels stood at the four quarters, or ends, of his cabin and every half hour they would, in turn, utter a shrill war whoop, made by placing the finger upon the lips and halloing. If one should go to sleep, or fail to answer the whoop of his companion, an older warrior would soon issue from Powhatan's cabin and flail the offender with a stout wooden cudgel.

The Indians seem to have had a sort of idea that there was some superior spirit, God, or creator, who watched over their actions, and they worshipped an idol, or Okee, who represented, not a good spirit, but an evil one. Numerous priests, or medicine men, were always to be found in these Virginia tribes, and they were supposed to cure the sick by means of divinations and conjurations which were very noisy and grotesque. These medicine men did not work, themselves, and lived a life of indolent ease, but they were of great value, as the savages dared not steal from one another, fearing that these priests would reveal the theft by means of their conjuries, and then bring the offender into such disrepute that he would be driven out of the tribe. Their Okee, or God, was kept in a temple fashioned from boughs and branches, and it was surrounded with posts on which hideous faces were carved from soft pine wood and painted blue, white, and vermilion.

The Indian year was divided into five seasons--budding time, roasting ear time, summer time, the fall of the leaf, and the season of cold or winter. The savages amused themselves with sham fights, or with dances, and most hideous sounding noises, or war whoops, as they charged forward and retreated backward, around in a circle. Their musical instruments consisted of a reed cut to form a pipe, a drum made of wood with deer's skin stretched on the end, and rattles made of gourds or pumpkins. These made a terrible noise, which frightened more than delighted the first white settlers. When they had a distinguished visitor, they first spread a mat upon the ground for him to sit upon and then sat opposite him upon another. Then all present would join in a tremendous shouting to bid him welcome, after which two or more of the chief men would make an oration in which they testified their love and admiration for the visitor. After this a meal would be served and a pipe of peace would be passed around.

English adventurers had attempted to form a colony at Roanoke Island, just off the Virginia Coast, but it had been such a failure that the ardor of English voyageurs had been dampened and little effort had been made to gain a foothold in Virginia. But the Spaniards--their great rivals and enemies--had made numerous successful explorations in the New World, so that the pride of the Anglo-Saxons was piqued and their cupidity was aroused by the wealth the Spanish gold-seekers brought back to their own land. Thus, at the beginning of the reign of James I, it was determined to send ships and settlers to America, where they were to found a colony, search for gold, and ship it, when discovered, home to the mother country. There were several promoters for this scheme; one was a London merchant named Wingfield, another a clergyman named Hunt, still another, Bartholomew Gosnold, who had made a successful voyage to the coast of New England several years earlier. The most important was Captain John Smith, a gallant soldier-of-fortune, who had been in numerous adventures of a startling nature; had made many journeys in Europe; had been held captive by the Saracens, and who was a lover of all that was hazardous and full of danger. He was now twenty-eight years of age, strong, vigorous, handsome and energetic.

While a slave in the Crimea Smith had an iron collar fastened about his neck, was clothed in the skin of a wild beast, and was beaten and kicked about like a dog, until his life was nearly unbearable. But one day he seized a flail for separating wheat from chaff, broke his master's skull with it, and then put on his clothes and fled to Poland. Here he was aided by friends until he reached Morocco, where he joined an English man-of-war, and, after a sanguinary sea battle, arrived in England in time to aid the adventurers setting sail for the shore of Virginia. They left Blackwall, and dropped down to the Thames in December, 1606, with three ships, one of which, the Discovery, was a mere sail boat of but twenty tons, manned by an equal number of staunch souls, sailing over unknown seas to unknown lands.

It took them five full months to cross the Atlantic to the shores of the New World, and jealousy, discord and mutiny had played havoc with the spirits of the crew by the time that land was sighted. The ships loitered along, and at the Canary Isles and the West Indies had remained so long that the provisions were well nigh exhausted. At one time it was proposed to hang the restless Captain John Smith to the yard-arm because he railed at their delay and declared the majority of the crew, "merely projecting, verbal and idle contemplators," who expected to find "feather beds and down pillows, taverns, ale-houses in every breathing place," and not the "dissolute liberty that they had expected." As luck would have it, a storm drove the vessels into the mouth of the James River, Virginia, and past two jutting promontories of land which they called Cape Henry, after the Prince of Wales, and Cape Charles, for the second son of the reigning English Monarch--afterwards Charles I.

All were overjoyed to see the long-sought-for Continent. A landing was made on Cape Charles by thirty men, but they were suddenly attacked by five Indians, who dangerously wounded two of the soldiers and drove the rest back to the ships. In spite of this, the spirits of the adventurers were mightily cheered by the sight of the beautiful bay, encompassed by a fruitful and delightful land, and covered with forests which were magnificent with the blossoms of red wood and dog wood. A place was soon selected for a settlement, called Jamestown, which was on such low ground that it was not considered wholesome by many, and thus a famous debate ensued. Finally it was decided to here build a blockhouse, and all turned to with some will to erect the first habitation of white settlers among Powhatan's people. Gosnold had strongly opposed the selection of this place, while Captain John Smith had approved of it, but the former's advice was correct, as the current of the river has turned the peninsula of Jamestown into an island, and now, only a ruined church tower remains to mark the situation of the first colony of Englishmen in the United States.

Although the whites fell to, with spirit and enthusiasm, to build up their town, unfortunately most of them were "gentlemen" and unaccustomed to any form of work or sustained labor. There were ruined spendthrifts, broken tradesmen, fortune-hunters, tipsters, and gamblers, in excess of some real workmen in the shape of four carpenters, one bricklayer, one blacksmith, and one sailor. A barber also figured in the rolls, a tailor, a drummer, and four half-grown boys. The majority expected to find nuggets of gold lying around in profusion, and not danger, disappointment, severe toil, starvation, and malaria.

When upbraided by Captain John Smith for not showing more enthusiasm in their labor, some said, "We did not come here to work, but to explore and find gold."

"Then you shall not eat," answered the quick-tempered Captain, "for the labor of a few industrious men shall not be utilized to support idle loiterers like yourselves."

A number of these settlers were also most profane, and so the Captain kept a daily account of every man's oaths, and, as proper punishment, had a can of cold water poured down an offender's sleeve for each foul word. This had some effect, but Smith was well disgusted with their lack of ability to do anything, and wrote to the company in England who had furnished the resources to the colony: "When you send again, I entreat you to send thirty carpenters, husbandmen, gardeners, fishermen, blacksmiths, or diggers-up of roots, who would be better than a thousand of such as we have."

The Indians meanwhile had become aware of the purposes of the whites to dispossess them of their territory, so they turned treacherous, and, although they entered into no open hostilities, began to skulk about the fort. After bringing in presents of corn and venison, they would often steal anything which they could safely carry off. They showed by their looks and dispositions that they were extremely jealous of the whites, and, when exploring parties were sent into the interior, suddenly attacked the fort with about two hundred braves. These were driven away by means of the guns of the ship, after an hour's fight, and after subjecting the defenders of Jamestown to a loss of eleven men wounded and one boy killed. The noise of the cannon really frightened the attackers away, and for some days they hung around the stockade, so that it was not safe to venture beyond the range of the muskets, unless one wished to be tomahawked by some lurking savage.

Powhatan had received word of the coming of the whites through scouts and runners, and he was soon to make the acquaintance of the hardiest and most enterprising of them all, an acquaintance that was to mark the turning point in his career of undisputed sovereign over tide-water Virginia; for the adventurous and ambitious spirit of Smith had prompted him to make several expeditions both along the coast and into the interior of this densely wooded country. A few months after the settlement of Jamestown came a time of threatened starvation, but the gallant Captain discovered the tribe of Chickahominy Indians, and from them gained a large store of corn which revived the fainting spirits of those in the little fort upon the malarial peninsula.

In spite of this there were many who decried what Smith had done and said that he should have gone to the headwaters of the Chickahominy River and should not have returned without discovering the source of this stream. The idle and unruly in the colony complained that he had accomplished very little, and not sufficient to be applauded. Stung by their taunts, the spirited Captain again set forth (in the winter of 1607-8) to ascend the waters of the river. He took with him a crew sufficient to manage a good-sized barge, to which was attached a small "tender," or jolly-boat, which could go over shoal water and into bays and coves along the banks of the stream. With these he ascended the Chickahominy as far as possible, and then, leaving the barge in a broad cove where lurking Indians could not steal it, he pushed still farther up the stream in the tender, accompanied by two other white men and two friendly Indians. Those left behind were strictly urged not to go ashore.

But the sound advice was ignored by the foolish fellows in the barges, and, as soon as the bold Captain was out of sight, they scrambled to land and proceeded to explore the country. Their rashness came near being the cause of their annihilation, as fully two hundred and fifty Indians were lying in wait for them in the thicket. Under the direction of Opechancanough--Sachem of the Pamunkies and reputed brother of Powhatan--they made a sudden rush for the white men, but, although the attack was unexpected, they only succeeded in capturing one George Cassen, whom they compelled to tell them which way Smith had gone. After securing this information, they put the unfortunate captive to death in a cruel manner, and struck off through the tangled undergrowth in pursuit of the adventurous English colonizer.

The bold Captain had gone twenty miles up the river to the source of the Chickahominy, and, after poling through several marshes, had waded ashore with his Indian guide, to secure some game with his musket for supper. The two Englishmen who were with him had hauled up their boat and were lying down to sleep near a fire, when they were suddenly set upon by the Indians, who shot them full of arrows and killed them. Then the crafty braves spread through the woodland in search of Captain Smith, whom they soon overtook and surrounded, but the brave settler was not to be captured without a struggle, so, when he perceived that it would be useless for him to escape, he tied the young Indian who was with him to his arm (what happened to the other friendly Indian who was with him is not known) and, holding him in front of him as a shield, fired at the enemy and soon had three of them dead. He wounded so many others that they did not seem over-anxious to approach him. Meanwhile the savages kept up a vigorous fire with their bows and arrows; wounded the Captain slightly in the thigh, and shot many shafts into his clothes, but he still kept them off and walked in the direction of the shore. As luck would have it, he suddenly slipped and fell into the bed of a quagmire which he had not noticed as he kept his eye upon the foe. Sinking in the mud up to his armpits, and discovering at last that he was becoming benumbed with cold, he threw away his sword, musket, and pistol, and made signs that he would surrender. The Indians soon approached, drew him out, carried him to a fire, and carefully rubbed his body until he was able to stand up, for the cold quagmire had so benumbed him that he could not use his limbs.

Meanwhile the Englishman was devising some means of escape, and asked to see the leader of the Indians. Opechancanough was pointed out to him, and, with quick presence of mind, Smith drew forth the only trinket which he had with him, a round, ivory compass with a double dial, and presented it to the Indian Chieftain with a low and courteous bow. The savages all crowded around with eager curiosity and were perfectly astonished when they put forth their hands to touch the trembling needle and could not do so. Smith, meanwhile, lectured to them upon geography and astronomy, telling them that the sun continually chased the moon around the earth, that the earth and skies were round, and many other stories which were then current and were, of course, as wide of being the truth as were the Indians' own ideas. However, the savages stood amazed with admiration, and, although apparently pleased with what the Captain had told them, made preparations to execute him and tied him to a tree. As many as could stand in range now took aim at him with their bows and arrows. At this moment Opechancanough held up the ivory compass as a signal for clemency, and the Indians threw down their bows and arrows and gave up all attempts to put an end to the brave Englishman.

Now, forming in Indian file, the prisoner was carried to the village of Orapax by the savages, and, upon approaching the town, they were met by all the women and children, who stared at the white man in wonder and amazement, for it was the first "paleface" that they had ever seen. A war dance was next begun around the terrified Captain, and the savages screeched, sang, and yelled so wildly that the Englishman was sure that he had fallen among demons. But this affair was soon over, the Captain was taken into a long house, and here was guarded by full forty Indians, while corn bread and venison was brought to him that would have been sufficient to have fed forty men. He was given a warm mantle, as it was extremely cold, and each morning three women presented him with three platters of fine bread and more venison than ten men could eat. Thus he spent his days quietly, his mind intent upon an escape as soon as the proper opportunity should present itself.