James Town, VA Part 1 ( National Park)

Yesterday we visited James Town which was the beginning of America.  On December 6, 1606, the journey to Virginia began on three ships: the Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery. In 1607, 104 English men and boys arrived in North America to start a settlement. On May 13 they picked Jamestown, Virginia for their settlement, which was named after their King, James I.
We decided to go the long way which included a vehicle ferry and a scenic drive.  We departed from Scotland VA, onto a Ferry.

The original site of the first people arrived is now a research center and there is continued excavation of the Settlement area where the Colony was established.

There is a scale model of James Fort.

Since 1897 this area has been preserved for history.

Continued excavation continues throughout the area of the settlement and this is the original church of the Colony.

There are monuments throughout the area.

The opportunity to walk the area of the first "Americans" was interesting and provided a perspective of how difficult is was to have come to a land inhabited by Indians and having to establish a community where self sufficiency was paramount.

This was the time of Captain John Smith and Pocahontas.  The story of these two has been romanticized in movies and books.  The story goes that Smith was captured by the Indians from the region and was to be killed when the young daughter of the Chief threw herself over Smith and asked her father to save him.  However, the Smithsonian Institute has the notes that survived from John Smith which explains that he was kidnapped by the Native Americans a few months after he got here. It states eventually after questioning him, they released him. But while he was a prisoner among the Native Americans, it is know he spent some time with Powhatan’s daughter Pocahontas and that they were teaching each other some basic aspects of their languages. This is know because in his surviving notes are written sentences like “Tell Pocahontas to bring me three baskets.” Or “Pocahontas has many white beads.” So all of a sudden, you could just see this man and this little girl trying to teach each other. In one case English, in another case an Algonquian language. Literally in the fall of 1607, sitting along some river somewhere, they said these actual sentences. She would repeat them in Algonquian, and he would write that down. That detail brought them both to life for us.

Pocahontas was captured and held for ransom by the English during the Anglo-Indian hostilities in 1613 .  During her captivity, she converted to Christianity and took the name of Rebecca.  When the opportunity arose for her to return yo her people, she chose to stay with the English. She did not abandon her own people .  In April 1614, at 17 years of age she married John Rolfe, a tobacco farmer.  In Jan 1615, she bore their son, Thomas Rolfe.  All three traveled to England in 1615.  Infectious diseases took his mother and his father left Thomas in England where he was raised by his uncle.  At 21 yeas of age Thomas retuned to Virginia.

Cheers ,
Beverley and Ross