The Jamestown Experiment (12 page)

Smith denied sowing dissension among the colonists and told the company that finding great riches was highly unlikely. He carped that in comparison to other English companies, such as the one in Russia, the Jamestown colony faced the unique circumstances of struggling to feed themselves and suffering Indian attacks. They were subsisting on a daily diet of “a little meal and water” and did not have the strength to hunt or fish because they were sick and famished.
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The land had abundant natural resources, Smith maintained, but the colony needed “carpenters, husbandmen, gardeners, fishermen, blacksmiths, masons, and diggers-up of trees’ roots” rather than a thousand such men as were then at Jamestown. Rather than paying the “unnecessary wages” to Christopher Newport to drop off “lame and sick” settlers while remaining to consume all the provisions, Smith suggested sending skilled workers and plenty of provisions. He also counseled them on having realistic expectations about the potential profits flowing from the colony. First, the colony would need to get on a firm footing rather than living from “one supply to another.”
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Finally, after all the difficulties engendered by his voyage to Virginia, Smith happily watched Newport and his sailors depart with some samples of commodities for the company. Newport had brought additional settlers to the colony but few provisions. He left behind two hundred colonists, “the one half sick, the other little better,” who had to fend for themselves in the coming winter months. They were under the command of President John Smith, who would do everything in his power to keep them alive.

In 1608 the harsh winter weather that plagued the colonists came early again across the Virginia landscape. Many colonists were sure to die, since their malnourished bodies were weakened and could
not fight off disease in the extreme cold. The ground was “covered with snow and hard frozen,” and the settlers were miserable. Traveling was extremely difficult as the settlers dug out the snow and tried to build fires. “Thus many a cold winter night have we lain in this miserable manner.” Smith knew that their only hope to survive rested with the beneficence of the Indians. But Powhatan commanded the local tribes not to trade with the English, and the Indians suffered their own dwindling supplies.
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When Smith went to the Nansemonds, they denied him the four hundred bushels of corn they had promised and refused to conduct any trade at all. The rough Englishman had had enough and ordered his men to fire their muskets. Moreover, they “set on fire” the first house they saw to make an example of what would happen should the Indians continue their obstinate refusal to trade. Cowed by the show of force, the frightened and yet desperately hungry Indians offered to give Smith half of what they had. He returned to Jamestown with one hundred bushels of corn.
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Wahunsonacock completely dominated relations with the English and sent a messenger to the settlement with a taunting offer. He called for Smith to “come unto him” with workmen to build him a house. He also demanded “a grindstone, fifty swords, some pieces, [and a purse with] much copper and beads.” In return, Powhatan would fill Smith’s boat with corn. Smith recognized that his life would be in danger, but he decided to confront the mighty werowance and settle the issue once and for all.
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On December 29, Smith and forty-six volunteers sailed the pinnace and two barges to Werowocomoco with several artisans, since they were idle anyway. They landed first among the Warraskoyack on the south side of the James. Smith asked for two guides and directions for a soldier, Michael Sicklemore, to “seek for the lost company of Sir Walter Ralegh and silk grass.” The Indian chief warned Smith
gravely, “You shall find Powhatan to use you kindly, but trust him not…He hath sent for you only to cut your throats.” Smith had guessed as much but sailed on to face Wahunsonacock and his destiny nonetheless.
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The normally short journey was further delayed for a week by “extreme wind, rain, frost, and snow” that drove the Englishmen to lodge with the Kecoughtan. Thus they spent part of their twelve days of Christmas feasting with the Indians and enjoying the welcome warmth of their dry and smoky homes. Continuing up the York River, the company was again forced ashore by the winter storms, although they spent three or four nights hunting fowl and trying to stay warm by their fires. Just as soon as they were able to sail again, “frost and contrary winds” caused them to put ashore again, this time among the Kiskiacks, who were less than hospitable. After a few tense days, the Englishmen had only a short, difficult voyage to reach Werowocomoco.
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On January 12, 1609, the traders navigated the river, which was “frozen near a half a mile from the shore.” Furthermore, the ebb flow of the river left the barges in the “oozy shoals” as they struggled to break the ice. Rather than lie there impotently, Smith climbed into the frigid water and muck that reached up to his waist and waded the few hundred yards to the shore. A few dozen men followed their audacious president’s example, and at least one nearly died of exposure. They dried off and warmed up inside some homes while they were provided with bread, turkey, and venison.

Wahunsonacock granted Smith an audience the following day and gave him a predictably icy reception. The chief disclaimed any knowledge of having sent for Smith and “began to ask us when we would be gone.” He denied that he had any spare corn to trade, but he offered to procure forty baskets for forty swords. Smith asked his adversary how he had become so forgetful. Wahunsonacock simply
laughed at Smith and asked to look over the commodities he would offer to trade. The Indian disdainfully assessed the lot and said he wanted nothing but weapons, “valuing a basket of corn more precious than a basket of copper.” Smith smiled inwardly at the challenge and was prepared to fight a verbal duel that might very well have determined the fate of the Jamestown colony. Backing down could have sealed the settlement’s doom.

Smith retorted that he had abided by Wahunsonacock’s terms for trade when he sent the workers for his service. To counter the werowance’s claim that he had no extra corn, Smith replied that he also had none to spare. He subtly warned Wahunsonacock, “…you must know those I have can keep me from want.” He finished by reiterating the friendship of the English toward the Powhatans, although he added a caveat, “except you constrain me by our bad usage.”
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Wahunsonacock listened to Smith’s discourse and then accused him of duplicitous intentions in coming to Werowocomoco. “Many do inform me you coming hither is not for trade,” he related, “but to invade my people and possess my country.” Proof of this was that Smith and his men were armed. Wahunsonacock averred that Smith could relieve these fears if the Englishmen were to “leave aboard your weapons, for here they are needless, we being all friends.”
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The pair continued their verbal sparring late into the night and the following day. Wahunsonacock demanded, “What will it avail you to take that by force you may quickly have by love? Or to destroy them that provide you food? What can you get by war when we can hide our provisions and fly to the woods?” He and his people could do these things, but they preferred to live in peace and harmony rather than a constant state of war. He was prepared to furnish the settlers with corn, asking only that they “come in [a] friendly manner to see us and not thus with your guns and swords as to invade your foes.”
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Smith responded that the Powhatan warriors regularly came to Jamestown armed with their bows and arrows. The Englishmen were similarly wearing “our arms as our apparel.” He also reminded Wahunsonacock with a thinly veiled threat of “the cruelty we use to our enemies as our true love and courtesy to our friends.” The English embraced the dangers of war as “our chiefest pleasure.”
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With a bit of disingenuousness contradicted by the fact that the settlers were just then seeking trade at Werowocomoco, Smith tried to discount the importance of the Powhatans to Jamestown’s survival. “As for the hiding [of] your provision or by your flying to the woods, we shall not so unadvisedly starve as you conclude. Your friendly care in that behalf is needless.” Smith was playing a very weak hand.
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Nevertheless, the two giants battled each other, both trying to gain the upper hand. An exasperated Wahunsonacock expressed disappointment that Smith did not rightfully bow down to his authority. “Captain Smith, I never use any werowance so kindly as yourself, yet from you I receive the least kindness of any. Captain Newport gave me swords, copper, clothes, a bed, tools, or what I desired; and would send away his guns when I entreated him.” He did not realize how much Smith despised Newport for that and how Smith blamed Newport’s weakness for his current predicament. Wahunsonacock continued, demanding due submission from one he considered his subject: “None doth deny to lie at my feet or refuse to do what I desire, but only you.” He asked Smith one more time to lay down his arms.
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Smith asked the Indians to break the river ice so that his boat might come closer for the corn and his landing party. He also ordered his men to bring more soldiers ashore as a show of strength that would surprise and intimidate his host. Stalling for time, he kept up his repartee with Wahunsonacock, denying any submission
to the Indian chief. “You must know as I have but one God I honor but one king; and I live not here as your subject but as your friend.” He promised to lay down his arms the following day. But Wahunsonacock got wind of the fact that the Englishmen on the boats were planning to join forces with Smith, and he fled.
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An elderly Indian tried to delay Smith’s departure, for the werowance had ordered his warriors to kill the Englishmen that night. Tensions ran high as the Indians offered to guard the muskets and pistols while the Englishmen carried the baskets of corn back to their boats. Smith saw through their ruse, and his men cocked their muskets into firing position, forcing the Indians to carry the corn on their own backs. Since the river was again at low tide and the boats were mired in mud, the settlers had to wait for a high tide that would speed them away. They spent that time in the village, being entertained as if nothing untoward had happened.

Pocahontas covertly warned Smith of the impending attack at dinner. Smith and his company sat down to eat, but they suspected they might be poisoned and forced the Indians to taste every dish first. They stayed until around midnight in good cheer, until the boats were ready to sail. Wahunsonacock returned shortly after the Englishmen departed.

Smith looked over the provisions that the Powhatans had given in trade and was grimly dissatisfied. It was not enough to last the colony through the winter. Before sailing for Jamestown, he went upriver and traded with the Pamunkeys for more corn. Chief Opechancanough was as combative and unwilling to part with his provisions as his brother Wahunsonacock. Smith knew that his life was in danger again, but he risked it for the survival of the colony.

Smith and fifteen others went to Opechancanough’s home in Cinquoteck, a town only a quarter of a mile from the river. The Englishmen were entertained for a few days in the largely
abandoned village when the chief allowed them an audience. As expected, Opechancanough surrounded himself with armed warriors and offered only a few baskets of corn at an outrageously steep price.

Smith had had enough. He wasted no time and admitted that he was the weaker partner in the negotiations: “Opechancanough, the great love you profess with your tongue seems mere deceit by your actions…You know my want, and I your plenty, of which by some means I must have part.” Smith then lectured the Indian leader, “Remember it is fit for kings to keep their promise.” He was forced to lay out his items and offer the chief generous terms, since both well knew just how desperate Smith was. Honesty lent strength to the negotiations, because only a fool would try to claim equality under the circumstances. “Here are my commodities, whereof take your choice. The rest I will proportion fit bargains for your people.”
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Opechancanough feigned friendship and agreed to barter some corn, promising more the following day. One of Smith’s party soon discovered that more than six hundred well-armed warriors surrounded the house. Smith held a spontaneous council of war to decide on how they should react. If they discharged their pieces, they might frighten their enemies off, but they would not get any provisions. Conversely, they might easily be slaughtered because of the overwhelming odds against them. “Let us fight like men and not die like sheep,” Smith told them gravely. But he would attempt first to “draw them to it by conditions,” getting what they wanted through the tested strategy of trade through diplomacy and force. His men were behind him and would follow his lead.
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Smith turned to Opechancanough and challenged his adversary to a duel. “I see, Opechancanough, your plot to murder me, but I fear it not,” Smith asserted. “Take therefore your arms. You see mine. My body shall be as naked as yours. The isle in your river is a fit place, if you be contented, and the conqueror of us two shall be
lord and master over all our men. Otherwise, draw all your men into the field. If you have not enough, take time to fetch more and bring what number you will, so everyone bring a basket of corn against all which I will stake the value in copper (you see I have but fifteen men) and our game shall be the conqueror take all.”
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Opechancanough considered his options in the face of the Englishman’s challenge. With so many warriors stationed outside his house, he did not need to risk his life needlessly in single combat. He offered the Englishmen a “great present” outside the door in order to draw them outside to face more than two hundred warriors, “each his arrow nocked ready to shoot.”
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In a rage, Smith grabbed Opechancanough by his long hair and held him fast. Pointing his pistol squarely against the Indian’s chest, Smith wrestled Opechancanough outside, where the warriors could see his predicament. The warriors lowered their bows and looked at each other. Smith shouted a warning for all to hear: