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53-577: Opechancanough led the Powhatan in the second and third Anglo-Powhatan Wars , including the Indian massacre of 1622 . In 1646, the aged Opechancanough was captured by English colonists and taken to Jamestown , where he was killed by a settler assigned to guard him. The name Opechancanough meant "He whose Soul is White" in the Algonquian Powhatan language . It was likely derived from

106-442: A Powhatan original phonemically spelled as /a·pečehčakeno·w/ < a·pe "white" + čehčak "soul" + - en "inanimate verb ending" + -o·w "3rd person transitive inanimate subject". This would have the reconstructed pronunciation [ɔpət͡ʃəht͡ʃakənoːw] or perhaps [ɔpət͡ʃãkə̃noːw] with nasal spreading and haplology . Before the 1622 massacre, Opechancanough ceremoniously changed his name "Mangopeesomon". The Powhatan Confederacy

159-570: A brief succession of the chiefdom by his older brother Opitchapam (during which Opechancanough was war chief), Opechancanough became paramount chief of the Powhatan Confederacy. The natives and the colonists came into increasingly irreconcilable conflict as tobacco (which had been first developed by Rolfe) became the colony's cash crop . The relationship became even more strained as ever-increasing numbers of Europeans arrived and began establishing " hundreds " and plantations along

212-523: A large force to find Powhatan in March 1614. They were showered with arrows at present-day West Point , so they went ashore and sacked the town. They finally found Powhatan at his new capital in Matchcot, and they concluded a peace that was sealed by the marriage of Pocahontas to colonist John Rolfe . Rolfe and Pocahontas married April 16, 1614 and had their only son 8 months later on January 18, 1615. This

265-552: A major battle; the Powhatans assembled 800 bowmen with Opitchapam leading their force, arrayed against only 60 colonists. The colonists, however, destroyed the Powhatans' cornfields, and the bowmen gave up the fight and retreated. A shortage of gunpowder in the colony delayed the colonists from going on marches in 1625 and 1626. The Indians seem not to have been aware of this shortage and were themselves desperately trying to regroup. However, summer 1627 brought renewed assaults against

318-609: A peace settlement in 1614. The second war lasted from 1622 to 1632. The third war lasted from 1644 until 1646 and ended when Opechancanough was captured and killed. That war resulted in a defined boundary between the Indians and colonial lands that could only be crossed for official business with a special pass. This situation lasted until 1677 and the Treaty of Middle Plantation which established Indian reservations following Bacon's Rebellion . The settlement at Jamestown, Virginia ,

371-430: A presumed continuous granite ridge, rising about one hundred and thirty feet above tide water. That ridge from New York to James River inclusively arrests the ascent of the tide; the falls of every river within that space being precisely at the head of the tide; pursuing thence southwardly a direction nearly parallel to the mountains, it recedes from the sea, leaving in each southern river an extent of good navigation between

424-474: A series of escalations and confusions which lead into becoming the violence surrounding Bacon's Rebellion starting in 1676. This resulted in the Treaty of Middle Plantation signed by Cockacoeske who rallied together other local tribes to sign as well. The treaty set up reservations for each tribe and allowed them hunting rights outside their reservations. It established that all the Indian rulers were equal, with

477-661: A settler assigned to guard him. By this time Necotowance had succeeded him as the last chief of the Powhatan Confederacy. In October 1646 the General Assembly of Virginia signed a peace treaty with Necotowance which brought the Third Anglo-Powhatan War to an end. In the treaty, the tribes of the confederacy became tributaries to the King of England, paying a yearly tribute to the Virginia governor. At

530-401: A show to my people." He was succeeded as Weroance first by Nectowance , then by Totopotomoi , then by Cockacoeske , Totopotomoi's wife, who is believed to be Opechancanough's daughter or granddaughter. Historians, including Carl Bridenbaugh , have speculated that Opechancanough was the same Native American youth who was a chief's son and is known to have been transported voluntarily from

583-714: Is believed to have returned to live with the Powhatan and turned against the Europeans. He and his allies killed the Jesuits at the mission in the winter of 1571, ending Spanish efforts to colonize the area. Other historians speculate that Don Luis may have become the father of Powhatan chiefs Wahunsunacock and Opechancanough. Their remains are buried on the Pamunkey Indian Reservation in King William, Virginia . From various contemporary reports, it

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636-810: Is now the Commonwealth of Virginia , essentially the southeastern portion of the modern state. At the time of the English settlement at Jamestown , which was established in May 1607, Opechancanough was a much-feared warrior and a charismatic leader of the Powhatans. As Chief Powhatan's younger brother (or possibly half-brother), he headed a tribe situated along the Pamunkey River near the present-day town of West Point . Known to be strongly opposed to European settlers, he captured Captain John Smith along

689-573: Is present. The fall line marks the geologic boundary of hard metamorphosed terrain—the product of the Taconic orogeny —and the sandy, relatively flat alluvial plain of the upper continental shelf, formed of unconsolidated Cretaceous and Cenozoic sediments . Examples of Fall Zone features include the Potomac River's Little Falls and the rapids in Richmond, Virginia , where

742-537: Is speculated that Opechancanough suffered from myasthenia gravis . These reports include symptoms of weakness which improved with resting, and visible drooping of the eyelids. Anglo-Powhatan Wars The Anglo–Powhatan Wars were three wars fought between settlers of the Colony of Virginia and the Powhatan People of Tsenacommacah in the early 17th century. The first war started in 1609 and ended in

795-468: Is very near six miles (9.7 km) long, bounded in by two large Creeks. …in this manner to take also in all the ground between those two Rivers, and so utterly excluded the Indians from thence; which work is conceived to be of extraordinary benefit to the country. Twelve years of peace followed the Indian Wars of 1622–1632 before another Anglo–Powhatan War began on April 18, 1644, as the remnants of

848-528: The Appomattox , where Petersburg is now located. In August, Governor William Berkeley stormed the village where Opechancanough resided and captured him. All captured males in the village older than 11 were deported to Tangier Island . Opechancanough was taken to Jamestown and imprisoned. Very old and infirm, unable to even move without assistance, Opechancanough died in captivity in October 1646, killed by

901-545: The Chickahominy River and brought him before Chief Powhatan at Werowocomoco , one of the Powhatans' two capital villages. Located along the northern shore of the present-day York River , Werowocomoco is thought to be where Powhatan's young daughter Matoaka (known as Pocahontas to historians) intervened on Smith's behalf during a ceremony, based upon Smith's account. Written accounts by other colonists confirm that Pocahontas later served as an intermediary between

954-604: The James River falls across a series of rapids down to its own tidal estuary. Before navigation improvements, such as locks, the fall line was generally the head of navigation on rivers due to their rapids or waterfalls, and the necessary portage around them. Numerous cities initially formed along the fall line because of the easy river transportation to seaports, as well the availability of water power to operate mills and factories, thus bringing together river traffic and industrial labor. U.S. Route 1 and I-95 link many of

1007-468: The James River , extending from Newport News Point , near the mouth of the river, to Falling Creek , near the Fall Line at the head of navigation. But the colony eventually rebounded, and colonists later killed hundreds of natives in retaliation, including many warriors poisoned by Dr. John Pott at Jamestown. Chief Opechancanough launched a last major effort to expel the colonists on April 18, 1644,

1060-448: The colonists began to starve to death . After being shipwrecked on Bermuda for nearly a year, Thomas Gates finally arrived in late May 1610 with meager and insufficient supplies . Gates saw the state that the colony was in after his arrival due to their lack of food, and decided to evacuate Jamestown on June 7. However, on their second day of sailing, they met Francis West's older brother Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr , coming into

1113-586: The Chickahominy, Appamattoc, Powhatan proper, Warraskoyak, Weyanoke, and Nansemond. A peace was declared in 1628, but it was more like a temporary ceasefire; hostilities resumed in March 1629 and continued until a final peace was made on September 30, 1632. The colonists began to expand their settlements on the eastern shore and both sides of the James, as well as on the south of the York , and they palisaded off

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1166-581: The Patawomeck tried to work with the colonists, deeding them tribal lands, but it backfired. In 1662, colonists, wanting more, falsely accused Wahanganoche of murder. Found innocent of all charges by a specially convened session of the House of Burgesses, Wahanganoche was nevertheless murdered by colonists while attempting to return home from his trial. Shortly thereafter the colonial government demanded all Patawomeck 'sell' their land and in 1666 declared war on

1219-472: The Patawomeck, calling for their "extirpation". The tribes of the Northern Neck of Virginia were effectively wiped out, the few that managed to escape the settlers were absorbed into other remaining tribes in the region . The peace was shattered further when a small group of Doeg natives murdered two settlers known for mistreating and defrauding natives in general and pilaged the general area caused

1272-527: The Powhatan Confederacy under Opechancanough tried once again to drive out the settlers from the Virginia Colony. Several hundred colonists were killed. In February 1645, the colony ordered the construction of three frontier forts: Fort Charles at the falls of the James, Fort James on the Chickahominy, and Fort Royal at the falls of the York. In March 1646, the colony built Fort Henry at the falls of

1325-513: The Powhatan raids on the colonists, as they held her ransom for peace. In the meantime, settlers had begun to expand south of the rivers, building houses near present-day Hopewell, Virginia . In early 1609, Jamestown Island had been the only territory under colonial control. By the end of this period, the Powhatans had lost much of their riverfront property along the James; the Kicoughtan and Paspehegh tribes had been effectively destroyed, and

1378-459: The Powhatans and the colonists. De La Warr sent George Percy and James Davis with 70 men to attack the Paspahegh town on August 9, 1610, burning houses and cutting down cornfields. They killed between 15 and 75 villagers and captured one of Wowinchopunk's wives and her two children. Returning downstream, the colonists threw the children overboard and shot them in the water. Wowinchopunk's wife

1431-553: The Virginia Indians for colonists farming and fishing. It is partially described in a letter written by Captain Thomas Yonge in 1634 from Jamestown: a strong palisade… upon a straight between both rivers and… a sufficient force of men to defence of the same, whereby all the lower part of Virginia have a range for their cattle, near forty miles in length and in most places twelve miles (19 km) broad. The pallisades

1484-511: The bay equipped with additional colonists, a doctor, food, supplies, and a contingent of 150 armed men. They therefore returned to the fort under De La Warr's command. De La Warr proved far harsher and more belligerent toward the Indians than any of his predecessors, and his solution was simply to engage in wars of conquest against them, first sending Gates to drive off the Kecoughtans from their village on July 9, then giving Chief Powhatan

1537-463: The capabilities of the Virginia Indians, as they knew the land much better than the colonists. He was reconnoitering the countryside near Powhatan's capital of Orapax in December, only seven months after building the fort on Jamestown Island , when a communal hunting party led by Chief Powhatan's son Opechancanough captured him. Smith was released in time for New Year's 1608 when he promised to move

1590-477: The colonial government to maintain peace. In 1656 he died in the Battle of Bloody Run fighting on the side of the colonists against encroaching hostile tribes. His wife Cockacoeske succeeded him. This period of time is often referred to as a time of relative peace between the colonists but it also saw the constant encroachment upon the lands designated to the Indians in the treaty of 1646. Chief Wahanganoche of

1643-536: The colonists went to plunder villages and cornfields of the Chickahominy, Nansemond , Warraskoyack, Weyanoke , and Pamunkey in 1622. Opechancanough sued for peace in 1623. The colonists arranged to meet the Indians for a peace agreement but poisoned their wine then fell upon them shooting them and killing many in revenge for the massacre. They then attacked the Chickahominy, the Powhatans, the Appomattocs, Nansemond, and Weyanokes. In 1624 both sides were ready for

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1696-454: The colony and even met with a Christian minister to give the appearance of his imminent conversion to Christianity. Then his warriors struck without warning from where they had been planted among the settlements on March 22, 1622, killing hundreds in the Indian massacre of 1622 . A third of the colony was wiped out that day, and a higher toll would have been taken were it not for last minute warnings by Christian Indians. Powhatan war practice

1749-531: The colony to Capahosick. He had convinced Powhatan that he was the son of Captain Christopher Newport and that Newport was their head weroance (tribal chief). By spring 1609, the local Paspahegh tribe had resumed raiding the fort at Jamestown. However, their weroance Wowinchopunk declared an uneasy truce after he was captured and had escaped. Smith had become president of the colony the preceding fall, and he attempted to establish new forts in

1802-458: The fall-line cities. In 1808, Treasury Secretary Albert Gallatin noted the significance of the fall line as an obstacle to improved national communication and commerce between the Atlantic seaboard and the western river systems: The most prominent, though not perhaps the most insuperable obstacle in the navigation of the Atlantic rivers, consists in their lower falls, which are ascribed to

1855-578: The fort and killing them. In May, Governor Thomas Dale arrived and began looking for places to establish new settlements; he was repulsed by the Nansemonds but successfully took an island in the James from the Arrohattocs , which became the palisaded fort of Henricus . Around the time of Christmas 1611, Dale and his men seized the Appomattoc town at the mouth of their river and palisaded off

1908-525: The natives and the colonists, and helped deliver crucial food during the winter of 1607–08, when the colonists' fort at Jamestown Island burned in an accidental fire in January. The marriage of Pocahontas and colonist John Rolfe in April 1614 brought a period of peace; this ended not long after her death while on a trip to England and the death of her father, Wahunsonacock, in 1618. A short time later, after

1961-430: The navigable rivers. Beginning with the Indian massacre of 1622 , in which his forces killed many settlers, Chief Opechancanough abandoned diplomacy with the English colonists as a means of settling conflicts and tried to force them to abandon the region altogether. On March 22, 1622, approximately a third of the settlers in Virginia were killed by Powhatan forces during a series of coordinated attacks along both shores of

2014-568: The neck of land, renaming it New Bermudas. The aged Chief Powhatan made no major response to this colonial expansion, and he seems to have been losing effective control to his younger brother Opechancanough during this time, while the colonists strengthened their positions. In December 1612, Captain Samuel Argall concluded peace with the Patawomeck , and he captured Powhatan's daughter Pocahontas . This caused an immediate ceasefire from

2067-564: The peninsula between the York and James at about Williamsburg in 1633. By 1640, they began claiming land north of the York as well, and Opechancanough leased some land on the Piankatank to settlers in 1642 for the price of 50 bushels of corn per year. By 1634, a palisade (stockade) was completed across the Virginia Peninsula , which was about 6 miles (9.7 km) wide at that point. It provided some security from attacks by

2120-548: The peninsula north of the York and below the Poropotank , as they had already been there since 1640. Necotowance remained paramount chief of what was left of the Powhatan Confederacy until his death about 1649. The tribes of the former confederacy however were scattered. When Totopotomoi succeeded Necotowance, it was no longer as paramount chief of the Powhatan but as chief of the Pamunkey. Totopotomoi worked as an ally with

2173-560: The provision that Cockacoeske was owed the subjection of several scattered groups of Indians. Atlantic Seaboard fall line Download coordinates as: The Atlantic Seaboard Fall Line , or Fall Zone , is a 900-mile (1,400 km) escarpment where the Piedmont and Atlantic coastal plain meet in the eastern United States . Much of the Atlantic Seaboard fall line passes through areas where no evidence of faulting

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2226-487: The same time, a racial frontier was delineated between Indian and colonial settlements, with members of each group forbidden to cross to the other side except by a special pass obtained at one of the border forts. The extent of the Virginia Colony open to patent was defined as the land between the Blackwater and York rivers, and up to the navigable point of each of the major rivers. The treaty also permitted settlements on

2279-459: The settlers had made major inroads among the lands of the Weyanoke , Appomattoc, Arrohattoc , and Powhatan. The Arrohattoc and Quiockohannock tribes disappear from the historical records after this, possibly indicating that they had been dispersed or merged with other tribes. Peace negotiations stalled over the return of captured hostages and arms for nearly a year; Dale went with Pocahontas and

2332-556: The site from Powhatan's son Parahunt, but this ended up faring no better. Smith was injured in an accidental gunpowder explosion and sailed to England on October 4 for treatment. The settlers established Fort Algernon at Old Point Comfort in the fall of 1609, right beside the Kecoughtan village. In November, Powhatan ambushed and killed Captain John Ratcliffe and 32 other colonists, who had gone to Orapax to buy corn, and

2385-645: The territory that summer. He sent a party with Captain John Martin to settle in Nansemond territory. They abandoned the position after 17 men disobeyed orders and were wiped out while trying to buy corn at the Kecoughtan village. Smith also sent 120 men with Francis West to build a fort upriver at the falls of the James , right above the main town of Powhatan at present-day Richmond, Virginia . He purchased

2438-491: The third Anglo-Powhatan War . In 1646, forces under Royal Governor William Berkeley captured Opechancanough, at the time believed to be between 90 and 100 years old. They paraded him as a prisoner through Jamestown before a jeering crowd, and he was subsequently killed by a settler who shot him in the back while assigned to guard him. Before dying, Opechancanough reportedly said, "If it had been my fortune to take Sir William Berkeley prisoner, I would not have meanly exposed him as

2491-455: The ultimatum to either return all colonists and their property or face war. Powhatan responded by insisting that the colonists either stay in their fort or leave Virginia. De la Warr had the hand of a Paspahegh captive cut off and sent him to the Powhatan with another ultimatum: return all colonists and their property or the neighboring villages would be burned. Powhatan did not respond. The First Anglo–Powhatan War lasted from 1609 to 1614 between

2544-601: The village of Kiskiack , Virginia, to Spain in the 16th century at the age of 17 and educated. He became known as Don Luis. Murrin, however, suggests that Opechancanough was more likely Don Luis's nephew or cousin. Rechristened as Don "Luis", the young man returned to his homeland in what is now the Virginia Peninsula subregion of the Hampton Roads region of Virginia , where Jesuit priests established Ajacán Mission in September 1570. Shortly thereafter, Don Luis

2597-494: Was established in May 1607 within the territory of the Powhatan , who were led by Chief Wahunsunacawh, known to the colonists as Chief Powhatan . The area was quite swampy and ill-suited to farming, and Powhatan wanted Captain John Smith and the colonists to forsake the swamp and live in one of his satellite towns called Capahosick where they would make metal tools for him in exchange for full provision. Smith underestimated

2650-525: Was established in the late 16th and early 17th centuries under the leadership of Chief Wahunsonacock (more commonly known as Chief Powhatan, named for the tribe he originally led, which was based near present-day Richmond, Virginia ). Over a period of years, through negotiation and/or coercion, Chief Powhatan united more than 31 of the Virginia Indian tribal groups in the Tidewater region of what

2703-491: Was executed in Jamestown. The Paspahegh never recovered from this attack and abandoned their town. A party of colonists was ambushed at Appomattoc in the fall of 1610, and De La Warr managed to establish a company of men at the falls of the James, who stayed there all winter. In February 1611, Wowinchopunk was killed in a skirmish near Jamestown, which his followers avenged a few days later by enticing some colonists out of

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2756-466: Was the first known inter-racial union in Virginia and helped to bring a brief period of better relations between the Indians and the colonists. A separate peace was concluded the same year with the Chickahominy tribe which made them honorary "Englishmen" and thus subjects of King James I . This period of peace has been called the peace of Pocahontas. Opechancanough maintained a friendly face to

2809-423: Was to wait and see what would happen after inflicting such a blow, in hopes that the settlement would simply abandon their homeland and move on elsewhere. However, English military doctrine called for a strong response, and the colonial militia marched out nearly every summer for the next 10 years and made assaults on Powhatan settlements. The Accomac and Patawomeck allied with the colony, providing them corn while

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