The Susquehannock , also known as the Conestoga , Minquas , and Andaste , were an Iroquoian people who lived in the lower Susquehanna River watershed in what is now Pennsylvania . Their name means “people of the muddy river.”
113-485: The Susquehannock were first described by John Smith , who explored the upper reaches of Chesapeake Bay in 1608. The Susquehannocks were active in the fur trade and established close trading relationships with Virginia , New Sweden , and New Netherland . They were in conflict with Maryland until a treaty was negotiated in 1652, and were the target of intermittent attacks by the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) . By
226-566: A century. In October 1608, Newport brought a second shipment of supplies along with 70 new settlers, including the first women. Some German, Polish, and Slovak craftsmen also arrived, but they brought no food supplies. Newport brought a list of counterfeit Virginia Company orders which angered Smith greatly. One of the orders was to crown Indian leader Powhatan emperor and give him a fancy bedstead. The Company wanted Smith to pay for Newport's voyage with pitch, tar, sawed boards, soap ashes, and glass. After that, Smith tried to obtain food from
339-773: A couple named Michael and Mary, escaped the massacre as they were living on Christian Hershey's farm near Manheim . Their burial site is recorded in the Historical Marker Database, listed as part of Kreider Homestead. In 1768, John Penn, the Governor of Pennsylvania paid the Haudenosaunee £200 in goods for the 500 acres of land on which Conestoga Town had stood. In 1775, Cayuga relatives of the Conestoga leader Sheehays received an additional payment of £300. In 1845, six Conestoga descendants living among
452-596: A cup or two of grain-meal per day, and someone died almost every day due to swampy conditions and widespread disease. By September, more than 60 had died of the 104 who left England. In early January 1608, nearly 100 new settlers arrived with Captain Newport on the First Supply , but the village was set on fire through carelessness. That winter, the James River froze over, and the settlers were forced to live in
565-566: A formal education in cartography". That allegation, however, was proved false by the fact that Smith was a "master in his chosen fields of experience". The Proceedings of the English Colony In Virginia was a compilation of other writings; it narrates the colony's history from December 1609 to the summer of 1610, and Smith left the colony in October 1609 due to a gunpowder accident. The writing style of The Proceedings
678-536: A good time to leave camp, Opechancanough took Smith and went in search of his brother, at one point visiting the Rappahannock tribe who had been attacked by a European ship captain a few years earlier. In 1860, Boston businessman and historian Charles Deane was the first scholar to question specific details of Smith's writings. Smith's version of events is the only source and scepticism has increasingly been expressed about its veracity. One reason for such doubt
791-621: A group of Virginians chasing Doeg raiders crossed the Potomac into Maryland and mistakenly killed several Susquehannock. Subsequent raids in Virginia and Maryland were blamed on the tribe. In September 1675, a thousand-man expedition against the Susquehannock was mounted by militia from Virginia and Maryland led by John Washington and Thomas Truman . After arriving at the Susquehannock town, Truman and Washington summoned five sachems to
904-658: A group of about 60 "gyant-like" warriors and "weroances" at the mouth of the Susquehanna River, two days journey downriver from their settlement at Washington Boro. Smith wrote of the Susquehannock, "They can make neere 600 able and mighty men, and are pallisadoed [palisaded] in their Townes to defend them from the Massawomekes , their mortal enemies." Smith also recorded that some of the Susquehannock were in possession of hatchets, knives, and brass ornaments of French origin. Significant Susquehannock involvement in
1017-409: A lack of food and water, the surrounding swampy wilderness, and attacks from Native Americans almost destroyed the colony. With Smith's leadership, however, Jamestown survived and eventually flourished. Smith was forced to return to England after being injured by an accidental explosion of gunpowder in a canoe. Smith's books and maps were important in encouraging and supporting English colonization of
1130-576: A large group of settlers to fish and others to gather shellfish downriver. They came back without food and were willing enough to take the meager rations offered them. This angered Smith and he ordered them to trade their guns and tools for fruit from the Indians and ordered everyone to work or be banished from the fort. The weeks-long emergency was relieved by the arrival of an unexpected ship captained by Samuel Argall . He had items of food and wine which Smith bought on credit. Argall also brought news that
1243-538: A legal dispute forced Claiborne to return to England in 1637, Maryland seized Kent Island. The focus of Susquehannock trade now turned to the newly established colony of New Sweden on Delaware Bay. Swedish settlers had built Fort Christina on the west side of the bay near the mouth of the Schuylkill River in 1638. This gave them the advantage over the Dutch in the fur trade with the Susquehannock. Following
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#17327652628951356-597: A life as a soldier of fortune and as a slave, he played an important role in the establishment of the colony at Jamestown, Virginia , the first permanent English settlement in North America, in the early 17th century. He was a leader of the Virginia Colony between September 1608 and August 1609, and he led an exploration along the rivers of Virginia and the Chesapeake Bay , during which he became
1469-474: A map which Smith had drawn himself, to help make the Americas seem more domestic. As Lemay remarks, "maps tamed the unknown, reduced it to civilisation and harnessed it for Western consciousness," promoting Smith's central theme of encouraging the settlement of America. Many "naysayers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century" have made the argument that Smith's maps were not reliable because he "lacked
1582-476: A meeting place for negotiations between Pennsylvania and various Indigenous groups. Its importance, however, waned as the focus of the fur trade and European settlement moved west. The population declined due to out-migration, and the remaining Conestoga became increasing impoverished and dependent on the Pennsylvania government, who occasionally provided clothing and provisions. By the 1740s, Seneca had become
1695-620: A missionary teacher among the Oneida . Hall advocated for the Conestoga descendants, and may have lobbied for the 1872 joint resolution of the United States Congress. The resolution was introduced by Representative Holland Duell of New York would have recognized the remaining "Conestoga Indians" and would have returned their land on the Manor Township tract. This resolution states that a remnant of Conestoga had been with
1808-483: A number of Oneida and Cayuga families. In 1700, William Penn , founder of the Province of Pennsylvania , visited the Conestoga and obtained from them a deed for their lands in the Susquehanna River watershed. In return, a tract of land in Manor Township was set aside for their use. This was confirmed by treaty in 1701. For the next few decades, Conestoga Town, as it came to be known, was an important trading center, and
1921-524: A parley but then had them summarily executed. Sorties during the ensuing six-week siege resulted in 50 English deaths. In early November the Susquehannock escaped the siege under cover of darkness, killing ten of the militia as they slept. Most of Susquehannock crossed the Potomac into Virginia and took refuge in the Piedmont of Virginia. Two encampments were established on the Meherrin River near
2034-635: A personal name. When the English arrived in Virginia, some of the weroances subject to the paramount chief Powhatan, or mamanatowick (Wahunsenacawh) were his own nearest male relatives: In Powhatan society, women could inherit power, because the inheritance of power was matrilineal . In A Map of Virginia John Smith of Jamestown explains: His [ Chief Powhatan 's] kingdome descendeth not to his sonnes nor children: but first to his brethren, whereof he hath 3 namely Opitchapan , Opechancanough , and Catataugh ; and after their decease to his sisters. First to
2147-453: A raid on a Jesuit mission in 1641, the Governor of Maryland declared the Susquehannock "enemies of the province." A few attempts were made to organize a military campaign against the Susquehannock, however, it was not until 1643 that an ill-fated expedition was mounted. The Susquehannock inflicted numerous casualties on the English and captured two of their cannon. 15 prisoners were taken and afterwards tortured to death. Raids on Maryland and
2260-476: A similar average height for adult males in the early 17th century. Smith's description was based on an arranged meeting he had with 60 adult males who were likely chosen because they were physically intimidating. John Smith (explorer) This is an accepted version of this page John Smith (baptized 6 January 1580 – 21 June 1631) was an English soldier, explorer, colonial governor, admiral of New England , and author. Following his return to England from
2373-534: A soldier in Transylvania. In 1914, the New Hampshire Society of Colonial Wars partially restored and rededicated the monument for the 300th anniversary celebration of his visit. The monument had weathered so badly in the harsh coastal winters that the inscription in the granite had worn away. Contemporary newspapers reported dedication of "a bronze tablet" honouring Smith, and dedication of
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#17327652628952486-470: A special occasion. This is the case because a foreigner's presence was special. John Smith noted that there are few differences between weroances and their subjects. In older texts, especially from the time of the early Jamestown settlers, spelling was not standardized, so the following spellings are used in different texts: A weroansqua is a female ruler. Spellings of this word also vary. Paramount chiefs let their district and subordinate weroances make
2599-649: A war leader of the Oneida during the Revolutionary War . The organization is neither a federally recognized tribe nor a state-recognized tribe . Those with partial Susquehannock ancestry "may be included among today's Seneca–Cayuga Nation " as well as other recognized Haudenosaunee nations in Canada and the United States. Little ethnographic information is available about the Susquehannock due to their relative isolation from European settlement. It
2712-517: Is consensus among historians that Smith tended to exaggerate, but his account is consistent with the basic facts of his life. Some have suggested that Smith believed that he had been rescued, when he had in fact been involved in a ritual intended to symbolize his death and rebirth as a member of the tribe. David A. Price notes in Love and Hate in Jamestown that this is purely speculation, since little
2825-525: Is focused centrally on the observations that Smith made about the Native Americans, particularly regarding their religion and government. This specific focus would have been Smith's way of adapting to the New World by assimilating the best parts of their culture and incorporating them into the colony. A Map of Virginia was not just a pamphlet discussing the observations that Smith made, but also
2938-549: Is known of Powhatan rituals and there is no evidence for any similar rituals among other Native American tribes. Smith told a similar story in True Travels (1630) of having been rescued by the intervention of a young girl after being captured in 1602 by Turks in Hungary. Karen Kupperman suggests that he "presented those remembered events from decades earlier" when telling the story of Pocahontas. Whatever really happened,
3051-402: Is now Lancaster County, have been identified. Schultz Incised is a high-collared, cordmarked pottery type that was produced until c. 1600 . The collars are marked with incised lines that form geometric patterns. Schultz Incised has also been found at sites near Tioga Point. Washington Boro Incised, produced between 1600 and 1635, is similar in some respects to Schultz Incised, however,
3164-417: Is that, despite having published two earlier books about Virginia, Smith's earliest surviving account of his rescue by Pocahontas dates from 1616, nearly 10 years later, in a letter entreating Queen Anne to treat Pocahontas with dignity. The time gap in publishing his story raises the possibility that Smith may have exaggerated or invented the event to enhance Pocahontas' image. However, professor Leo Lemay of
3277-553: Is thought to be better constructed than A Map of Virginia . John Smith was honoured on two of the three stamps of the Jamestown Exposition Issue held 26 April – 1 December 1907 at Norfolk, Virginia to commemorate the founding of the Jamestown settlement. The 1-cent John Smith, inspired by the Simon de Passe engraving of the explorer was used for the 1-cent postcard rate. The 2-cent Jamestown landing stamp paid
3390-404: Is widely assumed that their culture was similar to that of other Northern Iroquoian peoples: clan-based, matrilineal , semi-sedentary, and horticultural . The Susquehannock lived in semi-permanent palisaded villages that were built on river terraces and surrounded by agricultural fields. Although John Smith named six villages on his 1612 map, archaeological evidence indicates that at any one time
3503-716: The Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail , established in 2006. In his absence, Smith left his friend Matthew Scrivener as governor in his place, a young gentleman adventurer from Sibton Suffolk who was related by marriage to the Wingfield family, but he was not capable of leading the people. Smith was elected president of the local council in September 1608. Some of the settlers eventually wanted Smith to abandon Jamestown, but he refused. Some deserted to
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3616-456: The Isles of Shoals . The original monument was built in 1864 to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Smith's visit to what he named Smith's Isles. It was a series of square granite slabs atop one another, with a small granite pillar at the top (see adjacent image). The pillar featured three carved faces, representing the severed heads of three Turks that Smith lopped off in combat during his stint as
3729-561: The New World . Having named the region of New England, he stated: "Here every man may be master and owner of his owne labour and land. ...If he have nothing but his hands, he may...by industries quickly grow rich." Smith died in London in 1631. Smith's exact birth date is unclear. He was baptized on 6 January 1580 at Willoughby , near Alford, Lincolnshire , where his parents rented a farm from Lord Willoughby . He claimed descent from
3842-720: The Ottoman Turks in the Long Turkish War . He was promoted to cavalry captain while fighting for the Austrian Habsburgs in Hungary in the campaign of Michael the Brave in 1600 and 1601. After the death of Michael the Brave, he fought for Radu Șerban in Wallachia against Ottoman vassal Ieremia Movilă . Smith reputedly killed and beheaded three Ottoman challengers in single-combat duels, for which he
3955-594: The Patience to gather more food for Jamestown but died there. The Patience then sailed for England instead of Virginia, captained by his nephew. Smith was severely injured by a gunpowder explosion in his canoe, and he sailed to England for treatment in mid-October 1609. He never returned to Virginia. Colonists continued to die from various illnesses and disease, with an estimated 150 surviving that winter out of 500 residents. The Virginia Company, however, continued to finance and transport settlers to sustain Jamestown. For
4068-517: The Three Sisters . In a technique known as companion planting, maize and climbing beans were planted together in mounds, with squash planted between the mounds. Dried crops were kept in circular or bell-shaped subterranean storage pits lined with bark and dried grasses. Susquehannock women made shell-tempered pottery of various sizes primarily for cooking. Three different pottery types, corresponding to three different phases of occupation in what
4181-467: The Tucke Monument . In 2014, a new monument honouring Smith was dedicated at Rye Harbor State Park , an 18-ton obelisk measuring "16 feet 14 inches (5.23 m)"—in commemoration of the year 1614; 17 feet 2 inches (5.23 m)—in height. Many critics judge Smith's character and credibility as an author based solely on his description of Pocahontas saving his life from
4294-534: The Virginia coast and Chesapeake Bay region. Weroances were under a paramount chief called Powhatan. The Powhatan Confederacy , encountered by the colonists of Jamestown and adjacent area of the Virginia Colony beginning in 1607, spoke an Algonquian language. Each tribe of the Powhatan Confederacy was led by its own weroance. Most foreign writers who have come across a weroance only did so on
4407-641: The 1630s. In 1626, a group of Susquehannock travelled to New Amsterdam seeking to establish a trading relationship with the Dutch. Isaack de Rasière, the Secretary of New Netherland noted that the Lenape living on the Delaware River were unable to supply furs because of Susquehannock raids. The following year the Dutch established Fort Nassau on the east side of the Delaware River opposite
4520-423: The 1670s, their population had declined sharply as a result of disease and war. The Susquehannock abandoned their town on the Susquehanna River and moved south into Maryland . They erected a palisaded village on Piscataway Creek , but in September 1675, the Susquehannock were besieged by militias from Maryland and Virginia. The survivors of the siege scattered, and those who returned to the north were absorbed by
4633-586: The Delaware. It is said that the Lenape became "subject and tributary" to the Susquehannock but this is disputed. Contact with English settlers on the Chesapeake was limited until English merchant William Claiborne began trading with the Susquehannock c. 1630 . Claiborne established a settlement on Kent Island in 1631 to facilitate this trade, and later erected an outpost on Palmer's Island near
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4746-679: The English. In 1660, the Susquehannock used their influence to help end the First Esopus War between the Esopus and the Dutch. An Oneida raid on the Piscataway in 1660 led Maryland to expand its treaty with the Susquehannock into an alliance. The Maryland assembly authorized armed assistance, and described the Susquehannock as "a Bullwarke and Security of the Northern Parts of this Province." 50 men were sent to help defend
4859-698: The French had obtained everything that they had to offer in trade within six weeks. This was due to the fact that the French had created a great trading network which they could exploit, and the English had not cultivated these relations. Where once there was inter-tribal warfare, the French had created peace in the name of the fur trade. Former enemies such as the Massachuset and the Abenaki "are all friends, and have each trade with other, so farre as they have society on each others frontiers." Smith believed that it
4972-610: The Haudenosaunee could not have mounted an attack in 1674 since a munitions shortage in New France meant that that the French were unable to supply them with muskets, lead and powder. Although Governor Charles Calvert of Maryland wanted the Susquehannock to settle on the Potomac River above the Great Falls , the tribe instead chose to occupy a site on Piscataway Creek where they erected a palisaded fort. In July 1675,
5085-587: The Haudenosaunee. In the late 1680s, a group of Susquehannock and Seneca established a settlement on the Conestoga River in present-day Lancaster County, Pennsylvania , where they became known as the Conestoga. The population of this community gradually declined, and in 1763, the last members were massacred by the vigilante group known as the Paxton Boys . While there are a significant number of Indigenous people alive today of Susquehannock ancestry,
5198-641: The Indian villages, but Powhatan's people also followed Smith's law of "he who works not, eats not". This lasted "till they were near starved indeed", in Smith's words, and they returned home. In the spring of 1609, Jamestown was beginning to prosper, with many dwellings built, acres of land cleared, and much other work done. Then in April, they experienced an infestation of rats, along with dampness which destroyed all their stored corn. They needed food badly and Smith sent
5311-505: The Indians' hostility, to bickering among the leaders of Virginia Company, and to the early supposed mutiny" of Smith on the voyage to Virginia. The Pocahontas episode is subject to the most scrutiny by critics, for it is missing from A True Relation but it does appear in The Generall Historie . According to Lemay, important evidence of Smith's credibility is the fact that "no one in Smith's day ever expressed doubt" about
5424-467: The Lenape. Some of these refugees returned to the lower Susquehanna River valley in 1676 and established a palisaded village near the site of their previous village. In March 1677, Susquehannock refugees living among the Lenape were invited to settle with the Haudenosaunee. While 26 families chose to remain with the Lenape, the remainder merged with the Cayuga, Oneida and Onondaga, and were joined by some of
5537-525: The New World: fishing, farming, shipbuilding, and fur trading". Smith insists, however, that only hard workers would be able to reap the benefits of wealth which the New World afforded. He did not understate the dangers and toil associated with colonization. He declared that only those with a strong work ethic would be able to "live and succeed in America" in the face of such dangers. A Map of Virginia
5650-603: The Oneida during the massacre of 1763, and that their descendants should have use of the land set aside for them in perpetuity. The resolution died in committee. In 1941, a bill was introduced by Ray E. Taylor and William E. Habbyshaw of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives to provide a reservation for the Susquehannock in Dauphin County. The bill was triggered by the claims of "Chief Fireway" who said he
5763-568: The Oneida in New York commissioned Peter Doxtater to obtain restitution for land that had originally belonged to their ancestors in Lancaster County. Doxtater, whose maternal grandmother had lived at Conestoga Town before the massacre, later turned over all legal negotiations to Christian Shenk, an attorney in Lancaster County. An 1869 property deed shows that Doxtater bequeathed 200 acres in Lancaster County to Huldah Hall, who had been
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#17327652628955876-510: The Piscataway continued intermittently until 1652. In the winter of 1652, the Susquehannock were attacked by the Mohawk , and although the attack was repulsed, it led to the Susquehannock negotiating the Articles of Peace and Friendship with Maryland. The Susquehannock relinquished their claim to territory on either side of Chesapeake Bay, and reestablished their earlier trading relationship with
5989-523: The Strickler site which was occupied from c. 1645 to c. 1665 . These burials typically were of an adult and one or more children. Bodies were flexed and usually accompanied by a variety of grave goods such as bead or shell necklaces, pendants, tobacco pipes, combs, knives, clay pots, brass kettles, and occasionally gun parts. Among the gifts that Smith received from the Susquehannock in 1608 were several long-stemmed clay pipes. Tobacco
6102-580: The Susquehanna River and moved south into Maryland. Two reasons for the move have been proposed. Most historians believe that the Haudenosaunee inflicted a major defeat on the Susquehannock c. 1674 since the Jesuit Relations for 1675 reports that the Seneca "utterly defeated ... their ancient and redoubtable foes." Historian Francis Jennings, however, proposed that the Susquehannock were coerced by Maryland into moving. Jennings argued that
6215-542: The Susquehannock as "gyant-like people," however, osteoarchaeological evidence from burial sites in the lower Susquehanna River valley has not shown that the Susquehannock were exceptionally tall compared to Europeans and other Indigenous groups. A recent reevaluation of the skeletal remains in the collection of Franklin & Marshall College has provided an average height for Susquehannock adult males of 174.7 centimeters (68.8 inches), however, skeletal remains in England show
6328-568: The Susquehannock as a distinct cultural entity are considered extinct. The Susquehannock were an Iroquoian speaking people. Little of the language has been preserved. The chief source is the Vocabula Mahakuassica compiled by the Swedish missionary Johannes Campanius during the 1640s. Campanius's vocabulary contains about 100 words and is sufficient to show that Susquehannock is a Northern Iroquoian language, closely related to
6441-416: The Susquehannock from the village on the Susquehanna River. Roughly three years later the village was abandoned when the remaining inhabitants also joined the Haudenosaunee. In the late 1680s, a group of Susquehannock and Seneca established a village near the Conestoga River in what is now Manor Township , Lancaster County , Pennsylvania where they became known as the Conestoga. They were later joined by
6554-428: The Susquehannock had a varied and seasonal diet. Maize, beans and squash were staple foods, with maize-based meals, usually in the form of soup, making up nearly half of their caloric intake. Deer was the most common animal protein but elk, black bear, fish, freshwater mussels, wild turkey and waterfowl were also eaten. Wild plants, fruits, and nuts supplemented their diets. Iroquoian people called maize, beans and squash
6667-405: The Susquehannock had just one or two large settlements in the lower Susquehanna River valley. Roughly every 25 years, when soil fertility and nearby resources became depleted, they would move to a new location and begin anew. Until c. 1665 these villages were located on the east side of the Susquehanna River, however, from c. 1665 to 1675 the Susquehannock occupied a village on
6780-515: The Susquehannock village. Muskets, lead and powder were acquired from both Maryland and New Netherland. Despite suffering a smallpox epidemic in 1661, the Susquehannock easily withstood a siege by 800 Seneca, Cayuga and Onondaga in May 1663, and destroyed an Onondaga war party in 1666. The Susquehannock abandoned their village on the east side of the Susquehanna c. 1665 and moved across
6893-489: The University of Delaware points out that Smith's earlier writing was primarily geographical and ethnographic in nature and did not dwell on his personal experiences; hence, there was no reason for him to write down the story until this point. Henry Brooks Adams attempted to debunk Smith's claims of heroism. He said that Smith's recounting of the story of Pocahontas had been progressively embellished, made up of "falsehoods of an effrontery seldom equaled in modern times". There
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#17327652628957006-460: The Virginia Company designating Smith as one of the leaders of the new colony, thus sparing him from the gallows. By the summer of 1607, the colonists were still living in temporary housing. The search for a suitable site ended on 14 May 1607 when Captain Edward Maria Wingfield , president of the council, chose the Jamestown site as the location for the colony. After the four-month ocean trip, their food stores were sufficient only for each to have
7119-400: The Virginia Company of London was being reorganized and was sending more supplies and settlers to Jamestown, along with Lord De la Warr to become the new governor. In a May 1609 voyage to Virginia, Virginia Company treasurer Sir Thomas Smith arranged for about 500 colonists to come along, including women and children. A fleet of nine ships set sail. One sank in a storm soon after leaving
7232-408: The ancient Smith family of Cuerdley , Lancashire, and was educated at King Edward VI Grammar School, Louth , from 1592 to 1595. Smith was initially set on a path to apprentice with a merchant in the Hanseatic League merchant seaport of King's Lynn in Norfolk . However, he found himself ill-suited for the monotonous life of a tradesman and the confines of a counting house . Peter Firstbrook,
7345-468: The area to defeat's Smith's settlement plans. He could not believe that Hunt was driven by greed since there was "little private gaine" to be gotten; Hunt "sold those silly Salvages for Rials of eight." Smith published a map in 1616 based on the expedition which was the first to bear the label "New England", though the Indian place names were replaced by the names of English cities at the request of Prince Charles . The settlers of Plymouth Colony adopted
7458-459: The biographer of John Smith, posits that Smith's brief stint as an apprentice to a merchant in the seaport of King's Lynn sparked his adventurous spirit. Smith set off to sea at age 16 after his father died. He served as a mercenary in the army of Henry IV of France against the Spaniards, fighting for Dutch independence from King Philip II of Spain . He then went to the Mediterranean where he engaged in trade and piracy, and later fought against
7571-436: The burned ruins. During this time, they wasted much of the three months that Newport and his crew were in port loading their ships with iron pyrite (fool's gold). Food supplies ran low, although the Native Americans brought some food, and Smith wrote that "more than half of us died". Smith spent the following summer exploring Chesapeake Bay waterways and producing a map that was of great value to Virginia explorers for more than
7684-411: The closest Susquehannock encampment. After the Occaneechi returned with Susquehannock prisoners, Bacon turned on his allies and indiscriminately massacred Occaneechi men, women and children. The Susquehannock who survived the Occaneechi attack moved downriver and may have merged with the Meherrin . Other Susquehannock refugees fled to hunting camps on the North Branch of the Potomac or took refuge with
7797-422: The collar is not as wide. Known as "face pots" their distinguishing feature is the presence of two to four expressionless human faces on the collars. In the mid-17th century, as European goods became more common, pot design became simpler, and many of the pots used for cooking were replaced by brass kettles. Strickler Cordmarked, produced between 1635 and 1680 lacked the collars, geometric designs and face effigies of
7910-402: The colonists was regulated by the companies that sponsored the voyage, in that the communications must go "directly to the company" because no one was to "write any letter of anything that may discourage others". Smith violated this regulation by first publishing A True Relation as an unknown author. Leo Lemay theorizes that the editor of The Generall Historie might have cut out "references to
8023-445: The command of Thomas Hunt stayed behind and captured a number of Indians as slaves, including Squanto of the Patuxet . Smith was convinced that Hunt's actions were directed at him; by inflaming the local population, Smith said, he could "prevent that intent I had to make a plantation there", keeping the country in "obscuritie" so that Hunt and a few merchants could monopolize it. According to Smith, Hunt had taken his maps and notes of
8136-585: The dominant language with only a few Conestoga still able to speak the "ancient tongue.". The Conestoga remained neutral during the Seven Years' War and Pontiac's War . They bartered brooms and baskets, fished, and tended their gardens. By 1763, only seven men, five women and eight children lived in Conestoga Town. In December 1763, the Paxton Boys , in response to raids by the Lenape and Shawnee during Pontiac's War attacked Conestoga Town in
8249-414: The earlier pottery types. While Susquehannock women cultivated crops and managed the household, the men engaged in extended periods of travel for hunting, trading, and raids against neighbouring tribes. They also constructed and tended the fishing weirs that were used to catch American shad and eels . The Susquehannock relied on a network of footpaths to cross their territory. Of particular importance
8362-405: The encounter initiated a friendly relationship between the Native Americans and colonists near Jamestown . As the colonists expanded farther, some of the tribes felt that their lands were threatened, and conflicts arose again. In 1608, Pocahontas is said to have saved Smith a second time. Chief Powhatan invited Smith and some other colonists to Werowocomoco on friendly terms, but Pocahontas came to
8475-401: The final decision on how to handle a hostile situation. This was made apparent with the events that took place in 1607 and the hostility with the newcomers (English settlers). Weroances and Priest were the only ones allowed to enter into religious temples. A weroance did not go to meet any visitor, visitors were escorted to see a weroance. The weroance, their wives, and councilors often dressed in
8588-568: The finest jewels, and tanned deer skin. Several of the weroances' personal names were known and some recorded by William Strachey and other sources. The names of their respective chieftaincies were also commonly used as titles, exactly analogous to European peerages, so that the Weroance of Arrohattec (whose given name was Ashaquid) was often referred to simply as "Arrohattec", much as the Earl of Essex would be referred to just as "Essex" in lieu of
8701-565: The first English explorer to map the Chesapeake Bay area. Later, he explored and mapped the coast of New England. He was knighted for his services to Sigismund Báthory , Prince of Transylvania , and his friend Mózes Székely . Jamestown was established on May 14, 1607. Smith trained the first settlers to work at farming and fishing, thus saving the colony from early devastation. He publicly stated, " He that will not work, shall not eat ", alluding to 2 Thessalonians 3:10 . Harsh weather,
8814-515: The first-class domestic rate. Captain Smith has featured in popular media several times during the 20th and 21st century. John Smith published eight volumes during his life. The following lists the first edition of each volume and the pages on which it is reprinted in Arber 1910 : Weroance Weroance is an Algonquian word meaning leader or commander among the Powhatan confederacy of
8927-495: The fur trade began in the 1620s. Because of their location on the Susquehanna River, the Susquehannock had access to English traders on the Chesapeake, as well as Dutch and Swedish traders on Delaware Bay. Furs, primarily beaver, were traded for cloth, glass beads, brass kettles, hawk bells, axes, hoes, and knives. Although many Europeans were hesitant to trade firearms for furs, the Susquehannocks began to obtain muskets in
9040-465: The hand of Powhatan. Most of the scepticism results from the differences between his narratives. His earliest text is A True Relation of Virginia , submitted for publication in 1608, the year after his experiences in Jamestown. The second was The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles , which was published in 1624. The publication of letters, journals, and pamphlets from
9153-705: The harbour, and the Sea Venture wrecked on the Bermuda Islands with flotilla admiral Sir George Somers aboard. They finally made their way to Jamestown in May 1610 after building the Deliverance and Patience to take most of the passengers and crew of the Sea Venture off Bermuda, with the new governor Thomas Gates on board. In August 1609, Smith was quite surprised to see more than 300 new settlers arrive, which did not go well for him. London
9266-519: The hut where they were staying and warned them that Powhatan was planning to kill them. They stayed on their guard and the attack never came. Also in 1608, Polish craftsmen were brought to the colony to help it develop. Smith wrote that two Poles rescued him when he was attacked by an Algonquian tribesman. In the summer of 1608, Smith left Jamestown to explore the Chesapeake Bay region and search for badly needed food, covering an estimated 3,000 miles (4,800 km). These explorations are commemorated in
9379-641: The languages of the Haudenosaunee and in particular that of the Onondaga . The language is considered extinct as of 1763 when the last remnant community of the Susquehannock was massacred at Lancaster, Pennsylvania . The Europeans who colonized the Mid-Atlantic coast of North America typically adopted the names that were used by the coastal Algonquian -speaking peoples for interior tribes. The Europeans adapted and transliterated these exonyms to fit their own languages and spelling systems, and tried to capture
9492-628: The local Natives, but it required threats of military force for them to comply. Smith discovered that there were those among both the settlers and the Natives who were planning to take his life, and he was warned about the plan by Pocahontas . He called a meeting and threatened those who were not working "that he that will not work shall not eat." After that, the situation improved and the settlers worked with more industry. Native Americans led by Opechancanough captured Smith in December 1607 while he
9605-580: The mistaken belief that the inhabitants were aiding and abetting the attacks. The Paxton Boys slaughtered the six Conestoga they found there, and burned the settlement to the ground. Fourteen of the Conestoga had been absent from the village and were given shelter in the Lancaster workhouse . Two weeks later, however, the Paxton Boys broke into the workhouse and slaughtered the remaining Conestoga including women and children. Two former two inhabitants,
9718-571: The mouth of the Schuylkill River . To trade with the Dutch, the Susquehannock had to pass through Lenape territory. English explorer Thomas Yonge (Yong) noted that in 1634 the "people of the river" were at war with the Minquas who had "killed many of them, destroyed their corne, and burned their houses." By 1638, however, the Lenape and the Susquehannock had reached an accommodation, with the later having been given access to trading posts on
9831-460: The mouth of the Susquehanna River. Relations with the English deteriorated following the establishment of the Province of Maryland in 1634. The new colony formed an alliance with the Piscataway , who were the frequent target of Susquehannock raids. The founding of the colony also disrupted Claiborne's trade alliance with the Susquehannock as he refused to acknowledge Maryland's authority. When
9944-677: The name that Smith gave to that area, and other place names on the map survive today, such as the Charles River (marked as The River Charles) and Cape Ann (Cape Anna). Smith made two attempts in 1614 and 1615 to return to the same coast. On the first trip, a storm dismasted his ship. In the second attempt, he was captured by French pirates off the coast of the Azores . He escaped after weeks of captivity and made his way back to England, where he published an account of his two voyages as A Description of New England . He remained in England for
10057-470: The next five years, Governors Gates and Sir Thomas Dale continued to keep strict discipline, with Sir Thomas Smith in London attempting to find skilled craftsmen and other settlers to send. In 1614, Smith returned to America in a voyage to the coasts of Maine and Massachusetts Bay . He named the region " New England ". The commercial purpose was to take whales for fins and oil and to seek out mines of gold or copper, but both of these proved impractical so
10170-643: The regular beatings his slavemaster gave him, Smith killed the slavemaster and escaped from Ottoman territory into Muscovy . Smith traveled through the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , Europe, and Africa, reaching England in 1604. In 1606, Smith became involved with the Virginia Company of London 's plan to colonize Virginia for profit, and King James had already granted a charter. The expedition set sail on Discovery , Susan Constant , and Godspeed on 20 December 1606. His page
10283-435: The rest of his life. Smith compared his experiences in Virginia with his observations of New England and offered a theory of why some English colonial projects had failed. He noted that the French had been able to monopolize trade in a very short time, even in areas nominally under English control. The people inhabiting the coasts from Maine to Cape Cod had "large corne fields, and great troupes of well proportioned people", but
10396-491: The river to the west side. Their new village appears on Augustin Herrman 's 1670 map of Virginia and Maryland. The Jesuit Relations for 1671 reported that the Susquehannock had 300 warriors, and described a rout of a Seneca and Cayuga raiding party by a group of Susquehannock adolescents. By the 1670s, epidemics and years of war with the Haudenosaunee had taken their toll on the Susquehannock. In 1675, they left their village on
10509-604: The second half of the 16th century, possibly the result of conflict with the Haudenosaunee to the north. The shortening of the growing season during the Little Ice Age , and the desire to be closer to sources of trade goods may also have been factors. The Susquehannock assimilated the Shenks Ferry people in the lower Susquehanna River valley, and established a palisaded village in present-day Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. An archaeological excavation in 1931 revealed that
10622-517: The sounds of the names. What the Susquehannock called themselves is not known. In the late 15th and early 16th centuries the Susquehannock lived in scattered hamlets on the North Branch of the Susquehanna River in what is now Bradford County , Pennsylvania, and Tioga County, New York . Of Northern Iroquoian ancestry, the Susquehannock became culturally and linguistically distinct before 1500. A southward migration towards Chesapeake Bay began in
10735-555: The story's veracity, and many people who would have known the truth "were in London in 1616 when Smith publicised the story in a letter to the queen", including Pocahontas herself. Smith focuses heavily on Indians in all of his works concerning the New World. His relationship with the Powhatan tribe was an important factor in preserving the Jamestown colony from sharing the presumed fate of the Roanoke Colony . Realizing that
10848-402: The upper Potomac River valley in what is now Maryland and West Virginia that date roughly from 1590 to 1610. Archaeological evidence also exists for a palisaded settlement 30 miles upstream of Washington Boro in what is now Cumberland County that was occupied from about 1610 to 1620. The first recorded European contact with the Susquehannock was in 1608 when English explorer John Smith met with
10961-550: The very existence of the colony depended on peace, he never thought of trying to exterminate the natives. Only after his departure were there bitter wars and massacres, the natural results of a more hostile policy. In his writings, Smith reveals the attitudes behind his actions. One of Smith's main incentives in writing about his New World experiences and observances was to promote English colonization. Lemay claims that many promotional writers sugar-coated their depictions of America in order to heighten its appeal, but he argues that Smith
11074-486: The village (known as the Schultz Site) contained at least 26 longhouses. The Schultz site was largely abandoned c. 1600 due to overcrowding and depletion of local resources. A larger fortified town was constructed near what is today Washington Boro . The town is estimated to have been 250,000 square feet in size with a population of about 1,700 people. Several smaller Susquehannock sites have been found in
11187-627: The village of the Siouan-speaking Occaneechi on the Roanoke River In January 1776, the Susquehannock raided plantations on the upper Rappahannock River , killing 36 colonists, and at the falls of the James River . Nathaniel Bacon , unhappy with Governor Sir William Berkeley 's response to the raids, organized a volunteer militia to hunt down the Susquehannock. Bacon persuaded the Occaneechi to attack
11300-414: The voyage turned to collecting fish and furs to defray the expense. Most of the crew spent their time fishing, while Smith and eight others took a small boat on a coasting expedition during which he traded rifles for 11,000 beaver skins and 100 each of martins and otters. Smith collected a ship's cargo worth of "Furres… traine Oile and Cor-fish" and returned to England. The expedition's second vessel under
11413-609: The west side of Susquehanna known as the Upper Leibhart site. Susquehannock villages contained numerous longhouses surrounded by a double palisade. Each bark-covered shelter was up to 80 feet (24 m) in length and housed as many as 60 individuals. Multiple families related through the female family line would live in one longhouse. Sons lived within this extended family household until they married, upon which time they would move to their wife's family's longhouse. Archaeological evidence from trash and burn pits indicates that
11526-574: Was a 12-year-old boy named Samuel Collier. During the voyage, Smith was charged with mutiny, and Captain Christopher Newport (in charge of the three ships) had planned to execute him. These events happened approximately when the expedition stopped in the Canary Islands for resupply of water and provisions. Smith was under arrest for most of the trip. However, they landed at Cape Henry on 26 April 1607 and unsealed orders from
11639-556: Was an important aspect of Susquehannock culture, but its use did not become widespread until the mid-16th century. Almost all graves dating from this period, including those of women and older children, contained pipes among the grave goods. The vocabulary compiled by Campanius includes words specifically meaning "smoking tobacco", as well as a word for "pipe for smoking tobacco." Pipes were either formed from clay or carved from soapstone. The bowls were frequently decorated with geometric designs or with human or animal effigies. Smith described
11752-521: Was buried in 1633 in the south aisle of Saint Sepulchre-without-Newgate Church , Holborn Viaduct, London. The church is the largest parish church in the City of London, dating from 1137. Captain Smith is commemorated in the south wall of the church by a stained glass window. The Captain John Smith Monument currently lies in disrepair off the coast of New Hampshire on Star Island , part of
11865-660: Was knighted by the Prince of Transylvania and given a horse and a coat of arms showing three Turks' heads. In 1602 he was wounded in a skirmish with the Crimean Tatars , captured, and, taken to a slave market, and then sold. He was sent as an enslaved gift to a woman in Constantinople (Istanbul), Charatza Tragabigzanda, who sent him to perform agricultural work and to be converted to Islam in Rostov . During one of
11978-572: Was not one to exaggerate the facts. He argues that Smith was very straightforward with his readers about both the dangers and the possibilities of colonization. Instead of proclaiming that there was an abundance of gold in the New World, as many writers did, Smith illustrated that there was abundant monetary opportunity in the form of industry. Lemay argues that no motive except wealth would attract potential colonists away from "their ease and humours at home". "Therefore, he presented in his writings actual industries that could yield significant capital within
12091-612: Was removed to the hunters' camp, where Opechancanough and his men feasted him and otherwise treated him like an honoured guest. Protocol demanded that Opechancanough inform Chief Powhatan of Smith's capture, but the paramount chief also was on a hunt and therefore unreachable. Absent interpreters or any other means of effectively interviewing the Englishman, Opechancanough summoned his seven highest-ranking kwiocosuk, or shamans, and convened an elaborate, three-day divining ritual to determine whether Smith's intentions were friendly. Finding it
12204-766: Was seeking food along the Chickahominy River , and they took him to meet Chief Powhatan (Opechancanough's older brother) at Werowocomoco , the main village of the Powhatan Confederacy . The village was on the north shore of the York River about 15 miles (24 km) north of Jamestown and 25 miles (40 km) downstream from where the river forms from the Pamunkey River and the Mattaponi River at West Point, Virginia . Smith
12317-448: Was sending new settlers with no real planning or logistical support. Then in May 1610, Somers and Gates finally arrived with 150 people from the Sea Venture . Gates soon found that there was not enough food to support all in the colony and decided to abandon Jamestown. As their boats were leaving the Jamestown area, they met a ship carrying the new governor Lord De la Warr, who ordered them back to Jamestown. Somers returned to Bermuda with
12430-518: Was the Great Minquas Path between the Susquehanna River and the Delaware River which the Susquehannock used to reach Dutch and Swedish trading posts. For fishing and carrying cargoes of meat, pelts and people across the Susquehanna River, dugout canoes were used. The Susquehannock typically buried their dead in individual graves in cemeteries located outside the palisade walls. A number of multiple burials have also been found, especially at
12543-419: Was the "sole surviving chief" of 85–100 Susquehannock in Pennsylvania. The bill made arrangements for tribal members to lease land for a nominal fee and establish a central community in their historic homelands. Under the provisions of the bill, the tract of land would have been called "The Susquehannock Indian Reservation". While this appropriation bill for $ 20,000 was passed unopposed in the state legislature, it
12656-620: Was too late to reverse this reality even with diplomacy, and that what was needed was military force. He suggested that English adventurers should rely on his own experience in wars around the world and his experience in New England where his few men could engage in "silly encounters" without injury or long term hostility. He also compared the experience of the Spaniards in determining how many armed men were necessary to effect Indian compliance. John Smith died on 21 June 1631 in London. He
12769-520: Was vetoed by Governor Arthur James , who was advised by the Pennsylvania Historical Commission that the last of the Susquehannocks had died in the 1763 massacre. The Conestoga-Susquehannock Tribe, an organization in Pennsylvania that self-identifies as a tribe , offers membership to those who can show documented descent from a known Susquehannock or the 1845 land claimants, for example, those descended from Skenandoa ,
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