Everyone has heard the story of Pocahontas saving John Smith’s life (which may not be true), but few know what happened to the famous Indian maiden. First, she did not marry John Smith, that would have been creepy considering the age difference. But she did marry an Englishman. Pocahontas, the daughter of the chief Powhatan, was friendly with the settlers of Jamestown. They rewarded her friendship by kidnapping her and converting her to Christianity. She was baptized Rebecca. During this period of captivity (during which she was treated well) she met and fell in love with John Rolfe. She was about 17 and he was 28. Rolfe was a leading figure in Virginia. He had started the tobacco industry. Rolfe was a widower, having lost his wife and daughter in a ship wreck. They were married on April 5, 1614. This started a temporary lull in conflict between the Indians and whites called the “Peace of Pocahontas”. It lasted eight years. They had a son named Thomas in 1615. The Virginia Company decided it would be good for recruiting investors to bring this Indian princess to England. The Rolfes arrived on June 12, 1616, along with eleven other “savages” that had been civilized. Rebecca was feted in London and even met King James. John Smith, who she had been told had been killed in a gunpowder explosion years ago in Virginia, did not visit her even though he was living in London. John Rolfe settled his family on an estate in the countryside. It was there that Smith visited. Rebecca was shocked and upset to learn he was alive. She had harsh words for Smith’s treatment of her people. Not exactly the Disneyesque love affair of myth. In March, 1617, the Rolfes set off to return to Virginia. They barely were underway when she was taken gravely ill and passed away on shore. Her funeral was on March 21, 1617. She was about 21 years old.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocahontas#Marriage_to_John_Rolfe
https://www.nps.gov/jame/learn/historyculture/pocahontas-her-life-and-legend.htm
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