Unfortunately, Pocahontas became very sick, and died before leaving England. The Rolfes were in England for several months, but eventually decided to return to Jamestown. They met, and Pocahontas was too overcome with emotion to speak! (Remember, as far as she knew, Smith was dead.) After she calmed herself, Pocahontas enjoyed talking about old times with John Smith. She even met King James and Queen Anne!īelieve it or not, John Smith was in London at the same time as Pocahontas. She had her portrait painted wearing stylish English clothes. In England, Pocahontas was a celebrity! She met many of the most important people of the day. The Virginia Company believed that Pocahontas would help attract new settlers to Jamestown. Her primary birth name was Amonute, and her secondary birth name was Matoaka, which means flower between two streams. The true story of Pocahontas is that of tragedy and heartbreak. Tobacco allowed the colonists to finally make a profit.Īt some point in adulthood, Pocahontas converted to Christianity and took the name “Rebecca.” After her marriage to John Rolfe, the couple and their son, Thomas, were invited to England by the Virginia Company, which funded the Jamestown expedition. This is the true story behind Disney’s ‘Pocahontas.’ Historical myths versus sad reality. He was important to the history of the colony because he showed the colonists how to grow tobacco. Rolfe was a leading colonist in Jamestown. The man Pocahontas actually DID marry was John Rolfe. After hearing of Smith’s “death,” Pocahontas stopped visiting the colony for several years. The colonists told Pocahontas and the other Native Americans that he was dead. At one point, John Smith was injured in a gunpowder explosion. Many sources report that Pocahontas’s visits and gifts of food kept the colonists alive during their first year or so in Jamestown. Read online or download for free graded reader ebook and audiobook The True Story of Pocahontas by Kelly Reinhart of elementary level you can download in. She visited the colony often, usually bringing food. This would have been in 1607, the year the colonists landed in Jamestown. Pocahontas was about eleven when she met John Smith.

It might make a nice story, but Pocahontas married someone else! During her stay in England, Dutch engraver Simon van de Passe captured her likeness. Over the years, the story grew to the point that Pocahontas and John Smith were married. This engraving is the only known portrait of Pocahontas rendered from life. Some people believe that this event was a type of “adoption” ceremony performed by Indians. According to the story, Smith was captured by Powhatan’s warriors, and was about to be killed. There is a famous story about Pocahontas saving John Smith’s life.

The real pocahontas