Chapter 5: 1620-1621, Plymouth

John Howland was intrigued by the possibilities afforded by England’s outpost in America as he walked along the streets of Fen Stanton (a small parish located a short distance from the Ouse River in Huntingdonshire, England). At present, he was the younger son of a large family with limited prospects for the future. Although he loved his parents and siblings, life in England seemed to him too predictable and dreary.

2 Even though he was particularly attached to his brothers Henry and Arthur, he simply could not forgo the opportunity afforded to him by an offer to embark on an exciting life in a strange new world. Thus, John contracted himself to be the manservant of Mr. John Carver and accompany him and his wife to found a new colony in northern Virginia. The decision had been made. The hard part would be explaining it to his family.

3 “There is nothing for me here,” he told his father. “I can make something of myself there.” His father stared at his son without saying anything, and his mother continued to wash the dishes.

4 “Won’t you be bound to Mr. Carver?” his mother finally asked with her back still facing her husband and son. “That will only be for a few years, and then I will be free to make a life for myself,” John replied. “Have you told your brothers yet?” his father asked him. “Not yet,” he answered with a sigh. “I think you’d better do that,” his mother added as a tear rolled down her cheek.

5 He found Henry and Arthur by the river and proceeded to tell them about his decision. “What an adventure!” Arthur exclaimed.

6 Nevertheless, it had already dawned on Henry what this trip to Virginia would entail. “Will we ever see you again?” he asked.

7 “I honestly don’t know,” John admitted. The brothers then embraced each other and tried to swallow the enormous lumps in their throats.

8 “God bless you on your way, John,” Arthur finally managed to say. “Yes, may God bless you,” Henry agreed.

9 It was August of the year 1620 that John, the Carvers and the other passengers gathered at Southampton and loaded themselves and their belongings onto two ships: Speedwell and Mayflower. In John’s case, he mostly loaded himself onto the ship – he didn’t have many personal belongings to take aboard. Nevertheless, in addition to the foodstuffs and seed, Mr. Carver and his wife (along with most of the other passengers) brought many furnishings and tools onto the ship with them.

10 As a consequence, the area assigned to the passengers on the ships was closely packed and straightly divided between them and didn’t leave them much space to move around. They didn’t realize it at the time, but their living space was about to become even more cramped than it already was.

11 Their journey did not have an auspicious beginning. They sailed from Southampton on the twenty-third day of the month; but they had to put in at Dartmouth the following day as the Speedwell began to take on water almost immediately. After an unsuccessful attempt to repair the smaller ship, it was decided that they would load as many of the passengers (and as much of the cargo) as possible onto the Mayflower and proceed without the other ship.

12 The passengers were of two sorts: Those who were deeply religious and those of the more common sort of Howland’s countrymen. It wasn’t long, however, until both sorts of people were suffering from that sickness which is common to those lovers of land who venture out onto the seas. This, together with their ordinary bodily functions, soon produced a rather unpleasant and stale air within the bowels of the ship that proved to be quite suffocating at times.

13 In fact, it was just such a state of affairs that led to one of the greatest adventures of the voyage. They were in the midst of a great tempest, being tossed to and fro and battered by the wind and waves. Many of John’s friends were sick, and he suddenly felt the necessity of fresh air. Even so, the storm was so severe that he had a difficult time climbing the ladder to the upper deck.

14 As his head emerged from below deck, the sight of mountainous waves of foaming water quickly negated the benefits of the fresher air that he had been seeking. “Careful Howland!” shouted John Clark, one of the ship’s pilots; but it was already too late.

15 The wind suddenly pushed one side of the ship into the air, and he slid down toward the other. He tried to grab hold of the rail, but the momentum was just too much. John was in the air for just a moment, and the next instant he found himself in the open sea amid the heaving waves.

16 Nevertheless, the Lord was with him that day. One of the ropes used to hoist the sails into place had also been washed overboard and was trailing along in the water beside him. He grabbed it and clung to it with all his strength.

17 Meanwhile, on the ship, Clark and Master Jones had seen him go overboard. “Smith, help Clark pull him back into the ship,” Jones shouted to one of his crewmen.

18 Together, they pulled on the rope and began to draw him back toward the ship. Even so, he was under water more than he was above it. As a consequence, he wasn’t able to offer much help in the way of his own rescue. They were, however, soon joined by another sailor who assisted Tom Smith on the rope while Clark fetched one of the boat hooks to hoist him back onto the deck of the great ship.

19 The next thing John knew, he was lying on his back staring up into the grey sky, sputtering and trying to catch his breath. By that time, half a dozen sailors had gathered around him and several of them pulled him back over to the hatch and lowered him into the waiting hands of his fellow passengers still below deck.

20 He was sick for several days thereafter, and Mr. and Mrs. Carver began to fear that he might join young Will Butten in being buried at sea. The Lord, however, had other purposes in mind for John, and he gradually recovered from the ordeal.

21 Even so, the same storm that had almost claimed John’s life had cracked one of the ship’s main support beams. In fact, it was so severely splintered and damaged that they had to use the screw to lift it back into place so that the carpenter could make the necessary repairs.

22 Nevertheless, in the midst of these trials, Mr. Stephen Hopkins and his wife Elizabeth were delivered of a son whom they fittingly named Oceanus. Then, with the beam repaired, they continued on their way toward their new home.

23 “Land ahoy!” one of the sailors shouted. Edward, Solomon, Mr. Standish and John were the first ones to reach the rail and begin scanning the horizon ahead. It was the ninth day of November when they sighted land.

24 After observing the coastline for above an hour and consulting with his maps and crew, Master Jones announced that he believed them to be in the vicinity of Cape Cod. “We’re too far north,” he grimly proclaimed. “We’ll turn south and travel along the coast for a while,” he announced to the people gathered at the rail as he turned and headed back to discuss the situation with his pilots.

25 At first, they made easy progress along the coast. Their circumstances, however, were soon so altered that they all feared that the ship would be dashed to pieces. They had quite suddenly found themselves in the midst of numerous shoals and roaring waves and forward progress came to an abrupt halt.

26 Nevertheless, with more than a little effort and no small amount of determination, Master Jones steered the ship away from the shoals and returned her to the calmer waters of Cape Cod. When they finally reached safe harbor, the saints all fell to their knees and thanked the God of Heaven for their deliverance from the dangerous shoals.

27 “We will have to be content with what the Lord has given us,” the captain announced. He then proceeded to drop anchor and prepare the ship and passengers to spend their first night in the harbor of their new home.

28 It wasn’t long until they had reassembled the shallop and started exploring the coastline of the new land. Robert Coppin and John Clark piloted a small party ashore on one of these ventures. They chose John Carver, William Bradford, Myles Standish, Stephen Hopkins, Richard Warren, Edward Winslow, John and Edward Tilley and Howland to accompany them. It was so cold, however, that the sea spray froze on their coats like a sugar glaze as they made their way across the bay.

29 When they reached the shore, they immediately secured the shallop and warily began to explore the coastline. As they walked along the beach, Stephen Hopkins was the first to spot a large dark object in the distance with what appeared to be some people moving around it. “What is that?” he asked pointing down the shoreline.

30 At about the same instant, the natives took note of the approaching Englishmen and fled toward the forest. When the men finally reached the spot, they discovered that the natives had been working on a small whale which they had somehow managed to capture (or had been washed ashore by some accident of nature).

31 Unsettled by this encounter with the natives, they quickly put some distance between themselves and the carcass. They then proceeded to construct a small barricade out of fallen trunks and branches for their defense. Next, they gathered a large quantity of twigs and built a nice fire on shore to serve against the cold and approaching night. And, although they posted guards and slept in watches, none of them got very much sleep that night.

32 The following day, they paired off and scouted the area for a settlement site without much success. When they came back together at the end of the day, they again constructed a barricade on the beach and proceeded as on the previous evening.

33 About midnight, however, a great and hideous sounding howl was heard from the direction of the forest. “To arms, to arms!” Master Standish shouted. In the next instant, several of their muskets were being fired into the forest. As they nervously waited for sunrise, the saints earnestly prayed for their deliverance from the “savages.”

34 Nevertheless, before the darkness broke, there was another blood curdling howl from the forest. “Indians, Indians!” someone shouted.

35 This was followed by a hail of arrows from the same direction. John Howland dipped one of his matches into the embers of their dying fire and discharged his weapon in defense of himself and his comrades.

36 Shortly thereafter, they realized that John and Edward Tilley (who had gone out to examine the shallop just prior to the attack) were now pinned down behind their small vessel close to the water. “Are either of you hurt?” Master Standish shouted. “We are well!” they shouted back. “Courage men!” Standish returned.

37 Then, without even thinking, John Howland reached down and pulled one of the logs out of the fire and ran it out to the shallop so that they could fire their muskets. After that, the Indians retreated; and the Englishmen pursued them for a short distance into the forest.

38 After reassembling at the shallop, they decided to explore along the southern edge of Cape Cod. Although they were never far from the shore, the weather began to rapidly deteriorate.

39 Thus it wasn’t long before the wind, sleet and freezing cold began to overwhelm them. The mast of their small boat was splintered into many pieces, and they were forced to go to shore and build a fire. It continued to get colder and colder, and they were soon enveloped in a hard freeze.

40 The following morning, John realized that they were on an island. Even so, as the island was covered in a dense growth of trees, they quickly set about the task of fashioning a new mast for the shallop. Then, on the Lord’s Day, they rested from their labors and made themselves ready to recommence their exploration on the following day.

41 It was the eleventh of December when they finally found an excellent location for their new home. The place was near a large rock and was also close to a field of Indian corn and a running brook of fresh water. On the morrow, they sailed back to their waiting friends and loved ones on the Mayflower. Even so, the joy of their good report was quickly negated by the news that Master Bradford’s wife had drowned in their absence.

42 Those events would prove to be a harbinger of the winter ahead. They simply did not have enough time to erect adequate dwelling places on land to protect them from the elements. As a consequence, they were all packed tightly together, and sickness had free reign among them. In a word, they were miserable.

43 Indeed, their suffering was so great that they had lost about half of their folk by the following spring. Moreover, most of the people who remained were thoroughly disheartened and dangerously weakened by the ordeal which many of them now realized they had just barely survived.

44 Nevertheless, enough faith remained among the saints (and enough hopeful signs for those of a more secular nature) that the survivors quickly set about the task of building a new home for themselves in the wilderness. Houses were erected, seeds were planted and a local native named Samoset (who happened to understand some English from a previous encounter with Europeans) was able to begin to overcome the barrier that had existed relative to communication with the natives.

45 In fact, Massasoit (the principal chief of the Wampanoag) was responsible for one of the most hopeful developments that the Pilgrims had witnessed since leaving England. He allowed his people to show the Englishmen how to plant corn and fertilize the plants with herrings and shads. Together with the seed that they had brought with them, this crop would prove to make a significant contribution to the survival of the community the following winter.

46 Unfortunately, Mr. Carver died in April. Ironically, he was working in one of the fields when he was overcome by the heat. He felt a sharp stab of pain in his head and went back to his house to lie down. He then lapsed into an unconscious state and died a few days later. His poor, brokenhearted wife followed him within a matter of weeks.

47 John was overwhelmed with grief and sadness, but he was now a free man. He was no longer under any obligation to serve the Carvers. Thus, out of this terrible tragedy, John Howland’s horizons suddenly appeared to be very broad and bright. Simply by virtue of his survival, he had gone from being an indentured servant to one of the leading men of the community!

48 Hope had also survived the terrible winter. That fall, Governor Bradford decided to have a feast of thanksgiving to celebrate their survival and the bounty with which God had seen fit to bless them.

49 Toward that end, he sent John out with three other men to hunt for fowl. They returned with several turkeys, which the women folk quickly set about the task of plucking and preparing to roast. Massasoit and his braves showed up with five deer and stayed to participate in the feasting.

50 After so much hardship and deprivation, the festivities seemed like a breath of fresh air and lasted for several days. They ate with their fingers and their knives, but they were all well satisfied with themselves and their circumstances at the end of the feast.

51 “I haven’t eaten that much since we left England,” John thought to himself. “God’s hands have fashioned this abundance for the benefit of His people!” the governor proclaimed. “A-men,” the saints agreed with broad smiles on their faces.

52 Now these are the generations of the sons of Henry Howland and Margaret Aires: John, Arthur and Henry.

53 John was the forefather of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Joseph Smith, Humphrey Bogart, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Henry Cabot Lodge, George Herbert Walker Bush, and many others.

54 Arthur was the forefather of Winston Churchill and many others.

55 Henry married Mary Newland, and they were the parents of Samuel, Abigail, Zoeth, Joseph, John, Sarah, Elizabeth and Mary.

56 Abigail married John Young, and they were the ancestors of Bing Crosby, Norman Rockwell and many others.

57 Zoeth was the forefather of Gerald Rudolph Ford.

58 Elizabeth married Jedediah Allen, and they were the ancestors of Allen Haines, Johnny Carson and Richard Milhous Nixon.

Chapter 4: 1607-1608, Tsenacomoco or Virginia

The great canoes of the pale-skinned ones appeared in the Big Salt Bay in the time of the flowers. The women and children were planting corn in one of the meadows surrounding our village when the messenger came to tell Opechancanough of their arrival.

2 “Who are these people, and why did they come here?” wondered the weroance (regional chief). “Go and tell the Mamanatowick (supreme chief) what you have seen,” Opechancanough commanded the messenger. “I would know his thoughts about them,” he called after the man who was already trotting off into the forest.

3 The weroance was clearly concerned about the presence of these foreign people within the territory of Tsenacomoco. The Kecoughtans said that the people smelled bad and completely covered their skins with the strangest manner of clothing. They had also reported that the people had no manners and appeared to be very hungry. “They are extremely rude,” the weroance of the Paspahegh had agreed.

4 “What do they want here?” Opechancanough pondered. “This can’t be good,” he concluded, and he ordered his warriors to keep a close eye on the pale-skins.

5 That evening, Opechancanough held a council in his yeehacon. As the warriors entered the vault-shaped longhouse of their chief, each one nodded in his direction and took their places on the mats in front of him. After a long silence, the weroance studied the faces of his men and began to speak.

6 “It was foretold by our wise ones that a people would come here one day to take hold of our land and sweep us all away,” he opened. “We have all heard this saying, but I never heard anyone say that we simply have to give up and quietly walk away from our homes,” Opechancanough continued. “I have given much thought to this – I think that we should be very wise and careful in how we deal with the pale-skinned ones,” he concluded.

7 Several of the warriors nodded their heads in agreement, but some of the warriors were clearly less patient with the situation. “We should drive them away now!” one man offered. “We have all heard about how weak they are. We have heard how they fell like leaves fall from the trees when the wind grows cold during the attack by the Paspahegh and Weyanoke. Their fire sticks are loud, but our arrows find their targets!” he concluded. “They can’t even feed themselves,” another man interjected.

8 “We will watch them and wait for an opportunity to deal with them,” finished the weroance. “We will speak of this again when the time is right.”

9 Then the women brought in some bread and venison which they had prepared for the occasion. Thus, the warriors enjoyed a meal together and joked about the peculiarities and weaknesses of their pale-skinned neighbors.

10 In the meantime, the pale-skinned ones traded their iron hatchets, copper and beads for more and more of our corn. The corn that had been grown to feed our people during the cold time. The Kecoughtan were right: These people are very hungry – they never get enough to eat!

11 One day, word came to Opechancanough that some of the pale-skins were hunting in his territory. He quickly led a large group of warriors to the area where the men had been spotted.

12 There was a skirmish in the brush just ahead, and he soon learned that one of the pale-skinned hunters had been captured along the river of the Chickahominy. When the man was presented to him, Opechancanough’s first inclination was to kill the trespasser. “He is their weroance!” shouted one of the warriors.

13 Just then, as Opechancanough was contemplating what to do with the unwelcome intruder, the man produced a round object and presented it to the weroance. A small stick floated on the surface of the object, but Opechancanough could not touch it.

14 The man, taking advantage of the distraction his compass had created, said that his name was Smith; and that he was indeed the leader of his people. “Tie him to that tree until I decide what to do with him!” Opechancanough ordered.

15 “This matter is too important to be settled here,” the chief finally announced. “We must take him to Wahunsenacah and let the Mamanatowick decide his fate,” Opechancanough decided. “First, we will take him back to our own lodges and feed him,” the weroance ordered. “I have a few questions to ask him before I turn him over to my brother,” he thought to himself.

16 That evening, Captain Smith was fed with a generous portion of venison and cornbread. Afterwards, the weroance joined him before the fire in the lodge where they were holding him to discuss some of the issues that had been bothering him ever since the Englishmen had arrived.

17 “Where is your home?” Opechancanough began. “Across the great waters,” Smith replied.

18 “Why did you leave your home?” “We ventured out onto the sea to trade and fish, but a great storm delivered us to your shores.”

19 “Why have you stayed so long?” “We suffered some damage to our canoes and are waiting for our friends at home to resupply us.”

20 “Do you plan to leave when your friends return?” “Not immediately, in fact, some of our people like this place so well that they will probably want to make their home here.”

21 “Do you think that your god will favor you in this new land?” “I’m sure that He would favor us wherever we go.”

22 “I think you are not telling me the whole truth,” the weroance thought to himself. “Tomorrow, we will begin our journey to see the great Powhatan,” Opechancanough concluded. “You must give an account of yourself and your people to him.”

23 They traveled every day. At the end of each day, they spent the night in another village – always moving in the direction of their meeting with Powhatan.

24 When they finally reached Werowocomoco, Opechancanough seemed relieved; but his prisoner was quiet and full of apprehension. Captain Smith stood outside of a great longhouse waiting to see the Mamanatowick and was surrounded by scores of warriors who looked as if they would attack him if he even attempted to scratch his nose.

25 Before long, Smith was led into the dark and smoky interior of the house. When his eyes had adjusted to the light, he could see an impressive looking old man sitting on a stack of mats near the fire. His face was wrinkled and hard to make out in the gloom.

26 As he drew nearer, he could see that the old man had a thin grey mustache and beard. He was wearing several strings of pearls around his neck and was enveloped in a rich robe made from what appeared to be raccoon skins. It was then that Smith noticed the women seated on each side of the great chief and the other men seated on mats around the fire.

27 Mesmerized, Captain Smith barely noticed the woman approaching him from the side and holding a basin of water. She motioned for him to wash his hands, and he quickly complied. Then another woman appeared with a bunch of feathers which were clearly intended for him to use in drying off his hands. Finally, another woman approached with a bowl of meat and bread and handed them to the prisoner. After he had finished his meal, Powhatan turned to Captain Smith and smiled.

28 “I have a few things to ask you about,” the old man began. “Why have you and your people settled on my land?” “We were caught in a storm, and the winds carried us to your shores.” “Do you plan to return to your own homes then?” “We will return home when our friends return with more canoes and supplies.”

29 “Why were you so far from your friends when Opechancanough found you?” “I was looking for another great sea, like the one that we crossed from our home.” Powhatan looked perplexed by this answer. “My comrades and I believed that some of our enemies had fled there, and we were trying to find them so that we might punish them when our friends returned,” Smith offered.

30 The Mamanatowick sat in silence for a long time staring into the fire. Then he looked at Captain Smith and motioned for his warriors to bring a large, flattened stone forward to provide a suitable surface on which to execute the prisoner. Two warriors held Smith’s head down against the stone, while another one stood at the ready with a large wooden club.

31 Just then, a young girl flung herself between the executioner and his prey. The girl was clearly excited and began pleading with the old man to spare the life of the prisoner.

32 The old chieftain smiled at the girl and motioned for his warriors to remove the prisoner. “Take him to the House of Spirits and keep him there,” he commanded. Smith later learned that the girl was Powhatan’s favorite daughter, Pocahontas.

33 After a few more days, Powhatan appeared outside of the lodge where Smith was being held as a prisoner. When the captain emerged from the longhouse, the Mamanatowick was standing there surrounded by a large company of warriors.

34 “From this day forward, we will be friends,” announced the old chieftain. “As a token of that friendship, I would be very pleased to have some of your fire sticks,” Powhatan continued. “Two of my finest guns and a grinding stone for your hatchets,” Captain Smith quickly offered.

35 At that, Powhatan motioned to the warriors on either side of him and a group of twelve warriors surrounded the captain. “These men will guide you back to your village and bring me the gifts which you have offered as a token of our friendship,” he concluded. Smith nodded his understanding and gathered his personal effects and headed back to Jamestown.

36 “What a story this will make!” Smith thought as he traveled through the cold, bare woodlands on his way home. “I don’t trust old Powhatan,” he ruminated, “but I trust Opechancanough even less.” “That one is dangerous. He will never see us as friends.”

37 When Smith and his escorts finally made it back to the English settlement on the peninsula, he made a show of fulfilling his promises to the Mamanatowick. The captain ordered his men to give the natives a demonstration of the firepower from two of their biggest cannons. That accomplished, and the natives sufficiently rattled, Smith proceeded to offer the cannons to his escorts in satisfaction of his promise to their master.

38 “Too heavy,” the bewildered men protested. “Oh well, I have other gifts for my friends that you can easily carry back to Werowocomoco,” Smith smiled. The captain then proceeded to distribute the standard fair of copper, beads and hatchets and bid farewell to his escort.

39 Although Captain John Smith had survived his captivity and avoided giving the natives any weapons, he could not help but continue to feel unsettled about these “savages” in the months and years ahead. In fact, his assessment of Opechancanough proved to be prophetic. After Powhatan’s death, Opechancanough would one day assume the mantle of leadership; and he would strive to eject the Englishmen from his homeland with all of the resources at his disposal.

40 Now these are the generations of Opechancanough, a mighty warrior before the Lord:

41 Opechancanough begat Cornstalk.

42 Cornstalk begat Big Turkey.

43 Big Turkey begat a daughter named Tikami.

44 Tikami married a man named Richard Barnes, and they had a daughter together.

45 Her father named her Mary, and she married Edward Vann.

Chapter 3: 1585-1603: The Old World and The New

Now it happened that Queen Elizabeth Tudor of England had granted permission to Sir Walter Raleigh to organize an expedition to plant an English colony in America. The Queen, however, would not allow him to leave her side, and he was forced to commit the care and oversight of the venture to his cousin Sir Richard Grenville. Even so, by early April of 1585, a small fleet of seven ships had been assembled at Plymouth and was ready to depart for America.

2 Sir Richard was to be assisted in the venture by Thomas Harriot, an employee of Raleigh’s who was proficient in matters related to navigation and the Algonquian tongue of the native inhabitants of the new land. Also, among the would-be colonists was a master mercer named Hugh Rogers, who was accompanied by a young apprentice named Thomas Buckner.

3 It wasn’t exactly clear, however, why an expedition to plant a colony in the wilds of America needed a dealer in fabrics and clothing and his young trainee. In hindsight, things of that nature would prove to be indicative of the arrogance and poor planning that permeated the entire affair.

4 Ready or not, however, the colonists were not deterred from embarking on their voyage across the Atlantic. “If the Spanish can do it, so can we,” was the attitude of most of the Englishmen. Moreover, by the end of June, they had successfully crossed the Atlantic and were cruising along the coast of what would one day be called North Carolina.

5 Their first stop was a little Indian village named Aquascagock. Unfortunately, one of Grenville’s silver cups went missing during their visit there, and the gallant knight decided to burn down the village to demonstrate that theft would not be tolerated by the English.

6 “We are informed by natural reason that courtesy and mildness should be made use of before cruelty and roughness,” he admitted to his associates. “But, if the savages are not to be satisfied with these good and fair means, then it is no breach of manners to defend ourselves and our property,” he continued.

7 Thomas Harriot cleared his throat and looked down at the ground. “We must do whatever is necessary for our safety, and it is allowable to resist violence with violence!” Sir Richard finished with a flourish of self-righteousness.

8 From there, they moved on to the Island of Roanoke and disembarked. They quickly set about the task of erecting shelters and unloading their supplies. Even so, without anyone saying a word, the incident at Aquascagock had made everyone more solicitous of friendly relations with the natives.

9 “These people have a great deal to teach us about this land,” Harriot told Grenville. “Yes,” the knight agreed. “We must show ourselves friendly by giving them whatever petty merchandise and trifles that we have with us,” he continued. “We must signify to them that friendship with Christians can be a great advantage to them.”

10 “That is not what I meant,” Harriot whispered under his breath. As Grenville was constantly encouraging the colonists to finish the fort surrounding their settlement, it was obvious to Thomas that he was more interested in keeping the “savages” out than in developing a constructive relationship with them.

11 Toward the end of summer, as the fort was nearing completion, Grenville decided to return to England. He left Ralph Lane in charge of the colonists. “I will return by Easter,” he told them and promptly set sail for the motherland.

12 “I cannot say that I am entirely disappointed to see him go,” Harriot whispered to the young apprentice standing next to him. Thomas Buckner laughed at the remark and shook his head in agreement. “Though, I do hope that he returns,” Harriot added as almost an afterthought.

13 Buckner had gone out of his way to befriend Harriot since the beginning of their adventure together. “He knows something about everything,” Thomas remembered thinking soon after they’d met. Harriot’s mind was constantly in motion, and Thomas Buckner was in awe of his thought processes. “He’s always studying the world around him and thinking about new ways to do things,” he’d confided to his master one day about his new friend.

14 Indeed, over the dreary months of privation that followed, Harriot was the one bright spot that Thomas would later recall about the ordeal. On those long cold winter nights, when his stomach was growling with hunger, Harriot would discourse on different topics and keep Thomas and the others amused.

15 Even so, while the Englishmen were trying to keep themselves fed and warm, the “savages” had been watching the new outpost with interest. “Why have your people allowed those pale faced ones to be there?” Powhatan asked one of his captives. “They are no threat to anyone – they are very weak and stupid,” the man responded.

16 “Then why haven’t you killed them or driven them from your land?” Powhatan persisted. The prisoner was silent. “They should not be there - watch them closely,” the mighty chieftain told his warriors.

17 Easter came and went without any sign of Grenville. However, Sir Francis Drake arrived at Roanoke in June with a fleet of ships which had just returned from raiding Spain’s outposts in the West Indies.

18 “I can carry you and your men back to England,” Drake offered to Lane when he saw the condition of the colonists. After some consideration, the governor decided to accept Drake’s offer and abandon the outpost. “I will be glad to leave this place and return home,” he confided to the privateer.

19 And, with that decision, Britain’s first attempt to establish a colony in America was left hanging by a thread (only a few individuals remained). And, although Grenville arrived a few weeks later, he decided to only leave part of the settlers who were with him and also sailed for home.

20 Within two years of returning to England, Thomas Buckner’s apprenticeship formally came to an end. He was admitted as a freeman by London’s Worshipful Company of Mercers. He was now considered a professional mercer by his peers and had the ability to take on his own apprentices.

21 That summer, the Spanish Armada also set out to conquer Britain. Although that endeavor was an abysmal failure, it was a sufficient distraction to take the nation’s attention off the Roanoke Colony. Nevertheless, when the British finally returned to America, the remaining colonists had disappeared without a trace and the legend of the Lost Colony was born.

22 At the beginning of the final decade of the Sixteenth Century, Thomas Buckner was married to Elizabeth Crackplace, and the union had produced three children by the end of the Century (Thomas, John and Anne). In 1599, his wife’s younger brother William became his first apprentice.

23 “You’ve become quite prosperous!” Thomas Harriot told his old friend. “Can I do anything else for you today, sir?” his servant John interrupted. “No, thank you,” Master Buckner smiled. “Servants to attend to your every need!” Harriot teased after John had excused himself from the room. Buckner only laughed.

24 His friend had published an account of their adventures in America after they had returned to England, but both of them now regarded those days as a distant memory. It was almost as if none of it had happened. After all, in the intervening years, no one had attempted to plant another colony in that wild and savage place. They were back, safe and sound in old England and had built new lives for themselves there.

25 Nevertheless, both men knew that England was also a dangerous place. The religious settlement that Queen Elizabeth had imposed on the realm was fraying around the edges, and the plague still threatened London (along with all of the other cities of Europe). As if to underscore that fact, John died of the plague, and the Queen died of old age in 1603.

26 Now these are the generations of John Buckner of England:

27 John begat Hugh and Thomas (the one who went to America in 1585).

28 Hugh was the father of another Thomas.

29 Thomas was the father of John.

30 John was the father of a daughter named Elizabeth.

31 Now Elizabeth married a man named James Williams, and they had a daughter together.

32 They named her Mary Elizabeth, and she married a man named Orlando Jones.

Chapter 2: Before Time, The Principal People

 No one remembers the first time our people saw these mountains and rivers, but we know that it was many years ago. They came from the direction of the setting sun, and they walked a great distance to get here. One thing we know for certain, however, we were here before the pale-skinned ones.

2 Each one of our people belonged to one of seven clans. The Long Hairs were the peaceful ones. Many of the people from the Blue Clan were gifted in caring for children. Most of our leading warriors came from the Wolf Clan. Likewise, much of our cultivation and gathering was done by the Wild Potato Clan. Our runners and hunters came from the Deer Clan. The Bird Clan provided the feathers for our ceremonies. Most of our medicine came from the Paint Clan.

3 Unlike the pale-skinned ones, we never derived our identity or place among the people from our fathers. Instead, our families and inheritance were reckoned through our mothers.

4 Our first mother was from the Deer Clan. Thus, in accordance with Cherokee tradition, her great granddaughter married outside of her clan to a pale-skinned trader from a clan of the Scots. Their son, Edward “Ned” Vann, was the progenitor of two branches of the family: one living as Cherokee and the other as White. 

Book 1: Beginnings - Chapter 1: Before Time, The Land

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1)

Before the pale-skinned ones came to this land, we told this story around our campfires about how the land emerged from the deep:

2 The great waters covered the surface of the earth. As our brothers and sisters looked out over the waters from their home above, they longed for more room to move around in and live. “I wonder what is beneath all of that water,” the Great Horned Owl mused. “I will go and see,” Water Beetle volunteered.

3 Then he dove down into the water, but Water Beetle could not see anything at first. He tried again and dove even deeper into the water. This time, he scraped along the muddy bottom. “I will carry some of this mud on my back to show the others,” he thought. So, he scooped up some of the mud onto his back and headed for the surface.

4 When he reached the surface, the mud began to fall off of his back and spread out around him. As the mud grew beneath him, it began to dry just enough for him to stand on top of it without sinking. Before long, Water Beetle was standing in the middle of a great island floating on the waters.

 5 “Hurry!” Owl shouted to the Eagle. “Take these cords and attach them to the corners of the island and secure them to the sky, so that it doesn’t slip back below the waters!” So, the eagle took the cords in its beak and did as the owl had instructed; but she only tied them with a single knot, because she resented the owl telling her what to do. “Those cords will come loose one day, and the island will sink back below the waters,” Owl warned.

 6 The other animals were so happy, however, that they ignored Owl’s warning. At first, they sent Dove down to see if there was any place firm enough to support them, but she returned without finding any place to rest. Crow swooped down over the surface of the island next, but he also could not find any place to land. “I will go,” the Great Buzzard volunteered.

7 So Buzzard flew over the entire surface of the earth, from one end of the island to the other. Now he flew very low to the ground so that he could study the land in detail. In fact, he flew so low that his great wings struck the soft ground in several places and caused valleys and mountains to form on the surface of the island. The wind that his wings created also helped to dry the ground further and make it more stable.

8 “That’s enough!” the other animals shouted. They were afraid that Buzzard would fill up the whole surface of the island with valleys and mountains. Then buzzard landed atop one of the mountains and waited for the other animals to come down to the earth.

9 Nevertheless, when the other animals arrived on the earth, they were dismayed at how dark everything was. “We need some light to see what we are doing,” Bear said. “Yes, some light would be nice,” said the trees as they poked along the ground with their toes.

10 So the conjurers set the sun in the sky; but they placed it too low, and it scorched the Crawfish and made him red. Then they moved it a handbreadth higher in the sky, but the sun was still too hot. Thus, the conjurers continued to move the sun up one handbreadth at a time until it stood seven handbreadths in the sky. “That is just right,” said Rabbit. Thereafter, the sun stayed on that course and sank into the west each evening and reappeared again in the east the following morning.

11 Then the Great Spirit told the animals that they must stay awake for seven nights. On the first night, most of the animals and trees were able to stay awake. Nevertheless, on each of the succeeding nights more of the animals and trees succumbed to sleep. By the seventh night, only Owl, Panther, Raccoon, Cedar, Pine, Spruce and a few others managed to remain awake. Thus, as a consequence of their having endured the test, the Great Spirit gave those animals the ability to see in the dark and allowed those trees to keep their hair during the winter.

12 After that, a woman fell through a hole in the sky and landed on the earth. Later still, her brother left the land above and joined her on the earth. At first, he scolded her for leaving their home beyond the sky. “There are no other people here!” he shouted.

13 Then he took a trout that he had just caught in the stream and struck his sister with the fish. Seven days later, she had a baby; and she continued to have a baby every seventh day for many years thereafter.

14 The Great Spirit, however, saw that the earth would soon be filled with people. As a consequence, he intervened and told the woman that she would only be allowed to have one child each year. Her very next child was the mother of our people.