The map of Captain John Smith and other contemporary evidence show that the site of the Indian village was very near the spot on which the present Soldiers’ Home is located.
The settlers on this visit did not stay long, but sailed up the river and established themselves May 14th, on the Island of Jamestown. In doing this they made a great mistake, for the Island was very unhealthful, very accessible to Indian attacks, and was covered with morasses and huge trees centuries old. As Dr. Philip Alexander Bruce observes: “The proper site for the colony was the modern Hampton.” The action of the settlers was dictated by the London Company, who were afraid of the Spaniards, but as subsequent events proved, a nearer settlement to the seashore would have resulted in no real danger. The Spanish Kingdom had lost power, and the open country of Kecoughtan would have promoted health and enabled the colonists to go to work at once in providing adequate sustenance; moreover the settlement protected by wide stretches of water, could have been readily defended against Indian attacks. In the midst of such abundance as the place afforded there could have been no Starving Time as at Jamestown in 1610. It is true that a settlement at Kecoughtan however would have involved a speedy conflict with the savages, which the London Company deprecated, but this the colonists did not avoid by placing their settlement at Jamestown. They were attacked almost immediately.
In December, 1607, Captain John Smith paid a visit to these Indians of Kecoughtan for trade, and returned to Jamestown with a good supply of fish, oysters, corn, and deer meat, which he obtained from them for a few glass beads. Smith stopped here again when he returned in July, 1608, after his exploration of Chesapeake Bay. The gallant captain at this time was suffering from a wound inflicted by a stingray, and one of his men had his shins bruised and we are told that the Indians surmised that they had had a bloody battle experience. The captain fell in with their humor, and soon the report spread far and wide, that Captain Smith had badly beaten the Massawomekes, the inveterate enemies of the Powhatans. On his departing from Jamestown for his second exploration of the Bay not long after, Smith made another stop of two or three days at
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