Gloucester, VA - John Smith and his maps

Back to Jamestowne a bit. I was quite intrigued with the biography of John Smith, one of the original settlers there. Fascinating man and adventurer. Arrogant, egotistical, difficult to get along with but a leader and his leadership qualities helped save Jamestowne over the first few years. As I mentioned before, he had quite a biography before he left for Jamestowne. He was born a commoner and traveled throughout Europe and fought as a soldier in the Netherlands and in Hungary, where he was taken prisoner and sold into slavery in Russia. He murdered his master escaped and journeyed back to Hungary to collect a promised reward and coat-of-arms. Then he returned to England - into the Jamestowne crew.

On the way over to Jamestowne he thought himself a better sailor than the Captain, mumbled about the navigation a bit and, accused of mutiny, was tossed into chains and was actually under a death sentence when the ship landed in Jamestowne. However, the Captain had a secret list containing the names of those that the Jamestowne investors had chosen to be on the Council, the governing body of Jamestowne. Lo and behold, Smith was on it and he was spared.

While in Jamestowne, he learned the Indian’s language and began to trade with them. He also began to explore the Chesapeake Bay along with several others in a rather small boat (pictured below is s replica of it). They traveled 3000 miles and mapped the bay and all of its tributary rivers.

Meanwhile, during this absence, the colony was facing starvation and, when he returned from one of his voyages they elected him Governor of VA. His motto: ‘He who works shall eat.’ Certainly turned the colony around for the period that he was the Governor. However, in 1609 he returned to England, wrote several books, published his maps and - then visited the New England area. Here he also explored the harbors and made a map of the Cape Cod area. Finally he returned to England where he died in 1631, never traveling back to Jamestown.

Here is a map of the journey that the boat took all throughout the Chesapeake Bay - in 4 different voyages.

Here is the map that he drew - although North is to the right. You can see Jamestowne on the right the first tributary a ways. (Above the ‘C’ in Chesapeake.) You had to be a real artist to be a map maker back in the 1600’s.

And, finally, here is his map of New England with Cape Cod at the bottom. Pretty good maps and he was quite a character. But, that is often why I find history so interesting, there are so many interesting people making interesting choices. 

‘Anytime I feel lost, I pull out a map and stare. I stare until I have reminded myself that life is a giant adventure, so much to do, to see.’

                                                         Angelina Jolie