d the official residence of chief Powhatan (McMichael). He was treated kindly and a great feast was prepared in his honor, which he would later record in his report, A True Relation, published in 1608 (McMichael). As time slowly passed, relations between the natives and the settlers deteriorated. With the help of Japazaws, a lesser chief of the Patowomeck Indians, Captain Samuel Argall kidnapped Pocahontas and held her for ransom in 1612 (Microsoft, Pocahontas). During this time, she became aquatinted with John Rolfe, a pious widower noted as the first colonist to grow tobacco as a crop (Microsoft, Pocahontas). Pocahontas converted to Christianity and took the name Rebecca (Microsoft, Pocahontas). She then married Rolfe in April of 1614 and from that time forward was known as Rebecca Rolfe (Microsoft, Pocahontas). It is uncertain as to why Pocahontas was wed to John Rolfe. The Powhatan Nation of today profess that she agreed to marry Rolfe, who took a “special interest” in the young hostage, as a condition of her release (Sahlman). Other sources claim that the two fell madly in love and then married. Some disagree because it was rumored that Pocahontas was to be married to an Indian named Kocoum and therefore, could not marry again. Also, she would only have been 17 at the time and would not have had any interest in the 28 year-old Rolfe. The union of Rolfe and Pocahontas did have some benefits, however. It brought peace between the natives and settlers that would last for eight years (Jamestown). A general peace and spirit of goodwill between the two groups resulted from this marriage.Shortly after Rolfe and Pocahontas married, they had a son whom they named Thomas (Sahlman). He was the only child born to them and would later become an important member of the Jamestown society. Sir Thomas Dale, the leader of a new settlement in Virginia, made an important voyage to England to seek financial support for the Vir...
