ginia Company (Sahlman). To insure publicity, he took Pocahontas with him along with her husband and son (Sahlman). Her arrival was well acknowledged and she was well received by the king and queen (Jamestown). The bishop of London entertained her and the royal family adored her because she was the first Native American to be taken back to England (Sahlman). Seven months later, Rolfe decided to take his family back to Virginia. They set sail in March of 1617 (Sahlman). Soon after they embarked, it became apparent that Pocahontas would not survive the journey home and they stopped in Gravesend, England (Sahlman). It was there that she died at just 21 years of age, far from her homeland (Jamestown). Her body was laid to rest at St. George’s Church (Sahlman). It is unclear why she died at such a young age (Sahlman). The cause of her death is rumored to be pneumonia, although it is also possible that she contracted smallpox or tuberculosis (Sahlman). Any one of the “white man’s diseases” could be at fault in her fate, but unfortunately, it will remain a mystery. Smith’s romantic story of Pocahontas has been accepted as the truth and elevated Pocahontas to the status of the “good Indian” who saved the life of a white man. She was much more than that. She was a representative for Native Americans and a vital link between them and the Englishmen. She provided food for Jamestown that perhaps, without her, might never have survived. Her marriage to John Rolfe brought peace between her fellow tribesmen and her fellow Christians. ...
