Daughter of Chief Powhatan, Pocahontas is said to have saved the life of Capt. John Smith, who had been captured by the natives and brought to her village in 1608. He was to be killed and placed before an altar stone. She threw herself over his body and he was spared. Pocahontas then became an intermediary between the English settlers at Jamestown and her father and reportedly persuaded him to take food to the starving colonists.

In 1613, she was seized by Capt. Samuel Argall and taken to Jamestown and then to the new community of Henrico. From Rev. Alexander Whitaker she learned Christianity, was converted and was baptized as Rebecca. The following year, with her father's approval, she married John Rolfe. In 1615 with her family and a retinue of natives, Lady Rebecca Rolfe ventured to England, where she was received as a princess and charmed London society. While preparing to return to Virginia, she became ill and died.