March 2006 - at Jamestown near Archer’s Hope

Interestingly, when I wrote the passage below, I had not actually seen the flowers I described, but somehow I could visualize them and I knew they were very small and delicate. Imagine my delight when I found these growing “riverside” at Jamestown, just as Joan said!

February 2005 -
Looking toward Black Point on Jamestown Island

I saw that the Jamestown landscrape, even in barren winter, could be beautiful, even charming.

I wanted to remember the colors of the water with the winter sun on it.

May 2006, on the Chickahominy River

I knew the Paspeheghs lived near the mouth of the Chickahominy River (where it meets the James), but I wanted to see it for myself. The land to the left and right of the canoe (below) would have been Paspehegh territory. The James River was behind us.

If we had kept paddling up the Chickahominy, we would have come to the land belonging to the Chickahominy tribe and the location of Orapax, where Chief Powhatan relocated in early 1609 to befuddle the settlers—knowing it would be difficult for them to reach him.

Soberly I realized that the children of the Paspehegh Queen would have been killed near this spot in the river—thrown into the water and shot by Percy’s men. The Queen herself was taken captive on a ship here and transported back to Jamestown, where she was “put through to the sword.”