September 28, 2006

September 28, 2006

Today we head to Jamestown, the third and final colonial attraction on the Virginia peninsula. Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement in the US. The Spanish had earlier settlements in Florida, and the English had made other settling attempts but they all failed. In 1607 three English ships dropped off 104 Englishmen on this shore intent on building a colony and finding gold like the Spanish had. These adventurers had a rough time and almost failed several times from starvation and Indian attack. Historical legend says that the colony was saved by the actions of John Smith (who instituted ‘no work, no eat’) and a local Indian princess Pocahontas who fell in love with a colonist. Not finding gold or silver, the colony resorted to other moneymaking schemes until they discovered tobacco grew well here. Fortunately, this venture succeeded and paved the way for further colonial expansion and the later birth of the U.S.

Like Yorktown, Jamestown has two separate sites. The first site is the Jamestown Settlement, which is a living history museum with a Jamestown theme. They have a recreated Indian village, Colonist Fort, and the three Sailing Ships. We see the movie and tour the demonstration areas. They are interesting and have good guides but we are finding it somewhat repetitious with earlier days. But I am learning the finer points of musketry. In the 1600’s, I learn that they used matchlock-firing mechanisms vs. the flintlock muskets of the Revolution (the earlier match-lock uses a glowing ember vs. a flint spark to ignite the gunpowder).

After lunch we drive next-door to Historic Jamestown. This part of Colonial National Historical Park sits on the original site. Archeologists are still excavating the site. They have found the original fort location and numerous artifacts, many of which were found in abandoned wells. A small museum displays the huge variety of artifacts and bones found. A ranger gives us a very interesting retelling of the early days of Jamestown. To the east of the fort are the building foundations from the abandoned village of Jamestown. Jamestown was never very large even though it was the Virginia capital until around 1699 when the capital was moved to Williamsburg. We are tired so we pass on this ‘new-town’ and also the driving tour of the rest of Jamestown Island.