On this day in 1622, 347 English settlers around Jamestown, Virginia were massacred. The Algonquians, led by Opechancanough, chief of the Pamunkey, killed a third of the settlement's population.

Some History Background. Fifteen years earlier, in May of 1607, three ships brought the first colonists to the area. The 108 settled along the James River in Virginia where they founded Jamestown. It was the first permanent English settlement in America, established 13 years before the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts.

Algonquian Attack. Within two weeks, the first warriors from the local Algonquian Indian confederacy attacked the settlement. The settlers drove them off.

Along Came Pocahontas. That December, Captain John Smith, an English adventurer, and two colonists were captured by Algonquians while hunting in the Virginia wilderness. His companions were killed, but John Smith's life was spared when Pocahontas, Chief Powhatan's daughter, spoke up for him.

Troubles in the Colony. Over the next two years, disease, starvation, and more Native attacks wiped out most of the colony. The London Company sent more settlers and more supplies.

Starving Time. After John Smith left the colony, even harder times came to pass. The winter of 1609 to 1610, which the colonists called the "starving time," wiped out most of the colonists. The 60 survivors planned to return to England in the spring. But Thomas West De La Warr, the new Virginia governor, brought supplies and convinced the settlers to stay.

Green Gold. In 1612, John Rolfe grew the first tobacco at Jamestown, providing the colony with a livelihood. Tobacco was known as green gold.

Wedding Bells. In April of 1614, Rolfe married Pocahontas, promising peace with Chief Powhatan and the Algonquians.

Death in the Family. Powhatan died in 1618. Opechancanough, chief of the Pamunkey, became the Algonquian leader.