A Native American Timeline-- Part 2: Ponce de Leon, De Soto and Jamestown

**  FEBRUARY 1521

Ponce de Leon departs on another voyage to Florida from San Juan to start a colony.    Months after landing, he is attacked  by local Native Americans and killed.

**  MAY 1539

Spanish explorer and conquistador Hernando de Soto lands in Florida to conquer the region.  He explores the South under the guidance of Indians who had been captured along the way.

**  OCTOBER 1540

De Soto and  the Spaniards plan to rendezvous with ships in Alabama where they are attacked.  Hundreds  of Indians are killed.

**  C. 1595

Pocahontas is born, daughter of Chief Powhatan.

**  1607

Pocahontas' brother kidnaps Captain John Smith from the Jamestown colony.    Smith later writes that after being threatened by Chief Powhatan, he was saved by Pocahontas.  This is debated by historians.

**  1613

Pocahontas is captured by Captain Samuel Argall in the first Anglo-Powhatan War.  While captive, she learns to speak English, converts to Christianity and is given the name "Rebecca."

**  1622

The Powhatan Confederacy nearly wipes out the Jamestown Colony.

--Cooter

A Native American Timeline-- Part 1: Speaking of Indigenous Peoples

From the History.com site.

Long before Christopher Columbus stepped foot on what was to become known as the Americas, the expansive territory was inhabited by  Native Americans.  Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, as more explorers sought to colonize their land,  Native Americans responded   in various ways, from cooperation to indignation to revolt.

After siding with the French in numerous battles during the French and Indian War and eventually being forcibly removed from their homes during Andrew Jackson's Indian Removal Act, Native American populations were diminished in size and territory by the end of the 19th century.

Here are some of the events that shaped  their history after the arrival of the Europeans:

**  1492: Christopher Columbus lands on a Caribbean Island after three months of traveling.  Believing at first that he has reached the East Indies, he called the natives Indians.  On his first day, he orders six natives  seized to become servants.

**  APRIL 1513:  Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon  lands on continental North America in Florida and makes contact with Native Americans.

--Cooter