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Moving - Saint Marys County, Maryland

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A Brief History of Saint Marys County, Maryland

The history of the Indians in 17th - century Maryland has been partially obscured by events that took place south of the Potomac River.  It is a compliment to the efforts of the Maryland colonial authorities in recognizing the sovereignty of the Indian tribes and thereby avoided unnecessary conflicts with the local Indians.  However, this is not to state that there were no “Indian wars” and that settlers were not attacked throughout the colony.  The earlier settlements along the Atlantic seaboard of Virginia and Massachusetts comprise a record of murderous wars that lasted throughout the 17th century and well into the eighteenth.  Territorial disputes were common and raiding parties sent out by Europeans and Indians alike were intent on destroying each other.

The European was not a total stranger to the Indians living along the Chesapeake Bay.  In the 16th century, Spanish slave seeking expeditions and other multi-national exploration parties eventually found their way into the tributaries of the Chesapeake and left their mark on the native populations wherever they had contact.

In spite of occasional kidnappings and murder, the Indians of the Chesapeake area were generally hospitable toward the English as they explored.  Probably the most famous of the early Chesapeake explorers, Captain Smith, noted in 1608 that he was received with utmost courtesy and hospitality by the Indians.  The warlike Susquehannocks (at that time living near the fall line of the Potomac River) went so far as to “adore” Smith and showered him with many gifts.  This friendly behavior was not an unusual treatment for Smith and his party as they explored north sides of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries in search of a Northwest Passage and for the gold that was thought to be plentiful in this new land.   The arrival of the English in Jamestown in 1607 saw the Indians completely change their attitudes toward the Europeans.  Open warfare threatened the very existence of the small English colony.  These major conflicts were due, in part, to the failure of the Virginia colony to realize the strength of the local Indian confederation, named after their chief, Powhatan.  The military effectiveness of the Indians was enhanced by the centralization of their local government.  Tribes were united under the leadership of Powhatan who was able to muster an organized and numerically superior military force and thrust it in  “hit and run” tactics.  It would take almost 50 years for the balance of power to shift in the favor of the Virginians, and this was only accomplished by the massive immigration of men and material to eventually defeat the Indians.

The Maryland colonists made every effort to accommodate the Indians in their quest for a permanent settlement.  It was not long after the landing on St. Clement’s Island in March of 1634 that Governor Leonard Calvert and a small party sailed northward on the Potomac River in search of the Indian village of the same name.  Here at Patawomeck (Potomac), he met with the uncle of the child-king, Archihu, and was referred to the Emperor of the Piscataway Confederation located about ten miles south of present day Washington, D.C.  Governor Calvert employed as a guide and translator, a Virginia fur-trader, Captain Henry Fleete, who was able to favorably influence the Maryland Indians into allowing the infant colony to settle along the banks of the St. Mary’s River about 30 miles south of St. Clement’s Island.  But there was another reason that generally influenced the cooperation of the Piscataways.  During the early years of the 17th century, the Susquehannocks of lower Pennsylvania and northeastern Maryland were repeatedly raiding Southern Maryland and the Eastern Shore in search of captives and plunder.  These marauding war parties caused the local Indians to finally band together in a loose political network based on common defense.  By having the English move into the area the local Indians were able to add the colonial guns and soldiers to their list of allies.  In fact, the firepower of the 17th-century English colonists represented a military “balance of power” to the local tribes.

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