Editing Gloucester County, Virginia (section)

=== European colonists ===
Around 1570, Spanish [[Jesuit]]s attempted to establish what was known as the [[Ajacan Mission]] on the south shore of the [[York River (Virginia)|York River]] across from Gloucester. They were killed by natives led by a Christian convert named [[Don Luis]], who was affiliated with a village known as [[Chiskiack]] ([[Naval Weapons Station Yorktown]] much later was developed at this site in present-day York County; the historic village site has been preserved.)

When English settlers founded [[Jamestown, Virginia|Jamestown]] in 1607 on the James River to the north, they soon came into conflict with local Indians. The newcomers competed for land, game and other resources in the Powhatan territory, and the two cultures did not understand each other's concepts of property, particularly in land use.

In late 1607, [[John Smith of Jamestown|John Smith]] was captured and taken to [[Chief Powhatan]] at Werowocomoco, his eastern capital. According to legend, Powhatan's daughter [[Pocahontas]] saved John Smith from being executed by the natives; however, some historians question the accuracy of much of Smith's account of that incident. Smith was accompanied by other Englishmen when he returned in a later visit to the Powhatan at Werowocomoco.