Smith, John (1580-1631)

English explorer John Smith was captured during an expedition through Indian territory but saved by Pocahontas, daughter of Chief Powhatan, who secured his release.

The English captain and adventurer John Smith, c. 1624, who led an expedition to, and produced important maps of, the coastline of New England in North America. Having set up one of the first English settlements in Virginia, he was captured by Indians and claimed to have been saved from certain death by the chief's daughter, Pocahontas.

English colonist. After an adventurous early life he took part in the colonization of Virginia, acting as president of the North American colony 1608-09. He explored New England in 1614, which he named, and published pamphlets on America and an autobiography. His trade with the Indians may have kept the colonists alive in the early years.

During an expedition among the American Indians he was captured, and his life is said to have been saved by the intervention of the chief's daughter Pocahontas.