The Pocahontas Myth

By VISIT FLORIDA staff
Published: July 20, 2009
Last Updated On: September 14, 2011

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The original Pocahontas story took place near Tampa Bay 80 years before the John Smith-Pocahontas encounter took place.

The first, and perhaps only, story of a European being saved by a Native American princess happened nearly 80 years before Jamestown was settled and the John Smith-Pocahontas legend reportedly took place. During the 1528 Spanish expedition that landed near Tampa Bay, one of the soldiers who went ashore, Juan Ortíz, was quickly captured by the Native American tribe in the area, likely the Tocobaga. The chief, Hirrihigua, wanted to kill Ortíz in retaliation for the Spanish mistreatment of Native Americans. The chief's wife and daughters successfully pleaded for Ortíz's life. The chief did make Ortíz a slave, forcing him to do menial tasks like guarding the location where the natives had placed some of their dead comrades before burial.

The chief’s eldest daughter, without the assistance of her mother sisters this time, successfully pleaded for the life of the Spaniard. Worried about his safety, the same daughter helped Ortíz escape to another tribe.

When Ortíz fell asleep while guarding the corpses, he awoke to find that an animal had dragged off the corpse of a dead child. Though Ortíz killed the animal and retrieved the corpse, the chief was angry at Ortíz for falling asleep while guarding the corpses and wanted to kill him. The chief's eldest daughter, without the assistance of her mother and sisters this time, successfully pleaded for the life of the Spaniard.

Worried about his safety, the same daughter helped Ortíz escape to another tribe. The Hernando expedition rescued him in 1539. Unlike the story of John Smith and Pocahontas, several historic sources verify the Juan Ortíz story. Some speculate that John Smith likely had heard the story of Juan Ortíz being saved by the chief's daughter and then plagiarized it to promote himself and the Virginia colony. One fact is certain: the story is a Florida original.