Captain John Smith and Pocahontas

Captain John Smith presents the Jamestown story to the court of King James I, framing it as a cautionary tale of exploration and governance. He sets the stage for a colony beset by hardships, political scheming, and the tension between settlers and native power. The audience learns that survival hinges on leadership, diplomacy, and daring actions.

In 1607, the Jamestown settlers face famine, disease, and conflicts with the Powhatan. Captain Wingfield begins plotting to abandon the settlement. His plan threatens the colony’s future unless a new leader can assert control.

Smith, locked aboard the Godspeed, escapes and swims to the river bank. He then warns the camp of an imminent Indian attack, galvanizing the colonists. This bold escape marks the first step in his leadership role.

The colonists repel the first Indian attack as burning arrows rain down on the camp. Smith orders John Rolfe to swim across the river to warn the ships, expanding the danger beyond the fort. The defense buys crucial time for the settlement.

A second assault tests the settlers' resolve, but cannon fire from the ships drives the Indians back. Smith helps coordinate the defense from the stockaded camp. The ships’ armament proves decisive in keeping the colony intact.

Smith is elected leader of the colony, and the settlers begin constructing a wooden stockade for protection. This new fortification marks a turning point in Jamestown’s governance and safety. The community begins to organize under his steady hand.

Rations run dangerously low as morale thins and hope wanes. To compound the crisis, the ships that brought supplies to Jamestown are nowhere to be seen. The settlers must rely on improvisation and growing crops to survive.

Smith journeys to seek peace with Chief Powhatan, hoping to ease tensions. During the voyage, he meets Pocahontas briefly and is later captured by warriors. Before execution, Pocahontas intervenes to save him, altering the fate of both peoples.

Pocahontas saves Smith from execution and becomes a symbol of peace between settlers and native people. Later, she is married to Smith to seal the peacekeeping alliance between Jamestown and Powhatan. Their marriage signals a fragile, necessary truce that sustains the colony for a time.

The next day, a settler discovers gold and reports it to Wingfield. Wingfield plots to fail the colony so that the gold never reaches The Virginia Company. The scheme reveals the churn of ambition that jeopardizes the settlers.

Smith returns with Indigenous allies who bring supplies and teach the colonists how to cultivate crops. The colonists gain much-needed resources, knowledge, and food security from these relationships. His leadership contributes to stabilizing the settlement’s precarious economy.

The following day, Macklin spots Wingfield hiding gold and supplying weapons to Opechanco's warriors. Turnbull kills Macklin, and Nataquas is blamed and lashed before Smith arrives to set the record straight. The revelation accelerates the colony’s crisis, highlighting Wingfield's treachery.

Wingfield orders the attack with Opechanco to wipe out the colonists, though he hopes to spare himself. The settlers repel the assault, and Turnbull is killed by an arrow. Opechanco kills Nataquas; Pocahontas runs to Jamestown to warn Smith, who vows to avenge Nataquas by confronting Opechanco.

Wingfield kills Davis for the gold and ignites the gunpowder storehouse. Smith fights Wingfield and escapes from the hut as it explodes. The dramatic blaze underscores the colony’s perils and Smith’s bravery.

The ships finally arrive, and a doctor urges Smith to rest aboard the ship. Smith sails back to England, leaving John Rolfe in charge of Jamestown. The frame closes with the sense of an unfinished tale and the voyage home.

Smith completes his tale and leaves the court after delivering his account of Jamestown. The film ends with a statue of Pocahontas standing in London, symbolizing the enduring memory of the Powhatan peace and the colony’s legacy.