NO. 12 MONACAN TOWNS IN VIRGINIA — r,USIINELL 9 



probably covered some of the level area bordering the stream in the 

 extreme eastern part of the present Powhatan County, between 

 Bernards Creek on the east and Jones Creek on the west. It does not 

 appear to have been a palisaded village but rather an open settlement. 

 Gardens were probably near the scattered habitations. It was a beauti- 

 ful site for a native village. On the north it was protected by cliffs 

 rising abruptly from the left bank of the river, on the south it 

 was bounded by high, rolling land from which issued springs of clear 

 water. Game was abundant throughout the region. 



Three centuries ago Mowhemcho was an important center, probably 

 the home of some hundreds of individuals who lived in a land of 

 plenty, where food was easily obtained. How long the site may have 

 been occupied will never be known. By the close of the 17th century 

 few Indians remained in the vicinity, and during the year 1699 a 

 Huguenot colony took possession of the land and there established 

 a settlement which continued for some years. Huguenot, near the 

 middle of the tract, and Huguenot Springs on Bernards Creek, about 

 2 miles from the bank of the James, are names which tend to identify 

 the site. At the present time few traces of a native settlement can be 

 discovered on the surface, which has been subject to overflow during 

 the past centuries, but much may be hidden beneath deposits of sand 

 and alluvium. 



The Huguenots settled part of the area in 1699, but it is quite 

 evident that Indians continued to occupy a portion of the site. Three 

 years later they were briefly mentioned by a Swiss traveler.^ This 

 was in April, 1702, when Michel stopped at " Manakin town," and 

 later wrote in his journal (II, p. 123): "The Indians often visit 

 there, bringing game, rum and other small things. There is a good 

 opiX)rtunity to trade with skins. They (the Indians) often bring 

 pottery and when desired fill'd with corn." How corn was prepared 

 in Virginia at that time is not revealed. He continued and again 

 mentioned the Indians (p. 132) : " In their homes they are naked, as 

 I have seen one at Maningkinton, who came back from hunting. He 

 had nothing but his gun, knife and powder horn, except a linen rag 

 which covered his sexual parts a little, and a deer skin protecting 

 his feet, that the thorns might not hurt him. He had also a tuft of 

 feathers behind his ear." Such was the appearance of a Monacan in 

 the early Spring of 1702. Several drawings made by Michel and 



^ Michel, Francis Louis, Journey from Berne, Switzerland, to Virginia — 

 October 2, 1701 to December i. 1702. The \'irginia Magazine, Virginia Hist. 

 Sec, Richmond. January and April, 1916. 



