One of the most romanticized incidents in early American history may have simply been a tribal initiation.

Deseret Morning News graphic Captain John Smith & Pocahontas Requires Adobe Acrobat.

The legend begins with three Englishmen, led by Captain John Smith, being lured ashore by Indian women during a trading and exploration mission. An ambush quickly followed. Smith, the sole survivor, was then dragged before chief Powhatan to decide his fate. According to Smith, his life hung in the balance. His head was placed on a stone while Indian warriors prepared to pummel his brains out. At the last moment, Pocahontas, a young Indian princess, rushed forward and laid her head on Smith, saving his life. Was this young love or something else? Scholars now believe Pocahontas' actions were probably part of an elaborate adoption ritual. It seems the self-confident English captive had managed to impress his captors and was adopted into the tribe through the execution ritual.

Smith would later recount the episode in his books, and although the validity of the story has been questioned, the relationship between Pocahontas and John Smith would prove invaluable in the survival of the Jamestown colony.

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Captain John Smith

Born: 1580, Wiloughby, England

"An ambityous unworthy and vayneglorious fellowe" — George Percy describing John Smith