For nearly fifty miles, the most eastern section of Route 76 runs parallel to the James River. Sturgeon Point is located on the northern bank of the river, just a mile south of Route 76, as indicated by a historical marker visible on the west bound route. While the marker focuses on the European settlements in this region, this episode asks a different question: what was the importance of this river before European conquest, when waterways served as a natural resource for indigenous people? The very name of the river, the James, emphasizes this process of affirmation and erasure. In the first decades of the seventeenth century, naming a river after the King of England connected this remote outpost in the America’s with the colonists’ identity as subjects of the King. This episode explores this history as a way to enable cyclists to make connections between the observed landscape and the long history which has shaped the current environment.
Welcome to episode 3 of the Virginia Bikecentennial Route 76 Podcast. This episode is connected to Sturgeon Point on the James River, located just under 40 miles from Yorktown, the starting point for the westbound route, and more than 500 miles from the Kentucky border, where eastbound riders enter Virginia. This podcast is a production of Virginia Tech, a public land grant university located in Blacksburg, just three miles from Route 76 in southwest Virginia. I am your narrator, Tom Ewing, and this episode is based on research by Julietta Crowder. This podcast is produced by the digital humanities program in Virginia Tech University Libraries, under the direction of media manager Joe Forte.
The James River flows for more than three hundred miles, from the headwaters in Botetourt County in western Virginia to the Chesapeake Bay. The James River forms at the intersection of two smaller rivers, the Cow Pasture and the Jackson, and then flows through a gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains north of Roanoke. The river then follows a generally eastern direction, but with many turns to the north and back to the south as it flows through central Virginia. The city of Richmond was established at the fall line where a series of rapids created navigation challenges for centuries, but now reward white water enthusiasts. From Richmond, the James grows much wider as the elevation flattens, eventually reaching a width of more than a mile as the river approaches the Chesapeake Bay near the cities of Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Hampton. The river’s watershed covers almost 10,000 miles, encompassing about one-quarter of the state and home to nearly one-third of Virginia’s population.
Cyclists on Route 76 encounter the James River twice, at points located almost 150 miles apart in a straight line, but nearly twice as far along the circuitous road followed by cyclists. In western Virginia, Route 76 crosses the James River on Main Street in the city of Buchanan, in the gap between the Blue Ridge mountains to the north and south. It is almost three hundred miles from Buchanan to Sturgeon Point, where cyclists come closest to the James River in the section between Richmond and Yorktown. Cyclists only cross the James once, but more than half of the route is in the watershed of the James River.
The James was designated as “America’s Founding River” in 2007 during the commemoration of 400 years since the founding of the Jamestown Colony in 1607. This designation is both a statement of the river’s long history and a denial of the centuries of Native American history which preceded European conquest.
Naming a river is a statement of possession. The Powhatan people who resided along this river near the coast did not give the river a single name, but rather used many names which connected the river to certain communities or activities. The variety of functional names emphasized an organic connection to the river and to the natural world more generally. Throughout this episode, the river will be referred to as the “James,’ but that is not how it would have been known to its original people.
The Powhatan Chiefdom was a union of over 30 Algonquian speaking tribes varying in size. Prior to European conquest, each tribe maintained a certain level of autonomy with a leader drawn from within the community. All tribes were expected to bring regular tributary payments of goods to the paramount chief. The Powhatan Tribes best known paramount chief was called Wahunsenacawh [wa-hun-seneca], although he was called Chief Powhatan by the English. Wahunsenacawh [wa-hun-seneca] ruled in the decades before the English arrived in 1607. He was responsible for uniting dozens of tribes into one major alliance and guiding his people through the early years of the English invasion.
The James River played an immense role in the structure of indigenous society. Werowocomoco [werow-comaco], meaning “place of leadership,” was the political and spiritual hub for the Powhatan Chiefdom. Located on the York River, close to the Bikecentennial starting point in Yorktown, this river flows into the Chesapeake just north of the mouth of the James. These rivers were part of a larger system of connected waterways central to Native American social and political orgnaization. These rivers played an important role in reinforcing the social structures the Chiefdom put in place. Chiefs and spiritual leaders often resided by the river, giving them the responsibility of overseeing fishing and agricultural activities, organizing trade, and conducting spiritual ceremonies.
The James Rivers’ abundant resources of fertile land, game, and fish allowed the Powhatan tribes in this region to thrive. Villages were located close to the river’s banks, to enable access for fishing, but on ground high enough to avoid seasonal flooding. The tribes closest to the river were sustained by highly skilled fishermen who secured food from the river. Canoes constructed by hollowing out tree trunks by scraping or burning were used for fishing and transportation. Small dams constructed in shallow sections of the river directed fish into large nets.
The most lucrative of fish were the Atlantic sturgeon, for whom this point on the northern bank of the James river was named. Sturgeon measure up to six feet long and may weigh up to 800 pounds. Creative methods were devised to catch these fish. One of the most difficult methods was to wrap a noose around the fish’s neck while it was resting near the surface and then physically wrestle the fish to death. Fishing was not only a matter of survival for the Powhatans but also a means of strengthening social bonds and securing status through communal activities.
Indigenous people also relied on agricultural crops which grew in the fertile lands near the river. Beans, corn, and squash were grown in cycles on these lands, thus allowing nutrients to replenish and sustain multiple crops each year. The planting and harvesting of crops was timed in accordance with the river’s flood patterns. Spring floods would deposit new soil beyond the banks, thus providing a natural fertilizer for crops. Fishing peaked during the early spring, when migrations occurred along the river, thus ensuring a consistent food supply throughout the year. The river thus provided both abundant resources and connection to the natural environment that sustained these communities across generations.
The James River also provided routes for trade and communication across central Virginia and beyond. The river facilitated trade in goods, long range hunting parties, and communication among various Native communities and leaders. The sharing of oral traditions, like songs and stories, helped to strengthen and preserve the cultural identity of the Native American people and foster a sense of unity among the different tribes in the Chiefdom.
The impact of European settlement shaped the relationship between people and land. The cultivation of agricultural crops for export to English markets, large scale harvesting of fish, and barring Native Americans from access to the river at traditional locations altered this relationship. The Native American people were forced to adapt these changes or to resist, with devastating consequences for their traditional social structures and community identity.
Cyclists along Route 76 have opportunities to observe the beauty and power of the James River and feel enriched and inspired by the seemingly eternal flow of the water from the mountains to the sea. In western Virginia, the fast moving water is ideal for kayaks, canoes, and inner tubes. Just east of the Blue Ridge, the slower waters draw anglers on fishing trips. In Richmond, the James flows through downtown, with warehouses, shops, businesses, and parks along each shore that clearly indicate the river’s importance to the identity of the city. At Sturgeon Point, the bend in the river means that the banks are only one-quarter mile apart, so it is easy to look across to the other side. As the river approaches the Chesapeake Bay, it becomes much wider, in places more than a mile across, making it seem more like a lake to an observer on either bank. The James enters the Chesapeake Bay between Norfolk and Hampton, in a region dominated by shipping terminals, dry-docks for repairs, naval installations, and highway bridges and tunnels.
At each location, an act of imagination is required to think about what this river looked like before European conquest. A similar creative leap is essential to imagine what this river meant to Native American communities more than four centuries ago. Understanding the vitality of the river is a further reminder of how cyclists can take time to appreciate the natural environment in the present as well as its different forms and functions in the past.
You have been listening to episode 3 of the Virginia Bikecentennial Route 76 Podcast. This episode is connected to Sturgeon Point on the James River, located just under 40 miles from Yorktown, the starting point for the westbound route, and more than 500 miles from the Kentucky border, where eastbound riders enter Virginia. This podcast is a production of Virginia Tech, a public land grant university located in Blacksburg, just three miles from Route 76 in southwest Virginia. I am your narrator, Tom Ewing, and this episode is based on research by Julietta Crowder. This podcast is produced by the digital humanities program in Virginia Tech University Libraries, under the direction of media manager Joe Forte. To learn more about this project, please visit our website or follow us on social media.
