Pocahontas usually arrives in the consciousness of most Americans during their elementary school years.

Students learn that the Indian princess saved the life of Capt. John Smith - leader of the Jamestown colony. Her story often ends there.

Avery Chenoweth only knew the abbreviated version of Pocahontas’ contributions to the survival of the colony that was founded in the spring of 1607. While doing research for a proposed book on the history of Virginia, he was amazed at the drama and intrigue that had played out during Jamestown’s first few years.

“When I read the Jamestown journals these people came alive for me, and I wanted to put them back into the world,” the Charlottesville author said. “One of the big surprises for me was that Pocahontas had a far more involved relationship with the colony than we understand from the simple story of her saving John Smith.

“Another thing that got me going was the fascinating relationships the key Jamestown players had with each other. There are times when Chief Powhatan [Pocahontas’ father] is such a tragic figure that he reminds me of Shakespeare’s King Lear.

He is literally a guy who is not willing to lose his daughter or nation, and when he loses both it’s absolutely heartbreaking. And the role that Pocahontas played -

perhaps as a spy, certainly as a diplomat and emissary to peace - is amazing.”

Chenoweth’s key figures include Smith, Powhatan, Pocahontas and the man she married, John Rolfe. Chenoweth felt that writing a story about their experiences and interactions during the difficult early years at Jamestown would help illuminate the emergence of the American identity.

A few years ago Chenoweth teamed up with local photographer Robert Llewellyn to create the book “Albemarle: A Story of Landscape and American Identity.” He felt the book on Jamestown also would work well in a format where prose is complemented by photographs.

The result of their recent collaboration is the new coffee-table book “Empires in the Forest: Jamestown and the Beginning of America.” Both men will be at New Dominion Bookshop on Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday to discuss the book and sign copies.

Replete with beautiful photographs, the book has been described as “a movie with a front and back cover.” Because of the subject, Llewellyn said they had to go about it much as if they were making a film.

“There is nothing left from Jamestown that reflects light, other than a few things that have been dug up at the site,” said Llewellyn, whose many photography books include “Williamsburg, Jamestown, Yorktown: America’s Historic Triangle.”

“So we realized we needed to cast people and have them play parts for the book. We felt strongly that the people who would play the Indians should be descendants of the Powhatan nation.

“We went to 10 powwows around the state, met with the Indians and told them what we wanted to do. Initially they looked at us in a way that suggested they didn’t trust us to write and present them in a way they wanted to be presented.”

One of the things that helped win the day was Chenoweth’s passionate oratories about wanting to give Pocahontas the attention she deserved. His, and Llewellyn’s, sincerity eventually convinced tribal members to support the book.

“Time and again we would be talking about the subject of the book at these powwows, and I would kind of get worked up about Pocahontas and how she is being eliminated from history,” Chenoweth said. “For the most part, she has been reduced to a child in the background with no importance whatsoever.

“I think we just finally connected on an emotional level. A dear friend of mine, Mary Maynor, a Lumbee Indian, played a key role in speaking with people on our behalf and helping to educate me about the culture so I could better understand.

“Mary, and others, introduced us to a society that was otherwise indifferent to us. Their introductions made all the difference.”

Llewellyn showed descendents examples of his photographs to give them a feel for what the book would be like. Both men also promised to create a book that was as authentic as possible.

During his 40 years behind the lens, Llewellyn has earned a reputation for being able to take a concept and turn it into stunning images. The new book likely will enhance his standing in that regard.

There is a soft, dreamlike quality to the photographs in “Empires in the Forest.” Images range from sun-touched clouds capping rippled seas to ragged and starving Jamestown settlers huddled around a meager fire as they try to stay warm.

“Looking back on this part of history is very dreamlike,” Llewellyn said. “And there’s a dreamlike quality to Avery’s writing.

“So I began working with the images to soften them so they would be dreamlike as well. To get a lot of these images we had to find locations and landscapes and put people in them.

“Then we would have them go through the motions of some part of the story. Often the images you end up with are not the ones you imagined. You set up something, and when you see it, it’s almost as if it calls out to you. The next thing you know you have taken a photograph that you would never have thought of.”

Llewellyn said one of the aims of the book was to show what this area of Virginia had looked like 400 years ago. When he flew over the Tidewater area, he said, he was shocked to discover that the land had changed little during the past four centuries.

The reason why it basically has been frozen in time is that much of the area is swampland and not accessible by roads. As Chenoweth explains in the book, what created the landscape we know today was a large meteor that slammed into the region 35 million years ago.

The devastating impact created the Chesapeake Bay and was felt for nearly 1,000 miles. Chenoweth writes that a towering tsunami generated by the massive explosion roared inland and didn’t stop until it crashed into the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Countless living things were either vaporized or washed away.

“During my research, I read up on the animals, flora and fauna that were here 35 million years ago,” Chenoweth said. “I was surprised to learn that there were monkeys and uintatheriums - a kind of rhinoceros.

“I had never imagined there were little horses running around or any of that stuff. But the thing I found the most interesting was that these amber bits of glass that were created by the huge explosion when the meteor hit were collected and worn as jewelry by the native Americans, who first settled in the area.”

Chenoweth said during his research he was continuously coming across things that surprised him. His biggest surprise was finding out what a complex person Smith was.

“I always had this idea that Smith had been a swashbuckling hero who got his men out of trouble and outfoxed the king,” said Chenoweth, who also is the author of the novel “Wingtips.”

“But my take now is that when he arrived in Virginia, he was a man who was starting to lose control of himself. And for the next two years he increasingly goes out of control.

“His own men decide finally that he has become so dangerous that they have to kill him. While researching all of this, I came across some of the most hair-raising stories you’ve ever heard.”

Chenoweth and Llewellyn worked for more than a year to raise the necessary funds to finance the book project. They knew from experience that this type of book, with a limited press run of 5,000 copies, isn’t likely to put them on easy street.

In fact, the two men have calculated that they made less than $1 an hour during the two years it took to complete the project. Nonetheless, they’re delighted with the results and grateful for having had the opportunity to tell a story they felt needed to be told.

“One of the things we emphasized during the fundraising rounds is that a tremendous amount of money is understandably going to the commemoration events,” Chenoweth said, referring to Virginia’s 400th anniversary celebration next year.

“But what will be left when the smoke clears? What we wanted to do was create a legacy work that will be around for years to come.

“We wanted to humanize these very important people in our history. The many people who helped sponsor the book wanted to see this project done.

“They wanted to see it happen in a way that hasn’t happened before. I think we did that.”

Chenoweth and Llewellyn will be discussing and signing copies of “Empires in the Forest: Jamestown and the Beginning of America” at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at New Dominion Bookshop, 404 E. Main St. The book costs $49.95.

David A. Maurer is a writer for the Charlottesville Daily Progress. He can be contacted at