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Dr. Henry Woodward’s Role in Early Carolina Indian Relations Eric E. Bowne Dr. Henry Woodward played a little-known but crucial role in the success of the Carolina colony. As a go-between during the years 1666 through 1686, he was instrumental in obtaining food and intelligence from the native peoples of the region and in developing peaceful relations and commerce with several prominent nations, including the Westos, Yamasees, and Lower Creeks. Despite these activities, Woodward is only briefly discussed in most histories of South Carolina when he is mentioned at all.1 He is likewise given little attention in scholarly works concerned with the development and expansion of Indian trade, most of which begin their studies about the time of Woodward’s death.2 The most extensive accounts of the doctor remain Verner Crane’s The Southern Frontier and Herbert Bolton and Mary Ross’s The Debatable Land, both published in the 1920s.3 Recent scholars have begun to hint at the importance of Woodward, but none have fully explicated the source of his success or explored how his life can enrich our understanding of the nature of early Anglo-Indian relations.4 Although many others would eventually follow his path, Woodward, thanks in large part to his Indian wife, was the first Carolinian to immerse himself in the study of native language and culture and, more important, the first to gain a subtle understanding of native diplomatic principles and procedures. The uniqueness of his knowledge, the small-scale nature of the Indian trade, and its dependence on kinship ties and linguistic ability combined to give Woodward a tremendous advantage over other traders and made him indispensable to the colony. The doctor used these advantages to procure a position as one of the Lords Proprietors’ principal agents and was given charge over their monopoly on the Indian trade, which placed Woodward at the center of the most contentious issue faced by the colony during its early years and put him in the vanguard of England’s imperial struggle with Spain in the South. To the degree other Carolinians were able to gain some of his skills and experiences, Woodward ’s advantages were compromised, but this was slow in coming, and the doctor continued to have a profound effect on the development of the English deerskin and slave trade until his passing in the mid-1680s. 74 Eric E. Bowne Henry Woodward’s interactions with the native peoples of Carolina began in the summer of 1666, when he was a member of Robert Sanford’s exploratory mission along the coast.5 During late June and early July, the group encountered numerous Indian peoples and visited a number of native towns, including one that contained “a faire woodden Crosse of the Spaniards ereccon .”6 Shortly before the Englishmen departed the area for home, the cacique of Port Royal came aboard Sanford’s ship with his nephew and, after some discussion, convinced the captain to accept the young man as an ambassador in exchange for one of his crew. Sanford already had someone in mind because “one of my Company Mr. Henry Woodward, a Chirurgeon, had before I sett out assured mee his resolucon to stay with the Indians if I should thinke convenient .”7 As part of a ceremony the following day, July 8, the “Cassique placed Woodward by him uppon the Throne, and after lead him forth and shewed him a large field of Maiz which hee told him should bee his, then hee brought him the Sister of the Indian that I [Sanford] had with mee telling him that shee should tend him and dresse his victualls and be careful of him.”8 Henry Woodward had been left in disputed territory and would remain a central figure in the struggle between England and Spain for possession of “La Florida” over the next two decades. The key to usurping Spanish power lay in developing strong native allies, which was clearly what Sanford had in mind when he agreed to the exchange. On the other hand, what did the Indians of Port Royal seek to gain? As early as 1659, Indian slave raiders had invaded Spanish Florida in search of victims, and many outlying groups had fled to the missions seeking protection. The Spanish were unwilling to sell firearms to native peoples, however, and so the cacique of Port Royal was investigating other options. He hoped his nephew would gain some understanding of the English newcomers while his niece “trained...

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