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The Welsh Discovery of America

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The Welsh Discovery of America May - Jun 2020 Issue 94 WelshThe Welsh DiscoveryConnections of America The Welsh Discovery of Americaby David Salter t is not generally known that America was originally discovered by the Welsh nearly nine hundred years Iago. There are many recorded facts which add support to this revelation, some are fairly sketchy whilst there are several pointers from the past which suggest that there is indeed a probability of truth in this submission. Let us examine some of the information we have to hand. Firstly, Welsh records indicate that Prince Madoc, also spelt Madog, sailed to America in or around 1150 A.D. It is claimed that Madoc’s father, Owain Gwynedd, was a real king during the 12th century and is widely considered one of the greatest Welsh rulers of the Middle Ages. His reign was strained with many battles, both with other, would be, Welsh potentates and with the English monarch of the day, Henry 11. Although there was no overall victor in the bloody battles, Owain was eventually forced to come to terms with Henry. Both before and then upon Owains death, and exact dates vary much upon the issue, many bloody disputes had also broken out amongst his heirs, of which he had at least thirteen or more by most accounts, Madoc being one and possibly one of the least favoured. WELSH CONNECTIONS It is believed that Madoc, although brave and adventurous, was a man of peace who became dissatisfied with the struggles. It is said that he sailed from the North Wales coast along with one of his brothers and one hundred other folk in They claimed ancestry with the two ships, landing in what is now Alabama. Prince Madoc Welsh and spoke a language later returned to Wales with great tales of his adventures and “ remarkably similar to it. Instead of persuaded many numbers of others to return with him in canoes, they fished from coracles, 1171, but no further accounts exist. One point here worthy an ancient type of boat still found of mention is that it is asserted that Queen Elisabeth 1 of in Wales today. England, during many of her territorial disputes with the Spanish during her reign, proclaimed that Madoc going to America was an assertion of prior discovery and hence the rights to the legal possession of North America by The ” Kingdom of England. The theory is that after Madoc’s return the Welsh travelled far and wide across America and settled and bred with many of the Native Indian tribes. One of the first indications of their original occupation is provided in the text of a letter of 1810, sent by a John Sevier, first governor of Tennessee, to his friend, Major Amos Stoddard. This concerned the discovery of ancient fortifications built along the Alabama River and it related to a conversation that he had with an old Cherokee chief called Oconostota. This man told him that the forts were built by a white people called “Welsh”. They were constructed as protection from ancestors of the Cherokee who eventually drove them from the area. Sevier also laid account to the discovery of six skeletons in brass armour, all bearing the Welsh coat-of-arms. An early settler to claim an encounter with a Welsh Mandan ‘bull boats’ similar to coracles by George Catlin, ca. 1833 speaking Indian was the Reverend Morgan Jones. He related, in an account to Thomas Lloyd, the deputy of William Penn, In the 18th century one local tribe was discovered that that he had been captured in 1669 by a tribe called the seemed different to all the others that had been encountered ‘Doeg’. Jones reported that the chief spared his life when before. Called the Mandans, this tribe were described as he spoke Welsh, which the chief understood. Jones said to white men with forts, towns and permanent villages laid out having stayed with the tribe for several months, preaching in streets and squares. They claimed ancestry with the Welsh the gospel in Welsh. and spoke a language remarkably similar to it. Instead of canoes, they fished from coracles, an ancient type of boat still found in Wales today. As for myself, I have one or two theories based upon my own probings. One issue concerns the title of the original Welsh Kingdom of Powys which dates back to the sixth century and was revived back in 1974 to become the largest present county of Wales. Going back to its origins, if any credit can be given to the previous information given herewith, then where else could the expression ‘Pow wow’, have come from? This was a term spread far and wide across many native Indian cultures. Did it mean a Welsh chinwag? Many have heard of the Indian maiden called Pocahontas from a Disney film of the same name. It may not be known that her father was called ‘Powhaten’, a name given by the colonial settlers in their district in preference to one they could not pronounce and partially in reference to the mans headgear. Also, did the Blackfoot originate from the Black Mountains, also in Powys, along with the Crows? Then there is the illustrious Chief Sitting Bull. Reverse the order of his names, add another letter, and you may yet have the answer to the whole issue. Words: David Salter Cherokee chief Oconostotas’ memorial by Jan Kronsell Illustrations: Cerys Rees THIS PAGE IS INTENTIONALLY BLANK.
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