Captain John Smith (c. 1580–1631) was an English soldier, explorer, and author critical to the survival of Jamestown, Virginia, as the first permanent English settlement in North America. As a leader (1608–1609), he enforced strict discipline, mapped the Chesapeake Bay, and negotiated with Native Americans, including the Powhatan Confederacy. John Smith is notably the deuteragonist of Disney's 1995 animated feature film, Pocahontas. He is a renowned English explorer that took part in Governor Ratcliffe's expedition to Virginia, where he would meet and fall in love with Pocahontas.