In 1608, Captain John Smith was in his shallop on an extended journey of exploration when he elected to take a brief detour up the Rappahannock. His encounter with a stingray nearly ended his life. To this day the location is known as Stingray Point.

In the middle of June, not long after leaving the settlement, Smith and his companions spied a huge school of fish swimming in some shallows near their boat. With cries of delight, the explorers jumped into the shallow water and began spearing fish with their swords. The last fish Smith took was a stingray. As he removed it from his sword, it drove its poisonous barb deep into his wrist. In moments, the poison made his hand and arm swell and throb with pain. Smith—who had narrowly escaped death at the hands of Turkish champions, Indian enemies, and both English and Indian executioners—seemed fated to die as the result of a stingray’s attack. In fact, he was so sure he was about to die that he chose a spot on a nearby island where he wished to be buried. Meanwhile, a surgeon who was included in the exploring party treated Smith the best way he could. Eventually the swelling went down and the pain stopped. Then, in a move typical of the feisty captain, John Smith ate the stingray for his evening meal. (To Conquer is To Live: The Life of Captain John Smith of Jamestown, by Kieran Doherty Twenty First Century Books 2001, pg. 84.)