MAP 2.2 The Growth of English Settlement in the Chesapeake, c. 1650 With the success of tobacco, English plantations and forts spread along the James River and north to St. Mary’s. By 1650 most Chesapeake Indian tribes had been vanquished or forced to move north and west. While the fall line, which marked the limit of navigable waterways, kept English settlements close to the Atlantic coast, it also ensured easy shipment of goods.