Celebrating peace and a plentiful harvest,
Winslow writes to friends: '...We are so far from want that we
often wish you partakers of our plenty.'
With the advance of
spring came time for planting the main crop. The Pilgrims got
out the seed corn they had taken in November from Corn Hill--the
corn without which, as Bradford recorded, "they might have starved."
To help with this strange seed there was Squanto, who showed them "how
to set it, and after how to dress and tend it. Also he told them,
except they got a fish and set with it in these old grounds it
would come to nothing."
The fish were herring that, in springtime, around mid-April, swim
up Town Brook to spawn. Squanto showed the Pilgrims how to trap
these herring and how to plant the corn in little mounds above
the fish. He also instructed them to guard the mounds to ward
off wolves and other predators attracted by the decaying herring
as it fertilized the corn.
While the tilling and planting were under way, Gov. Carver, suddenly
stricken ill, came home from the cornfields. In a few hours he
fell into a coma, and within a few days he passed away. He had
been among the hardest of the workers, and this fact, the lamenting
Pilgrims felt certain, had "shortened his days."
In little more than a month his wife died, too. They had no children.
At the time of Carver's death Bradford had not yet recovered from
his own illness. Nevertheless, the Pilgrims chose the 31-year-old
Bradford, as Rev. Cotton Mather of the Puritans later expressed
it, to be "the leader of a people in a wilderness."
Bradford's illness had taken him "near the point of death," so
the Pilgrims also elected an assistant, Isaac Allerton.
The difficulties then facing Bradford were so manifold, said Rev.
Mather, that
"had he not been a person of more than ordinary piety, wisdom,
and courage, he must have sunk under them."
With springtime and renewed hopes, romance also came to Plymouth. On May
12 the first English child born in New England, Peregrine White, and his
brother, got a new home when their mother became the bride of Edward Winslow.
Both newlyweds had lost spouses in the General Sickness. It was the colony's
first marriage ceremony.
Winslow played a major part in one of Bradford's earliest efforts
as governor. In July, Bradford initiated journeys into the countryside
that were aimed at helping the Pilgrims learn more about their
Indian neighbors and the wilderness. Several trips took place
that summer and fall--one of them a rescue mission to the Cape.
All of them were filled with the dangers and exciting wonders
of exploring unknown terrain and encountering strangers.
Winslow set out July 3 on what would be a five-day trip to Sowams
(Warren, R.I.), the seat of Massasoit 40 miles away. Winslow had
with him the experienced Stephen Hopkins, and Squanto as guide
and interpreter.
The mission had several objectives besides "to continue the league
of peace and friendship between them and us." The group was to "discover
the country...as also to see their strength." And there was another
vital objective. Ever since Massasoit had been to Plymouth, there
had been quite a flow of his subjects coming to see the plantation,
to eat and to invite gifts. The Pilgrims, "not knowing how our
corn might prosper," became anxious to cut down on this entertainment,
hopefully without giving offense. It was a touchy assignment for
any diplomat.
Indians all along the Winslow group's route to Narragansett Bay,
particularly the Namasket (Middleborough), were kindly--helping
the Pilgrims ford streams, and sharing repasts of corn bread,
fish and boiled acorns. One of the Pilgrims profoundly impressed
the Indians at Namasket by shooting, from some fourscore paces,
a crow that was damaging their corn.
The Pilgrims got a hearty welcome from Massasoit on reaching Sowams
on July 4. He took them to his house, and put on a gift Winslow
had brought him: "a horseman's coat of red cotton and laced with
a slight lace." Massasoit was "not a little proud," and his warriors
were equally pleased "to see their king so bravely attired."
On hearing the Pilgrims' appeal, Massasoit at once assented to every request.
He would stop the flood of visitors; any messenger from him would wear the
copper chain identification Winslow had also brought; and, as overlord of
the Nausets, he would help the Pilgrims make payment for the seed corn they
had taken at Corn Hill. Furthermore, he gave them some of his own seed corn,
so that the Pilgrims could decide which produced better on their soil.
As it grew late he invited them to use his bed, they at one end,
and he and his wife at the other. It was a bed that was "only
planks laid a foot from the ground and a thin mat upon them." Two
of Massasoit's chief warriors who dropped in were also invited
to find space for themselves on the bed. The effect on the Pilgrims
was "that we were worse weary of our lodging than of our journey."
There were games in the morning and some target shooting by the
Pilgrims. In early afternoon, the Indians brought two big fish
and boiled them for "at least forty" to share.
Massasoit pressed his visitors to stay longer, but they said they
were eager to get back for the Sabbath.
The Pilgrims had feared that they might be "light-headed for want
of sleep, for what with bad lodging, the savages' barbarous singing--for
they use to sing themselves to sleep--lice and fleas within doors,
and mosquitoes without, we could hardly sleep all the time our
being there; we much fearing that if we should stay any longer,
we should not be able to recover home for want of strength."
They left early Friday morning, before sunrise.
En route home the Pilgrims were well received by Indians, especially
the Namasket, where "it pleased God to give them good store of
fish, so that we were well refreshed."
Bradford was particularly impressed by Winslow's report that while
the hostile Narragansetts, living across the bay from Massasoit
and untouched by the plague,
"were a strong people and many in number," there had been shocking
signs of the plague's devastating effect on the Wampanoags.
Thousands had died. "They not being able to bury one another," said
Bradford,
"their skulls and bones were found in many places lying still
above the ground where their houses and dwellings had been, a
very sad spectacle to behold."
Early in August, the colonists were once again distressed by one
of the Billington youngsters. This time it was not firecrackers;
it was that young John Billington had gotten lost in the woods.
Bradford, with 10 armed men and Squanto as guide, took the shallop
on a three-day rescue mission to the Cape.
The trip, through Massasoit's intercession, was highly successful,
though beclouded near the end by a false report that Massasoit
had been captured by the Narragansetts.
On the way to the Nausets the Pilgrims anchored in Barnstable
Harbor, and there they were graciously entertained by the chief
at Cummaquid, an Indian village. His men sang, danced, and shared
their feast of lobsters and fish.
It was these Indians who had found young John, who had been living
on berries, and had sent him on to the chief of the Nausets, Aspinet,
whose warriors had attacked the Pilgrims at First Encounter Beach.
A PATHETIC SIGHT AT CUMMAQUID WAS "the
weeping and crying" of a woman "no less than a 100 years old." The Pilgrims
were told that three of her sons had been kidnapped by the villainous Capt.
Hunt and that this had deprived her of "the comfort of her children in her
old age."
The Pilgrims told her that all the English condemned Hunt, and
gave her some gifts.
When the Pilgrim party arrived at First Encounter Beach, Bradford
satisfied the Nausets, who were swarming around them, for the
corn taken from Corn Hill, and promises of trade were exchanged.
Aspinet appeared after sunset with a great train of warriors.
One of them carried the Bellington boy through the water toward
the boat. Aspinet "had no less than a hundred with him; the others
stood aloof with their bows and arrows. There he delivered us
the boy, behung with beads, and made peace with us; we bestowing
a knife on him, and likewise on another that first encountered
the boy and brought him thither. So they departed from us."
During this exchange, the Pilgrims got word that Massasoit had
been taken. "This,"
said Bradford, "struck some fear in us, because the colony was
so weakly guarded, the strength thereof being abroad. But we set
forth with resolution to make the best haste home we could."
On their return, which was delayed by bad weather, Squanto and
Hobomok--another friendly Indian, who had come to live at Plymouth--went
to Namasket to see what they could learn about Massasoit. There
they were set up by a deceitful follower of the Wampanoag sachem,
Corbitant, possibly jealous of these two Indians because of their
close ties with the Pilgrims.
Hobomok, a strong man, broke free and rushed back to Plymouth
to tell of his fear that Squanto had been slain. The last he had
seen Squanto, he reported, Corbitant was holding a knife at his
breast."
The Pilgrims resolved on immediate action. Bradford dispatched
Capt. Standish and some dozen armed men, with Hobomok as guide.
Their orders: "If they found Squanto was killed, to cut off Corbitant's
head."
In the nighttime assault on Corbitant's house, two Indians were
slightly injured. But Standish found that Corbitant had fled and
that Squanto was safe.
When Hobomok explained to the Namasket Indians that it was only
Corbitant who was sought, the Indians ceased trembling and shared
food with the Pilgrims. The two wounded Indians were brought back
so Samuel Fuller, the Pilgrims' doctor, could dress their wounds,
and then they were sent home.
A "much finer peace" was the outcome of the Pilgrims' determined
response to the threat to Squanto.
The Pilgrims soon possessed a document, a treaty--dated Sept.
13, 1621--on which seven Indian chiefs had placed their names,
or a mark. Winslow, writing about it to Bradford's future brother-in-law
in England, George Morton--most likely the "Mourt" of Mourt's
Relation--told of the improvement in the security of the plantation:
"It hath pleased God so to possess the Indians with a fear of us and love
unto us, that not only the greatest king amongst them called Massasoit, but
also all the princes and people round about us, have either made suit unto
us, or been glad of any occasion to make peace with us; so that seven of
them at once have sent their messengers to us to that end. Yea, an isle at
sea, which we never saw, hath also together with the former, yielded willingly
to be under protection and subject to our sovereign lord King James." [There's
a Scripture in the Bible, in Proverbs, that states that when your ways are
pleasing to God, he will even make your enemies be at peace with you. This
is a direct manifestation of that Proverb.] The "isle at sea" was Martha's
Vineyard, called Capawack by the Indians. On that Sept. 13, document were
the names or marks of Indian leaders to the south and west of Plymouth. Even
Corbitant, with Massasoit mediating, got himself included.
Bradford next sought information, peace and trade with the Indians
in the north--the Massachusetts tribe around future Boston Harbor.
On Sept. 18, as midnight approached, Bradford picked 10 colonists--headed
by Standish, with Squanto as interpreter and with two other Indians
along--to go in the shallop on this four-day mission. Two more
Indian chiefs signed the peace treaty as a result of the mission,
bringing the total to nine. Each had thus declared himself "King
James' man."
After entering the harbor, the Pilgrim contingent sailed across,
describing it as "very large and hath at least 50 islands in it." Once
again they came face to face with the horrible ravages of the
1616-1617 plague. "Many, yea most of the islands have been inhabited;
some being cleared from end to end. But the people are all dead,
or removed."
The few Indians they did meet "used us very kindly," the Pilgrims
said, and shared their boiled cod. A chief told them how his people
had to keep on the move because of fear of the Tarratines, a Maine
tribe that raided them at harvesttime to steal their crops. There
was some impromptu trading, which produced an unusual scene near
the shallop.
The Indian women "sold their coats from their backs and tied boughs
about them, but with great shamefacedness for indeed they are
more modest than some of our English women are. We promised them
to come again to them, and they us to keep their skins."
Because food was limited Standish and his men did not explore
the Charles River, but they did go several miles up present Mystic
River. Everywhere they were impressed, particularly by the great
harbor. "Better harbors for shipping cannot be than here are," they
judged. Indeed, in their report Bradford said that the group came
back to Plymouth "wishing they (the colony) had been there seated"--that
is, by future Boston Harbor.
In less than a decade new settlers--Puritans sharing the New World
dream of the Pilgrims--would sail into this same harbor and establish
a community that, before the end of the century, would become
the capital of the first permanent New England colony, the one
then being created by the Pilgrims at Plymouth. By mid-September,
harvesttime had come to Plymouth.
It was a "small harvest," said Bradford, but enough to provide
a peck of corn a week per person [8 qts. = 1 peck, 4 pecks = 1
bushel].
Winslow gave more detail. In addition to some twenty acres of
corn, they had also sown some six acres of barley and peas, "and
according to the manner of the Indians, we manured our ground
with herrings, or rather shads, which we have in great abundance,
and take with great ease at our doors..."
"God be praised, we had a good increase of Indian corn, and our barley indifferent
good, but our pease not worth the gathering, for we fear they were too late
sown."
Winslow then proceeded to write a brief, but still our most detailed,
description of the Pilgrims' first Thanksgiving.
It was a harvest festival, most likely sometime in October. Neither
Winslow nor Bradford gave an exact date. Bradford did tell gratefully
how the Pilgrims had recovered their strength, and now had houses
and food. Winslow, in his December 1621 letter to Morton, wrote:
"Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so
we might, after a special manner, rejoince together after we had gathered the
fruit of our labors. They four in one day killed as much fowl as, with a little
help beside, served the company almost a week.
"At which time, amongst other recreations, we exercised our arms, many of the
Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their king, Massasoit, with some
90 men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted; and they went out and
killed five deer, which they brought to the plantation, and bestowed on our
governor, and upon the captain and others. And although it be not always so
plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God we are
so far from want that we often wish you partakers of our plenty.
"We have found the Indians very faithful in their covenant of peace with us,
very loving and ready to pleasure us. We often go to them, and they come to
us."
At last, after recurring hardship and suffering, the Pilgrims
seemed to have found peace and plenty. In these weeks of exuberance,
Winslow declared: "If we have once but kine (cattle), horses and
sheep, I make no question but men might live as contented here
as in any part of the world." Winslow, in fact, would bring the
first few cattle to Plymouth, but not for many more, difficult
months.
The Pilgrims left no doubt that this haven, for which they had patiently
endured countless reverses, was primarily religious according to their interpretation
of the Bible. But it was a haven that left room for some diversity of
religious practice.
Thus, Christmas Day, 1621, was to them as any other day. Bradford dutifully
called the Pilgrims to their work. But most of the London Strangers excused
themselves. Bradford, after the manner of the tolerant Dutch, told them that
"if they made it matter of conscience, he would spare them till they were
better informed; so he led away the rest and left them." But when Bradford
came home with the others at noon:
"He found them in the street at play, openly; some pitching the bar, and
some at stool-ball (an early form of cricket) and such like sports. So he
went to them and took away their implements, and told them that was against
his conscience, that they should play and others work. If they made the keeping
of it (Christmas) matter of devotion, let them keep [to] their houses; but
there should be no gaming or reveling in the streets. Since which time nothing
hath been attempted that way, at least openly." [It seems interesting,
and it may be purely coincidence, but the Pilgrims observed a harvest feast
in the fall, as the Jews do on their harvest feast of Tabernacles, and didn't
observe Christmas, as the Jews and the very primitive Christian church didn't
either. Bradford actually learned Hebrew later in his life so as to be able
to read God's Word in the original tongue it was written in.]