Chapter XII
A joyful, optimistic first Thanksgiving
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.]
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