Oklahoma Society of
Mayflower Descendants

For nearly a month, small scouting parties explored Cape Cod Bay while the remaining passengers stayed aboard the Mayflower. During one outing, Nauset warriors attacked the scouts with arrows, prompting a return of gunfire in a bloodless clash known as the "First Encounter." Soon after, the explorers located a permanent settlement site near Plymouth Harbor, where they found a freshwater stream, a land clearing, and a hill for lookout and defense. The Mayflower sailed across the bay and anchored in Plymouth Harbor on December 26.

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The colonists continued living on the ship through the winter while the men rowed ashore daily to build houses. The harsh weather, hard labor, and severe lack of food took a heavy toll. A devastating illness of colds, coughs, and fevers swept through the group, killing roughly half of the colonists and crew.

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Weakened and vulnerable to attack, the Pilgrims were well aware of the Native American presence. To hide their dwindling number, they resorted to burying their dead at night. Even though the Natives kept the settlers under constant watch and knew of their mounting losses, they kept their distance.

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By mid-March, the winter weather had cleared, and enough houses were completed for everyone to leave the ship. Soon after, a Native man shocked the colonists by walking directly into their village and greeting them in broken English. His name was Samoset. He was an Abenaki chief visiting from modern-day Maine who had learned the language from European fishermen. Because most New England tribes spoke related Algonquian languages, he could easily communicate with the local Wampanoag.

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Samoset answered many questions about the surrounding geography, tribes, and distances. He revealed that the colonists had settled on land previously inhabited by the Patuxet, a Wampanoag band wiped out by an epidemic four years earlier. He also told them about a surviving Patuxet man who spoke better English than he did.

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A few days later, Samoset returned with this survivor, Tisquantum, famously known as Squanto. Years earlier, Squanto had been kidnapped into slavery by English explorers and taken to Europe, where he mastered the English language. After escaping and finding passage back to America, he discovered his homeland abandoned and his people gone. Left with no surviving kin, Squanto settled with the Pokanoket band of the Wampanoag nation.

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That same day, Samoset and Squanto arranged an introduction between the colonists and Massasoit (Ousamequin), the grand sachem of the Wampanoag Confederacy. This meeting led to a landmark alliance, establishing a decades-long treaty of peace, friendship, and mutual military defense.​

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1621 TREATY

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• Peace: The Wampanoags would not harm the colonists.

• Justice: If anyone did cause harm, Massasoit would send the offender so that the colonists might punish him.

• Restitution: If anything were stolen, Massasoit would see to its return, and the colonists would do the same.

• Defense: If anyone unjustly attacked the Wampanoags or colonists in an act of war, the other would give aid.

• Alliance: Massasoit would notify neighboring tribes of this treaty so they might not harm the colonists.

• Safety: When the Wampanoags visited the colonists, they would leave their bows and arrows behind.

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Squanto chose to remain with the weakened, malnourished settlers and became an invaluable member of the colony. Throughout the summer, he taught them how to plant corn, catch fish, dig clams, extract maple syrup, and identify poisonous plants. Another Wampanoag named Hobbamock also moved into the settlement to provide guidance. With their help, Plymouth Colony survived.​

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This newfound resilience transformed the settlement. When the recovered Mayflower crew finally set sail for England in April, not a single colonist chose to abandon the colony. By early autumn, the survivors had regained their health and stockpiled enough provisions to carry them through the coming winter.

 

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