hanksgiving Day is one of my favorite holidays. It’s a time to gather with those I love most and share memories and enjoy the blessings of the day. Like just about everyone else, I will feast royally on turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, dressing, shrimp, vegetables, cranberries, salad and pumpkin pie…..you know, the traditional meal. The meal that the Pilgrims ate at that first Thanksgiving in 1621. Except, of course, that there were no cranberries at that first Thanksgiving feast, or potatoes, or sweet potatoes, or salad. In fact, most of what has become the traditional Thanksgiving holiday cuisine was not served at the first Pilgrim Thanksgiving.
Potatoes came from South America and had yet to make it north, and sweet potatoes were from the Jamaican Islands and were yet unknown to the Pilgrims. There was no butter or flour so baking was difficult. Some wild vegetables were available but other than cabbage, there were no cultivated vegetables available. There were cranberry bogs but it would be over one hundred years before someone would figure out how to cook them.
So what was served? Corn, although not the corn we know today. Flint corn as it is called is smaller and coarser than the sweet corn most of us eat today and with multi-colored kernels. It was served on both the cob and in a porridge. There was cabbage, beans, pumpkins and squash, wild onions, and oat bread. As to the meat — wild turkey and Passenger pigeons (now extinct). The Wampanoag Indians, led by their chief Massasoit, were honored guests and brought five deer. There were 90 warriors in all. Swan and duck were served. Eel, clams, and mussels were on the menu. There must have been plenty of food because they feasted for three days. To drink there was some wine, but it was mostly water.
The Puritans had been part of a group of pioneers who had signed on to sail to the Virginia colony in 1620 by investors in the Virginia Company. The company had hired Captain Christopher Jones and his ship the Speedwell along with a crew to haul the group and some supplies to Virginia. A larger ship, the Mayflower was to accompany her on the voyage. There were 121 colonists altogether. Less than half of the group were Puritan. The others were referred to as strangers by the Puritans. Unknown to many of the travelers was the fact that the destination had been changed in negotiations to land some 200 miles north of the Virginia colony, in an area that was to be called New England. This was land that had been claimed by the Dutch and the Virginia Company, and they did not want the information to become public knowledge. The Speedwell left Plymouth on August 2, 1620, but before it could get to open sea the crew reported a leak in the hull and the Speedwell was put in to the port of Devon for repairs. On August 15, they set out again but the Speedwell crew reported that the ship was top heavy and over-masted, making it unseaworthy and the ship went back to Devon. The colonists claimed that the crew was trying to get out of their commitment to the voyage which led to some hostile feelings between the crew and passengers. Captain Jones admitted that he felt that there were too many women and children and they might not be strong enough to survive the voyage. Everything was transferred to the larger Mayflower. Nineteen of the passengers had to be left behind to come at a later date and the ship finally set sail on September 15. Winter was starting to set in and the ship encountered a stormy sea for most of the trip. A crewman and passenger both died during the trip. This was not uncommon for the time. A baby was born during the voyage.
Land was sighted on November 6. It was then that everyone learned about the change in destination. Captain Jones said he had fulfilled his part of the bargain and was delivering his cargo to the shore. While the passengers were upset and some very angry, most agreed that after the long and difficult voyage they were anxious to put ashore and start preparing for winter. Because they thought they were headed further south, most of the colonists had not brought heavy winter clothes. Building shelter was the priority. A party went ashore to find a place to start building.
The Indians in the area looked at the new arrivals the way some now are seeing the Syrian refugees: Unwanted trespassers who stole their food and brought sickness and death. English ships had come to the Atlantic coast before; they plundered villages and took the natives as slaves The Indians knew the power of the English guns and cannons. A Pautexet tribesman named Squanto had been captured and taken to England seven years earlier. He had learned to speak English and became a Christian. Two years before he had been brought on a voyage to be an interpreter. He was able to slip away from his captors and make his way to his home. He found his village had been wiped out by plague. He was living among the Wampanoag when the Pilgrims arrived. Massasoit sent Squanto to find out the intentions of the English settlers. The settlers were generally friendly to Squanto and receptive to his advice. Squanto thought that the English with their firepower could be useful to the Wampanoag as allies against some of the hostile tribes. Squanto arranged a meeting between the Pilgrim leaders and Massasoit and a peace agreement was reached.
To say the the winter of 1620-21 was severe for the Pilgrims is an understatement. Fifty-four of the original colonists did not survive to the spring including Governor William Bradford’s wife. In April, the Mayflower set sail for home and took several of the unhappy colonists with her. In July, most of the colonists that had been left behind, were happy to see some new ones arrive with some much needed supplies. So when the harvest came and it was bountiful there was much to be thankful for, so the first official Thanksgiving celebration came to pass.