Squanto Helps the Pilgrims

W HEN the Pilgrims reached New England, their hardships had only begun. The Mayflower had to anchor more than a mile from the shore, the water was so shallow. Except at high tide they could not land, even in their boat, without wading in the icy water. Some of the men made a trip ashore to spy out the land. The weather was cold and stormy and the whole country looked bleak and dreary; for winter had set in early that year.

The place where the Pilgrims landed had once been an Indian village. They thought they should find Indians lurking in the woods; but all the people had died of the plague, and not a living creature was to be seen. The cornfields were left for the newcomers to plant. There were several running brooks and a large spring close by, from which they could get plenty of fresh water.

The first thing to do was to stake out the land and build some kind of house. That first Christmas on the Plymouth shore must indeed have been hard. Governor Bradford wrote in his journal, "No man rested on that day; we had a sore storm of wind and rain." It was on that dreary Christmas morning that they began to build their first log house, a cabin about twenty feet square, for storing their goods.

The women and children stayed on board the Mayflower. They had to breathe the bad air of the cabin, and suffered from cold and hunger. The men came ashore in good weather and worked all day in building log cabins and moving their household goods. It was slow and hard work. The winter days were short and often stormy. It took a long time to go to and from the vessel, and their food was poor and scanty.

So slow was the work that at the end of the first year there were only four log storehouses and seven log cabins in the whole settlement.

Sickness and death came too. During the first winter nearly one half of the colony died. At one time there were only seven persons well enough to wait on the sick and bury the dead.

Governor Bradford wrote in his journal: "On the third day of March it was warm and fair; the birds sang in the woods most pleasantly. In the afternoon there was a thunderstorm, and it rained very sadly until midnight." And two days later, we are told, one of the children sowed some garden seeds.

One Friday afternoon in March, when the Pilgrims were busy about their log cabins, a tall, half-naked Indian came out of the woods at the top of the hill. He walked boldly toward the little village of log houses and cried out, "Welcome, Englishmen, welcome!"

It seems that the Indian's name was Samoset and that he had lived on the coast of Maine, where he picked up a few English words from the fishermen. It was believed that he mistook the Mayflower for a fishing vessel and felt free to enter the little village.

The Pilgrims treated their savage guest kindly. They gave him a coat to cover his bare shoulders; and they fed him on "biscuit, butter, cheese, pudding, and roast duck." They would gladly have got rid of their guest for the night, but he was not willing to go; and so they let him stay in one of the log houses, where they watched him to keep him from doing harm. In the morning they sent him away, "after giving him a knife, a bracelet, and a ring."

Samoset was so well pleased with his new friends that he came back on a visit the next day, which was Sunday. This time he brought five other Indians with him. They were tall, sturdy men, dressed in deerskins. Some had their faces painted black. They brought their own food with them. It was Indian corn. They pounded it into meal, put it into a little water, and then ate it. Governor Bradford says: "They would eat liberally of our English victuals; although it was Sunday, the redskins sang and danced, after their manner, like antics."

The Pilgrims sent the Indians away before night. Samoset pretended to be sick; he would not go until the next Wednesday. He went home a well-pleased and proud Indian, for the Pilgrims gave him "a hat, a pair of shoes and stockings, a shirt, and a piece of cloth to tie about his waist."

On Thursday Samoset came again, bringing still another Indian with him. The name of this Indian was Squanto, a sort of nickname for Squantum or Tisquantum.

It seems that Squanto had once lived in this region, but had been kidnapped by the captain of an English vessel and carried to England. He lived in London and learned to speak English pretty well. Then some kindhearted sea-captain brought him back and put him ashore on the coast of Maine. Thence he wandered back to his native place, only to find most of his people dead. Squanto said that many Indians once lived in this region and had large fields of corn; but some dreadful disease broke out, from which nearly all of them died.

Squanto proved a useful friend to the Pilgrims from the very first. He took them out to a little river close by, and showed them how to fish for eels. He trod the eels out of the mud and caught them with his hands. Governor Bradford says in his journal, "The eels were fat and sweet, and our people were glad of them."

Shortly afterwards Squanto came to live with the Pilgrims. It would be a long story to tell you all this Indian did for his half-starved friends.

When the Pilgrims made their first trip along the shore of Cape Cod they found several basketfuls of corn, which the Indians had buried in the sand. They saved enough of this to plant in the spring. Squanto now taught them how to get the old Indian cornfield ready for a new crop. He showed them how to catch the little fish called alewives, and put two or three into every hill of corn to make the corn grow better. He also showed his friends how to watch the cornfields to prevent the wolves from digging up the fish.

It has been said that without the seed corn and the help of Squanto the whole Plymouth settlement would have starved to death before the end of the first year. The Pilgrims had left their old home in England without hooks and lines for fishing. Here again Squanto was able to lend a hand, and taught his friends how to catch fish and lobsters after the Indian fashion.

Squanto now began to serve the settlers in another way. The chief of the Indians in the Plymouth region was Massasoit. He had been told wonderful things about the white-faced strangers, and wished to visit them. One day he came with some of his warriors to the top of the hill to make a friendly visit, and Squanto was sent out to talk with him. Shortly afterward Massasoit and twenty redskins came tramping into the settlement, leaving their bows and arrows behind them. This Indian chief was a tall, strong young man. He wore a large chain of white bone beads about his neck; at the back of his neck hung a little bag of tobacco, which he smoked and gave to the Pilgrims to smoke. His face was painted a deep red; his head and face were so covered with oil that he "looked greasily." His warriors were tall and strong, and were painted, some black, some red, some yellow, and some white.

The chief and his warriors went marching slowly along the narrow street and into the large log cabin. A great noise was made with a trumpet, and some of the men fired their muskets. Governor Bradford did the honors. He kissed the chief's hand, and Massasoit kissed the governor, and then they sat down for a talk. The Indian chief sat on a green mat, with some cushions placed round him.

Massasoit was greatly pleased with his reception. A copper chain and some beads were given to him. He said he would live in peace with his white-faced friends. The redskin chief kept his word. The treaty was kept sacred for more than fifty years.

Squanto liked to tell his Indian friends about the white-faced settlers. He said the Pilgrims kept gunpowder in the cellars of the log cabins; in the same place, he said, where the plague was kept. If an Indian did any harm to the strangers, the plague would be let loose to destroy every redskin along the coast.

The Pilgrims owed a good deal of money to their friends in England; for they had been obliged to run into debt to fit out the Mayflower. After a while they coasted along the shore to trade with the Indians for furs and corn. On such trips Squanto was a great help as pilot. Late one fall, about two years after Squanto came to live with the Pilgrims, he sailed with his friends outside of Cape Cod as far as the elbow. This place is now known as Chatham. Here the Indians were shy of the strangers, but Squanto at last induced them to sell eight hogsheads of corn and beans.

Poor Squanto! On this trip he was taken with a fever and died in a few days. Before he died he gave some of his things to his English friends as keepsakes. His last words were, "Pray that the Indian Squanto may go to the white man's heaven."