Nov. 10, 2025

Terrifying & True | Dark Realities of the First Thanksgiving: Survival, Plague, and a Fragile Peace

Terrifying & True | Dark Realities of the First Thanksgiving: Survival, Plague, and a Fragile Peace
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The First Thanksgiving wasn’t a cheerful myth—it was born from starvation, epidemic, and uneasy diplomacybetween the Wampanoag and the Pilgrims at Plymouth in 1620–1621. In this Terrifying & True deep-dive, we peel back comforting legend to confront the Great Dying, the stark winter that followed the Mayflower landfall, and the fragile accord brokered through Samoset, Squanto, and Massasoit. We unpack the mutual-defense treaty, the practical lifelines of corn, fish, and eels, the political subtext of the harvest feast, and the violence that erupted at Wessagusset—shattering illusions of lasting peace and exposing the cost paid by the people who were already here.
Inside this episode:

  • Before the feast: The Great Dying, empty villages, and a winter of hunger.
  • First contact: Samoset’s greeting, Squanto’s lifesaving know-how, and Massasoit’s calculus.
  • Terms of survival: The treaty, visits, disarmament, and why both sides accepted the risk.
  • The three-day “thanksgiving”: Hunting, politics, and grief at the same table.
  • Wessagusset turns deadly: Tension, betrayal, and brutal spectacle on a palisade.
  • Myth vs. memory: How a story of survival became a national legend—and what it leaves out.
    If you want true history—uncomfortable, meticulously told, and eerily human—this is the real story behind the holiday. We’re telling that story tonight.


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Not a feast of plenty, but a feast of survival.

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Sixteen twenty one, Hunger, plague and a fragile pact between

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the wampano and the pilgrim. Tonight, we follow the smoke

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to the truth survival first, politics second, and peace. Hanging

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by a thread. What you were about to pit you

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is beve to be money based on witness accounts, testamaties,

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and public record. This is terrifying and truth truth. A

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very special thank you to cozyearth dot com for answering

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Tonight's show. Headcozyearth dot com and use promo code spooky

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for forty one percent off your first order featuring the

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supports the show, So headdocozyearth dot com and use code spooky.

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Imagine Plymouth, Colony, New England, sixteen twenty one. A battered

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outpost clings to a wind struck shore to the west.

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The Wampanoe, reeling from a devastating epidemic, measure a perilous

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choice coexist or catastrophe. From the tree line, A stranger

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steps forward and speaks plain English. His name is Samoset,

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and with him comes Squanto Massasoit and a pact written

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in careful clauses and cautious glances. For three days they

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share food and vigilance. What later becomes legend as a

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Thanksgiving is in truth a table set with politics, grief

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and survival, the winter that killed, the treaty that held,

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and the fragile peace that could not. Tonight we look

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at the hard truths of the time of the First Thanksgiving.

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November sixteen twenty, after ten weeks at sea aboard the Mayflower,

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a band of English religious dissenters later known as the Pilgrims,

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at last set foot on what is now the coast

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of Massachusetts. They discovered a quote hideous and desolate wilderness

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full of wild beasts and wild men. No friendly villages

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nor fields ready for sowing greeted them only the oncoming

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fury of a new England winter. Stranded far north of

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their intended destination, the Pilgrims were woefully unprepared for the cold.

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They looked out over a frozen landscape of bare trees

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and stunted brush, with a growing scents of dread. Behind

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them lay the Atlantic, an oceanic barrier to the world

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they had left before them, shadowed forests and uncertainty. From

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the very beginning, survival was terrifyingly uncertain. Hunger gnawed constantly

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at the settlers. Their meager diet shrank to scraps, spoiled

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ship's biscuits, dried peas, strips of cod, even boiled acorns

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and ground nuts when they could find nothing better. Fresh

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Water was also scarce among the salty Marshes, and thirst

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tormented them just as much as hunger. On one desperate march,

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finding a clear pond was said to be pleasant as

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wine to the parched men. As supplies dwindled, each pilgrim's

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daily ration became pitiful. Some days there was no food

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at all, and men staggered in weakness as they labored

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to build shelters. William B. Bradford later recalled that had

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not an accidental discovery of a store of wild corn

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quote a special providence of God saved them, they might

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have starved. Disease compounded their misery. Without proper housing, and

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weakened by malnutrition, illness swept through the camp. Scurvy and

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pneumonia took hold in that cruel winter of sixteen twenty

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through sixteen twenty one. Bradford later lamented that in quote

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two or three months time, half of their company had died,

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So as there died, sometimes two or three a day.

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Fresh mounds of earth appeared with grim regularity in the

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frozen ground. Often the dead were buried hastily at night

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in unmarked graves, their shrouds helping to quote bury are

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dead in darkness, shielding the depth of the disaster from

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any onlookers. The pilgrims feared that if the local native

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people had seen how many had perished, they would know

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just how vulnerable the colony truly was. So day by

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day they hid their despair behind the facade of normalcy.

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Inside Plymouth's crude huts, scenes of suffering multiplied. Feverish men

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and women huddled under threadbare blankets as cutting winds whistled

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through the gaps in the walls. According to one account,

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only six or seven sound persons remained fit enough to

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care for the dying, who spared no pains night or

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day to bathe fevered brows, wash dirty linens, and pray incessantly.

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When deaths outpaced their ability to bury them, the settlers

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simply wrapped the bodies in cloth and laid them on

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the cold ground. These devout Christians, who had crossed an

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ocean seeking religious freedom, began to wonder if instead they

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had found divine wrath. Bradford wrote that the pilgrims were

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quote ready to perish in this wilderness, kept alive only

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by the spirit of God and his grace. In their

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darkest hours, they truly believed that only God's providence stood

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between them and oblivion. All the while, the Pilgrims felt

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eyes on them from the woods. Native figures were glimpsed

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at the forest's edge, skulking about them. According to Bradford,

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the colonists had no idea whether these sightings meant friendship

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or threat. Once tools left in the fields were quietly stolen,

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every rustle in the night made hearts pound. In truth,

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the only clue the settlers had about the local people

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was grim. When the Mayflower scouts explored the shores a

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year earlier, they found abandoned native houses, empty corn caches,

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and bleached bones piled in the woods. The ground on

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which Plymouth Colony would rise had once been patuxt a

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Wampannoegg village, now entirely empty, a vast graveyard. Unbeknownst to

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the pilgrims, the land they settled had been freshly ravaged

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by a catastrophe. Between sixteen sixteen and sixteen nineteen, a

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mysterious epidemic swept through coastal New England, annihilating entire communities

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of the Wampannoegg and their neighbors. Historians would later call

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it the Great Dying. The toll was unimaginable. In some villages,

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ninety percent of people died. An English chronicler wrote that

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whole towns were depopulated. The living were not able to

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bury the dead, leaving skeletons lying above ground for years.

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The stench of death hung over the forests. Thomas Morton,

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an English settler, described walking through what seemed like a

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new found golgatha of bones and skulls. In some native houses,

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bodies lay where families had perished, no one left to

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bury them. The Wampanoag people, who had lived in these

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lands for generations, were reeling from this catastrophe. We now

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believe the plague was probably caused by leptospirosis or another

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European disease, a pathogen unknowingly brought ashore. By European fishermen

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and traders. Whatever the microbe, the native population was virgin

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soil for infection and utterly devastated. Patuxit soon to be

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Plymouth was especially hit hard. When Squanto finally found his

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way back home in sixteen nineteen, after years abroad, he

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discovered his entire village empty and dead. He was literally

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the last of the patux It. The Wampanoagsachum Massasoit's world

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lay in ruins. His confederacy had once been strong, but

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after sixteen nineteen it was shattered. Hundreds of his people

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were dead, and rival tribes now encroached to the west.

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The narrow Gansett had mostly escaped the worst of the

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plague and even demanded true from the weakened Wampanoag. By

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sixteen twenty, the balance of power in the region had flipped.

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Massasoit faced chaos. Centuries of tradition, upended alliances, frayed enemies

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at every turn. It's hard to imagine the dread among

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the Wampanoagg elders. Some likely wondered if their gods or

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nature itself were punishing them. Some later voiced the belief

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that this was quote by God's visitation a wonderful plague

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that had cleared the way for the English, a sentiment

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echoed by Bradford and the Pilgrims, who thanked Providence that

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the land was empty for the taking. But to the Wampanoag,

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this was no empty land. It was a vast burial ground.

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They lived daily with the memory of how swiftly death

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could come. Massasoit needed to ensure his people's survival. When

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news reached him of a small group of English struggling

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at Peduxit or Plymouth, he faced a fateful choice. These

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strangers flew the same flag and professed the same faith

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as the traders who had brought the plague. Should he

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regard them as potential allies now equipped with muskets and

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iron tools, or as another threat to be eliminated while

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his nation was still weak. In early sixteen twenty one,

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Massasoit watched and waited. His scouts reported that winter had

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nearly killed all of the English. A single attack might

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now finish the Pilgrims. Yet Massasoit hesitated. He understood that

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an alliance, however strange, could serve his people's interests. The

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newcomers had guns, he did not. They too feared the Narragansett,

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and they were few, perhaps manageable, so Massasoit restrained himself.

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Both sides eyed each other warily through the frost covered woods,

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but the stalemate would soon break. The first direct encounter

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between the Pilgrims and the local natives was a shock

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to both sides. On March sixteenth, sixteen twenty one, a

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lone native man strode boldly into the half built village

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and greeted them in English, Welcome Englishmen. Bradford later marveled

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at the scene. The man was Samoset, a sagamore of

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the Abenaki from Maine. Barely clad against the chill, he

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walked in as casually as any neighbor. Alarmed the settlers

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raised their muskets, Samoset lifted a placating hand and repeated

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the greeting in halting English learned from fishermen. He even

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named some ship captains. The Pilgrims, who had braced themselves

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to meet a fierce savage, were astonished to meet someone

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who asked only for beer and bread. Samoset's calm friendliness,

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even as he sampled their strong ale, immediately eased tension.

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The settlers crowded around him in the dim candlelit common house,

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listening with relief and curiosity to his broken English, while

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outside the dark woods still loomed. In the hours that followed,

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Samoset shared invaluable information through a mix of English words

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and gestures. He confirmed the colonist's worst fears. The land

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beneath Plymouth was indeed ptuxed, and its inhabitants died in

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a great plague. Not long since none left to live there.

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The cornfields were already cleared for planting. Samoset told them

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the local nation was the Wampanoeg, led by Massasoit, and

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pointed out their neighbours, the Nauset to the east, who

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recently fired arrows at Plymouth's scouts, and the Narragansett to

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the west, a powerful tribe untouched by the plague. This

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intelligence was crucial. The pilgrims gave Samoset food and drink.

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He accepted gratefully and quickly made himself at home. That night,

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he stayed in the settler's company by the fireside, sleeping

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in the common house. One can imagine the pilgrims, anxious

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and weary, gathered by Samoset under the lantern glow, a

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bridge spanning two worlds on the edge of the wilderness.

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True to his word, Samoset soon returned, bringing another native

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guide to Squantum, known to the English as Squanto. Squanto's

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story was remarkable, almost too improbable to be believed. A

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patux at Wampanoag, he had been kidnapped by an English

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captain in sixteen fourteen, sold into slavery in Spain, rescued

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by friars, taken to England, and finally sent home in

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sixteen nineteen. He was literally the last of the patux It,

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but Squanto spoke their language and understood their customs. The

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settlers were astounded. Bradford later called Squanto a special instrument

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sent of God for their good. Beyond their expectation, the

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Pilgrims took him into their settlement. Squanto taught them how

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to sow corn, the nameative way, burying fish with the

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kernels as fertilizer. He guided them to eel beds, pointed

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out which berries and herbs were edible, and led them

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in fur trading expeditions. In short, Squanto became their lifeline.

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One early settler wrote that Squanto never left them till

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he died. Serving as pilot, translator, and teacher during their

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most desperate of months. Squanto's dual identity made him both

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indispensable and uneasy to both sides. To the Pilgrims, he

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was a godsend. To Massasoit, he was a subject of

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his who had seen too much of the English world.

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Squanto certainly helped the two cultures to communicate, but he

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also sewed doubt Bradford's Journal's hint at trouble ahead. Squanto

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supposedly claimed that the English hid the secret of the

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plague and only he could protect his people, thus inflating

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his own importance. Massasoit grew suspicious, but in March of

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sixteen twenty one, those tensions still lay in the future.

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For now, Squanto and Samoset stood as ambassadors, linking Plymouth

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with the Wampanoac, setting the stage for what came next.

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On a day in late March of sixteen twenty one,

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Sachem Massasoit arrived to meet the Pilgrims, a moment on

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which the colony's fate truly hinged. The scene was tense

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and formal. Massasoit came with about sixty of his warriors,

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including his brother Quadaquina and counselors. The Pilgrims, in turn

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prepared a cautious welcome at a small brook on the

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settlement's edge. Edward Winslow stepped out, carrying gifts a pair

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of knives and a copper necklace, and crossed over to

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greet Massasoit. Unarmed, Winslow even stooped to kiss the Sachem's hand.

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Massasoit sampled a cup of strong liquor Winslow had brought,

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and promptly coughed, unused to its strength. The gesture of

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respect broke the ice. Massasoit, a dignified man of few words,

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now examined the gaunt colonists with curiosity. With Squanto and

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Samoset translating, they began cautious introductions. Soon after Massasoat entered

218
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Plymouth itself. He left most of his warriors at a

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distance and came only with a small party, carrying no weapons,

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a clear sign of good will. The Pilgrims mirrored this

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by setting aside their muskets. During the meeting, all sat

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on the ground in a circle inside an unfinished cabin,

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forming a curious assembly of armed men, wary yet open.

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According to accounts, the two sides agreed to a formal treaty,

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essentially a mutual defense pact. Both parties promised not to

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harm each other. The terms as recorded were straightforward no harm.

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Neither Massasoit's people, norf or the English would injure or

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do hurt to the other. Justice. If any Wampanoagg harmed

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an Englishman, the offender would be sent to Plymouth for justice,

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and vice versa. Restitution stolen goods would be returned. Each

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side would do the like to his mutual defense. If

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any nation unjustly warred against Massasoit, the Pilgrims would aid him.

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If anyone attacked the Pilgrims, Massasoit would help them. Ally coordination,

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Massasoit would inform neighboring tribes of the pact so that

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they might not wrong the English disarming in visits. Whenever

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Wampanoagg visited Plymouth, they would leave their bows in airsroes behind,

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and likewise the English would go unarmed when visiting the Wampanaag.

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This treaty was remarkable for its reciproocity. It treated both

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sides as sovereign allies, pledging friendship. In effect, it created

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a defensive alliance. The Pilgrims, so few and feeble, desperately

241
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needed such a pact. Massasoit, politically weak after the plague,

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sought powerful friends. He even remarked that the English quote

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had now delivered their own selves, for they were too

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weak to stand alone. As one scholar observes, the Wampagnaag

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welcomed the new English settlement and sought an alliance with them,

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precisely because the Narraganset threat still loomed. The Narraganset, for

247
00:24:59.680 --> 00:25:04.079
their would soon see this alliance as a direct threat

248
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to their influence. After the treaty was sealed, both sides

249
00:25:15.720 --> 00:25:20.880
tried to show goodwill. The Pilgrims, though still low on supplies,

250
00:25:21.359 --> 00:25:26.359
set before their guests whatever food they had salted fish,

251
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dried peas, and cornmeal loaves. The Wampanoag responded with dances

252
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and friendly gestures. Winslow wrote that quote, many of the

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Indians came amongst us and their great King, Massasoit, with

254
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some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted.

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Relief was in the air. Before departing, Massasoit formally saluted

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Governor Carver and the Pilgrim leaders won in englishmen would

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00:26:00.799 --> 00:26:06.039
later note that this peace hath now continued for twenty

258
00:26:06.119 --> 00:26:12.160
four years, a comment of hope. Indeed, the alliance would

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hold by and large for years to come. Still, even

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in those first days, it was understood that peace was fragile.

261
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Bradford succeeded Carver as governor soon after, and kept a

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00:26:28.039 --> 00:26:33.000
careful watch. Both sides had seen too much death to

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trust easily. The Pilgrims remained cautious when venturing into the

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woods or trading, and Massasoit kept the English within sight

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until sure of their intentions. But at least there was

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a flicker of hope. The settlers could now fish and

267
00:26:52.240 --> 00:26:57.920
hunt without expecting ambush at every turn. The Wampanoag could

268
00:26:57.920 --> 00:27:02.839
trade with Plymouth without fear of being shot. For the moment,

269
00:27:03.440 --> 00:27:08.440
the specter of immediate violence had lifted. The summer of

270
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sixteen twenty one brought sunshine and hard labor, and miraculously

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a first harvest. With Squanto's guidance, the Pilgrims planted about

272
00:27:21.720 --> 00:27:26.039
twenty acres of corn, a crop alien to them, but

273
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one ideally suited to New England soil. They also sowed

274
00:27:31.839 --> 00:27:38.440
some English grains, wheat, barley, and peas with mixed success.

275
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Gradually their lives steadied. They learned to fish the abundant coast,

276
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to dig clams from tidal flats, and to net spring

277
00:27:49.079 --> 00:27:56.039
herring in the rivers. In the woods, they foraged for blueberries, cranberries, nuts,

278
00:27:56.200 --> 00:28:01.400
and herbs. By autumn, it seemed nature was finally smiling

279
00:28:01.519 --> 00:28:05.880
down on Plymouth. Their first corn crop yielded enough to

280
00:28:05.960 --> 00:28:11.079
sew next year and store for winter. Bradford wrote that

281
00:28:11.119 --> 00:28:15.279
by September quote, we had all things in good plenty,

282
00:28:16.279 --> 00:28:20.240
and that birds began to fill their larders all the

283
00:28:20.319 --> 00:28:23.799
summer there was no want, and now began to come

284
00:28:23.839 --> 00:28:29.799
in store of foul great store of wild turkeys. For

285
00:28:29.880 --> 00:28:34.119
the first time since landing, the settlers were not in

286
00:28:34.200 --> 00:28:40.799
a daily fight against starvation. Seeing their bounty, the colonists

287
00:28:40.880 --> 00:28:45.279
decided to celebrate. They would not have called it Thanksgiving

288
00:28:45.799 --> 00:28:49.519
at the time. To them, that implied a day of prayer,

289
00:28:50.359 --> 00:28:55.640
but it was a harvest feast. Bradford later explained that

290
00:28:55.720 --> 00:29:00.119
the governor quote sent four men on fowling that so oh,

291
00:29:00.200 --> 00:29:04.519
we might, after a special manner, rejoice together after we

292
00:29:04.599 --> 00:29:09.519
had gathered the fruit of our labors. The hunters returned

293
00:29:09.559 --> 00:29:14.359
with a great number of birds as much foul as

294
00:29:14.400 --> 00:29:20.680
served the company almost a week. They likely brought back ducks, geese,

295
00:29:20.759 --> 00:29:26.160
and maybe swans. The Pilgrims roasted these birds with whatever

296
00:29:26.279 --> 00:29:30.400
spices they had, and prepared stews of corn meal and

297
00:29:30.519 --> 00:29:35.799
pumpkin or squash. It wasn't lavish, sugar laden meal of

298
00:29:35.880 --> 00:29:40.920
later legends, but after the hungry months, it was a

299
00:29:40.960 --> 00:29:47.440
feast of fresh meat and grain, a true luxury, not gluttony.

300
00:29:48.759 --> 00:29:55.720
That feast drew an unexpected guest, Massasoit himself. The noise

301
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of the hunt and the smoke of cooking fires must

302
00:29:59.519 --> 00:30:04.440
have reached Suddenly he appeared at Plymouth with about ninety

303
00:30:04.519 --> 00:30:10.960
of his warriors, hungry and curious. The Pilgrims, if surprised

304
00:30:11.039 --> 00:30:15.640
by the armed arrival, gave no sign. They welcomed their

305
00:30:15.680 --> 00:30:21.319
Wampanoag allies and included them in the celebrations. This became

306
00:30:21.400 --> 00:30:25.799
the heart of the famous first Thanksgiving image, English and

307
00:30:25.920 --> 00:30:31.880
Native people breaking bread together. The Wampanoag were not passive

308
00:30:32.799 --> 00:30:37.240
when they saw the settlers meat supply dwindling. Massasoits sent

309
00:30:37.279 --> 00:30:41.680
out hunters of his own. They returned with five fat

310
00:30:41.759 --> 00:30:48.079
deer and ceremoniously presented them to Governor Bradford, Captain Standish,

311
00:30:48.559 --> 00:30:53.599
and others. These deer were roasted over the fire, adding

312
00:30:53.720 --> 00:30:58.359
rich venison to the table. One can only imagine the

313
00:30:58.400 --> 00:31:02.839
immense relief and come right as the colonists and warriors

314
00:31:03.160 --> 00:31:08.799
feasted together over the open flames for three days. The

315
00:31:08.839 --> 00:31:13.799
two peoples ate, drank, and enjoyed each other's company. The

316
00:31:13.839 --> 00:31:18.920
Pilgrims demonstrated their muskets in shooting drills. The Wampa Noag

317
00:31:19.200 --> 00:31:25.559
likely did archery contests or performed dances. Later traditions suggest

318
00:31:26.039 --> 00:31:29.279
there may have been foot races or even wrestling matches,

319
00:31:30.160 --> 00:31:35.559
activities common to both cultures. There was laughter, hand signs,

320
00:31:35.880 --> 00:31:41.319
broken English, and maybe a few learned native words. Children.

321
00:31:41.640 --> 00:31:45.839
Those few who had survived the first winter likely ran

322
00:31:45.960 --> 00:31:50.920
and played on the sidelines. Wampa Noag women, undoubtedly present

323
00:31:51.000 --> 00:31:54.599
among the ninety men, would help tend the fires and

324
00:31:54.680 --> 00:32:01.359
prepare dishes alongside their Pilgrim counterparts. Was thick with wood

325
00:32:01.400 --> 00:32:05.480
smoke and the savory aroma of roasting meats and breads.

326
00:32:06.680 --> 00:32:10.839
It was, by all accounts, a joyous pause in their

327
00:32:10.920 --> 00:32:16.200
long struggle. Winslow wrote to his friends in England that quote,

328
00:32:16.640 --> 00:32:19.920
by the goodness of God, we are so far from

329
00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:23.440
want that we often wish you partakers of our plenty.

330
00:32:24.640 --> 00:32:30.240
The sentiment was genuine. After so much deprivation, this bounty

331
00:32:30.920 --> 00:32:35.880
felt miraculous. Yet it must be emphasized that this was

332
00:32:35.960 --> 00:32:40.720
not a utopian banquet of unending peace. It was as

333
00:32:40.799 --> 00:32:46.319
much a political gathering as a celebration Massasoit's attendants, with

334
00:32:46.559 --> 00:32:52.839
ninety armed men, underscored the alliance and his power. Had

335
00:32:52.920 --> 00:32:58.480
relations been unfriendly, such a show of force could have

336
00:32:58.640 --> 00:33:05.240
turned deadly. Pilgrims, however, interpreted it as a sign of friendship.

337
00:33:06.000 --> 00:33:11.279
Both sides were still appraising the other. Remember, Plymouth then

338
00:33:11.480 --> 00:33:15.720
had only twenty able bodied men, a handful of women.

339
00:33:16.400 --> 00:33:19.799
Most of the Pilgrim women had died the winter before,

340
00:33:20.519 --> 00:33:26.440
and roughly twenty children. The Wampanoag present outnumbered them nearly

341
00:33:26.519 --> 00:33:31.480
two to one. If hostility had flared, the feast could

342
00:33:31.519 --> 00:33:37.839
have easily become a massacre. But it didn't. Tentative trust

343
00:33:38.599 --> 00:33:50.839
held a dark, albeit poignant truth. Many were missing from

344
00:33:50.839 --> 00:33:55.680
that table. Over half of the Mayflower company lay in

345
00:33:55.839 --> 00:34:02.960
graves on the hill, unmarked and coal. Many Wampanoag families

346
00:34:03.079 --> 00:34:06.680
had been so devastated by plague that they had no

347
00:34:06.839 --> 00:34:13.079
kin at all to attend. Many of Massasoit's men perhaps

348
00:34:13.159 --> 00:34:19.159
silently mourned their lost relatives as the pots simmered. In

349
00:34:19.199 --> 00:34:23.440
that sense, the sixteen twenty one harvest gathering was not

350
00:34:24.159 --> 00:34:31.440
merry innocence, but hard won survival. These survivors, English and

351
00:34:31.519 --> 00:34:38.280
Wampanoag alike were celebrating life itself, dearly won at an

352
00:34:38.400 --> 00:34:44.559
unthinkable cost. In that sense, it truly was a thanksgiving,

353
00:34:45.360 --> 00:34:49.760
a humble gratitude that for now they had managed to

354
00:34:49.840 --> 00:34:55.639
live through the worst. After three days, the Wampanoag packed

355
00:34:55.719 --> 00:35:01.480
up and returned home, and the Pilgrims settled in for

356
00:35:01.599 --> 00:35:07.679
a long winter. Neither side believed that future generations would

357
00:35:07.719 --> 00:35:12.599
mythologize this meeting as the start of a timeless friendship.

358
00:35:13.199 --> 00:35:18.440
They knew better. They had already had conflicts. Weeks earlier,

359
00:35:18.519 --> 00:35:22.440
a pilgrim boy had nearly been shot by a Nauset arrow,

360
00:35:23.199 --> 00:35:28.599
and they fully expected more clashes to come. But for

361
00:35:28.800 --> 00:35:34.239
sixteen twenty one, at least, the specter of violence had lifted.

362
00:35:35.159 --> 00:35:40.000
In fact, Governor Bradford didn't even record the feast in

363
00:35:40.079 --> 00:35:44.639
the colony's journal. To him, it was just another harvest

364
00:35:44.719 --> 00:35:50.960
festival with friendly guests. One of many such occasions needed

365
00:35:51.000 --> 00:35:55.840
to cement the alliance. It was only Edward Winslow's letter

366
00:35:55.920 --> 00:36:02.559
home that preserved the account for history. Winslow cheerfully noted

367
00:36:02.599 --> 00:36:07.320
that the Indians have been all so kind and faithful

368
00:36:07.360 --> 00:36:11.719
to us, and that there is now great peace amongst

369
00:36:11.719 --> 00:36:16.559
the Indians themselves, which was not formerly, neither would have

370
00:36:16.599 --> 00:36:21.239
been but for us. He implied that the English presence

371
00:36:21.320 --> 00:36:28.400
had somehow calmed inter tribal strife. The reality was far

372
00:36:28.519 --> 00:36:34.679
more complicated. Dark clouds were already gathering beyond the horizon

373
00:36:35.400 --> 00:36:40.920
of this fragile peace. After the brief harmony of sixteen

374
00:36:41.039 --> 00:36:46.400
twenty one, new trials arose. In November of that year,

375
00:36:47.039 --> 00:36:53.719
the ship Fortune arrived, carrying thirty seven new colonists, mostly

376
00:36:53.840 --> 00:36:59.320
young men, but it brought almost no supplies. Over night,

377
00:36:59.480 --> 00:37:03.679
the mouth to feed in Plymouth nearly doubled. By spring

378
00:37:03.760 --> 00:37:07.960
of sixteen twenty two, the colony was again on the

379
00:37:08.000 --> 00:37:13.599
brink of starvation, rationing corn by the kernel. The Wampanoag

380
00:37:13.719 --> 00:37:19.360
Alliance held Massasoit's people shared deer and fish when they could,

381
00:37:20.159 --> 00:37:25.760
but the Pilgrims were learning how precarious frontier trust could be.

382
00:37:26.679 --> 00:37:31.719
In early sixteen twenty two, trouble came from the west.

383
00:37:32.559 --> 00:37:39.159
The Narragansett sachem Kennichus, uneasy about the English Wona Poag friendship,

384
00:37:39.719 --> 00:37:44.719
sent the Plymouth settlers a rattlesnake skin filled with arrows,

385
00:37:45.480 --> 00:37:51.239
the native symbol of war. Bradford's response was bold. He

386
00:37:51.400 --> 00:37:55.840
filled the rattlesnake pouch with gunpowder and musket balls and

387
00:37:56.000 --> 00:38:00.920
sent it back. The Narraganset, who had never seen gunpowder

388
00:38:01.000 --> 00:38:07.159
up close, were reportedly mystified as well as intimidated. To them,

389
00:38:07.320 --> 00:38:12.199
this snake skin, stuffed with quote thunder and lightning was

390
00:38:12.239 --> 00:38:17.760
a clear counter threat. Legend holds that Cannachus was frightened

391
00:38:17.760 --> 00:38:23.199
into backing down for the moment. Indeed, soon the Narraganset

392
00:38:23.280 --> 00:38:28.280
themselves were distracted by wars with other tribes. By the

393
00:38:28.320 --> 00:38:31.840
time they could turn their attention back, Plymouth was more

394
00:38:31.920 --> 00:38:37.679
numerous and fortified, and another wave of English, the Puritans

395
00:38:37.719 --> 00:38:42.920
of Massachusetts Bay Colony, had arrived in New England. Fate

396
00:38:43.400 --> 00:38:47.239
and a bit of a bluff had spared Plymouth from

397
00:38:47.320 --> 00:38:53.719
annihilation in sixteen twenty two. Still, the rattlesnake episode had

398
00:38:53.840 --> 00:38:58.880
rattled Plymouth's nerves. The settlers hastily built a stout log

399
00:38:58.960 --> 00:39:03.960
fort on the hill and set up constant watches. Each night,

400
00:39:04.039 --> 00:39:08.079
they shut the wooden palisade gate and posted guards with

401
00:39:08.199 --> 00:39:15.280
loaded muskets, eyes and ears straining into the darkness. The

402
00:39:15.400 --> 00:39:19.880
knowledge that the thousand strong Narrowganset lurked somewhere in the

403
00:39:19.960 --> 00:39:27.360
forests created an atmosphere of constant unease inside their cabins.

404
00:39:27.840 --> 00:39:33.840
Families surely prayed with renewed fervor, likening themselves to Israelites

405
00:39:33.880 --> 00:39:41.199
among the Canaanites, needing divine deliverance from surrounding foes. By day,

406
00:39:41.480 --> 00:39:46.519
the colonists tried to project confidence, as Bradford's daring reply

407
00:39:46.760 --> 00:39:52.400
had shown. By night, every crackle in the woods made

408
00:39:52.480 --> 00:39:58.000
hearts skip a beat. As if that weren't enough, a

409
00:39:58.079 --> 00:40:05.519
new complication arived on Plymouth's doorstep unruly Englishmen who did

410
00:40:05.559 --> 00:40:11.079
not share the Pilgrim's ideals. A London merchant named Thomas

411
00:40:11.119 --> 00:40:18.199
Weston had sponsored a separate settlement at Wessagusst, near modern Weymouth,

412
00:40:18.679 --> 00:40:24.599
about thirty miles north. In sixteen twenty two. About sixty

413
00:40:24.639 --> 00:40:31.559
of Weston's adventurers arrived, ill prepared and unorganized. They quickly

414
00:40:31.599 --> 00:40:37.079
offended the local Massachusetts tribe by stealing corn and provisions.

415
00:40:37.599 --> 00:40:42.280
When they ran short. Governor Bradford was mortified to learn

416
00:40:42.400 --> 00:40:48.239
that these newcomers had raided Indian storehouses, cheated local Indians,

417
00:40:48.559 --> 00:41:00.239
and shattered the goodwill Plymouth had built. By early sixteen

418
00:41:00.360 --> 00:41:06.119
twenty three, Wessegusst was in chaos, its men near starvation,

419
00:41:07.039 --> 00:41:13.840
even reportedly talking of cannibalism. The situation begged for disaster.

420
00:41:15.440 --> 00:41:21.119
In March of sixteen twenty three, tensions finally erupted. The

421
00:41:21.199 --> 00:41:27.519
Massachusetts tribe, perhaps led by Sachem Obtakiist, plotted to kill

422
00:41:27.599 --> 00:41:34.519
the Wessegusst settlers and simultaneously strike Plymouth, assuming the colonists

423
00:41:34.559 --> 00:41:40.639
would retaliate in panic. Massasoit, however, learned of this scheme

424
00:41:40.840 --> 00:41:47.639
through his scouts. The sachem, who disliked Weston's greedy colonists, nevertheless,

425
00:41:47.679 --> 00:41:52.559
did not want his English allies killed. At the same time,

426
00:41:53.119 --> 00:41:58.320
Massasoit himself fell gravely ill on the verge of death.

427
00:41:59.400 --> 00:42:03.280
Governor bred Bradford dispatched Edward Winslow to visit the sick

428
00:42:03.400 --> 00:42:08.840
sachem with medicinal broths and comfort, a gesture of goodwill.

429
00:42:09.800 --> 00:42:16.960
Squanto's intercession must have helped for Massasoit recovered. Grateful, he

430
00:42:17.039 --> 00:42:20.960
told Bradford quote, now I see the English are my

431
00:42:21.079 --> 00:42:24.960
friends and love me, and whilst I live, I will

432
00:42:25.039 --> 00:42:30.599
never forget this kindness. True to his word, Massasoit then

433
00:42:30.679 --> 00:42:35.920
revealed the brewing conspiracy and urged Plymouth to act first

434
00:42:36.480 --> 00:42:42.239
before the attack came. Faced with this grim warning, the

435
00:42:42.320 --> 00:42:47.199
Pilgrims had a terrible choice, stand and hope to survive

436
00:42:47.320 --> 00:42:52.760
in ambush or strike first to head it off. They

437
00:42:52.880 --> 00:42:58.400
chose the latter. Captain Miles Standish, the colony's hot tempered

438
00:42:58.480 --> 00:43:04.119
military leader, a short man with a fierce reputation, assembled

439
00:43:04.159 --> 00:43:07.840
a small strike force he prepared to sail north to

440
00:43:07.880 --> 00:43:14.400
Wessegusst under the guise of trade and diplomacy, intent on

441
00:43:14.639 --> 00:43:19.480
violence that he knew would stain the colonies very soul,

442
00:43:20.960 --> 00:43:26.480
Captain Standish hand picked eight trustworthy men and quietly sailed

443
00:43:26.480 --> 00:43:31.960
to Wessgussut in late March of sixteen twenty three. Arriving

444
00:43:32.079 --> 00:43:36.599
under the pretense of peaceful trade, Standish found Weston's colony

445
00:43:36.760 --> 00:43:43.519
in sorry shape. Quote in a miserable condition, Bradford writes,

446
00:43:44.159 --> 00:43:49.079
half starved, terrorized, and on the brink of collapse. Near

447
00:43:49.119 --> 00:43:54.719
by Massachusetts warriors waited and plotted, pretending to be friendly

448
00:43:55.440 --> 00:44:01.400
while planning murder. Standish assessed the situation and devised a

449
00:44:01.599 --> 00:44:06.519
brutal plan. He would invite the key conspirators to dine

450
00:44:06.880 --> 00:44:12.840
under his roof, then strike swiftly inside the locked house.

451
00:44:13.920 --> 00:44:17.559
If he could catch them off guard, maybe the settlers

452
00:44:18.000 --> 00:44:23.599
could kill them before any alarm. Tension crackled in the

453
00:44:23.599 --> 00:44:29.199
air on those days. The Wampanoac guide named Hobbamock with

454
00:44:29.360 --> 00:44:34.599
Standish overheard whispers among the Massachusetts men. They seemed to

455
00:44:34.719 --> 00:44:41.519
know trouble was coming. One warrior, Pecksuat, openly taunted Standish himself.

456
00:44:42.239 --> 00:44:46.760
Pexuat was a large, fierce man, and he jeered at

457
00:44:46.800 --> 00:44:52.559
Standish's short stature quote, you are a great captain, yet

458
00:44:52.599 --> 00:44:55.440
you are but a little man. I am a man

459
00:44:55.519 --> 00:45:01.000
of great strength and courage. He sneered, rapping his long

460
00:45:01.559 --> 00:45:08.519
double edged knife Withituwamat. Another leader boasted of past killings

461
00:45:08.519 --> 00:45:13.559
of Europeans and mocked the colonists for crying out when injured.

462
00:45:14.880 --> 00:45:19.159
These men were no strangers to violence, and they provoked

463
00:45:19.159 --> 00:45:26.800
Standish mercilessly. Standish, though burning inside, held back. He knew

464
00:45:26.920 --> 00:45:32.880
the time to strike was near. Finally the moment came.

465
00:45:33.599 --> 00:45:38.960
Standish invited Pecksuat, Withuamat and two other braves into a

466
00:45:39.039 --> 00:45:43.760
small house within the stockade under a flag of truce.

467
00:45:44.719 --> 00:45:49.360
Once the door was closed behind them, Standish sprang his trap.

468
00:45:49.800 --> 00:45:53.840
He lunged at Peksuat, grabbing the warrior's own knife and

469
00:45:53.960 --> 00:45:59.320
plunging it into him. Chaos erupted. Standish grappled with Pecksuat,

470
00:45:59.559 --> 00:46:04.679
slashing wildly as they fell into furniture of their Englishmen

471
00:46:04.719 --> 00:46:08.440
in the room, attacked Wituamat and the second warrior with

472
00:46:08.599 --> 00:46:15.000
swords and daggers. It became a slaughter. Pexuat fought back

473
00:46:15.119 --> 00:46:21.320
ferociously to the end, even as blood gushed from his wounds. Eventually,

474
00:46:21.400 --> 00:46:27.199
Standish's strikes overcame him. Pexuat fell in a pool of blood.

475
00:46:28.320 --> 00:46:33.159
Wituwamat and the other warriors were also cut down. The

476
00:46:33.199 --> 00:46:39.960
floorboards ran red. Remarkably, even in death, Peksuat and Wittuamat

477
00:46:40.480 --> 00:46:46.920
showed no fear. Winslow notes they received many wounds before

478
00:46:46.960 --> 00:46:51.800
they died, not making any fearful noise, but catching at

479
00:46:51.840 --> 00:46:57.559
their weapons and striving to last. Hobamock, watching from the

480
00:46:57.639 --> 00:47:06.719
corner simply knotted grim At Standish's murderous efficiency outside. Unsuspecting

481
00:47:06.840 --> 00:47:12.400
Massachusetts warriors camped nearby, and they had no idea the

482
00:47:12.440 --> 00:47:17.760
ambush had occurred. Standish knew if any escaped, they would

483
00:47:17.840 --> 00:47:22.079
spread alarm. He signaled the settlers to drag in any

484
00:47:22.199 --> 00:47:27.639
natives left inside. Two more Massachusetts men were slained on

485
00:47:27.719 --> 00:47:32.039
the spot, and one escaped into the woods, raising the

486
00:47:32.119 --> 00:47:38.199
alarm in other villages. Standish then performed the gruesome task.

487
00:47:39.199 --> 00:47:44.400
He severed with Tuamat's head and carried it back to Plymouth.

488
00:47:45.599 --> 00:47:48.719
He had the skull mounted on a wooden spike atop

489
00:47:48.800 --> 00:47:54.280
the fort's palisade. There the grinning trophy stared out over

490
00:47:54.320 --> 00:47:59.119
the land, a horrifying warning to any Native who might

491
00:47:59.239 --> 00:48:05.800
dare attack. When the bloody work was done, Standish sailed home.

492
00:48:06.840 --> 00:48:12.719
The surviving Wessegussett colonists. Shaken to their cores, they all

493
00:48:12.760 --> 00:48:18.840
agreed to abandon the settlement entirely. Some boarded ships headed

494
00:48:18.880 --> 00:48:24.679
to England, a few begged to join Plymouth. Standish escorted

495
00:48:24.719 --> 00:48:29.880
those refugees south, even sharing corn for their journey and

496
00:48:29.960 --> 00:48:35.159
bringing some into the colonies fold. That April of sixteen

497
00:48:35.280 --> 00:48:40.239
twenty three, Captain Standish arrived back in Plymouth with but

498
00:48:40.360 --> 00:48:51.199
Tuwamat severed head on the fort wall. The colony had

499
00:48:51.239 --> 00:48:57.239
managed to survive another existential threat. The chroniclers wrote of

500
00:48:57.280 --> 00:49:02.760
it in tones of grim resolution. They noted the Massachusetts

501
00:49:02.760 --> 00:49:08.719
warriors fled in terror, forsaking their houses, living like men,

502
00:49:08.880 --> 00:49:15.400
distracted Plymouth's alliance with Massasoits stood. In fact, the Wampanoag

503
00:49:15.559 --> 00:49:19.760
were relieved their enemies had been dealt a decisive blow.

504
00:49:20.840 --> 00:49:26.119
But one stark truth had emerged. The idyllic image of

505
00:49:26.239 --> 00:49:31.800
Pilgrims and Indians in eternal peace had been shattered by

506
00:49:31.920 --> 00:49:39.199
one night's savagery. The colonists, though victorious, now lived behind

507
00:49:39.400 --> 00:49:45.280
fortified walls. They kept vigilant watches at night. Every rustle

508
00:49:45.320 --> 00:49:51.280
in the woods sent hearts racing. For months, even commerce suffered.

509
00:49:51.800 --> 00:49:56.519
Many neighboring tribes, even those friendly to the English, were

510
00:49:56.559 --> 00:50:02.639
appalled by this treachery against Ghas the flow of furs

511
00:50:02.679 --> 00:50:08.000
to Plymouth dried up as natives kept their distance, Bradford

512
00:50:08.039 --> 00:50:12.920
had to spend effort reassuring chiefs like Cannochists that Standish's

513
00:50:13.000 --> 00:50:18.000
raid was a desperate, one time act, not the start

514
00:50:18.039 --> 00:50:23.599
of a war on all natives. But once trust was broken,

515
00:50:24.400 --> 00:50:30.119
it was hard to repair. Standish's attack was Plymouth's first

516
00:50:30.360 --> 00:50:35.159
large scale violence, and it weighed on the colonist's consciences.

517
00:50:36.119 --> 00:50:40.559
These were deeply religious people who believed in thou shalt

518
00:50:40.599 --> 00:50:46.360
not kill, and they did not spill blood lightly. Even

519
00:50:46.480 --> 00:50:51.800
Standish himself must have felt some spiritual burden. There's a

520
00:50:51.840 --> 00:50:55.880
tale that in July of sixteen twenty three, at Plymouth's

521
00:50:55.880 --> 00:50:59.840
next official day of thanksgiving for relief from a d

522
00:51:00.840 --> 00:51:05.159
which tu Womat's rotting head was still mounted on the

523
00:51:05.199 --> 00:51:10.920
fort wall. When Governor Bradford remarried that summer, his first

524
00:51:10.960 --> 00:51:16.119
wife had drowned in sixteen twenty he reportedly insisted the

525
00:51:16.159 --> 00:51:22.559
gruesome trophy remain in place, a startling statement of determination.

526
00:51:23.880 --> 00:51:28.199
One of the wedding guests was Massasoit himself. Relations with

527
00:51:28.280 --> 00:51:34.119
the wampanoagg had stayed relatively friendly. One can only imagine

528
00:51:34.360 --> 00:51:39.280
what Massasoit thought seeing the skull of his enemy above

529
00:51:39.360 --> 00:51:44.800
the colonists. He likely felt a grim sense of satisfaction,

530
00:51:45.679 --> 00:51:50.559
evidence that English friendship came with the price of violence.

531
00:51:51.679 --> 00:51:55.800
By late sixteen twenty three, the story of Plymouth was

532
00:51:55.880 --> 00:52:01.000
no longer one of simple thanksgiving and fellowship. It had

533
00:52:01.039 --> 00:52:06.000
become a story of survival at all costs, of uneasy

534
00:52:06.119 --> 00:52:11.280
peace held together in part by fear. The fragile Treaty

535
00:52:11.360 --> 00:52:15.559
of sixteen twenty one still stood. It may even have

536
00:52:15.599 --> 00:52:20.480
been reinforced Massasoit needed the English more than ever. Now

537
00:52:20.519 --> 00:52:25.639
that the Massachusetts tribe was cowed, and the English, having

538
00:52:25.719 --> 00:52:31.960
proved themselves battle hardened, clearly impressed, the wampanoag No tribe

539
00:52:31.960 --> 00:52:38.199
attacked Plymouth in retaliation. In fact, the Narragansett, upon hearing

540
00:52:38.280 --> 00:52:43.760
how Standish had butchered the Massachusetts plotters, wisely kept to

541
00:52:43.800 --> 00:52:49.119
their own affairs. In that sense, Standish's brutality had brought

542
00:52:49.119 --> 00:52:54.320
the colony years of security, but the innocence of the

543
00:52:54.360 --> 00:52:58.760
pilgrims was gone. They had come from England seeking a

544
00:52:58.840 --> 00:53:03.719
life of prayer and peace. Instead, they found that peace

545
00:53:03.960 --> 00:53:09.239
was fragile and sometimes had to be enforced at sword point.

546
00:53:09.920 --> 00:53:15.000
Bradford's later writings carry a somber tone. He praised God

547
00:53:15.360 --> 00:53:20.079
for delivering them from plots and treacheries of the Indians,

548
00:53:20.679 --> 00:53:25.360
but sorrow underlies those words. When news of the wesse

549
00:53:25.360 --> 00:53:30.000
A Gussett killings reached their pastor John Robinson in Holland.

550
00:53:30.599 --> 00:53:35.320
He cautioned Bradford that quote blood cannot be wiped away

551
00:53:35.960 --> 00:53:43.159
by blood, urging mercy even to enemies. Bradford defended their decision,

552
00:53:43.760 --> 00:53:48.119
but it was clear he did so without enthusiasm. These

553
00:53:48.159 --> 00:53:52.559
were people who believed in the Bible's commandment. Yet here

554
00:53:52.639 --> 00:53:56.000
they were with a native chief's head on a pole.

555
00:53:57.199 --> 00:54:00.920
By night they must have knelt if they had done

556
00:54:01.000 --> 00:54:06.840
God's will or simply acted out of fear? And what

557
00:54:07.119 --> 00:54:11.920
of the Wampanoegg. For Massasoit's people, the simple view of

558
00:54:12.000 --> 00:54:17.320
the English as harmless friends was shattered. They now saw

559
00:54:17.400 --> 00:54:24.079
that beyond Plymouth's kindness lay ruthless potential. Henceforth peace would

560
00:54:24.079 --> 00:54:29.079
be maintained not just by good will, but by mutual fear.

561
00:54:30.039 --> 00:54:34.800
The English had shown themselves capable of brutal vengeance. A

562
00:54:35.360 --> 00:54:41.199
balance of terror had entered their relationship. Looking ahead, we

563
00:54:41.280 --> 00:54:46.039
know with hindsight that this fragile peace would later unravel.

564
00:54:46.719 --> 00:54:52.440
After Massasoit's death, his son Metacon would lead the Wampanoag

565
00:54:52.760 --> 00:54:57.239
in a desperate war against New England in sixteen seventy five.

566
00:54:58.199 --> 00:55:02.280
Perhaps the seeds of that very conflict were planted in

567
00:55:02.360 --> 00:55:08.840
these early years of mistrust and violence for now, though

568
00:55:09.440 --> 00:55:15.000
in sixteen twenty three, Plymouth stood battered but alive. In

569
00:55:15.079 --> 00:55:19.960
the ensuing years, the colony even began to prosper. New

570
00:55:20.000 --> 00:55:25.880
settlers arrived, more houses were built, crops improved, and trade

571
00:55:25.880 --> 00:55:30.760
in furs and fish brought some income. The horrors of

572
00:55:30.800 --> 00:55:36.079
that first winter and the specter of annihilation slowly faded

573
00:55:36.119 --> 00:55:41.280
into memory. Every autumn, the pilgrims remembered how fortunate they

574
00:55:41.320 --> 00:55:47.000
were to be alive. In sixteen twenty three, after timely

575
00:55:47.159 --> 00:55:51.440
rains ended a summer drought, they held the aforementioned day

576
00:55:51.519 --> 00:55:57.159
of Thanksgiving to God, followed by another modest harvest feast,

577
00:55:57.840 --> 00:56:03.239
this time without any want. The Panoag guests a telling omission.

578
00:56:04.159 --> 00:56:10.519
The warmth of sixteen twenty one had cooled. As years

579
00:56:10.679 --> 00:56:17.639
turned to decades, a cautious coexistence defined Plymouth Wampanoag relations.

580
00:56:17.800 --> 00:56:22.320
Massasoit remained a stalwart ally to the colony until his

581
00:56:22.440 --> 00:56:27.159
death around sixteen sixty. He kept most of his people

582
00:56:27.199 --> 00:56:31.360
from joining anti English wars, and even warned Plymouth of

583
00:56:31.480 --> 00:56:37.519
danger whenever he could. Remarkably, his sixteen twenty one treaty

584
00:56:37.679 --> 00:56:42.840
was honoured for over fifty years of official peace, yet

585
00:56:42.880 --> 00:56:47.280
it remained a fragile piece, underscored by all that was

586
00:56:47.360 --> 00:56:52.159
left unsaid. The English and Wampanoag dealt with each other

587
00:56:52.280 --> 00:56:58.719
with civility, trading and negotiating, but never fully trusted one

588
00:56:58.760 --> 00:57:04.599
another or blended their communities. Plymouth never again invited the

589
00:57:04.639 --> 00:57:09.440
Wampagnoag to a joint Thanksgiving feast as they had in

590
00:57:09.559 --> 00:57:15.920
sixteen twenty one. That silence was as telling as any treaty.

591
00:57:22.880 --> 00:57:27.440
As we conclude this unsettling tale of the real first

592
00:57:27.480 --> 00:57:31.480
Thanksgiving era, we must reflect on what it means to

593
00:57:31.519 --> 00:57:37.159
give thanks amid darkness. The story of Plymouth in sixteen

594
00:57:37.280 --> 00:57:41.559
twenty through sixteen twenty three is not a simple moral

595
00:57:41.719 --> 00:57:46.760
tale of noble pilgrims and obliging Indians. It is a

596
00:57:46.920 --> 00:57:54.039
human story, filled with hope and fear, generosity and cruelty,

597
00:57:54.960 --> 00:58:01.719
life and death in almost equal measure. On that knife's edge,

598
00:58:02.199 --> 00:58:08.000
people from two worlds found moments of genuine fellowship, a

599
00:58:08.119 --> 00:58:13.360
shared meal, a life saving kindness, even as the specter

600
00:58:13.480 --> 00:58:19.400
of violence and betrayal loomed. When we strip away the

601
00:58:19.440 --> 00:58:25.239
comforting myth, what remains is a profound recognition that gratitude

602
00:58:25.280 --> 00:58:30.159
itself was an act of courage. At their sixteen twenty

603
00:58:30.199 --> 00:58:35.119
one feast, the Pilgrims bowed their heads, fully aware of

604
00:58:35.199 --> 00:58:40.960
the graves behind them and the uncertain days ahead. The

605
00:58:41.000 --> 00:58:46.480
Wampanoag who sat beside them had their own prayers, perhaps silent,

606
00:58:47.239 --> 00:58:52.639
thankful for this moment of friendship, even as tomorrow was unknown.

607
00:58:53.920 --> 00:58:58.800
They were thankful not for abundance or security they had

608
00:58:58.880 --> 00:59:04.559
little of either, but for survival itself, for the very

609
00:59:04.719 --> 00:59:09.360
fact that they were together under the same sky after

610
00:59:09.440 --> 00:59:14.159
so much loss. For small miracles like a healed child,

611
00:59:14.800 --> 00:59:19.440
or a successful harvest from barren soil, or a peaceful

612
00:59:19.599 --> 00:59:24.800
night without an attack. The tone of those times was

613
00:59:24.880 --> 00:59:31.159
often grim. Death was a constant visitor, desperation a frequent companion.

614
00:59:31.880 --> 00:59:36.280
Both Pilgrim and Wampanoag elders might have gazed into the

615
00:59:36.320 --> 00:59:42.199
fire on cold November nights and wondered, are we cursed

616
00:59:42.960 --> 00:59:47.679
or chosen? Why did so many die so that we

617
00:59:47.760 --> 00:59:51.840
might live in a world where every sunrise could be

618
00:59:51.880 --> 00:59:56.400
our last. To simply see the sunrise at all was

619
00:59:56.480 --> 01:00:02.480
reason enough for gratitude. So what is the real legacy

620
01:00:02.639 --> 01:00:09.360
of that first Thanksgiving? When the story isn't sugarcoated. Perhaps

621
01:00:09.559 --> 01:00:13.880
it is this quiet truth. Even in the face of

622
01:00:13.960 --> 01:00:19.760
starvation and plague, people helped each other, Squanto teaching the

623
01:00:19.800 --> 01:00:24.679
Pilgrims to plant corn, the Pilgrims nursing Massasoit back to health.

624
01:00:25.920 --> 01:00:30.400
Even under the threat of extinction, people reached out in peace,

625
01:00:31.440 --> 01:00:35.400
Like when Massasoit in the Pilgrims forged a pact to

626
01:00:35.480 --> 01:00:41.480
save their communities, And even after violence and bloodshed, some

627
01:00:41.840 --> 01:00:47.639
shred of decency remain, perhaps remorseful. The Pilgrims never struck

628
01:00:47.679 --> 01:00:53.440
again at Massasoit, and he never lifted his hand against them.

629
01:00:54.079 --> 01:00:59.480
In a world of mutual mistrust, they kept faith, fragile

630
01:00:59.559 --> 01:01:05.239
and color implicated, but faith none the less. As this

631
01:01:05.400 --> 01:01:10.440
tale ends, picture the autumn of sixteen twenty three, the

632
01:01:10.519 --> 01:01:14.599
harvest is done. A few colonists stand on the fort

633
01:01:14.679 --> 01:01:22.280
hill beneath a grisly reminder of war, Wittuwamat's skull perched

634
01:01:22.360 --> 01:01:29.039
on the palisade, gazing westward into wampanoagg lands. Somewhere out there,

635
01:01:29.719 --> 01:01:35.079
Massasoit's people are also settling in for the night. Perhaps

636
01:01:35.119 --> 01:01:38.880
on such an evening, no musket is fired and no

637
01:01:39.199 --> 01:01:45.719
arrow is loosed in vengeance. Perhaps far off, one can

638
01:01:45.800 --> 01:01:50.960
almost hear a Wampanoag chant or an English psalm blending

639
01:01:51.639 --> 01:01:56.239
in the dusk, each side giving thanks in their own

640
01:01:56.280 --> 01:02:02.800
way for to day, at least there is peace. The

641
01:02:02.840 --> 01:02:07.800
story of the First Thanksgiving reminds us that peace is fragile,

642
01:02:08.559 --> 01:02:16.280
prosperity can be fleeting, but human resilience is extraordinary. The

643
01:02:16.280 --> 01:02:22.159
Pilgrims and the Wampanoac endured unspeakable losses, yet both found

644
01:02:22.199 --> 01:02:28.159
ways to adapt, to hope, and even to celebrate together

645
01:02:29.639 --> 01:02:33.880
in the face of death. They chose life, and that

646
01:02:34.000 --> 01:02:39.599
alone is something to be thankful for, not in a naive,

647
01:02:39.960 --> 01:02:46.639
sugar coated way, but deeply and solemnly thankful for survival,

648
01:02:47.519 --> 01:02:54.599
thankful for courage, thankful for the mere possibility of coexistence

649
01:02:55.320 --> 01:03:00.639
against all odds. So when we think of that thanksgiving,

650
01:03:01.320 --> 01:03:05.199
let us remember the empty chairs at the sixteen twenty

651
01:03:05.239 --> 01:03:10.760
one table, the fallen colonists, and the parish natives whose

652
01:03:10.800 --> 01:03:15.880
absence was felt by all. Let us honor them by

653
01:03:16.039 --> 01:03:19.960
cherishing the gift of life and peace we have now.

654
01:03:20.960 --> 01:03:24.760
The true history is not simple, but it means all

655
01:03:24.840 --> 01:03:31.000
the more because it was hard won. Bradford himself paraphrased

656
01:03:31.039 --> 01:03:35.440
the psalms to capture this very truth that God quote

657
01:03:35.960 --> 01:03:40.800
filled the hungry with good things even in the wilderness.

658
01:03:41.880 --> 01:03:47.400
In the end, survival, resilience, and fragile coexistence were the

659
01:03:47.519 --> 01:03:54.199
true blessings of that first Thanksgiving era. That legacy endures,

660
01:03:55.199 --> 01:03:59.760
urging us to give thanks not for fairy tales, but

661
01:04:00.760 --> 01:04:05.800
for the remarkable strength of ordinary people who, in a

662
01:04:05.960 --> 01:04:13.119
very dark time, kept the light of humanity flickering. Terrifying

663
01:04:13.159 --> 01:04:16.920
and True is narrated by Enrique Kuto. It's executive produced

664
01:04:16.920 --> 01:04:20.519
by Rob Fields and bobble Toopia dot com and produced

665
01:04:20.559 --> 01:04:23.880
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666
01:04:24.119 --> 01:04:26.280
If you have a story you think we should cover

667
01:04:26.360 --> 01:04:29.320
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668
01:04:29.519 --> 01:04:32.360
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669
01:04:32.400 --> 01:04:34.199
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01:04:34.239 --> 01:04:37.760
go to Weeklyspooky dot com slash Join. Your support for

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as little as one dollar a month keeps the show going.

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And speaking of I want to say an extra special

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thank you to our Patreon podcast boosters, folks who pay

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a little bit more to hear their name at the

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end of the show, and they are Johnny Nix Kate

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and Lulu, Jessica Fuller, Mike Scuey, Jenny Green, Amber Hansford, Karenwemet,

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Jack Ker, and Craig Cohen. Thank you all so much,

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and thank you for listening. We'll see you all right

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here next time. On Terrifying and True