America observes Thanksgiving - part 2

Starving Time
The winter of 1620 was especially harsh considering the Pilgrims didn’t have shelter. This began their worst ordeal, the "Starving Time." John Carver, the Governor elect, organized the colonists to immediately build a common shelter for all to share and then planned additional out buildings afterward. The weather was unforgiving and supplies were minimal. The settlers were overcome by scurvy and other diseases, which caused half to parish within five months. Governor John Carver died also. It was at that time that William Bradford was elected Governor. Seven persons avoided the sickness two of which were Mr. William Brewster, their reverend Elder, & Myles Standish, their Captain & military commander. These people were preoccupied tending to the sick and those who died.

Friendly Indian Encounter
But spring brought unexpected relief - the help of a noble and generous Christian brother, Squanto.

On March 16, 1621, what was to become an important event took place, an Indian brave walked into the settlement. The Pilgrims were frightened until the Indian called out "Welcome" (in English!). His name was Samoset and he was an Abnaki Indian. He had learned English from the captains of fishing boats that had sailed off the coast. After staying the night Samoset left the next day. He soon returned with another Indian named Squanto who spoke better English than Samoset.

Squanto told the Pilgrims of his voyages across the ocean and his visits to England and Spain. It was in England where he had learned English. Historical accounts of Squanto’s life vary, but historians believe that around 1608, more than a decade before the Pilgrims arrived, a group of English traders sailed to what is today Plymouth, Massachusetts. When the trusting Wampanoag Indians came out to trade, the traders took them prisoner, transported them to Spain, and sold them into slavery. It was an unimaginable horror, but God had an amazing plan for one of the captured Indians, the boy named Squanto.

Squanto was bought by a well-meaning Spanish monk, who treated him well and taught him the Christian faith. Squanto eventually made his way to England and worked in the stables of a man named John Slaney. Slaney sympathized with Squanto’s desire to return home, and he promised to put the Indian on the first vessel bound for America. It wasn’t until 1618, ten years after Squanto was first kidnapped, that a ship was found.

According to the diary of Governor William Bradford, Squanto “became a special instrument sent of God for [our] good . . . He showed [us] how to plant [our] corn, where to take fish and to procure other commodities . . . and was also [our] pilot to bring [us] to unknown places for [our] profit, and never left [us] till he died.” 

When Squanto lay dying of a fever, (November 1622) Bradford wrote that their Indian friend “desir[ed] the Governor to pray for him, that he might go to the Englishmen’s God in heaven.” Squanto bequeathed his possessions to the Pilgrims “as remembrances of his love.”