by Denise Calaman

Created on: October 23, 2009   Last Updated: October 24, 2010

There is alot of mythology concerning the Pilgrims and the first Thanskgiving.  However; Squanto, the native American who most of us learned about in grade school was an actual person and not part of legend.  Squanto helped the Pilgrims a great deal during their first winter in America.  Without his help they may have not survived.

The Pilgrims first settled the Plymouth Colony in Plymouth, Massachusetts in November of 1620 after a 66 day long overseas journey aboard their 100 foot long cargo ship known as the "Mayflower". They landed at a very precarious time of the year. Late fall in Massachusetts is cold and the growing season is long over. And both the fall and winter of 1620 were especially cold. Of the Pilgrims that survived the journey to America 42 of them would eventually perish during their first winter in Plymouth. That first winter they had inadequate shelter and very little food. They had no fruits or vegetables to eat and relied on hunting, fishing and nut gathering for their survival. Then in the late winter of 1621, just when the question of the Pilgrims' survival was at its bleakest, an English speaking Native American arrived at Plymouth camp. His name was Squanto and the Pilgrims were in awe of him. They had seen Native Americans from a distance but they had never had an encounter with them. 

Squanto befriended the Pilgrims and taught the Pilgrims how to farm the sandy, coastal land. He taught them how to plant and harvest different types of plants, specifically corn, which would become a staple of the Pilgrim diet. The Pilgrims harvested over 20 acres of corn their first year at Plymouth. Squanto taught male settlers how to build adequate shelter that would keep the Pilgrims warm and dry during harsh winters. Most importantly, Squanto acted as a mediator and a translator for the Pilgrims when they needed to barter and trade with Native Americans who also inhabited the area. Because of Squanto the Pilgrims and Native Americans were able to carry out a peace treaty that lasted for over 50 years. This furthered guaranteed the success of the Pilgrim settlement.

Before becoming such an integral part of Pilgrim life, Squanto had lived a pretty adventurous life. Not much is known about his earliest years. He was born into the Pawtuxet band of the Wampanoag Native American tribe around 1585 in a village near Plymouth. In his early years he was known as Tisquantum. Tisquantum met his first white men around 1605-1610. White

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