The little ship hove to and the sails were furled upon the yards. The
long journey was over. There, on the harbor’s edge, rose the hill that
was to become so familiar in after years to those who had spent these
many weeks at sea. There too, below the hill and on the very shore,
projected the great boulder of granite upon which they were to make
their landing, which would ever afterward be famous. Here, at last, was
freedom in a new land, freedom to think and worship as they pleased!
And the voyagers were jubilant.
It was cold, for Christmas was only four days off; but the spirits
of the Pilgrims were not dampened. The armed men went ashore to
reconnoiter, and soon returned with the word that it was a likely
spot. Then for many days there was a sound of axes clearing the land
and felling trees to build houses with; the smoke of many fires
brought with it the odor of burning pine. But the buoyant spirits of
the colonists could not long withstand the penetrating cold. Food was
poor and scarce, and none was to be had from the surrounding country.
Sickness came, and death broke into the ranks. Indeed, before the close
of that first winter nearly half of the colonists had perished. They
were buried upon the hill near the harbor, and in the spring grain was
sowed over their graves that the Indians might not see how terribly the
little company had suffered.
Friendly Indians showed them how to plant their corn, putting fish into
the hills to fertilize it. Other colonists came; other colonies were
established--and so New England was born.
The story of gruff, big-hearted Myles Standish, the military captain
of Plymouth, and Priscilla Mullins, is inseparably connected with the
colony. Captain Standish had many encounters with the Indians. A fort
was built, and, while in general the Indians were friendly, the men
of the little army under his command were constantly on the lookout
for trouble that might arise. Once a conspiracy was detected, and the
Indians put to death with the very weapons they had brought to use upon
the people of the colony.
In 1624 each member of the colony received a parcel of land, which he
was allowed to work for himself. After that there was always plenty of
food in Plymouth. The colony was united with that of Massachusetts Bay
in 1691.
Today Plymouth is a busy city of more than 12,000 people. The great
boulder upon which the Pilgrims stepped is still there at the harbor
edge, and a protecting canopy of granite has been built above it. The
bones of some of the Pilgrims have been placed within the canopy.
PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 1, No. 32, SERIAL No. 32
COPYRIGHT, 1913, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.
[Illustration: TICONDEROGA]
_HISTORIC SPOTS OF AMERICA_
_Ticonderoga_