[Illustration: THE FIRST GOVERNOR IN BOSTON]
Before the white people came, there were no houses in this country but
the little huts of the In-di-ans. The In-di-an houses were made of
bark, or mats, or skins, spread over poles.
Some people came to one part of the country. Others started
set-tle-ments in other places. When more people came, some of these
set-tle-ments grew into towns. The woods were cut down. Farms were
planted. Roads were made. But it took many years for the country to
fill with people.
The first white people that came to live in the woods where Boston is
now, settled there a long time ago. They had a gov-ern-or over them. He
was a good man, and did much for the people. His name was John
Win-throp.
The first thing the people had to do was to cut down the trees. After
that they could plant corn. But at first they could not raise any-thing
to eat. They had brought flour and oat-meal from England. But they
found that it was not enough to last till they could raise corn on
their new ground.
Win-throp sent a ship to get more food for them. The ship was gone a
long time. The people ate up all their food. They were hungry. They
went to the sea-shore, and found clams and mussels. They were glad to
get these to eat.
At last they set a day for every-body to fast and pray for food. The
gov-ern-or had a little flour left. Nearly all of this was made into
bread, and put into the oven to bake. He did not know when he would get
any more.
Soon after this a poor man came along. His flour was all gone. His
bread had all been eaten up. His family were hungry. The gov-ern-or
gave the poor man the very last flour that he had in the barrel.
Just then a ship was seen. It sailed up toward Boston. It was loaded
with food for all the people.
The time for the fast day came. But there was now plenty of food. The
fast day was turned into a thanks-giving day.
One day a man sent a very cross letter to Gov-ern-or Win-throp.
Win-throp sent it back to him. He said, “I cannot keep a letter that
might make me angry.” Then the man that had written the cross letter
wrote to Win-throp, “By con-quer-ing yourself, you have con-quered me.”