Mayflower Pilgrims, Part 2: From Cape Cod to Plymouth | Miles Standish, William Bradford | Shallop

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This is Part Two of the "Birth of New England" series.

The Mayflower has arrived in Cape Cod in modern Massachusetts in November, 1620. The ship though cannot just drop the passengers off. The pilgrims must find an adequate place for a settlement.

Also, Cape Cod is very shallow, so the people will need to use a shallop (a small boat) to get to shore. However, the shallop needs to be repaired by the ship's carpenter. In the meantime, a secondary long boat is used.

Miles Standish leads a party to shore that will include William Bradford, Edward Winslow, and Stephen Hopkins. The men find mounds filled with corn at a place that will later be called "Corn Hill." The men take the corn.

There are vestiges of the native society. Standish and his men find native burials and homes, but the people are not there. Before the Mayflower had arrived, the great majority of natives in this area had died from diseases from European fishermen.

The Algonquian homes they find are called wigwams, circular homes.

The men find a harbor that they call "Cold Harbor." It is where the Pamet River is. Nearby, they have their first skirmish with local natives, likely members of the Nauset tribe, an Algonquian people. This beach is still called "First Encounter" today.

While some are satisfied that Cold Harbor is good for a settlement, a sailor named Coppin recommends a place he calls "Thievish Harbor." Enough men are interested that they sail on the shallop around the hook of Cape Cod to the mainland.

The shallop ends up on an island called "Clark's Island," because a John Clark walked off the shallop first. The island is uninhabited and wooded.

The men travel to the mainland, near the area where Plymouth Rock is. They are impressed by the location. The shallop returns to the Mayflower, and the Mayflower travels to the area of Plymouth Rock.

The shallop ferries men from the Mayflower to land. After considering both Clark Island and the mainland location, the passengers vote to make their settlement on the mainland near Plymouth Rock.

At this location, there are high points (Cole's Hill and Watson's Hill), a creek, and the previous native inhabitants had cleared land for farms.

The men begin to cut down trees and shape timber. On Christmas Day, 1620, the passengers are content that they have established a location that will be Plimoth Plantation.

This film is by Jeffrey Meyer.