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The Pilgrims Give Thanks

The Fruits of Their Labor and Turkey Too

Nov 15, 2006 Mary Trotter Kion

The first Thanksgiving feast, attended by Pilgrims and Indians probably consisted of turkey, venison, fish, corn, and fruits and berries.

The Pilgrims at the first Thanksgiving meal and celebration, according to E. W., had much to be thankful for. They had already built seven "dwelling-houses," and "four for the use of the plantation," and had made additional preparations for more buildings to be constructed.

The previous spring they had planted some twenty acres of Indian corn, and sowed about six acres of barley and peas, although the peas seem not to have done well. This doesn't sound like much land planted until you stop and realize that the tools they had were hoes, spades, and the strength of their own backs. And even before the digging-up of the ground could be done it probably had to be cleared of trees and underbrush.

Their corn did well so they likely had corn to go with their meat at Thanksgiving. And no doubt there was wild fruit, berries, and nuts. Of grapes they had access to both white and red ones. They had strawberries, gooseberries, and raspberries, all of which could be dried. They had three kinds of plums, which could also be dried and easily made into wine as plums carry a natural yeast on their skins.

E. W. tells us that in September they could take a "hogshead of eels in a night." If these were preserved in salt, they may have also had them for Thanksgiving. They had access to mussels and, although not nearby, the Indians often brought them oysters.

Ben Franklin's Suggestion Turned Down

Well, there you have it folks, you can pretty well bet on the Pilgrims having turkey for Thanksgiving dinner. And, perhaps, a century or so, later, when Benjamin Franklin suggested that the national bird should be the turkey he wasn't too far off base. Maybe someone didn't like Franklin's idea and suggested that Ben go fly a kite, giving the eagle the nomination for number-one bird.

Previous: The First Thanksgiving: Did the Pilgrims Have Turkey for Dinner?

Sources:

Bradford, William. Samuel Eliot Morison, Editor. Of Plymouth Plantation, 1620-1647. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1991.

Heath, Dwight B. Heath, Editor. Mourt's Relation: A Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth. Applewood Books, Bedford, Massachusetts, 1963, from the original 1622 text.

The copyright of the article The Pilgrims Give Thanks in American History is owned by Mary Trotter Kion. Permission to republish The Pilgrims Give Thanks in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.