Getting our facts straight about that first Thanksgiving

Years ago, while my wife and I were visiting family in Massachusetts, I got it into my head that Liz and I should kick things off on Thanksgiving morning by zipping over to Plimoth Plantation in Plymouth, about 30 miles from where we were staying.

My fevered brain had conjured up a soothing image of a leisurely stroll through what I assumed would be a largely deserted reconstruction of the village originally inhabited by the Pilgrims. I figured everyone else would be hunkered down at home, busily preparing a turkey and fixings, or getting ready to head out to a restaurant with the family.

This seemingly clever scheme was anything but. Plimoth Plantation was mobbed that morning. There were long lines for tickets. You could hardly walk through the village because of the crowds. And a strong wind off the water made an already bitterly cold day even more uncomfortable.

Just as I engaged in a bit of personal mythmaking about what to expect in Plymouth that Thanksgiving, the nation as a whole has cooked up a few fallacies regarding that first Thanksgiving back in 1621, according to author Nathaniel Philbrick.

In an essay he wrote for National Public Radio a few years back, Philbrick noted that all of our information about the first Thanksgiving comes from a letter written by pilgrim Edward Winslow.

Winslow describes a celebration that occurred in September or October, not November. He does not call it Thanksgiving, nor does he mention turkeys. The pilgrims shot some ducks and geese for dinner. Massasoit, the Wampanoag leader who brought 90 of his people with him to Plymouth that fall, contributed five freshly killed deer. The feast also included pottages, or stews, made with meat and vegetables.

In fact, the myths surrounding the Pilgrims extend far beyond that first Thanksgiving.

The Pilgrims first landed at Provincetown, Mass., five weeks before they relocated to Plymouth. It was at Provincetown that the Pilgrims celebrated their first birth, learned about corn and signed the Mayflower Compact.

Oh, and that business about Plymouth Rock? It may be true. Or maybe not. The Pilgrims left no written account of stepping onto a rock. That story seems to stem from a town elder who, in 1741, pointed out a rock that his father had identified as the landing spot of the Pilgrims . . . 121 years earlier! Not exactly rock-solid documentation. 

But Thursday is Thanksgiving, after all, so let's get back to the main event - dinner. In his NPR essay, Philbrick wrote:

Instead of a pious warm-up for a glum Thanksgiving dinner with the in-laws, the Plymouth Harvest Festival of 1621 was more like Woodstock, an outdoor celebration that just sort of happened. It's a legacy of spontaneity, goodwill and hope that is needed today more than ever before.

Amen to that. If your Thanksgiving captures a bit of that “spontaneity, goodwill and hope,” perhaps it will help you deal with squabbling relatives, unruly children and meddlesome guests who wander into the kitchen with unsolicited advice. Not to mention the storm clouds that darken American skies as 2017 draws to a close.