Continuing westward, the shallop's mast and rudder were broken by storms, and their sail was lost. Rowing for safety, they encountered the harbor formed by the current Duxbury and Plymouth barrier beaches and stumbled on land in the darkness. They remained at this spot—Clark's Island—for two days to recuperate and repair equipment.

Resuming exploration on Monday, December 11/December 21, the party crossed over to the mainland and surveyed the area that ultimately became the settlement. The anniversary of this survey is observed in Massachusetts as Forefathers' Day and is traditionally associated with the Plymouth Rock landing legend. This land was especially suited to winter building because the land had already been cleared, and the tall hills provided a good defensive position.

The cleared village, known as Patuxet to the Wampanoag people, was abandoned about three years earlier following a plague that killed all of its residents. Because the disease involved hemorrhaging,^[30] the "Indian fever" is assumed to have been fulminating smallpox introduced by European traders. The outbreak had been severe enough that the colonists discovered unburied skeletons in abandoned dwellings.^[31] With the local population in such a weakened state, the colonists faced no resistance to settling there.

The exploratory party returned to Mayflower, which was then brought to the harbor on December 16/December 26. Only nearby sites were evaluated, with a hill in Plymouth (so named on earlier charts)^[32] chosen on December 19/December 29.

Construction commenced immediately, with the first common house nearly completed by January 9/January 19. At this point, single men were ordered to join with families. Each extended family was assigned a plot and built its own dwelling. Supplies were brought ashore, and the settlement was mostly complete by early February.^[26][29]

Between the landing and March, only 47 colonists had survived the diseases they contracted on the ship. During the worst of the sickness, only six or seven of the group were able and willing to feed and care for the rest. In this time, half the Mayflower crew also died.^[27]

William Bradford became governor in 1621 upon the death of Carver, served for eleven consecutive years, and was elected to various other terms until his death in 1657. The patent of Plymouth Colony was surrendered by Bradford to the freemen in 1640, minus a small reserve of three tracts of land. On March 22, 1621, the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony signed a peace treaty with Massasoit of the Wampanoags.

The colony contained roughly what is now Bristol County, Plymouth County, and Barnstable County, Massachusetts.

When the Massachusetts Bay Colony was reorganized and issued a new charter as the Province of Massachusetts Bay in 1691, Plymouth ended its history as a separate colony.

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See also

• Society of Mayflower Descendants
• National Monument to the Forefathers
• Thanksgiving
• List of passengers on the Mayflower
• List of Mayflower passengers who died in the winter of 1620-1621

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External links

• Pilgrim Archives, Searchable municipal and court records from Leiden Regional Archive
• First Parish Church, the original Plymouth congregation
• Photographs of New York (Lincs - UK) and Pilgrim Fathers monument (Lincs - UK)
• Church of the Pilgrimage, founded after the 1801 schism
• Pilgrim Hall MuseumPilgrim history and artifacts
• Mayflower Steps All about the Mayflower and Pilgrim Fathers with a Plymouth (UK) focus. Lots of pictures
• Admiral MacBride Pub Built upon the original Mayflower Steps from where the pilgrim fathers set sail for America.
• Pilgrim ships from 1602 to 1638 Pilgrim ships searchable by ship name, sailing date and passengers.
• Native American Perspective on Pilgrims
• Native American Perspective on Pilgrims Continued

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References