Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1893-11-30
DAY OF THANKSGIVING.
ONE OF THE OLDEST OF FESTIVAL
DAYS.
AntttlatinE All Other Holidays In
American Htstory-HoN 1t was Gel
ebrated In Colonial Times.

AntttiatinE All other Holidays In
American HtstorS-How 1t WINS Cell
| ebrated in Colonial Times.
That which was good for the Thanks
giving day Of 1921 is good for the
Thanksgiving day of 1893. Here is
what Edward WmSlow says about that
earliest \ erican day of feasting: Our
harvest being gotten in, our governor
| ,William Br.lGfc:,il sent -four men out
fowln.. so that we might after Il
special manner rejoice together after
we had gathered the fruit of our Ia
horS They. four in one day Killed
as much fowl us, with n little help be-
side. served the company almost
week At which time. among other
rrreations. we exercised our arms,
many of the Indians coming among
lis. and among the rest their greatest
king. MaSSaSoyt, with some ninety men,
whom for three days we entertained
and feasted; and they went out and
killed five deer. which they brought
to the plantation and bestowed on our
governor and upon the captain. MylcS
Standish. and others. And although 1t
be not always so plentiful as it was at
this time with lis. yet by the goodness
of God we are so far from want that
we often wish you partakers of our
plenty"
Here. then. is the most authentic
record of the first Thanksgiving day on
American soil The colony, which at
that early time made merry with roast
deer and smaller game. washed down
by some of Hollands best gin, consist
cd of tifty-tive persons all told. Forty
six had died during ten terrible months,
and yet those stern puritans found 1t
in their hearts to rejoice. And the same
spirit that animated them in so doing
is the spirit that it is worth While to
cultivate at the present day. Then,
us now, it is proper to make merry
at the right time. Our American
Thanksgiving has Il history OF its own.
This may not lead directly back to an
CcStral halls rich in notable tradition.
but it does lead back to birthplace
of which every true American may well
be proud. 4 birthplace that savors OF
the soil of Il new continent and tells
of the condition which surrounded the
infancy of Il great people. Entire orig
inulty in the matter of feast days.
fast days and holidays is thing OF
the past Practically every day in
the year was pre-cmptcd for annivcr-
Sary purposes long ago, and should a
new nation spring into existence to-
morrow and seek to mark the event
by the establishment Of general pub
lie festival. some uneasy bookWorm
would rise up and prove by the prodllc-
ton of Il Chaldcan or AsSyran or Aztec
calendar that a similar festival was
annually observed by primcval men
some ten thousand odd years. more or
less before the Christian era. Has
it not been demonstrated that Christ
mas and New Year and Easter, and
even the Jewish Sabbath and the
Christian Sunday are perpctuations OF
hcatheniSh festivals that had already
existed for centuries.
This however, is a matcraliStic. not
to say narrow view Of the subject
The true significance of Il national feSti-
val lies in the idea which directly leads
to its establishment, and it is not OF
the slightest consequence. save as q
matter of curiosity, to trace back the
analysis which can be found on the
pages of history. And considered in
this liberal sense. Thanksgiving may
fairly claim to be the oldest and most
distinctive Of our few American fcsti-
walls 1t officially antedates the Fourth
of July by more than Il century and Il
half 0621-177G). and was the first rec,
. ogniZed state holiday to attain regular
annual observance in the colonies. Or
iginality of conception has never been
authoritatively claimed for it. The
harvest home of the SlXons and Celts,
the cerealtia of the Roman, the Israel
itish feast Of TabcrnacleS, and for all
that we know to the contrary the first
harvest celebration OF prcadamite man
We're its actual precursors Even among
: the American Indians there was held
an autumnai festival which might not
uniustly claim precedence as the true
aboriginal Thanksgiving Of the West.
ern world. Modern obscrvances of
} Thanksgiving are bitterly denounced
in certain quarters as sadly at variance
in all worthy aspects from the ideas
} of the Plymouth colonists during their
: first golden autumn on the coast OF
Can Cod bay. Indications are not
altogether wanting. however, that the
manner Of celebrating has changed in
non-essentials only. No longer is Il
whole week devoted to Thanksgiving,
as in the days Of Governor Bradford.
A single day suttices. Instead Of allow
ing each colony, settlement and state to
choose it's own date for giving thanks
and celebrating the event. we recog.
nize our centralized interests by having
national proclamation issued by the
president and sent out by telegraph to
all the land. Instead Of roasting our
turkey before an Cpcr wood fire, where
the touch of the sacred flame imparts
Il subtle and ver-to-be-forgottcn deli.
cacy of flavor, we cock it by steam
or by the heat of the oven or by gas
Instead of baking our chicken pies
in an old-fashioned brick oven pregnant
with fervent heat from spray embcrs
Of seasoned hickory and oak. we shut
them into cast-iron box next to a
mass Of incandescent, gaseous anthr:l'
cite.
But how about the change in spirit
in keeping the day? For answer one
may turn back to the files of the city
papers on the day after Thanksgiving