The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-11-28
THE FIRST THANKSGIVING.
Where and by Whom Ii Was Kept i'm
the Old-T1mc Days.
Detroit Free Press.

Detroit Free Press.
Most OF us know that at some time and
rha SIns May but but most nsf'% of us Would have
TO admit. If pressed for accurate details,
that our Information on this point is rather
that Miles Standish had something to do
with Ii. and Governor Bradford was IN
some way responsible for the first observ-
the blush il our children asked US 10 tell
them all about IL at our Thanksgiving din
Il w tae'f in M fssi re er ye H0a or per perhaps aaS ~ tmensy
years later that the pilgrim fathers felt
sufficiently grateful for all their many mer-
cies to proclaim a day or thanksgiving, res
tivity and prayer.
Well it was in 1s2L I have known all
about it for twenty-four hours, because It
is just that long since the shame OF my
own ignorance led me 10 look the whole
matter up. Ii would make most OF US
have a keener appreciation of our own
rule to let our minds go back to those
dim and ancient days at Thanksgiving
time and come into touch with the real
spirit that brought about the observance
of the first Thanksgiving day.
One cannot know too much OF those cour-
but tender and true. women who sat down
to that first Thanksgiving feast in the wis
derness.
we know how they set sail from South
ampton on the 9th day OF September. 1879.
and how that Ii was not until the nth or
November that they sighted what is now
Provincetown. We know how they cast
anchor and sent out Miles Standlsh at the
head of an exploring party to examine the
unfavorable, and they lifted the anchor
and finally landed at Plymouth on the I'd
day of December A more unpropitious
Plymouth OF to-day is a cold and dreary
place in midwinter. What must II nave
been at the time the Pilgrims landed on its
rocky and barren shore?
But Plymouth coast in midsummer Is an
other matter. and one can understand how
like a land OF promise the green hills and
valleys must have looked to the Pilgrims
thriftily then. Health and strength had
were long and sunny. Tn Indians were
friendly. and the Pilgrims were free to
out of the depths of their sincere and
profound gratitude for their deliverance
from the perils of the sea. and their safe
anchorage in what now seemed TO be such
a goodly land they set apart A time of
thanksgiving that has been Kept year after
year and century after century until this
day. This first thanksgiving was. how
ever. kept about the 18th o. October. in
stead of the last of November, as has been
the custom with US for so many years. I
do not suppose that any written ~lrocla-
nation was issued. and IL would be inter
esting TO know the exact man.ler and the
exact words In which the thanksgiving
we can be sure that the preparations for
the event were. as elaborate as the limited
resources of the Pilgrims would permit.
The feasting and religious ceremonies lasted
three days. The women made such cake
and bread and other dainties as they could
out of corn meal, and there could not have
been any lack of fish or game for the feast.
Indeed Governor Bradford himself has re-
corded that the men went out to hunt and
that there was a great store OF wild tur-
keys, of which they took many" and from
that day to this Thanksgiving time has
been a woeful time for the turkey. IL IL
not recorded that pumpkin pies formed a
part OF the feast. but IL Is doubtful IL they.
did IL there was no flour but that made OF
corn in the colony.
The Pilgrims had in their little hamlet
a store house of logs about twenty-five fee<
square in which the provisions OF the col
ony were stored. and the feast was held in
this building, and there was among the
Down from generation to generation as \
stAnch fruend OF our forefathers. and that
was ola Massasoit- He and nearly one
the feast. and they came. carrying with
them a number OF deer as their contribution
to the feast. To the modern and more fas-
tidious mind the presence OF these savages
agreeable If they were not OF cleanl!er hab-
its than the poor Lo' with which we are
familiar. However, those were times when
the friendship of the Indians was so highly
valued that IL probably mattered little to
the Pilgrims what their personal habits
were. The pity OF il is that there should
ever have come a time when the unfailing
friendliness and kindness of Massasoit
should have been forgotten by those who
had profited by It. He and his warriors
had a part in the first Thanksgiving ever
and solemn religious ceremonies and exer-
cises of arms. OF course, there was the
long sermon. and Ii Is doubtful IL there
was much levity even at the feast, for
Thanksgiving meant more at that time
than IL means 10 many In the present day.
The world would doubtless be better for IL
bic and grateful spirit that characterized
4 the first Thanksgiving day.