The Holly chieftain., 1923-11-29

AT Plymouth Rock nowadays stands heroic
statue Of Massasot head chief OF all the indian
tribes between Cape Cod and Narragansett bay.
incidentally he was good friend and ally Of the
Pilgrims, but he deserves the If only for the
fact that he introduced them TO the Wild turkey
and the pumpkin. 1t seems to be taken for granted
that roast turkey. cranberry sauce. succotash and
pumpkin pie were served at that first Thanksgfv-
Ing dinner In 1921 when the Pilgrims celebrated
the gathering Of their first harvest. Probably they
were. Anyway, the woods were full of turkeys and
the Indians had evolved an agricultural scheme
that was as simple as 1t was efficient. They plant
Ell corn In rows and beans in the same hills to
climb up the cornstalks and pumpkins between the
rows to shade the ground and keep down the
weeds--and all cultivated with one hoeing
The wild turkey. alas has travelled far on the
way Of the great buffalo herds that once covered
the plains and of the vast fOcks of passenger
pigeons that once darkened the skies. But the
tame turkey has come to take his place aud has
marched across the continent with the American
people. He has done that in senses than
one. inasmuch he has practically abandoned
New England and the Middle states for the West
and the Southwest.
Why our Thanksgiving bird should be called
turkey is one Of the mysteries. He originated
here. America gave him to the world He Is our
own blrd-"made In America" And of all the do
nestle birds about our farms and poultry yards the
When the European reached the Western Hem
isphere he found turkeys plentiful in Central
America, Mexico. the United States and Canada
The southern birds were smaller and darker than
those of the north. In Mexico there were both
wild and tame turkeys the natives raising the lat
ter for food on an extensive scale.
Record OF the date of the appearance of the frst
turkeys in Europe is missing, but the early Span
ish explorers took back birds to Spain. From
there they quickly spread to France and England
rope was quick to recognize 1t. BY the end of
the Seventeenth century they very generally
bred throughout Europe.
The wild turkey OF the United States is mag
nlhcent bird. Originally he numerous as
the beaver or the deer-lterally uncountable. For
a long time they were plentiful. They learned the
way OF the hunter early and developed cunning
often than match for that Of the man with
a gun. Within the experience of living men Mich
gan for instance. full of them that u man
walking through the forests from Detroit to ST
Toe was out of sight of the focks hurrying
off through the trees. Then they seemed to dis
appear all at once all over the country. CivilIza
tion and settlement probably had much to do
with 1t as the shotgun Ind rifle. Civilization In
evitably drives out wild life, even where wild life
Is protected by law. Clearance of timberand drain
ing of swamps cultivation of open country de-
prived the turkey of his natural habitat. Now
place wild enough TO afford refuge to the turkey
is wilderness indeed.
The tame turkey of the United States is an In
divdual sort of bird, with ways and notions OF his
own. This makes him a hard bird to raise and