The Dolores star., 1923-11-23

Al plymouth Rock nowadays stands i'm heroic
statue of MassasOt head chief of all the Indian
tribes between Cape Cod and NarraganSett bay
incidentally he good friend and ally Of the
Pilgrims but he deserves the statue If only for the
fact that he introduced them to the wild turkey
and the pumpkin 1t seems to be taken for granted
thit roast turkey, cranberry sauce, Succotash and
pumpkin pie served AT that first Thanksgiv-
Ing dinner in 1921 when the Pilgrims celebrated
the gathering of their first harvest. Probably they
We're Anyway, the woods were full of turkeys and
the indians had evolved an agricultural scheme
that was as simple as 1t efficient. They plant
ed 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 take his place and has
marched across the continent with the American
people. He has done that in more senses than
one inasmuch as he has practically abandoned
New England and the Middle states for the Wes,
and the Southwest
Why our Thanksgiving bird should he called
turkey is one of the mysteries lie originated
here. America gave him to the world He is our
own b!rd-"made in America" And of all the do
mestc birds about our farms and poultry yards the
turkey Is the only one that is strictly our own
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 first
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
The American turkey n good thing and En-.
rope was quick to recognize it, BY the end of
the Seventeenth century they were very generally
bred throughout Europe
nfcent bird. Originally he was as numerous as
a long time they Were plentiful They learned the
way of the hunter early and developed a cunning
often more than match for that of the man with
gun. Within the experience of living men NIchi-
gan, for instance, full of them that man
walking through the forests from Detroit TO ST
Joe was out of sight of the fiocks hurryinr
off through the trees. Then they seemed TO dis.
appear all at all over the country CivilIza.
ton and settlement probably had as much to do
with it the shotgun and rife Civilization in.
evitaby drives out wild life where wild life
is protected by law. Clearance of timberland drain
ing of swamps, cultivation Of open country de-
prived the turkey of his natural habitat Now a
place wild enough to afford refuge to the turkey
is a wilderness indeed.
The tame turkey of the United States Is an In
dvidual sort OF bird, with ways and notions of bis
own. This makes him hard bird to raise and