1 00:00:00,680 --> 00:00:05,680 Speaker 1: It's Night Side with Dan Way ONBS Boston's news radio. 2 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:08,600 Speaker 2: Well, happy Thanksgiving all. I hope you had a good Thanksgiving. 3 00:00:08,640 --> 00:00:11,120 Speaker 2: I had two good Thanksgivings. Our guests probably had four 4 00:00:11,200 --> 00:00:16,239 Speaker 2: or five, four or five thanksgivings. Because he is the 5 00:00:16,320 --> 00:00:19,599 Speaker 2: King of Thanksgiving. I suppose you heard me refer to 6 00:00:19,640 --> 00:00:21,080 Speaker 2: you as the King of Thanksgiving. 7 00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:23,079 Speaker 3: My friends called me mister Thanksgiving. 8 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:25,279 Speaker 2: Oh there you go. Now the case could be made 9 00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:27,720 Speaker 2: for that. First of all, who is this King of Thanksgiving? 10 00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:31,080 Speaker 2: His name is Richard Pickering. He's been on this show before, 11 00:00:32,320 --> 00:00:33,960 Speaker 2: he's been on with me before, I'm not sure, on 12 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:38,440 Speaker 2: Night Side. And he's a super fan favorite and knows 13 00:00:38,479 --> 00:00:42,800 Speaker 2: more about Thanksgiving than anyone else probably on the planet. 14 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:45,919 Speaker 2: You have more Thanksgivings per year than anyone I know. 15 00:00:46,840 --> 00:00:52,000 Speaker 2: And who better a candidate for the King of Thanksgiving? 16 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:56,720 Speaker 2: So happy Thanksgiving too. You are the deputy director and 17 00:00:57,120 --> 00:01:00,400 Speaker 2: a senior historian at the Plymouth Patoxic Museums, which is 18 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:04,800 Speaker 2: the headquarters of Thanksgiving. It is really the actual headquarters. 19 00:01:04,840 --> 00:01:09,199 Speaker 2: It's down there where there's the Mayflower two. It's really there. 20 00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:12,520 Speaker 2: And even though I'm kind of far away here in Boston, 21 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:17,640 Speaker 2: I almost feel I can almost feel the first Thanksgiving 22 00:01:17,959 --> 00:01:20,440 Speaker 2: due to your descriptions from the past, and we're going 23 00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:23,360 Speaker 2: to get some more of those descriptions. Why don't you 24 00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:26,160 Speaker 2: start by telling us what Thanksgiving is like at the 25 00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:28,280 Speaker 2: Plymouth Pawtuxi Museums. 26 00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:33,520 Speaker 3: For me, the day started with a drive time program 27 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:38,640 Speaker 3: and then we went right into three different seedings of 28 00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:42,959 Speaker 3: the story of Thanksgiving, which is the dinner that was 29 00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:47,720 Speaker 3: served at Harvard College after Lincoln declared two Thanksgivings in 30 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:52,000 Speaker 3: eighteen sixty three. So I have indigenous staff there, I 31 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:56,080 Speaker 3: have Colonial staff, and we're doing the background on the 32 00:01:56,120 --> 00:01:59,920 Speaker 3: seventeenth century between the courses of the meal. 33 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:03,200 Speaker 2: So you do three seatings each of multiple courses. Yeah, 34 00:02:03,240 --> 00:02:07,400 Speaker 2: and each one of those you narrate the whole thing. Yeah, 35 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:09,760 Speaker 2: you tie all the dishes together and tell the story. 36 00:02:09,919 --> 00:02:12,560 Speaker 3: And they're three hundred and fifty people at each seating 37 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:17,880 Speaker 3: in rooms that are back to back. So essentially, when 38 00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:20,079 Speaker 3: I'm in one room, my staff is in the other, 39 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:23,720 Speaker 3: and then we flip and we just keep the meal 40 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:24,680 Speaker 3: moving that way. 41 00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:29,600 Speaker 2: And what is the food that is related to the 42 00:02:29,800 --> 00:02:32,000 Speaker 2: Lincoln or related Thanksgiving. 43 00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:37,520 Speaker 3: It's the classic New England Thanksgiving dinner. So the guests 44 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:40,680 Speaker 3: are really happy because they're having a historical experience, but 45 00:02:40,840 --> 00:02:46,760 Speaker 3: the food is not a bit unfamiliar because having been 46 00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:49,480 Speaker 3: at the museum so long, I know, if you don't 47 00:02:49,520 --> 00:02:53,720 Speaker 3: have the classic Thanksgiving meal, you haven't had Thanksgiving that year. 48 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:57,080 Speaker 2: So you used to do the meal as a version 49 00:02:57,120 --> 00:03:00,480 Speaker 2: of the meal that was what the actual people had 50 00:03:00,919 --> 00:03:04,560 Speaker 2: in sixteen twenty one, which didn't bear much resemblance to 51 00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:06,440 Speaker 2: what people expect. 52 00:03:06,480 --> 00:03:09,079 Speaker 3: Correct, So we've broken that out and we now call 53 00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:12,600 Speaker 3: that a harvest feast. So a person who wants to 54 00:03:12,639 --> 00:03:16,480 Speaker 3: do seventeenth century dining wants a harvest feast. If they 55 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:20,359 Speaker 3: want classic New England Thanksgiving, they do the story of Thanksgiving? 56 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:22,840 Speaker 2: All right? So you did three savings of three hundred 57 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:25,480 Speaker 2: and fifty people, and we do two more tomorrow. And 58 00:03:25,560 --> 00:03:27,800 Speaker 2: what did you do after that? After? Did you get 59 00:03:27,840 --> 00:03:29,320 Speaker 2: a break before you came here? No? 60 00:03:29,680 --> 00:03:32,919 Speaker 3: I walked right out of the six o'clock dinner and 61 00:03:32,960 --> 00:03:34,160 Speaker 3: got in a car to come here. 62 00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:37,680 Speaker 2: So that's pretty great. I'm always very thankful and super 63 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:42,640 Speaker 2: impressed that you make your way after that probably brutal 64 00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:45,520 Speaker 2: day and come all the way up here to be 65 00:03:45,560 --> 00:03:46,840 Speaker 2: on the radio. I'm so thankful. 66 00:03:46,880 --> 00:03:50,680 Speaker 3: Well, think of all the memories we've had. I think 67 00:03:50,720 --> 00:03:55,160 Speaker 3: of the years when we were together every Thanksgiving night, 68 00:03:56,200 --> 00:03:58,800 Speaker 3: And there was the night the woman who was eighty 69 00:03:58,920 --> 00:04:01,119 Speaker 3: or eighty one called in and she said, Richard, I've 70 00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:04,120 Speaker 3: just learned I'm a Mayflower descendant. Could you tell me 71 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:11,280 Speaker 3: about my grandparents? And to share that experience with somebody. 72 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:13,360 Speaker 2: It must be meaningful for you to be able to 73 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:13,760 Speaker 2: share that. 74 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:18,280 Speaker 3: It is to enrich for life and the stories that 75 00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:23,719 Speaker 3: I get. When I came back as the deputy executive director, 76 00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:28,560 Speaker 3: we were doing a Lincoln inspired dinner that was filled 77 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:32,719 Speaker 3: with Civil War role players, and to me, it was 78 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:37,120 Speaker 3: too loud. They were intrusive on the diners, and I thought, 79 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:40,920 Speaker 3: I want people talking to each other. So what we 80 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:47,080 Speaker 3: did was kept the food, removed the immersive experience of 81 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:51,120 Speaker 3: eighteen sixty three, and I say to the guests, I 82 00:04:51,320 --> 00:04:54,080 Speaker 3: challenge you to reach out to that stranger that's at 83 00:04:54,160 --> 00:04:57,159 Speaker 3: your table and find out why they're here. Why was 84 00:04:57,200 --> 00:04:59,920 Speaker 3: it important to be in Plymouth for a thank you 85 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:04,479 Speaker 3: giving of their life? The original people at sixteen twenty 86 00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:07,560 Speaker 3: one couldn't speak to each other. There was a handful 87 00:05:07,600 --> 00:05:12,960 Speaker 3: of Wampanogue interpreters, but the bulk of people could not communicate, 88 00:05:13,360 --> 00:05:17,640 Speaker 3: but yet they feasted, they played sports. There were military demonstrations, 89 00:05:18,040 --> 00:05:20,240 Speaker 3: and you can talk to each other, so find out 90 00:05:20,240 --> 00:05:22,880 Speaker 3: each other's stories, and people do it. 91 00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:26,479 Speaker 2: Yeah, that must make it much more rewarding experience. 92 00:05:26,640 --> 00:05:30,320 Speaker 3: Yeah, people will come up at the end of the 93 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:32,280 Speaker 3: meal and say, Richard, this is what we found out 94 00:05:32,320 --> 00:05:33,480 Speaker 3: about our table. 95 00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:36,800 Speaker 2: And we must be some interesting stories here. 96 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:40,760 Speaker 3: Yeah, there was. I think it was a year ago, 97 00:05:40,960 --> 00:05:45,600 Speaker 3: possibly two years there was a family where there were 98 00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:50,599 Speaker 3: three siblings that were the first outside of the Pennsylvania 99 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:53,520 Speaker 3: coal fields. They were the first in the family to 100 00:05:53,600 --> 00:05:58,000 Speaker 3: have college degrees. So they're at the table. Their next 101 00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:02,680 Speaker 3: to a couple from India who are both new physicians 102 00:06:02,720 --> 00:06:05,719 Speaker 3: at mass General, who are there with their family. And 103 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:10,440 Speaker 3: then the third family was military and they wanted their 104 00:06:10,560 --> 00:06:14,240 Speaker 3: six year old son to have a dinner at Plymouth 105 00:06:14,279 --> 00:06:17,720 Speaker 3: while they were stationed in New England. And that table 106 00:06:17,760 --> 00:06:20,680 Speaker 3: got up, they walked around, they shook one another's hands. 107 00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:25,719 Speaker 2: Is it your sense that people are from far away 108 00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:30,560 Speaker 2: view Thanksgiving as the ultimate American experience. I mean, some 109 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:33,359 Speaker 2: would say going to Las Vegas, going out west, But 110 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:35,600 Speaker 2: do you get a sense that a lot of them 111 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:38,159 Speaker 2: feel I want to really be American. I want the 112 00:06:38,200 --> 00:06:39,080 Speaker 2: real Thanksgiving. 113 00:06:39,839 --> 00:06:44,560 Speaker 3: That again and again, I'm talking to people who are saying, Richard, 114 00:06:44,680 --> 00:06:47,880 Speaker 3: this is my first Thanksgiving as an American, and I 115 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:52,159 Speaker 3: wanted it to be here. And so I think so 116 00:06:52,320 --> 00:06:57,039 Speaker 3: many Americans who've been here a long time, their families 117 00:06:57,080 --> 00:07:01,760 Speaker 3: have been around, have lost the metaphor and the symbolic 118 00:07:01,880 --> 00:07:07,200 Speaker 3: nature of the Mayflower voyage. For some people, particularly New Americans, 119 00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:11,440 Speaker 3: who for reasons of religion or reasons of political persecution, 120 00:07:12,200 --> 00:07:16,880 Speaker 3: they see their story exemplified in the Mayflower story, and 121 00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:18,960 Speaker 3: for them it's deeply emotional. 122 00:07:20,120 --> 00:07:22,240 Speaker 2: I'm gonna get We're going to get into all these 123 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:27,200 Speaker 2: details about the Mayflower trip over, paint that picture, get 124 00:07:27,320 --> 00:07:31,560 Speaker 2: rid of some misconceptions about the arrival. It's just such 125 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:34,480 Speaker 2: a good story. And folks, you are so fortunate to 126 00:07:34,520 --> 00:07:38,720 Speaker 2: have this expert here because you're gonna you're gonna understand 127 00:07:39,680 --> 00:07:44,360 Speaker 2: Thanksgiving and what it means like you never otherwise would have. 128 00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:46,600 Speaker 2: And like folks who are not fortunate enough to hear 129 00:07:46,640 --> 00:07:50,720 Speaker 2: this will never until they do hear this. And also 130 00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:54,360 Speaker 2: I want to compare. I'd like to know more about 131 00:07:54,360 --> 00:07:57,400 Speaker 2: the Lincoln Thanksgiving and why that came to be so 132 00:07:57,440 --> 00:08:02,080 Speaker 2: important and more about the experts at the Plymouth Protoxic Museums, 133 00:08:02,640 --> 00:08:05,520 Speaker 2: and I'd love to have you share, Folks, this is 134 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:09,440 Speaker 2: very informal. I'm always I'd love to hear what people 135 00:08:09,440 --> 00:08:12,440 Speaker 2: did for Thanksgiving. Different people do they do too, do 136 00:08:12,520 --> 00:08:15,320 Speaker 2: different things, and yeah, there's the core of it, but 137 00:08:15,880 --> 00:08:19,040 Speaker 2: sometimes it's different that you do. You prefer the cooking 138 00:08:19,160 --> 00:08:21,320 Speaker 2: or do you like going out? I actually prefer I 139 00:08:21,440 --> 00:08:25,200 Speaker 2: like giving. I like going out today. It's kind of special, 140 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:28,239 Speaker 2: but I want to hear about your story, maybe something 141 00:08:28,280 --> 00:08:31,360 Speaker 2: particularly interesting that happened with your Thanksgiving. And it's also 142 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:35,800 Speaker 2: a good time for just family members of the WBZ 143 00:08:35,960 --> 00:08:40,320 Speaker 2: community to check in without having to have something specific 144 00:08:40,320 --> 00:08:44,720 Speaker 2: today to say regarding a topic. So that will continue 145 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:46,000 Speaker 2: after this on WBZ. 146 00:08:47,440 --> 00:08:51,720 Speaker 1: You're on Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ Boston's 147 00:08:51,760 --> 00:08:52,360 Speaker 1: News Radio. 148 00:08:52,840 --> 00:08:56,400 Speaker 2: Happy Thanksgiving from WBZ News Radio ten thirty on Bradley J. 149 00:08:56,520 --> 00:09:00,280 Speaker 2: And for Dan, tonight, we're with mister Thanksgiving. I called 150 00:09:00,360 --> 00:09:02,160 Speaker 2: him the King of Thanksgiving, but we can switch to 151 00:09:02,200 --> 00:09:08,560 Speaker 2: the more common sobriquet mister Thanksgiving. Richard Pickering of the 152 00:09:08,640 --> 00:09:13,120 Speaker 2: Plymouth PA Tuxit Museums, where he is very involved with 153 00:09:13,720 --> 00:09:17,720 Speaker 2: multiple versions of Thanksgiving, but uh and I want to 154 00:09:17,720 --> 00:09:19,280 Speaker 2: reach out to everyone. This is a great time to 155 00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:21,400 Speaker 2: check in here at six one, seven, two, five, four, 156 00:09:21,480 --> 00:09:24,640 Speaker 2: ten thirty. Tell me about your Thanksgiving. Share it? Do 157 00:09:24,679 --> 00:09:28,840 Speaker 2: you love it? I love it. It is somehow seems 158 00:09:28,880 --> 00:09:34,000 Speaker 2: to be the only holiday that has remained this pure, 159 00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:38,319 Speaker 2: more than Christmas, and it's remained with the basics, family 160 00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:39,120 Speaker 2: and the meal. 161 00:09:39,720 --> 00:09:44,319 Speaker 3: I got to spend a day with Joan Rivers today. Oh, 162 00:09:44,360 --> 00:09:48,000 Speaker 3: she's passed two or three, I don't know. A couple 163 00:09:48,080 --> 00:09:51,880 Speaker 3: of years ago, it was the year before her passage. 164 00:09:52,440 --> 00:09:56,400 Speaker 3: She loved the museum and so she had said to 165 00:09:56,640 --> 00:10:00,000 Speaker 3: her grandson, if you get an a in history, I'll 166 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:04,360 Speaker 3: rent a rock Star bus and will go from Colonial 167 00:10:04,400 --> 00:10:11,560 Speaker 3: Williamsburg to Plymouth Patuxic Museums. She decided to simultaneously do 168 00:10:11,640 --> 00:10:15,480 Speaker 3: an episode of Joan and Melissa. Mother knows best, really, 169 00:10:15,920 --> 00:10:18,199 Speaker 3: and as I was with her, it was an amazing 170 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:22,040 Speaker 3: experience where at Plymouth Rock, and she says, Richard, tell 171 00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:24,520 Speaker 3: me about Plymouth Rock. So I'm telling her about the rock. 172 00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:27,280 Speaker 3: The cameras aren't running, there's no crew with us. She 173 00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:31,679 Speaker 3: just wanted to know about the rock. So retentive that 174 00:10:31,760 --> 00:10:34,920 Speaker 3: as the crowds are gathering, because I'm with Joan Rivers, 175 00:10:35,280 --> 00:10:38,880 Speaker 3: she starts interpreting the history of the rock, and she's flawless. 176 00:10:39,240 --> 00:10:42,120 Speaker 2: She's telling people about why don't you tell us about 177 00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:42,520 Speaker 2: the rock. 178 00:10:43,800 --> 00:10:48,319 Speaker 3: The Rock, to me is one of those experiences that 179 00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:53,160 Speaker 3: people will say, oh, it's so small, and they don't 180 00:10:53,200 --> 00:10:58,960 Speaker 3: realize its impact on American history, and it's changing. Symbolism 181 00:11:00,240 --> 00:11:05,040 Speaker 3: has moved from the waterfront to this town square, to 182 00:11:05,160 --> 00:11:08,319 Speaker 3: in front of Pilgrim Hall Museum, then back to the waterfront, 183 00:11:08,880 --> 00:11:11,120 Speaker 3: and then in nineteen twenty it was put in this 184 00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:16,200 Speaker 3: Greek temple where it currently is. When they tried to 185 00:11:16,280 --> 00:11:20,200 Speaker 3: move the rock in the eighteenth century, the rock was 186 00:11:20,280 --> 00:11:23,160 Speaker 3: so enormous that it split in two, and the sons 187 00:11:23,160 --> 00:11:26,440 Speaker 3: of the patriots said, this is a symbol that we 188 00:11:26,480 --> 00:11:30,160 Speaker 3: are to break with Britain. Of course they did, and 189 00:11:30,240 --> 00:11:33,880 Speaker 3: so the rock gets moved up to town square. The 190 00:11:33,920 --> 00:11:38,839 Speaker 3: Liberty pole is there, Liberty flag is being flown over it. 191 00:11:39,120 --> 00:11:43,840 Speaker 3: So the rock, for some people, there's a battle between 192 00:11:43,880 --> 00:11:47,160 Speaker 3: different Mayflower families as to who stepped onto it first. 193 00:11:47,640 --> 00:11:48,719 Speaker 3: We really don't know. 194 00:11:49,559 --> 00:11:53,080 Speaker 2: So is the rock, I mean, legit, is there any 195 00:11:53,080 --> 00:11:55,320 Speaker 2: way to know. I'm trying to put myself. You know, 196 00:11:55,360 --> 00:11:57,680 Speaker 2: they're freezing cold. They're just happy to step on land. 197 00:11:57,720 --> 00:12:02,040 Speaker 2: And somebody say, somebody say, mark that rock. Remember that rock, 198 00:12:02,160 --> 00:12:04,160 Speaker 2: that's the first rock we stepped on. I mean maybe 199 00:12:04,200 --> 00:12:06,480 Speaker 2: they did, because it was the first piece of land 200 00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:08,840 Speaker 2: they stepped on, but maybe they didn't. How do we 201 00:12:08,880 --> 00:12:09,920 Speaker 2: know that? Isn't that the. 202 00:12:09,920 --> 00:12:15,120 Speaker 3: Actual rock we Samuel Elliott Morrison felt the story had significance, 203 00:12:15,160 --> 00:12:18,920 Speaker 3: but it wasn't a landing that no one stepped on 204 00:12:18,960 --> 00:12:23,000 Speaker 3: the rock. That the rock was so enormous, and today, 205 00:12:23,760 --> 00:12:26,559 Speaker 3: if you can imagine a shivis regal bottle. The part 206 00:12:26,559 --> 00:12:29,480 Speaker 3: of Plymouth Rock that we're seeing is the cork and 207 00:12:29,520 --> 00:12:34,040 Speaker 3: there is a massive, massive amount of granite below it, 208 00:12:34,559 --> 00:12:37,959 Speaker 3: underneath the sand. So you've got a rock that split 209 00:12:38,160 --> 00:12:41,400 Speaker 3: has been chipped away, is smaller than it was and 210 00:12:41,520 --> 00:12:45,120 Speaker 3: is still impressive. And Samuel Elliott Morrison, who was a 211 00:12:45,200 --> 00:12:49,280 Speaker 3: naval historian, said, a pilot is being told go to 212 00:12:49,360 --> 00:12:53,560 Speaker 3: that giant rock. Okay, get a ship near the brooks? 213 00:12:53,640 --> 00:12:55,560 Speaker 2: Is there the rock? Is something about that in the 214 00:12:55,600 --> 00:12:58,400 Speaker 2: captain's log or anything. Nope, we headed for the big 215 00:12:58,800 --> 00:12:59,360 Speaker 2: big rock. 216 00:12:59,520 --> 00:13:01,040 Speaker 3: Never gets mentioned. 217 00:13:00,679 --> 00:13:03,240 Speaker 2: When did the Plymouth Rock start to get talked about 218 00:13:03,400 --> 00:13:06,920 Speaker 2: at seventeen forty one, Okay, so that's one hundred and 219 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:11,200 Speaker 2: twenty years right before anyone even mentioned the rock. Why 220 00:13:11,200 --> 00:13:11,920 Speaker 2: did they mention it? 221 00:13:11,960 --> 00:13:15,760 Speaker 3: Then a peer or a wharf was going to be 222 00:13:15,840 --> 00:13:19,400 Speaker 3: built over the rock, and this man in his nineties, 223 00:13:19,840 --> 00:13:24,400 Speaker 3: who was the elder of the church, was distraught, and 224 00:13:24,480 --> 00:13:28,280 Speaker 3: so he said, could you please take me down to 225 00:13:28,400 --> 00:13:30,840 Speaker 3: the waterfront one more time? And they put this man 226 00:13:30,920 --> 00:13:34,440 Speaker 3: in his nineties in a sedan chair and they carried 227 00:13:34,520 --> 00:13:39,560 Speaker 3: him three miles from his home to the waterfront at Plymouth, 228 00:13:39,880 --> 00:13:43,000 Speaker 3: and he tapped on the rock with his cane, and 229 00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:46,600 Speaker 3: all of those people who had followed him in the 230 00:13:46,640 --> 00:13:51,960 Speaker 3: sedan chair are learning that this is where the pilgrims land. 231 00:13:52,200 --> 00:13:56,760 Speaker 2: Wow, so no one really knew except this man. The 232 00:13:56,760 --> 00:13:57,720 Speaker 2: public didn't really know. 233 00:13:58,120 --> 00:14:04,000 Speaker 3: And so a later historian, writing about the story because 234 00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:07,959 Speaker 3: it had been dismissed, that everybody needs to be mindful 235 00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:13,640 Speaker 3: that elder Fonce knew all of the first generation. And 236 00:14:14,600 --> 00:14:20,480 Speaker 3: Judge Davis broke down Thomas Fonce's life dates against the 237 00:14:20,560 --> 00:14:24,600 Speaker 3: dates of William Bradford, John Alden, John Howland, and you 238 00:14:24,720 --> 00:14:29,320 Speaker 3: realize that he knew the first generation into his forties Wow, 239 00:14:29,360 --> 00:14:32,800 Speaker 3: so that as an adult when he told this story, 240 00:14:32,920 --> 00:14:36,640 Speaker 3: people were so moved by his emotion about the rock 241 00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:41,200 Speaker 3: being covered by a wharf that when the wharf went up, 242 00:14:41,280 --> 00:14:44,280 Speaker 3: they cut a hole in it and put a railing 243 00:14:44,360 --> 00:14:46,680 Speaker 3: in so people could look down on the rock. And 244 00:14:46,760 --> 00:14:52,160 Speaker 3: so it's that moment that gives the rock significance, and 245 00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:55,800 Speaker 3: then later the attempt to move the rock ties it 246 00:14:55,880 --> 00:14:58,200 Speaker 3: now to revolutionary ideas. 247 00:14:59,160 --> 00:15:05,120 Speaker 2: That is what about? What else about Plymouth is very 248 00:15:06,160 --> 00:15:10,880 Speaker 2: Thanksgiving related? Are there other attractions or other historical sites 249 00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:13,840 Speaker 2: that people can visit that are related to the landing 250 00:15:14,040 --> 00:15:16,840 Speaker 2: or to the first Thanksgiving or to events subsequent. 251 00:15:17,120 --> 00:15:22,320 Speaker 3: Well, Plymouth has the oldest continually operating private museum in 252 00:15:22,360 --> 00:15:28,160 Speaker 3: the nation in Pilgrim Hall. Unbelievable collection. It has the 253 00:15:28,200 --> 00:15:34,479 Speaker 3: most objects with a direct tie to possible Mayflower passage, 254 00:15:35,840 --> 00:15:41,240 Speaker 3: historical paintings that represent the First Thanksgiving. It's just an 255 00:15:41,320 --> 00:15:42,960 Speaker 3: amazing collection. 256 00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:46,560 Speaker 2: Any articles that I doubt that we're on the original 257 00:15:46,560 --> 00:15:50,960 Speaker 2: may Flower, like I don't know an or or a 258 00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:52,000 Speaker 2: metal piece. 259 00:15:52,400 --> 00:15:55,000 Speaker 3: There are chairs that are said to have been owned 260 00:15:55,040 --> 00:16:00,560 Speaker 3: by Governor Carver, William and then William Brewster there is 261 00:16:00,800 --> 00:16:05,000 Speaker 3: a damask napkin that's said to have been owned by 262 00:16:05,080 --> 00:16:09,560 Speaker 3: Richard Warren. So there are objects that could possibly have 263 00:16:09,640 --> 00:16:11,760 Speaker 3: come over on Mayflower in their collection. 264 00:16:12,880 --> 00:16:16,600 Speaker 2: Speaking of came over? Who came over? And I heard 265 00:16:16,640 --> 00:16:24,120 Speaker 2: this professor say that the crew did not like the 266 00:16:24,160 --> 00:16:27,920 Speaker 2: passengers at all. The passengers were divided into religious folks 267 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:31,480 Speaker 2: and mercenaries, but that the crew didn't like them at all, 268 00:16:32,080 --> 00:16:34,359 Speaker 2: and we're happy to be rid of them. Is that? 269 00:16:35,160 --> 00:16:36,240 Speaker 2: What's the story there? 270 00:16:36,760 --> 00:16:41,200 Speaker 3: I've always wondered about the nature of Christopher Jones, who 271 00:16:41,400 --> 00:16:44,280 Speaker 3: was the master of Mayflower and a quarter owner of 272 00:16:44,320 --> 00:16:48,640 Speaker 3: the ship, because Governor Bradford in of Plymouth Plantation writes 273 00:16:48,720 --> 00:16:52,480 Speaker 3: about how the passengers are treated by the crew and 274 00:16:52,560 --> 00:16:56,160 Speaker 3: the amount of abuse they suffered in their hands, and 275 00:16:56,200 --> 00:17:00,400 Speaker 3: I wondered, did the captain or his junior officer, did 276 00:17:00,440 --> 00:17:03,840 Speaker 3: they not see any of this? Did they not intercede, 277 00:17:04,520 --> 00:17:08,120 Speaker 3: you know, on the benefit of the passengers. Who there's 278 00:17:08,200 --> 00:17:12,119 Speaker 3: one sailor who is saying, I'm gonna love feeding you 279 00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:15,199 Speaker 3: to the fishes, I'm gonna love throwing your body overboard, 280 00:17:15,280 --> 00:17:19,320 Speaker 3: I'm going to take your things, and Governor Bradford kind 281 00:17:19,359 --> 00:17:21,720 Speaker 3: of enjoys the fact that he reports that this young 282 00:17:21,800 --> 00:17:25,320 Speaker 3: man died half way across and they threw his body 283 00:17:25,960 --> 00:17:26,600 Speaker 3: in the water. 284 00:17:27,040 --> 00:17:30,440 Speaker 2: I don't think people understand how tough times were then. 285 00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:33,600 Speaker 2: There's no way for us to grasp the brutality of 286 00:17:33,640 --> 00:17:36,280 Speaker 2: the times in general, even when you're not on a 287 00:17:36,920 --> 00:17:41,520 Speaker 2: transatlantic crossing. Yes, it's a brutality. Life was really cheap then. 288 00:17:41,560 --> 00:17:44,840 Speaker 2: People didn't live that long then, and you had ten 289 00:17:44,920 --> 00:17:48,080 Speaker 2: kids and maybe three or five lived. Yeah, and so 290 00:17:49,400 --> 00:17:58,800 Speaker 2: an entirely different expectations was Plymouthy intended arrival point? Was 291 00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:00,040 Speaker 2: it Virginia they wanted to. 292 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:02,840 Speaker 3: They thought they were going to be Virginians, and they 293 00:18:02,840 --> 00:18:07,280 Speaker 3: were going within the boundary of the Virginia Company, which 294 00:18:07,320 --> 00:18:12,720 Speaker 3: is essentially from northern Florida to Hoboken, New Jersey. Virginia 295 00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:17,960 Speaker 3: is that extensive. They wanted to be under the Virginia Company, 296 00:18:17,960 --> 00:18:22,199 Speaker 3: but far enough away from Jamestown that there would be 297 00:18:22,240 --> 00:18:25,200 Speaker 3: no danger of the Church of England being thrust on them. 298 00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:29,840 Speaker 3: And why would they want to be within Virginia because 299 00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:34,119 Speaker 3: it's an established, royally approved company and above that, above 300 00:18:35,320 --> 00:18:38,680 Speaker 3: New Jersey or Virginia. At the time, what was that considered? 301 00:18:39,080 --> 00:18:42,879 Speaker 3: That was New England and was it wild and wooly 302 00:18:42,920 --> 00:18:46,520 Speaker 3: and untamed or was it just politically not as good 303 00:18:46,520 --> 00:18:50,000 Speaker 3: for them? No one really knew New England as well 304 00:18:50,080 --> 00:18:53,159 Speaker 3: as the Chesapeake except for fishermen and traders. 305 00:18:54,480 --> 00:18:57,200 Speaker 2: I heard that that fishermen were coming from England to 306 00:18:57,920 --> 00:19:05,520 Speaker 2: fish cod like centuries before the Mayflower, at least hundred years. Yeah, 307 00:19:05,560 --> 00:19:08,040 Speaker 2: for at least one hundred years. And I also heard 308 00:19:08,080 --> 00:19:11,840 Speaker 2: that upon arrival, the people on the Mayflower had the 309 00:19:11,880 --> 00:19:15,000 Speaker 2: wrong sized fishooks. Yes, is that true? 310 00:19:15,080 --> 00:19:19,359 Speaker 3: These were these were farmers. They had hired fishermen to 311 00:19:19,480 --> 00:19:23,040 Speaker 3: stay with them and educate them for a year, but 312 00:19:24,680 --> 00:19:28,639 Speaker 3: they didn't equip themselves well. And we all have to 313 00:19:28,680 --> 00:19:33,000 Speaker 3: remember what they themselves talked about, we are the first, 314 00:19:33,080 --> 00:19:36,280 Speaker 3: we have no teachers. And so they knew they were 315 00:19:36,320 --> 00:19:39,640 Speaker 3: going to be stumbling through things because what they were 316 00:19:39,680 --> 00:19:44,960 Speaker 3: trying was so novel and Virginia wasn't a success at 317 00:19:44,960 --> 00:19:49,040 Speaker 3: that point they were heading to Virginia, did they actually 318 00:19:49,040 --> 00:19:54,520 Speaker 3: expect to survive? I think they did because they they 319 00:19:54,560 --> 00:19:58,280 Speaker 3: recognized that they were different from the bulk of people 320 00:19:58,359 --> 00:20:04,080 Speaker 3: going to Virginia in that Virginia's population is predominantly bachelors, 321 00:20:04,720 --> 00:20:09,440 Speaker 3: predominantly people who are thinking let's make some quick bucks 322 00:20:09,480 --> 00:20:16,080 Speaker 3: here and go home. Where these were political refugees, religious refugees, 323 00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:20,400 Speaker 3: others who had come for the possibility of owning land. 324 00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:24,240 Speaker 3: No one was looking to go home again. And my 325 00:20:24,480 --> 00:20:28,480 Speaker 3: mentor non a Pashmat, the great Wampinogg historian, He said, Richard, 326 00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:33,520 Speaker 3: what was a message to Wampanog people was the presence 327 00:20:33,560 --> 00:20:36,199 Speaker 3: of women and children and the elderly. What was that 328 00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:41,879 Speaker 3: message that the English never could have suspected that after 329 00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:46,240 Speaker 3: one hundred years of only seeing men and boys as 330 00:20:46,280 --> 00:20:51,560 Speaker 3: traders and as fishermen, suddenly you have entire families getting 331 00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:55,919 Speaker 3: off a ship. And the nonverbal message for Indigenous. 332 00:20:55,400 --> 00:20:57,560 Speaker 2: People is we're here to stay. 333 00:20:58,280 --> 00:21:01,199 Speaker 3: Yeah, we don't take our women and our children and 334 00:21:01,240 --> 00:21:05,959 Speaker 3: our elderly into any potentially violent situation. So the English 335 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:09,040 Speaker 3: would have no idea that the message that they're sending 336 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:13,120 Speaker 3: to Indigenous eyes is one if we come and no harm. 337 00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:16,679 Speaker 2: Okay, that's good. That would also send a message that 338 00:21:17,200 --> 00:21:19,920 Speaker 2: we're not here just to plunder, We're here to populate. 339 00:21:20,160 --> 00:21:27,120 Speaker 3: Yes, yeah, and they're not particularly successful at that. 340 00:21:26,680 --> 00:21:29,600 Speaker 2: That rough year. Yeah, we'll get into that right after this. 341 00:21:29,800 --> 00:21:34,040 Speaker 1: I w BZ you're on night side with Dan Ray 342 00:21:34,440 --> 00:21:37,040 Speaker 1: on w b Z, Boston's news radio. 343 00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:40,479 Speaker 2: Bradley J And for Dan tonight and we're with Richard Pickering, 344 00:21:40,560 --> 00:21:44,280 Speaker 2: who is mister Thanksgiving. He's the deputy director of the 345 00:21:44,320 --> 00:21:47,280 Speaker 2: Plymouth Patuxt Museums, which is headquarters. It truly is ground 346 00:21:47,320 --> 00:21:51,639 Speaker 2: zero for Thanksgiving. Also the chief historian, as you probably 347 00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:54,760 Speaker 2: could have guessed by his deep knowledge of everything to 348 00:21:54,800 --> 00:21:59,560 Speaker 2: do with the time. Let's see, where were we. We 349 00:21:59,560 --> 00:22:04,200 Speaker 2: were on the on the Mayflower, wondering certain things and 350 00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:09,520 Speaker 2: expected to go to Virginia as it was then, which 351 00:22:09,640 --> 00:22:12,040 Speaker 2: was like a huge place. It's very good that you 352 00:22:12,920 --> 00:22:14,880 Speaker 2: made me understand that. I didn't know that. I kind 353 00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:18,359 Speaker 2: of always thought of it and it's current iteration. But 354 00:22:18,520 --> 00:22:21,480 Speaker 2: no Virginia. It was New England, and then Virginia started 355 00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:25,359 Speaker 2: right away. Yes, there was nothing in between, no mid Atlantic. 356 00:22:25,960 --> 00:22:29,560 Speaker 3: And in sixteen twenty, New England's name was new that 357 00:22:29,880 --> 00:22:34,680 Speaker 3: Captain Smith had come through and mapped New England and 358 00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:36,880 Speaker 3: he gave it its regional name. 359 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:39,600 Speaker 2: Oh yeah, what was it before it was New England? 360 00:22:39,680 --> 00:22:40,800 Speaker 2: Just those woods? 361 00:22:41,560 --> 00:22:44,160 Speaker 3: Yeah, it was just essentially those woods over there, and 362 00:22:44,200 --> 00:22:46,639 Speaker 3: he gives it a name with a real sense of 363 00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:50,359 Speaker 3: real estate savvy of would you rather go to a 364 00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:53,960 Speaker 3: place called Virginia or a place called New England? 365 00:22:54,359 --> 00:22:56,720 Speaker 2: Right, it's got your home attached right. 366 00:22:56,640 --> 00:23:01,200 Speaker 3: To the name, and he takes the map back to England. 367 00:23:01,800 --> 00:23:04,280 Speaker 3: It has no names on it other than the region 368 00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:08,800 Speaker 3: is now New England, and one of James's sons names 369 00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:12,879 Speaker 3: all of the places in New England. So there is 370 00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:18,600 Speaker 3: this tradition that Plymouth was named Plymouth because the Mayflower's 371 00:23:19,400 --> 00:23:25,399 Speaker 3: successful departure from England was Plymouth, England, and no, it 372 00:23:25,480 --> 00:23:30,159 Speaker 3: was already named Plymouth. So even though for thousands of 373 00:23:30,280 --> 00:23:34,439 Speaker 3: years it had been Peduxit to Wampanog people, and it 374 00:23:34,560 --> 00:23:38,000 Speaker 3: still is ptux It this day. Even though it's more 375 00:23:38,119 --> 00:23:43,280 Speaker 3: commonly known as Plymouth, it's still also patux It. What 376 00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:48,040 Speaker 3: does potoxic translate to a place of little waterfalls? Because 377 00:23:48,080 --> 00:23:51,320 Speaker 3: the water was so fine, and it's one of the 378 00:23:51,359 --> 00:23:57,720 Speaker 3: reasons that they chose the site on Lyden Street or 379 00:23:57,840 --> 00:24:01,200 Speaker 3: what would be called Lydon Street, because as it's surrounded 380 00:24:01,240 --> 00:24:03,359 Speaker 3: by springs, the water was so good. 381 00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:06,080 Speaker 2: And Leiden streets so named because they left from or 382 00:24:06,119 --> 00:24:07,080 Speaker 2: they were from Leiden. 383 00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:10,480 Speaker 3: Yep, it was, it was just the street until the 384 00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:13,440 Speaker 3: early nineteenth century. There was only one street, and then 385 00:24:13,480 --> 00:24:16,119 Speaker 3: in the nineteenth century it was given the name of 386 00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:20,040 Speaker 3: Leiden Street. But in the seventeenth century it was just 387 00:24:20,200 --> 00:24:21,160 Speaker 3: the street, and for a. 388 00:24:21,080 --> 00:24:24,680 Speaker 2: While it wasn't even a street. It was just kind 389 00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:29,720 Speaker 2: of a space between two roses, probably still grass or 390 00:24:29,800 --> 00:24:33,600 Speaker 2: mud more likely it could be. So Mayflower shows up. 391 00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:36,200 Speaker 2: It took a lot longer. It was a lot worse 392 00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:40,920 Speaker 2: than they thought, and they figured they were in Virginia 393 00:24:41,560 --> 00:24:44,840 Speaker 2: near New Jersey, but no, that turns out, well, we 394 00:24:44,880 --> 00:24:46,600 Speaker 2: were way north of that, and they tried to go. 395 00:24:47,080 --> 00:24:49,720 Speaker 2: They tried to head down, but the weather was just 396 00:24:49,800 --> 00:24:52,440 Speaker 2: too much and they said, you know, we can't do this. 397 00:24:52,440 --> 00:24:55,119 Speaker 2: This is where we're at, pretty good place to stop 398 00:24:55,480 --> 00:25:00,199 Speaker 2: protected harbor. We're gonna stay here. This is it it 399 00:25:00,320 --> 00:25:04,000 Speaker 2: or leave it. And they didn't jump right onto the 400 00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:06,600 Speaker 2: land right away, right they hung out in the ship 401 00:25:07,760 --> 00:25:10,000 Speaker 2: because they did have to do the mayflow compact. But 402 00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:12,240 Speaker 2: what else were they doing during that month? 403 00:25:12,880 --> 00:25:16,040 Speaker 3: Well we can I think we can complicate the story 404 00:25:16,119 --> 00:25:19,919 Speaker 3: further because they knew that they were at Cape Cod 405 00:25:21,040 --> 00:25:28,359 Speaker 3: and historians and mariners think they left England so very 406 00:25:28,480 --> 00:25:32,919 Speaker 3: late that Jones decided to come the more northern route 407 00:25:33,080 --> 00:25:35,760 Speaker 3: instead of the southern route because it was faster, though 408 00:25:35,800 --> 00:25:39,520 Speaker 3: it was more treacherous. And so they know they're at 409 00:25:39,520 --> 00:25:43,439 Speaker 3: Cape Cod. They're not very far away from where they 410 00:25:43,480 --> 00:25:47,280 Speaker 3: need to be, only ninety three nautical miles. We think 411 00:25:47,320 --> 00:25:50,960 Speaker 3: of it in land terms and land passages, but in 412 00:25:51,080 --> 00:25:55,120 Speaker 3: nautical terms, it's only ninety three miles. They are very close. 413 00:25:56,000 --> 00:25:59,359 Speaker 3: And then Jones gets caught in the shoals off the 414 00:25:59,359 --> 00:26:02,919 Speaker 3: town of checks Adam, and may Flower almost breaks apart, 415 00:26:03,359 --> 00:26:07,760 Speaker 3: and so he says, I can't get you south. You 416 00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:12,280 Speaker 3: have to stay here. There's an additional complication to that story. 417 00:26:12,720 --> 00:26:19,480 Speaker 3: Bradford never suspects Jones of anything. Jones he was the 418 00:26:19,480 --> 00:26:24,080 Speaker 3: master the ship and the owner of the ship. In 419 00:26:24,240 --> 00:26:30,080 Speaker 3: sixteen sixty nine, William Bradford's nephew, Nathaniel Morton prints the 420 00:26:30,119 --> 00:26:35,200 Speaker 3: first full length history of Plymouth Colony, and in fact 421 00:26:35,280 --> 00:26:38,560 Speaker 3: it's the first full length history of any English speaking 422 00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:45,399 Speaker 3: colony on the East Coast. In it, he takes large 423 00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:49,280 Speaker 3: passages from his uncle's manuscript, but at one point he 424 00:26:49,480 --> 00:26:55,679 Speaker 3: puts in a margin, sure, and certain information has just 425 00:26:55,920 --> 00:27:01,919 Speaker 3: come to me that Christopher Joe was working for the Dutch. 426 00:27:02,800 --> 00:27:06,000 Speaker 3: What does that mean that means he was being paid 427 00:27:06,080 --> 00:27:09,720 Speaker 3: by Dutch merchants never to get them anywhere near in 428 00:27:09,760 --> 00:27:14,600 Speaker 3: the vicinity of Manhattan or northern New Jersey. And so 429 00:27:15,560 --> 00:27:21,680 Speaker 3: it could be that he accidentally is in the shoals, 430 00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:25,760 Speaker 3: because no ship owner, no mariner, would want to be 431 00:27:25,960 --> 00:27:31,200 Speaker 3: in that situation. But the shoals now cover duplicity. 432 00:27:32,160 --> 00:27:34,040 Speaker 2: And then do you think he went into the shows 433 00:27:34,119 --> 00:27:35,600 Speaker 2: as an excuse not to go south? 434 00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:39,119 Speaker 3: No, I don't think he went to the purposely, but 435 00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:41,760 Speaker 3: they cover his original intention. 436 00:27:41,920 --> 00:27:43,800 Speaker 2: So that was the silver lining for him. 437 00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:49,119 Speaker 3: And for a while people never accepted what Morton said 438 00:27:49,160 --> 00:27:52,440 Speaker 3: in suspicion of the captain. But then a historian in 439 00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:56,560 Speaker 3: the nineteen forties said, it has to be remembered that 440 00:27:56,600 --> 00:28:02,399 Speaker 3: the first governor, the first mayor of Manhattan after it 441 00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:06,600 Speaker 3: seized from the Dutch, was a member of the Pilgrim's 442 00:28:06,680 --> 00:28:10,240 Speaker 3: Church in Leiden and fluent in Dutch. And so now 443 00:28:10,280 --> 00:28:15,160 Speaker 3: you have this man attached to Plymouth, who has access 444 00:28:15,240 --> 00:28:18,160 Speaker 3: to all the Dutch business records in New York. 445 00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:21,640 Speaker 2: Why would the Dutch not want the Mayflower to head 446 00:28:21,680 --> 00:28:24,440 Speaker 2: down to Amsterdam. 447 00:28:24,560 --> 00:28:28,400 Speaker 3: They had already been looking at that site themselves. Interesting 448 00:28:28,520 --> 00:28:30,800 Speaker 3: they were seen. I just didn't want the competition. No, 449 00:28:32,119 --> 00:28:35,080 Speaker 3: so our mayflower folks are stuck up here. 450 00:28:34,920 --> 00:28:39,560 Speaker 2: In the frozen north. And what else were they doing 451 00:28:39,560 --> 00:28:42,280 Speaker 2: for that month? Why did it take a month before 452 00:28:42,280 --> 00:28:44,480 Speaker 2: they got off the ship and stepped on the rock? 453 00:28:44,720 --> 00:28:50,440 Speaker 3: Provincetown what is now called Provincetown proved very unsatisfying to 454 00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:54,160 Speaker 3: their needs. They couldn't find a source of water that 455 00:28:54,280 --> 00:28:59,320 Speaker 3: wasn't brackish, they couldn't find rich soil and so and 456 00:28:59,360 --> 00:29:05,480 Speaker 3: then having marauded and stolen native corn, having dug up 457 00:29:05,760 --> 00:29:09,880 Speaker 3: and stolen from native graves, they now are seen as 458 00:29:09,920 --> 00:29:12,840 Speaker 3: these dangerous intruders on the land. 459 00:29:13,240 --> 00:29:16,120 Speaker 2: And so at it's more risk it does. 460 00:29:16,400 --> 00:29:20,760 Speaker 3: And so what you see in the attack on December seventh, 461 00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:24,360 Speaker 3: sixteen twenty at what is now First Encounter Beach in 462 00:29:24,440 --> 00:29:28,400 Speaker 3: East Dam, the Wampanog people are driving them up and away, 463 00:29:29,200 --> 00:29:32,960 Speaker 3: and so it takes them three voyages of discovery as 464 00:29:32,960 --> 00:29:38,600 Speaker 3: they call them, to find a peduxit to fine plymouth. 465 00:29:40,040 --> 00:29:46,239 Speaker 2: The well, excuse me, can you talk a little bit 466 00:29:46,240 --> 00:29:49,760 Speaker 2: about the Mayflower compact and why they didn't why did 467 00:29:49,760 --> 00:29:51,360 Speaker 2: they wait till the last minute to do that? Was 468 00:29:51,400 --> 00:29:54,400 Speaker 2: that an afterthought? 469 00:29:54,600 --> 00:29:57,160 Speaker 3: This is where I'm going to be controversial, and there 470 00:29:57,200 --> 00:29:59,720 Speaker 3: there are some other historians who are in agreement with me, 471 00:29:59,760 --> 00:30:03,880 Speaker 3: and we've all come to this thinking without talking to 472 00:30:03,960 --> 00:30:09,200 Speaker 3: one another about it. But we suspect that the Mayflower 473 00:30:09,240 --> 00:30:14,360 Speaker 3: Compact was used in crisis, not drafted in crisis, and 474 00:30:14,400 --> 00:30:19,840 Speaker 3: that when you look at how mindful John Robinson, their minister, 475 00:30:19,920 --> 00:30:22,960 Speaker 3: had been in Holland, and the deep advice he gives 476 00:30:22,960 --> 00:30:28,480 Speaker 3: them about community construction, that we, some of us think 477 00:30:28,480 --> 00:30:31,760 Speaker 3: the Mayflower Compact would have been signed to anywhere they landed. 478 00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:36,240 Speaker 3: It gets used to bind themselves together in crisis of 479 00:30:36,360 --> 00:30:40,440 Speaker 3: some people saying, we're not in Virginia, We're we don't 480 00:30:40,480 --> 00:30:42,080 Speaker 3: have to stay with any of you. We can do 481 00:30:42,120 --> 00:30:45,000 Speaker 3: whatever we want. We're on our own now. But they 482 00:30:45,040 --> 00:30:48,719 Speaker 3: have to hold people together before anyone can leave that ship. 483 00:30:49,320 --> 00:30:54,320 Speaker 3: The Mayflower Compact essentially creates a civil body politic where 484 00:30:54,440 --> 00:30:58,760 Speaker 3: every household is bound to every other household. 485 00:30:58,320 --> 00:31:01,320 Speaker 2: Because without that they would have not right. And do 486 00:31:01,360 --> 00:31:03,720 Speaker 2: you think they had to pressure that some people to 487 00:31:03,920 --> 00:31:06,600 Speaker 2: sign it? I do, I do? Who would not wanted 488 00:31:06,600 --> 00:31:07,120 Speaker 2: to have signed it? 489 00:31:07,200 --> 00:31:11,960 Speaker 3: The mercenaries, well, they aren't really mercenaries because the merchants 490 00:31:12,040 --> 00:31:15,640 Speaker 3: the quote unquote strangers. Okay, you know there's this classic 491 00:31:15,720 --> 00:31:18,680 Speaker 3: divide of there were the saints that were the members 492 00:31:18,720 --> 00:31:22,080 Speaker 3: of the church, and then there were the strangers who 493 00:31:22,120 --> 00:31:25,200 Speaker 3: weren't members of the church and they were not spiritual. 494 00:31:26,200 --> 00:31:30,320 Speaker 3: The reason the church left Holland was their numbers were 495 00:31:30,360 --> 00:31:34,520 Speaker 3: shrinking because of the poverty and the deprivation of living 496 00:31:34,560 --> 00:31:37,800 Speaker 3: in Holland. And so they said, if we move the 497 00:31:37,880 --> 00:31:40,960 Speaker 3: church to where there's the potential for profit, others will 498 00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:45,320 Speaker 3: worship with us. So the strangers, the people unknown to 499 00:31:45,360 --> 00:31:50,920 Speaker 3: them function may have been joining this party saying, not 500 00:31:50,960 --> 00:31:53,760 Speaker 3: going to worship in poverty, but if there's the potential 501 00:31:53,840 --> 00:31:57,400 Speaker 3: for safety and profit, I'll join the church, I'll go 502 00:31:57,480 --> 00:32:00,280 Speaker 3: with them. So there could be some that are just 503 00:32:00,400 --> 00:32:04,720 Speaker 3: there for the chance for land and profit and others 504 00:32:04,720 --> 00:32:06,600 Speaker 3: for whom it's worship and profit. 505 00:32:07,440 --> 00:32:09,440 Speaker 2: I'm going to take a quick break and then go 506 00:32:09,440 --> 00:32:13,440 Speaker 2: to David in San Francisco. But an observation, what would 507 00:32:13,480 --> 00:32:17,360 Speaker 2: you say the odds of making a safe surviving in 508 00:32:17,400 --> 00:32:20,960 Speaker 2: a transatlantic crossing We're back then eighty percent. You probably 509 00:32:20,960 --> 00:32:23,400 Speaker 2: would maybe twenty fifty to fifty something like that. I 510 00:32:23,480 --> 00:32:28,120 Speaker 2: just want to point out that if airlines were like that, no, 511 00:32:28,120 --> 00:32:33,320 Speaker 2: no one would go right. It's a wildly dangerous thing 512 00:32:33,360 --> 00:32:35,960 Speaker 2: to do, and so you would have to be desperate 513 00:32:36,360 --> 00:32:39,440 Speaker 2: to do it, either desperate for profit or desperate for 514 00:32:39,560 --> 00:32:43,320 Speaker 2: some kind of freedom, desperate to get away from the law, 515 00:32:43,480 --> 00:32:47,640 Speaker 2: or something else. So we'll break and continue with Richard 516 00:32:47,640 --> 00:32:51,120 Speaker 2: Pickering and we will talk to David in San Francisco. Hopefully, David, 517 00:32:51,120 --> 00:32:53,520 Speaker 2: you'll have something to add to this topic after this 518 00:32:53,600 --> 00:32:54,920 Speaker 2: on WBZ. 519 00:32:56,080 --> 00:33:01,280 Speaker 1: Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ Boston's news radio. 520 00:33:01,720 --> 00:33:06,080 Speaker 2: Every Thanksgiving, I had a super heavy Thanksgiving, hassle free. 521 00:33:06,280 --> 00:33:09,720 Speaker 2: I only had to walk thirty five steps from home 522 00:33:09,920 --> 00:33:15,160 Speaker 2: to Thanksgiving and back thirty five steps. We're with mister Thanksgiving, 523 00:33:15,880 --> 00:33:21,200 Speaker 2: Richard Pickering, and we're talking. We are going really granually 524 00:33:21,320 --> 00:33:24,240 Speaker 2: on the history of events leading up to Thanksgiving. But 525 00:33:24,320 --> 00:33:26,640 Speaker 2: we have David in San Francisco. It's always nice to 526 00:33:26,640 --> 00:33:29,920 Speaker 2: hear from David. You have some Thanksgiving words for us. 527 00:33:30,160 --> 00:33:33,880 Speaker 4: Hi, David, how old Rally. It is so good to 528 00:33:33,920 --> 00:33:36,560 Speaker 4: hear from you. And I just got home and I'm 529 00:33:36,560 --> 00:33:40,480 Speaker 4: not familiar with the topic you're talking about. However, this 530 00:33:40,560 --> 00:33:42,520 Speaker 4: is the second time I've talked to you. When you 531 00:33:42,560 --> 00:33:47,640 Speaker 4: were sitting in on on Thanksgiving? 532 00:33:47,960 --> 00:33:50,480 Speaker 2: How is your thanks How is your Thanksgiving? 533 00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:55,479 Speaker 4: Very good? I gotta I got some people bring some 534 00:33:55,520 --> 00:33:58,680 Speaker 4: food to me and from little brothers, friends of the elderly. 535 00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:03,400 Speaker 4: And then the other day I had one for my 536 00:34:03,480 --> 00:34:08,480 Speaker 4: meals on wheels. Uh, they're my regular food supply. So 537 00:34:08,560 --> 00:34:11,080 Speaker 4: I had a fourth year an hour in a row 538 00:34:11,160 --> 00:34:13,839 Speaker 4: that had meals from both those people, and they were 539 00:34:13,920 --> 00:34:14,399 Speaker 4: very good. 540 00:34:14,680 --> 00:34:17,200 Speaker 2: Did you get visits from anybody? Did you get a 541 00:34:17,320 --> 00:34:21,120 Speaker 2: visit from anybody? Nice phone call? Any visits? 542 00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:23,360 Speaker 4: Any what? 543 00:34:24,160 --> 00:34:26,520 Speaker 2: It's all right you you had a question for me? 544 00:34:26,560 --> 00:34:27,000 Speaker 2: Go ahead? 545 00:34:27,920 --> 00:34:31,279 Speaker 4: Oh no, this is the second time I'm talking to you, uh, 546 00:34:31,400 --> 00:34:35,560 Speaker 4: since you're sitting in uh for somebody on Thanksgiving. And 547 00:34:35,640 --> 00:34:38,200 Speaker 4: the first time. The first time was a number of 548 00:34:38,320 --> 00:34:43,160 Speaker 4: years ago. You were sitting in for a Morgan White 549 00:34:43,239 --> 00:34:47,480 Speaker 4: Junior and you ran a trivia game and I won. 550 00:34:47,760 --> 00:34:50,800 Speaker 4: I won a T shirt. And it's when your management 551 00:34:50,840 --> 00:34:52,160 Speaker 4: of your radio station. 552 00:34:51,960 --> 00:34:55,600 Speaker 2: Said, gave away any prizes? 553 00:34:57,080 --> 00:34:59,640 Speaker 4: No, no, but you had to come to the radio 554 00:34:59,680 --> 00:35:02,759 Speaker 4: station to get the T shirt. And I'm thirty three 555 00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:05,960 Speaker 4: hundred miles away. And my sister Vicky works at a 556 00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:09,520 Speaker 4: hospital in Baltimore, and she had worked with a nurse 557 00:35:09,520 --> 00:35:12,200 Speaker 4: who had a sister that lived in Boston, and her 558 00:35:12,280 --> 00:35:14,760 Speaker 4: sister came to the station, got me the T shirt, 559 00:35:15,320 --> 00:35:18,040 Speaker 4: nailed it to my sister, and then my sister mailed 560 00:35:18,040 --> 00:35:22,719 Speaker 4: me the T shirt. So a lot of miles on 561 00:35:22,800 --> 00:35:24,880 Speaker 4: it and a lot of change of hands. 562 00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:29,239 Speaker 2: I hope you still have that shirt. Pardon, I hope 563 00:35:29,280 --> 00:35:30,440 Speaker 2: you still have that shirt. 564 00:35:31,239 --> 00:35:36,080 Speaker 4: Oh yeah, it's a w b z U The's Radios 565 00:35:36,120 --> 00:35:39,719 Speaker 4: T shirt. And also I want to tell you my 566 00:35:40,400 --> 00:35:42,880 Speaker 4: still my favorite number one song of all time is 567 00:35:43,840 --> 00:35:45,360 Speaker 4: a Walk into the Rain by. 568 00:35:47,360 --> 00:35:50,440 Speaker 2: I appreciate that. I want to wish you a happy Thanksgiving, David, 569 00:35:50,480 --> 00:35:54,600 Speaker 2: and we need to I have to say goodbye. I'm 570 00:35:54,719 --> 00:35:57,839 Speaker 2: very sorry, thank you so much for calling. Appreciate it. 571 00:35:58,080 --> 00:36:00,560 Speaker 2: But we do need to stick with the Thanksgiving and 572 00:36:00,680 --> 00:36:04,080 Speaker 2: Richard Picket Ring in the history of Thanksgiving from mister 573 00:36:04,160 --> 00:36:08,080 Speaker 2: Thanksgiving himself. So we will get to the first Thanksgiving. 574 00:36:08,080 --> 00:36:10,880 Speaker 2: But each time you come in, I learned another layer 575 00:36:10,920 --> 00:36:13,279 Speaker 2: of things about the events eating up to it, and 576 00:36:13,320 --> 00:36:17,280 Speaker 2: the event itself, and about Plymouth, the town. I learned 577 00:36:17,280 --> 00:36:21,120 Speaker 2: something I didn't know about you, that you're mister Sombrero 578 00:36:21,320 --> 00:36:25,360 Speaker 2: as well as being mister Thanksgiving. And I saw a 579 00:36:25,400 --> 00:36:30,439 Speaker 2: picture of this massive sombrero, bigger than anything by far. 580 00:36:31,400 --> 00:36:35,319 Speaker 2: It's like cartoonishly large, giant sombrero. And people in your 581 00:36:35,320 --> 00:36:38,279 Speaker 2: town know you as mister Sombrero. Ye, what's the deal 582 00:36:38,320 --> 00:36:38,560 Speaker 2: with that? 583 00:36:39,320 --> 00:36:43,560 Speaker 3: I've had skin cancer right. My brother bought that sombrero 584 00:36:43,640 --> 00:36:47,560 Speaker 3: for me as a joke when I was seven years old, 585 00:36:48,120 --> 00:36:50,359 Speaker 3: and it has a three and a half foot wide brand. 586 00:36:50,440 --> 00:36:51,279 Speaker 2: It's bigger than you. 587 00:36:51,640 --> 00:36:53,840 Speaker 3: So I can sit on the front lawn and be 588 00:36:53,920 --> 00:36:58,320 Speaker 3: in the sun and not endanger my skin. But now 589 00:36:59,520 --> 00:37:03,360 Speaker 3: people will say where's the hat? If I'm on the 590 00:37:03,400 --> 00:37:06,480 Speaker 3: front lawn and I'm not in it, or if I 591 00:37:06,560 --> 00:37:11,520 Speaker 3: don't appear. I was recently on the town's Facebook page, like, 592 00:37:11,520 --> 00:37:15,480 Speaker 3: has anyone seen mister Sombrero lately? The sobrero makes me laugh. 593 00:37:15,760 --> 00:37:18,839 Speaker 3: And so if I can bring people a smile by 594 00:37:18,880 --> 00:37:21,919 Speaker 3: sitting on my front lawn in a stupid hat. 595 00:37:21,600 --> 00:37:22,480 Speaker 2: Do they know what you do? 596 00:37:22,600 --> 00:37:26,920 Speaker 3: Or you're just mister sombrero. Some people know who I am. 597 00:37:27,080 --> 00:37:29,399 Speaker 3: Other people, I'm just the guy in the hat. People 598 00:37:29,480 --> 00:37:33,400 Speaker 3: drive by and wave, People pull up at the house 599 00:37:33,440 --> 00:37:37,240 Speaker 3: and say, we didn't see you on our last vacationion. 600 00:37:37,040 --> 00:37:41,239 Speaker 2: We were wor sad. Yeah, we were worried like this year. 601 00:37:41,360 --> 00:37:43,839 Speaker 3: Someone said, thank god, you're not dead. 602 00:37:44,360 --> 00:37:46,400 Speaker 2: Well, you need to have a big sign that you 603 00:37:46,440 --> 00:37:49,600 Speaker 2: put out when you're not there, said, you know, temporarily gone, 604 00:37:49,640 --> 00:37:55,040 Speaker 2: not dead, something like that. Okay, a short time before 605 00:37:55,080 --> 00:37:59,280 Speaker 2: the top of the hour. Finally, oh, no, I wanted 606 00:37:59,280 --> 00:38:04,000 Speaker 2: to ask you, did the did the pilgrims they feel 607 00:38:04,040 --> 00:38:07,320 Speaker 2: bad about taking the Indians corn? And can you explain 608 00:38:07,360 --> 00:38:11,360 Speaker 2: why there were this corn available? And no, no, I 609 00:38:11,400 --> 00:38:15,400 Speaker 2: shouldn't say Indians. No, Native Americans. They're very few compared 610 00:38:15,400 --> 00:38:19,160 Speaker 2: to what had been there, maybe ten years before. Maybe 611 00:38:19,200 --> 00:38:21,200 Speaker 2: the persons who would bury the coin, they weren't gone. 612 00:38:21,320 --> 00:38:22,319 Speaker 2: It was a ghost town. 613 00:38:22,600 --> 00:38:27,560 Speaker 3: Why there had been epidemic death from sixteen sixteen to 614 00:38:27,640 --> 00:38:32,960 Speaker 3: sixteen eighteen that an infection or multiple infections. There have 615 00:38:33,040 --> 00:38:36,719 Speaker 3: been so many theories about what it was, and we 616 00:38:36,840 --> 00:38:39,640 Speaker 3: can't say with any honesty as to whether it was 617 00:38:40,200 --> 00:38:42,000 Speaker 3: bubonic plague or yellow fever. 618 00:38:42,120 --> 00:38:44,640 Speaker 2: We don't know. Are there any DNA? Is there any 619 00:38:44,640 --> 00:38:47,600 Speaker 2: way to get DNA? I don't know? Are there any 620 00:38:48,160 --> 00:38:49,879 Speaker 2: Do you have the remains of any of the Native 621 00:38:49,920 --> 00:38:51,000 Speaker 2: Americans at the time. 622 00:38:51,440 --> 00:38:56,200 Speaker 3: Not that I know, and that would be sacrilege too. Okay, Yeah, 623 00:38:56,440 --> 00:39:01,440 Speaker 3: not worth knowing. You don't either know everything. But the 624 00:39:01,480 --> 00:39:04,120 Speaker 3: families on Cape Cod that were stolen from they were 625 00:39:04,160 --> 00:39:07,880 Speaker 3: still there. So they weren't stealing from the barns of 626 00:39:07,920 --> 00:39:11,480 Speaker 3: the dead. They were stealing from families that ran from them. 627 00:39:12,320 --> 00:39:15,960 Speaker 3: So in the summer of sixteen twenty one, when one 628 00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:20,240 Speaker 3: of the children in Plymouth goes missing and is twenty 629 00:39:20,360 --> 00:39:25,000 Speaker 3: miles from the town, he's transferred not closer to Plymouth, 630 00:39:25,280 --> 00:39:30,200 Speaker 3: he sent back to the Cape where the corn was stolen. 631 00:39:30,760 --> 00:39:34,040 Speaker 3: So the English had to confront the very families they 632 00:39:34,040 --> 00:39:34,919 Speaker 3: had stolen from. 633 00:39:34,920 --> 00:39:38,799 Speaker 2: Oh yeah, and so as you mentioned, this made it 634 00:39:39,160 --> 00:39:42,920 Speaker 2: a much more dangerous place for the new arrivals because 635 00:39:42,960 --> 00:39:47,279 Speaker 2: they were now seen as thieves. Yes, and was there 636 00:39:47,520 --> 00:39:50,560 Speaker 2: an early Well, you know what, we're almost out of 637 00:39:50,560 --> 00:39:53,440 Speaker 2: time here. We'll take this break, but we'll continue to 638 00:39:53,480 --> 00:39:55,360 Speaker 2: pick up where were that fought right after this break 639 00:39:55,520 --> 00:39:59,680 Speaker 2: with Richard Pickering, who is the deputy director and senior 640 00:40:00,040 --> 00:40:02,680 Speaker 2: are in at Plymouth Patuxet Museums. If you have not 641 00:40:02,840 --> 00:40:06,480 Speaker 2: been down there, you gotta go. It's super cool. Just 642 00:40:06,520 --> 00:40:10,919 Speaker 2: ask Jalen Rivers right the number six one, seven, two, five, four, 643 00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:13,120 Speaker 2: ten thirty and our next call will be Hannah and 644 00:40:13,160 --> 00:40:16,920 Speaker 2: Steve down in Chatham w b Z NewsRadio ten thirty