William Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation Wrote:

"Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruits of our labor. They four in one day killed as much fowl as, with a little help beside, served the company almost a week. At which time, amongst other recreations, we exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which we brought to the plantation and bestowed on our governor, and upon the captain and others.

And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want that we often wish you partakers of our plenty." "They began now to gather in the small harvest they had, and to fit up their house and dwelling against winter, being all well recovered in health and strength and had all things in good plenty. For as some were thus employed in affairs abroad, others were exercised in fishing, about cod and bass and other fish, of which they took good store, of which every family had their portion. All the summer there was no want; and now began to come in store of fowl, as winter approached, of which this place did abound when they came first (but afterward decreased by degrees). And besides waterfowl there was great store of wild turkeys, of which they took many, besides venison, etc. Besides, they had about a peck of meal a week to a person, or now since harvest, Indian corn to that proportion. Which made many afterwards write so largely of their plenty here to their friends in England, which were not feigned by true reports."

The story of the first Thanksgiving is about the Pilgrim's feast of thanks and festivity at Plymouth, Massachusetts.

The Pilgrims set sail from Plymouth, England on the Mayflower on September 6, 1620, They were fortune hunters, bound for the New World. Men, women, and children were crowded into the ship along with the sailors on board. The passengers for the most part were the 'separatists', who called themselves the "Saints", and others, whom the separatists called the "Strangers".

They sighted land in November after 66 days of an arduous voyage. The men held a meeting onboard and an agreement of truce between the two groups was worked out. It was called the Mayflower Compact. The agreement guaranteed equality among them.

They joined together to be known as, and called, the "Pilgrims." They elected John Carver as their first governor. They continued their jouney until they arrived at a place called Plymouth. It was Captain John Smith who named the place after the English port-city in 1614 and had already settled there for over five years. And it was there that the Pilgrims finally decided to settle.

Plymouth offered a convenient harbour and a multitude of natural resources. Another good fortune for the Pilgrims was that the Indians in the area were not hostile to them. But as many new adventurous enterprises are, their peaceful lives were interrupted. They had not the resources to fare through the winter in this strange place. They became sick and weakened.

But God was with them and they were helped by some of the local Indians. They were offered aid in the form of food and assistance in cultivating food that would grow easily there. They further showed the Pilgrims how to store their harvest of vegetables and corn so they would have plenty to eat when the hard winter weather came.

Having made it through that first winter, they were grateful and felt the need to give thanks and rejoice in their victory over their hardships. So they invited the Indians to join them in a feast. They prepared things like wild turkey, pumpkin pies, barley breads, corn breads, peas, and fish. The third year brought them devastation as the corn crops failed.

The then Governor, William Bradford called a day of prayer. Soon after it rained, and they joyfully planned a feast day for the harvest, similar to the one they had celebrated on that first harvest time. At the time of this feast day, November 29, the day itself was proclaimed to be a day of Thanksgiving. We now celebrate the day of Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November.

SOME THANKSGIVING NUMBER FACTS

1620 - The year the Pilgrims came to what is now the United States aboard a small cargo ship, the Mayflower.

102 - The number of passengers known to have been on the Mayflower

32 - The number of children and other young people among the passengers

2 - The number of passengers who died on the voyage across the Atlantic

0 - The number of passenger cabins - In those days, merchant ships were not set up for the comfort of passengers. They would have slept in hammocks or paid the ship's carpenter to build cabins or bunks for them

65 - The number of days it took for the Mayflower to sail from England to America

41 - The number of men who signed the Mayflower Compact

50 - Approximate number of Pilgrims who died of the "great sickness" and harsh conditions during the first winter in the new land

1621 - The year Samoset, an Abnaki Indian from Maine, walked into the Pilgrim's village shouting, "Welcome Englishmen!" He had learned broken Englidh from previous contact with fishermen and traders. Through Samoset, the Pilgrims met Squanto, who taught them to use fish as fertilizer when planting corn, pumpkins and beans, established friendly relations with the local Wampanoag tribe. The Wampanoag had organized government and religion and were able farmers, fishermen, hunters and gatherers, sot he tribe had ample and varied food.

3 - The number of days the first feast of Thanksgiving lasted in October 1621. Wampanoags and colonists shared venison, duck, turkey, clams, shellfish, corn pudding, pumpkin, dried berries and other local edibles.

9 - The number of women and teenage girls who prepared that three day feast for 140 hungry people.

35 million - The number of Americans today who are direct descendants of the first Mayflower Pilgrims. That's 12 % of our population.