Encounter with the Indians
On March 16, some three months after the Pilgrims arrived, that a tall Indian walked boldly into the plantation crying out, "Welcome! Welcome, Englishmen!" The Pilgrims were startled when the Indian named Samoset introduced himself to the Pilgrims in English. He told them that he was from a tribe from Maine and had learned broken English from the fishermen and traders that visited the island each year. Since he was the first Indian with whom the Pilgrims had spoken since they arrived in New England, they questioned him for some time, learning from him that the Patuxets, who formerly owned the land on which they had built their settlement, had all died four years before from the plague introduced by visiting Europeans.
After tossing a coat over his shoulders to ward off the chill winds, the Pilgrims fed him, then continued to question him whence he told them of the seizure of 20 Indians to be sold into slavery but were saved by the persistence of Spanish monks. When it became evident that Samoset did not intend to leave, the Pilgrim leaders decided to let him sleep on the Mayflower since it would be almost impossible for him to commit any treachery out in the harbor but instead he was to sleep in a house of a Pilgrim since the waters were too choppy for the shallop to launch. Samoset left after breakfast the next morning, but came back on the following Sunday with five more Indians who not only returned some of the Pilgrims' tools they had found in the woods, but brought some furs to trade but the Pilgrims refused to do business because of the Sabbath and told them to return later with more furs but Samoset didn’t go with them, instead remaining at the colony until Wednesday. He returned again the next day, this time with Squanto who surprised the Pilgrims with his near flawless English.
He told them that the Massasoit, the Great Leader of the Wampanoag Nation, was waiting in the nearby woods and intended to come to Plymouth later in the day, and a short time later the he did appear at the top of a nearby hill, attended by 60 of his men. Squanto would teach the Pilgrims how to find herring, a kind of fish, and to use it as a fertilizer when planting corn, pumpkins and beans. This was important to the Pilgrims because the seeds they had brought with them from England did not do well in the New England soil. He would also show them how to find clams and eels in the rivers and how to hunt for deer, bears and turkeys. On April 1, 1621, Samoset and Squanto appeared in the little colony with three other Indians. They brought with them a few skins and some red herrings newly taken and dried to trade and brought with them an offer to have a peace treaty between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoags. The treaty was signed by the Massasoit and John Carver, the first governor of Plymouth Colony.
During the next few months, the Native Americans and the colonists worked together to till and plant the first successful crops. The first feast of Thanksgiving, in October of 1621, was a harvest festival filled with fellowship, good food and games. The Indians and the colonists shared the fruits of their labor: venison, duck, turkey, corn and pumpkin. The Pilgrims had a deep friendship with the natives that endured for over fifty years. Rugged cutting steel blades, farming tools, trim clothing, warm blankets, glass and metal containers and ornaments that no stone or shell work could duplicate were now available for trade for pelts and land. The peace born of mutual support and trust eventually eroded. Another plague swept away thousands of Algonquins and made more land available. Soon, only between 15000-18000 Indians were alive in all of New England. Meanwhile, the expanding colonial towns were bulging with the new arrivals, eager to start claiming and clearing their own piece of America squeezing the Indians between the colonists along the coast and inland and hostile tribes like the Iroquois to the West. Soon, full-scale war erupted between the colonists and the Indians, which was called King Phillip’s War.