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The Story Of Thanksgiving
These brave men and women were determined to make a new home in America. They soon made a peace treaty with the neighboring Indian tribes. The Indians taught them how to plant corn by putting three fish in each hill of corn for fertilizer. For food they caught fish, shot fowl and game, and grew lots of corn, barley, and vegetables.
The Pilgrim men shot wild game, and fished for lobsters, clams, and oysters. Have you ever read that turkey was not served at the first Thanksgiving? Actually there is still a heated discussion going on about whether they did, or did not have turkey. Do you have turkey for your Thanksgiving dinner? Is so, then the pilgrims and Indians might have done the same. The women and girls did all the cooking, roasting the meat on a spit over an open fire. They made Indian cornbread, cooked vegetables, stews, and pudding and pies. The pilgrims and Indians picked red berries called cranberries, and cooked them as a special dish. The Indian men hunted for deer, and carried the carcass with their legs tied to long tree limbs. Everyone was busy at the pilgrim village; the native and pilgrim women were cooking, the men cutting and soaking meat. The children ran about playing games and learning each other’s language. On the day of the feast, they laid out long planks for tables, and covered them with many kinds of sweet smelling food. All the food prepared and cooked to celebrate the feast of harvest and thanksgiving were now ready to eat. It was the biggest feast any Pilgrim, or Indian ever seen. The great feast lasted three days. Some pilgrims wrote later, that they ate up much of the food they had planned to save for the coming winter. When the cold winter arrived they were lacking in food. From that day on, it became the Pilgrim’s custom to set aside one day each year for Thanksgiving. They learned each year to put aside enough food to last through the cold winters. Today in America, Thanksgiving is celebrated the fourth Thursday in November. Bib:
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After the Pilgrims settled in Plymouth in December 1620, they worked very hard to build their homes, and provide enough food for everybody. During their first dreadful winter many people became ill and died, and by spring only a small colony of men, women, and children remained. 
By harvest time in 1621 there was enough food to feed everyone, and most people were healthy. Governor Bradford set a day in November for celebration and giving thanks for all they had. This would become the first holiday in America. The pilgrims invited their Indian friends from nearby villages to join them in a great feast.
