Tales of Squanto (1622)

In March 1621 a representative of the sachem Massasoit named Samoset visited Plymouth, which the Pilgrims had established on the ruins of a Wampanoag village called Patuxet. The excerpts included here are Bradford’s story of Tisquantum or Squanto, a native who had been captured and sold into slavery as a boy, but after many years had made his way back to his home, only to discover that his people had all died of disease. Squanto had learned English while in Europe and England, so he was valuable to the Pilgrims as an interpreter and guide.