Plymouth Rock

I expected this to be a short entry since everyone knows that the Pilgrims landed in 1620 and stepped ashore onto a big Rock, now known as Plymouth Rock…right?

And we all know that the Mayflower was the ship that brought the Pilgrims from England but there’s so much more to the story as I found out as I revisited both the “Rock” and the Mayflower II.

As you leave Plimouth Plantation the exit takes you right to Rt3A and is clearly marked to lead you into Plymouth. Once I entered Plymouth I cut down a side street to reach the waterfront. I was hoping to find parking near the Mayflower instead of at the other end of town. I was lucky and there were some meters right next to the park.

Before I went to the Mayflower, I wandered over to take a picture of Plymouth Rock.

Once again I ran into hoards of school children. Across the street and up a hill was a statue of Massasoit so I climbed the staircase to the top to take pictures and check out the statue. That’s when I began to get an education.

Massasoit was the grand sachem (intertribal leader) of the Wampanoag and it was he who arrived with 60 warriors on a hill overlooking Plymouth in in the spring of 1621 several months after the Mayflower landed. Massasoit established the peaceful relations with the colonists and was instrumental in teaching them how to survive in this new and wild land. It’s likely that many more Pilgrims would have died of starvation or exposure if not for the intervention of the Wampanoag.



Monument marking the 1st burying ground of the passengers of the Mayflower

 For decades while Massasoit held sway with the colonists, the Wampanoag enjoyed cordial if sometimes strained relations but following Massasoit’s death in 1661 relations deteriorated eventually leading to the bloody King Philip’s War in 1675.

In 1970, at the top of Coles Hill in Plymouth, Native Americans and their supporters once again gathered and looked down on the town of Plymouth. This was the beginning of the first National Day of Mourning. This was in place of Thanksgiving and is held to draw attention to the distortion of much of history as it is applied to Native Americans from Massasoit to the present day. This was all new to me. I had not heard of the National Day of Mourning but it sent me researching even more of the history of the Native Americans of the area. What I have been learning is a story of heartbreaking betrayal and discrimination. It is worth exploring further if such history is of interest. I am including a link at then end of this post.

There is also a walking trail with audio stops. You pick up a tape in town and follow the trail. Each stop with an audio entry on the tape is marked by a sign. I am going to have to do that one of these days. After all, it’s right in my back yard.

I walked back down to Plymouth Rock and explored some of the history surrounding this Icon. Currently it is housed in a pavilion with wrought iron fencing designed to protect the stone from souvenir hunters who like to chip away at it. But it hasn’t always resided where it is today. For a large boulder, Plymouth Rock has certainly moved around.

First of all, there is no reference to a large rock or boulder in any of William Bradford’s writings or journals.

In fact the first reference to the Pilgrim’s landing on a rock wasn’t until 121 years after the Mayflower dropped anchor in the bay.

In 1774 the townspeople of Plymouth decided to move the rock and it was split in half, the upper portion was relocated to the town’s meetinghouse and the base was left behind near the wharf.

In 1834 the upper half was moved again, this time to Pilgrim hall. The Pilgrim Society began building a Victorian canopy over the lower portion of the rock. Once the canopy was completed the upper portion of the rock was reunited with it’s base. The number 1620 was carved in it’s surface. But this was not to be the final stop for the famous rock.

In 1920 the waterfront was redesigned so that when the rock was returned to it’s original site it would be at water level. The care of the rock was turned over to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and a new Roman Doric Portico was built to house the rock.

I may have missed a few of the rock’s wanderings but today it is managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation as part of the Pilgrim Memorial State Park in a newly designed superstructure in a classical revival style.

Well seeing as I have gone on a bit. I think I will save the Mayflower II for another post! It's amazing what you can find right near your home when you open your eyes and start looking around like a tourist. Monuments and sights you don't think about becasue you see them every day take on a whole new significance.

http://www.danielnpaul.com/

http://www.pilgrimhall.org/daymourn.htm