Thanksgiving (United States) The most prominent historic thanksgiving event in American popular culture is the 1621 celebration at the Plymouth Plantation, where the settlers held a harvest feast after a successful growing season. Autumn or early winter feasts continued sporadically in later years, first as an impromptu religious observance and later as a civil tradition. The Plymouth settlers, known as Pilgrims, had settled in land abandoned when all but one of the Patuxet Indians died in a plague. After a harsh winter killed half of the Plymouth settlers, the last surviving Patuxet, Squanto (who had learned English and avoided the plague as a
Passengers of 1621 Fortune voyage Passengers of 1621 Fortune voyage The 1621 voyage of the "Fortune" was the second English ship sent out to Plymouth Colony by the Merchant Adventurers investment group, which had also financed the 1620 voyage of the Pilgrim ship "Mayflower". The "Fortune" was 1/3 the size of the "Mayflower", displacing 55 tons. The Master was Thomas Barton. She departed London in the fall of 1621 and arrived off Cape Cod on November 9, 1621 and arrived in Plymouth Bay by the end of the month. The ship only stayed at Plymouth about three weeks loading cargo, and departed for England on