Pilgrim Webquest

Hello, I am Master Christopher Jones.  I am the captain of the Mayflower.  I just got back from one of the most amazing trips I have ever been.  I carried a group of people called Pilgrims across the Atlantic .  I've been gone nine months.  The Mayflower is a wonderful ship.  Click here to take a tour of our ship.  

Forecastle: This is where the crew's meals are cooked, and where the crew's food and supplies are kept.
Poop House:  Nothing to do with a bathroom, the poop house is the living quarters for me.
Cabin:  The general sleeping quarters for the Mayflower's twenty or thirty crewmembers.  The crew will sleep in shifts.
Steerage Room: This is where the pilot will steer the Mayflower.  Steering is done by a stick called a whip-staff that  moves back and forth to move the tiller, which in turn moves the rudder.
Gun Room:  This is where the powder, shot, and other supplies are stored for the ship's guns and cannons.
Gun Deck:  The gun deck is where the cannon is located.  In the Mayflower's case, the gun deck is where you will live during the voyage to America.
Capstan and Windlass:  Large apparatus which is used to lift and lower heavy cargo between the decks.
Cargo Hold:  This is where you will store your cargo of food, tools, and supplies during the voyage.

Now let me tell you about my trip with the Pilgrims.  Click here to learn more about our voyage on the Mayflower.  

Myles Standish, William Bradford, Stephen Hopkins and Edward Tilley, along with twelve others, set out on the first significant exploration on November 15.  They had only been walking a mile, when they saw ahead of them about six men and a dog coming their way.  At first they thought it was some of the Mayflower's crew, but soon realized it was Indians.  The Indians ran into the forest, and the Pilgrims followed after, hoping to chase them down and perhaps make contact.  They followed the footprints and trail through the forest, until night fell and they stopped to make camp for the night. 

On December 16, we were able to sail into Plymouth Harbor.  Now everyone could see the harbor and in the bay 2 fine  uninhabited, there were nothing but wood, oaks, pines, walnut, beech, sassafras, vines, and other trees.

On Monday, December 18, we walked along and examined about 7-8 miles of coastline, looking for the best place to build the colony.  We had hoped to find a large , but only found about five streams.  That evening, we returned aboard the Mayflower.   The group on land found a nice stream, and followed it up into the woods about three miles.  Then they explored the again.  At night, they again returned to the Mayflower, and had a long discussion about where to settle.

Some liked the area with the long stream that they had followed up for nearly three miles.  It had lots of surrounding woods, so they would have an easier time to build houses and gather fuel for their fires.  Others, though, worried the woods could be full of "savages", and that clearing the land for planting corn would be a lot more labor-intensive.  Also, the place seemed to be far from any good fishing spot, from which they hoped to get some profit.  Others liked Clark's , because it could be very easily defended, and was closer to larger Cape Cod bay, providing quicker and easier access both to ships and the fishing grounds.  But Clark's , others argued, had a limited supply of trees, a rockier ground that might not be as good for growing crops, and had no supply of fresh water except for a few stagnant

On December 20, the Pilgrims more carefully viewed the two places, intending to make a final decision that evening.  As one passenger remembered, "After our landing and viewing of the places, so well as we could we came to a conclusion, by most voices, to set on the mainland, on the first place, on a high ground, where there is a great deal of land cleared, and hath been planted with corn three or four years ago, and there is a very sweet brook running under the , and many delicate springs of as good water as can be drunk, and where we may harbor our boats.  They decided upon a spot that had been named "Plimouth".

Click here to learn about the daily life of the Pilgrims.

The Pilgrims had a feast with the Indians to celebrate their harvest.  Click here to see the first Thanksgiving slideshow.

After a while a set sail back to England.  But I learned a lot about the Pilgrims.  Did you?

If you learned a lot about the Pilgrims?  Click here to take a quiz.