• The 1621 Plymouth event wasn’t called “Thanksgiving” until more than 200 years later
• Wampanoag attendees outnumbered English colonists nearly two to one
• Abraham Lincoln established the national holiday in 1863, not the Pilgrims

PLYMOUTH, MA (TDR) — Every November, Americans gather around tables adorned with turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce to celebrate what many believe began with Pilgrims and Native Americans sharing a harmonious feast in 1621. The real story, historians say, is considerably more complicated — and far more interesting.

The event that inspired America’s beloved holiday was never actually called “Thanksgiving” by anyone who attended it. According to historians at Plimoth Patuxet Museums, the term “First Thanksgiving” wasn’t applied to the 1621 gathering until 1841, when Reverend Alexander Young published an account of the harvest celebration more than two centuries after it occurred.

What actually happened in 1621

The only eyewitness account comes from a single paragraph written by colonist Edward Winslow. He described how, after a successful harvest, Governor William Bradford sent four men to hunt fowl, and the colony decided to “rejoyce together.” The firing of celebratory guns attracted about 90 Wampanoag, led by Massasoit, who arrived — likely thinking a battle had broken out.

“The myth is that friendly Indians, unidentified by tribe, welcome the Pilgrims to America, teach them how to live in this new place, sit down to dinner with them and then disappear.”

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Finding a celebration instead of conflict, the Wampanoag stayed for three days and contributed five deer to the feast. The gathering was less a prayer service and more a diplomatic event cementing an alliance between two groups who both needed each other — the colonists had lost half their number to illness, while the Wampanoag had been devastated by European diseases and sought protection from rival tribes.

The menu myth

That golden-brown turkey centerpiece? Probably not. While Bradford mentioned “wild Turkies” in the area, historians suggest the colonists more likely hunted easier prey like geese and ducks. Forget the pumpkin pie, too — the colonists lacked butter and wheat flour to make pastry crusts. Potatoes hadn’t arrived in New England yet, and sweet potatoes came from Southern celebrations added centuries later.

The actual menu likely featured waterfowl, venison stew, cornmeal, succotash, and possibly cranberries — though not in the jellied sauce form found in modern cans.

How Lincoln created Thanksgiving

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The Pilgrims didn’t establish an annual tradition. The national holiday Americans celebrate today was created by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, during the Civil War. His proclamation mentioned “fruitful fields” but made no reference to Pilgrims or Plymouth.

The Plymouth-centric narrative emerged between 1880 and 1920, during peak immigration years, when some Americans promoted the Pilgrim story as a defining national origin myth.

Today, the Wampanoag still live in New England and continue their own traditions of gratitude — ones that predated European arrival by centuries.

What traditions has your family added to Thanksgiving that differ from the “original” celebration?

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