So you think you are a Homesteader Part 13

By Unicoi Ludd

So you think you're a homesteader? Lessons from the MAYFLOWER....The colonist great adventure has begun! They're at anchor in Cape Cod Bay, they've done some exploring of the area, but not yet found a site for settlement & begun repairing their "Shallop", the sail boat they'll need to continue searching. The Master of MAYFLOWER, The unsavory Christopher Jones is pressuring the colonist's to pick a site ASAP so he can return to England. It's a hectic time, some are working on the Shallop, some searching for a suitable site & others preparing tools & equipment for use. Although I can find no list of what the colonists brought to build their colony, later lists of recommended tools are available to give us a good idea. Hoes, broad & felling axes, Whip saws for making lumber, hammers & shovels are apparently stowed as the iron & steel parts only, because they now speak of "helving" these items. Probably in an effort to carry as much as possible in the limited cargo space, they have no handles, now they make handles ( helves) for their tools and "stock" to repair the Shallop from local timber. Imagine what a busy scene on the deck & beach! The weather has turned colder & the ships boat can't get close enough to the beach, so they have to wade ashore in the cold (c. 50 deg F) water and spend their nights in the unheated ship. Always cold, always damp and weakened by scurvy they begin to cough. William Bradford will later say that this was when many caught their death. Cold, wet & terribly ill they keep working. They may not have known it then, but this is no longer about colonizing a new land, religious freedom or a fresh start. It has become a brutal fight for mere survival. I let you draw whatever lesson you can this post, but ask that as you sit down in a warm, dry house to a kitchen and dining room overwhelmed by good food to take a moment and think about our friends on that cold & windy beach. Be thankful we don't have to face the trials they did. We keep warm today beside the fire they started. Have a happy Thankgiving Twisted folks ✌️