Where Thanksgiving began

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station in 2007 snapped this photo of Cape Cod, where the Pilgrims first stepped ashore in November 1620 and, on the west side of Cape Cod Bay, Plymouth harbor, where they established their colony.

Their first landfall, if I recall correctly, was where Provincetown stands today, at the tip of Cape Cod. It would be a few more weeks before they happened on the harbor at Plymouth. They set up their little town near where Wampanoag Indians had once had a village. The native population had already been diminished by diseases brought by earlier explorers and fishermen.

The first Thanksgiving was held the following autumn, 1621, after a harrowing winter that killed off many of the settlers, and after reaping a successful harvest. Here's more on the image and the geology of the area.

At the far left-hand edge of this image, there's a gray smudge surrounding a small river. The river is the Acushnet, and the smudge on the west bank is New Bedford, Mass., still a major fishing port, where your weather blogger got his start in daily journalism. On the east bank are the towns of Fairhaven and Acushnet.

Have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving in the company of family and good friends. Cheers!

(NASA PHOTO)

Where Thanksgiving began

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