Miles Standish and Corn Hill
The Mayflower's Scouting and Looting Parties on Cape Cod
Eager to determine the best site to build a structure for the New Plymouth Colony, a group of men led by Captain Miles Standish headed for the shore--into the unknown Cape Cod wilderness (November, 1620). They jumped out of their boat and waded to shore in the freezing waters of the Cape. They were new to the cold of New England, and the climate in the new location was considerably colder than England and Holland.
Standish was a stoic military man who was itching to connect with the elusive, indigenous people of the area. If he was aware of the cruel treatment earlier English and French explorers, fishermen, and trappers had inflicted upon the tribes of the area, he might have been more cautious.
During the ten years before the arrival of the Mayflower, the tribes had been victimized by kidnappings and outright murder in addition to an epidemic of apparent bubonic plaque.
MIles Standish and the First Sight of Indians
As the troop of men stalked the shore, they saw another group of men some distance ahead. First, they thought it was Captain Christopher Jones and his scouting party from the Mayflower, but as the two groups drew nearer to one another, what was thought to be Jones' party vanished into the woods. Standish and his troop pursued them.
Unable to catch up with them, by nightfall, they appointed a couple of guards. The men built a fire, and bunked down for the night--their first night in the wilderness. In the morning they resumed their pursuit. The second day on shore closed with no Indian encounter.
Corn Hill
Standish and his men were hungry. The stretch of sand they were now walking upon was packed differently than the area where they first saw the Natives' graves. Some of the men dug while the others formed a guard.
They exposed a container of different colored corn kernals. They knew they had dug up a food supply belonging to the Natives. Perhaps, impending starvation, besides their own hungry stomachs clouded their reasoning. They decided to risk stealing the corn rationalizing that they would reimburse the Natives, somehow, later on.
A few days later, while Captain Jones was also scouting out the area, now snow covered, his group stole the rest of the corn supply. This area where the corn was buried was named Corn Hill.
The Natives were aware of the theft, but remained elusive--for the time being.
MIles Standish
This elected military captain of the Pilgrims was not a tall man. His nickname was Captain Shrimp. A native of Lancashire, England, he was born in the late 1500's.
However, he did serve the Pilgrims and their enterpise well. Though short-tempered and easily offended, he managed to build good relations with Sachem Massasoit (Pokanokets tribe), and readily punished others. Tribal rivalries were a dangerous dynamic the Pilgrims interfaced with.
Standish was married twice. He came to New Plymouth with his wife, Rose who died within the first year. He later remarried a woman named Barbara who arrived at New Plymouth aboard the ship, Anne, 1623.
He was heavily involved in the major events of Plymouth Colony. Later in life he founded the town of Duxbury, Massachusetts. His death may have been due to kidney stones (1656).
He growing ancient, became sick of the stone...after his suffering of much dolorous pain, he fell asleep in the Lord, and was honourably buried at Duxbury.
Source
Nathaniel Philbrick, Mayflower,Viking, Penquin Group (USA), Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New Yor, NY, 10014, 2006, pgs. 48-77.
MIles Standish
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