How one Patuxet Indian became the only reason the Pilgrims didn’t starve to death in 1620s Massachusetts

Squanto, the Patuxet Indian who helped the Plymouth Pilgrims survive

When Squanto (aka Tisquantum) met the Plymouth Pilgrims in 1621, he was the last living member of the Patuxet tribe.

He survived kidnapping, slavery in Spain, and years in England before returning to find his people wiped out by plague.

In March 1621, he walked into Plymouth Colony speaking English and offered to help the struggling Pilgrims. For 20 months, he served as their translator, teacher, and guide, showing them how to plant crops and trade with neighboring tribes.

Here’s the story of how one man bridged two worlds during America’s earliest colonial days, preserved at Plymouth Rock and the surrounding historic sites you can visit today.

Hunt tricked twenty Patuxet men aboard his trading ship

Thomas Hunt invited twenty Patuxet Indians aboard his vessel in 1614 with promises of trade, but once they climbed on deck, he locked them below and sailed for Spain.

Among the captives was Tisquantum, a young man from the coastal village where Plymouth now stands.

Hunt sold his prisoners to Juan Bautista Reales in Málaga on October 22, 1614, but local Franciscan friars discovered the illegal slave trade and freed twenty captives within two weeks.

This kidnapping would change everything for both the Wampanoag and the future Plymouth colonists.

Squanto learned English while working as a shipbuilder

Squanto made his way to London, where merchant John Slaney took him in at Cornhill and taught him English while he worked as a shipbuilder and interpreter.

Slaney was treasurer of the Newfoundland Company and used Squanto’s knowledge of North American resources for trading ventures.

Squanto spent years working in Newfoundland with Captain John Mason, the colonial governor, learning how European settlements operated.

He picked up skills that would save lives when he returned home.

His entire village lay empty when he returned

In May 1619, Squanto sailed back to his homeland with Captain Thomas Dermer only to find Patuxet village completely abandoned, with skeletons scattered on the ground.

The Great Dying had swept through Wampanoag territory between 1617-1619, killing two-thirds of the 70,000 people in sixty-nine villages along the Massachusetts coast.

Squanto was the sole survivor of his Patuxet tribe and went to live with other Wampanoag groups. Cornfields had grown wild and houses stood empty where families once lived.

Samoset brought Squanto to meet the starving colonists

On March 16, 1621, Samoset walked into the Plymouth settlement and introduced the English to Squanto, explaining he was the only survivor from Patuxet.

Samoset had watched the colonists struggle through winter and brought Squanto to help the survivors.

The Pilgrims had built their houses and streets directly over Squanto’s former summer village. After five years away, he found strangers living where his people once farmed and fished.

Squanto helped negotiate the peace treaty with Massasoit

On March 22, 1621, Squanto translated as Massasoit made a deal with the Plymouth colonists, agreeing to help them survive in exchange for protection from enemy tribes.

Squanto was key to creating the friendship treaty that let the English stay on his ancestral land around Patuxet.

Massasoit freed Squanto from tribal duties so he could live with the colonists as their guide and interpreter.

The agreement kept peace for forty years until Massasoit died.

Fish buried with corn seeds made the difference

Squanto taught the Pilgrims to plant corn using fish caught from Town Brook as fertilizer, which worked when their English seeds failed in New England soil.

He showed them how to bury dead fish in each planting hole to feed the corn through the growing season.

With Squanto’s help, the Pilgrims grew enough food to survive their second winter and break their cycle of starvation.

This ancient Patuxet method became the foundation of Plymouth’s survival.

Squanto opened up the fur trade networks

Squanto introduced the English settlers to the fur trade, which became essential for their economic survival.

On July 2, 1621, he guided Edward Winslow on a diplomatic mission to Massasoit’s village and helped secure an exclusive trading deal with the Wampanoag.

Squanto stayed behind after the talks and traveled throughout the region making trading relationships with other tribes.

His connections created supply lines that kept the colony fed.

He taught them to catch eels and find food

Squanto taught the Pilgrims how to use local resources, including catching eels from coastal waters and streams.

He showed them which wild plants were safe to eat, how to hunt local animals, and other ways to survive in Massachusetts.

When food ran low, Governor William Bradford relied on Squanto to pilot ships through dangerous waters around Cape Cod on trading trips.

Without this knowledge, the colonists would have starved while surrounded by natural abundance.

Squanto prevented wars by handling tense diplomatic situations

In 1621, Squanto worked as translator during meetings with Massasoit and later spied on rebel leader Corbitant who threatened the peace.

When hostile Wampanoag captured Squanto during his intelligence mission, Miles Standish led ten armed men to rescue their vital interpreter.

On June 12, 1621, Squanto helped colonists apologize to an elderly Native woman whose three sons Thomas Hunt had kidnapped, calling Hunt a “bad man.”

His skills prevented conflicts that could have destroyed Plymouth.

The harvest feast brought ninety Wampanoag warriors to Plymouth

In fall 1621, Squanto joined Plymouth colonists and ninety Wampanoag warriors for a three-day harvest feast celebrating their successful cooperation.

The gathering started tensely when Wampanoag warriors arrived fully armed after hearing gunfire from the English settlement.

Once they realized the shots were celebratory, the Wampanoag killed five deer and brought them to share at the feast.

This celebration marked the high point of cooperation between the two peoples.

Squanto started playing both sides against each other

Squanto began using his position for personal gain, lying to both Native Americans and Pilgrims while threatening to turn English weapons against tribes unless they paid him.

He realized both sides feared and needed him.

In November 1622, while trading for corn seed with Governor Bradford, Squanto’s nose started bleeding heavily, which he said was an Indian sign of death coming.

He asked Bradford to pray for him so he could reach the Englishman’s God in Heaven, then asked Bradford to give gifts to his Plymouth friends before dying within days.

Visiting Plimoth Patuxet Museums

You can walk through Squanto’s story at 137 Warren Avenue in Plymouth, Massachusetts, where his Patuxet village once flourished.

Follow the winding forest path to Historic Patuxet Homesite on the Eel River, where you can step inside a traditional bark-covered wetu, watch staff shape mishoon canoes using fire, and smell traditional foods cooking at the cooking arbor.

You can touch different animal furs, play traditional bone games, and help scrape mishoon canoes with shells just like Squanto’s people did.

Your ticket also includes the 17th-century English Village and Mayflower II ship downtown, all valid for the entire 2025 season.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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