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At Plimoth Plantation

by Richard Elliott


Welcome to Jurassic Park

After entering though the arches in the parking lot of Plimoth Plantation on a cold October morning, a rush of old memories started to come back to me as I began my journey towards the visitor's center. Not having been to Plimoth Plantation since I was really small, around age 8 I estimate, I was eager to travel out here after choosing this location for my Field Guide assignment. Reading William Bradford's "Of Plymouth Plantation" the day before the journey, I became more eager to head up to Plymouth, but also became more sleepy. Bradford's un-engaging (dare I say boring?) writing style was the staple for Pilgrims and Puritans who have written similar pieces around that time (cough, Winthrop, cough). None-the-less, I read Bradford's piece with anticipation in my eyes as I watched the clock move faster and faster towards the day I was to return to Plimoth Plantation.

An excellent shot of Pilgrim City...or "Downtown Plantation"

Upon paying the entrance fee and entering the Plantation with my mother and sister, old memories continued to return to me. I saw the farm near the parking lot where I used to chase the animals around when I was smaller. Being all grown up, or at least more grown up than the last time I was here, I decided not to taunt the animals, but a small old kid traveling with another family did not share my newfound enlightenment. As soon as I entered an area of the settlement I called "Pilgrim City," my ears were treated to the sound of battle as the kid, armed with a stick, poked a near-by chicken right up the tail pipe. The chicken flipped out and attacked the kid. I wish I had a picture of that. It was beautiful. This had nothing to do with my experience at the Plantation, but I thought since I'm sharing my experience with this site, why not share my experience with others at this site. Don't fret, the child was unharmed. The chicken, however, was very angry and remained so the rest of the day. I decided to steer clear of that chicken, but my brave and stupid sister did not take any heed to my warnings, and ended up getting attacked. I never thought a chicken could jump so high.


This shot was taken by my sister moments before it attacked her. Funny stuff, I wish I had a picture of that.

Traveling further down Pilgrim City, I stared in awe at the ancient homes that were accurately (to my eyes anyway) recreated to show the Pilgrim lifestyle. I spent the most of my time in this section of the Plantation, and while it wasn't as big as I imagined it to be, this area of exploration became my favorite part of the trip. I interacted with some of the Pilgrim women here, who spoke to a mass of people about how rewarding a hard day's work was. The Pilgrim lifestyle, as depicted in Bradford's piece, stems from a long day of manual labor, followed by prayer, prayer and more prayer. This Pilgrim woman, who I shall call Debbie, was very informative and answered everyone's questions while she worked. After speaking to Debbie, I traveled further down Pilgrim City, when I remembered the short ten minute video we watched up entering the Plantation.

This orientation video basically introduced all of the sites at the Plantation, and pretty much showed people where to go. One of the key things that the video talked about, was the fact that every "Pilgrim" and "Indian" at this location was re-enacting a real person. The video joked about the fact that one of us lucky Plantation visitors might bump into someone we knew from history. My eyebrows raised higher than they've been since laying eyes on my future ex-girlfriend I met years ago. As I continued my journey at Pilgrim City, I kept a sharp eye on the lookout for anyone who could be re-enacting William Bradford. "That would be perfect," I thought as I ventured into a decent sized garden and listened to the gardener speak of his work.


Two of a kind.

Listening to the gardener speak about his work while he planted several flowers and assorted plants, I realized two things. One, was that these "re-enactors" really know their stuff. He wasn't just pretending to garden, he was actually planting seeds and he looked like he knew what he was doing. The other thing I realized wasn't so positive; I realized that the orientation video was full of crap. Finishing up my trip in Pilgrim City, I entered a small museum building, where several things were on display. One of the things on display was an actual person; a blacksmith, who diligently worked on cutting some wood while answering questions of the people around him. Like the other re-enactors, he knew what he was doing and knew what he was talking about; but he just wasn't a real person. By that, I mean he didn't have a name. When I asked him his name, he answered "I'm a blacksmith." You don't say. Like I couldn't tell that by the way he was cutting wood, or the size of his massive blacksmith beard? Angered by my encounter with the blacksmith, I wondered towards the Indian Wampanoag Tribal grounds, hoping that this area would brighten the experience a little.

Knowing that it is a prerequisite for a blacksmith to have a beard, blacksmith
Buford "Weird Beard" Bradford (no relation to William Bradford, thank God)
decided not to cause controversy and gave in to the cliché.

Upon entering the Indian "area" of the Plantation, I immediately realized that it was not even a fraction of Pilgrim City's size. Since the Pilgrim's were the focus point of this re-creational museum, I didn't expect much from the Indian's grounds. My lowered expectations were not even met as I encounter a total of three, yes, three Indians. All of whom seemed like they really wanted to just quit their job. I doubt that real Indians in this time period were so miserable, but after speaking with those three clowns, I began to wonder. A total of three teepees and a cooking area made up the Indian grounds. I do not count the long set of stairs and walkway across the waterfront as part of the Indian's area, as that merely connected the Indian's tribe to the entrance of the Plantation.



When I asked what the soup of the day was, the depressed Wampanoags responded by
telling me they were cooking some delicious raccoon stew. I decided not to ask
about the Pilgrim Special.

Overall, the first part of my trip was fulfilling and made me happy about taking up this assignment. The second end of this trip, including my confrontation with the blacksmith and the "Indians" made me more depressed than the two "Stew girls" I met at the Indian encampment. Thinking back, it is hard to classify whether or not I found this trip a) satisfying and b) educational. In regards to item A; personally, it was not as satisfying as I hoped. The last leg of the trip, the depressed Indians, and not finding anyone with a real name was too disappointing to me. As far as item B goes; I think it was definitely educational. The re-enactors, no matter how rude, depressing or impersonal they were, still knew what they were doing. The whole trip was definitely worth a look if some of you are thinking of seeing how these people lived the way they did. Before I go, one of the interesting things I noticed was that all of the Pilgrims there were wearing long red socks on. I didn't pay much attention to it at first, but after the Red Sox beat the Yankees in the playoffs, one of the news broadcasts interviewed some of the re-enactors at the Plantation who said they were wearing their red socks to give the red sox luck. Thanks for reading.           



When the Indian asked which was the dangerous end, the Pilgrim smiled.