A Note from
Mary Pope Osborne About the
When I write Magic Tree House® adventures, I love including facts about the times and
places Jack and Annie visit. But when readers nish these adventures, I want them to learn
even more. So that’s why my husband, Will, and my sister, Natalie Pope Boyce, and I write a
series of non ction books that are companions to the ction titles in the Magic Tree House®
series. We call these books Fact Trackers because we love to track the facts! Whether we’re
researching dinosaurs, pyramids, Pilgrims, sea monsters, or cobras, we’re always amazed at
how wondrous and surprising the real world is. We want you to experience the same wonder
we do—so get out your pencils and notebooks and hit the trail with us. You can be a Magic
Tree House® Fact Tracker, too!
Here’s what kids, parents,
and teachers have to say about the
Magic Tree House® Fact Trackers:
“They are so good. I can’t wait for the next one. All I can say for now is prepare to be
amazed!” —Alexander N.
“I have read every Magic Tree House book there is. The [Fact Trackers] are a thrilling way to
get more information about the special events in the story.” —John R.
“These are fascinating non ction books that enhance the magical time-traveling adventures of
Jack and Annie. I love these books, especially American Revolution. I was learning so much,
and I didn’t even know it!” —Tori Beth S.
“[They] are an excellent ‘behind-the-scenes’ look at what the [Magic Tree House ction] has
started in your imagination! You can’t buy one without the other; they are such a
complement to one another.” —Erika N., mom
“Magic Tree House [Fact Trackers] took my children on a journey from Frog Creek,
Pennsylvania, to so many signi cant historical events! The detailed manuals are a remarkable
addition to the classic fiction Magic Tree House books we adore!” —Jenny S., mom
“[They] are very useful tools in my classroom, as they allow for students to be part of the
planning process. Together, we nd facts in the [Fact Trackers] to extend the learning
introduced in the ctional companions. Researching and planning classroom activities, such as
our class Olympics based on facts found in Ancient Greece and the Olympics, help create a
genuine love for learning!” —Paula H., teacher
Text copyright © 2005 by Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie Pope Boyce
Illustrations copyright © 2005 by Sal Murdocca
Cover photograph copyright © Catherine Karnow/CORBIS
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New
York. Originally published by Random House Children’s Books, New York, in 2005.
Random House and the colophon are registered trademarks and A Stepping Stone Book and the colophon are trademarks of
Random House, Inc. Magic Tree House is a registered trademark of Mary Pope Osborne; used under license.
The Magic Tree House Fact Tracker series was formerly known as the Magic Tree House Research Guide series.
Visit us on the Web!
MagicTreeHouse.com
randomhouse.com/kids
Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools, visit us at randomhouse.com/teachers
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Osborne, Mary Pope.
Pilgrims / by Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie Pope Boyce ; illustrated by Sal Murdocca.
p. cm. — (Magic tree house fact tracker)
Reprint of 2005 ed. Series has new name.
“A nonfiction companion to Magic Tree House #27: Thanksgiving on Thursday.”
“A Stepping Stone book.”
eISBN: 978-0-307-97531-7
1. Pilgrims (New Plymouth Colony)—Juvenile literature. 2. Massachusetts—History—New Plymouth, 1620–1691—Juvenile
literature. I. Boyce, Natalie Pope. II. Murdocca, Sal, ill. III. Osborne, Mary Pope. Thanksgiving on Thursday. IV. Title.
F68.O83 2011 974.4’02—dc22 2011007035
Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.
v3.1
In memory of our father,
William Perkins Pope
Historical Consultant:
CAROLYN TRAVERS, Research Manager, Plimoth Plantation, Plymouth, Massachusetts
Education Consultant:
HEIDI JOHNSON, Earth Science and Paleontology, Lowell Junior High School, Bisbee, Arizona
Very special thanks to Paul Coughlin for his great photographs; and to the terri c team at Random House: Joanne Yates,
Mallory Loehr, Angela Roberts, and our editor, Diane Landolf, who helped every step of the way.
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
1. Pilgrims Set Sail
2. The New World
3. The Wampanoag
4. Hard Times
5. A Big Old Feast
6. Plymouth Grows
7. The Future
Doing More Research
Index
About the Authors
In September 1620, a ship sailed from Plymouth, England. It was called the Mayflower. The
passengers were headed for America, which Europeans often called “the New World.” They
would travel thousands of miles across the Atlantic. The voyage was long and dangerous. But
this was a special trip. These people were leaving England to begin new lives.
Why would anyone undertake this hard journey? The people on board had di erent
reasons. Some left because they had separated from the Church of England. They are called
the Separatists (SEH-puh-ruh-tists). The Separatists wanted to worship their own way.
The king was head of the English church. He would not give them this freedom. He even
put some of them in jail. There were about 37 Separatists among the passengers.
There were other people on board as well. They were not Separatists. They hoped to make
a better living in the New World. There was not enough work in England. Among the group
were farmers, woodworkers, shopkeepers, blacksmiths, weavers, and servants.
Altogether, there were 102 passengers on board … about 50 men, 20 women, and 32
children. Today we call all of these people Pilgrims.
Pilgrims go on long journeys for religious (rih-LIHJ-us) reasons.
The Long Voyage
There were supposed to be two ships going to America, the Mayflower and the Speedwell. But
the Speedwell leaked badly. It couldn’t make the trip. All but 20 of its passengers jammed
onto the Mayflower. Living on board was not pleasant!
For the next two months, the journey was very scary. High winds and waves tossed the
ship about like a toy.
The Mayflower was actually a cargo ship. It did not usually carry passengers. There were
too many people on board. They huddled together in a dark, cramped area under the main
deck.
There was not enough fresh water. The ship did not have any bathrooms. They used vessels
called chamber pots instead.
Chamber pots were emptied into the ocean.
The air quickly became foul and smelly. If clothes got wet, they stayed wet. Soon the
passengers began to get sick. One of them died. The anxious Pilgrims often gathered to pray
and sing. In November, their trip came to an end. After two long months, they nally sighted
land.
A baby was born during the trip. He was named Oceanus Hopkins!
The Mayflower Compact
Tempers had grown short during the trip. People began to argue. So just before the ship
anchored, the Pilgrims decided to write down some rules. They hoped this would stop the
arguments. Their agreement has come to be known as the Mayflower Compact. It was the rst
time in America that people wrote down ideas about governing themselves.
A compact is an agreement.
The compact was very short. But it said very important things. It said the people were
united in their belief in God. They pledged their loyalty to the king and England. They
promised to pass fair and just laws.
Forty-one men signed the compact. The Pilgrims voted for John Carver as their new
governor.
The Mayflower had reached the coast of what is now Massachusetts. It anchored o of Cape
Cod. The people felt their prayers had been answered. They fell to their knees and gave
thanks. They were overjoyed to have found dry land.
The Pilgrims could not know that even worse times still lay ahead. All the rules in the
world could not help them survive.
The ship was now anchored o the coast of Cape Cod. The Pilgrims climbed in a longboat
and rowed to shore. They found a country full of woods. Although there were many native
villages in the area, the Pilgrims did not see them. All they could see was wilderness.
Once on shore, the women pulled out their washing tubs. They washed clothes all day. The
children were free to run and play. And the men began making plans to explore. They needed
to find fresh water. And they were eager to find a good place to live and plant crops.
Exploring Cape Cod
A soldier named Myles Standish was chosen to lead some of the explorers. As they were
scouting around, they came across a group of Native People. The natives ran back into the
woods.
Native People had lived on Cape Cod for thousands of years.
Later, the explorers found a basket. It was full of corn kernels. The corn had been saved by
a native family. Myles and his men thought it would be good for planting. They took it and
planned to replace it or pay for it later.
Exploration continued on the cape. The Pilgrims could not agree on a good spot to settle.
The weather got colder. Winter was setting in. People began to get sick. They were running
out of food.
Four people had died by the time the Pilgrims reached Plymouth.
The Pilgrims stole more from the Native People. The natives were wary and often ran
away when they arrived. Some Pilgrims felt bad about the stealing. Later, they tried to
replace some things they had taken.
The Pilgrims decided that Cape Cod was not a good spot. The water around the cape was
too shallow. Ships could not anchor close enough to land to unload supplies. The Pilgrims
worried there were too many Native People. They also worried about having enough fresh
water. They decided to look elsewhere.
Master Jones’s Map
The Mayflower’s master, Christopher Jones, had maps of the coastline. They were made by a
man named John Smith. He was the leader of a group who had settled in Jamestown,
Virginia.
Later, John Smith had sailed around the coasts of Maine and Massachusetts. In 1614, he
made maps of what he had seen.
Prince Charles of England looked at the maps. He named this part of America “New
England.”
Plymouth
In December, several men set out in a small boat called a “shallop.” They were looking for a
place one of them had seen before. A storm whipped up. Winds and tides carried the boat
toward shore. The men found themselves in a good harbor. This was the spot they were
searching for.
To their delight, they found a freshwater river. They found cleared elds and they saw no
Native People. It seemed the perfect place! They hurried back to the Mayflower. Captain
Jones checked the map. Sure enough, it showed the harbor. The king had named it Plymouth
(PLIH-muth) after a town in England. The Mayflower arrived there three days later.
Plymouth was the site of an abandoned native village.
There is a legend that the Pilgrims rst stepped onto a certain rock when they landed. The
rock actually exists. It is called “Plymouth Rock.” Even today many people believe the legend
of Plymouth Rock. But experts are not positive that the story is true.
A legend is a story that is handed down over the years.
In 1774, a group of men tried to move the rock to a special place in the town of Plymouth.
The rock cracked in two. Sixty oxen dragged the top half to the liberty pole in the town
square.
In 1834, they moved it again … this time to a museum in Plymouth called Pilgrim Hall.
Later, the rock was moved several more times. Today it sits near the water, the top half
cemented to the bottom.
Over the years, people have chipped away at Plymouth Rock. Everyone wanted to take a
piece for themselves. Now it is one-third of what it used to be! An iron fence protects the
poor rock. Over 800,000 people visit it every year.
When Captain John Smith rst explored the coast of New England, he saw elds and houses.
These belonged to Native People. Today we know them as the Wampanoag (wahm-puh-NOag) Nation. This means “People of the First Light” or “People of the East.” They were
hunters, gatherers, farmers, and fishermen.
The Wampanoag had lived in New England for over 12,000 years. In the early part of the
1600s, there were about 50,000 Wampanoag living in 69 villages. Groups were known by the
place where they lived. For example, if they lived in Patuxet (puh-TUX-it), they were called
the Patuxet.
When the Pilgrims arrived, about half of the Wampanoag had died of disease.
Many villages were completely deserted.
Wampanoag Government
Each Wampanoag group had its own leader called a sachem (SAY-chum). The sachem was not
like a king. He led because of his ability and his family. A sachem worked like everyone else.
He was there to listen to advice and make decisions.
Women could become sachems if the old sachem had no son.
The Wampanoag did not have written rules. Instead, they had traditions (truh-DIH-shunz)
they’d followed for many years.
Traditions are ways of doing the same things from generation to generation.
All the different groups met. They discussed their problems. Then they voted on a solution.
Discussions could concern their hunting grounds. Each family had its own land for hunting.
These lands passed from fathers to sons. Protecting their hunting grounds was very important
to them.