400 years ago on November 11, 1620 the Mayflower arrived in New England with 102 passengers, an estimated crew of 30 people, and 2 dogs. Today we salute those brave pups, who after a voyage of 66 days found themselves exploring a strange new world. In his journal, Of Plymouth Plantation, William Bradford was strangely silent on the contributions of these dogs. Therefore it is Edward Winslow to whom we owe a debt of gratitude for sharing tales of these two four-legged early settlers in his journal, Mourt’s Relation: A Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth.
According to Winslow, a Spaniel and Mastiff accompanied John Goodman to Plymouth colony, and were used for hunting and protection. However, these Pilgrim dogs may have needed a bit of protection themselves. During that first winter while out gathering thatch for roofing, John Goodman and Peter Browning, as well as the two dogs, became separated from the other men. While attempting to find their way back, they came upon a deer standing by a lake. What did the dogs do? They chased the deer of course! The two men followed but soon found themselves hopelessly lost.
During that bitter cold January night the dogs not only kept the men warm, they also protected them from “lions” lurking in the woods. Ok, so they weren’t actually lions. Apparently Pilgrims had overactive imaginations, when it came to this strange new wilderness. But no matter what was howling in the woods, one of the dogs had to be held back by the neck because she was determined to chase that menacing foe! The following evening when the men eventually limped their way back to their village, Goodman and Browning shared their harrowing tale of how the dogs protected them from the beasts in the forest.
Although it isn’t clear which dog wanted to fiercely protect her owner, historians guess that this female dog must have been the Mastiff. Not only because of the reputation of Mastiffs as fearless hunters, but also because of this later embarassing story about the Spaniel. While recovering from frostbite after that night lost in the woods, John Goodman headed out for a walk with his faithful Spaniel. However, they soon encountered wolves. After being chased by wolves, the “little dog” hid between its owner’s legs, while Goodman fended off the wolves by throwing a stick at them. Well as you can probably understand, the wolves must have found the dog hiding between the man’s legs rather amusing. According to Edward Winslow’s account, the wolves sat on their tails “grinning at him” for awhile before going on their way. But I’m sure the Spaniel wasn’t really afraid and knew that Goodman had the situation under control, that’s all.
Sadly Goodman died later on that winter, and there is no further mention of these two dogs in the pages of history. However, I hope the other Pilgrims welcomed them into their homes following their owner’s death, and these two dogs’ adventures at Plymouth Plantation continued.
