Plymouth Colony is established.

(OS-12/16) [12/21-Murphy, TDIH; 12/22-Horwitz] Originally New Plymouth, it is settled and incorporated by members of the Plymouth Company who go ashore at today’s Plymouth, which is located on the former site of a Native American village called Patuxet. Gov. John Carver describes the area as a “hideious, desolate wilderness, full of wild beats and wild men.” His successor, William Bradford, later describes it as “fit for situation. At least it was the best we could find.” During the ensuing winter, almost half of the settlers die from malnutrition, pneumonia, and scurvy. The story of the landing at Plymouth Rock first appears in 1835 and is attributed to a town elder who, in 1741, identified the rock as the place on which his father told him the settlers first came on shore.