As Thanksgiving approaches, we should all think about where this country began. We all enjoy the benefits of the struggles of the early pioneers who helped this country begin. No matter where your family originated, you cannot help but be awed by the revolutionary spirit and tenacity of these founding citizens. But have you ever wondered what role animals played? Dogs are undoubtedly an important part of today’s American life. Certainly livestock played their part in the early days, but what of the settlers’ dogs?
Dogs are mentioned in Mourt’s Relation written by Edward Winslow in 1620. The story is relayed about two of the men being lost with two dogs, a Mastiff and an English Springer Spaniel. The men would have likely not survived the night without the dogs there to guard and help keep them warm.
These were brave and pioneering people who faced so many obstacles, only for so many to be lost to exposure and disease. They left their homes with their eyes on a better life. Nothing that we experience today is like what they endured. They had to watch friends and family sicken and die. They struggled with things that we take for granted. They were forced to make friends with people so different from themselves that they were afraid. They knew hunger, thirst, disease and suffering, but they built this country that we call home.
Maybe today’s generation would be hard pressed to accomplish what they did. They depended on each other and on their animals. When the men were lost, the dogs guarded them and helped to keep them warm, like we still hear of dogs today guarding lost children. Dogs have always had golden hearts. They are constantly ready to protect and defend us.
Dogs are as much a part of our history as the brave people are. So were they at the first Thanksgiving feast? We do not know for sure, but we do know that without dogs, there may not have been one.
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