COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL • NOVEMBER 21, 2018 •
Betty Kaiser’s Chatterbox:
Celebrating pilgrim courage, Native American generosity
Betty Kaiser
Every November, I like to
look back at the humble be-
ginnings of this place that we
call home — the United States
of America. Th is year, as usu-
al, our super-power country is
in the midst of controversies of
every kind. Th ey include ongo-
ing wars and confl icts, politi-
cal diff erences, homelessness,
inequality, devastating climate
changes and more.
It has ever been so. Never-
theless, we have a mighty fi ne
place to call home.
I love stories of our founding
parents and what life was like in
1620 when the pilgrims arrived
on the Mayfl ower at Plymouth
Rock in the Americas. And
yes, I know that long before the
pilgrims arrived, the area had
been visited by sea-going trav-
elers from Africa, China, Eu-
rope and the Vikings. And we
all know that Columbus sailed
the ocean blue in 1492!
But it was the pilgrims who
settled into the land when they
arrived on our shores in 1620.
Th ey had previously lived in
England under religious perse-
cution and moved to Holland
where there were other prob-
lems. So, off they sailed to the
Americas. Now if that wasn’t
bravery, I don’t know what is.
Because this was no cruise ship
that they were on.
Th ey had planned to cross
the ocean on the Speedwell, a
passenger ship, but it developed
mechanical problems. Instead,
they boarded its sister ship, the
Mayfl ower. A freighter, it was
not built to carry passengers.
Quarters were tight, food
was rationed, the seas were
rough, storms caused leaks and
weakness in the structure, peo-
ple were sick and one person
died.
It took about 66 days to get
to the new world. Th eir planned
destination was the Colony of
Virginia but the winter weather
forced them to return to Cape
Cod. Th ere were about 30 crew
and 102 passengers aboard.
Aft er the ship dropped an-
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didn’t know it but they were
moving into a cemetery.”
Enter Squanto. He was the
only living Patuxet tribal con-
federate member in the area.
He had survived slavery in En-
gland and knew the language.
He taught the pilgrims to grow
corn, fi sh and negotiated a
peace treaty between them and
the Wampanoag Native Amer-
icans.
Th e arrival and generosi-
ty of the Wampanoag’s saved
the pilgrim immigrants from
starvation and death. Th ey
welcomed the newcomers and
taught them what they needed
to know to raise bumper crops
of corn, beans and more. Both
sides abided by the peace treaty.
So, where does Th anksgiv-
ing come in? Well, the religious
pilgrims yearly celebrated days
of thanksgiving—days of prayer,
not feasting. In the fall of 1621,
the pilgrims and the Wampano-
ag celebrated the colony’s fi rst
successful harvest with venison
supplied by the Native Ameri-
cans. Th e feast lasted three days
and was attended by 63 pilgrims
and 90 Native Americans. Two
years later in 1623, the colonists
gave thanks to God for rain af-
ter a two-month drought and
Th anksgiving feasting became a
yearly event.
Th is year, as we celebrate
Th anksgiving and our many
personal blessings, let us also
remember our foundation. We
are a unique, mixed nation of
people, laws and compassion—
built by immigrants and mutual
respect. Let us never forget that
we are blessed in so many ways.
Happy Th anksgiving and
God bless you all!
Contact Betty Kaiser’s Chat-
terbox at 942-1317 or email bchat-
ty@bettykaiser.com
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6
chor on Nov. 11, 1620, the new
settlers had the foresight to
write and sign the Mayfl ower
Compact. Some of the passen-
gers were non-Puritans who
wanted to proclaim their own
liberty. Th e pilgrims wanted to
establish their own govt. while
affi rming allegiance to the
Crown of England. Th e result
was an agreement in which all
41 of the male passengers con-
sented to follow the communi-
ty’s rules for the sake of order
and survival. Th ey were off to a
good start.
Th at fi rst winter was bru-
tal. Th ere was no local lumber
yard to buy supplies. Th ey had
to build crude shelters from
whatever was at hand. Food was
scarce and there was no medi-
cine to treat diseases like pneu-
monia. Sources say that at one
point each person could only
eat fi ve kernels of corn daily.
Starvation, disease and ex-
posure soon killed half the
population. Only 53 adults sur-
vived that fi rst winter. Fourteen
of the 18 adult women died.
Weak and hungry, they gave
their children food and herb-
al medicines. Eleven of the 31
children died.
Orphans were taken in by
other families. Two baby boys
had been born on the May-
fl ower journey; one died at
two years of age. Another boy,
Peregrine White was born nine
days aft er they landed and he
lived to be 83-years-old.
Strangely enough, the pil-
grims had landed in an area
where some Europeans had
settled in the mid-1610s. An
epidemic wiped out most of
their coastal population. Ac-
cording to historian Charles
Mann, “Plymouth was on top
of a village that had been de-
serted by disease. Th e pilgrims
-day
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5A
Pet tips
‘N’ tales
By Mary Ellen
“Angel Scribe”
DEXTER-ous Beagle
Martha and Dave have three dogs, but this article is about
their 11-year-old beagle, Dexter.
Last summer, Dexter scared them. It was a hot day and he was
chasing his tennis ball when he collapsed with a seizure. Th ey
rushed him to the emergency veterinary clinic and, $1,300 lat-
er, they were not given a reason why the seizures happened.
Th e health scare may have been a heat stroke from overplay
and dehydration. People assume that only humans are suscep-
tible to heat strokes, but so are cats and dogs.
“Th e incident freaked me out,“ said Martha. “So, now, when
he is outside playing and starts to pant a little bit, I stop throw-
ing his ball for him and guide him into the house. On his way,
he has to stop and smell the grass where one of the other dogs
just peed; plus, he has to sniff the tree where the squirrels play,
then he has to stop to get a drink of water from the fountain in
the front yard. Of course, he has to double check that I put his
tennis ball on the table on the front porch. Th en fi nally, he may
need to go back to the grass and pee one more time before he
meanders inside the front door.
“So, because of the whole seizure occurrence, I now watch
him a bit too closely,” Martha continued. “Like the time he was
sitting in the kitchen, not moving, just staring up at the ceiling.
I thought the worst. Before I totally panicked, I looked up at
the ceiling too.
Nothing! Not a
fl y, not a spider,
not even a cob-
web! So, then,
I looked down
to the kitchen
counter and saw
a candle, keys,
some
cheese
crackers, a glass,
a magazine —
back to those
cheese crackers.”
Th e word bea-
gle is just an-
other word for
“nose” and Dex-
ter’s had caught
scent of the
cheese crackers.
He was frozen
in front of the
counter,
not
moving except
for an occasion-
al shift ing of his
eyes to glance at
Martha to see if
she was going
to give him the
crackers.
Martha and her Beagle Dexter
“Of course, I
did," said Martha. “But, oddly, he did not eat them. He carried
them around in his mouth for most of the day and now the
package of crackers is lying in the middle of the living room
fl oor, the wrapper still intact.”
Now, back to the family’s collection of tennis balls on their
front porch for their three dogs. Dexter is very picky and will
only use one: his. With great Dexter-ity, he searches through
the balls until he fi nds his.
Martha explained, “It is a wonder how his nose can distin-
guish 'his' ball from all the other wet, slobbery, grimy tennis
balls.”
Yes, he has always been an interesting dog.
“He was so destructive as a puppy, that we called Dexter the
Wreckster and Dexter Do-little,” recalled Martha. “Luckily, his
wild nature eventually paid off . He is a rodent-ridder who has
caught and killed mice, rats, moles and shrews. Th ankfully, he
likes cats. He lets our black cat, Percy, walk underneath his chin
and rub against his side and he just sits there. Of course, it helps
if he is being off ered a treat at the same time. I don’t know how
much longer we will be privileged to have Dexter with us, but
we will continue lavishing our love on him and he will continue
to make us laugh. We are glad that we brought him into our
family.”
TIPS:
• Dogs left at home alone and in vehicles with opened snack
bags may die. Th ey naturally, like us, go aft er the last few
crunchy crumbs and their snout shape and breathing pressur-
izes the bag to their head. Th e suctioning is so tight that they
cannot remove it and suff ocate. Please pass this warning onto
other pet owners for their pets’ safety.
Tips ‘n’ Tales reader Joe in Hawaii said, “A starving cat arrived
at our home. Her teeth were rotten from malnutrition, so we
began feeding her soft food mixed with warm water and she
has fi nally gained weight.”
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DUSTIN TULLAR & RUSS OWENS
541-942-8022 • COTTAGE GROVE
Share your fun, amazing or crazing pet tips and tales at an-
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www.facebook.com/PetTipsandTales. Adopt loving pets online at
www.PetFinder.com. For spay or neutering, call the Humane So-
ciety at 541-942-2789.
