Captain Myles Standish
As a young man Myles was commissioned to fight in the Netherlands. On his return to England he was hired by the Merchant Adventurers to sail with the Pilgrims in the Mayflower. He was with the first landing party to step ashore after they cast anchor on November 11th, 1620, in the Bay of Cape Cod. He acted as the commander of the exploring parties, and rallied the pilgrims to counter the first attack by Indians on December 8th, 1620. Standish led or participated in all the early exploratory missions sent out to explore Cape Cod, and was heavily involved in selecting the site where the Pilgrims would settle. On December 19th, the settlers selected a site for their colony to which they gave the name New Plymouth, but the next few months were to be a time of terrible hardship. One hundred and one persons came ashore, but by Christmas 1620 there were so many sick or dead that only about half-a-dozen were left capable of self-help. He was one of the few who did not get sick at all the first winter, and is recorded as having greatly helped and cared for those who were sick. It was at this time that Myles lost his wife, Rose Standish. These few had to tend the sick, make fires, cook, wash and feed the others. A later account says that all this was done 'without any growling in the least' by 'William Brewster, their Reverend Elder, and Myles Standish, their Captain and military commander'. Myles continued his exploits as the colony prospered. In one of his explorations, he is reported to have set foot on Winnisimmet (Chelsea) and some of the Boston Harbor islands. In 1622 he successfully led a rescue mission to Weymouth, which was under Indian attack. In 1628 he put down a minor rebellion by break-away settlers and in 1635 led an attack on French Traders who were intent on taking land from the colony. As late as 1653 he was called upon, at the age of 70, to command the fighting volunteers of the colony against a threatened Dutch invasion. Myles Standish died on October 3rd, 1656.