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Wisconsin's First Thanksgiving
Like the Pilgrims of Plymouth, French traders Pierre Esprit Radisson and his brother-in-law, Médard Chouart Sieur des Groseilliers, nearly starved to death their first winter in Wisconsin in 1659. Wandering the frozen grounds of the Northwoods, Radisson and Groseilliers struggled to find food, eventually resorting to eating their two dogs before finding some exiled Ottawas to live amongst for the winter. There, at the headwaters of the Chippewa River, Radisson and Groseilliers were given wild rice and other fowl, including wild turkey, prepared by the Ottawas. Groseilliers even gave a speech of thanksgiving.
While not exactly the feast enjoyed during the harvest celebration in Plymouth in the fall of 1621 (nor the one we enjoy today), the Ottawas saved Radisson and Groseilliers from almost certain death — just as the Wampanoags did for the Pilgrims.
The Thanksgiving we know today, however, had nothing to do with the 1621 harvest celebration. That celebration was part of a Puritan tradition of fasting and festive rejoicing in the fall. Governors of each colony, and eventually states, declared a day of thanksgiving each year, and as New Englanders moved west, they took their holiday with them. Wisconsin's first official Thanksgiving was declared in 1830.
In the mid-19th century, Sarah Josepha Hale, editor of Godey's Lady's Book, launched a long campaign to get Thanksgiving accepted as a national holiday. Her efforts paid off on October 3, 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day.
Today Thanksgiving is celebrated in the United States with food and fellowship shared with family and friends. Although the meal may not resemble the one served in 1621, the idea of giving thanks remains.
:: Posted November 22, 2006
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