BWBS Ep:154 The First Guest

Have you ever wondered about the true story behind the first Thanksgiving?

Happy Thanksgiving from the Backwoods Bigfoot Stories Family.  For this special holiday episode, the show steps away from its usual encounter reports and witness interviews to share something different: an original work of fiction that reimagines one of America’s most iconic moments.

What if the first Thanksgiving wasn’t just a meeting between two peoples, but three? What if the Wampanoag arrived at the 1621 harvest celebration with a guest the colonists agreed to protect and keep hidden—an agreement passed quietly through generations for more than four hundred years? 

This episode tells the story of Yahyel, a Sasquatch elder who reveals himself to William Bradford and the Plymouth colonists, offering ancient wisdom, urgent warnings, and a promise that stretches across centuries.The narrative follows the descendants of that first feast as they safeguard the secret through revolution, expansion, war, and cultural change—carrying it from the earliest days of the colonies into the modern age of DNA databases, thermal drones, and digital discovery.

Along the way, the story blends real historical touchstones with cryptid folklore, exploring themes of cooperation, respect for the land, and the responsibility to protect wild places that cannot protect themselves.

To be clear: this is fiction. A holiday campfire story created to spark imagination, not to rewrite history. The episode makes no claim that these events occurred, and it is not presented as a factual account. But it invites a simple question: what if something like this could have been true?

What if ancient promises still mattered, mysteries still lived in the deep forests, and beings older than human memory were quietly watching—waiting for the moment humanity was ready to meet them with respect instead of fear? 

Whether you’re a true believer or a friendly skeptic, this Thanksgiving episode is meant to bring a little wonder to your holiday. May your plates be full, your company be warm, and your sense of mystery never fade.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
For decades, people have disappeared in the woods without a trace.
Some blame wild animals, others whisper of creatures the world
refuses to believe in. But those who have survived they
know the truth. Welcome to Backwoods Bigfoot Stories, where we
share real encounters with the things lurking in the darkness bigfoot,

(00:23):
dog man UFOs, and creatures that defy explanation. Some make
it out, others aren't so lucky. Are you ready, because
once you hear these stories, you'll never walk in the
woods alone again. So grab your flashlight, stay close and
remember some things in the woods don't want to be found.
Hit that follow or subscribe button, turn on auto downloads,

(00:46):
and let's head off into the woods.

Speaker 2 (00:47):
If you dare.

Speaker 1 (01:02):
Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I hope wherever you are right now,
you're surrounded by good food, good people, and maybe a
little bit of that trip to fan drowsiness that makes
the afternoon nap feel.

Speaker 2 (01:14):
So well deserved.

Speaker 1 (01:16):
But before you settle into that food coma, I want
you to think about something. We all know the story,
right the Pilgrims the Wampanoague Plymouth Rock Squanto teaching the
colonists how to plant corn, it's the version we learned
in elementary school, the one that shows up on greeting
cards and in school pageants every November. But what if

(01:39):
I told you that's not the whole story. What if
there was someone else at that table, someone the history
books don't mention, someone that the colonists themselves decided to
keep secret, passing the truth down through families.

Speaker 2 (01:52):
For four hundred years.

Speaker 1 (01:54):
What if the first Thanksgiving wasn't just a meeting between
two peoples but three. Now now I know what some
of you are thinking. Here we go another wild theory.
But stick with me here, because this isn't just speculation.
This is a story that's been whispered in certain families
since sixteen twenty one, a story about ancient agreements, about

(02:16):
guardians of the forest, and about a promise that's been
kept for four centuries. Today, on this special holiday edition
of the show, we're going deep into a tale that
will make you look at Thanksgiving in a whole new way.
This is the story of the first Guest. The morning
Mist rolled across Plymouth Harbor like a living thing, thick

(02:38):
and heavy with the promise of an early winter. It
was late November sixteen twenty one, and the small settlement
of English colonists had barely survived their first year in
this strange new world. Half their number had perished during
that brutal winter, and those who remained looked more like
scarecrows than the brave adventurers who'd crossed the Atlantic just

(02:58):
fourteen months before. William Bradford stood at the edge of
the settlement, his weathered hands gripping his musket as he
surveyed the tree line. The forest was different here than
anything he'd known in England. It was older, deeper, and
it held secrets that made even the bravest men whisper
prayers under their breath. The trees themselves seemed to watch,

(03:20):
their ancient trunks twisted into shapes that looked almost like
faces in the dim morning light. Edward Winslow approached, his
boots crunching on the frost covered ground. Governor Bradford Squanto
has returned from his journey to Massasoit's village. He brings
word that the Wampanoag will attend our harvest celebration. Bradford nodded,

(03:42):
his eyes still fixed on the forest. How many will come?
Ninety souls perhaps more Massasoid himself will lead them. The
Governor's eyebrows rose. That was far more than they'd expected.
Their own number was barely fifty three, including women and children.
We'll need more food, send men to hunt. We cannot

(04:04):
appear weak or unprepared before our guests. Winslow hesitated. There
was something in his expression, a mixture of uncertainty and
fear that seemed out of place. Winslow had faced starvation, disease,
and the unknown terrors of this new world without flinching.
What could unsettle him?

Speaker 2 (04:23):
Now? What is it?

Speaker 1 (04:25):
Edward speak plainly? Squanto mentioned something else. He said the
Wampanoag would bring someone special, someone they call the first guest.
He wouldn't explain further, only said that we must show
proper respect and prepare extra food, much extra food. Bradford frowned.
The first guest, Is this some chief from another tribe?

(04:48):
A spiritual leader? I asked the same. Squanto only smiled
and said we would understand when the time came. But Governor,
I've never seen Squanto nervous before, not one facing hostile tribes,
not one translating difficult negotiations.

Speaker 2 (05:05):
But when he.

Speaker 1 (05:05):
Spoke of this first guest, his hands trembled. The two
men stood in silence for a moment, the weight of
the unknown pressing down on them.

Speaker 2 (05:13):
Like the morning.

Speaker 1 (05:13):
Miss Bradford squared his shoulders. We faced the impossible before edward.
We crossed an ocean, survived a winter that should have
killed us all, and made peace with people we cannot
fully understand. Whatever this first guest may be, we will
face it with faith and courage. But even as he
spoke these brave words, Bradford couldn't shake the feeling that

(05:36):
they were about to encounter something beyond their understanding, something
that would challenge everything they thought they knew about this
new world. Three days passed in a blur of preparation.
The colonists worked from dawn to dusk, hunting wild turkey
and deer, gathering shellfish from the shore, and preparing what
vegetables they'd managed to grow in their first successful harvest.

(05:59):
The women, led by Susannah White and Eleanor Billington, worked
miracles with their limited resources, turning corn meal and dried
berries into dishes that almost reminded the colonists of home.
Young John Howland, who nearly drowned falling overboard during the
Mayflower's Crossing had become one of the settlement's best hunters.
He spent his days in the forest with Miles Standish

(06:21):
and John Alden, tracking deer through the underbrush and learning
the ways of this wild land. But on the morning
before the feast, something strange happened that would haunt him
for the rest of his days. He was tracking a
particularly large buck through a grove of ancient oaks when
the forest went silent, not the normal quiet of animals
hiding from a hunter, but a complete absence of sound

(06:43):
that made the hair on his neck stand on end.
Even the wind seemed to hold its breath. The buck
he'd been tracking stood frozen in a small clearing ahead,
its entire body rigid with fear. Howland raised his musket,
but before he could fire, something moved in the shadows
beyond the deer, something massive. At first, he thought it

(07:05):
was a bear standing on its hind legs, but bears
don't stand that tall, bears don't have arms that long,
and bears certainly don't have eyes that gleam with an
intelligence that seemed almost human. The creature stepped partially into
the light, and Howland's musket fell from nerveless fingers. It
was covered in dark reddish brown hair, standing at least

(07:27):
eight feet tall. Its face was neither man nor beast,
but something in between, with deep set eyes that regarded
him with what looked like curiosity. For a moment that
stretched into eternity, hunter and creature stared at each other
across the clearing. Then the thing did something that nearly
stopped Howland's heart. It raised one massive hand, palm outward

(07:49):
in what was unmistakably a gesture of peace, the same
gesture he'd seen the wampanoaguse. The deer bolted, crashing through
the underbrush, and the spell was broken. The creature melted
back into the shadows with a grace that seemed impossible
for something so large. By the time Howland fumbled his
musket back into his hands, it was gone, leaving only

(08:12):
massive footprints and the memory of those intelligent eyes. He
ran back to the settlement, his heart pounding, his mind racing,
But when he tried to tell the others what he'd seen,
the words died in his throat. How could he explain?
How could he make them believe? Captain Standish would think
him mad? Governor Bradford would worry he'd been sampling too

(08:35):
much of the beer stores. Only Squanto, when Howland finally
worked up the courage to approach him, seemed unsurprised. The
ptuxid guide listened to his halting description with a knowing smile.
You have seen the first people, the ones who were
here before all others. My people call them by many
names when to go to some though that name carries fear.

(08:58):
Others say Jenna Squaw, or when Digo. But the oldest name,
the truest name, is Saskets, the wild men of the woods.
But what are they, Howland asked. Squanto was quiet for
a long moment, looking toward the forest.

Speaker 2 (09:15):
They are our elder brothers.

Speaker 1 (09:17):
They walk this land when the ice covered the world.
They taught the first humans how to survive, how to hunt,
how to respect the forest. Most of your people would
call them demons or monsters, but they are neither. They
are the keepers of the old ways, the guardians.

Speaker 2 (09:34):
Of the wild places.

Speaker 1 (09:36):
Will they come to the feast, Squanto's smile widened. The
first guest always comes to important gatherings. It is tradition
older than memory. Massasoit would not dare hold such a
feast without inviting them, and you English, whether you know
it or not, have settled in a place they protect.
They have been watching you since your ship arrived. Holland

(09:59):
felt a chick run down his spine watching us. How
else do you think you survived that first winter? How
many times did your hunters find deer exactly where they
needed them? How many times did storms that should have
destroyed your houses suddenly change direction? The Saskets helped you,
just as they once helped my people. You are guests

(10:20):
in their land, and they have chosen to let you stay.
That night, Howland barely slept. He lay on his rough
straw mattress, listening to the sounds of the forest, wondering
if those sounds included footsteps too large to be human.
The morning of the feast dawned clear and cold. The
colonists rose early, stoking fires and making final preparations. The

(10:43):
long tables had been set up outside despite the chill,
because there simply wasn't room in any building for the
number of guests they expected. Around midday, a cry went
up from the watchman. The wamp of Noagu were approaching.
They came through the forest like a river of Humansanity
ninety warriors in their families, dressed in their finest deer

(11:04):
skins and adorned with feathers and beads. At their head
walked Massasoit, himself tall and dignified, his face painted in
ceremonial colors. Beside him walked his brother Quadequina and several
other important men.

Speaker 2 (11:18):
Of the tribe.

Speaker 1 (11:20):
But it was the figure walking behind them that drew
every eye and stopped every conversation. He was a giant
of a man, standing nearly seven feet tall, wrapped in
a massive bear skin cloak that covered him from head
to toe. His face was hidden in the shadow of
a deep hood, and he walked with a strange rolling
gait that seemed almost awkward for someone of his size.

(11:42):
The Wampanoag gave him a wide berth, treating him with
a deference that exceeded even what they showed to Massasoit.
Governor Bradford stepped forward to greet the Satchem, but his
eyes kept drifting to the cloaked figure. Massasoit noticed and
spoke rapidly to Squanto, who translated the great Sack, which says,
you honor his people with this feast. He brings his

(12:03):
finest warriors to celebrate the harvest and the peace between
our peoples. And he brings a special guest, one who
must be shown the highest respect. This is the speaker
for the first people. He comes to observe and to
judge whether the peace will hold. Bradford, Ever, the diplomat,
despite his inner turmoil, bowed deeply. All who come in

(12:25):
peace are welcome at our table. The cloaked figure began
to speak. From within the hood came a voice unlike
anything the colonists had ever heard. It was deep, resonating,
like distant thunder, and though the words were in the
Wampa Noag tongue, they seem to carry meaning beyond language.
Squanto translated. He says, he smells honesty in your words,

(12:47):
but also fear. Fear is wise in the forest, but
honesty is wiser. He will sit at your feast. The
next few hours passed in a blur of activity. The
colonists and the Wampanoag worked side by side preparing the feast.
The native warriors had brought five deer, which they expertly
butchered and prepared for roasting. The colonial women found themselves

(13:11):
learning new ways to prepare corn and squash from the
Wampanoague women, while the men competed in games of skill
and strength. Through it all, the cloaked figure sat apart,
watching the children. Both English and natives, seemed drawn to him,
despite their parents obvious nervousness. Little Peregrine White, barely a
year old and the first English child born in New England,

(13:34):
toddled toward the giant figure with the fearlessness of the
very young. His mother, Susannah, gasped and started forward, but
the cloaked figure raised a massive hand and she froze slowly. Gently,
the figure reached out to the child. What emerged from
the cloak sleeve was a hand covered in thick, reddish
brown hair, with fingers longer than any human should be,

(13:58):
but the touch was gentle as a summer base. Peregrine
laughed a pure sound of joy and grabbed one of
the massive fingers with his tiny hands. For a moment,
the clearing was absolutely silent. Then from within the hood
came a sound that might have been laughter, deep and rumbling,
like distant thunder. The tension broke. If a baby could

(14:20):
accept this strange being, perhaps they all could. As the
sun began to set, the feast was ready. The tables
groaned under the weight of roasted deer and turkey, bowls
of corn and squash, platters of fish and shellfish, and
bread made from the colonist's precious wheat stores. Massasoit stood
and spoke at length in his own language, with squanto translating,

(14:43):
we gather here as two people's becoming one people. The
earth has provided for us. All the deer gave their
lives so we might live. The corn grew tall so
we might eat. The English have shown courage in coming
to this land, and wisdom in seeking peace. Ay tuned
for more backwoods bigfoot stories. We'll be back after these messages.

(15:06):
But there is older wisdom here, older even than the wampaoag.
Tonight we honor that wisdom. He nodded to the cloaked
figure who stood. The colonists held their breath as massive
hands reached up and pulled back the hood. What was
revealed was a face from the dawn of time. It
was covered in hair, yes, but the features were noble,

(15:29):
almost human, but not quite. The eyes were deep brown,
filled with an intelligence and sadness that seemed to hold
the weight of millennia. The nose was broad and flat,
the mouth wide with lips that seemed ready to smile
or snarl with equal ease. Several of the colonial women gasped,
a few of the men reached for weapons they weren't carrying.

(15:51):
But Governor Bradford, showing the courage that had carried him
across an ocean, stepped forward and extended his hand. You
are welcome at our table, friend. The sasquatch looked at
the extended hand for a long moment, then, with careful deliberation,
it reached out and took Bradford's hand in its own.
The Governor's hand disappeared entirely in that massive grip, but

(16:13):
the shake was gentle, almost delicate. And then the creature spoke,
not in the Wampanoagu tongue, but in broken halting English. Friend,
long time, we watch you different from others who came before.
You stay, you learn, you respect the land. The colonists
were stunned. Winslow was the first to find his voice.

(16:36):
You speak our language. The Sasquatch's mouth curved in what
might have been a smile. We learn, always learn. Listen
to your words in the forest. Watch you struggle, watch
you survive, Watch you choose peace over war. It turned
to address both groups, switching between languages, with Squanto translating

(16:58):
when needed. Long ago, when ice covered the land, we
helped the first humans who came here, taught them to hunt,
to build, to survive. When the ice went away, we
retreated to the deep forests, the high mountains. We became legend, story, myth.
But we never left, never stopped watching, never stopped protecting

(17:21):
the land and those who respect it. The creature moved
to the table, its movement surprisingly graceful for something so large.
Tonight we feast together, three peoples as one. This is good,
This is how it should be. As the feast progressed,
the initial fear and awkwardness began to fade. The Sasquatch,

(17:44):
who told them to call him by the name his
people used among themselves, yah Yell, which meant standing tall,
proved to have an appetite that matched his size. He
consumed enormous quantities of food with obvious relish, particularly enjoying
the colonists bread and the Wampanoag's special preparation of venison.
But it was when the storytelling began that the evening

(18:06):
truly became magical. It started with mass Asot, sharing the
story of how his people came to this land. Then
Elder William Brewster, his voice strong despite his advanced years,
told of the colonist's journey across the sea and their
reasons for leaving England. But when Yahiel began to speak,
everyone fell silent. I tell you now of the first Thanksgiving,

(18:30):
not this one, the first one, when my people and
the humans first shared food in peace. He spoke of
a time when the world was different, when I stretched
from horizon to horizon, and massive beasts walked the land.
His people, the Sasquatch, had lived here for countless generations,
adapted to the cold, living in harmony with the great

(18:52):
mammoths and dire wolves. Then came the humans. Small, weak,
freezing followed the animals across the ice bridge from the
old world. Many died. We watched from the forests, curious.
These new beings were like us, But they had no
fur to keep them warm, no great strength to hunt

(19:13):
the large beasts. But they had something else. They had innovation.
They made tools, they made fire, They worked together in
ways we had never seen. The Wampanoa ignited, knowingly this
was a story their eldest Shamans told, though most believed
it to be myth, My ancestor, the one we call

(19:35):
first Speaker, made a choice. He approached the humans like tonight.
There was fear at first, but hunger and cold make
strange allies. He taught them which plants were safe to eat,
how to track in snow, how to find shelter. In return,
they taught us about fire that could be carried, about
tools that cut better than claws. Yahiel stood and walked

(19:59):
to the fire, his massive form casting strange shadows. That
first shared meal, that first Thanksgiving was seal meat and roots,
eaten in an ice cave while a blizzard raged outside.
But it began something, a partnership, a promise. My people
would guard the wild places, keep the ancient knowledge. The

(20:21):
humans would grow, spread, build, but always we would be connected.
Young John Howland, emboldened by ale and amazement, asked, but
why do you hide? Why don't more people know about you?
Yahiel turned to him, and Howland was surprised to see
sadness in those ancient eyes. Because humans changed. As you

(20:43):
grew numerous, you grew fearful, You forgot the old agreements.
You started to see us not as elder brothers. But
as monsters, we became the thing in the dark that
steals children, when in truth we often saved lost children
and returned them to their tribes. He gestured to the Wampanoag.
These people remember, they keep the old ways. They leave

(21:06):
offerings in the deep forest. They teach their children respect,
not fear. But others come with fire and steel, cutting
down the ancient trees, killing without need. We learned to
hide deeper, to become shadow and story. William Bradford spoke up,
and what of us, the English, You said we were

(21:27):
different from others who came before. Jahel studied him for
a long moment. Spanish came to the south, they sought gold, slaves,
They brought disease and death. French came to the north,
they wanted furs. Trade. Some were good, some bad. But
you came to stay, to build homes, not just trading posts,

(21:50):
to plant seeds, not just take. This is interesting to us,
but we've cut down trees, Winslow protested. We've built houses,
planted fields where forests stood. Yes, yeah, yell agreed, But
you cut what you need, not more. You plant food,
not just take it. You sought peace with the Wampanoagu

(22:11):
when you could have tried war. These are good signs,
but there will be tests ahead. More of your people
will come. They will want more land, more trees, more
of everything. The question is will you remember tonight? Will
you remember that this land is shared? Will you teach
your children about the first people? Or will we become

(22:33):
monsters in your stories too? The question hung in the
air like smoke from the fire. It was Governor Bradford
who answered, I cannot speak for all who will come after,
but I can promise that we will remember. We will
write this down, make it part of our history. Our
children will know that we were not the first here,

(22:53):
that we were welcomed, that we have obligations to both
the native peoples and to you. Yahiel nodded, writing, yes,
this is powerful magic. You have stories that don't change
with telling. Perhaps this will help. The night grew deeper
and more stories were shared. The Wampanoagu warriors told of

(23:15):
hunting expeditions where they'd glimpsed the Sasquatch, always at a distance,
always watching. One warrior, a young man named Hobomack, told
of being saved from a bear by a Sasquatch when
he was a child, though his parents hadn't believed him.
The colonists shared their own stories of mysterious happenings. Mary
Chilton told of seeing massive footprints near the stream where

(23:38):
she gathered water. John Alden spoke of tools that went
missing and then reappeared, repaired and sharpened. Stephen Hopkins mentioned
finding wind breaks built around their shelters during the worst
storms of winter, construction too massive for any colonists to have.

Speaker 2 (23:54):
Built in secret. That was us.

Speaker 1 (23:56):
Yahyel confirmed you were dying. The land had not accepted you.
Yet we helped, as we helped the first humans long ago.
As the moon rose full and bright, Yahiel stood and
made a gesture to mass Asoit, the sachem nodded and
spoke to his people. Several warriors brought forward large bundles
wrapped in deer skin, gifts Yahell announced from my people

(24:21):
to yours, to seal the friendship. The bundles were open
to reveal treasures beyond imagination. There were pelts from animals
the colonists had never seen, So soft and warm, they
seemed to hold the heat of summer. There were stones
that gleamed with inner fire, crystals that caught and held
the moonlight. Most remarkably, there were tools made from a

(24:43):
black stone that was sharper than any steel the colonists possessed.
These are from the old time, yah Hee explained, made
by my people when the world was young. Use them well.
They will never break, never dull if used with respect.
The colonists were overwhelmed. They had little to give in
return that seemed worthy of such gifts. But young Peregrine

(25:06):
White's mother, Susannah, had an idea. She went to her
house and returned with something wrapped in cloth.

Speaker 2 (25:13):
This was my mother, she said.

Speaker 1 (25:15):
Unwrapping a small mirror in a decorated silver frame. It
came from London, from my family for generations. She offered
it to Yahyel, who took it with surprising delicacy. When
he looked into it, his eyes widened with wonder. I
see myself truly, not in water's reflection, but clear perfect.

(25:37):
He looked at the colonists with new respect. This is
powerful magic, to see oneself as others see you. This
is a gift of great wisdom. The feast was supposed
to last one day, but it stretched into three. During
that time, extraordinary things happened that would change both communities forever.
On the second day, Yahiel began to teach. He showed

(26:00):
the colonists and Wampanoague together secrets of the forest that
even the natives had forgotten. He demonstrated how to find
medicine plants that grew deep in the woods, roots that
could cure fever, and leaves that could heal wounds. He
taught them to read the signs of coming weather in
ways more subtle than any farmer's almanac. See how the

(26:20):
squirrels build their nests, he said, pointing to the trees.
When they build low and thick hard winter comps, when
they build high and loose mild winter. The animals know,
they always know. He showed the hunters both English and
Native tracking techniques that seemed almost supernatural. With his massive hands,

(26:41):
he could point out disturbances in the forest floor that
were invisible to human eyes, could smell deer paths from
impossible distances.

Speaker 2 (26:50):
But, perhaps most.

Speaker 1 (26:51):
Remarkably, he began to teach them about cooperation. You, he said,
pointing to the colonists, you know, building, making things that life,
You know, writing, keeping knowledge forever you. He turned to
the Wampanoag, you know the land, the seasons, the ways
of plants and animals apart. You both struggle together, you thrive.

(27:15):
He orchestrated work groups that combined both peoples. Colonial blacksmith
John Turner worked with Wampanoag tool makers to create implements
that combined European metalwork with Native design. The result was
tools stronger and more efficient than either culture had produced alone.
The women, led by Susannah White and a Wampanoagg matriarch

(27:36):
named Singing Crow, combined their knowledge of food preservation. The
natives techniques for smoking and drying meat merged with the
colonist's knowledge of salt curing and root sellers, creating methods
that would help both communities survive the harsh winters ahead.
But it was with the children that Yachiel seemed happiest.
They showed no fear of him after the first day,

(27:58):
climbing on him like a great tree, listening with rapt
attention as he told stories of the ancient world. He
taught them games that both colonial and native children could
play together, games that required cooperation rather than competition. One
game involved the children forming a circle holding hands, with
one child in the middle trying to break out the

(28:20):
lesson was simple but profound. The circle was only as
strong as its weakest link, and everyone had to work
together to succeed. This is how it must be, Yaell
explained to the watching adults. The young ones, they don't
see difference like you do. Teach them now, while their
hearts are open, they will be the bridge between worlds.

(28:40):
On the evening of the second day, something unexpected happened.
More Sasquatch arrived. They came out of the forest as
the sun set, three of them, each as large as
yah Yell, but clearly younger, two males and a female,
their hair ranging from deep black to russet brown. The
columnists first instinct was fear, but Yahielle raised his hand

(29:03):
for calm my children. They wanted to see for themselves
to understand. The younger Sasquatch were more shy than their father,
hanging back at the edge of the firelight, but the children,
both English and Native, immediately ran to them with the
fearlessness of youth. Within minutes they were playing together. The

(29:23):
young Sasquatch gentle as lambs despite their enormous strength. The female,
who yahiel said was called Miska, meaning little brook, seemed
particularly interested in the colonial women's activities. She watched with
intense fascination as they spun thread and wove cloth, her
large fingers surprisingly delicate as she attempted to copy their movements.

(29:45):
Elder Brewster's wife, Mary took it upon herself to teach Miska.
Despite the language barrier and the vast difference in their sizes,
the two females bonded over the simple act of creation.
Stay tuned for more Backwoods Bigfoot stories. We'll be back
after these messages. By the end of the evening, Miska
had managed to spin a crude thread from plant fibers,

(30:08):
her face lighting up with joy at the accomplishment. The
two young males, called Taka meaning buck and Chayton meaning falcon,
gravitated toward the warriors and hunters. They demonstrated feats of
strength that left everyone amazed, lifting logs that would take
four men to move, jumping distances that seemed impossible, but

(30:30):
they also showed themselves eager to learn, watching with intense
concentration as Miles Standish demonstrated European sword techniques and the
Wampanoag warriors showed their bow skills. On the morning of
the third day, the atmosphere changed. Yahiel seemed troubled, spending
long periods staring toward the eastern horizon, where the sea

(30:51):
met the sky. He called for a council of leaders,
both colonial and native. I must speak truth now, my people.
We see patterns, we sense the flow of what you
call time. What I see coming troubles me. He stood
and began to draw in the dirt with a stick,
creating a map that showed the coast and inland territories.

(31:14):
More ships will come, many more your people. The colonists
will spread like water across the land. Within seven generations,
you will outnumber the native people's ten to one, within
twelve generations, one hundred to one. The Wampanoag stirred uneasily
at this Massasoid's face was grim. There will be war,

(31:38):
not this year, not next, but soon. The piece you
have made here is good, but it is like a
small flame and a great wind.

Speaker 2 (31:47):
It will be tested.

Speaker 1 (31:48):
Some will try to keep it alive, others will try
to extinguish it. He looked directly at Governor Bradford. Your
son and his son, and his son's son, they will
face cho choices. Each generation will decide whether to honor
the promise of tonight, or to forget it. Some will remember,
many will forget. And what of your people, Bradford asked,

(32:12):
We will retreat deeper. The forest will shrink, the mountains
will be climbed, The wild places will become small islands
in a sea of civilization. We will become legend, then myth,
then forgotten entirely except by a few who keep the
old stories alive. The sadness in his voice was profound,
like the morning of the earth itself. But this does

(32:35):
not have to be only tragedy. You here now you
plant seeds, not just corn and wheat, but seeds of understanding,
seeds of cooperation, seeds of respect. He turned to the
Wampanoague massasoit your people must also choose. You can resist
all change and be swept away, or you can adapt, learn,

(32:59):
take what is useful from the newcomers, while keeping your
own ways alive. To the colonists, he said, you must
remember that you are not conquerors but guests. This land
does not belong to you any more than it belongs
to us, or to the Wampanoagu. We all belonged to it.
Teach this to your children, Yah Yale then did something unprecedented.

(33:20):
He called for materials to write. John Alden brought out
paper and ink, items precious and rare in the colony,
with surprising delicacy for such massive hands. Yah Yale took
the quill and began to draw. What he created was
not words but symbols, pictures that seemed to move with life,
even as still images. He drew the forest with its

(33:43):
secret paths, the mountains with their hidden caves, the rivers
with their sacred spots. He drew his people, the Sasquatch,
not as monsters, but as guardians, teachers, elder siblings to humanity.
Keep this, he said, handing the papers to Bradford. When
your people forget, when they say we are only legend,

(34:03):
show them this. Tell them of this thanksgiving. Tell them
that once for three days three people sat together in peace.
He created another set of drawings for Massasoit, These on
deer skin with pigments the natives provided. They showed the
same scenes, but from a different perspective, emphasizing the continuity
between past and future, the eternal cycle of the seasons.

(34:27):
As the sun reached its zenith on that third day,
Yahiel stood and called his children to him. The time
for parting had come. We go now back to the
deep forest the high places. But we do not disappear.
We watch, we remember, and sometimes, when the need is great,

(34:48):
we help. He moved through the crowd, touching heads and
blessing colonial and native alike. When he came to young
Peregrine White, still toddling on unsteady legs, he knelt down,
his massive frame, folding until he was at eye level
with the child. You you are the future, born between worlds.

(35:08):
You will understand both. Remember us when you are old
and others say we were never real.

Speaker 2 (35:15):
Remember.

Speaker 1 (35:17):
He placed something in the child's hand, a small stone
that seemed to hold light within itself. For your children's
children's children, they will need to remember standing. He addressed
the entire gathering one last time. In the old language,
the first language. There is a word kitchi manitou. It
means the great spirit that connects all things. You call

(35:39):
it God, Providence, Creator. The names do not matter. What
matters is you remember that we are all connected. The English,
the Wampanoag, the Sasquatch, the animals, the trees, the stones,
the water, all one. When you forget this suffering comes

(36:00):
when you remember, peace is possible. As the Sasquatch prepared
to leave, the entire settlement gathered to bid them farewell.
It was a moment heavy with significance, everyone sensing they
were witnessing something that might never happen again. The colonial women,
led by Mary Brewster and Susannah White, had worked through
the night to prepare gifts. They presented Miska with cloth.

(36:23):
They had woven, needles made of bone, and most precious
of all, a small pair of scissors, one of only
three in the entire colony. Miska's eyes so human despite
their setting in that massive hair covered face, filled with
what could only be tears, She embraced each of the women,
her strength carefully controlled to avoid harm, and spoke in

(36:44):
broken English she had learned over the three days. Teach
daughters make beautiful things. I teach my daughter same. The warriors,
both English and Wampanogue, presented Taka and Chatin with weapons,
not for war, but as symbols of rest between warriors.
Miles Standish offered his own knife, its blade bearing his

(37:05):
family crest. The Wampanoa gave arrows blessed by their shamans,
each one decorated with feathers and beads that told stories
of courage. The young Sasquatch accepted these gifts with grave dignity,
understanding their significance. Taka spoke in the Wampanoag tongue, which
Squanto translated, we will remember the brave ones who do

(37:27):
not let fear rule them when your descendants walk in
our forests. If they carry courage and respect, they will
be safe. But perhaps the most moving farewell came from
the children. They had spent three days playing together, learning
each other's games, creating a bond that transcended species in culture.
Now they clung to their new friends, crying at the separation.

(37:50):
Yahiel knelt among them, his massive frame somehow not intimidating
at all. Listen, little ones, you think we leave forever,
but we are always near. When you walk in the
forest and feel watched but safe, that is us. When
you are lost and suddenly find the path home, we helped.

(38:11):
When winter is hard and you find wood stacked by
your door that no one claims to have cut, think
of us. He looked at the adults. This is my promise,
sealed by this feast. As long as your people remember us,
with respect, not fear. We will help when we can,
not always, not obviously, but in small ways that matter.

(38:33):
A storm that turns away from your ships, a child
found before the cold claims them, A path through the
forest when you need it most. Governor Bradford stepped forward
on behalf of Plymouth Colony. I accept this promise and
make one in return. We will keep your secret when
you wish it, share your truth when the time is right,

(38:53):
and always always remember that we were not the first,
and will not be the last to call this land home.
Massasoit added his own promise. The Wampanoagu will keep the
old ways alive, the stories, the respect, the understanding that
some things must remain wild. When your people are ready

(39:13):
to remember, we will help them remember true. As the
sun began its descent toward evening, the sasquatch moved toward
the forest, but just before they entered the trees, Yahiel
turned back one more time. There is something else, something
for the far future, generations from now, when machines fly
through the air and voices travel without bodies, when the

(39:36):
forests are small and we are only stories, some will
begin to search for us again. They will use new tools,
leave offerings of their own, seek to prove we existed,
he paused, seeming to look through time itself. When that
time comes, we will begin to show ourselves again, not
to all, but to some, to those who approach with respect,

(39:59):
who understand and that the wild must be preserved, who
know that not everything should be explained or captured or owned.
Tell your descendants, when they are ready to see us,
not as monsters, but as teachers, we will return. With that.
They melted into the forest, their massive forms disappearing among
the trees with impossible grace. The gathered people stood in

(40:22):
silence for long moments, straining to catch one more glimpse,
But the Sasquatch were gone, leaving only footprints and memories
that would burn bright for years to come. In the
days following the departure of the Sasquatch, the colony was subdued,
as if waking from a vivid dream. But the evidence
of their visit was everywhere.

Speaker 2 (40:42):
The tools of.

Speaker 1 (40:43):
Blackstone that never dulled, the pelts that kept their wearers
warm even in the bitterest cold, the drawings that seemed
to move when viewed by candlelight. Governor Bradford called a
meeting of all the colonists. The question before them was momentous.
What should they share with the wider world. Should they
write to England about what they had witnessed, Should they

(41:06):
include it in their official records. The debate was intense. Some,
like Edward Winslow, argued for full disclosure. We have witnessed
something miraculous. To hide it would be dishonest our sponsors,
our families back home. They deserve to know the full
truth of this land. Others, led by Miles standish counseled caution,

(41:30):
they'll think us mad or worse. They'll send ships full
of hunters seeking to capture these beings. We gave our
word to protect their secret. It was Elder Brewster who
proposed the solution they ultimately adopted. We write two accounts,
one for the public, one for ourselves. The public account
tells of our feast with the natives, and of the

(41:52):
peace we've made of the bounty of this land, all true,
but not all of the truth. The second account, the
full truth, we keep among ourselves. We share it with
our children when they're old enough to understand. We make
it a sacred trust, passed down through families. And so
it was decided William Bradford wrote his official account of

(42:15):
the First Thanksgiving, speaking of the Wampa Noag, the feast,
the games, and the alliance formed. It became the version
history would remember. But he also wrote a second account,
Sealed and Hidden, telling of the first guest and the
promises made. Each family head was given a copy of
Yahiel's drawings to keep and protect. They were told to

(42:37):
share the story with their children when the time was right,
to keep the memory alive, even if the world was
not ready to believe. The Wampa Noag, for their part,
incorporated the three day feast into their oral traditions. They
already had stories of the Sasquatch, but now they had
witnessed proof that the English too could be trusted. With
such knowledge, it created a bond deeper than any treaty.

(43:02):
In the weeks that followed, subtle changes occurred in the colony.
Hunters reported better luck, as if the game presented itself
at just the right moments. Guards on night Watch spoke
of feeling protected, of shadows that moved with purpose but
brought no threat. When little Peregrine White wandered off one
December morning, he was found hours later, warm and safe

(43:24):
in a shelter made of branches that no colonist had built,
clutching the glowing stone Yahael had given him. The winter
of sixteen twenty one to sixteen twenty two was milder
than the previous year, but when storms did come, they
seemed to bend around Plymouth, spending their fury elsewhere. The
colonists had enough food, enough warmth, enough hope to not

(43:46):
just survive, but thrive. The Wampaoag, too, noticed changes. Their
hunters found new trails through the forest that shortened travel
time between villages. Children who went mushroom picking in dangerous
areas always seemed to return safely, sometimes with stories of
large gentle hands guiding them away from poisoned plants or
unstable ground. Spring of sixteen twenty two brought ships from England,

(44:11):
including the Fortune and the Anne. With them came new colonists,
eager for land and opportunity. Among them were some who
viewed the natives with suspicion and contempt, who spoke of
conquest rather than cooperation. A man named Thomas Weston led
a group of these newcomers. He scoffed at the treaties
with the Wampa Noag called the colonists weak for sharing

(44:35):
their feast with savages. He brought guns and men who
knew how to use them, speaking openly of taking what
they wanted by force if necessary. The original Plymouth colonists
tried to counsel patience and respect, but Weston's men laughed
at them. They set up their own settlement at Vesgust,
ignoring native territories and customs. Within weeks, tensions were rising.

(44:59):
It was John who decided to take action. Stay tuned
for more Backwoods Bigfoot stories.

Speaker 2 (45:04):
We'll be back.

Speaker 1 (45:05):
After these messages, he remembered Yaheel's words about tests to
come about, choices each generation would face. One night, he
slipped away from Plymouth and went to the place in
the forest where he had first seen the Sasquatch. He
stood in the darkness, feeling somewhat foolish, and spoke to
the trees. I don't know if you can hear me,

(45:28):
but if you can, we need help, not for us,
but for the promise. There are those who would break
it before it has a chance to grow strong. They
will bring war, death, the very things you warned against.
If you can help, now is the time for long moments.
Nothing happened. Then from the darkness came that familiar rumbling voice.

(45:51):
We know of these new ones. We have watched them.
They have darkness in their hearts, greed instead of need.
But this is your test, not ours. What will you do?
Howland was taken aback. He had expected, hoped that the
Sasquatch would simply solve the problem. We are few, They

(46:11):
have more guns, more men. If we oppose them directly,
there will be bloodshed. Yes, direct opposition brings direct conflict.
But there are other ways. Think what did we teach you?
Howland considered? Then understanding dawned cooperation the Wampanoague and Plymouth

(46:32):
together Now you begin to see. But even more you
must make these new ones understand that this land itself
opposes them, that their way brings only failure. Over the
next weeks, a subtle campaign began. The original colonists and
the Wampanoague worked together, guided by occasional glimpses of massive

(46:53):
figures in the forest. They did not attack Weston's men directly. Instead,
they made their lives possibly difficult. Game fled from Weston's hunters,
warned away by signals passed between native scouts and colonial
woodsmen fish seemed to avoid their nets. Their crops, planted
without regard for local conditions or native advice, withered and died.

(47:16):
When they tried to take food by force from native villages,
they found the villages empty. Warned in advanced by a
network of cooperation, but it was what happened at night
that truly broke their spirits. Strange sounds surrounded their settlement,
breathing like giant bellows, footsteps that shook the ground, tree
branches breaking at impossible heights.

Speaker 2 (47:38):
They would wake to.

Speaker 1 (47:39):
Find massive footprints circling their buildings, coming right up to
windows and doors, but never entering. Tools would go missing
and reappear bent or broken. Their gunpowder was repeatedly found
scattered and useless, though no one could explain how it happened.
The men grew paranoid, fighting among themselves oak of demons

(48:00):
in the forest of Cursed Land. Some claim to have
seen giants watching them from the trees, creatures that couldn't
possibly exist. Weston himself lasted until July. One night, he
woke to find a massive, hair covered face looking through
his window. The scream he let out was heard throughout
the settlement. The next morning, he announced they were leaving,

(48:23):
returning to England on the next ship. The land was cursed,
he said, it would never accept them. As they left,
Governor Bradford met with Weston one last time. The land
is not cursed, but it does have guardians, and they
judge whether newcomers are worthy. You came with conquest in
your heart. We came with cooperation. That made all the difference.

(48:48):
Weston stared at him, understanding dawning in his eyes the
stories the natives tell they're real. Bradford neither confirmed nor denied.
I will tell you this, Respect the land and its
first peoples, all of them, and you will find welcome.
Seek to conquer and dominate, and you will find only failure.

(49:09):
After Weston's departure, Yahiel appeared once more to Howland, this
time in full daylight, though deep in the forest where
none but them would see.

Speaker 2 (49:17):
You did well.

Speaker 1 (49:19):
You found a way without bloodshed. This is wisdom. But
know this test was small compared to what comes. More
ships arrive, even now, thousands will come than tens of thousands.
Each group will bring their own ideas, their own prejudices.
You cannot stop this flood, only guide it when possible.

(49:40):
Will you continue to help, Alan asked, when we can,
when those who remember ask with proper respect. But our
time in the open is ending. We must become more careful,
more hidden. The world is changing, and we must change
with it or perish. He handed Howland something wrapped in
deer skin for your children when they faced their tests.

(50:04):
This will help them remember. Inside was a piece of
crystal that seemed to hold starlight, similar to the stone
given to Peregrine White, but uniquely different. How will we
find you if we need you, Holland asked, You won't,
We'll find you. Keep the old promises. Teach your children
respect for all beings, protect the wild places when you can.

(50:27):
That is how you call to us, not with words,
but with actions. As Yahiel had predicted, more ships came,
the Massachusetts Bay Colony was established. Towns spread along the
coast and slowly inland. The original Plymouth colonists, aged had children,
watched their small settlement become just one of many. But

(50:50):
those who had been at the first Thanksgiving kept the
secret and the promise. They taught their children privately, showing
them the drawings, the tools, the stones that held light.
They maintained especially close relationships with the Wampanoagu families who
had been present, creating bonds that lasted generations. There were sightings,
of course. New colonists would return from the forest with

(51:13):
tales of giants covered in hair, of impossible footprints, of
feelings of being watched. Most were dismissed as imagination or
too much drink, but occasionally someone would tell such a
story in the presence of one of the original families,
and they would see a knowing look a subtle nod,
though nothing would be said publicly. The children who had

(51:35):
played with the young Sasquatch grew up different from others.

Speaker 2 (51:38):
They were more.

Speaker 1 (51:39):
Likely to befriend natives, to argue for peaceful solutions to
respect the forest and its mysteries. Peregrine White became a
noted interpreter and peacekeeper, always wearing the glowing stone on
a leather cord around his neck, though he told no
one where it came from. John Howland's children became known
as exceptional trackers and woodsmen, seeming to have an uncanny

(52:02):
ability to find their way in the deepest forest. His
daughter Hope claimed she once became lost as a child
and was led home by a kind giant though adults
assured her it was just a dream. Mary Chilton, who
had been a teenager at the feast, grew up to
marry John Winslow and raised children who were known for
their unusual tolerance and wisdom. She kept Yayelle's drawings hidden

(52:25):
in a wooden box, taking them out only on special
occasions to show her family and remind them of their obligation.
As King Philip's War erupted in sixteen seventy five, the
descendants of the original feast tried desperately to prevent it.
Some claimed to have sought help from the forest, performing
rituals their grandparents had taught them.

Speaker 2 (52:46):
While the war was.

Speaker 1 (52:47):
Devastating, Plymouth itself was notably spared the worst of the violence,
and several stories emerged of colonial families being mysteriously warned
before attacks, or of Native families finding safe paths through
hostile territory. One account, never officially recorded, but passed down
through families, tales of a group of children, both colonial

(53:08):
and Native, who became trapped between opposing forces during a battle.
They fled into the deep forest, certain they would die. Instead,
they found themselves herded by unseen hands into a hidden
cave where they waited out the fighting. When they emerged,
they found food and water left for them, and clear
trails leading to safety. All they ever saw of their

(53:30):
rescuers were footprints three times the size of a man's foot.
As the eighteenth century dawned, the Sasquatch retreated deeper into myth.
The original witnesses of the First Thanksgiving had all passed away.
Their children kept the stories alive, but their grandchildren began
to doubt the Age of Enlightenment was beginning, and tales

(53:51):
of forest giants seemed increasingly like superstition. Still, certain families
maintained the tradition. The stones that held life were passed
down as heirlooms, though few remembered their true origin. The
blackstone tools, which never dulled or broke, became family treasures.
They're making a mystery. The drawings were carefully preserved, though

(54:14):
some began to claim they were merely artistic interpretations of
native legends, not depictions of real events. But in the
deep forests of New England and later in the mountains,
as settlers pushed westward, people continued to have encounters they
couldn't explain. A pioneer family in Vermont, descendants of John
and Mary Chilton Winslow, told of surviving a brutal winter

(54:36):
when mysterious gifts of firewood and fresh meat appeared at
their cabin door during blizzards. The footprints in the snow
were quickly covered by new snowfall, but not before the
family saw them and remembered the old stories. During the
French and Indian War, a group of colonial soldiers, including
a great grandson of John Howland, became separated from their

(54:56):
unit in the wilderness of what would become New Hampshire.
They were lost, out of food, certain to die. On
the third night, one of them remembered a song his
grandmother had taught him, a song she said came from
the first Thanksgiving. He sang it into the darkness, feeling
foolish but desperate. In the morning, they found a clear

(55:17):
trail marked with stacked stones, leading them to safety. One
of the men swore he saw a figure watching them
from a ridge, impossibly tall and covered in dark fur,
but when he looked again, it was gone. As the
Revolutionary War approached, some families who knew the old secrets
gathered to discuss whether the knowledge should be shared more widely.

(55:38):
The world was changing rapidly. Science was explaining mysteries that
had been attributed to magic. Perhaps it was time to
reveal the truth about the Sasquatch. But an incident in
seventeen seventy changed their minds. A naturalist from England, having
heard rumors of wild men in the American forests, organized
an expedition to capture one. He brought nets, cages, and

(56:02):
men with guns. The expedition disappeared entirely. Their equipment was
found scattered through the forest, but of the men, no
trace was ever discovered, except for a journal with a
final entry that read, they are real, they are watching.
We should not have come with chains. The families took
this as a sign the world was not ready. The

(56:23):
secret must be kept longer. As America became a nation
and began its westward expansion, the descendants of the original
Thanksgiving spread across the continent. They carried with them the
family stories, the mysterious artifacts, and the obligation to remember.
But with each generation, with each move further from Plymouth,
the stories became more distant, more like fairy tales than history.

(56:48):
Yet the Sasquatch had not forgotten. In eighteen hundred, and four.
When Lewis and Clark were exploring the Louisiana Purchase, they
recorded in their journals encounters with native tribes who spoke
of giant hairy men in the Man Mountains. What wasn't
recorded in the official journals, but was written in private letters,
was that one member of their expedition was a descendant

(57:08):
of Peregrine White. He carried with him the stone that
held light, a family heirloom he didn't fully understand. One night,
camped along what would later be called the Columbia River,
this man, Jonathan White, wandered away from camp, drawn by
something he couldn't explain. In a clearing lit by moonlight,

(57:28):
he met a Sasquatch, not Yahiel, who had presumably passed on,
but one who knew the story, who recognized the stone.
Through a combination of gestures and broken words in multiple languages,
the creature communicated that his people had spread across the
continent long before humans, that they watched over the land
from the Arctic to the desert. They had hoped that

(57:51):
the new American nation would be different, would honor the
wild places, but they saw the signs the hunger for land,
regard for native peoples the belief that everything could and
should be owned and used. The Sasquatch gave Jonathan a
warning to carry back the western lands had their own guardians,
their own agreements with the native tribes there, the mistakes

(58:15):
of the East should not be repeated. But he also
gave a promise those who carried the light stones who
remembered the first Thanksgiving would find help if they sought
it with pure hearts. During the California gold Rush, numerous
miners reported seeing giant, hairy figures in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Most of these stories were dismissed as tall tales, but

(58:37):
a few miners, those who happened to be descendants of
the Plymouth colonists, told different stories.

Speaker 2 (58:43):
Privately.

Speaker 1 (58:44):
They spoke of being warned away from unstable mind shafts,
of finding fresh water when dying of thirst, of being
guided to gold deposits, but only enough for need, not greed.
One family, the Aldens of Massachusetts, had moved to Oregon
Territory in the eighteen fifties. They settled in the deep
forests of what would become the Pacific Northwest, the region

(59:07):
that would later become most associated with Sasquatch sidings. They
built their homestead with unusual features, offering platforms at the
forest edge, certain trees that were never to be cut,
paths that seemed to lead nowhere, but were carefully maintained.
Their neighbors thought them eccentric, But the Aldens prospered where
others failed. Their crops grew when others withered. Their livestock

(59:31):
never disappeared to predators. Their children could play in the
forest without fear. They knew they were being watched over,
honoring an agreement made two hundred years and three thousand
miles away. As the nineteenth century gave way to the twentieth,
America transformed from a rural nation to an industrial power.
Forests were cleared, mountains were mined, rivers were dammed. The

(59:55):
wild places shrank, and with them the spaces where the
Sasquatch could exist openly. Stay tuned for more Backwoods Bigfoot
stories will be back after these messages, but they adapted
as they always had. In nineteen twenty four, a group
of miners in Ape Canyon, Washington, claimed to have been
attacked by epe men after shooting at one What the

(01:00:19):
newspapers didn't report was that one of those miners, Fred
Beck later privately admitted to descendants of the Thanksgiving families
that the attack only came after they had violated clearly
marked sacred grounds, ignoring warnings both from local natives and
from signs that someone who knew the old stories would
have recognized. The Sasquatch had become more defensive, more protective

(01:00:41):
of their shrinking territory, but they still honored the old
agreements when they could. During the Great Depression, families across
America struggled to survive, but certain families, those who had
carefully maintained the old stories and artifacts, reported mysterious help
that should have failed produced food. Children found berries and nuts,

(01:01:04):
and places that had been barren. Firewood appeared stacked by
homes of the elderly and infirm. In rural Vermont, an
elderly woman named Faith Howland, great great great granddaughter of
John Howland, lived alone in a cabin at.

Speaker 2 (01:01:18):
The forest's edge.

Speaker 1 (01:01:20):
She had maintained the old ways, leaving out offerings, singing
the old songs her family had preserved. When the bank
came to foreclose on her property, the men sent to
a victor reported that they couldn't approach the cabin. Every
time they tried, they became disoriented, lost, ending up back
at their vehicles. Trees seemed to move, paths disappeared, and

(01:01:42):
terrible sounds came from the forest. Faith lived in that
cabin until she died peacefully in her sleep in nineteen
forty one. The local native tribes, who had always respected her,
said she had been protected by the old Guardians. When
the cabin was finally entered, investigators found dozens of journals
filled with accounts of regular visits from beings she called

(01:02:04):
the first People, detailed drawings of Sasquatch families, and linguistic
notes on what appeared to be a complex language of
wood knocks and calls. World War II brought its own stories.
Several American soldiers, descendants of Plymouth families reported inexplicable survivals
in Pacific Island jungles and European forests. One private from

(01:02:26):
Massachusetts claimed that while lost behind enemy lines in the
Ardennes Forest, he was guided to safety by following massive
footprints in the snow that appeared just for him, leading
him around German patrols. In nineteen fifty eight, something significant happened.
A man named Jerry Crue found massive footprints at a
construction site in northern California. He made plaster casts of them,

(01:02:50):
and the story went national. The term Bigfoot was born,
and suddenly the Sasquatch were no longer just a local legend,
but a national phenomenon. For the families who had guarded
the secret for over three hundred years, this was both
a crisis and an opportunity. The secret was out in
a way, but distorted, commercialized, turned into a joke or

(01:03:12):
a monster movie plot. They held a gathering, the first
in decades, bringing together descendants from across the country. The
meeting was held appropriately in Plymouth, in a church built
on land that had been part of the original settlement.
About forty people attended, each bringing their family artifacts, the
stones that held light, the tools of black stone, copies

(01:03:36):
of Yahael's drawings, journals and letters that had been preserved.
The debate was intense. Some argued it was time to
reveal everything, to show the world the evidence they had guarded.
Others feared that doing so would lead to exactly what
Yahyelle had warned against, exploitation, hunting, the final destruction of

(01:03:56):
the wild places where the Sasquatch still survived, The decision
they reached was a compromise. They would not publicly reveal
their evidence, but they would quietly support serious researchers, those
who approached the subject with respect and scientific rigor rather
than sensationalism. They would also work to preserve wilderness areas,

(01:04:17):
understanding that protecting the land meant protecting the Sasquatch. One attendee,
a professor of anthropology named Margaret White Standish, descendant of
both Peregrine White and Miles Standish, proposed creating an informal network.
Families would stay in contact, share information about sightings and encounters,
and pass on the responsibility to the next generation.

Speaker 2 (01:04:40):
More formally than before.

Speaker 1 (01:04:42):
They also decided to reach out to native tribes who
had their own Sasquatch traditions. Many of these tribes had
maintained continuous relationships with the Sasquatch, never having forgotten or
doubted their existence. The Plymouth descendants had much to learn
from them. When Roger Patterson and Boss Rob Gimlin filmed
what appeared to be a female Sasquatch in nineteen sixty seven,

(01:05:04):
the Plymouth descendant families watched with particular interest. Several of
them privately confirmed that the creature in the film moved
exactly as their family stories had always described, with that
distinctive rolling gait that Yahiel had demonstrated at the first Thanksgiving.
Margaret white Standish, now elderly but still sharp, managed to

(01:05:25):
interview Patterson before his death.

Speaker 2 (01:05:27):
Off the record.

Speaker 1 (01:05:28):
He told her something remarkable. Just before the filming, he
had felt compelled to leave an offering at a particular tree,
some food and a small mirror. He couldn't explain why,
said it just felt right. Margaret recognized this as one
of the old protocols her family had maintained, though Patterson
claimed no knowledge of it. The nineteen seventies brought an

(01:05:50):
explosion of Sasquatch interest. Researchers both serious and otherwise, flooded
the Pacific Northwest. Most found nothing, but a few Those
who approached with genuine respect and often guided by cryptic
hints from Plymouth descendant families or native tribes, had encounters
that changed their lives. Doctor Grover Krantz, the anthropologist who

(01:06:13):
risked his career studying sasquatch, received anonymous packages containing detailed
anatomical drawings that helped inform his theories about the creature's physiology.

Speaker 2 (01:06:23):
He never knew.

Speaker 1 (01:06:23):
These came from families who had been secretly documenting Sasquatch
anatomy for three centuries. John Green, another prominent researcher, was
mysteriously guided to the best locations for finding footprints, receiving
unsigned letters with specific coordinates, and optimal times to search.
Many of these tips came from a network of Plymouth

(01:06:43):
descendants who had learned to recognize Sasquatch territorial markings and
travel patterns. But the most significant development was happening quietly
in the background. Children and grandchildren of the Plymouth families
were becoming wildlife biologists, park rangers, conservationists.

Speaker 2 (01:07:02):
They used their careers.

Speaker 1 (01:07:03):
To protect Sasquatch habitat without ever mentioning the true reason.
They knew that preserving wilderness was the best way to
honor the old agreement. As the twenty first century began,
the world had changed in ways that neither the Plymouth
colonists nor Yahael could have imagined. The Internet connected people
instantly across the globe. Cameras were everywhere, DNA analysis could

(01:07:27):
reveal secrets hidden in a single hair. The wilderness that
had once seemed infinite was now mapped by satellites. For
the Sasquatch, hiding became nearly impossible. The sightings increased not
because there were more Sasquatch, but because there were fewer
places for them to remain unseen. In two thousand and three,
a remarkable meeting occurred. It was arranged through intermediaries, taking

(01:07:51):
years to coordinate. Three representatives of the Plymouth descendant families
met with three Sasquatch in the Olympic National Forest. It
was the first direct contact in over a century. The Sasquatch,
who spoke for his people was ancient, claiming to be
a great grandson of Yachiel himself. His English was perfect, learned,

(01:08:12):
he said, by listening to generations of humans speaking in
the forests. His message was sobering. We are dying, not quickly,
but surely. Each generation we are fewer. The forests are
islands now, not the ocean they once were. We cannot
travel between our groups without crossing human lands. Our genetic

(01:08:33):
diversity fails. Within one hundred years, perhaps less, we.

Speaker 2 (01:08:37):
Will be gone.

Speaker 1 (01:08:39):
The humans asked, what could be done. You must decide
whether our secret is worth our extinction. You have honored
the agreement made at your first Thanksgiving, but that agreement
was for a different world, one where we could live
apart that world no longer exists. He proposed something radical,
gradual disclosure. Selected scientists would be allowed to study them

(01:09:03):
under strict conditions. Conservation efforts would be increased with the
secret knowledge of protecting sasquatch habitat Most importantly, the public
perception would need to be shifted from seeing sasquatch as
monsters or myths to understanding them as an endangered fellow
primate species deserving protection. The families were divided. The weight

(01:09:24):
of three hundred and eighty years of secrecy was not
easily set aside. But they also understood that maintaining the
secret while the sasquatch went extinct would be the ultimate
betrayal of the first Thanksgiving promise. Now, in the third
decade of the twenty first century, the situation has reached
a critical point. Environmental DNA studies have found unknown primate

(01:09:47):
genetic material in areas of known sasquatch activity. Thermal drone
footage has captured images that are increasingly difficult to dismiss.
The secret is unraveling on its own. The Plymouth de
descendant families, now numbering in the hundreds and spread across
the world, have made a decision. They are beginning carefully

(01:10:07):
and gradually to release information. A journal here, a photograph there,
each piece adding to the mounting evidence that sasquatch are
real and have been known about by certain groups for centuries.
Museums in Massachusetts have begun displaying certain artifacts with new context.
Items previously labeled as ceremonial objects of unknown purpose are

(01:10:30):
now being identified as gifts exchanged between colonists and unidentified
indigenous groups at the first Thanksgiving. The Blackstone tools, which
modern analysis shows are made from a type of obsidian
that shouldn't exist in New England, are generating intense scientific interest.
Wildlife corridors are being established in the Pacific Northwest, officially

(01:10:51):
for known endangered species, but actually designed using centuries of
accumulated knowledge about sasquatch migration routes. Conservation groups quietly directed
by Plymouth descendants and native tribes are purchasing land in
key areas, creating connected habitats that might allow sasquatch populations
to interact and maintain genetic diversity. Some indigenous tribes, with

(01:11:15):
the permission of their elders have begun sharing their own
Sasquatch knowledge more openly. They speak at conferences, consult with scientists,
and help reshape the narrative from one of monster hunting
to one of species preservation and cultural respect. The stones
that hold light those gifts from Yahiel at the first
Thanksgiving have been submitted for scientific analysis. They appear to

(01:11:39):
be a type of crystal that exhibits unusual properties, storing
and releasing electromagnetic energy, and patterns that suggest they might
have been used for communication. Some theorists believe the Sasquatch
have always been able to sense these stones, using them
to identify friends across the centuries. This year, on Thanksgiving,

(01:12:00):
being unprecedented, is planned. Representatives from the Plymouth descendant families,
members of various native tribes, and selected scientists and conservationists
will gather at a location in the Olympic National Forest.
They have spent years preparing, following the old protocols, making
the proper offerings, sending the ancient signals. If their hopes

(01:12:22):
are realized for the first time in four hundred years,
the first guest will return to a Thanksgiving feast not
in secret, not in shadow, but witnessed, documented and protected.
The meal will be simple, traditional foods, prepared in traditional ways.
There will be no cameras at first, no instruments beyond

(01:12:43):
human eyes and hearts. The first meeting will be as
it was in sixteen twenty one, beings of different species
sharing food, building trust, making promises. But this time the
promise will be different. Not to hide but to help,
not to separate, but to coexist. The Sasquatch will gradually

(01:13:05):
reveal themselves to a world that desperately needs to remember
that there are still mysteries, still wonders, still connections to
the wild that technology cannot replace. The families who have
kept the secret for four centuries will become bridges, translators,
ambassadors between two intelligent species trying to find a way
forward in a world that belongs to neither and both.

(01:13:28):
Scientists will learn that the Sasquatch possess knowledge about forest ecosystems,
about medicinal plants, about survival and adaptation that could benefit humanity.
The Sasquatch will receive protection, habitat, preservation, and perhaps most importantly,
recognition as fellow travelers on this planet, deserving of respect

(01:13:49):
and rights. The story that began at Plymouth in sixteen
twenty one, is not ending, but transforming. The first Thanksgiving
was about survival, about different peoples coming together to share
resources and knowledge. This new Thanksgiving will be about something greater,
the recognition that humans are not alone, have never been alone,

(01:14:10):
and that the indigenous peoples of this land include beings.
We are only now ready to acknowledge. As the sun
sets on this new gathering, as it's set on that
first feast four hundred years ago, the same truth remains.
We are all connected, the colonists, the native peoples, the Sasquatch,
the land itself. The promise made by Yahael standing tall

(01:14:34):
echoes across the centuries, when humanity is ready to see
the Sasquatch not as monsters but as teachers, they will return.
That time is now. The first guest is coming home,
and somewhere in whatever realm, the spirits of the departed dwell.
Yahayel watches and approves. The seeds planted at that first
Thanksgiving have taken four centuries to flower, but they have survived.

(01:14:59):
The promise has been kept. The sacred trust continues as
families across America gather for their own Thanksgiving feasts, most
will not know the true story of the first Thanksgiving,
But for those who do, for those who have guarded
the secret and kept the promise, this year's gratitude runs
deeper than ever before. They give thanks not just for

(01:15:20):
the harvest, not just for surviving another year, but for
the privilege of living in a world where wonder still exists,
where ancient promises still matter, and where beings as different
as Pilgrims, Native Americans and Sasquatch can still gather in peace,
sharing food, stories and hope.

Speaker 2 (01:15:38):
For the future.

Speaker 1 (01:15:40):
The feast continues, the story goes on, and the first guest,
patient and enduring as the forests themselves, reminds us that
some things are worth waiting centuries to reveal, and that
the greatest thanksgiving of all is for the connections that
bind us to each other and to the wild heart
of the world itself. I can't sit here and tell

(01:16:01):
you that everything you just heard actually happened. There's no
secret society of Plymouth descendants guarding four hundred year old drawings.
There's no glowing stones passed down through generations, and as
far as we know, there was no eight foot tall
forest guardian named yahyel sitting at that first Thanksgiving table.
This was a story fiction, a what if scenario spun

(01:16:26):
out of holiday spirit and a love for the unexplained.

Speaker 2 (01:16:30):
But here's the thing.

Speaker 1 (01:16:31):
Wouldn't it be something if it were true? Wouldn't it
be remarkable to live in a world where there are
still genuine mysteries out in those forests, where not everything
has been cataloged and captured and explained away, Where somewhere
in the deep woods of the Pacific Northwest or the
remote hollows of the Appalachians, there might be something ancient

(01:16:51):
and intelligent watching us, waiting to see if we finally
learned to approach the wild places with respect instead of conquest.
I've spent nearly forty years researching sasquatch encounters and interviewing
close to a thousand people who claim to have seen
something they couldn't explain. And what strikes me most about
those conversations isn't the footprints or the vocalizations or the

(01:17:14):
blurry photographs. It's the way these experiences change people. Almost
everyone I've talked to comes away with a deeper respect
for the wilderness, a sense of humility about humanity's place
in the natural order, and a genuine hope that there's
still room in this world for mystery. Maybe that's the
real gift the Sasquatch gives us. Whether they're flesh and

(01:17:36):
blood or folklore, they remind us that we haven't figured
everything out. They give us permission to wonder. They suggest
that the forests might still hold secrets worth protecting, even
if we never fully understand what those secrets are. So
this Thanksgiving, as you sit with your family and friends,
maybe take a moment to think about what kind of

(01:17:57):
world you want to live in where every shadow has
been illuminated and every question has been answered, or one
where there's still something out there in the darkness, something
old and wise and patient, waiting for us to be ready.
I know which world I choose. Happy Thanksgiving everyone, stay curious,

(01:18:18):
stay humble, And if you're ever deep in the woods
and the forest goes silent, maybe leave a small offering
at the base of an old tree. You never know
who might be watching until next time. Take care of yourselves,
take care of each other, and take care of the
wild places. They might be taking care of us too.

Speaker 2 (01:19:05):
S time