Journey of the Mayflower

After 66 days in the cramped confines of a small ship pitching and rolling from England across the stormy North Atlantic, the Mayflower’s passengers gave thanks when they spotted the sand cliffs of Outer Cape Cod on the morning of November 9, 1620. The Pilgrims had intended to settle near the Hudson River, so Captain Christopher Jones brought the Mayflower around and set a course due south along the coast, but dangerously shallow waters at the elbow of the Cape forced the ship to turn back north. They anchored in the protected waters of what is now Provincetown Harbor and paused to plan their next steps. On Cape Cod, the Pilgrims wrote the Mayflower Compact, the first governing document of Plymouth Colony, went ashore to find food and water, and first glimpsed the Wampanoag people who already called this land home. There, one journey ended and another began.

Eastham, Massachusetts · United States