Two people who attended the 1621 feast later called the “first Thanksgiving” were Massasoit , leader of the Wampanoag, and Edward Winslow , one of the Pilgrim leaders at Plymouth.

Quick Scoop: Who Was There?

  • Massasoit (Ousamequin) was the sachem (leader) of the Wampanoag Confederacy whose men came to the Plymouth settlement and shared a three‑day feast with the colonists after hearing celebratory gunfire and confirming there was no battle.
  • Edward Winslow was an English Pilgrim at Plymouth whose 1621 letter is one of the only firsthand descriptions of the harvest celebration that became the core of the “first Thanksgiving” story.

A Bit Of Historical Context

  • Only a single short written account by Winslow describes the event, noting that the Wampanoag leader came with about ninety men and that they and the colonists feasted together for several days.
  • Modern historians point out that people at the time did not call this gathering “Thanksgiving,” and later generations turned this harvest and diplomatic meeting into the national origin-style holiday story many people learn today.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.