You learn about this in grade school. You learn about the religious outcasts from Europe coming to Plymouth and having a great dinner with Squanto while they set up their colony. Somewhere in there the Pilgrims landed on the Plymouth Rock as they made it to the beach. Not even close. Shoot. You can read the truth on the monuments at Plymouth and Provincetown.
Think of a clock about 150 miles in diameter: all water. Boston is at 11 o’clock
to 11:30. Then
forests and swamp. 12 o’clock, where the first Pilgrims
landed is Provincetown. There is a monument
to the Pilgrims’ landing. This is where the first little baby
that you heard about was born. This is
where the Mayflower Compact was formulated and signed. This is
where it all began.
<>On a long, hook-shaped penninsula, follow the clock from 12
o'clock to about 8:00 o'clock. This is Cape Cod. As you
approach 8 o'clock, the penninsula gets wider as it integrates with the
mainland<>. Anyone from Massachusetts can tell you, winters on the cape are
really hard. The soil is not conducive to farming.
So, the Pilgrims took their ship into the bay. This is now Plymouth. It is presumed that they stepped on some rock. After all, it is a rocky beach in the bay. There is a giant sandbar out by P’town.
Sometime after the famous dinner and after Plymouth became famous, someone decided to make a monument. P’town has its tower. Plymouth found a large rock in the harbor, dragged it to shore and declared it “Plymouth Rock”. No one knows if this is the first rock stepped upon or if they reaally did step on a rock at all. The significance is that it makes a good story with a tangible marker. The rock is now seriously fenced because it has been reduced to 1/3 the size it was when dragged to its current home. People took souvenirs before the rock was caged.
After all the Pilgrims (most of them) did go to the Bay. A few remained on the Cape. You can read the names.
Anything wrong? It makes a nice story. My grievance is that the fairy tale about the rock is a lie because someone wanted to make a pretty story. Maybe the Plymouth Chamber of Commerce. (Joke). Maybe someone just does not trust the citizenry.