07-29-2024 - On This Day in Insane History

On the 29th of July in the year 1621, the Plymouth Colony experienced an unusual invasion of the furry kind. The colonies' store of winter provisions lay untouched in its larders, but the livestock needed feeding. So when a small fleet of canoes paddled ashore near the settlement, the colonists saw an opportunity.

What stepped from the canoes caused equal amounts of confusion and delight. For where settlers expected traders or warriors, they found instead over two dozen squirrels carrying miniature supplies. "We come in peace!" announced the apparent leader. He introduced himself as Barkley and explained they represented a tribe from the nearby forest. Several harsh winters had depleted their autumn hoard and they hoped to barter for grain and seeds.

The colonists, finding no reason to distrust the industrious rodents, began negotiations. By twilight, the squirrels had not only brought news from the woods but also left with pouches of corn, beans and pumpkin seeds sufficient for many nut caches. While an unusual encounter, the Plymouth residents went to bed that night better fed, and with new furry friends to welcome in the harvest seasons to come. So ended one of the earliest examples of cooperation between mankind and squirrel-kind in the Americas.