Pilgrims' Progress.(history of Plymouth Rock)(Brief Article)

Neal G. Lineback describes the environmental challenges facing early European settlers in New England

When Thanksgiving is just around the corner, American families stock up on turkey, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. In elementary schools around the country, children learn about the Pilgrims to whom the Thanksgiving tradition is attributed.

Most school pageants celebrating Thanksgiving show the Pilgrims stepping from a boat onto a large rock known as Plymouth Rock. What was the landscape of New England like when the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth on Dec. 21,