The Lincoln County Historical Association is set to host an online presentation at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 29, with Jody Bachelder, who will take people back in time to the early years of the Plymouth Plantation and help them understand Samoset of Pemaquid’s backstory.

On March 16, 1621, Samoset cemented his place in history when he boldly walked into Plymouth Plantation and greeted the settlers in English. And that’s where most history books leave him. They never hint at the extraordinary events of his life that led him to that moment, including his initial clash with the English and a possible kidnapping attempt, inter-tribal warfare that engulfed the entire coast of Maine, encounters with the forgotten Popham Colony in Phippsburg, and an apocalyptic epidemic that nearly wiped out his people. They never ask why a sagamore (or leader) from Maine would be there in the first place, or consider how dangerous that walk into Plymouth truly was, according to a news release from the association’s Shannon Gilmore.

Bachelder started her career as a teacher and quickly made the switch to library work. In 2013 she was named the Walter J. Taranko Maine School Librarian of the Year. When her husband was offered a job out of state, she took a chance and started writing. What she thought would be a picture book grew into a history book for adults.

Growing up on the Pemaquid Peninsula in Maine where Samoset and the Wawenock lived, she knew little about the Indigenous people who called the area home for thousands of years. She began her research with the question, “What was Samoset doing in Plymouth?” The journey to find the answer was both enlightening and surprising. “Here First: Samoset and the Wawenock of Pemaquid, Maine” is her first book.

To register visit lincolncountyhistory.org/event/samoset. The talk is free, although a $5 donation is suggested to support LCHA’s ongoing educational programs.

 

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