The history of the Wampanoag Indians--translated the word Wampanoag means "People of the dawn or first light"--dates well before Western explorers set foot on these sandy shores. Some theories suggest that their ancestors traveled from Asia to North America via the Bering Strait at the end of the Ice Age. Others, because there is no linguistic link, dispel that idea. The best guess is that Native American Indians arrived upon this newly formed land about 10,000 years ago to settle in this area. We do know that somewhere between 7,000 to 9,000 years ago, a small band of Native Americans came to the eastern shore of the Upper Mill Pond in Brewster. In 1987, archaeologist Fred Dunford from the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History uncovered artifacts at this prehistoric archaeological site that have placed the native inhabitants in the Stony Brook Valley firmly within what is called the Middle Archaic Period. An exhibit at the Museum displays the artifacts recovered during the field research.

The ancestors of the present-day Mashpee Wampanoag were an Algonquin-speaking people who shared cultural traditions with a number of groups in southern New England under the name of Massachusetts-Narragansett. As members of the Algonquin Indian Nation, the Wampanoag Indians of the Cape were further broken down into five major tribes: Nausets of the Lower Cape; South Sea in the Barnstable and Mashpee areas; Suconessets of Falmouth; Shaumes of Sandwich; and the Manamets in the Bourne and Sagamore areas. These tribes were further broken down into sub-tribes, such as the Nobscusset Indians of Dennis, who were members of the Nauset tribe.

There are many tales of Norse explorers arriving in this area beginning more than a thousand years ago, but there has yet to be definitive proof of such exploration. One such legend tells that Norsemen visited the Cape and islands around 986 AD, though they did not make landfall. Bjarni Herjulfsson was the little-known Norse explorer who made the journey, and if the story is true, then he discovered America about 500 years before Columbus. Upon his return to his native Iceland, Herjulfsson told his story and it became incorporated into Norse lore to be retold for years to come. One of those listening to the tales was Leif Ericson, son of Eric the Red. Around the year 1000, Leif borrowed his father's ship and sailed south, past Newfoundland and Nova Scotia to arrive at what some historians believe was Cape Cod. The story goes that he sailed his vessel up a river that flowed in two directions, possibly Bass River, and made his camp at an inland lake where he could anchor his vessel, possibly Follins Pond at the head of Bass River in Yarmouth/Dennis. Despite these explorations, however, Native Americans were the sole inhabitants of the area until the 1600s.

The first recorded description of these people was provided by Giavanni di Verazzano, who, in 1524, spent several weeks exploring the area between Block Island and Buzzard's Bay. Verazzano described the people as being handsome, well dressed, and friendly. "These people are the most beautiful and have the most civil customs that we have found on this voyage," writes Verazzano. "They are very generous and give away all they have. We made great friends with them and they painted and decorated their faces with various colors, showing us that it was a sign of happiness."

The year 1602 saw a sail on the horizon, growing larger as it approached, a sail that represented the first of many to arrive along these shores over the next decades. The English explorer Bartholomew Gosnold landed at a number of places along the Cape and Islands and discovered the treacherous shoals that guarded the easternmost section of the Cape. Gosnold and his crew chose one of the Elizabeth Islands off Wood Hole to establish a settlement, but it failed shortly thereafter. He noted that game, fish, and berries were plentiful, and they traded with Native Americans for tobacco, deerskins, and fish.

By far the most complete description of Indian life on the Cape comes from the journal of Samuel de Champlain, who in 1606 paid an extended visit to the area. He sailed along the coast approaching Cape Cod from the north and followed the shoreline, recording the depth of the bays and the features of the land, finally anchoring in Stage Harbor, Chatham. It seems that Champlain felt less admiration for the Native Americans since his party had several conflicts with the natives, resulting in the death of at least one sailor. The damage done, Champlain and crew departed to explore other parts of North America. For years afterward, other notable explorers such as Henry Hudson and John Smith avoided these shores, probably since tales of the battle at Stage Harbor had no doubt circulated.

It was not until November 1620 that European explorers would try again to settle this virgin outpost. This was the month when the Mayflower arrived in Provincetown Harbor. The ship had been headed for Virginia, but had been blown off-course and had landed well north of its intended destination. We call the voyagers Pilgrims, but they called themselves Separatists. The religious movement that brought them to America began in 14th-century England and was based on the premise that no man needed a priest between himself and God, no person should be involved in ritualistic worship, and everyone was under the obligation to lead his life as simply as possible.

The way the Pilgrims recounted their voyage, after their ship encountered the dangerous shoals off the coast of Cape Cod, they rounded the tip to the north and entered the safe haven of Cape Cod Bay. After the Mayflower anchored in Provincetown Harbor and before explorations were initiated, the Mayflower Compact, a charter for a democratic settlement, was signed on board on November 11, 1620. Lead by Captain Myles Standish, a group explored the surrounding coast and voyaged southward, eventually coming ashore across the bay on the sand flats of Eastham where they first encountered Indians. Today, the beach is still called "First Encounter Beach" to signify the spot were shots were fired and arrows launched. The Pilgrims rejected Provincetown as a place to settle because, despite the vast harbor, there was no readily available fresh water. They traveled across Cape Cod Bay as far as Plymouth where they found a protected harbor with high ground overlooking it, suitable for a permanent settlement.

Most versions of American history start with the Pilgrims' arrival at Plymouth Rock on Christmas Day in 1620. But the hostile greeting they received from the Indians near Eastham suggests an earlier activity in the area: It's thought that the Indians were retaliating, presumably for the Pilgrims' previous pilfering of their corn reserves at a site in Truro that today is known as Corn Hill. One thing we do know: The Pilgrims would return to Cape Cod again and again. Many of these early settlers were instrumental in preparing the way for the settlement of a number of the earliest towns in Sandwich and more specifically Eastham. Each of these towns would develop its own independent history, carving out its own niche in the growth of Cape Cod. Meanwhile, the Native American Indians were a race already in decline. Epidemics of smallpox, introduced just three or four years before the arrival of the Pilgrims by other exploring groups, had reduced their ranks considerably. Ignorant of the laws of the new settlers, these natives unwittingly handed over large tracts of land for a pittance, not realizing their mark on the white man's strange parchment was legal and binding.

Religion played a large role in the settlement of the different towns. Though most of the earliest settlers were Congregationalists, there were also Quakers among them and later, Methodists and Baptists. Though these settlers left other places to land here in search of religious freedom, many of them found themselves embroiled in the same old religious arguments. And when the settlers were not arguing about religion, they were squabbling over land and where one person's property ended and another's began. With the building of a meetinghouse and the hiring of a minister to preach, a handful of families would form an application for incorporation. The church spurred incorporation, and incorporation spurred more settlers, and thus the towns were born and grew and prospered.

The Cape has more than three and a half centuries of documented history. Each of the 15 towns displays its history like a treasured heirloom. Cemeteries, old churches, historic dwellings, and museums all help to preserve and illuminate Cape Cod's colorful history.