Myles Standish was among the 102 English settlers who sailed on the Mayflower in 1620. A veteran of Queen Elizabeth's Army, having been hired as their military defender, he was chosen to command the first group of men to go ashore when the ship reached New England in November 1620.
Although Plymouth's early relations with the local Indians were generally peaceful, Captain Standish was occasionally called upon to defend the colony when it found itself at odd with the native peoples
Like the other Pilgrims, Myles Standish was primarily a farmer. When the original settlers abandoned communal farming in 1627, each family received 20 acres per family member. Half of the Mayflower passengers, including Myles Standish's wife, died during the first winter. By 1627, he had remarried; with a wife and three sons, he was entitled to 100 acres. He drew a lot that lay at the southeastern end of the Nook, a 450-acre peninsula connected to the mainland by a narrow strip of land. Around 1630, this area separated from Plymouth and became the town of Duxbury.
