That timing is astonishing.

He had spent roughly five years trying to get back across the Atlantic.

He returned in 1619.

By 1622, he was dead.

The years for which he became famous were therefore a very small portion of his life.

The Thanksgiving narrative expands those years because they matter to the founding story of Plymouth.

From Tisquantum’s perspective, they came after kidnapping, captivity, transatlantic survival, and the destruction of Patuxet.

Bradford wrote that Tisquantum asked him to pray that he might go to the Englishmen’s God in heaven and left some possessions to English friends.

The account has often been used to suggest Christian conversion, though the evidence is not sufficient to reconstruct his beliefs confidently.

What is certain is that Bradford regarded his death as a significant loss.