Massachusetts and 

 Tobacco 



?::^ 



mong the Pilgrims who left England 

 in late summer, 1620, were men long accustomed to 

 smoking. They carried with them an assortment of 

 English-made pipes and enough Virginia tobacco to last 

 out the voyage. 



It never occurred to them to store a supply of cured 

 leaf in the Matjfiowers hold. Their destination was Vir- 

 ginia where fuel for their pipes could be had almost for 

 the asking. But contrary winds blew them far off their 

 course. Their landfall was 500 miles north of where they 

 had hoped to drop anchor— a mainland site that Captain 

 John Smith had named Plymouth during his 1614 ex- 

 ploration. 



