Samoset

Samoset (?1590–?1653) Pemaquid diplomat; born on Monhegan Island in present-day Maine. He had learned some English from British fishermen who had worked off the coast of Maine. Thus it was that he was able to say "Welcome, Englishmen!" when he greeted the Pilgrims at Plymouth in March 1621. He then arranged a meeting with them and Squanto and the Wamponoag chief Massasoit and he fostered friendship between the two groups. In 1625 he signed the first deed of land transfer with the whites and he signed another such deed in 1653. After that he disappears from the historical record.