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The turkey (Meleagris gallapavo)
is a native game bird of North America, originally found in abundance from Maine to
Central America and from the Atlantic to present-day Colorado. |
The turkey was first domesticated
by the Aztecs of Mexico. The Spanish took the domesticated turkey from Mexico to Europe
about 1519. Turkeys were being bred in England by 1541. Roast turkey quickly became a
popular holiday dish in England.
William Bradford reported that the Pilgrims
found a "great store of wild turkies" during the autumn of 1621, famous for the
"First Thanksgiving." We don’t know for certain, however, that the Pilgrims
had turkey at that harvest feast.
Later in the 17th century,
other English colonists introduced the European-bred strains of the domesticated turkey
(descendants of the Mexican turkey) to northeastern America. In addition to the
domesticated turkeys, the original wild turkey stock still remained.
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