 When the Mayflower was anchored off Cape Cod , Standish urged the colony 's leaders to allow him to take a party ashore to find a suitable place for settlement . On November 15 , 1620 , he led 16 men in a foot exploration of the northern portion of the Cape . On December 11 , a group of 18 settlers , including Standish , made an extended exploration of the shore of Cape Cod by boat , spending their nights ashore surrounded by makeshift barricades of tree branches . The settlers were attacked one night by a group of about 30 Native Americans . At first , the Englishmen panicked , but Standish calmed them , urging the settlers not to fire their matchlock muskets unnecessarily . The incident took place in present @-@ day Eastham , Massachusetts and came to be known as the First Encounter . 
