Samoset, also Somerset, (c. 1590–1653) was an Abenaki sagamore and the first Native American to make contact with the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony. On March 16, 1621, the settlers were more than surprised when Samoset strolled straight through the middle of the encampment at Plymouth Colony and greeted them in English, which he had begun to learn from English fishermen frequenting the waters of what now is Maine.
Samoset was a sagamore (subordinate chief) of an Eastern Abenaki tribe that resided at that time in what now is Maine. An English fishing camp had been established to harvest from the bountiful area now called the Gulf of Maine. Samoset learned some English from fishermen who came to fish off Monhegan Island and he knew most ship captains by name.
The Abenaki language is an Algonquian language related to the Massachusett language of the Nauset and Wampanoag people of the area around Plymouth Colony. Samoset was visiting the Wampanoag chieftain Massasoit at the time of the historic event.
Well you hate those diesels rollin'
And those Friday nights out bowlin'
When he's off for a twelve hour lay over night
You wish you had a dollar
For every time he hollered
That he's leavin'
And he's never comin' back
But the curtain-laced billow
And his hands on your pillow
And his trousers are hangin' on the chair
You're lyin' through your pain, babe
But you're gonna tell him he's your man
And you ain't got the courage to leave
He tells you that you're on his mind
You're the only one he's ever gonna find
It's kind-a special, understands his complicated soul...
But the only place a man can breathe
And collect his thoughts is
Midnight and flyin' away on the road.
But you've packed and unpacked
So many times you've lost track
And the steam heat is drippin' off the walls
But when you hear his engines
You're lookin' through the window in the kitchen and you know
You're always gonna be there when he calls
'Cause he's a truck drivin' man
Stoppin' when he can
He's a truck drivin' man