Members of the Mayflower Society trace their genetic heritage nearly 4 centuries to that historic boat's manifest. Despite its name, the Pilgrim goose stakes no such claim. While myriad species of livestock disembarked at Plymouth Rock in 1620, geeseweren't among them. Back then, wild flocks filled the skies—and colonists' bellies. The medium-weight Pilgrim goose breed originated just 80 years ago, on an Iowa farm. Using breeding stock purchased in the 1890s from Vermont—with genetic features probably first selected by Viking explorers 1,000 years ago—poultry enthusiast Oscar Grow introduced the breed in the 1930s.
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