during this time, they searched areas all around the bay and found a place to live and build their homes. the location had a large hill. this hill is now called burial hill. it was a good place to build a fort for safety against any possible enemies. there were many brooks providing water. they would later find out that the site had been the location of a native american village known as patuxet; and that is why a large area had already been cleared for planting of food. the patuxet tribe of indians, between 1616 and 1619, had all died from bad sickness. bradford later wrote that bones of the dead were easy to find in many places.