When the Pilgrims were off the Provincetown coast and realized that they could not reach the land for which they had contracted with the London Company, they knew some other action was required. With no legal right to settle in the region, they drew up the Mayflower Compact, creating their own government. With the formalities aside, they then discovered Plymouth Harbor on the western side of Cape Cod and made their historic landing on December 21, 1620.