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Thanksgiving Day in the United States is a holiday
like no other: families gather to celebrate and enjoy the blessings of this land
of freedom and plentitude. But to those of us who descend from the original colonizing
families of New Mexico, our special day is April 30th.
On April 30th four centuries ago, our ancestors, led by Don Juan de
Oñate, reached the banks of El Rio Bravo (Rio Grande). The first recorded
act of thanksgiving by colonizing Europeans on this continent occurred on that April
day in 1598 in Nuevo Mexico, about 25 miles south of what is now El Paso,
Texas. After having begun their northward trek in March of that same year, the entire
caravan was gathered at this point. The 400 person expedition included soldiers,
families, servants, personal belongings, and livestock . . . virtually a living
village. Two thirds of the colonizers were from the Iberian Peninsula (Spain, Portugal,
and the Canary Islands). There was even one Greek and a man from Flanders! The rest
were Mexican Indians and mestizos (mixed bloods).
The starting point for the colonists had been in Zacatecas, Nueva
España (now Mexico) and by being part of the colonizing expedition they
had been promised the title of Hidalgo, men with rights and privileges equal
to Spain's nobility. Juan de Oñate was a man of wealth and prominence, the
son of Cristobal Oñate, silver mine owner whose family had come to the New
World from the Basque region of Spain. Titles granted to him by Viceroy Luis de
Velasco were Governor and Adelantado of New Mexico. The colonists suffered
hardships and deprivations as they headed north, but they were also headed toward
posterity: they would participate in the first recorded act of Thanksgiving by colonizing
Europeans on this continent—22 years before the English colonists similarly
gave thanks on the Atlantic coast. The expedition is well recorded by Gaspar Perez
de Villagrá, the Spanish poet who traveled with the group. He wrote, "We
were sadly lacking in all knowledge of the stars, the winds, and other knowledge
by which to guide our steps."
On April 30, 1598, the scouts made camp along the Rio Grande and prepared
to drink and eat their fill, for there they found fishes and waterfowl. Villagrá
wrote,
"We built a great bonfire and roasted meat and fish, and then sat
down to a repast the like of which we had never enjoyed before." Before this
bountiful meal, Don Juan de Oñate personally nailed a cross to a living tree
and prayed, "Open the door to these heathens, establish the church altars where
the body and blood of the Son of God may be offered, open to us the way to security
and peace for their preservation and ours, and give to our king and to me in his
royal name, peaceful possession of these kingdoms and provinces for His blessed
glory. Amen."
On April 30, many of us with roots in New Mexico commemorate that first
Thanksgiving, not with "turkey and all the trimmings," but with the knowledge
that our ancestors helped settle and develop this land—through tenacity, perseverance
and deep faith. It is partly through their contributions that America was destined
to become unique; providing freedom as well as opportunity to all people wishing
to come to its shores.
Happy Thanksgiving Day!
Suggested reading:
The
Last Conquistador: Juan de Oñate and the Settling of the Far Southwest,
by Marc Simmons. University of Oklahoma Press, 1991, pp. 97-101.
Don Juan de Oñate, Colonizer of New Mexico, 1595-1628, by George P.
Hammond and Agapito Rey. University of New Mexico Press, 1953.
The above article is from the New Mexico Genealogist,
March 1999.
The following article is
from the 25 Nov
2002 issue of the Eastman Online Genealogy Newsletter.
http://www.eogn.com. It
has been reprinted here with the author's permission.
The First Thanksgiving
by Richard W. Eastman
Where was the first Thanksgiving held in North America? If you guessed
Plymouth, Massachusetts, guess again.
On April 30, 1598, Spanish nobleman Don Juan de Oñate and a group of
settlers traveling northward from Zacatecas, Nueva España (now Mexico), reached
the banks of El Rio Bravo (Rio Grande). The first recorded act of thanksgiving by
colonizing Europeans on this continent occurred on that April day in 1598 in Nuevo
Mexico, about 25 miles south of what is now El Paso, Texas.
After having begun their northward trek in March of that same year,
the entire caravan was gathered at this point. The 400-person expedition included
soldiers, families, servants, personal belongings, and livestock. Two thirds of
the colonizers were from the Iberian Peninsula (Spain, Portugal, and the Canary
Islands). There was even one from Greece and another from Flanders. The rest were
Mexican Indians and mestizos (mixed bloods).
Pauline Chavez Bent has written an interesting account of this first
Thanksgiving, which you can read on the New Mexico Genealogical Society's Web site
at: http://www.nmgs.org/art1stThanks.htm.
Many Americans mistakenly believe that the Pilgrims were the first to
settle in this new land. However, the following all preceded the Pilgrims of 1620:
- Several settlements and temporary villages were established by the
Vikings and possibly by the Irish more than 1,000 years ago. None of the settlements
survived. In 1559, Tristan de Luna y Arellano led an attempt by Europeans to colonize
Florida. He established a settlement at Pensacola Bay, but a series of misfortunes
caused his efforts to be abandoned after two years.
- Pedro Menéndez de Avilés arrived in 1565 at a place he called San
Augustín (St. Augustine, Florida) and established the first permanent European settlement
in what is now the United States.
- Spanish settlers mentioned earlier settled in what is now the western
tip of Texas and New Mexico in the 1590s.
- In 1604, Samuel de Champlain, along with Sieur de Mont, established
what is now known as the first Acadian settlement on the North American continent
on the Isle-of-St.-Croix, at St. Croix River near Calais, Maine. After experiencing
a harsh winter and extreme cold on this small island, they moved their settlement
into the rich agricultural area of the Bay of Fundy, which subsequently became known
as Acadia. The permanent French colony of Port Royal was established in 1605.
- The islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon were colonized by France
in 1604. The colony survived and still exists today on these tiny islands ten miles
south of Newfoundland, Canada. The islands still belong to France. Many people today
are unaware that France still has territory in North America.
- In 1607, some 100 men and boys sailed from England and landed in
present-day Virginia and founded Jamestown. They found a hostile environment that
probably would have destroyed the colony but for the resourcefulness of Captain
John Smith, who managed to organize and motivate the settlers and save them from
starvation.
- In 1608 Samuel de Champlain established what is now known as Quebec
City.
With several colonies already established prior to the Pilgrims' later
arrival in 1620, one can assume that others also celebrated an occasional thanksgiving
feast.
The only surviving record of such a feast, however, is the one in 1598
by Don Juan de Oñate and his group of Spanish settlers.
Comments to Richard Eastman: Visit the newsletter message board at
http://www.eogn.com and click on "Message Board."
Comments and feedback to this article on the NMGS web site: write to
webmaster@nmgs.org.
See also feedback to online articles
from NMGS readers.
Found on the Eastman Message Board:
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"It is good to know about the 1598 celebration. Seems like I have heard that before. Again, the Pilgrims and their followers were champion promoters. I still like the prayer at Berkeley, Virginia as a more thankful one. Good luck New Mexico. You have an uphill battle against all the classrooms in our great (but not always correct) country." (Emphasis added by webmaster,)
Posted by: Darrell Davis December 06, 2004