Happy Thanksgiving!
…but…
Did you know the very FIRST Thanksgiving on American soil was NOT at Plymouth Colony in 1620, but 22 years earlier in Texas?
On April 30, 1598–22 years before the Pilgrims celebrated their first Thanksgiving at Plymouth Colony–a Spanish expedition led by Don Juan de Oñate crossed El Paso del Norte (the northern pass–now El Paso, Texas) into Texas. Oñate ordered his party to rest and celebrate a mass of thanksgiving for their journey thus far before continuing north across Texas and into what is now New Mexico.
So… the first Thanksgiving in America was actually in Texas! 🙂
Unfortunately, despite his religious gesture, Oñate was a contradiction in many ways—a harsh man whose own people eventually turned against him.
You can learn more about him in the Activities section of Volume II-Explorers (Discover Texas History curriculum) or read here to find out about the man and the expedition through El Paso del Norte.
