Can’t get enough turkey and dressing? Personally, I think that one time a year for that meal is probably more than enough, but there is another celebration of Thanksgiving here in Texas. I’ve been to that celebration but, thankfully, do not remember having to eat turkey! I think I ate Mexican food.
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In El Paso, Texas, the residents claim that those New England folks don’t know their history. El Pasoans say that the real first Thanksgiving wasn’t celebrated at Plymouth Rock in 1621, but on the banks of the Rio Grande (if you want to be redundant, and repeat yourself also, you can call it the “Big Rio Grande River”). They say it happened not far from present day city of El Paso in 1598. Note that many other places across the U.S. also lay claim to the “first” Thanksgiving, but I’m from Texas, so I believe it was El Paso.
Juan de Oñate was a wealthy Spaniard in Mexico who led an expedition of 500 people (including not just soldiers but families with children) and 7,000 head of livestock to lay claim to the Rio Grande Valley in March of 1598. The group made a very grueling 50 day journey across the Chihuahua Desert. The weather was as spiteful as Texas weather can be.
First, there was too much rain, and then there was no water at all. On the last five days of the journey, the expedition ran out of both water and food. When the group finally reached the Rio Grande, several people drowned in frantic haste to get to the water. Supposedly, two horses drank until their stomachs burst.
You can probably bet that by this time people were feeling pretty thankful. After they had rested 10 days, Oñate ordered a celebration. That day was April 30th, 1598. Game and fish for the feast were supplied by the hunters in the expedition and by local Native Indian tribes. The Franciscan missionaries, traveling with the group, said a mass of thanksgiving for their safe journey. After that, Oñate read a paper called “La Toma” or “the Taking” which declared that all of the land onto which the river drained belonged to King Philip II of Spain.
Since 1998, the city of El Paso has hosted a delightful festival to honor that fact. A park in the town is turned into a Renaissance village reminiscent of Oñate’s time. I had the pleasure of visiting that first festival, as I was working for a few days in El Paso at the time. There were tons of the traditional booths with crafts and a tent full of people in Renaissance dress.
I love your Blog. El Paso, Texas as the first Thanks Giving celebration was not something I thought of, nor turkey with hot pepper stuffing!
I would never have visited your site if you hadn’t popped in to say hello and look at my TT and that would have been a shame. I also love mahjong but haven’t succumbed to the web version TG, I have enough to do. Don’t be afraid of Thursday Thirteen, it is amazing what people post… some is **** but some is fun and some informative. It is amazing finding out what people know and what they do. Stop by again when you have a moment.
Thank you for visiting Robyn! I visited your site and saw that we might have a couple of things in common. I think you listed To Kill a Mockingbird (which I read every spring) and Tolkien as favorite books. I’ll be back to your site. I enjoy your posts. I’ve put you on my “favorites” list on my computer and will put you on a blogroll—once I figure out how the heck to do that. This blogging is new to me and sometimes overwhelming.