NationStates Jolt Archive


The First Thanksgiving

Keruvalia
12-11-2004, 17:08
Was held in Texas.

Yep, you heard me right. Texas.

The first recorded Christian thanksgiving in America occurred in Texas on May 23, 1541 when Spanish explorer, Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, and his men held a service of thanksgiving after finding food, water, and pasture for their animals.

The second Thanksgiving occurred on June 30, 1564, when French Huguenot colonists celebrated in a settlement near Jacksonville, Florida. This "first Thanksgiving," was later commemorated at the Fort Carolina Memorial on the St. Johns River in eastern Jacksonville.

The third Thanksgiving?

Texas again.

On April 21, 1598, the exhausted expedition of Don Juan Pérez de Oñate y Salazar reached the banks of the Rio Bravo (now known as the Rio Grande) where they set up camp near the present day San Elizario, Texas. They soon found their scouts who had arrived several days earlier, and Oñate sent them out to find a place where the expedition could ford the Rio Bravo and cross into Nuevo Mexico. They traveled upriver to present day El Paso where they found a village of Indians they named “Mansos” and who they befriended with gifts of clothing.

Safe and grateful for the expedition's deliverance from the extreme hardships of the journey, Oñate ordered that the travelers construct a church with a nave large enough to hold the entire camp. Inside the church, on April 30, 1598, the first Thanksgiving celebration of European colonists in the New World was held. The Oñate expedition and their Manso guests celebrated their April 30th Thanksgiving with a feast of fish, “many cranes, ducks and geese”, and supplies from their stores. Little more was reported about the menu, but one thing is certain: at the First Thanksgiving there was no mention of turkey.

Virginia? Massachusetts? Never heard of 'em.
Iztatepopotla
12-11-2004, 17:16
Inside the church, on April 30, 1598, the first Thanksgiving celebration of European colonists in the New World was held.

I was about to let go of the "America" thing, but New World is just asking for it. The first Thanksgiving in the mainland was celebrated just north of the port of Veracruz, in what today is Antigua. I don't remember the exact date, but it was in 1519. Cortés offered thanks for having made it so far and also to ask for a good campaign against the Aztecs.

Before that there had been Thanksgivings in Cuba, Hispaniola and Puerto Rico.
Keruvalia
12-11-2004, 17:28
I was about to let go of the "America" thing, but New World is just asking for it. The first Thanksgiving in the mainland was celebrated just north of the port of Veracruz, in what today is Antigua. I don't remember the exact date, but it was in 1519. Cortés offered thanks for having made it so far and also to ask for a good campaign against the Aztecs.

Before that there had been Thanksgivings in Cuba, Hispaniola and Puerto Rico.


Yeppers. It amazes me that the original Thanksgivings were primarily for giving thanks to Jebus that Spain was able to conquer those savage injuns. What's more amazing than that is that we still celebrate this holiday!

Well ... I don't ... but the majority of Americans do ...
Iztatepopotla
13-11-2004, 03:48
Yeppers. It amazes me that the original Thanksgivings were primarily for giving thanks to Jebus that Spain was able to conquer those savage injuns. What's more amazing than that is that we still celebrate this holiday!

Meh, that's how it always is. Right now there are people thanking god for letting the US prevail over the infidels and terrorists.