- 1st Thanksgiving and Don Juan de Oñate
In 1598, Don Juan de Oñate won over other Spaniards, permission from the King of Spain to lead a group of people north to colonize what is now New Mexico (Santa Fe, Española, etc.). Instead of following the Rio Concho from Santa Barbara, Mexico to the Rio Grande and following the Rio Grande west and northwest, as the earlier explorers had done, Oñate decided to cut across the Chihuahua desert.- The journey started from Santa Barbara, Chihuahua. There were 400 men, some were military and some had their families with them. They had 83 carretas (wooden wheel wagons), seven to eight thousand livestock – horses, sheep, goats, etc. Together this formed a four-mile long procession through the desert. It was a long journey. Four days before arriving at the Rio Grande, somewhere near what is now San Elizario, they ran out of water. Their written records tell us that when they arrived at the river on April 20, 1598, two of their horses drank so much water; they burst their sides and died. They rested under the cottonwood trees for ten days; they swam, fished and hunted. There was a lot of wild life and vegetation in those days. Since the Rio Grande was a powerful river, it often flooded the area in the spring.
- On April 30, 1598, Don Juan de Oñate requested the friars who were traveling with them to say a Mass of Thanksgiving (a Catholic worship service), after which he formally proclaimed “La Toma”, claiming the land for the King of Spain. Later they feasted on duck, geese and fish. The “actors” among them dressed and presented a play. All this took place twenty-three years before the Pilgrims set sail from England on the Mayflower. This is why we claim to have celebrated the First Thanksgiving in the United States. And we claim to have presented the first drama, in the present day United States of America.
- The next day, they started their journey towards present-day New Mexico, following the river and crossing past the present day El Paso. It took them four months to reach the area, now known as Española, New Mexico, near present day Santa Fe, New Mexico.