It is a common misconception, often taught in history classes, that the first Thanksgiving took place in 1961 at Plymouth Colony in Virginia. However, the true story – one with deep ties to the Lone Star State – predates it by decades.
According to the Library of Congress, in May 1541, nearly 80 years earlier, a festival of thanksgiving took place in what is now Palo Duro Canyon in Texas.
In fact, Texas hosted two such celebrations before the one widely believed to be the first in Plymouth: the 1541 gathering at Palo Duro Canyon and another in El Paso in April 1598.
A float honors America’s Hometown during America’s Hometown Thanksgiving Parade in Plymouth on Saturday, November 23, 2024. Tom Gorman/For The Patriot Ledger
Did the first Thanksgiving actually take place in Texas?
The first Thanksgiving is traditionally recognized as the 1621 Plymouth holiday shared between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag people. However, according to the Library of Congress, a similar ceremony decades earlier marked an overlooked but important moment in history.
In May 1541, Spanish explorer Francisco Vásquez de Coronado led an expedition of about 1,500 men through the Texas Panhandle in search of the legendary Seven Cities of Gold. After months of grueling travel and harsh conditions, the group stopped in Palo Duro Canyon to hold a thanksgiving celebration, expressing gratitude for their survival and reaffirming their faith.
To honor this early moment of gratitude, a historic marker was placed in 1959 at a crossing in Palo Duro Canyon, now part of Palo Duro State Park near Amarillo, the Texas Society Daughters of the American Colonists wrote online. The marker commemorates the event, declared by Padre Fray Juan de Padilla as a day of prayer and celebration for Coronado and his men – some 79 years before the iconic meeting of the Pilgrims in Massachusetts.
Thanksgiving in El Paso
In 1598, a similar event occurred when the Spanish explorer Don Juan de Oñate was granted land in the northern Rio Grande Valley by the governor of New Spain.
Oñate chose not to take a traditional route along the Rio Conchos in present-day Mexico and then along the Rio Grande. Instead, he sent fellow explorer Vicente de Zaldívar to form a wagon trail from Santa Barbara in southern Chihuahua to the El Paso area, according to the Texas Almanac.
Nearly a year after Zaldívar wanted to build the trail, Oñate’s expedition of about 500 people and 7,000 livestock began a perilous crossing through the Chihuahuan Desert. The 50-day march started with a week of rain before dry weather set in, bringing its own risks. The Texas Almanac reports that the expedition also ran out of food and water five days before reaching the Rio Grande and stopping at present-day San Elizario.
After ten days of recovery, Oñate declared April 30, 1598 a public holiday, complete with a feast and mass. Oñate also read La Toma – “The Taking” – a legal declaration that the land north of the Rio Grande now belonged to King Philip II of Spain.
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Thanksgiving 2024: First gathering took place in Texas Panhandle
