The First Thanksgiving- in Texas?
Most Americans picture Pilgrims in buckled hats when they think of the first Thanksgiving. But history tells a different story—one that begins not in New England, but in the desert lands of West Texas, more than two decades earlier.
In 1598, near present-day San Elizario, Spanish colonists led by Don Juan de Oñate paused along the banks of the Rio Grande and held a celebration of thanksgiving after surviving a deadly journey. Their feast—shared with Native people of the region—has a strong claim as the first Thanksgiving on American soil.¹
Oñate’s expedition set out from northern Mexico with a bold mission: to establish a Spanish settlement in the uncharted region of Nuevo México. He wasn’t traveling with a small scouting party. The group included:
500 men, women, and children
Soldiers and Franciscan missionaries
And roughly 7,000 head of livestock²
Crossing the Chihuahuan Desert quickly became a test of human endurance. Food disappeared; water vanished; livestock collapsed in the heat. Chroniclers wrote that by the final days of the trek, settlers were fainting and horses were dying beneath their riders.
Then, in a moment still remembered more than four centuries later, the weary travelers spotted the shimmering waters of the Rio Grande. Recognizing the significance of their arrival, Oñate proclaimed a day of thanksgiving.³
April 30, 1598
The colonists built an altar under the mesquite and cottonwood trees. A Mass was held to offer thanks for surviving the desert crossing. Soon, the colonists were joined by members of the Manso people, whose villages lined the river.
Together, they shared a communal feast:
Game hunted by the Spaniards
Fish caught by the Mansos⁴
Bread, stews, and wine brought from the expedition’s remaining stores
That evening, as dusk settled over the river, the colonists watched what is believed to be the first theatrical performance in the future United States—a short play written by Captain Marcos Farfán de los Godos.⁵
During the celebration, Oñate read La Toma, a formal proclamation claiming the lands of the Rio Grande basin for the Spanish crown.⁶
In a single moment, he laid the political foundation for what would become centuries of Spanish—and later Mexican and American—history across the Southwest.
The desert feast of 1598 was, in many ways, a turning point: not only a Thanksgiving, but a declaration that shaped the cultural heart of the region.
Although the San Elizario event wasn’t a harvest festival, it represented:
Gratitude
Community
Cross-cultural exchange
Survival
It took place 23 years before the Pilgrims’ gathering in Plymouth.⁷
And in 2006, the Texas House of Representatives formally recognized it as the first Thanksgiving in what would become the United States.⁹
Today, the people of San Elizario reenact the event each year along the El Paso Mission Trail. Costumes, scripted performances, and community feasting celebrate the rich tapestry of Texas, Spanish, and Indigenous history that began here.⁸
Standing along the same riverbank, visitors can experience a living version of the 1598 celebration—a Texas Thanksgiving that predates American history itself.
Website: Man vs Archaeology
Footnotes
“Texas Roots of Thanksgiving: The Story of San Elizario,” Texas Time Travel.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.; also recognized by the Texas Legislature (2006).
“Texas Roots of Thanksgiving,” Texas Time Travel.
Texas House of Representatives Resolution, 2006.
