>X-Sender: [log in to unmask]
>X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Pro Version 3.0.3 (32)
>Date: Tue, 21 Apr 1998 19:20:55 -0700
>To: [log in to unmask]
>From: "Brian W. Kenny" <[log in to unmask]>
>
>SPANISH EXPLORER'S ARRIVAL MEANT MORE THAN FIRST THANKSGIVING
>04/14/98 04:39PM EL PASO, Texas (AP) _ Spanish explorer Juan de Onate did
>more during his travels in the Southwest 400 years ago than just give
>people a reason to party. For the last nine years, El Pasoans have used
>historical accounts of Onate's arrival at the Rio Grande in 1598 as the
>basis for the city's First Thanksgiving celebration, a colorful outdoor
>pageant. But while Onate did hold a feast to give thanks for a successful
>desert crossing 23 years before the Pilgrim's celebration in Massachusetts,
>another more noteworthy event also took place when the nobleman claimed the
>land for Spain in what is known as ``La Toma.'' ``The tourism people are
>playing up the Onate expedition's arrival and then they have a big party
>and all that sort of thing,'' said W.H. Timmons, a retired history
>professor from the University of Texas-El Paso. ``But strictly speaking
>from the historical point of view,'' he said, ``it's Onate's `La Toma'
>that's the significant thing. From that time on for centuries, this whole
>area is Spanish territory.'' What followed was an era of Spanish
>colonization that led to the development of New Mexico and later, El Paso.
>The day after Onate's declaration and feast on April 30, 1598, his
>expedition continued northward and eventually reached what would become
>northern New Mexico.
>Timmons said the expedition prepared the way for the establishment of Santa
>Fe. In 1680, a revolt by the pueblo Indians drove the Spaniards south again
>into present-day El Paso County, where they established settlements and the
>area's
>historic missions.
>
>
>PERILOUS DESERT CROSSING HAD TAKEN A HEAVY TOLL ON THE WEARY BAND
>04/14/98 04:37PM Celebration marks Thanksgiving quadricentennial; Pilgrims
>need not apply BY EDUARDO MONTES ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
>EL PASO, Texas (AP) _ The perilous desert crossing had taken a heavy toll
>on the weary band, leaving the Spanish travelers starved, parched and
>desperate by the time they finally spied the long-sought river. With
>immeasurable joy, men threw themselves into the water and soothed their
>swollen tongues in the swift current. Their thirst-crazed horses plunged in
>as well, two drinking so much they burst their sides. The expedition had
>invested many weeks in trying to blaze a new route to the Rio Grande and
>had finally succeeded. Jubilantly, excursion leader Juan de Onate gathered
>his party together to feast and give thanks. Their 1598 gathering may have
>been the first Thanksgiving in America, coming 23 years before the
>Pilgrims' get-together on the East Coast. History remembers the famed
>Plymouth celebration, while Onate's party was forgotten until an El Pasoan
>stumbled onto it nine years ago. Now, on the 400th anniversary of the
>arrival of Onate and his conquistadors, the city is preparing to mark the
>occassion with exceptional vigor, going far beyond re-enactments held
>annually here since 1989. ``I don't think El Paso has ever seen anything
>like this,'' said Rhonda Bartlema, one of the coordinators of El Paso's
>Quadricentennial Festival. This year's celebration, scheduled April 24-26,
>represents an ambitious effort to expand the usual one-day pageant into a
>regional event expected to draw some 20,000 people from throughout Texas
>and surrounding states. Visitors will find themselves in a replica of a
>16th century Spanish marketplace in Socorro, a small community outside El
>Paso that is believed to be near the actual site where Onate reached the
>river. There will be jousting tournaments and other period entertainment by
>costumed performers. A few guests may even be greeted by the king of Spain
>himself, as played by an actor. Vendors also will be in costume.
>The centerpiece each day will be the re-enactment of the feast held by the
>travelers on April 30, 1598, and a recreation of ``La Toma,'' when Onate
>claimed all the lands of the Rio Grande for Spain. Festival coordinators
>say the festival has several goals: making El Paso a tourist destination;
>drawing attention to the area's historic missions, which are among the
>nation's oldest active churches; and promoting the region's history. ``Some
>people have the misconception that we're trying to take (the traditional)
>Thanksgiving away,'' said quadricentennial program director Mary Boyle.
>``We're not. We love Thanksgiving! We don't even need a holiday or anything
>like that. We just want people to have the correct information.'' ``That's
>what all this revolves around,'' added Ms. Bartlema. ``El Paso has
>something that nobody else has, the first Thanksgiving. How many cities or
>regions
>in the United States can claim 400 years of anything?'' Not that anyone in
>El Paso knew much about Onate's Thanksgiving until 1989, when Sheldon Hall,
>a central figure in local mission restoration efforts, was looking for a
>way to promote the churches. While conducting research, Hall came across a
>1610 book by Gaspar Perez de Villagra, a member of Onate's expedition who
>documented the party's travels across the Chihuahuan Desert and into what
>is now El Paso. In an epic poem, Villagra vividly describes the hardships
>endured by the more than 500 men, women and children who mounted the first
>strictly colonization
>effort in the Southwest. It also recounts the group's arrival at the river
>on April 20, 1598, the 10 days they spent resting by the water and the
>celebration that followed. ``We built a great bonfire and roasted the meat
>and fish, and then all sat down to a repast the like of which we had never
>enjoyed before,'' Villagra wrote. ``We were happy that our trials were
>over; as happy as were the passengers in the Ark when they saw the dove
>returning with the olive branch in his beak, bringing tidings that the
>deluge had subsided.'' The story inspired Hall. ``I got the brilliant idea
>of a re-enactment, which is about as stupid as I can get because I didn't
>know anything about how to do it,'' he said. But after working through many
>problems, including a frustrating effort to find conquistador armor, an
>epic in itself, Hall and some eager volunteers managed to stage a modest
>45-minute re-enactment of the Thanksgiving. The first performance attracted
>wide attention, getting mentions in national newspapers. But the
>celebration never got bigger than a local event with an average attendance
>of 2,000, until the quadricentennial. Now, even organizers seem surprised
>by what's happening. ``We had no idea it would make a massive jump,'' said
>Hall, who anticipated this year's Thanksgiving would only be a little
>bigger than normal. Promoters say they want even more. Their goal is to
>make the festival an annual affair, something on par with El Paso's
>showcase event, the Sun Bowl football game, which brings in thousands of
>visitors each winter. ``A lot of it will be determined on how this goes,''
>Ms. Bartlema said. ``And it's going to be great!'' Ms. Boyle added.
>
>
>