44TH LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - FIRST SESSION, 1999

REQUESTING THE LEGISLATURE TO RECOGNIZE APRIL 30, 1598, AS THE OFFICIAL DATE OF THE FIRST THANKSGIVING CELEBRATION EVER HELD BETWEEN INDIANS AND EUROPEANS IN WHAT IS TODAY THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

WHEREAS, after exasperating and expensive delays, in the spring of 1598, Juan de Onate led the first colonizing expedition into the northernmost reaches of La Nueva Espana today known as the southwestern United States of America; and

WHEREAS, Onate brought with him to the land that would be known as New Mexico an expedition of approximately five hundred colonists, including men, women and children, ten Franciscan priests and lay brothers; and

WHEREAS, now at the threshold of New Mexico, custom and law required that the occasion be marked by proper ritual, both secular and religious; and

WHEREAS, when they reached the banks of the Rio Bravo del Norte, today known as the Rio Grande, Juan de Onate proclaimed that the day had arrived for conducting a formal ceremony of thanksgiving to take possession of the new land; and

WHEREAS, Onate directed the construction of a spacious bower to serve as a chapel; and

WHEREAS, with everyone in attendance, a solemn high mass was celebrated; and

WHEREAS, Father Martinez delivered the sermon; and

WHEREAS, after mass, everyone joined Onate in a grove of giant trees where, assisted by the royal notary Juan Perez de Donis, he read in a firm voice the official act of possession. This document summarized Onate's rights, privileges and titles; and

WHEREAS, shots were fired in the air while trumpets blared and families and servants shouted approval, and Juan de Onate signed and sealed the official act at the same time the royal ensign lifted King Philip's regal banner and waved it aloft, and

WHEREAS, the kingdom of New Mexico came into being, at midday on April 30, 1598; and

WHEREAS, the Mansos, the amicable local Indians who lived along the river who had been helping the Spanish, now joined them in a thanksgiving meal of duck, geese, corn and great variety of fish found in the river; and

WHEREAS, Captain Villagra who vigilantly documented the events of the day, tells us that the afternoon was given over to celebrating, "with great joy and mirth";

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that from this day forward the true and accurate history of New Mexico be heralded throughout our state by encouraging the celebration of April 30 as the first thanksgiving ever celebrated in what is today the United States of America; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the governor.