Texas Tidbits: Sorry, Massachusetts, The First Thanksgiving Took Place in Texas

Francisco Vasquez de Coronado

I am about to piss some people off, especially those in Massachusetts. The matter at hand is the first Thanksgiving. Sorry, Plymouth Rock, you ain't the home of the first Thanksgiving, maybe not even the second or third Thanksgiving. There are historical records that show that the First Thanksgiving was held in Palo Duro Canyon, Texas a full eighty years before the celebration of thanks at Plymouth Rock. in 1621.

The First Thanksgiving in the New World was held at Palo Duro Canyon on Ascension Thursday, May 23, 1541. On that day, Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado and his men held a day of thanksgiving after "Coronado's expedition had left Mexico in search of the Seven Cities of Cibola, but instead of a mythical city of gold, Coronado and his men found the Llano Estacado, where there were no cities, no trees and very little water." (from homepages.vvm.com)The rest of that story can be found here. This series of events has been verified by historians the world over, so this is the first instance of Thanksgiving as we know it in the New World.

On April 21, 1598, another Thanksgiving took place in Texas. That story can be found here. Now we have two "Thanksgivings" quite a few years before the Pilgrims celebrated their own day of thanks at Plymouth Rock.


I know this story may ruffle a few turkey feathers, but history is history. I don't bring this up to in any way diminish the importance of the Thanksgiving at Plymouth Rock in 1621 as it was certainly one of the most historic days of the American story. Three groups of people came to the New World for various reasons and independent of each other by miles and by years, found a reason to celebrate a day of Thanksgiving in what is now the United States of America, long may She live.

Maine Minutiae: Coop Comes to Visit

Coop - My Newest Fishin' Buddy

I usually write a Texas Tidbits post before everything else, But Maine Minutiae takes precedence today because Coop is coming to see us!!! A quick refresher: Coop is my newest fishin' buddy from my wife's side of the family. He's two days shy of being a month old, so I figure he's ready for lessons on how to pitch a plastic worm on top of a lily pad. Since I don't have a lily pad to pitch to, we'll use a gimme cap. Easy money. Anyway, this will be the first time we've seen Coop since the day he was born and I'm looking forward to it, Heather is thrilled and Bailey the Three Year Old is going ape shit with anticipation.

I'm glad Coop gets to stay with us for a little while. Babies are kinda cool. They're a great audience for stupid faces and silly noises and it just so happens that I am a Master of Stupid Faces and Silly Noises. At least the Coop will be entertained while he's here. I'm searching through my memory bank for the most recent baby boy that I have spent more than a few minutes with. I guess that would to be my nephew Hoss. And Hoss is in his late 20's, so it's been a while. Otherwise, it's been a steady parade of baby girls in my family, including Bailey the Three Year Old. Since Coop is now here as a full fledged member of the male persuasion, I hope that I can teach the boy about bass fishin' and stuff like that. After all, Fish.Fear.Me. Technically, Coop is my cousin, but since I am 54 years old, I'll be like a third grandpa or something...maybe a crazy uncle kind of dude. It really doesn't matter to me, just as long as I can take the boy fishin' once in a while, all with be right with the world..

I just felt like sharing that with you today. As I get older, it seems that I like kids more and more. Don't get me wrong, I have always loved children and I have been the "crazy uncle-type"to dozens of kids over the years, but they are now all grown up and don't need a crazy Uncle Toby, so Coop got here just in time. :)

I gotta run, Coop will be here in a few minutes and I've got rig up a plastic worm on the Mickey Mouse Fishin' Pole. It's never too early to learn about fishin' and soon, Fish.Will.Fear.Coop. :)