In May 1541, Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado and 1,500
men celebrated at the Palo Dur Canyon -- located in the modern-day Texas
Panhandle -- after their expedition from Mexico City in search of gold.
In 1959 the Texas Society Daughters of the American Colonists commemorated
the event as the "first Thanksgiving."
Another "first Thanksgiving" occurred on June 30, 1564, when
French Huguenot colonists celebrated in a settlement near Jacksonville,
Florida. This "first Thanksgiving," was later commemorated
at the Fort Carolina Memorial on the St. Johns River in eastern Jacksonville.
The harsh winter of 1609-1610 generated a famine that caused the deaths
of 430 of the 490 settlers. In the spring of 1610, colonists in Jamestown,
Virginia, enjoyed a Thanksgiving service after English supply ships
arrived with food. This colonial celebration has also been considered
the "first Thanksgiving."
