•HCON 240 IH
dition through the Chihuahuan desert to the Rio Grande
and to the city currently known as El Paso, Texas;
Whereas these colonists packed all of their possessions into
83 ox-drawn, wooden-wheeled wagons, and traveled with
nearly 8,000 horses, oxen, sheep, goats, and cattle, to
form a four-mile-long procession through the desert;
Whereas this herd of livestock introduced the major source of
horses that spread throughout the United States and
contributed to the development of agriculture and com-
merce;
Whereas the expedition of Don Juan de Onate was the larg-
est colonizing expedition into what is now the United
States, and was the start of colonization in the South-
west;
Whereas Don Juan de Onate carved a new path from Mexico
to the banks of the Rio Grande River in El Paso, Texas,
and continued to Sante Fe, New Mexico, establishing the
royal Spanish Road ‘‘El Camino Real’’;
Whereas ‘‘El Camino Real’’, which was the longest highway
in the Americas for several hundred years, became a
major trade route and opened the West to European col-
onization;
Whereas Don Juan de Onate and the Spanish colonists trav-
eled along this route between the Rocky Mountain Range
and the Sierra Mountain Range, discovering the ‘‘El
Paso del Norte’’ (the ‘‘Pass of the North’’), which was
the origin of the name El Paso, Texas;
Whereas Don Juan de Onate and the colonists traveled hun-
dreds of miles through desert and mountains for more
than 
four 
months, 
suffering 
numerous 
hardships
throughout their journey;
•HCON 240 IH
Whereas the weary colonists ultimately arrived at the banks
of the Rio Grande on April 20, 1598, where they found
plentiful water, fish, and game;
Whereas in celebration of having survived the expedition, ar-
riving at the Rio Grande, and discovering its bountiful
river valley, Don Juan de Onate called for a day of feast
and religious ceremony;
Whereas Don Juan de Onate and the colonists requested the
local inhabitants to join in celebration and, on April 30,
1598, the colonists gathered for the first Thanksgiving;
Whereas during this festivity Don Juan de Onate claimed the
territory watered by the Rio Grande as Spanish territory,
and the colonists ate, drank, and offered their gratitude
for reaching the river and for the bounty of the land they
had discovered;
Whereas this feast is considered to be the first American
Thanksgiving, occurring 22 years before the Pilgrims
landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts;
Whereas the issuance of stamps recognizing this event will
broaden the historical understanding of the origins and
development of the United States and further serve to in-
crease awareness of the influence of Spanish language
and culture on our country;
Whereas on April 24, 1998, a Quadricentennial Festival and
Gala will take place in El Paso, Texas, to celebrate the
400th anniversary of Don Juan de Onate’s Camino Real
expedition and the first Thanksgiving; and
Whereas postage stamps have been commissioned to honor
other significant elements of American culture and his-
tory: Now, therefore, be it
•HCON 240 IH
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that—
(1) postage stamps should be issued by the
United States in honor and recognition of the first
permanent settlement of the western United States
by the Spanish explorer Don Juan de Onate, includ-
ing—
(A) a postage stamp depicting Don Juan
de Onate, who led the expedition of the first
colonists of the western United States and
gathered those colonists and native inhabitants
for the first Thanksgiving; and
(B) a postage stamp depicting El Camino
Real, the path carved by Don Juan de Onate
which begins in Mexico City, enters the United
States through El Paso, Texas, and extends to
Santa Fe, New Mexico; and
(2) the Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee of
the United States Postal Service should recommend
to the Postmaster General that these postage stamps
be issued.
Æ