Thanksgiving as a Texas Tradition!

Thanksgiving and gratitude have marked important milestones in the life of Texas for hundreds of years. The first Americans who lived here saturated the land with a spirit of thanksgiving. In the words of Sister Joseph Hobday, Texan and Native American spiritual leader, "20,000 to 30,000 years of prayer and thanksgiving have come down to Americans in the soil of Texas and breathing through the trees."

History records that in 1541 the Spanish explorer Coronado paused for thanksgiving. On Ascension Thursday, surrounded by friendly Teya Indians, Coronado's expedition celebrated a Eucharistic Thanksgiving at daybreak in spectacular Palo Duro Canyon in West Texas.

In 1842, Sam Houston, president of the Texas Republic, faced threats of war, financial problems and political turmoil. Nevertheless, he proclaimed his thanksgiving "to render evidence of national blessings ... and a profound belief in an Almighty God."

Houston noted that "the Texan people have been the objects of the peculiar care ... of a Divine Providence" so they could "occupy a place among the independent governments of the earth." He established March 2 as Texas Independence Day and called for religious worship on that day. As a result, Texas may be the only state to have two thanksgivings—one in spring for its independence, and the customary national Thanksgiving in autumn.

In 1848, soon after Texas became a state, Governor Wood established the first Texas State Thanksgiving. As such, Texas was the first state in the South to call for a day of Thanksgiving.

In 1861 the Seeds of Gratitude Are Planted in Dallas

In the small village of Dallas, during the first year of the Civil War, residents gathered to give thanks for the "many blessings bestowed upon us (in) the last 10 months of war." The year was 1861.

More than 40 years afterward, in 1907, Dallas-area religious and civic leaders organized an event that at the time was unheard of: a Thanksgiving celebration of all religions. An overflow crowd of Jews, Catholics and Protestants gathered downtown under a banner reading, "Have we not all one Father?"

This annual Thanksgiving observance continued for 50 years. Perhaps as a result of this earlier celebration, the Chapel at Thanks-Giving Square opened in the heart of downtown Dallas in 1976 and today serves as the Home of American Thanksgiving—a national resource devoted to gathering and sharing the thanksgivings of America and the world.