Thanksgiving turned on its head... Mariyln Barrueta of Mclean, Virginia writes... First Thanskgiving? Virginia Thanskgiving Festival, Inc. claims that the first Thanksgiving was celebrated at what is now Berkeley Plantation on Dec. 4, 1619. That claim ignores the history of Don Juan de Onate, the first successful colonizer of the Southwest. In January of 1598, his colonists-an expedition of some 600 people- left southern Chihuahua and headed north. Three months later, they were met by the Manso Indians of the El Paso region, who guided them across the desert to the river crossing. There, on April 30, 1598, the colonists commemorized their arrival with a Mass and a great feast- thus a Thanksgiving celebrated in North America at least 21 years earlier than either the Virginia or Pilgrim celebration. (From an op-ed i cut out of the Taiepi Times in Nov of 2004)