[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 240 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 240

  Expressing the sense of the Congress that postage stamps should be 
issued by the United States to honor and recognize the first permanent 
  settlement of the western United States by the Spanish explorer Don 
                             Juan de Onate.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 11, 1998

  Mr. Reyes submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
      referred to the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
  Expressing the sense of the Congress that postage stamps should be 
issued by the United States to honor and recognize the first permanent 
  settlement of the western United States by the Spanish explorer Don 
                             Juan de Onate.

Whereas Don Juan de Onate, the Spanish explorer who was the son of a noble 
        Spanish family and the husband of the granddaughter of Cortez and the 
        great-granddaughter of Montezuma, led the first major colonizing effort 
        into what is now the United States;
Whereas Don Juan de Onate began in January of 1598, with approximately 600 
        Spanish colonists and Franciscan priests from Santa Barbara, Mexico, a 
        four-month expedition 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 commerce;
Whereas the expedition of Don Juan de Onate was the largest colonizing 
        expedition into what is now the United States, and was the start of 
        colonization in the Southwest;
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 colonization;
Whereas Don Juan de Onate and the Spanish colonists traveled 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 hundreds of miles through 
        desert and mountains for more than four months, suffering numerous 
        hardships throughout their journey;
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, arriving 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 increase 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 history: Now, therefore, be it
    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, including--
                    (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.
                                 <all>