America’s Real First Thanksgiving

When most Americans think of the first Thanksgiving, they

think of the Pilgrims and the Indians in New England in
1621. But fifty-six years before the Pilgrims celebrated,
America’s Real
Spanish explorer Pedro Menéndez arrived on the coast
of Florida and founded the first North American city, St.
Augustine.
On September 8,1565, the Spanish and the native
First Thanksgiving
Timucua celebrated with a feast of Thanksgiving. The
Spanish most likely offered cocido, a rich stew made with
pork, garbanzo beans, and onions. Perhaps the Timucua
provided wild turkey or venison, or even alligator or
tortoise, along with corn, beans, and squash.
Learn about our real first Thanksgiving. Learn about Spain and Florida in the 1560s. And make your
own cocido from a recipe provided in this important and groundbreaking book.

Robyn Gioia teaches full-time and has been active in children’s literature since joining an
eclectic group of writers during a three-year stay in England. She is a former board member
of the Florida Writers Association and has been a judge for several national contests. She
reviews children’s books for the School Library Journal, is a member of the Society of
Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and her middle-grade novel, Rinny and The Trail
of Clues (by Robyn Leslie), has won several awards, including the Benjamin Franklin Silver
Award for Best New Children’s Voice. $14.95

Pineapple Press, Inc.

Gioia
Sarasota, Florida
Front and back cover art © 2007
St. Augustine, Florida, September 8, 1565
Robyn Gioia
A merica’s
Real
F irst
T hanksgiving


A merica’s Real F irst
T hanksgiving
St. Augustine, Florida, September 8, 1565

Robyn Gioia
Pineapple Press, Inc.

Sarasota, Florida
 Illustration Credits
Pages 1, 5, 33, 34, and 39: copyright © 2007 Cox-Deaton;
Robert Deaton, Historical artist for the Florida Museum
of History, Tallahassee, FL.
Pages 2 (left) and 26 (top): Florida State Archives.
Pages 2 (right) and 21: Courtesy of Theodore Morris, www.
floridalosttribes.com
Pages 2–3 and 36 (right): Courtesy of Charles S. Boning.
Pages 3, 28, 29, 31, and 35: Courtesy of Frank Suddeth.
Page 7: Benedict Arias Montanus Sacrae Geographiae
Tabula Ex Antiquissimourm Published 1569-72.
Courtesy of Harry S. Newman, Old Print Shop, New
York, N.Y.
Page 9: Ortelius, Abraham. La Florida. From the
Additamentum to the Theatrum Orbis Terarrum, 1584.
Courtesy of the P.K. Yonge Library of Florida History,
University of Florida Libraries.
Page 10: From History of the Reign of Philip the Second
King of Spain by William H. Prescott. Vol. 1.
Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1880.
Page 11 (all photos): Courtesy of David White.
Page 12 (top left): The J. Paul Getty museum, Los Angeles;
Artist: Unknown; Title: The Lamb Defeating the Ten
Copyright © 2007 by Robyn Gioia
Kings; About 1220–1235; Tempera colors and gold leaf
on parchment, 11 9/16 x 9 ¼ in.
Page 12 (middle): The J. Paul Getty museum, Los Angeles;
Artist Circle of Fernando Gallego; Title: Pieta; About
1490–1500, oil on canvas, 22 1/8 x 16x2 in.
Page 12 (bottom right): Courtesy of David White
Page 13: Drawing: Joris Hoefnagel, 1566. Courtesy of
Historic Cities Research Project http://historic-cities.
huji.ac.il The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Page 14 (top): The J. Paul Getty Museum Villa Collection,
Malibu, CA; Artist Unknown; Title: Winged Feline;
Spain, 700–575 B.C.; Media: Bronze; Size: 61 x W:
19.4 x D: 33 cm
Page 14 (middle): The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles;
Artist: Unknown; Title: Tile Floor; Spain, about 1425-
1450; Size: 121.92 x 182.88 cm
Page 14 (bottom): The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles;
Artist: Unknown; Title: Hispano-Moresque Basin;
Spain, Mid-15th century; Media: Tin-glazed and luster-
painted earthenware; Size: Diameter 49.5 cm
Page 15: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; Artist:
Michael Lupi de Çandiu (Illuminator); Title: Initial E:
An Equestrian Duel Between a Creditor and a Debtor;
Spain, about 1290–1310; Media: Tempera colors, gold
leaf, ink on parchment; Size: Leaf: 36.5 x 24 cm
Page 16: Hurricanes: NASA. Image produced by Hal Pierce,
Laboratory for Atmospheres, NASA Goddard Space
Flight Center.
Pages 17, 20, 22, 23, 24, and 25 (top left): Jacques Le
Moyne. Courtesy of Pelotes Island Nature Preserve.
Page 18: Courtesy of Pelotes Island Nature Preserve.
Page 19 (both photos): Courtesy of Doug Alderson.
Page 25 (top right and both bottom photos): Courtesy of
the Florida Museum of Natural History. Photos by Jeff
Gage.
Page 26 (bottom): Courtesy of Jean Moran.
Pages 27 and 43: Courtesy of Robyn Gioia.
Page 30: Courtesy of Pelotes Island Nature Preserve.
Page 37 (top): David Meek for the Florida Humanities
Council.
Page 37 (bottom): Courtesy of Ray Ashton.
Page 40, 41 (top left and bottom left), and 42 (both): St.
Augustine, Ponte Vedra & The Beaches Visitors and
Convention Bureau.
Page 41 (top right and bottom right): Courtesy of the state
of Florida.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage
and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Inquiries should be addressed to:

Pineapple Press, Inc.
P.O. Box 3889
Sarasota, Florida 34230
www.pineapplepress.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Gioia, Robyn.
America’s real first Thanksgiving : St. Augustine, Florida, September 8, 1565 / Robyn Gioia. -- 1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-56164-389-9 (hardback : alk. paper)
1. Saint Augustine (Fla.)--History--16th century. 2. Saint Augustine (Fla.)--History--16th century--Pictorial works. 3. Thanksgiving Day--Florida--Saint Augustine--History--16th
century. 4. Spaniards--Florida--Saint Augustine--History--16th century. 5. Timucua Indians--Florida--Saint Augustine--History--16th century. 6. Saint Augustine (Fla.)--Social life
and customs--16th century. 7. Saint Augustine (Fla.)--Ethnic relations--History--16th century. 8. Florida--History--To 1821. I. Title.
F319.S2L47 2006
975.9’1801--dc22
2006037281
First Edition
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Printed in China
 Contents

1. The World in 1565 6

2. Uncharted Lands 8
3. Spain in the 1560s 10
4. Florida in the 1560s 16
5. The Timucua, St. Augustine’s
Native Americans 20
6. The Founding of St. Augustine, 1565 26
7. Day of Thanksgiving 32
8. St. Augustine Today 40
Cocido Recipe 43
Timeline 44
Glossary 45
References 46
Acknowledgments and Author’s Note 47
Index 48
 1. The World in 1565

Long ago many people thought the world was flat, but educated people began to consider the idea that the

Earth is a sphere. In the Age of Exploration, from the late 15th century to the early 17th century, ships set out

from Europe to find out what might be on the other side of this sphere. They were anxious to explore new

lands and claim their resources, particularly gold.

    One of the countries sending out explorers was Spain. The first explorer Spain sent, an Italian named

Chistopher Columbus, landed on an island in the New World in 1492. He finally made it to the mainland

in 1498. Then many other explorers ventured forth, including Juan Ponce de León, who landed in a place

he named La Florida when he first landed there in 1513. In 1565 Pedro Menéndez de Avilés came to La

Florida to establish a settlement.


This important map appeared in the Plantin Polyglot Bible in 1569–72. It was prepared under the patronage of King Philip II of
Spain. Look closely at the shapes of the continents. How are they different today? Notice the size of the Florida peninsula and
its relationship to Texas and California. Note the ships and sea creatures swimming in the oceans and the great gusts of winds
influencing the weather.


 2. Uncharted Lands

When the explorers arrived in the New World, they had at first, of course, no maps to guide

them. Each expedition recorded what they found, and gradually the shape of the North and South

American continents took form on maps.

     The New World that the European explorers found at first appeared wild and uninhabited,

but soon they learned that people lived there. Today we know that millions of native inhabitants

had lived in these lands for thousands of years before the arrival of the Europeans. There

were many different tribes of native people, each with a distinct culture—their own patterns

of knowledge, beliefs, and ways of surviving in their environment. These cultures were very

different from the European cultures that the explorers knew.


America’s Real First Thanksgiving
by
Robyn Gioia

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