Tejano Legacy

by Alonzo, Armando

• ISBN13: 9780826318978
• ISBN10: 0826318975
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-04-01
• Publisher: Univ of New Mexico Pr

Summary

This is a pathbreaking study of Tejano ranchers and settlers in the Lower Río Grande Valley from their colonial roots to 1900. The first book to delineate and assess the complexity of Mexican-Anglo interaction in south Texas, it also shows how Tejanos continued to play a leading role in the commercialization of ranching after 1848 and how they maintained a sense of community. Despite shifts in jurisdiction, the tradition of Tejano land holding acted as a stabilizing element and formed an important part of Tejano history and identity. The earliest settlers arrived in the 1730s and established numerous ranchos and six towns along the river. Through a careful study of land and tax records, brands and bills of sale of livestock, wills, population and agricultural censuses, and oral histories, Alonzo shows how Tejanos adapted to change and maintained control of their ranchosthrough the 1880s, when Anglo encroachment and changing social and economic conditions eroded most of the community's land base.

Author Biography

Armando C. Alonzo is a professor of history at Texas A&M University and a specialist on the borderlands.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. xi
Introduction	p. 1
Spaniards, Indians, and The Inhospitable Seno Mexicano	p. 15
Hacia La Frontera The Origins of Spanish and Mexican Society In Present-Day South Texas, 1730s-1848	p. 25
Early Economic Life in the Lower Río Grande Frontier, 1730s-1848 Origins of Commerce, Ranching, and Farming Enterprises	p. 67
The Making of a Tejano Homeland In South Texas, 1848-1900: Population Growth, Adaptation, and Conflict	p. 95
Losing Ground Anglo Challenges to Mexican Landholders And Land Grant Adjudication in South Texas, 1846-1900	p. 145
A Case Study of Tejano Land Tenure in Hidalgo County, Texas 1848-1900	p. 161
Recovery and Expansion Of Tejano Ranching in South Texas 1848-1885 The Good Years	p. 183
The Decline Of Tejano Ranching Its Social and Economic Bases, 1885-1900	p. 227
Tejano Rancheros and Hispanic Landholding in the Southwest 1848-1900	p. 259
Epilogue	p. 271
Definition of Terms	p. 285
A Note on Sources	p. 287
Livestock Transactions Recorded in Hidalgo County 1874-1899	p. 291
Livestock Transactions in Webb County, Texas, 1876-1890	p. 297
Notes	p. 301
Index	p. 347
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