Con Un Pie En Cada Lado: Nuevo Santander Ranching Communities Along The Lower Rio Grande

Summary

Before the Río Grande became a contested border between the United States and Mexico, and between predominantly Latino and Anglo-American societies, it was the northern frontier of Spanish Nuevo Santander and a border between Spanish Mexico and indigenous societies to the north. The pobladores, or colonists, who moved into the region—and their descendants to the present day—had to adapt constantly to the changing political, economic, and social environment. The eighteenth-century colony of Nuevo Santander attracted my attention after a look up my grandfather Pedro Hernández Barrera’s family tree. What I learned about my lineage made me question the version of Texas history that I was taught as a child growing up in Texas public schools. That version did not credit the contributions of Nuevo Santander pobladores to this state’s modern cattle industry, yet theirs were some of the earliest ranches in Texas, from Laredo to the Gulf coast.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• The Archaeology of Spanish and Mexican Ranchos: Daily life, labor, and heritage management   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2017

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 357