Review by Choice Review
This important book will serve as a landmark volume for the study of Mexican-Texans, the Tejanos, during the period when Texas was part of Mexico from 1821 until 1836. Tijerina's meticulous research provides cogent understanding of the lives, labors, land-holding patterns, political activities, society, and cultural institutions of the Texas Hispanic residents during the period when the Anglo-American frontier consumed the region west of the Sabine River. Most important, this book documents a two-way cultural exchange between the Tejanos and the Anglo-Americans, especially in the transmission of a Hispanic cattle culture to the new arrivals from the US. Tijerina (Texas A&M-Kingsville) argues convincingly that Spanish cattle-raising techniques (along with the language, land-owning patterns, and legal practices of the Hispanic cow culture) had an enduring impact on the Anglo-American frontier. Tijerina is at his strongest in surveying the Tejano demography of Hispanic Texas while he describes the society and culture of this sometimes overlooked group of Texans. This book provides significant insights into Tejano history and also serves as a model for future research. Upper-division undergraduate; graduate faculty. L. T. Cummins; Austin College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review