Faces of Bexar

This book is about the origin and development of Hispanic Texas . The study concentrates on the Tejano residents of Bexar, the largest organized community in Spanish and Mexican Texas. Most of the histories of Texas begin with the arrival of the Austin colonists and thus neglect the colonial period with little attention being given to the Tejanos and their loyalties, traditions and values. By concentrating on the people of colonial Hispanic Texas this book thus helps to begin filling in the historical blank in the colonial history of Texas. With the exception of the Introduction all of the essays in the volume have been previously published and thus there is some repetition of introductory information but that does not detract from the interesting way in which the Tejano story is presented. The first chapter covers the history of the foundation of Texas as a Spanish province and then that of the military posts and missions which were established to maintain control of the huge area of Hispanic Texas. After that the essays concentrate on the civilian communities which developed in order to service the economic and other needs of the military.

Archaeology · Colonial period · Colonialism · Ethnology · Geography · Order (exchange) · Archaeology and Natural History · Cuban History and Society · History · Latin American and Latino Studies