". . . no other work presents the social
history of eighteenth-century Texas in
such a concise yet thorough manner."
—Cheryl E. Martin, associate professor of
history, University of Texas at El Paso.
Contrary to a popular belief that Texas his-
tory began with the arrival of Stephen F.
Austin's colonists, numerous Mexican
settlements were already well established in
Texas before Anglo settlers came in the
1820s and 1830s. This study of one of those

settlements, San Antonio, highlights the
contributions of various groups who
together forged a Tejano (Mexican-Texan)
community that even two centuries later
retains a distinctive Hispanic character.
In addition to the editors, noted scholars
Jesus de la Teja, John Wheat, Anne Fox,
and Elizabeth A. H. John trace the first
century of San Antonio history (1718-1830s) as
the town grew from a small Spanish mili-
tary and mission outpost (San Antonio de
Bexar) into a socially stratified but inte-
grated community with a strong sense of
regional identity. Each chapter examines
the contribution of a different group—
Mexican soldier-settlers, Franciscan mis-
sionaries, mission and independent Indians,
Canary Islander immigrants, and
other immigrants from throughout New
Spain—while an introductory essay places
the study within the historiography of Tejano
communities. An important work for scholars and
Texas history enthusiasts alike, Tejano
Origins in Eighteenth-Century San Antonio
uncovers the rich contributions of Spanish
and Mexican culture to the formation of Texas.

Gerald E. Poyo is assistant professor of
history at Florida International University.
Gilberto M. Hinojosa is assistant vice-
president for academic affairs and associ-
ate professor of history at the University of
Texas at San Antonio.

Co-published with the University of Texas
Institute of Texan Cultures at San Antonio

University of Texas Press
AUSTIN

“This is a significant contribution.
It will appeal to anyone interested in
Texas history, whether specialist, buff,
student, or general reader. It will also
appeal to those interested in the
history of borderlands Western
history, cultural conflict and fusion
and adaptation, and the Tejano view
. . . of American expansion into the
Spanish-Mexican borderlands.”
RALPH H. VIGll
PROFESSOR OF HISTORY
UNIVERSITY OP NEBRASKA, LINCOLN

A century and more before the arrival
of Stephen F. Austin’s colonists, Spanish
settlers from Mexico were putting
down roots in Texas. From San
Antonio de Béxar and La Bahía (Goliad)
northeastward to Los Adaes and later
Nacogdoches, they formed communities
that evolved their own distinct
"Tejano" identity—Spanish-speaking,
Catholic by faith, and solidly
grounded in their new homeland.

In Tejano Journal 1770-1850,
Gerald Poyo and other noted borderlands
historians track the changes and
continuities within Tejano communities
during the years in which Texas
passed from Spain to Mexico to the
Republic of Texas and finally to the
United States. The authors show how

a complex process of accommodation
and resistance—marked at different
periods by Tejano insurrections,
efforts to work within the political and
legal systems, and isolation from the
mainstream—characterized these
years of changing sovereignty.

While interest in Spanish and
Mexican borderIands history has
grown tremendously in recent years,
the story has never been fully told
from the Tejano perspective. This
book complements and continues the
history begun in Tejano Origins in
Eighteenth-Century San Antonio,
which Gerald E. Poyo edited with
Gilberto M. Hinojosa.

Gerald E. Poyo is Associate
Professor of Latin American and U. S.
Latino History at St. Mary's University
in San Antonio. He compiled and
edited this volume while serving as the
university’s O'Connor Chair in the
History of Spanish Colonial Texas
and the Southwest.