BROWNSVILLE — During the American Revolution, more than 100 ships were deployed from México and other parts of New Spain to aid in the fight against Britain.

In addition to Gov. Bernardo de Gálvez of Louisiana, other Hispanics who distinguished themselves in the American Revolution were Venezuelan-born Francisco de Miranda and Capt. Jorge Farragut. The Spanish colonies Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California donated troops, arms and money to support this conflict. Tejano cattlemen such as Santiago Seguín, Marcos Hernández, Manuel González, Carlos Martínez, Félix Gutiérrez and their “vaqueros” herded their cattle to Louisiana ports, helping to feed the soldiers fighting in the revolution.

Thus, it is clear Hispanics played a major role in the struggle for independence from Britain; however, most texts give enormous credit to France's Marquis de Lafayette and almost no credit or mention to Hispanic involvement.

I will also point out that during the 19th century, many Northerners migrated to the present Southwest, where they found towns and villages with civilized functions such as commerce, cattle drives, religion and schools already established, as well as the Christianization of American Indians. They also found roads cleared and farming that provided them with sustenance, including large herds of cattle, goats, pigs and domestic animals of all kinds, as well as wine, fruits, rice and other products, already cultivated long before the so-called “Westward movement” began, a movement popularized by Hollywood.

Many history school texts written by biased historians make it appear as if the Westward movement were the act of certain people who trail-blazed the area when, in reality, the heavy lifting, the earlier work and the sacrifice of human labor had already been done by early Hispanic settlers and explorers centuries before the so-called Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Of special interest is the horse, brought into this land by Hispanics, completely changing the life of the West and the native population. Thus, the Hispanic traditions of the “charros” and the “rodeo” were also born, introducing the “vaquero” culture later imitated heavily, through both language and dress, by the American cowboy.

So, when the so-called Westward movement got underway and a large segment of Northerners sought a new life in the then-Spanish Southwest, many American Indians had already been Christianized and Hispanized, thus helping those who answered the call of “Go West, young man” find a place without relatively much effort.

Without all of the above activity being accomplished by Hispanics, the so-called taming of the West would have been slow, bloody and difficult to achieve.

Source: José Antonio Crespo Francés