Los Paisanos: Spanish Settlers on the Northern Frontier of New Spain

Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1979. First edition. Stated. Presumed first printing. Hardcover. Good in good dust jacket. DJ has some soiling, edge wear, tears, and chips.. xv, 351 p. Maps. Illustrations. Chronology. Glossary of Spanish Terms. Abbreviations. Notes. Bibliographical Essay. Index. We all know of the Spanish explorers, soldiers, and missionaries who came north from Mexico into the American Southwest and then withdrew, leaving Christianized Indians, Spanish place-names, and sturdy adobe forts and churches. But little has been written about the colonists sent by Spanish authorities to settle the northern frontier of New Spain, to stake Spain's claim and serve as a buffer against encroaching French explorers. "Los paisanos", they were called-simple country people who lived by their own labor, isolated, threatened by hostile Indians, and restricted by law from seeking opportunity elsewhere. They built their homes, worked their fields, and became permanent residents-the forebears of United States citizens-as they developed their own society and culture, much of which survives today.