| Cultural Influences
on the Valley
South Texas
has a rich history that can be divided into three general areas: pre-Columbian
Native American cultures, the Spanish-Mexican period, and as part of the
history of the United States. South Texas includes the geographic triangle
from Laredo to Corpus Christi to Brownsville, and is bordered by the Rio
Grande on the South and the Gulf of Mexico on the East.
I.
The prehistory
of early cultures living between the Rio Nueces and the Rio Panuco is
not well known. What is well documented is that Indians in that area fiercely
resisted European encroachment, thus bringing about their own extermination.
Indigenous people of the region did not keep written records nor did they
develop highly structured societies. History, it is believed, was transmitted
orally from generation to generation. Archeological excavations in the
twentieth century prove that a long and well-established residency was
present for several thousand years. The cultures were diverse, ranging
from sedentary agriculturists to nomadic hunters and gatherers. Evidence
suggests that in the almost two hundred different groups occupied the
area.
The better-documented
Indian culture occupying the geographic and cultural complex of South
Texas and Tamaulipas is that of the Huasteca. This group resided in the
coastal area from Veracruz to the southern fringes of Tamaulipas. Remains
of dwellings extend from their territorial domain to smaller settlements
in present-day South Texas. The Huasteca were an enterprising people who
created commercial contacts with more populated areas in Mexico and other
northern regions. At the time of the Conquest, Huasteca neighbors to the
south, primarily Mexica, valued this coastal area for its abundant trade.
Mexicas alluded cultural and biological ties between the two groups. A
link between the two did exist, and if it was not biological it was certainly
cultural.
Coahuiltecan
Indians were the northern neighbors of the Huasteca. Coahuiltecans extended
from Tamaulipas to the Nueces River. A nonagricultural society, Coahuiltecans
exploited available natural resources and traded with other groups for
subsistence. Commercial asociation with Huastecos produced similarities
in ceramics, tools, and shell decorations, but Coahuiltecans imitated
Huastec culture to only a minimal degree.
They planted crops in seasonal camps, but did not live from the harvest.
Corn, squash, pumpkin, and melon seeds were merely scattered. If a crop
was available by the time Coahuiltecans returned it was an added boon
to their diet.
Coahuiltecans
lived in small units that did not allow for complex village structure.
Small bands lived primarily by gathering plants, the occasional exchange
of cultivated crops, hunting of small game, and fishing. The diet of chile,
nopal, tomatillo, mulberries, coma, wild onions, mesquite and ebony beans,
and various wild greens of quelite, verdolaga, flor de pita, were augmented
by protein from deer, rabbit, javali, wild turkey, water fowl, and a variety
of sealife. Since not obtainable year-round, dependence on corn was minimal.
Yet when consumed it supplemented diets as tortillas, atoles (gruel),
and tamales. Pinole, a corn or mesquite flour mixed with wild honey, was
also a preferred food.
Coahuiltecans
maintained their own tradition until the mid-eighteenth century. Since
the early years of the sixteenth century, Spain attempted to settle present-day
South Texas. When New Spain extended its prontiers to the coast, establishing
Nuevo Santander in 1747, the end of Indian nomadic life in the region
was predictable. Yet, Coahuiltecans left their influence on the Gulf coast,
if few material remnants of their existence. Many of their traditions,
especially in the use of the land's produce, are still visible. Above
all, Coahuiltecans left a legacy of independent self-sufficient individualism,
and sound proof of the hardiness and value of their culture.
Spanish
settlers who slowly moved north to the indigenous environment had ample
experience in adapting to changes in their lifestyles. Established Spanish
traditions, along with the changes that life in Mexico had forced on those
institutions, underwent additional modifications in Nuevo Santander.
II.
European
reconnaissance of the South Texas Gulf coast began soon after Hernan Cortez
arrived in Mexcio. Cortez had named the first settlement Villa Rica, and
because of the rich finds that the name implied rivalry over who was to
colonize the coastal area soon arose. By August of 1519, Alonzo Alvarez
de Pineda had explored the Gulf Coast from Florida to Veracruz. Cortez
soon ran Pineda northward, and he landed in the vicinity of present-day
South Texas. Pineda strongly advised Governor Garay of Jamaica to settle
this area. Diego de Camargo arrived with bricks and artisans to build
a fort. Garay arrived in July of 1523 but his attempts to settle proved
unproductive.
Except for
la huasteca, Spanish attempts along the Gulf coast were unsuccessful.
In la huasteca, Cortez, with 120 horsemen, 300 foot soldiers, and 40,000
Indian allies intimidated sedentary populations and established settlements.
He renamed the area la provincia de Panuco and, in 1528, Nuno Betran de
Guzman became the first governor. Guzman initiated excursions further
north. His objective was to find gold. When this did not turn up, he focused
attention on other means of attaining wealth. Guzman captured Indians
to sell as slaves in the villa of Panuco (Tampico). The trade proved lucrative,
but it also brought Guzman unwanted notoriety. His cruelty to the Indians
caught the Crown's attention, and Guzman was dismissed in 1533.
Missionaries
were sent to Christianize the Indians and bring them into Spanish communities.
In 1528, Fray Andres de Olmos began missionary activities between the
Panuco River and the Nueces. Olmos remained in the area for over thirty
years trying to Christianize the nomadic Coahuiltecans with little success.
Because of difficulties in establishing permanent communities along the
coast, Spain then decided to concentrate on inland settlement and from
there possibly extend to the Gulf.
Also in
the sixteenth century, Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca lived among the Native
populations along the Gulf. His account of the eight-year journey in the
region sheds light on the Native people living along the Gulf coast from
Galveston to the Rio Grande.
Luis de
Carbajal y de la Cueva undertook the task of inland settlement. In the
late 1660s, Carbajal was made governor of el Nuevo Reino de Leon (today's
present day Nuevo Leon) and advanced from Tampico on a northwesterly course
and established several villas. By the close of the century, Queretaro,
San Luis Potosi, Monterrey, Saltillo, Monclova, Cadereita, and Cerralvo
had been established. By the first decades of the eighteenth century,
twenty-four settlements existed in Nuevo Leon and in what was later to
become Coahuila. Communities were still not directed toward the coast,
and it was not until the threat of French expansion along the Gulf that
a further push for settlement was initiated. 
In 1746,
Jose de Escandon was commissioned to settle the region, and, in 1747,
advanced an entrada with settlers from Queretaro, Nuevo Leon, and Coahuila-Tejas.
The group of some 3,000 pioneers had been amalgamated by a common culture
and experience of frontier life. By 1755, twenty-three villas (towns)
and many ranchos were established in present-day South Texas and Tamaulipas.
Only two villas were on the north bank of the Rio Bravo/Rio Grande, Laredo
and Dolores. The region from Tampico, at the Panuco River, to the Nueces
was named "Nuevo Santander."
The first
sign of flourishing settlements was the clearing of roads between villas
and ranchos. The main road, known as el camino real (King's highway),
connected villas and established communiation between them. El camino
real, lined by mesquite, cacti, and chaparral, became a frequented road
to neighboring towns, especially Monterrey, where settlers went to trade
and acquire supplies. For the most part, ranching became the dominant
occupation. Vast grasslands were converted into grazing pastures for thousands
of ganado vacuno (cattle herds) and ganado menor (sheep, goats, and hogs).
The multiplying herds created ranchos of considerable size. Ganaderos
(ranchers) acquired large tracts of land on both sides of the river but
continued to live in villas, leaving herds in the capable hands of vaqueros
(cowboys).
By the time
of settlement in South Texas, the Spanish community in Mexico had experienced
a cultural transformation. Foundations were Spanish, but both Indian and
Iberian cultures incorporated, modified, and adapted social patterns.
Indian and Spaniard blended into a predominantly mestizo society. Spanish-Mexicans
then brought modified institutions, customs, and traditions to Coahuiltecan
regions.
"El Norte," map of provinces bordering the Rio Grande,
late 18th century. drawing by Jack Jackson Texas A&M Press. Larger
view
III.
Anglo American
influence in South Texas dates from the annexation of what in 1945 comprised
Texas (from the San Antonio River and the Nueces to the Red and Sabine
Rivers). After the Anglo American takeover of Texas in 1836, Texas became
a Republic. After annexation, President Polk ordered Gen. Zachary Taylor
to the disputed border at the Rio Bravo/Rio Grande. Polk established forts
across from Matamorros, in Brownsville, in Rio Grande City, and in Laredo.
Battles during the U.S.-Mexican War were fought at Palo Alto and Resaca
de la Palma, near Brownsville. Although the War ended in 1848, the present
boundaries for the state of Texas were set with the Compromise of 1850.
Mexican
Americans fought on both sides of the Civil War. Have distinguished themselves
in all U.S. wars/conflicts.
Today, South
Texas still exhibits much of the cultural legacy left by Spanish-Mexicans.
Traditions, language, folklore, music, and cuisine have shaped a lasting
legacy that continues to evolve and flourish.
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