Tejano Origins in Mexican Texas — 14

Similar conditions prevailed at Nacogdoches where Tejano families were continually robbed of their livestock, grain, and belongings. Many Tejanos such as Carlos de la Garza, Vicente Cordova, and eventually Juan N. Seguin turned against the militant Anglos. Hundreds of Tejano families, however, scattered onto the ranches and eventually into Coahuila and Tamaulipas. Enough Tejano families remained throughout the wars, however, and many were able to regain their lands, and even to become competitive ranchers and merchants after the Mexican War, particularly in the region south of the Nueces River. There the campaigns of the Mexican War actually spurred the population growth along the Río Grande. The most immediate effects of General Taylor's occupation, for example, was to stimulate trade and introduce some semblance of order-albeit military-to the region. Even as the war raged in Central Mexico, the modern towns of the Río Grande region were being born. From the old ranches eventually grew the new American towns of Corpus Christi, Eagle Pass, Brownsville, Edinburgh, and Río Grande City. The San Patricío land district of Texas was finally organized into several new counties. An American diocese was created, an official census was taken, and American city governments were organized with new government officials, including some old ranchero patriarchs. By 1848, the number of Tejanos was in an upward swing, led particularly by the robust ranch frontier of the Río Grande.^v The distinctiveness of Tejano culture is in its combination of conflict and heritage. Conflict inhered in Tejano life on the frontera. From their first settlement on the Texas frontera to the post-revolutionary decades of unrest, Tejanos knew conflict in their daily lives. Defense had become a part of their unique culture. Their heritage was more than simply Mexican. It was a Mexican heritage which retained significant aspects of Indian and Spanish culture and developed under constant conditions of conflict.

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