Spanish Influence on the Old Southwest

The traditional narrative of the American West tells of a frontier settled by pioneers emigrating from the east to the Pacific coast. Yet Spanish conquistadors arrived in Central America 150 years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. With them came missionaries who tried to convert the Pueblo and Plains Indians to Christianity by force, a suppression of native religious beliefs that led to cultural clashes and outright war.
This is the story—fully documented—of how Spanish explorers, soldiers and men of the church pushed north from Mexico in the 1500s, seeking riches and establishing settlements from Texas to California 250 years before the influx of American settlers in the mid–1800s.

Jeremy Agnew, a biomedical electronics consultant, holds a Ph.D. in engineering and has been involved in the design and manufacture of medical devices for more than 30 years. He lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and has written several books on the Old West.

Jeremy Agnew
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 236
Bibliographic Info: 47 photos, glossary, chronology, appendices, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2016
pISBN: 978-0-7864-9740-9
eISBN: 978-1-4766-2327-6
Imprint: McFarland

Table of Contents


Preface 1

Chronology 5

One. The Beginning 7

Two. Anasazi Descendants 27

Three. Pushing North from New Spain 45

Four. The City of the Holy Faith 66

Five. A Clash of Beliefs 84

Six. New Spain Expands 99

Seven. The Lure of Pacific Shores 116

Eight. Indian Horseman and Spanish Cowboys 135

Nine. The Spanish Falter 154

Ten. New Trails to Santa Fe 167

Eleven. The Americans Take Over 186

Postscript 205

Appendix 1: Glossary 209

Appendix 2: Outstanding Examples of Anasazi Ruins in the Southwest 211

Appendix 3: The California Mission Trail 212

Chapter Notes 215

Bibliography 223

Index 225