Notable Men and Women of Spanish Texas

This book is a series of biographies of people who played important roles in the Spanish Colonial Era in Texas. The authors' thesis was that many different types of people had great impacts on the development of the state. They include saints and sinners, military and religious leaders, and even include a chapter on women. Chipman and Joseph use impresive archival sources to give a largely unbiased account of the era.The first chapter is about Cabeza de Vaca, the first Spaniard to survive and tell his tale about his years in Texas. He was shipwrecked near Galveston and stayed in Texas for eight years. His experiences were published, giving us an ethnohistorical view of many Indian groups otherwise lost to history. The second chapter is about Alonso de Leon who came to Texas looking for LaSalle and his French colony. The French were enemies of the Spanish at that time, so the Spanish were desperate to keep the French out of Texas. De Leon's searches and the fear of French encroachment led to real Spanish settlement in Texas. The third chapter tells about the two men most responsible for that fear and that settlement, Francisco Hidalgo and Louis Juchereau de St. Denis.The chapter on Antonio Margil de Jesus does not come right out and claim sainthood for the Franciscan friar, but tells of his accomplishments in New Spain, many of which appear miraculous. Two high-ranking Spanish officials, the Marques de San Miguel de Aguayo and Pedro de Rivera y Villalon had tremendous impact on how Texas was settled in the early 1700s.One of the more scandalous chapters is about Felipe de Rabago y Teran and his intrigues - including alleged rape and murder - before his supposed reformation and tenure as Captain of the presidio at San Saba. Another interesting chapter concerns Athanse de Mezieres, a Frenchman who worked for the Spanish dealing with the Indians. The Spanish era ended with Mexican Indiependence in 1821, and the authors include a chapter on one of the main filibusters trying to accomplish Texas independence from Spain, Jose Gutierrez de Lara, and the Spanish officer who dealt so segverely with such uprisings, Joaquin de Arredondo.The last chapter is on women, and tells about some of the more interesting women, including the fabled Woman in Blue who may have been a Spanish nun. This chapter also tells how the colonial Spanish women had many more legal rights than other colonial European women because of the Spanish legal system. This is especially interesting for anyone who is concerned with the role of community property.All in all, this is a well-researched, well-written book. It gives the information about these people in such a way as to keep the reader interested. If you want to know the kind of people who helped create Spanish Texas, read this book!