Jose de Galvez
"All Mexico"
John Russell Barlett
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Thomas B. Catron
William Walker
Bracero Program
Francisco Villa
Texas Rangers
Mexican American War: 1834 Santa Anna tried to modernize Mexico. 1836 TX declared independent. US has dispute over territory between Nueces River and Rio Grand. April 25, 1846, Mexican troops attacked American troops. Between 1846 � 1848 US invaded Mexico�s hearland.
Jose de Galvez: visitor general to New Spain. King�s official emissary, sent to assess problems of realm. Came to New Spain in 1767. He planned to engineer the settlement of CA in order to ward off English and Russian encroachment, to control the Indians, and to incorporate Indians into empire. He went mad.
"All Mexico": some Americans thought of taking �all mexico� making them Americanized and ready for democracy with vanishing Hispanic happening like vanishing Indian. It got turned down and US took large portions of northern Mexico (today�s TX, CA, �)
John Russell Barlett: 4th appointee of border commissioner. Protestant Yankee was a bookseller, amateur scholar, and lay politician from Rhode Island. Took sea passage from NY to TX. Congress suspended his funds and barlett quit. Barlett fell ill and spent months in Mexico. Compromise of 1850 = helped avoid breakdown of union of extension of slavery
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo:1848 at end of Mexican War, treaty committed US to control Indians: To prevent them from invading Mexico. But Indians were on same side as US. The Navajo and Apache fought Mexico along with US.
Thomas B. Catron: Lawyer who arrived in New Mexico in 1866, influenced Santa Fe ring: group of lawyers and politicians at the center of NM territorial politics. They helped clear Hispanic grants and got paid in land. Eventually 80% of Spanish grants went to American lawyers and settlers. Cantron was the best. He had interests in at least 34 land grants owning more than three million acres making him the largest land owner in the US. He was a great debtor which led to the ultimate lost of most of his property. 1890 he was in financial trouble. In 1908, expenses of one of his wife�s trips forced him to borrow money.
William Walker: height 5�5�, less than 120 lbs. From Tenessee, went to gold rush in CA in 1850. Was CA editor and lawyer, then turned to latin America. Oct 1853, leading 45 men, Walker left San Francisco to go redeem Baja CA and Sonora. By Nov 3, he occupied capital of Baja and stated �The Republic of Lwer CA is hereby declared free, sovereign, and independent�� Indians stole and drowned his livestock in the Colorado River. Soon his party was miserable and retreated to San Diego. At 31 yrs old, Walker in 1855, sailed from SF in June w/ 58 men. He arrived in Nicaragua in the middle of their civil and took over the country. He was defeated by American Commodore Vanderbilt.
Bracero Program: help me someone???
Francisco (Pancho) Villa: Oct. 1916, revolutionary leader, Villa, raided American town Columbus, New Mexico. American Gen. Jack Pershing led American troops north to find him. Americans intercepted �Zimmermann telegram� where Germans asked Mexicans to join them in fighting US and in return Germany would give Mexico all the land lost in 1848. Fearfully, police in LA arrested Mexicans and banned them from purchasing guns.
Texas Rangers: in the Anglo colonization of Texas, Rangers began �as something of a paramilitary force� for fighting Indians. They helped protect the property of Anglo Texans . Image of Texas Ranger hasn�t changed much when Pres. Richard Nixon stated in 1973, �For one and a half centuries the Texas Rangers have vividly portrayed � served the best interests of both their state and nation��
