What Happened to the Original Hispanic Settlers of the American Southwest?

What happened to the original Hispanic settlers of the American Southwest? The American Southwest, a region which includes most of the region of the Mexican Cession like New Mexico, California, Nevada, Colorado as well as Texas, is a diverse mix of Anglo-Americans, Hispanics and various indigenous groups such as the Apache, Comanche, Navajo and Puebloans. Before Texan independence and the American annexation of Northern Mexico, a couple hundred thousand Hispanic settlers of Spanish and Mestizo origin called this region home along with a smaller number of Hispanicized natives. After the annexation by the United States, these Hispanics became US citizens and have a very interesting history contributing to the unique cultural fabric found in this part of the country. In today's video we're going to be discussing the history of these first Hispanics in America so let me know your thoughts on these different groups such as the Nuevomexicanos, Californios, Tejanos, Floridianos and Islenos of Louisiana (not discussed in the video). Thanks for watching

[Joe_JET]

We didn't cross the border the border crossed us, proud Texican

[matthewj]

I'm a Hispano of Northern New Mexico USA a Nuevo Mexicano, a Native New Mexican my family predates the United States entirely in fact we have no family and never had no family south of the border. I would not say i am a descendant of Spaniards I am a Native American mixed with Spanish. Anglos try and make us forget about our Native identity but I will always be proud of it. I can enroll in a tribe also. Our food is regional variation of Mexican food essentially with a twist. We make tacos and enchiladas and make sopapillas and biscochitos we eat lots of red and green chile. It's a combination of Spanish and Native food. We have mariachis up too. If you look up my ancestry it doesn't trace me back to Spain it traces me back to Northern New Mexico. You'll find many native Americans have Spanish last names because most of us are mixed. I am half Spanish and half native american (jicarilla apache). We are still here all over New Mexico as well as the entire southwest. Native New Mexicans is what we are specifically. Our family history is rich. We are proud of our culture and heritage and proud to be apart of the history here over 20 generations deep. The saying goes we didnt cross the border the border crossed us. We predate the pilgrims. The true Chicanos because we have been here all along and never left. We are resilient people who have spirits of warriors!


After the Mexican–American War, Anglo Americans began migrating in large numbers to all of the newly acquired territory. Anglos began taking lands from both Native Americans and Hispanos by different means, most notably by squatting. Squatters often sold these lands to land speculators for huge profits, especially after the passing of the 1862 Homestead Act. Hispanos demanded that their lands be returned but governments did not respond favorably. For example, the Surveyor of General Claims Office in New Mexico would at times take up to fifty years to process a claim, meanwhile, the lands were being grabbed up by the newcomers.

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo gave the United States undisputed control of Texas, established the Rio Grande River as the United States-Mexican border, and ceded to the United States the present-day states of California, Nevada, Utah, parts of Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and Wyoming. Article VIII of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo guaranteed, "In the said territories, property of every kind, now belonging to Mexicans . . . shall be inviolably respected." However, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was not self-executing, and Congress established different adjudication systems, by which Mexican landowners were required to demonstrate the legitimacy of their claims under Spanish and Mexican law to have their rights confirmed by the United States.

In January 1912, New Mexico became an American state, and Anglophones eventually became the majority population. The state's Hispanos became an economically disadvantaged population, becoming virtual second-class citizens compared to the Anglos. The Hispanos suffered discrimination from Anglophone Americans, who also questioned the loyalty of these new American citizens. The cultures of Hispanos and immigrant Anglophones eventually mixed to some degree, as was the case with immigrants in other parts of the United States."


Las Vegas NM one of the most disadvantaged in the nation.

"The median income for a household in the city was $24, 214, and the median income for a family was $29, 797. Males had a median income of $26, 319 versus $21, 731 for females. The per capita income for the city was $12, 619 as compared to $21, 587 nationally as noted in the 2000 Census. In the past, 24.3% of families and 27.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 35.7% of those under age 18 and 20.1% of those age 65 or over. The most recent figures as provided by the U. S. Census Bureau estimate the total number of persons (all ages) at or below the poverty line has increased to 34.4%. This is significantly higher than the national average of 12.7% or the State average of 19.8%."

[cbbcbb]

Eva Longoria is from Texas. Her family moved there "thirteen years before Virginia Dare was born." Her family, like many Mexican-Americans, never immigrated to the United States. The United States immigrated to them!

[kmtabq]

My wife's father's family came from Spain and settled in the area northwest of Santa Fe in the late 1600s. She grew up within 50 miles of where those ancestors first settled. Her mother's family came up from Mexico in the 1800s.

[Jack-yhst]

Were still here in texas as tejanos and were still catholic 🇻🇦

[gustavomezcala]

The Spanish culture had been in the region for 300 years by the time the covered wagons came around

[DonRamiro]

They should teach this stuff in school. It’s part of American history and it is absolutely fascinating.

[Ismail-unjn]

I have family from florida saint Augustine they were of spanish desecent

[Terence.]

Great video sir. I shared this with my father who was born in Northern New Mexico. He was very grateful.
If you stand on top of Wheeler Peak, also known as Taos Peak within a fifty mile radius, you would find the birthplace of all of my paternal ancestors for the past 500 years. And the Indian ancestors go back thousands of years. One of my great grandfathers owned the land grant that surrounds Taos Pueblo. Another was the first Mexican governor of Nuevo Mexico, Francisco Xavier Chavez, which coincidentally makes Demi Lovato my distant cousin.

[adolfojuangarcia]

I am Tejano, and I find this interesting. Most if my family just calls ourselves Mexican. But we have Canary Island ancestry.

[LaTierraNueva]

We are still here! Living in cities like Nogales which have been FLOODED with migrants from the South. The southwest is our home..

[josemuzquiz]

Fun Fact an estimated 14, 000 Mexicans ( mostly Tejanos ) fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War. One famous unit was the 33rd Texas Calvary lead by Col Santos Bienavides. A judge who collected bounties for fugitive slaves

[arturowagner]

I went to grad school in the U..S with a guy with the last name of Lopez. He was from Santa Fe, N.M. He descended from those early settlers. Dude couldn't speak a word of Spanish.

Surnames of Basque origin such as Archuleta and Miranda are common in Northern New Mexico..

[anthonyjat]

I think Spanish American is just a fine term, I'm Mexican American but by abuela was 100% Galician, Castilian, and Catalan. I'm proud to be of Spanish origins

[coopergreen]

As a American I have nothing but love and respect for Mexican Americans im so happy that the culture is in our nation I hope we can all get together and love one another

[WillAndersonrd]

I'm half Mexican American and half Anglo, but my grandmother on my mother's side was born in East Los Angeles in 1923 and my grandfather in El Paso in 1924. I don't know of any of my relatives being born in Mexico. Not even my grandparents. Everyone I ever met in my family was born here in the USA 🇺🇸

[rmadrid]

I’m a descendant of the Nuevo Mexicano people. My family came from the Santa Fe area. The funny thing is that I learned to speak Spanish in Argentina!!! 😅 Our family never taught us to speak Spanish because it was a secret language that the adults spoke between themselves… My uncles make fun of my Argentine accent. I’m leading up to a something that happened to me here in Southern California where I’ve lived for half my life. There were two women from Spain, tourists, in my grocery store who needed help. So, I was helping them in Spanish. This old man looked at me and said, “Speak English, or go back to you came from”!!! I politely looked at the guy and asked, “You want me to go home? My family has been in the Santa Fe area and southern Colorado for 1, 000 years! I refuse to go back there because I like the warm weather and palm trees here in Southern California”!!!! 😂 He looked startled and walked away… 😂🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️

[wotwud]

Hello! I am a descendant of these original Hispanics that were here. My ancestors are from San Elizario. Even though my blood is now mixed between Mexico and the old spainyards that came in to the southwest, there is still cultural influences in my family from the spainyards, although now watered down. My ancestors lived in San elizario up until around 1950. My great grandfather was the mayor there and his influence is still there to this day. San Elizario was a pocket of the old Spanish culture, but it no longer is and has been absorbed into the wider culture of west Texas. Many decndants from the town no longer live there, instead living in the larger Texan cities. Thanks for the video from Dallas!

[MexAm]

Yo soy nuevomexicana. And I'm an American. Crecí en Nuevo México y hablo español e inglés. I grew up in Nuevo Mexico. My paternal grandfather was Anglo-American. His father and brothers really were from England. In fact, our English cousins were here 2 months ago. Mi abuela materna era genízara. This means she was a Native Anerican who had adopted Spanish-speaking culture. Mi mamá era bilingüe y también mi papá. La familia de mi papá eran mexicanos de Guanajuato. My paternal grandparents and one of my uncles came from Silao, Guanajuato, México. I'm a Nuevomexicana that has English, Native American, Mexican, and Iberian ancestry. My 23andme DNA analysis says I'm 50% European and 45% Native American. I got it all. And I read, write, and speak both languages fluently. But I don't think of myself as Hispanic, or Latina, or Chicana, or Mexicana, or even Mexican-American. And definitely not LatinX. Nope. I'm a Nuevomexicana and an American.

[jaimendaniel]

Most novomexicanos do consider themselves Indo-Spanish, regardless of their degree of integration (or assimilation) into mainstream Anglo-Americans.