Myth and the History of the Hispanic Southwest

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by David J. Weber

University of New Mexico Press

Due/Published March 2002, 192 pages, paper

ISBN 0826311946

These essays explore the common roots of myth and history. Going back to the earliest Spanish explorers of the Southwest, Weber looks at some of the myths that informed the thought of Coronado and Fray Marcos de Niza. He then discusses the practice of history and the influence on historiography of such respected scholars as Bannon, Bolton, and Turner. Students of that area of southwestern history known as borderlands studies will find the essays collected here reveal the need for interdisciplinary study of the land once contested by Mexico, native Americans, and the United States.

Contents

Introduction
Reflections on Coronado and the Myth of Quivira
Fray Marcos de Niza and the Historians
Turner, the Boltonians, and the Spanish Borderlands
John Francis Bannon and the Historiography of the Spanish Borderlands: Retrospect and Prospect
Mexico's Far Northern Frontier, 1821-1854: Historiography Askew
"From Hell Itself": The Americanization of Mexico's Northern Frontier, 1821-1846
American Westward Expansion and the Breakdown of Relations Between Pobladores and "Indios Barbaros" on Mexico's Far Northern Frontier, 1821-1846
Refighting the Alamo: Mythmaking and the Texas Revolution
"Scare More than Apes": Historical Roots of Anglo-American Stereotypes of Mexicans
Index