I was just reading something online that reminded me of something we lovers of the Old West often forget: Any history or discussion about "the Old West" means not just the United States, but must include a lot of Spanish and Mexican history.
Indeed, we "Anglos" are so ethnocentric that we sometimes forget the founding of Jamestown by "white" Europeans in 1607 was preceded by a town founded somewhere on Georgia's Sapelo Island in 1526 by the Spanish explorer Lucas Vazquez de Ayllon. Why, shoot, various Spanish and Portuguese explorers and fishermen beat "us" to America by 100 years.
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 A History of Mexican Archaeology The Vanished Civil $9.98 Time Remaining: 6d 20h 31m |
 1845 ENRIQUE VALEPOR ZAPATECAS STORE TRADE COPPER COIN PIECE OF MEXICAN HISTORY $49.00 Time Remaining: 4d 8h 48m |
 Mexican American War Of 1812 Antebellum History Comm MATTHEW CALBRAITH PERRY $5.99 Time Remaining: 6d 7h 2m Buy It Now for only: $9.50 Buy It Now |
 The Course of Mexican History Michael Meyer William Sherman Susan Deeds Acce $42.07 Time Remaining: 29d 5h 11m Buy It Now for only: $42.07 Buy It Now |
 Natural History Sep Nov 1940 Mammoths Mexican Art $15.00 Time Remaining: 29d 2h 1m Buy It Now for only: $15.00 Buy It Now |
 American History Magazine 1846 Mexican War 1996 $3.99 Time Remaining: 28d 12h 17m Buy It Now for only: $3.99 Buy It Now |
What can we learn from all this? For starters, a deeper, richer understanding of 16th Century Spanish history and culture, especially of the "New World," may be helpful when we look at the history, culture, and events of life in the Old West in the American Southwest. In fact, many of the habits, clothing, and other ways we identify "cowboys" and "cowboy culture" descend directly from Spanish/Mexican culture of the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries.
We can enjoy looking at some of this rich history of the Old West as part of our journeys and discoveries in this blog!
