The Bandera Museum of Natural History is now home to one of the nation’s finest collections of New Spain art, permanently housed in a new hall adjacent to the museum.

SAN ANTONIO – As New Spain was developing the area we now know as Texas, explorers started developing the land around the missions into ranchos, which is Spanish for ranches. “When those first expeditions come along, those men came with supplies, horses and cattle,” TexasTejano.com historian Rudi Rodriguez said. One of those ranches is “Rancho de Las Cabras” in Wilson County which was the ranching outpost for Mission Espada. Another key development Tejanos brought to ranching is bringing in and breeding longhorns from Spain. All this is important as it shows the first key roles Tejanos played in developing the ranching industry and Texas.

SAN ANTONIO – Between 1688 and 1836 Texas had many Spanish and Mexican governors who were the first Tejano leaders of the state. Around this time the Spanish Governor’s Palace which is still standing in downtown San Antonio was being built. San Antonio would eventually become the capital of Texas and Governor Juan Maria Vicencio was the first to live there. From this point until 1836 many Spanish or Mexican governors would be of some significance to the development of the state and Tejano history. The last new Spain governor was Antonio Maria Martinez in 1821 and the last Mexican Governor was Ramo Musquiz in 1835.

SAN ANTONIO – Before Texas even became what it is now, in its early development there weren’t any counties or borders but instead four very important districts. Spain’s development of the Texas region into New Spain is part of the founding of Texas and the American Southwest. “The four districts contribute to the development of the entire geography of Texas,” Rodriguez said. These districts, through the years, would begin to flourish and grow, becoming pioneers in ranching and strongholds for the military. Not only did these districts contribute to the development of the state but they show the deep roots Tejanos have within Texas.

Protesters say figures such as Oate, who led early Spanish expeditions into present-day New Mexico, shouldnt be celebrated. Earlier this month, demonstrators tried to tear down an Oate statue outside an Albuquerque museum using chains and a pickax. This is the work of a small, radical Native American group, not our Pueblos, Ortiz said. As a result, Nieto-Phillips said elite Hispanics in the region took on a solely Spanish American identity over their mixed heritage as a means to embrace whiteness. Meanwhile, Latinos in other southwestern states often identify as Mexican American or mestizo, a mixture of Spanish and Native American ancestry.