Texans of Mexican descent built a unique and highly developed 
ranching culture that thrived in South Texas until the 1880s. In 
Tejano Empire historian Andrés Tijerina describes the major 
elements that gave the Tejano ranch community its identity: shared 
reaction to Anglo-American in-migration, tightly interconnected 
families, cultural loyalty, networks of communication, Catholic 
religion, and a material culture well adapted to the conditions of the 
region. After the introduction's historical overview of the region, the 
chapters address specific elements of the lives people led in the Rio 
Grande Valley and South Texas: work ways and tools, housing and 
ranch layouts, family networks and authority patterns, education and 
the arts, religion and daily prayer.

    A gallery of energetic line drawings by the late Ricardo M. 
Beasley and graceful pen-and-ink detail drawings by Servando G. 
Hinojosa of Alice, Texas, commissioned especially for this book, 
intricately portray scenes from South Texas daily life.

"The scope and depth of Tijerina's research is breathtaking and the 
detail in which he passes his findings to us is exhaustive. . . . 
Tejano Empire is a long-needed corrective and valuable addition to 
the historical record of Texas. It's sure to become a standard 
reference on Hispanic culture in the state."—Dallas Morning News

_________________________________________________________

ANDRÉS TIJERINA is a professor of history at Austin Community 
College. He is author of the prize-winning Tejanos and Texas 
under the Mexican Flag, also published by Texas A&M University 
Press.


Number Seven: The Clayton Wheat Williams Texas Life Series



Of Related Interest



TEJANOS AND TEXAS UNDER
THE MEXICAN FLAG

978-0-89096-606-8 PAPER

$15.95s


EARLY TEJANO RANCHING

978-1-58544-134-1 CLOTH

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978-1-58544-163-1 PAPER

$9.95