Hispanics: Wave of the future in Trans-Brazos Region

                                      
by Robin Navarro Montgomery
        
An historical cultural shift is occurring in Texas, and the Trans-Brazos area is on the cutting edge. This is in reference to the growing Hispanic influence generally in the state and to the place of the Trans-Brazos in that
growth.  A look at the historical pattern will lend perspective to the coming impact on state politics of Hispanic growth patterns in our area.
            
Before the arrival in Texas of Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston and their Anglo-American cousins, a distinctive culture of Hispanics had already set the stage for the Texas Revolution of 1836 against Mexico. The key date is 1773. That date marked the moving of the capital of Mexican Texas from Los Adaes—in
present Louisiana—to San Antonio. This move altered fundamentally the mindset of the Mexican population of that city and its environs. For by that time, most Mexicans of the area had developed a distinctive culture with clear differences from citizens deeper into Mexico. The Mexicans around San Antonio came to be
called Tejanos.
                
San Antonio was from its beginning in 1718 a military buffer zone protecting Mexico initially from incursions of the French and later from the Anglo-Americans.  The defensive mindset plus the great distance from the center of Mexican politics led to a  culture of independence on the part of Tejanos, as well as to subtle differences in language from the mother country. Supplementary to its roots in the military, Tejano culture was largely a ranching culture. Hence theywere unhappy when the central government in Mexico City implemented a tax on them in accordance with the number of wild cattle and horses they captured.
                
It was thus that the Tejanos were the first to encourage the entrance into Texas of the Anglos, seeking
to thereby better their possibilities in commerce. Many Tejanos took issue, alongside the Anglo-Texans, with Mexican government policies. Examples include Juan Seguin and Antonio de Navarro, who played key roles in fostering Texas’s independence. The power-base of these Tejano stalwarts of Texas Independence was San Antonio. 
         
Hispanic influence on Texas politics is yet most intense in San Antonio and South Texas. However, the
momentum is shifting. The Greater Houston Area, which encompasses the Trans-Brazos, is becoming the epicenter of Hispanic growth and impact. What continues to give Hispanics of San Antonio and its southern neighbors greater influence at the moment is the larger numbers of registered Hispanic voters in that region. Also, in the San Antonio sphere there is a more affluent and active Hispanic Middle Class.

Over the next generation, look for a power shift as Hispanic growth in the Trans-Brazos Region helps swell the tide marshalling the Greater Houston area toward the epicenter of Hispanic influence on Texas politics and culture.

For more historical perspective on Hispanics in our area see Robin Montgomery’s book, March to Destiny. Robin may be reached at [email protected]