Discusses the history of the southwestern region of the United States from the sixteenth century to the Mexican War, examining the interactions between the Spanish, Indians, and American pioneers.

Provides the history of Spanish colonies in America.

"Because of our shared English language, as well as the celebrated origin tales of the Mayflower and the rebellion of the British colonies, the United States has prized its Anglo heritage above all others. However, as Carrie Gibson explains with great depth and clarity in El Norte, the nation has much older Spanish roots -- ones that have long been unacknowledged or marginalized. The Hispanic past of the United States predates the arrival of the Pilgrims...

"In 1540 Francisco Vazquez de Coronado, the governor of Nueva Galicia in western Mexico, led an expedition of reconnaissance and expansion to a place called Cibola, far to the north in what is now New Mexico. The papers collected in this book bring multidisciplinary expertise to the study of that expedition." "Volume contributors are from a range of disciplines including history, archaeology, Latin American studies, anthropology, astronomy, and geology....