Hispanic Arizona, 1536–1856
462 pages, 6 x 9
Paperback
Release Date:01 Nov 1989
ISBN:9780816511525
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Hispanic Arizona, 1536–1856

The University of Arizona Press
The history of the American West has usually been seen from the perspective of American expansion. Drawing on previously unexplored primary sources, James E. Officer has now produced a major work that traces the Hispanic roots of southern Arizona and northern Sonora—one which presents the Spanish and Mexican rather than Anglo point of view. Officer records the Hispanic presence from the earliest efforts at colonization on Spain’s northwestern frontier through the Spanish and Mexican years of rule, thus providing a unique reference on Southwestern history.
 
The heart of the work centers on the early nineteenth century. It explores subjects such as the constant threat posed by hostile Apaches, government intrigue and revolution in Sonora and the provincias internas, and patterns of land ownership in villages such as Tucson and Tubac. Also covered are the origins of land grants in present-day southern Arizona and the invasion of southern Arizona by American “49ers” as seen from the Mexican point of view. Officer traces kinship ties of several elite families who ruled the frontier province over many generations—men and women whose descendants remain influential in Sonora and Arizona today.
Officer’s book is likely to stand as the standard reference for a very long time. . . . Readers will reach for Officer and be amply rewarded.’—Hispanic American Historical Review

‘An important book that no student of Arizona and borderlands history can afford to ignore.’—Ethnohistory
 
‘A valuable contribution to the history of the American West. . . . Highly recommended for undergraduate students and general readers.’—Choice
 
‘Required reading for anyone interested in the history of Arizona.’—Arizona Daily Star
 
‘Covers so many subjects—Indian relations, the Mexican War, boundary problems, the Gadsden Purchase, ranching, architecture, local politics, and much more—that no brief notice could possibly summarize this huge and well-researched book.’—Southwest Review

‘A vivid and comprehensive work.’—Journal of Arizona History
 
‘An encyclopedic and exemplary work. . . . Officer’s book will undoubtedly become a landmark in Arizona’s history.’—Southwestern Historical Quarterly

‘No person interested in Southwestern history or the history of northern Mexico should be without this book.’—El Palacio

‘With the publication of Hispanic Arizona, scholars now have a thorough, detailed and scholarly study that is entirely devoted to the history of northern Sonora and southern Arizona.’—Explorations in Sights and Sounds

‘Not only borderlands scholars but interested ‘amateurs’ will find their knowledge of an important segment of Southwestern history greatly enhanced by this book.’—Password
James E. Officer served with the diplomatic corps in Chile during the early 1950s and returned in 1979 as a Fulbright professor. He has also been a consultant on Indian affairs for the Organization of American States and the government of Panama, represented the United States on the governing board of the Interamerican Indian Institute in Mexico City, and directed the University of Arizona Summer School in Guadalajara. During the 1960s, he was Associate Commissioner of Indian Affairs and Administrative Assistant to Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall. Since 1969, Officer has been a professor of anthropology at the University of Arizona. He publishes in both Spanish and English and is a recipient of the Creative Teaching Award presented by the University Foundation and of the Tucson Trade Bureau’s Mexico Goodwill Award.
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