Editing Tejanos (section)

===Spanish government and Mexican Texas===
{{Main|Spanish Texas|Mexican Texas}}
[[File:Ranchero de Texas, 1828.jpg|thumb|310x310px|''Ranchero de Texas'' (1828). Tejano vaqueros were very different from the Mexican vaqueros of central Mexico, both in their costumes and customs. Tejanos were very humble in their dress; their saddles, while being Mexican in origin, were rough and heavy and lacked the finesse of the central Mexico saddles. This changed once Mexican traditions were adopted by the Tejanos.]]
[[File:Frederic Remington - The Mier Expedition- The Drawing of the Black Bean - Google Art Project.jpg|300px|thumb|Spanish Creoles from Texas]]
As early as 1519, [[Alonso Álvarez de Pineda]] claimed the area that is now [[Texas]] for [[Spain]]. The [[Spanish monarchy]] paid little attention to the province until 1685. That year, the Crown learned of a French colony in the region and worried that it might threaten Spanish colonial [[mining|mines]] and [[shipping routes]]. King [[Charles II of Spain|Charles II]] sent ten expeditions to find the French colony, but they were unsuccessful. Between 1690 and 1693, expeditions were made to the Texas region and acquired better knowledge of it for the provincial government and the settlers, who came later.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/alvarez-de-pineda-alonso|title=Álvarez de Pineda, Alonso|first=Texas State Historical|last=Association|website=Texas State Historical Association}}</ref>

Tejano settlements developed in three distinct regions: the northern [[Nacogdoches]] region, the [[Bexar County, Texas|Bexar]]–[[Goliad]] region along the [[San Antonio River]], and the frontier between the [[Nueces River]] and the Rio Grande, an area used largely for ranching. Those populations shared certain characteristics, yet they were independent of one another. The main unifying factor was their shared responsibility for defending the northern frontier of [[New Spain]]. Some of the first settlers were [[Isleños]] from the [[Canary Islands]]. Their families were among the first to reside at the [[Presidio San Antonio de Bexar]] in 1731, which is modern-day San Antonio, Texas.

[[Ranching]] was a major activity in the Bexar-Goliad area, which consisted of a belt of ranches that extended along the San Antonio River between Bexar ([[San Antonio, Texas|San Antonio]] area) and [[Goliad, Texas|Goliad]]. The [[Nacogdoches, Texas|Nacogdoches]] settlement was located farther north and east. Tejanos from Nacogdoches traded with the French and Anglo residents of Louisiana and were culturally influenced by them. The third settlement was located north of the Rio Grande, toward the Nueces River. Its ranchers were citizens of [[Spanish people|Spanish origin]] from [[Tamaulipas]], in what is now northern Mexico, and they identified with Spanish [[Criollo people|Criollo]] culture.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tamu.edu/ccbn/dewitt/tejanoorigins.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509184531/http://www.tamu.edu/ccbn/dewitt/tejanoorigins.htm|url-status=dead|title=Tejano Origins in Mexican Texas<!-- Bot generated title -->|archivedate=May 9, 2008}}</ref>

On September 16, 1810, [[Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla]], a Catholic priest, launched the [[Mexican War of Independence]] with the issuing of his [[Grito de Dolores]], or “Cry of Delores.” He marched across Mexico and gathered an army of nearly 90,000 poor farmers and civilians. The troops ran up into an army of 6,000 well-trained and armed Spanish troops; most of Hidalgo's troops fled or were killed at the [[Battle of Calderón Bridge]].<ref>[Minster, Christopher. Mexican War of Independence: The Battle of Calderon Bridge<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

[[Bernardo Gutiérrez de Lara]], a supporter in independence from Spain, organized a revolutionary army with José Menchaca, who was from the [[Presidio San Antonio de Béxar|Villa de San Fernando de Bejar]]. After Hidalgo's defeat and execution, Gutiérrez traveled to Washington, DC, to request help from the United States. He requested an audience with President [[James Madison]] but was refused. He met with Secretary of State [[James Monroe]], who was busy planning the invasion of [[Canada]] in the [[War of 1812]]. On December 10, 1810, Gutiérrez addressed the [[US House of Representatives]]. There was no official help by the [[US government]] to the revolution. However, Gutiérrez returned with financial help, weapons, and almost 700 [[US Army]] veterans.

Gutiérrez's army would defeat the [[Spanish Army]] and the first independent Republic of Texas, "the Green Republic" was born with the Declaration of Independence. Spain had reinforced its armies in the colonies, and a well-equipped army led by General Juaquin de Arredondo known as the "El Carnicero," invaded the Green Republic of Tejas. During the time of the Republic, the Spaniard [[José Álvarez de Toledo y Dubois]] had been undermining Gutiérrez de Lara's government. Toledo was successful, and Gutiérrez was ousted. Toledo then led the Republican Army of the North (the Green Army) into a trap against the Spanish Army, and no prisoners were taken by the Spanish at the [[Battle of Medina]]. The Spanish Army marched into San Antonio, rounded up everyone it could find from Nacogdoches to El Espiritu de Santo (Goliad), and brought them to San Antonio. The Spanish killed four males a day for 270 days, eradicated the Tejano population, and left the women when they left in 1814. Toledo returned to Spain, a Spanish hero.<ref>Jarratt, Rie (1949). "Gutiérrez de Lara: Mexican-Texan The Story of a Creole Hero". Creole Texana. Archived from the original on 2012-04-11. Retrieved 2008-07-04.</ref><ref>James Monroe during the War of 1812 by Eugene van Sickle, University of North Georgia
http://www.bandyheritagecenter.org/Content/Uploads/Bandy%20Heritage%20Center/files/1812/James%20Monroe%20during%20the%20War%20of%201812.pdf</ref>

In January 1840, the northern Mexican states of [[Nuevo León]], [[Coahuila]], and [[Tamaulipas]] seceded from Mexico to establish the [[Republic of the Rio Grande]], with its capital in what is now [[Laredo, Texas]], but they became part of Mexico again in November 1840.