Great history provokes narrative and depiction, but eludes clarification. Such is the case of Dr. Jesus de la Teja essay the Saltillo Fair and its San Antonio Connections where he explores the development of early Texan society, exposing the economic hardships of the time and the critical role of early traditional open markets (in this case the Saltillo Fair) while overlooking the importance of asserting the origin of those individuals mentioned in the text, these are the Mulattoes or native Indians who get a pass-by mention as a group but no man or woman of either race is mentioned by name. Throughout the text, noteworthy men are labeled as Canary Islanders, Texans, Tejanos or Bexareños, with even one “Frenchman” in the text, for others little
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Ranching seemed to be a determinant of wealth, more so than farming. The region was (and continues to be) known for cattle and cattle by-products that ruled the economy, the practice left no piece of meat, no nail, and no hair without use, in essence nothing was wasted. The community was self-sufficient; the people were smart and focused, they understood the comparative advantages with other regions, and this helped San Antonio become a center for business and trade. In Thinking About Leadership, Thomas Cronin discusses how leaders take responsibility for their actions and pay special attention to self –sufficiency (a principle of entrepreneurship), survival is a matter of reliance, tenacity and hard work. As an individual or as a community survival is dependent on the ability to keep moving forward and anticipating (as best as possible) the events that are to come, this is the true nature of ingenuity, to see potential where no one else has. The Bexareños did not dismiss the land because there were no precious metals; the people believed in the region’s potential and exploited it to their …show more content…
However, for Tejanos the Saltillo Fair offered more than enough opportunities to thrive with a few chances for misfortune; the Saltillo Fair was (among many other things) a marriage of commerce and credit that sometimes turned into trouble for many people at the time, as credit is the ultimate source of debt. De la Teja tells the story of Francisco Javier Rodriguez, who was indebted to Francisco Melendez Valdez; this debt prevented Rodriguez from returning to the fair for years which was troublesome for Mariano Menchaca who was Rodriguez surety and suffered the harassment of Rodriguez creditors; Rodriguez ultimately paid his debts, after some chasing on Menchaca’s part. Creditors were not the only problem for people of the time, taxes (as it remains today) where a controversial subject since the Saltillo Fair was unchartered, buyers and visitors had to deal with the annoyance of taxes when they made their way out of the fair. This annoyance might have hurt commerce since fairs should have been tax free events, but nothing could stop the Saltillo Fair and its convenience and
Ranching seemed to be a determinant of wealth, more so than farming. The region was (and continues to be) known for cattle and cattle by-products that ruled the economy, the practice left no piece of meat, no nail, and no hair without use, in essence nothing was wasted. The community was self-sufficient; the people were smart and focused, they understood the comparative advantages with other regions, and this helped San Antonio become a center for business and trade. In Thinking About Leadership, Thomas Cronin discusses how leaders take responsibility for their actions and pay special attention to self –sufficiency (a principle of entrepreneurship), survival is a matter of reliance, tenacity and hard work. As an individual or as a community survival is dependent on the ability to keep moving forward and anticipating (as best as possible) the events that are to come, this is the true nature of ingenuity, to see potential where no one else has. The Bexareños did not dismiss the land because there were no precious metals; the people believed in the region’s potential and exploited it to their …show more content…
However, for Tejanos the Saltillo Fair offered more than enough opportunities to thrive with a few chances for misfortune; the Saltillo Fair was (among many other things) a marriage of commerce and credit that sometimes turned into trouble for many people at the time, as credit is the ultimate source of debt. De la Teja tells the story of Francisco Javier Rodriguez, who was indebted to Francisco Melendez Valdez; this debt prevented Rodriguez from returning to the fair for years which was troublesome for Mariano Menchaca who was Rodriguez surety and suffered the harassment of Rodriguez creditors; Rodriguez ultimately paid his debts, after some chasing on Menchaca’s part. Creditors were not the only problem for people of the time, taxes (as it remains today) where a controversial subject since the Saltillo Fair was unchartered, buyers and visitors had to deal with the annoyance of taxes when they made their way out of the fair. This annoyance might have hurt commerce since fairs should have been tax free events, but nothing could stop the Saltillo Fair and its convenience and