Federico Villalba's Texas: A Mexican Pioneer's Life in the Big Bend is a biography and autobiography about Federico Villalba’s different milestones throughout his life. It also focuses on the lives of his children and wife. The author Juan Manuel Casas brings blissful births, weddings, and family gatherings but, it also touches sadness of illness and loss of life. The book starts off when he is a young man and decides to move away from San Geronimo, Chihuahua in the 1880s. He wanted to start his own life without his family’s name. Eventually he crossed over the Rio Grande and settled at Burro Mesa and began ranching. Villalba then married Maria and built his herd of cattle and angora goats. He also discovered cinnabar, opened a store at Cero
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Some examples are, punching cattle, bootlegging, fiesta, and holding the family together. The book also talks about the boarder’s dangers and the violent atmosphere that took over the area when the Mexican Revolution started. The fact that the events in Big Bend were interrelated to other issues in the U.S and Mexico makes the book more relatable to the content we already know. Consequently, it makes it easier for the reader to make connections to U.S and Mexican History showing the books …show more content…
Correspondingly, people with Mexican decent might find this book even more interesting because after all it represent the Mexican roots in the U.S. While reading this book one can see what some of our ancestors have gone through and what a hard life they had to endure. Also, the Villalba’s are a great example of a successful Mexican family here in Texas which might sound intriguing to someone who thinks of Mexicans as “lazy”. For historians who want to focus on Mexican American History and its origins this is a great source to obtain in ones’ studies. To learn more about family history that is not taught in an everyday classroom at public schools this book might be considered for middle and high school students. The text in the book is not extremely complex and easy to read and understand to where these students are able to analyze the text. It is important to implement this type of information in the learning process while students are young because, when they begin learning more history it will easier for them to relate and connect to the material. Weather a professor or student likes the text might depend on their educational and cultural
Some examples are, punching cattle, bootlegging, fiesta, and holding the family together. The book also talks about the boarder’s dangers and the violent atmosphere that took over the area when the Mexican Revolution started. The fact that the events in Big Bend were interrelated to other issues in the U.S and Mexico makes the book more relatable to the content we already know. Consequently, it makes it easier for the reader to make connections to U.S and Mexican History showing the books …show more content…
Correspondingly, people with Mexican decent might find this book even more interesting because after all it represent the Mexican roots in the U.S. While reading this book one can see what some of our ancestors have gone through and what a hard life they had to endure. Also, the Villalba’s are a great example of a successful Mexican family here in Texas which might sound intriguing to someone who thinks of Mexicans as “lazy”. For historians who want to focus on Mexican American History and its origins this is a great source to obtain in ones’ studies. To learn more about family history that is not taught in an everyday classroom at public schools this book might be considered for middle and high school students. The text in the book is not extremely complex and easy to read and understand to where these students are able to analyze the text. It is important to implement this type of information in the learning process while students are young because, when they begin learning more history it will easier for them to relate and connect to the material. Weather a professor or student likes the text might depend on their educational and cultural