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Chicano conference programs and speeches, April 1973-May 1974

1974-04-13 Opening Remarks Page 5

5
were also given to French-Canadians but there was commerce between these French-Canadians and the Spanish Crown.
The only point that I am raising is that symbolically our roots as far as the mestizaje is concerned go further back than anybody else that ever imagined in Iowa. We might not get excited about that because in reality there were not that many mestizaje probably happening. But it does show that like everywhere else our history has been ignored. We had this evidence of a Spanish settlement what is now Iowa. Just for the record when the louisiana Purchase was bought by the United States, Manuel Lisa became an American Citizen. We have again symbolically some kind of a Raza aspect of going back in Iowa to the 18th century.
I think it shows the need for more research on the Spanish empire not only in the Southwest but in other parts of the country. Otra cosa es que, most of the historians that have looked at the Chicano experience in the Midwest say we all came up here in the 1920's. The railroad brought us up here, vetabel brought us up here and that we have been since the 1920's little by little we have increased in number.
In reality, the first Mexican immigrant to Iowa came in 1856. Whatever brought him up here I don't know, but he was up in Lyons Country which is a Northwestern country in Iowa. I suppose he might have come, this is only eight years after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hildago. This is only 11 years after Iowa was born as a state, according to the gringo calendar. So 1856 marks the first Mexican immigrant coming into Iowa that's a long time ago. That's over one hundred years ago. At that same time, many countries in Northwest Iowa were named Cerro Gordo, Buena Vista, after the battles in the Mexican-American War. Perhaps this lonely Mexican who came up in 1856 came up after he made some acquaintances with the invading army. I don't know, but he ended up in Iowa.
In 1860's census there were six Mexican immigrants into Iowa. That is only 12 years after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hildago. What were they doing in Iowa? Again, I do not know. That is assuming that the census count was correct. Knowing what we know about the census count today there might have been 1,000 up here.
In the census of 1880, there were 18 Mexican imigrants into Iowa. In the Iowa census of 1895, there were 30 Mexicans in Iowa. Most of them, I think, came in with the Santa Fe Railroad in establishing the first colony in Iowa in Fort Madison. They brought out these workers in 1895, and they formed the colony in Fort Madison close to the railroad tracks where they lived in boxcars. In 1895, the first colony on Iowa of

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5 were also given to French-Canadians but there was commerce between these French-Canadians and the Spanish Crown. The only point that I am raising is that symbolically our roots as far as the mestizaje is concerned go further back than anybody else that ever imagined in Iowa. We might not get excited about that because in reality there were not that many mestizaje probably happening. But it does show that like everywhere else our history has been ignored. We had this evidence of a Spanish settlement what is now Iowa. Just for the record when the louisiana Purchase was bought by the United States, Manuel Lisa became an American Citizen. We have again symbolically some kind of a Raza aspect of going back in Iowa to the 18th century. I think it shows the need for more research on the Spanish empire not only in the Southwest but in other parts of the country. Otra cosa es que, most of the historians that have looked at the Chicano experience in the Midwest say we all came up here in the 1920's. The railroad brought us up here, vetabel brought us up here and that we have been since the 1920's little by little we have increased in number. In reality, the first Mexican immigrant to Iowa came in 1856. Whatever brought him up here I don't know, but he was up in Lyons Country which is a Northwestern country in Iowa. I suppose he might have come, this is only eight years after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hildago. This is only 11 years after Iowa was born as a state, according to the gringo calendar. So 1856 marks the first Mexican immigrant coming into Iowa that's a long time ago. That's over one hundred years ago. At that same time, many countries in Northwest Iowa were named Cerro Gordo, Buena Vista, after the battles in the Mexican-American War. Perhaps this lonely Mexican who came up in 1856 came up after he made some acquaintances with the invading army. I don't know, but he ended up in Iowa. In 1860's census there were six Mexican immigrants into Iowa. That is only 12 years after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hildago. What were they doing in Iowa? Again, I do not know. That is assuming that the census count was correct. Knowing what we know about the census count today there might have been 1,000 up here. In the census of 1880, there were 18 Mexican imigrants into Iowa. In the Iowa census of 1895, there were 30 Mexicans in Iowa. Most of them, I think, came in with the Santa Fe Railroad in establishing the first colony in Iowa in Fort Madison. They brought out these workers in 1895, and they formed the colony in Fort Madison close to the railroad tracks where they lived in boxcars. In 1895, the first colony on Iowa of