Friday, May 05, 2006

Battle of Puebla

Happy Cinco de Mayo! My students in Northern NM loved to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, but they did not have a clue what it was all about. In fact, I use to tease them that they were actually Texans which did not make them happy. When Santana surrendered to the Texans, the Texans claimed all the land north of the Rio Grande up to its headwaters. That includes Taos and Questa and a few other famous NM cities. Doesn't that make them Texans?

3 comments:

Buck said...

I've noticed the animosity New Mexicans have towards Texans, and it ranges from joking, mildly disparaging references to Texas to outright hostility, something I don't understand at all.

Case in point: a couple of years ago the ex-GF and I were at some "Country Living" expo (folk artists, foods, quilts, and the like) in Amarillo and I saw a vendor selling lapel pins with crossed US and Texas flags. I bought one. The girlfriend remarked "Well, you're not gonna be able to wear THAT back home..."

Interesting comment, considering she lived just across the state line in Texas for 30 some-odd years and her business is still in Texas, even though she lives in Clovis.

Bag Blog said...

There is more than a little animosity between the two in Northern NM. Most of the little valley where Red River sets once belonged to people from Questa. They sold it off to those crazy gringos - buying swamp land basically. Red River became a booming little resort town that is one of the main employers for the town of Questa. There is a little resentment. Also, there is still the constant fight between TX and NM over water rights (a killin' offense) and boundaries. It could be that we Texans are just a bit cocky too.

Buck said...

It could be that we Texans are just a bit cocky too.

NO! Say it ain't so! {BIG ol' Texas grin!}