Mestizaje: Piro Indian and Spanish Vecino in Socorro, Texas from 1744 to 1813

This research examined culture on what is now the U.S./Mexico border, among Piro Indians and Spanish citizens (vecinos) in the community of Socorro, Texas between 1744 and 1813. The purpose was to better understand the process of mestizaje as experienced by Piro Indians as they participate in larger hegemonic Spanish civil and ecclesiastical institutions. Using archival materials along with secondary sources, this thesis reconstructs the antecedents that ultimately led the primary Indian community to transform into a Hispano settlement along the banks of the Río Grande. Pressured by vecino encroachment, participation in the Spanish wage-labor system, several environmental catastrophes in the form of the flooding of the river, and the constant threat by various Apache groups helped transform this new community into one best characterized by cultural hybridity and mestizaje.