José and Antonio Gallegos, brothers, moved north from Mexico in the 1670s to the Rio Grande valley and then to Santa Fe, New Mexico. They survived the Indian revolt of 1680, withdrew with other Spanish, and returned to Santa Fe by 1693. Descendants and relatives lived in New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Washington and elsewhere. Includes some family history in Mexico and Spain.
"Latino people are the fastest growing ethnic minority in the United States today ... some 60 percent of the Spanish-speaking people in the United States trace their ancestors to Mexico, most of them to a time when its northern border ran from the southern border of Oregon nearly to New Orleans ... Through the story of this one family ... [the authors] portray the richness of the Chicago family tradition, its ability to seek solutions to the ravages of history, to support its members through the pressures of migratory life and rapid social change. Their story illustrates the authors' basic belief, that the solution to the crises of minority people is not the pursuit of the individual "American dream" but the use of one's skills to help the community realize its basic needs and rights." -- Cf. Cover fly-leaf.