River Of Hope Book Review

River of Hope: Forging Identity and Nation in the Rio Grande Borderlands by Omar S. Valerio-Jimenez is a wonderful book exploring the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Gender, cultural change, class, and racial standards are just a few topics Omar touches in his book. This book gives meaning not just to Mexican readers but American readers as well. This outstanding study of the United States-Mexico borderland shows the history of the land starting with the Spanish colonization moving all the way to the Tamaulipas.
Omar S. Valerio-Jimenez uses tons of outside works to prove his credibility. He uses archival sources and periodicals, to published primary sources. In chapter one the author uses a will of Dona Maria Nicholasa Longoria from 1822

to describe how the colonists would leave inheritance and power left behind. (pg. 30) Which I thought was a great reference to book and most likely one of the only sources he could find from a woman of that time. Another type of sources that stood out to me was the tables that he used during his writings. For example, table 9. Divorce lawsuits by gender, 1849-1900(pg. 206), describing the number of lawsuits rising in the years 1879-1893, also proving that there was an option for a real divorce. Mr. Omar uses the Daily Ranchero a lot in his book for support to his claims. He states that “In response, the Daily Ranchero noted that only American citizens could legally vote in Texas, and they defended the right of Mexican nationals to become naturalized U.S. citizen.”(pg. 270)
In my opinion this book, the River of Hope, is written very well and stretches to a broad audience, thanks to its organization and meaning. I believe that Valero-Jimenez uses a qualitative research style. He is very descriptive and uses inductive logic to describe his data. I am not sure if I disagree or agree with the author. I have never really been educated on the subject before reading the book, so I did not have a strong opinion. I also did not come from a Mexican/Hispanic background, so my thoughts differ from those who do.
A more modernized view point is brought up in the later chapter of the book. “Enduring Ethnic Tensions and Citizenship Challenges” (pg. 271) explains what the Tejanos went through during the threatening years of the nineteenth century. Omar mentions that Ignacio Mertinez and Catarino Garza were heroes to the Mexican Americans. These men lead a revolt against the dictator Porfirio Diaz, from the border region.
Omar S. Valerio-Jimenez is broadening people’s point of view in this book on Mexican Americans. Exploring the way of life in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. How diversity changed the Spain colonies, and how the United States competed for the region. Also exploring the interracial groups and how their cultures mixed. I appreciated the pictures throughout the book, it kept my interest and illustrated faces in my mind to some of the names Omar was describing. Although he covers a very large amount of time in one book, I believe that he organized it well and makes strong arguments on citizenship rights for Tejanos.
This book, for me, adds historiography on the topic, because I had not been highly educated on the subject before. I also think that this book is written for a very broad audience. People from Texans to Mexicans, lower class to higher, and highly educated college students to high school students would be some great spectators to read this book.