As pioneers crossed the Mississippi into the Southwest, Spanish settlers like my great grandfather, Victor Dominguez were recognized as Mexicans who lost the Mexican American War. The American pioneers failed to realize that the Spanish settlers had been living in the Southwestern part of America for over 200 years before their arrival. They brought Christianity to a savage continent. They introduced the horse, longhorn cattle and sheep to the land, known as the West. They brought a new way of life to the red man, as they taught him how to plant crops and build Catholic missions. The demise...