THE MEXICAN Revolution that began in 1910 resulted in a rich development
of the native cultural elements of Mexico, the art of Diego Rivera being
one of the highlights of this development. The native culture is closer
to the Mexican earth and to the indigenes than to Spain, notwithstanding
modern insistence on the Latin in Latin-American culture.
The Spaniards, through Mexico, have had an abiding influence on the
architecture and language of the Southwest. They gave us our most
distinctive occupation, ranching on the open range. They influenced
mining greatly, and our land titles and irrigation laws still go back
to Spanish and Mexican sources. After more than a hundred years of
occupation of Texas and almost that length of time in other parts of
the Southwest, the English-speaking Americans still have the rich
accumulations of lore pertaining to coyotes, mesquites, prickly pear,
and many other plants and animals to learn from the Mexicans, who got
their lore partly from intimate living with nature but largely through
Indian ancestry.