Donaciano Vigil: The Life of a Nuevomexicano Soldier, Statesman, and Territorial Governor by Maurilio E. Vigil and Helene Boudreau (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Donaciano Vigil: The Life of a Nuevomexicano Soldier, Statesman, and Territorial Governor by Maurilio E. Vigil and Helene Boudreau Scott Fritz Donaciano Vigil: The Life of a Nuevomexicano Soldier, Statesman, and Territorial Governor. By Maurilio E. Vigil and Helene Boudreau. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2022. xi + 289 pp. Figures, map, table, notes, bibliography, index. $39.95 cloth. This book is a biography of an important political figure in New Mexico history, Donaciano Vigil. The text provides readers an in-depth view of Vigil's life during the Spanish, Mexican, and United States territorial periods and, at the same time, places him squarely within the borderlands of the American Southwest. The book is essentially a history of New Mexico, but it should also be of some interest to historians of the Great Plains. Readers will find the book useful because it sets Donaciano Vigil within the larger historical context of New Mexico and its surrounding region. They will learn about New Mexico governor Manuel Armijo, Taos priest Antonio Jose Martinez, and Chimayo rebel Jose Gonzalez. They will also delve deeply into the controversial history of Spanish and Mexican land grants in the state. Readers interested in New Mexico's historic relationship to the Great Plains will also find the book valuable, particularly in its coverage of the Santa Fe trade, Commander Hugh McLeod's actions while leading a Texas army across the Llano Estacado during the Santa Fe Expedition of 1841, and General Stephen W. Kearny's "Army of the West" that followed the Santa Fe Trail into New Mexico during the Mexican American War. Maurilio E. Vigil and Helene Boudreau have produced a well-documented and authoritative history. Vigil is an emeritus professor of political science at Highlands New Mexico University and has published several books, including The Hispanics of New Mexico: Essays on History and Culture (1984). He is also a descendant of Donaciano Vigil and has spent over thirty years studying his family's history. Indeed, he is an authority on Donaciano Vigil and that of New Mexico. With the editorial assistance of his former graduate student Helene Boudreau, they have published an important book showing the ways that Donaciano Vigil helped integrate Nuevomexicanos into a new political culture emanating from the United States. The authors have written an excellent book about Donaciano Vigil. While the text is primarily a history of New Mexico, it still includes information beneficial to those studying the history of the larger Southwest and the Great Plains. [End Page 252] Scott Fritz Department of Social Sciences and Cultural Studies Western New Mexico University Copyright © 2023 Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska–Lincoln