The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 53, July 1949 - April, 1950 Page: 258
538 p. : ill., maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
The Mesta was projected to colonial Mexico by authorities
of the Spanish government. The manner in which stock growers'
associations in the trans-Mississippi west were conceived and
established stands out in contrast to the early scheme. The more
modern institutions derived from the spontaneous interest and
initiative of the stock growers themselves, who had little or no
connection with government. The preamble to the bylaws of
the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association is a good
case in point. It reads in part: "Believing that the cattle industry
of Texas and the Southwest can be better guarded and promoted
by a more personal understanding and a thorough organization
of the parties interested therein, we do hereby organize our-
selves into a corporation for mutual protection and benefit
and to cultivate a more fraternal feeling among cattlemen
generally. . "10
A general comparison of the constitution of the Mesta with
the bylaws of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Asso-
ciation and the Wyoming Stock Growers Association throws
light on the length and content of these basic documents. The
first constitution of the Mexican Mesta, dated 1537, contains
seventeen articles." Although brief in scope, it laid the ground-
work and was a basis for further regulation. Fortunately it was
a flexible instrument; for the pastoral industry in New Spain
grew rapidly and attendant problems increased. Accordingly,
in 1574, the Mesta constitution was completely revised; the
seventeen original articles were changed; and sixty-six new
10Italics are mine. See also the bylaws of Wyoming Stock Growers Association,
Section II.
liSpanish texts of this document are to be found in the following sources:
Actas de cabildo del ayuntamiento de la gran ciudad de Tenuxtitdn Mdxico de la
Nueva Espana, paleografido por el lic. Manuel Orozco y Berra, Mexico, 1859-1908,
IV, 313-315; a slightly revised text is ibid., VII, 394-396; Recopilaci6n de leyes de
los reynos de las Indias, mandadas imprimir, y publicar por la Magestad Cat6lica
del rey Don Carlos II, Nuestro Seiior, 2d ed., 4 vols., Madrid, 1756, lib. v, tit. v,
leyes i-xx; Antonio Zavier P6rez y L6pez, Teatro de la legislaci6n universal de
Espaia y Indias por orden cronoldgico de sus cuerpos, y decisiones no recopiladas
y alfabdtico de su titulos y principales materias, 28 vols., Madrid, MDCCXCI,
XXIV, 110-13; Colecci6n de documentos indditos de ultramar, 25 vols., 1886-1932,
XXII, 213-215. For an English text of this document see William Dusenberry
(trans.), "Ordinances of the Mesta in New Spain, 1537," The Americas, IV (Jan-
uary 1948), 345-350.258
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 53, July 1949 - April, 1950, periodical, 1950; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101126/m1/334/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.