Before there was a United States, the Spanish were here first. Over five centuries ago, Spanish explorer Ponce de León arrived in Florida, somewhere near St Augustine. That settlement is older than Plimoth and even older than Jamestowne. Hernando de Soto landed in 1539—at the mouth of Tampa Bay near where Hurricane Milton just landed—, and he led his expedition through what would later become 8 US states. Before the celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month ends on October 15th, we should take a moment to reflect on the deep Hispanic roots of America, reflected in the Spanish names of many of our city, county and state names.

• Arizona is ‘Arid Zone’
• California is named after a 16th century Spanish fictional island
• Colorado was named for it’s rich colors
• Florida is ‘Flowery’ since de Leon arrived on Easter, 1513
• Montana is ‘Mountainous’
• Nevada means ‘Snowy’ in Spanish
• New Mexico was part of the Spanish Empire’s reach to Alaska and the Great Lakes
• Oregon was first recorded in Spanish
• Texas comes from Tejas for ‘Friend’, used to describe Native American allies
• And Utah derived from how the Spanish referred to the natives there

The Spanish began European exploration of our country, beginning by funding Columbus.  One reason there are Spanish place names throughout the US is due to explorers like De Soto, Coronado, and Cabrillo.  How many Americans know that St Augustine is our oldest permanent European settlement? We love Historic Route 66, but do we recognize that such Old Spanish Trails were mapped by Spanish colonizers like de Anza and de Oñate?  At El Morro, early settlers carved messages in the rock in Spanish.  Spanish speaking traders were at the ancient Casa Grande and at the still open Hubbell Trading Post.  100 years before we gained our Independence from the British, the Pueblo Revolt kicked the Spanish out of what’s now the US southwest.  We know that Jefferson bought Louisiana Territory from Napoleon in 1803, but do we know that Napoleon got it from Spain in 1800?  Our Midwest roots are both French and Spanish. The Presidio in San Francisco was Mexican for decades before the US Army took over.  

And yet for some reason, we persist in ignoring our Hispanic Heritage.  The Canadian River flows from Colorado, through New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma, and it was mapped by Governor Oñate in 1601.  The river’s most remarkable geographic feature is in Texas, where it runs through Palo Duro Canyon, the second largest canyon in the US, described as a cañada in Spanish.  And yet for generations, English speakers have tried finding non-Spanish explanations for the river’s name, such as lies that the French trappers didn’t know any Spanish, didn’t trade with the Spanish there and confusedly thought that the river came from Canada.  Ridiculous!  

While the ignorant falsely view Spanish speakers as only recent immigrants, in much of the country the Spanish speakers were here first, remaining for generations, even as wars and borders changed their lands from Spain or Mexico to the US.  Over 40 million Americans speak Spanish at home, as they have for generations.  Spanish speakers and their descendants should be rightfully recognized as founding members of our country, as their experiences and lives here predate English speaking settlers, and Spanish speaking citizens have continued contributing to our country, despite prejudice against them.  

Unlike the war-shrine Alamo, the San Antonio, Tumacacori and other missions today are dedicated to peace and understanding.  Despite some politicians trying to divide us, the Mexican border has long been peaceful, with disputes negotiated at places like Chamizal above in El Paso.  César Chávez organized the first permanent agricultural union in the US, to lift up the lives of millions of people.  And when Brown v Board of Education ended segregated schools for African Americans, it also ended segregation for Spanish speaking students at places like Blackwell School in Texas.  

We should learn about our Hispanic Heritage and our past discrimination—including tragedies of mob violence and mass deportations—, so that we reject hatred and division.  We can be a more just, inclusive and a better society.  

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”  

—George Santayana, Spanish-American Philosopher