Sign-In
Cart
The Gatekeeper: Nemesio Salcedo and the North American West
Hardcover
Series: Tarleton State University Southwestern Studies in the Humani
Adventurers & ExplorersColonial Period (1600-1775)Regional: Southwest
Publisher Price: $45.00
ISBN13: 9781648433665
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
Published: Nov 15 2026
Pages: 448
Language: English
From 1802 to 1813, Nemesio Salcedo served as commandant general of the Spanish Internal Provinces, making him the preeminent military and civil authority over a roughly 1.5 million square mile region that stretched from the western bank of the Mississippi River to the eastern border of modern California and south to what is today north-central Mexico. As commandant general, Salcedo's duty was to keep the peace with indigenous peoples, promote economic and population growth, and maintain Spanish sovereignty over western North America.
Trouble began in 1803 when the Louisiana Purchase placed an ambitious and expansionist United States on the doorstep of the Internal Provinces. With inadequate resources, Salcedo was forced to oppose what the Spanish regarded as illegal expeditions by the likes of Lewis and Clark and Zebulon Pike as well as an American invasion led by General James Wilkinson. Smugglers, escaped enslaved people, hostile Native American tribes, and even the subversive efforts of agents sent by Napoleon and former US Vice President Aaron Burr further destabilized the border and threatened Salcedo's rule.
Amid crises, Salcedo pursued progressive initiatives that placed him among the most forward-thinking people of his day. He initiated a smallpox inoculation program that saved incalculable lives, established the first school for girls in western North America, and sponsored scientific expeditions meant to map, measure, and better understand the lands and peoples under Spanish claim.
On a level with Thomas Jefferson, Miguel Hidalgo, and Napoleon Bonaparte, Nemesio Salcedo reshaped the geopolitics of the American west in the early nineteenth century. The Gatekeeper: Nemesio Salcedo and the North American West introduces readers to an important, yet heretofore less recognized leader during a period of profound change.
Also from
Folsom, Bradley
Roman Spectacle on the Rio Grande: Borderland Animal Fights at the Turn of the Century
Folsom, Bradley
Paperback
Also in
Colonial Period (1600-1775)
Stealing America: The Hidden Story of Indigenous Slavery in U.S. History
Fisher, Linford D.
Hardcover
The Chosen and the Damned: Native Americans and the Making of Race in the United States
Silverman, David J.
Hardcover
The Treacherous World of the 16th Century & How the Pilgrims Escaped It: The Prequel to America's Freedom
Federer, William J.
Paperback
Taking Manhattan: The Extraordinary Events That Created New York and Shaped America
Shorto, Russell
Hardcover
Taking Manhattan: The Extraordinary Events That Created New York and Shaped America
Shorto, Russell
Paperback
Black Flags, Blue Waters: The Epic History of America's Most Notorious Pirates
Dolin, Eric Jay
Paperback
From Resistance to Revolution: Colonial Radicals and the Development of American Opposition.....
Maier, Pauline
Paperback
America: The Last Best Hope (Volume I): From the Age of Discovery to a World at War
Bennett, William J.
Paperback
Empire and Frontier: Colonel Peter Schuyler and the Valiant Iroquois in King William's War: 1689-1701
Marquis, Samuel
Hardcover
Young Washington: How Wilderness and War Forged America's Founding Father (Large Print Edition)
Stark, Peter
Paperback
Six Women of Salem: The Untold Story of the Accused and Their Accusers in the Salem Witch Trials
Roach, Marilynne K.
Paperback
Heart of American Darkness: A Story of Murder and Revolution on the Early Frontier
Parkinson, Robert G.
Paperback
The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America
Shorto, Russell
Paperback
The Road That Made America: A Modern Pilgrim's Journey on the Great Wagon Road
Dodson, James
Hardcover
Lies My Liberal Teacher Told Me: Debunking the False Narratives Defining America's School Curricula
Reilly, Wilfred
Hardcover
The Intellectual Origins of American Slavery: English Ideas in the Early Modern Atlantic World
Harpham, John Samuel
Hardcover
Miracle on the Mayflower: John Howland's Remarkable Rescue and Lasting Impact on America
Hogg, Cynthia Howard
Paperback
Blood and Treasure: Daniel Boone and the Fight for America's First Frontier
Clavin, Tom
Drury, Bob
Paperback
This Land Is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled History of Thanksgiving
Silverman, David J.
Paperback
American Colonies: The Settling of North America (the Penguin History of the United States, Volume 1)
Taylor, Alan
Paperback
Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766
Anderson, Fred
Paperback
General History of the Robberies & Murders of the Most Notorious Pirates
Captain Johnson, Charles
Paperback
The Constitution of the United States (U.S. Heritage): With the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights and Other Founding Documents with an I
Fathers, Founding
Washington, George
Hardcover
The Secret Token: Myth, Obsession, and the Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke
Lawler, Andrew
Paperback
Fourteenth Colony: The Forgotten Story of the Gulf South During America's Revolutionary Era
Bunn, Mike
Hardcover
The Barbarous Years: The Peopling of British North America: The Conflict of Civilizations, 1600-1675
Bailyn, Bernard
Paperback
The Secret Founding of America: The Real Story of Freemasons, Puritans, & the Battle for the New World
Hagger, Nicholas
Paperback
Scots and Scotch Irish: Frontier Life in North Carolina, Virginia, and Kentucky
Hoefling, Larry J.
Paperback
The Devil in Massachusetts: A Modern Enquiry into the Salem Witch Trials
Starkey, Marion L.
Paperback
The World Hunt: An Environmental History of the Commodification of Animals
Richards, John F.
Paperback
King Philip's War: The History and Legacy of America's Forgotten Conflict
Schultz, Eric B.
Tougias, Michael J.
Paperback
Directory of Scots Banished to the American Plantations, 1650-1775. Second Edition (Revised)
Dobson, David
Paperback
The Muse of the Revolution: The Secret Pen of Mercy Otis Warren and the Founding of a Nation
Stuart, Nancy Rubin
Paperback
By Flesh and Toil: How Sex, Race, and Labor Shaped the Early French Empire
Lamotte, Mélanie
Hardcover
The Pueblo Revolt: The Secret Rebellion That Drove the Spaniards Out of the Southwest
Roberts, David
Paperback
America's Hidden History: Untold Tales of the First Pilgrims, Fighting Women, and Forgotten Founders Who Shaped a Nation
Davis, Kenneth C.
Paperback
The First Emancipator: Slavery, Religion, and the Quiet Revolution of Robert Carter
Levy, Andrew
Paperback
Scars on the Land: An Environmental History of Slavery in the American South
Silkenat, David
Hardcover
A Brief History of the Salem Witch Trials - Witchcraft Hysteria and Justice in 17th Century Massachusetts
Matthews, Scott
Paperback
A Stranger Among Saints: Stephen Hopkins, the Man Who Survived Jamestown and Saved Plymouth
Mack, Jonathan
Paperback
Vignettes of Colonial Virginia: Remarkable Stories from the Founding of America
Tarter, Brent
Paperback
Braddock's Defeat: The Battle of the Monongahela and the Road to Revolution
Preston, David L.
Paperback
Miracle on the Mayflower: John Howland's Remarkable Rescue and Lasting Impact on America
Hogg, Cynthia Howard
Hardcover
God's Solution for America and the Nations of the World: This is a Spiritual Revolution!
Hertler, David Carl
Hallahan Hertler, Jean
Paperback
Lives of the Signers to the Declaration of Independence (Illustrated): Updated with Index and 80 Rare, Historical Photos
Goodrich, Charles Augustus
Lewis, Thomas W.
Hardcover
The History of South Carolina: Its European Discovery and Colonization, Battles with the Native Americans, the Revolutionary War of Independence, and
Simms, William Gilmore
Paperback
The Ancient House: Constructing Community in the Seventeenth-Century New York Borderlands
Kramer, Erin B.
Paperback
Covered with Night: A Story of Murder and Indigenous Justice in Early America
Eustace, Nicole
Paperback
Jane Colden's Botanic Manuscript: The Legacy of America's First Woman Botanist
Heckscher, Fenella Greig
Hardcover
The Deerfield Massacre: A Surprise Attack and the Fight for Survival in Early America
Swanson, James L.
Paperback
The Road That Made America: A Modern Pilgrim's Journey on the Great Wagon Road
Dodson, James
Paperback
King George's War and the Thirty Year Peace: The Third Contest for North America
Laramie, Michael G.
Hardcover
Fort Niagara: The Key to the Inland Oceans and the French Movement to Dominate North America
Utley, William Edward
Scott, Patricia Kay
Paperback
American History Bite-Sized: The Making of the USA in Over 150 Moments
Rattle, Alison
Vale, Allison
Hardcover
Creatures of Empire: How Domestic Animals Transformed Early America
Anderson, Virginia DeJohn
Paperback
An Infinity of Nations: How the Native New World Shaped Early North America
Witgen, Michael
Paperback
U.S. History 101: Historic Events, Key People, Important Locations, and More!
Sears, Kathleen
Hardcover
Roger Williams and the Creation of the American Soul: Church, State, and the Birth of Liberty
Barry, John M.
Paperback
Black Lives, Native Lands, White Worlds: A History of Slavery in New England
Hardesty, Jared Ross
Paperback
Robert Love's Warnings: Searching for Strangers in Colonial Boston
Dayton, Cornelia H.
Salinger, Sharon V.
Paperback
A Canoe Named Klmin: Sixth-, Seventh-, Eighth-, and Ninth-Generation Family Members of Captain William Clark Right a Wrong
Robinson, Sam
Pearlmutter, Eve
Holton, Carlota Hermann
Hardcover
The Colonial Tavern: A Glimpse of New England Town Life - a Social History of America's Bars in the 1600s and 1700s
Field, Edward
Paperback
The Atlantic Republic of Letters: Knowledge and Colonialism in the Age of Franklin
Pirillo, Diego
Hardcover
Rum Punch and Revolution: Taverngoing and Public Life in Eighteenth-Century Philadelphia
Thompson, Peter
Paperback
The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-By-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege
Roach, Marilynne K.
Paperback
Revolution by Fire: New York's Afro-Irish Uprising of 1741, a Graphic Novel
Lester, David
Rediker, Marcus
Paperback
In God I Trust: Making Our National Motto My Personal Declaration
Teichert, John Dragon
Wells, Brad
Paperback
American History: Celebrating 250 Years of Hidden Stories, Forgotten Heroes, and the Nation They Built
Alive, History Brought
Hardcover
A Journal of the Voyages and Travels of a Corps of Discovery Under the Command of Captain Lewis and Captain Clarke of the Army of the United States [m
Gass, Patrick 1771-1870
Paperback
A genealogical dictionary of the first settlers of New England, Volume 1: Surnames A-C
Savage, James
Paperback
White Devil: A True Story of War, Savagery and Vengeneance in Colonial America
Brumwell, Stephen
Paperback
The First Frontier: The Forgotten History of Struggle, Savagery, and Endurance in Early America
Weidensaul, Scott
Hardcover
War on the Run: The Epic Story of Robert Rogers and the Conquest of America's First Frontier
Ross, John F.
Paperback
The Pilgrim Chronicles: An Eyewitness History of the Pilgrims and the Founding of Plymouth Colony
Gragg, Rod
Paperback
Forest Diplomacy: Cultures in Conflict on the Pennsylvania Frontier, 1757
Proctor, Nicolas W.
Paperback
God, War, and Providence: The Epic Struggle of Roger Williams and the Narragansett Indians Against the Puritans of New England
Warren, James A.
Paperback
George Washington's Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation (Chump Change Edition)
Washington, George
Paperback