Refusing the Favor: The Spanish-Mexican Women of Santa Fe, 1820-1880

This book uncovers the key role women played in the U.S. takeover of Mexico's northern territory. By focusing on the crucial yet "invisible" population of 19th-century Spanish-Mexican women living in Santa Fe--until the California Gold Rush, the largest town west of the Mississippi--Refusing the Favor situates gender issues squarely within the debates on conquest and colonization.