This guide is a study of the many cultures that went into the making of Texas, from Indians who inhabited the land before the arrival of Europeans to the different European nationalities that explored and settled Texas. This work can be used by students as a text in secondary level social studies programs, or by a teacher as a reference or resource material to supplement other texts. Also, it could be used in bilingual classrooms to present the historical contributions of Spanish-speaking peoples in Texas, or as a conventional Texas history text. Probing into the conflict that arose from the clashes of the different cultures as they mingled in Texas, the book explores the causes for these conflicts, showing them to be multifaceted. The history of Texas is traced from colonization, through independence, to statehood, up to the 1970s, culminating with the emergence of an ethnic and cultural consciousness in the Mexican Americans. (Author/ND)