Article by Patricia N. Limerick
Juan Bautista de Anza – September 1999 – Colorado Central Magazine
Editor’s Note
JUAN BAUTISTA DE ANZA is not a household name, but I wish he were. Why did celebrity status — and name recognition — come to some figures in Western American history, and not to others? A biography of a figure like Meriwether Lewis can become a fixture on bestseller lists. As a book trying for comparable popularity, a biography of Juan Bautista de Anza would seem defeated before it started, with no way to appeal to nationalistic pride or even to basic name recognition.