Eye-pop, thanks for putting that into perspective. However, as I said earlier, putting aside indigenous arguments, I still don’t quite see where the “Mexican” claim to California, or indeed other parts of south west US, are completely justified. At the time of the European “discovery” (1500s) there are estimates of some 100,000-270,000 indigenous peoples living in California. In fact, prior to the Spanish arrival the area we now call Mexico was called Aridoamerica in the north and Mesoamerica in the south, but they were not part of what we now call California. These areas were invaded in 1519 by the Spanish, or the “occupying forces” as you put it, and the areas was called New Spain. It seems the term Mexico referring to a sovereign state and not the name Aztec whence the name is derived, didn’t even appear until the 1800’s. Whether the native peoples in California were related to those living in Aridoamerica, I don’t know, but is seems likely in view of their geographical proximity.
My remark about Arnie, was meant to be flippant, but while the Habsburgs were pan-European, they are more often associated with Spain and Austria. Emperor Maximilian ruled during the French Habsburg era, but he was in fact Austrian.
