Soldado de cuera

The soldado de cuera, or leather-jacket, was a type of soldier who served in the frontier garrisons of northern New Spain. He took his name from the multi-layered deer-skin cloak he wore as protection against Indian arrows. He was armed with a short musket, bow and arrows, a short sword, a lance, and a bull-hide adarga. These frontier soldiers were recruited from among the mestizo population, Hispanicized Indians, and freed slaves. Most of the officers were European-born, or the sons of Europeans, whereas very few of the enlisted men had this distinction. The soldados de cuera manned the presidios that stretched from Los Adeas, Louisiana, in the East, across Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, to the Pacific Coast of Alta California in the West.