remember is was a western, think the word breed was in the title  all I can remember is the woman had 3-4 sons she was spanish her husband was american,  her husbands dies at the end of the book and she is going up stairs and she turns and looks at her sons and tells them  vaya con dios my sons, I will be seeing my love soon now.  that's the way it ended. I remember crying for days  lol

'I thought it might be by Colleen McCullough  but I can't find anything

Gonna wild guess based on the spanish/american descriptions...

The Proud Breed by Celeste De Blasis (ISBNs: 9780553271966, 9780449239056)

Synopsis:

"The first time Gavin Ramsay sees Tessa MacLeod y Amarista -- a violet-eyed beauty swimming naked in a hidden pool--she reacts by attaching him with a knife. Realizing her mistake, she nurses him back to health and into a deep, enduring and courageous love. Together, despite tremendous obstacles Gavin and Tessa pursue their golden dream--they tame the land, raise a family, and reap great wealth and power. A vast empire is theirs, yet greater still is the magnificent family dynasty they have begun--a dynasty that will flourish on their firm foundation of love.

Passionate, colorful and peopled with unforgettable characters, The Proud Breed vividly re-creates California's exciting past, from the wild country to the pirated coast, from gambling dens to lavish ballrooms, from the rush for gold to the triumph of statehood."

Once again, fictiondb.com comes through. Searched for breed in the title, historical romance genre, american west time period.

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