These words form an important group of Spanish borrowings and therefore have had a major influence on American English. Later borrowings have been adopted without phonological changes. In some cases it is hard to trace the origin of the word. Portuguese was a widely used language not only in South America but also in North America. The adoptions like pickaninny, savvy and lasso might be of Portuguese origin.
Some Spanish borrowings are well-known only in a certain area.
For example frijole is known along the Mexican border. Reata is common in the Far West and alcalde and cuartel are only used in New Mexico and Texas in the Hispanized regions. The fish name pompano is known mainly on the Gulf Coast. Moreover there are some Spanish words like burro which have replaced the original English term donkey. It is possible that the Americans have felt that burro represents some other kind of donkey than the normal one.