Estirpe de Cazcanes--Historia de la Region: Colotlan.

[Joseph Puentes <makas@...>]

I read this book "Estirpe de Cazcanes; Norte de Jalisco y Sur de Zacatecas"
by Luis Sandoval Godoy. It was produced in cooperation with the University
of Guadalajara, Colotlan, Jalisco; ISBN: 968-5206-81-3

Now I said all that and I really don't even recommend the reading of this
book only because it lacks references to the subject material. The book pretty
much takes all the surrounding areas (Colotlan, Tepechitlan, Tlaltenango,
Momax ) and tells some background stories. Background History of an area
can help us understand things as we do our research. Sometimes records are
missing or there are gaps. Or sometimes records are found in unusual or unexpected
places. Some of the following kinds of events are very possibly the reasons
why these different from the norm situations can and do happen.

=============

Here are a couple of things that were interesting and needful of further
study both for confirmation and for additional details.

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The Revolucion Cristera took its toll on the Colotlan area:

     "Don Mateo Correa fue uno de los sacerdotes martires de la region, desollado
de las plantas de los pies, cortada la lengua en fracciones se le hizo sufrir
horriblemente, hasta que murio."

-----------------

Terrible epidemics often affected the region:

     "Colotlan volvia a ser sacudido por la epidemia del colera. Lo habia
sido, con sin igual rudeza, el ano de 33 y ahora, en 1850, volvia ser castigado
por el mal."

Side note: while I was going over films of  deaths in Santa Maria de Los
Angeles, Jalisco I got to a certain place where every cause of death was
listed as Colera. I backtracked and found a 3 month period in 1835 where
out of 110 deaths 104 of them were caused by Colera. These times of Epidemics
must have been terrifying times in the lives of our relatives.

-----------------

In talking about the use of Adobe in the construction of the buildings with
regards to the terrible devastations the region was subject to by Earthquakes:

     "La primera pudo ser aquella iglesia de adobe y techo de vigas de madera,
derrumbada en el temblor que sacudio a la region el ano de 1761.
     Fue un terromoto de significacion y el cronista asegura que el tal debe
estar registrado por ahi en los anuarios de los meteorologos. 
      Animados por las instancias del llmo. Sr. Antonio Alcalde, obispo de
esta diocesis, desbordada mucho mas alla de Tlaltenango, todo el pueblo se
apresto a ayudar a la reconstruccion de su templo.
     Y no lo hicieron solos, sino que invitaron y vinieron a trabajar con
ellos, los indios de los pueblos de Teocatic, Cicacalco, Telesteipa y un
Teocaltiche de aca.

     Quisieron avanzar a mayor prisa e invitaron tambien a los pueblos de
Atolinga, de Momax, de Tepechitlan, del Teul; que vinieran a ayudarles.

     Fueron de todos esos pueblos, menos de Teul porque los de este lugar
les mandaron recado: que lo sentian muchisimo, pero que ellos tambien habian
sufrido la caida de su iglesia, y estaban dados en cuerpo y alma a levantarla."

Wow we think about how terrible earthquakes were in our "modern" days of
construction but how about back in the older times. 

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 . . .okay now who is going to take up the challenge to find out just a little
bit of the history of their particular area of study and share it with the
group?. . .common now lets start digging in and find out what kind of circumstances
and events our relatives lived through. You never know but that some of these
events, in particular times of famine, might be why we are the way we are
today.

Joseph

ps: oh I just remembered but here is an interesting Masters or Ph.D thesis
Sego-Eugene-B wrote:

 Record 1 of 1 in Dissertation Abstracts 1987-1991 
  TI:  SIX TLAXCALAN COLONIES ON NEW SPAIN'S NORTHERN FRONTIER; A
COMPARISON OF SUCCESS AND FAILURE (MEXICO)
DN:  PHD
 DD:  1990
 SN:  INDIANA-UNIVERSITY (0093)
 PG:  320
 LA:  ENGLISH
  AB:  In their desire to end the long and costly warfare with the nomadic 
Indians on colonial Mexico's northern frontier, Spanish officials pursued 
a number of remedies; one of which was pacification of the region through 
the introduction of colonies of Indian allies from central Mexico. By far 
the most energetic and large-scale effort of this type took place in 1591, 
when about one thousand Tlaxcalans were sent north to found six widely scattered 
settlements. This study traces the history of five of them (San Luis Colotlan, 
San Andres del Teul, San Miguel Mesquitic, Nuestra Senora de la Asuncion de
Tlaxcalilla, and San Sebastian del Agua del Venado), in an attempt to ascertain
the impact of the expedition in general, and individual successes and failures
experienced at each colony. In addition, comparisons have been made with
events occurring at the sixth and northernmost colony, San Esteban de Nueva
Tlaxcala--the history of which has been reported in earlier dissertations.
 For the most part the colonization plan was quite successful, although the 
San Andres settlement sustained a vicious attack and was abandoned within 
only a few months. Overall peace was maintained, with just a few sporadic 
and localized rebellions occurring thereafter. However, it is now apparent 
that the Tlaxcalans were faced with a more more significant and long-term 
threat from their Spanish neighbors (miners, ranchers, and hacienda owners), 
than from the northern Indians. Abundant documentation of the legal disputes 
between the two groups exists; representing a litany of complaints as registered 
by the 1591 colonists and their descendants, through Independence and beyond. 
But while generally triumphing in court (due in large measure to frequent 
viceregal intervention on their behalf), the Tlaxcalan communities were unable 
to effectively combat the many governmental and jurisdictional changes which 
followed the end of Spanish colonial rule, and were thus destined to become 
only barrios of larger creole cities and towns. Similarly, the preservation 
of racial and cultural identity was adversely affected by the passage of time
and socio-political pressures.
 SU:  History-Latin-American (0336)
NO:  AAI9119783