Sahuayo
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The first inhabitants of the Sahuayo region like much of the Lake Chapala area were of Aztec origin. It is believed that the travels of the Aztec from Aztlan, their legendary home, possibly somewhere along the Pacific Coast of Mexico, was made in waves, each wave settling in different parts of the great valleys of central Mexico, bringing with them distinctly different languages. The Chapala region was conquered in later times by the Tarasco Empire. (The name Tarasco was given to these tribes by the Spanish; in their own language, they called themselves the P'urepecha. And they were known by other tribes as the people who have fish, Michhuaque. This is how the name of the Mexican state of Michoacan came into being: The tribes along the banks of Lake Chapala). The leader of the Empire who conquered the area was known as Tzitzispandacuare, and he was able to defend his conquests against the Aztecs who had centered their forces in what is now Mexico City. Part of the Spanish army under the command of Alonso de Avalos set up a province, called Avalos which included Tuxpan, Tuzantla, Sayula, and Sahuayo. The area around Sahuayo was ceded to a Gonzalo de Galvan who was part of Hernan Cortes' commission. The conversions of the Indians to Christianity was accomplished by the brothers of the Franciscan order under the leadership of Brother Juan de Badia. In 1540 Sahuayo was part of the parish of Jilquipan. In 1555, it was transferred to the jurisdiction of Jacona. In 1570, with the secularization of the parishes under government rule, Sahuayo was transferred to form part of a parish combining Sahuayo, Caro, Guarachita, and Cojumatlan. The law enforcement officers were under the jurisdiction of the district office in Zamora. Beginning in 1545, there was a large influx of Spaniards, who began to exploit the natural resources of the region. In 1567, the Marquis de Folces distributed the land to establish large cattle farms. At the end of the sixteenth century, much of the land was monopolized by the Hacienda de Guaracha, who through devious and illegal means took over the land which the indigenous indians still held , forcing them to work on the hacienda. This was the largest hacienda in western Michoacan. Seventy three years later, in 1643, Pedro de Salada, of Zamora, was able to legalize this Hacienda, about the same time, the Indian population was being decimated by disease. It was necessary to bring in black slaves as work hands. At the beginning of the 18th century, the hacienda changed hands, and there began a reign of terror, that lasted until the final dissolution of the hacienda, two hundred years later. In 1765, the curate of Sahuayo consisted to four Indian villages, with Sahuayo being the primary village, the others were San Pedro Caro, Santa Maria Asuncion de Xuquimatlan, and San Miguel Guarachita. During the War for Independence, the Sahuayenses sent a large contingent of men in the fight for liberty, taking part in the fight to defend the island and port of Mezcala, (Now the city of Lazaro Cardenas) from Spanish warships at the side of the priest Castellanos who was from the region. The hacienda of Guaracho sided with the Spanish and was attacked several times by the insurgents. On December 10, 1831, Sahuayo was finally recognized as a legal entity and incorporated. During the Reform Age Sahuayo was a refuge for conservative forces until 1861, when the owner of hacienda de Guaracha, Doña Antonia Moreno. sold half of the hacienda to more than 50 rich buyers, including an area from Cojumatlan to west of the lake. Shortly afterwards the French intervened in Mexico, and the towns of the area were the subject of raids and sackings from both sides. On April, 13, 1891 Sahuayo was elevated to the status of Villa, and its' name changed to Sahuayo de Porfirio Diaz, who was then the President of Mexico. During the porfirista era, Sahuayo was again subject to some disease, but at the same time, new construction materials for houses and stores, and an agricultural infrastructure came into being. The owner of the hacienda de Guaracha constructed San Agustín dam, and had a railroad track that went to his hacienda in 1901, bringing in mule drivers, artisans and businessmen. In 1905, the lowering of the level of Lake Chapala had begun, increasing the amount of fertile land, the ending of the exploitation of the campesinos, (the peons), and a fair division of the water also was initiated. In 1912, a levee along the lake ruptured, leaving much of Sahuayo and the area without water, which along with a couple of other natural disasters diverted the attention of the area from fully participating in the Revolution which lasted by most accounts from 1910 to 1920. They did become involved in what has been described as the first large Revolution of the 20th Century. However they were fully involved in the religious conflict that followed the Revolution. In 1926 the Sahuayo parish church was the second place attacked by Federal soldiers, killing two priests, as the Cristeros War began, It was an uprising by religious people protesting the severe anti-Catholic provisions of the 1917 Constitution After the resolution of the religious conflict in 1929, the local priest tried to reverse the land sharing provisions of the new Constitution, intimidating the little farmers who were trying to recover their lands, until the beginning of the Lázaro Cárdenas governorship of Michoacán in 1930, who ordered a sharing of the hacienda de Guaracho by the farmers of Sahuayo. Later in 1936, as President of the Republic of Mexico, he ordered all of the lands of the hacienda to be redistributed. He also founded a collective farm called Emiliano Zapata. On November 28, 1952, because of its' economic development, Sahuayo was elevated to the status of city. In 1957 Sahuayo changed its name again to Sahuayo de José María Morellos, in honor of one of the heroes in the fight for Indecpendence. |
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