Apaseo el Grande is a city and municipality located in Guanajuato, Mexico. The municipality covers 415.26 square kilometres (160 sq mi). It is bordered on the north by Comonfort and San Miguel de Allende, on the east by Querétaro in the State of Querétaro, on the south by Apaseo el Alto, and on the west by Celaya. The municipality had a population of 85,319 inhabitants according to the 2010 census.
In pre-Columbian times, the region was known as Andahe ("Close to the water") and Atlayahualco ("Place where water flows") by the Otomí and Nahua inhabitants. It was eventually known as Apatzeo ("Yellow flower") by the Purépecha. Following the Spanish conquest 1525, Apaseo was the first town founded in what is now the state of Guanajuato. It received its present name of Apaseo el Grande in 1957, to avoid confusion with the neighboring town of Apaseo el Alto.
Etymology
The initial name of the town and municipality was Apatzeo, first used by Hernán Pérez de Bocanegra y Córdoba, who was apparently influenced by the expression in the Purépecha language meaning "place of weasels".
Other names of the city of Apaseo el Grande were Andehe (in the Otomi language) which appears in an inscription that is in the choir of the parish church and means "by the water". Another name, used by the viceroy Antonio de Mendoza, was Atlayahualco, from the Nahuatl language, meaning "by the lake".
On February 22, 1957, the Legislature of the State of Guanajuato ordered the publication in the Official Gazette of the State of Guanajuato, Decree Number 64, by which the city and the municipality of Apaseo took the nickname 'Apaseo el Grande' ("greater" or "larger"). This change was intended to resolve conflicts caused by the use of the nickname 'Apaseo el Bajo' ("Lower Apaseo") by residents of the smaller neighboring town of Apaseo el Alto ("Upper Apaseo").
History
The location of Apaseo el Grande – probably along with other towns in the region such as Izcuinapan (San Miguel Viejo, near San Miguel de Allende) and Tlachco (the present city of Querétaro) – was inhabited by various indigenous groups of Nahuatl, Otomi and Guamar peoples from ancient times and as a place of refuge following the Spanish conquest of Mexico.
Spanish colonization
The territory was conquered by Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán 1530, but its formal incorporation into the Spanish empire did not occur until 1538, by act of congregation of Indian villages issued by Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza. In 1537, Don Hernán Pérez de Bocanegra began buying properties from Don Fernando P. Motoci, lord of Xuaxo, and on October 11, 1564, entailed these under the system so the properties would be passed down in his family via primogeniture. This area became eastern Bajío, the name by which Spaniards, Creoles, Mestizos, Indians, blacks and mulattos called the property belonging to the principal landowner of the region.
By 1571, Apaseo had 50 Spanish families, 200 blacks, 150 mulattos, and 240 Otomi Indians who also spoke Nahuatl.
In 1547, silver deposits discovered in Zacatecas resulted in a steady stream of migration to the region, seen by the semi-nomadic Chichimecas as intrusions on their ancestral lands. Underpaid Spanish soldiers raided native villages to acquire slaves for the mines, and the Chichimicas made attacks against herders and traders on the border. Led by Bocanegra, the village of Apaseo defended itself against the Chichimecas, and the nearby town of Celaya was founded to bolster the region's defence. As the costly Chichimeca War entered its fourth decade, the colonial authorities reversed their aggressive treatment of the Chichimeca and introduced the "peace by purchase" policy, countering the insurgency by rewarding peaceful behavior while taking steps to settle them in villages and assimilate them.
Viceroyalty
During the 1640s, Apaseo embarked upon a period of economic expansion through ranching in Ixtla, el Peñón and Apaseo el Alto, and fabric manufacturing in Ixtla. The village was inhabited mostly by Indians, especially Otomi, who were already in the process of assimilating. Many had adopted Spanish surnames such as Valencia, Arrieta, Esparragoza, Sánchez, and González; others translated names like Águila (Eagle) or Conejo (Rabbit). Blacks and mulattos were employed as servants on farms centered around the village of Ixtla.
In 1690, Apaseo's baptistery was expanded to a parish church with its existing architectural form as the town's main building. These were times of economic prosperity for Apaseo that united traditional grain and fruit farmers with cattle and sheep farmers. Sheep produced meat and wool, which was especially valued to create garments woven in Obraje de San Diego de Ixtla and Obrajuelo. Wool supplies fueled wholesale and retail markets in Zacatecas, Guadalajara, Mexico City and the Bajío zone through the Camino Real (Royal Road).
By 1748, Apaseo was the fourth-largest city in what would be the state of Guanajuato. The indigenous people of Apaseo started to build a temple on the Camino Real, which was completed c.1824 and was dedicated to the Divina Pastora, better known today as the Pastorcita. In December 1786, the village of Apaseo and its jurisdiction were incorporated into the Municipality of Guanajuato, along with the city of Celaya. Problems soon arose over land distribution and legal funds, and Apaseo clashed with the Mayorazgo over water rights.
War of Independence
The leaders of the Hidalgo Revolt, theologian Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla and military officer Ignacio Allende, were known and esteemed in Apaseo – Allende's sister was married to the village's Síndico Procurador (city attorney), Don Domingo Busce. When the uprising approached Celaya in September 1810, a panic broke out in the city. Starting on 22 September, Spaniards fled to refuge at Querétaro.
On September 26, in perhaps the first offensive action, colonial troops attacked Apaseo to arrest Busce, who was accused of complicity with the insurgents. During mid-November, 7,000 men under command of Don Felix Maria Calleja stayed overnight in Apaseo, while preparing to engage Allende's rebels.
On September 9, 1812, the rebel Colonel Don Antonio Velasco attacked Apaseo, defeating the village's small colonial garrison. The following year, Apaseo established additional colonial garrisons at the haciendas El Tunal and Obrajuelo. Agustin de Iturbide began a relentless war against the insurgents in Bajio, working with Apaseo Parish Priest Don Manuel María Rodeles and families of the village.
In late 1815, the insurgents were active near Apaseo and on December 19 they killed three soldiers form the El Tunal garrison. Using tactics of damaging the economic base, insurgents attacked the Hacienda de Ameche on April 25, 1818. On July 9, 1818, safeguards were ordered so merchants and artisans from Celaya could attend to business in Apaseo with minimal risk.
On December 30, 1819, Pablo Esquivel, leader of the Picacho rebels, was captured and beheaded by the Apaseo garrison. On January 6, 1820, insurgent José Trinidad Aguado was captured and executed, and it seemed there was victory of the royal arms over the insurgency in Apaseo.
After Iturbide and Vicente Guerrero agreed to end the conflict in 1821, the Spanish garrison left Apaseo. By November 1821, independence was recognized across the country. Apaseo retained its municipal status under the new government, and on April 14, 1826, elected its first constitutional mayor, Don José Pablo Gomez.
In 1830, Apaseo's textile mills failed, as did others across the country due to the impact of British textile imports. This brought economic hardship, and the same year a severe cholera epidemic killed 680 people.
Reform Era (1855–1876)
In 1856, Don Octaviano Muñoz Ledo purchased the Mayorazgo Hacienda and the adjoining haciendas of San Jose and San Cristobal, solidifying his family's long-standing relationship with Apaseo.
During the Reform War (1857–1860), Apaseo saw much action due to its strategic location to access the Bajio region. In the Battle of Celaya (1858), General Luis G. Osollo's army, in combination with Casanova and General Tomás Mejía, attacked General Don Anastasio Parrodi; Osollo chased Parrodi into Salamanca and defeated the Liberal forces.
Meanwhile, Apaseo witnessed an act of chivalry from General Miguel Miramón who – knowing that General Don Santiago Tapia was seriously injured and taking refuge in Apaseo – promised not to disturb the wounded and also sent his doctor to treat them.
The eventual Liberal victory meant full implementation of the 1857 Constitution and the reform laws, mainly the Confiscation (Disentailment) Act, which affected the church and community assets. In Apaseo, substantial church properties were expropriated, including several farms.
During the second French intervention in Mexico (1861–1867), when the capital was captured, President Juarez withdrew through Apaseo on June 5, 1863, taking the treasury to the interior. Liberal Apasean citizens received him and invited him to refreshment in Don Marcos Corona's house. The resistance crumbled to Franco-Mexican forces and on November 29, 1863, Apaseo and Celaya signed the accession instrument to the Second Mexican Empire in the presence of Mejía. French troops appeared in Apaseo and Celaya on December 3.
Maximilian I took the throne, and toured the Bajío in August 1864. He was warmly received in Apaseo, though Liberals including Don Canuto Gómez hid the temple bell clappers, forcing improvisation using hammers to ring the bells for the Emperor's party. Marshal François Achille Bazaine married on June 26, 1865, and Maximilian provided a dowry of two farms in Apaseo. The new government had seized and redistributed more than half of the old part of Apaseo: most properties had belonged to Liberals but the Mayorazgo Hacienda had belonged to Muñoz Ledo, a Conservative.
Among those who rose to defend the Republic and attack Franco-Mexican garrisons along the old Camino Real (then called the National Road) was a female bandit captain called "La Carambada". Her main point of assault was cerca pinta near Caleras de Ameche.
With discontent throughout the country and the withdrawal of French support, Maximilian withdrew to Querétaro. On February 22 and 23, 1867, General Mendez's Imperial Brigade of 3,000 men stayed in Apaseo on their way to join Maximilian. Behind them, the Republican army of 17,000 men passed through on March 4 and 8.
On June 30, 1870, the town of Apaseo received the title of Villa.
On May 18, 1874, Muñoz Ledo died at 68 years old. He had been a senator, minister, and governor of Guanajuato and Querétaro, and introduced the telegraph to the state. At end of his life, he had many difficulties recovering his properties.
Porfirism (1876–1910)
During the 35-year regime of Porfirio Díaz, peace allowed for the creation of much-delayed public works in Apaseo, particularly in the current Plaza Hidalgo, that was the court of the first parish church and cemetery.
By 1880, Apaseo had constructed an embankment, culverts and railway station. On March 31, 1882, the first passenger train came to Apaseo. The proximity to Querétaro and Celaya prompted Apaseo to become a metropolis of an agricultural area, where activities take place outside the village, at the haciendas and ranches. In 1904, the population of the town was 4,123 and the district was 27,587.
Mexican Revolution
Little local data exists on these years, but it can be inferred that Don Vicente A. Ruiz won the mayoral elections at the triumph of the Revolution Maderista, and continued his post as Political Chief until the Battle of Celaya. Ruiz managed to take several progressive measures, notably the introducing electricity, drilling for a water supply and organizing civil defenses.