QUIROGA: a MEXICAN MUNICIPIO — BRAND 



munities, once had a large Negro and mulatto 

 population which ultimately became completely 

 absorbed into the mestizo population. During 

 the previous summer, while in Mexico City, we 

 copied the entire detailed 1940 census returns 

 for Quiroga and its ranches. These records 

 included name, age, rehgion, and marital status 

 for every individual, which information we had 

 not acquired in oiu- census. Since the Federal 

 1940 census gave the domicile of each family, 

 we were able to trace various local movements 

 in population by comparison with our 1945 census. 



Other items investigated were the local arche- 

 ology (surface collections were made, some articles 

 were acquired by gift and purchase, and one ex- 

 cavation was carried out), genealogies of several 

 of the older and more important families, the 

 various local cults and special days of the Koman 

 Catholic religion, the church bells and the bell- 

 ringing schedule, Uterature read and postal move- 

 ments, local status of sinarquismo (which was 

 quite important), political and economic feuds 

 among various groups and parts of town, the 

 electoral system and gerrymandering of the 

 voting districts, the various forms of diversion 

 and recreation, incidence of various popular 

 brands of drinks and cigarettes, important per- 

 sonages born in the area, etc., etc. It is of interest 

 to note that Quiroga has produced eminent phy- 

 sicians, one bishop, poets, merchants, and State 

 and Federal officials. Probably the best known 

 is Dr. Nicolas Le6n — one of Mexico's greatest 

 anthropologists and bibliographers. In February 

 of 1946 the Smithsonian Institution and the In- 

 stituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia 

 joined in erecting a bronze commemorative 

 plaque on the house in which Le6n was born. 



The data acquired during nearly 9 months in 

 Quiroga, and many months of research in Piltz- 

 cuaro, Morelia, Me.xico City, and libraries and 

 museums in the United States, has slowly been 

 digested and reduced to wi-itten report form. 

 Prof. Corona Niiiiez, during what little leisure 

 time he could find while serving as chief of the 

 archeologic district of Nayarit, has prepared a 

 chapter on archeology, and is translating the 

 entire report for a Spanish edition. The writer, 

 in the hours available after discharging his 

 duties as professor of anthropogeography and 

 head of the Department of Anthropology at the 

 University of New Me.xico (until June of 1947) 



and as professor of geography at the University 

 of Michigan (June 1947-January 1949), has 

 organized the remainder of the report. (It is 

 planned to present the report in three parts.) 

 The scheme of organization is: 



Part I. The physical setting 



Tectonics and landforms. 

 Rocks, minerals, and soils. 

 Climate and hydrography. 

 Vegetation and flora. 

 Fauna. 



Part II. Historical development 



The archeologieal record. 



The colonial period. 



The early independence period 1820-62. 



The Middle Period 1863-1910. 



The "Revolution" 1911-46. 



Part III. Modern Quiroga 



Land settlement. 



The people. 



Names and ethnic origins. 



Government. 



Economy. 



Life in Quiroga. 



The entire report, which consists of more than 

 1,200 pages of typescript, has been written. 

 The monograph which follows this Introduction 

 embodies the third part of our report on Quiroga. 

 Owing to limitation of appropriations, it is prob- 

 able that the other two parts of the English edi- 

 tion of this report will be published through a non- 

 governmental medium. This monograph lacks 

 the bibliographic essays, history of research in 

 the Patzcuaro area, and maps which are incor- 

 porated with the other portions of the report. 



It is hoped that the completed report, with its 

 history of research, bibliographies, and outline of 

 items covered and research procedures followed, 

 will be of help to others planning a comparable 

 study in some other Mexican municipio. This 

 report cannot claim to represent a typical Mexican 

 municipio until we have similar studies of dozens 

 of other communities scattered over the country, 

 which wiU enable us to establish norms. At best 

 Quiroga can be typical only of the middle-sized 

 municipios of the "Volcanic Axis" portion of the 

 Mexican plateau. Actually, we did not study 

 all of the municipio of Quiroga. This municipaUty 

 is composed of the mestizo villa of Quiroga and its 

 six dependent ranches, and of three Tarascan 

 pueblos with no dependencies. The two divisions 



