quiroga: a MEXICAN Minsricrpio — brand 



13 



ments. In 1920, in connection with attempts to 

 reclaim lost lands under the provisions of the 1917 

 constitution and the agrarian code, the Cocupao 

 documents were copied in the Agi'arian Office in 

 Morelia, and copies are on file there and in Mexico 

 City. We made copies of all the material con- 

 cerning Cocupao-Quiroga, and also Santa Fe and 

 the Hacienda Atzimbo, which were available in 

 the Agrarian Offices in Morelia and Mexico City. 

 We compared all proper names in the typewritten 

 copy of the Cocupao material with the longhand 

 copy of 1837, and also consulted local authorities 

 on the proper form and location of the various 

 places mentioned. Nevertheless, there are many 

 place names that either have gone out of use or 

 are unrecognizable in the forms in which they 

 occur. Because of deterioration of papers many 

 long gaps occur and often important dates and 

 names are missing. At best, this material pro- 

 vides a picture of the source material that is 

 available for many pueblos in Mexico. It is 

 possible that the survey and census of resources 

 and population (ca. 1593-98) and the resultant 

 study and recommendations (ca. 1599-1602) 

 which led up to the congregation of 1603 for 

 Cocupao-Sanambo-Zirandangacho may be in the 

 national archives, but we were not able to locate 

 this material. 



In reconstructing the land settlement pattern 

 and history of Quiroga we must begin with the 

 archeologic evidence. Within the area of the 

 modern town there were settlements around the 

 Yacata del Calvario and northwestward to the 

 spring of Petatario in the northern parts of 

 cuarteles II and III; in the area from the Yacata 

 del Lindero southward into the western part of 

 ■cuartel II near the Plaza Vieja and on westward 

 to the spring of Atzitzindaro; around the spring 

 of La Tep6ricua and westward past the present 

 cemetery perhaps as far as the present Plaza 

 Principal within cuartel III ; and along the Ai-royo 

 de Quiroga within cuartel I. There may have 

 been a settlement in cuartel IV in the vicinity of 

 the present parish church and the former Francis- 

 can convent, but the entirety of cuartel IV is poor 

 in archeologic finds as compared with the other 

 areas. It is of interest to note that the majority 



of archeologic finds have been made in areas close 

 to a permanent supply of water. The area of 

 cuartel IV is the only one with no springs, seeps, 

 or permanently flowing streams. 



The first historic mention of Cocupao is the 

 reference to the title granted in 1522 by Ant6n 

 Paranguarende, but there are no details. The 

 next mention is the Titulo Original y Congregacion 

 of the Pueblo de San Diego de Cocupa granted in 

 1534 by the second audience in the name of Charles 

 V. There is reference to a statement of congre- 

 gation drawn up by Pedro Diaz Aguero (Procurador 

 general de los indigenas de Nueva Espana) for pre- 

 sentation to the audiencia, but since this is lacldng 

 we do not Ivnow the actual date of the congrega- 

 tion, nor by whom carried out (probably by Don 

 Vasco de Quiroga, oidor of the audience who was 

 in the Patzcuaro area in 1533-34, or else by Juan 

 de Villasenor who was sent as an inspector to help 

 the Indians in 1531), nor do we Ivnow what 

 pueblos were incorporated in the congregation. 

 The original congregator was more likely Villasenor 

 than Quiroga since the titulo expressly states that 

 Don Vasco de Quiroga "should not come and take 

 away the lands from the natives of San Diego 

 Cocupa." The title was dehvered and the bound- 

 aries were paced off and markers established by 

 Judge Bernabe de Cortez and scribe Antonio de 

 Alvarez, both probably of Michoacan-Tzintzun- 

 tzan. The witnesses included representatives of 

 Cocupao, Santa Fe, Tzintzuntzan, Capula, and 

 Icuacato; and among those who signed were 

 Antonio Gitzimengari Calzonsi (son of the last 

 Tarascan king, and regidor of Michoacan), and 

 Diego Sirauata (governor of Tzintzuntzan). In 

 general the area designated to Cocupao began with 

 the peak of Tzirate to the north, ran south to the 

 lake and Patambicho, eastward to an uncertain 

 point east of Los Corrales, northward along the 

 heights west of Capula and northwest between 

 the Cerro Azul and Icuacato to Tzirate. Essen- 

 tially this is the modern town of Quiroga and its 

 ranches without Icuacato but including parts of 

 Santa Fe and Tzintzuntzan (Patambicho, Santa 

 Cruz, Corrales, Los Alamos, Las Pilas, Cuenembo, 

 and El Tigre). The markers were not permanent, 

 since they varied from buried charcoal to planted 



