QUIROGA: a MEXICAN MtTNICIPIO BRAND 



25 



the local sectors of the boundary are between 

 Sanambo and Capula (with Buenavista), and 

 between Icuacato and Tereniendo (with Sajo 

 Grande). However, the agrarian community of 

 Quiroga has its ejido in western Icu&cato and the 

 Malpais de Icuacato, and residents of Quiroga 

 own and work the triangular area outlined by the 

 peak of Tzirate, the Cerro Chino at the north 

 edge of La Tirimicua, and the Cerro Hueco, so 

 that probably the lands of the villa should be 

 thought of as extending along the western sides 

 of La Tirimicua and Icuacato to march with the 

 lands of Teremendo (actually the dependencies of 

 this tenencia of Morelia known as Aracurio, Sajo 

 Grande, etc.)- Since much of the Quiroga-Mo- 

 relia boundary runs along a water-divide which is 

 principally rough volcanic terrain with porous 

 water-poor soils, there are no settlements very 

 close to the boundary and there are but few culti- 

 vated fields or grazed pastures. Consequently, 

 no one has been much concerned with the exact 

 location of the boundary. This has been true 

 since colonial times, and there is no record of a 

 land dispute between Cocupao and Teremendo- 

 Jaso excepting in the 1930's over ejidal grants. 



The internal boundaries between the various 

 ranchos, and between the ranches and Quiroga 

 are of comparatively little importance. Disputes, 

 such as that in the 1870's between Icuacato and 

 Sanambo over the Cerro Irauco, are quite rare. 

 The long and acrimonious dispute between Qui- 

 roga and Atzimbo is discussed in connection with 

 the Indian and agrarian community. In few 

 iustances were the inhabitants able to designate 

 a precise marker or boundary between any two 

 ranchos, although there is general agreement as to 

 which eatity any particular cultivated field be- 

 longs. In large part this is because the cultivated 

 lands immediately surround the ranchos and 

 diminish in use and value peripherally. Com- 

 monly wooded ridges separate one rancho from 

 another (e. g., Zirandangacho from Atzimbo, La 

 Tirimicua from Icuacato, Caringaro from La 

 Tirimicua and Icuacato, etc.), and the only cause 

 for dispute would be over wood or pasture, or the 

 few cultivated fields on the tops of the hills and 

 mountains. The chief example of this circum- 

 stance is the cultivated top of the Cerro Azul, 

 which seems to be cultivated by residents of Carin- 

 garo, Icuacato, La Tirimicua, and Quiroga. In 

 any case, the municipal council resident in Quiroga 



has the power to determine the boundaries, and 

 this can be done arbitrarily without the bloodshed 

 that would ensue during and after an arbitration 

 between two pueblos. 



AREA OF MUNICIPIO 



Since the separation of Tzintzuntzan from 

 Quiroga the area of the municipality has been 

 given as 82, 100, and 120 sq. km. These varia- 

 tions are pardonable in view of the lack of an inte- 

 grated survey system, the lack of maps based on 

 actual surveys, and the lack of agreement as to the 

 boundaries. Nowhere is there an indication as to 

 whether the lake area has been included in the 

 above estimates. We would incline toward a 

 figure of around 110 sq. km., excluding the lake 

 portion. For the region of our study, Quiroga 

 town and its ranchos, we would estimate 52 sq. 

 km. or about 20 sq. miles (5,200 hectares or 12,849 

 acres) . 



SETTLEMENTS IN AREA OF STUDY 



(MAP 3) 



There are seven permanent settlements of 

 census category within our area of study, namely, 

 the Villa de Quiroga and the six permanent 

 ranchos. In addition there are ephemeral settle- 

 ments consisting of three or four huts apiece which 

 usually have a life of only a few years — just long 

 enough to exhaust the ground or the patience or 

 pocketbook of the landowner. Such settlements 

 usually leave behind them little more than a name, 

 such as the fields of TucuruUo which sometimes 

 are termed Rancho de Bartolo Sierra after a Qui- 

 roga merchant of the middle of the past century who 

 once o%vned the land and maintained some laborers 

 there. In 1944-46 there was only one such 

 ranchito (El Tepamal or Rancho de la Soledad), 

 and that was on marginal lands that probably 

 belong to Teremendo. 



RANCHOS 



ICUACATO 



San Antonio Icu&,cato is 6 miles by footpath 

 northeast of Quiroga, at an elevation of 2,390 

 meters. It is the second highest and second most 

 distant of the ranchos. Icuacato lies in a small 

 basin nearly surrounded by hills and mountains 

 (Cerro Melon, Cerro Irauco, Cerro Azul, Cerro 



