quiroga: a MEXICAN MtnsriciPio — brand 



29 



shake), while 29 were of tiles alone, 5 of shakes 

 alone, and 9 of tiles and shakes. The roofs of 

 all the houses were of dos aguas excepting 5 

 which had a shed roof over part of the structure. 

 The number of rooms varied from 1 to 9 (1 house), 

 but most of the houses were of 2 (19), 3 (16), or 

 4 (10) rooms. The floors were about evenly 

 divided among dirt (19), wood (15), and a com- 

 bination of dirt and wood (15); and 2 had brick 

 floors. There were 4 houses which approximated 

 the Sierra troje, but these had tile instead of shake 

 roofs. The number of doors varied from 1 to 

 9 (1 house), with 2 (22 houses) and 3 (14 houses) 

 being most common. Wood-shuttered windows 

 were found in 9 of the houses. All of the houses 

 had a yard, but there were no fruit orchards or 

 flower gardens, and only in the 27 exterior house 

 plots on the upper periphery were there small 

 seed plots or sementeras. As in all of the ranchos, 

 there was a scattered planting of fruit and orna- 

 mental trees, of which the most common were: 

 160 peach trees, 22 capulines, 17 cactus clumps, 

 16 tejocotes, 15 agaves, and 14 ash trees, as well 

 as a few white zapotes, avocados, quinces, pears, 

 cypresses, etc., including 1 eucalyptus. The most 

 common flowers in the house plots were various 

 types of "geraniums," rue, belenes, bichis, and 

 lilies, and there were 3 bougainvillea shrubs. 

 About a third of the households had a few chayote, 

 chile, and tomato plants. Domestic water supply 

 was about evenly divided between water carried 

 from the main springs for the lower part of San- 

 ambo, and water taken from a wooden flume in 

 the upper rancho. As was true for all of the 

 ranchos, there were no privies. Wood con- 

 stituted the only fuel for cooking, while 17 house- 

 holds used pitch-pine splinters for illumination, 

 16 used pefroleo, and the remainder varied among 

 pitch-pine splinters, petroleo, and candles. Al- 

 though there were no radios or phonographs, 

 there were 11 hand sewing machines, 4 carts, and 

 1 hand cart. Most of the families (30) possessed 

 at least 1 wooden bed, although 18 used only 

 floor mats, and there was 1 iron camp cot. 



CARfNGARO 



San Miguel Carlngaro is a small but disperse 

 rancho perched on a rough, rocky, eroded and 

 steep terrain, about 2 miles by trail east-northeast 

 of Quiroga, and 1 km. west of the paved highway 

 near the crest at Atzimbo. The lands occupied by 



this rancho are mainly the slopes that descend from 

 the Cerro Azul, streams from which concentrate 

 in and just below Caringaro to form the Arroyo 

 del Cerro Azul (also known as the Arroyo de 

 Caringaro, Arroyo de las Tinajas, etc.). The main 

 part of the rancho is located around the spring 

 which comes out of the rocks at a point where the 

 steep rocky slopes intersect a small bench of 

 gently rolling surface. At this point, with an eleva- 

 tion of 2,220 meters, there is a water basin and 

 watering trough of concrete (constructed in 1939), 

 and nearby is the chapel of San Miguel Arcangel 

 built in 1880. The open space between the spring 

 and the chapel affords a near approach to a plaza, 

 but the main activity here is getting water, 

 washing clothes, and gossiping. Just below the 

 chapel, and on the banks of the main arroyo, are 

 the ruins of the fdbrica which distilled a high 

 quality rum up to about 1918. Foot trails connect 

 Caringaro with Sanambo, Icuacato, La Tu'fmicua, 

 Quiroga, and Atzimbo, which are the surrounding 

 entities. The first mention encountered of Carin- 

 garo is as a rancho in the eighteenth century, 

 although the profusion of tepalcates or potsherds 

 over the slopes above the spring and the settlement 

 indicate a prehistoric occupation of the area. The 

 only form of the name known is Caringaro, which 

 has been interpreted to mean "very dry place," 

 "sterile place," and "place of hunger or want" — ■ 

 any of which terms would describe the general 

 area quite well. 



The population has been consistently small: 

 74 in 1945; 64 in 1940; 72 in 1930; 61 in 1921; and 

 109 in 1900. In 1945 there were 14 families, 

 occupying 12 of the 14 houses in the community. 

 There is no school, and there is but 1 literate 

 person in the community. There is no store, not 

 even a corner tendajon. The inhabitants are purely 

 agricultural since all 12 households plant crops, 

 although 2 or 3 do not own the lands they culti- 

 vate, and 1 man combines the occupations of 

 farmer, arriero, and calero (dispenser of lime used 

 in preparing maize for tortillas). The chief crops 

 planted are maize (345 liters a year, by all house- 

 holds), wheat (310 liters by 6 families), habas (337 

 liters by 6 families), and kidney beans (76 liters 

 by 10 families). Commordy no other crops are 

 planted. The principal named fields or cultivated 

 areas in Caringaro are La Joya del Plan Grande, 

 Agua Escondida, El Capulin, La Cueva, La 

 EspiguiUa, and El Fresno. As usual, hens. 



