QUIROGA: a MEXICAN MTTNICIPrO — BRAND 



99 



names of deparUimento, distrito, and prefectura 

 and varied in number between four and seven 

 until they were finally abolished in 1868. These 

 major divisions were headed by prefects, appointed 

 by the governor, who were next to the top in the 

 hierarchy of political government. From 1822 

 until 1846, Cocupao oscillated between the north- 

 ern department and the southern department 

 which had its seat in Patzcuaro; and from 1847 

 until 1868 (excepting for two brief periods without 

 departments) Cocupao was in the northern de- 

 partment with its cabecera in Morelia. The old 

 partidos of colonial times were continued, with 

 some changes, from 1822 to 1917. They com- 

 monly ran in number between 14 and 22, were 

 known variously as partidos, sub-prefecturas, and 

 disfritos, and until 1868 and the abolition of 

 the prefectures or departments were headed by 

 subprefects appointed by the prefects. Between 

 1868 and 1917 these divisions were referred to as 

 distritos, and they were headed by prefects ap- 

 pointed by the Governor of the State. From 1855 

 to 1868 Quiroga was apparently at the zenith of 

 its political unportance. Within this period from 

 1855 to 1861 and 186.3 to 1868, the partido and 

 distrito of Cocupao de Quiroga was headed by a 

 prefect or subprefect, with headquarters in 

 Quiroga, whose administrative area embraced the 

 municipios of Quiroga and Tzintzuntzan. For 

 the brief period 1861-63 the prefect in Quiroga 

 ruled over a distrito which included the two above- 

 mentioned municipalities and also those of 

 Zacapu, Coeneo, and Huaniqueo to the west and 

 north. Unfortunately, none of the prefectorial 

 records for this period of greatest expansion of 

 Quiroga have been located. During the longest 

 period of records, 1868 to 1917, the prefect of the 

 district of Morelia was the superior chief of 

 Quiroga, excepting from April 28 to July 26, 1870, 

 and agam in 1875 when Quu'oga was attached 

 to Patzcuaro. 



The earliest known form of township or munici- 

 pal government for Cocupao-Quiroga goes back 

 to Indian and colonial times when Cocupao was a 

 barrio or part of Tzintzuntzan-Michoacdn. How 

 long this situation obtained we do not know; but 

 the proceedings of the 1603 congregation of 

 Cocupao refer to one of the congregated pueblos 

 (Sanambo) as subject to Tzintzuntzan. In addi- 

 tion to the general control exercised by the gover- 

 nor of Tzintzuntzan, the pueblo of Cocupao 



835847—50 8 



possessed its own set of Indian administrative, 

 judicial, and religious officers {gobernador, alcaldes, 

 prioste). Since in colonial times ecclesiastic and 

 civil units covered the same areas (theoretically), 

 and since Cocupao was part of the parish of 

 Tzintzuntzan thi'oughout the colonial period, wo 

 may assume that Cocupao did not acquire inde- 

 pendent municipal government until shortly after 

 independence was gained from Spain. There are 

 indications that between 1822 and 1825, apparently 

 in 1823, the municipio of Cocupao with an inde- 

 pendent coimcil or ayunfamiento came into exist- 

 ence. According to the State constitutions, the 

 State congress has always possessed the power to 

 organize and eliminate municipios. During the 

 more than 120 years of existence of the State of 

 Michoacdn the number of municipios has fluctuated 

 between 61 and 102. One can trace the rise and 

 fall of population, finances, and political philoso- 

 phies in these changes (e. g., 1825 — 90; 1831 — 61; 

 1861—79; 1868—75; 1874—61; 1887—76; and 

 1941 — 102). Quiroga has been a municipio with- 

 out break since the 1820's, and has possessed an 

 ayuntamiento all of that time excepting during the 

 years 1837-46. 



The nuclear community of Quiroga first appears 

 in the records in 1534 as the Indian pueblo of San 

 Diego de Cocupao. Even by that early date it 

 was referred to as a congregation, which imphes 

 that the populations of a number of earlier settle- 

 ments had been brought together to constitute 

 the pueblo. Probably this was done between 1531 

 and 1534 by either the inspector Juan de Villasenor 

 or the axidiencia judge (oidor) Vasco de Quiroga, 

 who tried to pacify the Indians and organize the 

 province of Michoacan which Nuno de Guzmdn 

 had ravaged and disrupted in 1529-30. On the 

 maps published by Beaumont and by Seler, which 

 date presumably from about the middle of the 

 sixteenth century, there are shown (in recognizable 

 position and spelling) the communities of Santa Fe 

 de la Laguna, Cocupao, Zirandangacho, Cutzaro, 

 and Huarapo (arranged in appro.ximate decreasing 

 order of size). One of these (Zirandangacho) and 

 two not shown (Sanambo and Santiago) were 

 congregated in 1603 wdthin the lands of modern 

 Quiroga. Huarapo is now a scarcely visible ruin 

 on top of a nearby hill, and the barrio of Cutzaro 

 has been abandoned since the last revolution. 

 According to the Suma de Visitas (Paso y Troncoso, 

 1905) (from about the middle of the sixteenth 



