QUIROGA: a MEXICAN MUNICIPIO — BRAND 



119 



formal State or Federal road office in Quiroga, 

 although occasionally a sectional road boss and a 

 small group of construction or repair workers will 

 live in Quiroga and maintain some machinery 

 there. Federal highway motor patrolmen com- 

 monly ride through Quiroga at least once a day, 

 but there is no local office. Such Federal biireaus 

 as those of Potable Waters, Irrigation, Electricity, 

 and Game and Fish have operated in Quiroga 

 from time to time, but only the Cornision Federal 

 de Electricidad has left much mark — in the shape 

 of the power line which brings electricity to 

 Quiroga from a plant near Tacsimbaro. The 

 Quiroga ejido is an important manifestation of the 

 Federal government, but all the members and 

 administrators are local. The agrarian set-up 

 is considered under Land Ownership and Agricul- 

 ture. Quiroga is located within the 21st military 

 zone with headquarters in IMorelia, but it has been 

 many years since there was a Federal garrison or 

 military detachment in Quiroga. 



SUMMARY 



The municipality of Quiroga constitutes the 

 basic government of our area, and it is responsible 

 only to the State government. In such items as 

 taxation and elections Quiroga is in the Patzcuaro 

 district, but in justice and in practically all other 

 State and Federal regional groupings Quiroga is 

 dependent upon offices in Morelia. The compara- 

 tive nearness of Morelia (27 miles) which is not 

 only the State capital but also the largest city in 

 the State, has tended to offset the proximity of 

 Pdtzcuaro (15 miles) and its ancient prerogatives. 

 This has been accentuated by the fact that good 

 road communication existed between Quiroga 

 and Alorelia earlier than between Quiroga and 

 Patzcuaro. The median position of Quiroga 

 among the municipalities of jMichoacan in point 

 of population would indicate that the functioning 

 of government that we have outlined for Quiroga 

 should be somewhat typical of municipalities in 

 this part of Mexico. 



ECONOMY 



The basic economy of Quiroga and its ranchos 

 is agriculture, and this has been the case since 

 prehistoric times. In second place come the 

 handicrafts, especially the making of various 

 wooden goods, such as decorated bowls and chairs. 

 The remainder of the economic picture is filled 

 out by services such as those rendered by mer- 

 chants, butchers, cobblers, carpenters, masons, 

 barbers, et al. Throughout the colonial period 

 there is mention only of cultivating crops, raising 

 livestock, and making various objects of wood. 

 In Martinez de Lejarza's (1824) description of 

 Michoacan in 1822 the economy of Cocupao is 

 given as the raising of maize and wheat, and the 

 making of bateas and decorated chests. Dm-ing 

 the nineteenth century the manners of making a 

 living began to diversify because of accultiu-ation 

 (the shift from an Indian to a mestizo manner of 

 living), increase in population and wealth, and an 

 important transportation business (chiefly pack 

 trains and traveling merchants). Although wood- 

 working declined, more valuable products came 

 from the rum distilleries and flour mills that were 

 estabhshed during the second half of the nine- 

 teenth century. The pack trains were nearly 

 put out of business by the railroads that pene- 

 trated the region 1883-1914, and the Madero 



Revolution and succeeding disturbances caused a 

 decline in all forms of economy during the period 

 1910-30. The surfacing of the through highway, 

 and its spur to Patzcuaro and Tacdmbaro, has 

 revived the importance of Quiroga as a trans- 

 portation center, and the entire economic picture 

 has improved — from woodwork for tourists to 

 agricultural products. 



AGRICULTURE 



Agriculture in the Quiroga area comprises the 

 cultivating of plants, the raising of animals, and 

 the gathering of forest products. The latter 

 group has been included because the bulk of the 

 forest products (firewood, charcoal, wood for 

 bateas, wild fruits, thatching and packing mate- 

 rials, etc.) are gathered and elaborated by the 

 farmers and their families — especially in the off- 

 seasons when they are not busy with planting, 

 cultivating, or harvesting the regular crops. The 

 plants utilized and cultivated fall into four groups: 

 fruits and vegetables which are raised on the 

 solares, fruits and vegetables which are raised 

 away from the house plots but within the pre- 

 cincts of town, field crops, and wild plants of the 

 woods and forests. The animal economy com- 

 prises animals kept in and near the house (tamed 



