QUIROGA: a MEXICAN MTJNICIPIO — BRAND 



187 



chores (quehaceres) unless they were heads of 

 family or the main source of support. Conse- 

 quently no maqueadoras of hateas, or entuladoras 

 of chairs were listed, and a considerable number 

 of the other gainfully employed women were listed 

 merely as housewives. Another reason for the 

 reported paucity of tortilleras is that a number of 

 them constitute the nearest approach to prosti- 

 tutes to be found in Quiroga. 



PUBLIC EMPLOYEES 



The term employee or empleado is restricted to 

 "white-collar" workers (as opposed to manual 

 laborers) and comprises most of the salaried 

 holders of public office and clerks in the stores. 

 We have extended the term to embrace all govern- 

 mental workers. The commercial clerks are 

 mentioned later. Federal employees or office 

 holders include the Federal stamp agent, who is 

 also a merchant; the postmaster, 1 mail carrier, 

 and 1 to 2 clerks; the teachers in the two Federal 

 schools who have numbered from 8 to 10 in recent 

 years; and the physician of the Servicio Medico 

 Social whenever he is in residence. The State 

 employees comprise the tax collector and 1 to 3 

 clerks and collectors; the watchman or velador of 

 the highway shack and equipment on the out- 

 skirts of town; and the operator of the telephone 

 station who also acts as secretary of the municipal 

 civil register. There are 12 to 16 other individuals 

 who commonly draw salaries or wages from munic- 

 ipal funds. These include the president, syndic, 

 secretary, treasurer, and sometimes a collector, 

 inspector of the slaughterhouse, secretary of the 

 local court, 2 to 5 policemen, streetcleaner and 

 carter, water-supply maintenance man, town 

 gardener, and mechanic who periodically oils and 

 checks the town clock. 



COMMERCE 



Quiroga carries on much more commerce than its 

 population would justify. This is because it is on 

 the main highway west from Mexico City to 

 Guadalajara, with a branch southward to Patz- 

 cuaro and Tacambaro; and many busses and most 

 tourists stop here to purchase food, drinks, "re- 

 gional curiosities," etc. It is also the principal 

 market town for the people of the entire munici- 

 pality, and a number of people come to Quiroga 

 from communities outside of the municipality 

 (such as Teremcndo, El Tigre, Cuenembo, and 



Tzintzuntzan) to purchase as well as to sell com- 

 modities. Furthermore, since ancient times Cocu- 

 pao-Quiroga has been the most important com- 

 munity on the route between Patzcuaro and 

 Tzintzuntzan to the south and Chucandiro and 

 other commimities of the Lake Cuitzeo region to 

 the north. During the nineteenth and eighteenth 

 centuries, and probably earlier, packers (arrieros) 

 and traveling merchants (comerciaMes ambulantes) 

 of Quiroga covered the region from San Luis 

 Potosi and Guanajuato in the north to the tierra 

 caliente and Pacific coastlands of Michoacan and 

 Guerrero in the south, and Quiroga was an em- 

 porium for the exchange of goods between the 

 plateau and the lowlands. At the height of its 

 commercial importance, apparently from the 

 1840's into the 1880's, the market territory of 

 Quiroga embraced all of the northern portion of 

 the Patzcuaro Basin and extended outward to 

 include such communities as LagunLllas, Acuitzio, 

 Coapan, and Chapultcpec to the south and east, 

 Tiristaran, Copandaro, Chucandaro, Urundaneo 

 Teremendo, Tecacho, Huaniqueo, Puruandiro 

 Coeneo, Comanja, Naranja, Zacapu, and Tirin- 

 daro to the north and west, and along the lake 

 shores to Tzintzuntzan and Erongaricuaro. The 

 first reduction in Quiroga's commercial importance 

 was accomplished between about 1886 and 1914 

 by the entry of railroads and by the accompanying 

 development of commercial centers in many of 

 the above-mentioned places. The long period of 

 military, political, social and economic unrest 

 from 1910 to 1928 reduced Quiroga to its lowest 

 point in population and commerce since the 

 colonial period. Its packing or transport business 

 iarrieria) was reduced to practically nothing, 

 most of the manufactirring enterprises were 

 abandoned (rum, vegetable oils, bar soap, etc.), 

 and the local stores catered only to the population 

 of the immediate area. With the improvement 

 of the social-political situation and the establish- 

 ment of the improved highway between Mexico 

 City and Guadalajara, Quiroga began to recoup 

 some of her losses. This has been most marked 

 since 1937-41, in which years the oiling of the 

 highways was completed, passenger and freight 

 services by bus and truck were inaugurated, 

 tourist trade and commerce in regional handicrafts 

 burgeoned, etc. At present Quiroga is probably 

 the most active town commercially, for its popula- 

 tion, in Michoacan. 



835847—50 



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