QUIROGA: a MEXICAN MUNICIPIO — BRAND 



191 



Tuesday. In almost all of the other towns of 

 Michoacan the main market day is on Sunday. 

 By the eighteenth century Cocupao-Quiroga had 

 acquired political superiority to Santa Fe, San 

 Jeronimo, and San Andres, and probably from 

 that time onward Quiroga had more than merely 

 a local market. Its location on a crossroads and 

 the presence of mestizo and white merchants also 

 insured a greater quantity and variety of goods 

 than was true for the markets of most pueblos. 

 From about the 1840's until the Madero Revolu- 

 tion the Quiroga market attracted people from a 

 much larger area than at present. Then the chaos 

 of the revolution and the railroad from Penjamo 

 through Zacapu to Ajuno (built 1910-14) con- 

 spired to reduce Quiroga's market area to about 

 its present size. The nuclear market area is the 

 present municipality of Quiroga and that portion 

 of the municipality of Tzintzuntzan which was a 

 part of Quiroga until 1930. However, Tzintzun- 

 tzan belongs to the market areas of both Quiroga 

 and Patzcuaro. On the east Quiroga draws a few 

 people weekly from such communities as El Correo, 

 Iratzio, and Capula, but the majority go to More- 

 lia, in which municipality they are situated. 

 Formerly the market area extended westward and 

 northwestward to Zacapu, Coeneo, and Huani- 

 queo, but the coming of the raUroad to Zacapu 

 and of highways and bus lines to the other towns 

 has caused the development of strong commercial 

 and market centers in those communities. How- 

 ever, to the north of the Patzcuaro Basin and 

 extending nearly to Lake Cuitzeo, is a region which 

 formerly was crossed by the main highway between 

 Morelia and Zamora, but which now belongs in 

 large part to the Quiroga area. Among the set- 

 tlements outside of the Patzcuaro Lake Basin 

 which consistently send people to the Quiroga 

 market are (from west to east) Asajo, Comanja, 

 Matujeo, Sipiajo, Teremendo, Tzintzimacato, Tiri- 

 stardn, and Chucandiro. 



The market plaza is roughly 65 meters by 45 

 meters in dimensions, and nearly aU of the surface 

 has been paved with cobblestones. Along the 

 parish house and the church, which constitute the 

 eastern side of the plaza, are 11 privet trees, and 

 distributed in 5 irregular rows are 23 large ash 

 trees. In the northwestern quadrant is a water 

 fountain, a/aroZ from the old lighting system, and a 

 number of semipermanent wooden shacks or 



booths for ciu-iosities and meals of hot food. At 

 the north are house walls broken by a few windows 

 and doors, and one butchershop. At the south is 

 an entrance to the main churchyard and a tienda 

 de abarrotes. The entire western front gives di- 

 rectly onto the Calle Nacional. Although the 

 eating stalls and the curiosity booths are open 

 every day, there is nothing which approaches a 

 permanent market such as one finds in Ciudad 

 Hidalgo, Morelia, Zamora, Sahuayo, and some 

 other larger towns in Michoacdn and elsewhere in 

 Mexico. On market days the only additions are 

 the chalked areas upon which the occupants pay 

 a tax to the municipal treasury. (See discussion 

 of Municipal Finances, pp. 111-112.) Most of the 

 goods for sale are displayed on tule mats or vetates. 

 There is a somewhat orderly arrangement of the 

 market by commodities and by communities. 

 Along the parish house are stacks of petates for 

 sale by men from San Andres, San Jeronimo, 

 Santa Fe, and occasionally from other lake com- 

 munities. The northern third of the plaza is 

 occupied chiefly by venders of vegetables. These 

 vegetable sellers, chiefly women, are normally 

 arranged in four parallel rows. The women from 

 each community represented (Ichupio, Tzintzun- 

 tzan, Santa Fe, Quiroga, etc.) commonly have their 

 pisos next to each other, but apparently this rep- 

 resents a desire to be among friends and acquaint- 

 ances rather than any attempt toward community 

 segregation. Approximately the middle third of 

 the plaza is occupied by three or four rows of 

 pottery merchants, both men and women, with 

 sellers of utilitarian ware from Tzintzuntzan pre- 

 dominating. Along the sidewalk fronting the 

 Calle Nacional are the venders of folk remedies, 

 hats, bags, baskets, yardgoods, cheap jewelry, 

 metates, etc. This can be termed the miscellane- 

 ous or "five and ten" section of the market. 

 Along the same sidewalk and within the plaza, in 

 the vicinity of the food stalls and the vegetables, 

 are the venders of fruits, peanuts, fresh and cooked 

 fish and waterbLrds in season, lime, and a few other 

 commodities. At the south end of the plaza, and 

 near the walk leading to the side entrance of the 

 church, are displayed goods which vary greatly 

 in nature and in origin with the season, such as 

 roasted agave or mescal and sugarcane. 



Although we made inventories of the Quiroga 

 market on several Sundays from December to 



