Our Lady of Ujarras. Primitive patroness of Costa Rica. 
Paraiso. Costa Rica. 
Ujarras 
This is an indian name—. When the Spaniards arrived in Costa 
Rica, the Valley of Ujarras was populated by a tribe of Giietar indians. 
Don Francisco Destrada was the first Spaniard to visit Ujarras, away 
back in 1561. 
The Franciscan monks who used a distinctive blue habit, founded 
the Parish during the third quarter of the Sixteenth Century. 
The King Phillip the II., King of Spain, made a present of the 
image to the Franciscan monk Lorenzo de Bienvenida, in 1 5 65. The 
title of ' Our Lady of the Pure Clean Conception of Ujarras” was given 
to it in 1 666. The reason for it was this: In April of that year, the 
British pirates, Mansfield and Morgan, landed at Portete in the neigh¬ 
borhood of what is now Port Limon, with 5 00 of their men, intendindg 
to capture that Province. 
The Spanish Governor of that Province Don Juan T 6 —- do la Flor. 
mustered a force of between 3 00 and 600 men, and they threw up 
breastworks in the vicinity of Quebrada Honda—while in Cartago and 
in Ujarras, all the inhabitable flocked to their churches to pray for the 
assistance of Divine Providence. 
When the Pirates arrived at Quebrada Honda, for no plausible reas¬ 
on that could be ascertained they turned back and fled at top speed panic 
stricken 2 nd the Province was miraculously saved Christian piety at¬ 
tributed this flight of the pirates to the intervention of the Holy Virgin 
and tradition insists that some apparition or miracle forced them to 
run back to their ships. As an act of Thansgiving for this special divine 
favor the authorities made a solemn promise to our Lady of Redemp¬ 
tion which is faithfully observed. 
In 1 723, when due to the eruption of the Irazu Volcano, the 
image was taken to Cartago by a procession of faithful pilgrims, 
being kept in that city for three whole days. 
42 
Costa Rica - Chief Historical Dates 
1502.—18 September. Columbus landed at Cariari, an Indian village where 
now stands Puerto Limon. 
1 5 22.—Firts colonizing expedition of the Spaniards under Captain Gil 
Gonzalez Davila. The expedition marched a total of 750 miles, baptized 3 2,000 
Indians and collected over one million colones in gold. 
15 24.—Bruselas, the first Spanish settlement in Costa Rica, established by 
Francisco Fernandez de Cordoba near where Puntarenas now stands. 
1 53 9.—Discovery of the River San Juan between Costa Rica and Nicaragua. 
First use of the name “Costa Rica” (Rich Coast) by the Spaniards. 
1561.—Cattle first introduced by Juan de Cavallon. 
1 562-3.—Pacification of the Indians by Juan Vazquez de Coronado. 
15 64.—Cartago founded. 
1 5 69.—Slavery of the Indians established. 
15 72.—Completion of the conquest of Costa Rica by the Spaniards. 
1 5 75.—Boundaries of Costa Rica defined by the King of Spain. 
1601.—Road built from Cartago to Chiriqui, in Panama, to facilitate com¬ 
merce between the two provinces 
1 605.—Conquest of Talamanca. 
1 66 5.—Invasion of Costa Rica by the English pirates Mansfield and Mor. 
gan who landed at Portete, near Puerto Limon, with 700 men and marched as 
far as Turrialba, retiring almost immediately in the face of the Spanish resistance. 
1 666-76.—Frequent pirates raids on the Atlantic coast. 
1681.—Pirate attempt to capture Cartago frustrated. 
1684-6.—English pirates ravage the Pacific coast. City of Esparza sacked 
by pirates in 1 685 and again in 1 686. 
1 693-1720.—Frequent slave raids on the Atlantic coast, the captured In¬ 
dians being carried by English slave raiders to Jamaica and Curacao. 
1 723.—Violent eruption of Irazu volcano. 
1 724-26.—Further depredations by English pirates on the Atlantic coast. 
1747.—Capture of San Fernando Fort, at the mouth of the River Ma¬ 
rina, by English pirates under Thomas Owens. 
1 75 6.—Revolt of the Moscc Indians who captured and assassinated Fran¬ 
cisco Fernandez de la Pastora, the governor of the province of Costa Ric^.. 
1821.—15 September. Declaration of Independence. 
1 823.—Guatemala, Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica jointly 
form the Republic of Central America. 
1826.—Abortive attempt of royalists at Cartago to restore Costa Rica to 
the Spanish crown. 
1 83 5.—Civil war between the people of San Jose and Cartago. 
1 83 8.—Costa Rica declares its separation from the Central American Re¬ 
public. 
1848.—Costa Rica declared an independent and sovereign state. 
1 855.—Invasion of Nicaragua by the American adventurer, William Wal¬ 
ker. with the object of re-establishing slavery in the five Central American 
republics. 
1 85 6.—February. Costa Rica declares war on Walker. An army 9,000 
and a national loan of 100.000 pesos raised for this purpose. 
March 19.—Battle of Santa Rosa near Liberia in Guanacaste, the Costa 
Ricans under General Jose Joaquin Mora putting Walker's filibusters to flight 
and taking many prisoners who were all shot without mercy. 
April 11.—Battle of Rivas in which Costa Rica’s national hero, Juan San- 
tamaria. lost his life in his successful attempt to dislodge Walker’s lilibusters 
from their stronghold by firing it. 
1 857.—May 1. Walker capitulates to General Jose Joaquin Mora at the 
second Battle of Rivas. 
1 8 90.—Completion of the Atlantic railroad. 
1917-1919.—Dictatorship of President Federico A. Tinoco. 
1917.—May 23. Costa Rica declares war on Germany. 
1919.—August. 10.—President Tinoco ousted. 
1921.—Boundary dispute resulting in war with Panama. Settled by the 
mediation of U. S. A. 
193 2.—February. Ricardo Jimenez, the grand old man of Costa Rican 
politics, elected President for the third time. 
1 93 6.—February. Election of President Leon Cortes by the greatest ma¬ 
jority of votes in the history of Costa Rica. 
43 
